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[关键词] 大众文化;动画电影;美学;艺术
美国哲学家奥尔特加是最早提出大众文化这一概念的,他编写的《民众的反抗》书中提到:大众文化主要指的是一地区、一社团、一个国家中新近涌现的,被大众所信奉、接受的文化。罗森贝格认为大众文化的不足之处是单调、平淡、庸俗以及容易在富裕生活中产生的诱惑和孤独感。它的消费对象和主体主要是以都市大众为主,按照市场规律批量生产的,再通过现代高科技的发展进行传播,它为大众提供感性娱乐,这在一定程度上降低了人类文化与艺术发展的标准,在历史长河中起着加深人类异化的作用。 中国改革开放初期是大众文化的酝酿时期,经过不断发展,渐渐地与中国传统的精英文化和主流文化成三足鼎立之势,中国动画在这个时候开始逐渐受到它的影响。直到近几年,“超女”“快男”等草根文化的兴起标志着大众文化开始大规模爆发,让另外两种文化望其项背,大众文化发展成为文化中的领军,并对中国动画电影的发展起着举足轻重的作用。
动画电影集合了文学、戏剧、音乐、美术等多种艺术门类,同时也是对现代科技的艺术化表现和对生活的艺术化再现,它作为一种集合了多种艺术门类的复杂艺术形式,最直接目的是为了传播,然而要传播就要迎合大众的需求。我国的第一部动画片《大闹画室》的问世至今已经有80多年的时间。如今,动画电影艺术随着高科技技术的高度发展获得了空前的传播能力。动画电影作为传播的媒介之一,将西方文化传入中国,由此导致的工业化带来的大众文化正挑战着中国动画电影的创作风格和其中所包含的中国传统精英文化。动画电影的发展受人类的文化的影响,同时又体现和传承了人类的文化趋势与大众的审美思维。在当前的大众文化背景下,大众审美趋向或者大众价值观对传统审美思维和精英思想产生了空前的震动,这也导致了动画电影作为集传统与现代艺术于一体的艺术形式在本质上更容易被最广大人民群众所接受,动画电影的价值目标中所包含的人文文化形态受到大众的关注。
目前国产动画电影在形式上诠释着中国传统美学的同时,渐渐开始在内容中关注人文本质和人文精神、蕴涵着一种人文目标和昭示着人文价值理性。然而传统文化带来的美学价值观开始与大众文化在冲突中相互融合,大众文化语境下,中国动画电影的美学特质有了新的呈现。
一、动画形式美的个性化缺失
符号化的艺术创作实际上是对美术风格加以修改、简化与提炼的过程,这也是动画造型的由来,同时也是为了更好地表现运动的影像,以满足叙事的需要。不管是中国早期的动画造型形式美还是日式和美式的造型形式美都在极力地弘扬个性,比如我国早期水墨剪纸动画中的“拉毛工艺”就是利用特殊纸张撕开后参差不齐的边缘来获得一种与水墨风格极其类似的效果。
如今,商业化、市场化、工业化带来的大众文化正深刻影响着中国的动画电影,《大闹天宫》《小蝌蚪找妈妈》等中国传统的动画表现语言已经不能满足当代大众的审美娱乐化的需要,现代的动画受众深受日美动画美学的影响,这也迫使国产动画电影已经开始重新审视自己。商业在改变中国传统动画表现语言的同时,也在推动国产动画电影的发展,传播中国的传统文化,但是要传播就要迎合大众的审美价值观,以牟取用来扩大传播范围的商业利益,中国特有的动画艺术审美观念正发生着从崇高向主流的转变,这种转变意味着大众文化的胜利,它最典型的表现就是国产动画电影中角色和场景的造型形式大量借鉴日、美动画美学形式。
商业利益导致以复制为主要特点的工业化成为国产动画电影的趋势,它与精细、不可复制之间存在着极大的冲突性,在这个趋势发展的过程中,美学形式的复制、高度提炼、简化和成本的降低是必不可少的。从中国早期艺术家创作的《大闹天空》《哪吒闹海》中流畅优美而劲气不泄的中国国画式线条美到仿日式动画形式美学的《梦回金沙城》《魁拔》《藏獒多吉》等用平涂的单块来表现明暗关系的归纳形式美感,这是一种造型形式向另一种造型形式的转变,同时也是非主流形式美向主流形式美的转变,即中国传统美学向大众美学的转变,说明大众文化凭借自己得天独厚的受众广而多的优势和媒体的传播力量占据了艺术美学的中心。这种现象不能简单理解为传统动画美学形式的完全丧失,或者说是中国动画电影个性的完全丧失,而是传统动画艺术形式与大众文化带来的美学形式之间的相互融合和继续发展,这也是探寻新时代中国动画电影审美形式的必经之路。
二、视觉愉悦的大众化
动画电影是一种具有高度想象力的集合体,它的本体是假定的视像,观众需要通过屏幕完成对观赏视像内容的理解,视像内容则通过导演设计、文学创作、原画设计、动作调整和后期制作完成。因此动画电影艺术具有不真实性的一面。在不真实的假定视像叙述中,我们看到的是艺术创作者对于某种带有鲜明形式感的艺术表现方式进行动态编辑与组合而形成的影像画面。在此过程中首先就利用了艺术表现力对情绪进行控制,在此基础上再利用具有艺术感染力的活动影像来打动观众。
动画的创作过程,其实就是艺术家精心设计一个虚拟世界的过程。在这个虚拟世界中,动画电影创作者可以尽情释放创作的激情和特殊的审美情趣。然而现代受众的审美要求在不断被大众文化带来的美学形式所刷新,艺术家为了迎合大众的需求,追逐商业利益来完成传播,导致创作者逐渐忽视了动画内容的重要性,开始过分强调具有强烈刺激感和冲击力影像的画面形式感,以此来满足广大受众的视觉愉悦感。科学技术的不断发展带来了影视技术不断进步,这为人们感受直观的具有冲击力和写实效果的画面提供了更为有效的实现途径,目前的动画电影比以前任何时候更强调它在形式上的视觉感受,大众的这种视觉愉悦需求直接导致了动画电影在内容中淡化精英艺术所特有的道德感召、人文关怀、现实批判、哲学理念以及民族特色。在动画电影《梦回金沙城》的制作过程中,由宫崎骏动画电影制作的团队来参与制作,画面直接借鉴了日本动画导演宫崎骏的创作审美特点,其取材则借鉴了中国西南部的景色,宫崎骏动画电影画面中对于细节刻画的细致入微以及颜色的清新淡雅成为《梦回金沙城》画面的形式美感。
三、艺术与商业结合的趋势
中国早期的国产动画被认为是完全的文化艺术事业,没有产业化经济的概念,不具备商品的基本特征,这样的观念在很大程度上阻碍了国产动画的发展,国产动画电影在20世纪90年代才在计划体制下开始规模化,并且渐渐开始迎来春天,开始有长度和产量的要求,如今在看到国产动画电影发展的同时,也意识到国产动画电影产业链的缺失,中国特有的艺术美学形式仍旧没有找到与商业和新兴美学观念进行完美结合的有效途径,这也说明国产动画电影作为展现中国传统文化媒介的同时与大众文化所带来的审美趋向及价值观之间存在着激烈的矛盾。美国好莱坞动画电影作为成熟的商业化的体系,每年除了大量的商业作品之外同样会出现少数经典的艺术作品,其次是以日本吉卜力工作室为典型的动画电影,还有法国的动画电影《疯狂约会美丽都》,所以大众文化所带来的商业化与艺术的发展之间并不矛盾。
从20世纪90年代开始,随着美、日动画电影对中国动画电影的冲击,商业购买逐渐开始介入国产动画电影这种艺术门类,并对这门综合的艺术形式起着潜移默化的推动作用,但这也导致商业化在某种程度上淹没了中国特色的传统精英动画艺术形式。在国产动画电影产生消费文化理论后的这几十年中,传统的精英文化也开始吸收大众文化的活力,这是一种艺术在表现形式上的变化和发展,比如动画电影《藏獒多吉》《梦回金沙城》,它们在艺术形式上大量吸收了日式动画的美学表现方式,日本动画制作团队或者参与制作日本动画的团队分别参与了这两部国产动画电影的制作,但它们均以中国西部的人文自然环境为背景,两者的结合逐渐走向完美,以此来适应大众文化背景下的审美价值观,这也是国产动画电影美学风格的全球化和民族化相结合的成果。
国产动画电影的商业化不等于完全排斥中国传统精英式的动画艺术形式,现代大众文化对于国产动画电影的影响也注定高雅,审美文化在当下美学格局中有着不可或缺的位置。当前,中国政府对国产动画电影的改革力度正在逐渐加大,动画市场化和商业化运作观念的确立以及对其运作模式的探索,都说明商业化和产业化必然要求中国要创造属于自己的主流商业动画电影。然而,这样的转变并不意味着中国传统的艺术动画电影就无足轻重,实际上,把中国传统艺术形式纳入动画电影的商业化运营模式之中,在保护、支持、传承中国独特的传统艺术的同时推进产业化进程,才是中国动画电影的繁荣之路。
四、结 语
国产动画电影不论是作为人性内在、永不磨灭的高雅艺术而存在,还是作为崇尚世俗的大众文化产物,都不应拘泥于某种单一的艺术形式。当前,中国动画电影盲目追求商业化并不利于长远的发展,这一现状和大众文化的泛滥有着必然的关系,虽然大众文化带来的审美观念对中国动画电影展现的传统精英艺术有着强烈的冲击力,但它终究是当代社会自然发展的产物,同样需要遵循产业化发展的一般规律,中国动画电影在这样的大背景中已经有了成功的案例。中国传统的精英艺术要与大众文化进行相辅相成的发展,来满足不同生活阶层的审美趋向和价值观,要在变化的时代中反映不变的艺术真理和人文关怀,以体现人性之真、自然之美,并以引领人们追求真善美为其本职,始终保持大胆创新的创作思路,这些仍旧是中国动画电影所要追求和弘扬的。
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【关键词】 美国电影;第六日;西方文化;隐喻
【中图分类号】G644.4 【文献标识码】A 【文章编号】2095-3089(2013)33-0-01
一、剧情述评
美国电影《第六日》(The 6th Day)是第一部探索人类克隆的动作影片,它把我们带到科技已高度的不远的未来,在那时,人类科技已可以任意克隆任何生物,甚至包括人类本身。然而,即便克隆人类的技术已相当成熟,但因社会伦理的限制,仍不被法律所允许。
人类的弱点之一就是往往抵挡不了利益的诱惑,在利益面前,不少人会很容易地就忘记了道德伦理和法律的约束而为所欲为。电影中韦恩实验室(研究克隆技术的实验室)的老板杜拉克便是典型的一例——他在医学博士韦恩的帮助下不仅克隆了自己,也克隆了许许多多的被他认为对自己有利的人,电影的主角亚当·吉布森(Adam Gibson,阿诺德·施瓦辛格饰演)即为其中之一。
亚当回到家里发现一个与自己一模一样的人取代了自己享受着本属于自己的天伦之乐,其震惊、困惑、痛苦之情溢于言表。而作为观众,我们都不难想象假如这一切发生在自己身上,会是什么一个感受。于是,为夺回原属于自己的一切——自己、家庭和爱,亚当开始了他的“正名”之旅。
如许多美国电影一样,《第六日》也有一个好莱坞式的结局——亚当在其克隆体的帮助之下,成功揭开了这一惊天阴谋,并最终拿回了原本属于自己的一切。
在这部电影中,克隆与爱两大主题相互交织:为了爱,亚当违背了自己的本意为女儿克隆了他们的宠物狗;出于爱,亚当选择与他的克隆体携手合作,共同揭开了隐藏在克隆人背后的巨大阴谋;因为爱,克隆亚当黯然退出……。若是从圣经和基督文化的角度去审视影片的这两大主题,实则是矛盾与冲突的相互交织——是上帝创造了世界和人类,而人类无权去克隆自己,但人类偏偏又克隆了自己;上帝与他所拣选的民立约,要爱上帝,爱家人,爱邻居,爱一切基督徒如兄弟姐妹,而片中的主人公所做的一切事情的出发点正是“爱”,包括克隆。电影就是在这样的矛盾冲突中给观众留下了无尽的回味和思索:人类在享受飞速发展的科技带来便利的同时,也不免担忧——科技高度发达之时,人类是否还能掌控自己的命运?高科技给人们带来的是福音还是灾难?在高科技面前,人类应该坚守的伦理底线是什么?
二、对克隆的矛盾心态
1997年2月22日英国生物遗传学家维尔穆特成功克隆出“多莉”羊的新闻被报道之后,克隆技术便震惊了世界;2000年6月26日,人类基因图谱被成功破译,这更为克隆人类在理论上提供了可能。但很快,顾及到社会伦理道德以及多数人的反对,多数国家通过立法明令禁止克隆人类。
《第六日》带给我们的不仅仅是视觉的冲击和震撼,更多的则是引发了人们对克隆人的深刻思索。影片最后虽没有援引“第六日法案”对疯狂的杜拉克进行法律审判,但对他的道德伦理审判却是显而易见的。
虽然如此,人们对克隆却不免存在有矛盾心态。正如影片中的亚当,其本意是,无论何种生物,“生命的基本法则是,出生,成长,生活,然后死去”。但对女儿的爱却又使他不由自主地走进宠物克隆商场,克隆了他们家的宠物犬“奥利佛”。这在片中的人们看来,为自己和家人克隆一个健康的宠物作为替代品已被普遍认可,即便他们仍强烈反对克隆人。
克隆技术的出现和发展,颠覆了人们传统的对生命的理解和思考:一则人们渴望借助克隆技术延续生命;另一方面,传统的社会伦理法则又告诉他们不可越过雷池。正如影片中亚当的思索和疑虑:克隆出来的,没有灵魂,危险吗?既然安全,为何不允许克隆人类?如何合情合理合法地运用高科技,尤其是克隆技术来造福人类,矛盾和纠结仍在继续。
三、西方伦理文化隐喻与《圣经》
文艺作品大都有其神话的、历史的或现实的素材和思想渊源并受其价值观念的影响,特别是神话传说,“一直在塑造和影响那些民族的思维观念,对各民族的思想观念和文化发展产生了极其深刻的影响” [1]。而在西方世界,“《圣经》的故事和传说是西方文化艺术的重要源泉……它的思想和哲理已经成为人们意识的重要组成部分”[2]。究其原因,在于《圣经》典故在西方社会中影响的普遍性和深入性:《圣经》典故在西方政治、经济、文学、艺术领域普遍存在,且已深深融入哲学、宗教、和意识形态领域,成为西方人的道德和行为规范,其影响力之广、之深是任何其他典故所无法匹敌的。
正如深受儒家思想影响的中国人的伦理道德观念基本来自于儒家学说一样,《圣经》及其典故所蕴含价值观念成为以基督教为普遍的西方人所认可和信奉的社会伦理价值观也就可以理解了。那么,西方电影取材于《圣经》典故并将其伦理思想作为影片的主题来表现并不出人意料。甚至可以不夸张地说,整整一部西方电影史从未脱离基督教文化的深刻影响[3]。
电影《第六日》也毫不例外地带有浓厚的《圣经》文化色彩,我们从该片片名以及男主角的姓名这些细节就可见一斑,因为“一部电影及其片名总是浸润在该民族的文学、历史、哲学、宗教、传统、习俗、传说等形成的文化体系中” [4]。
《圣经》这样描述:“神就照着自己的形像造人,乃是照着他的形像造男造女……是第六日”(《旧约·创世纪》,1:27-31)[5],而片中被多次重复的一句台词正是“在第六天,上帝创造了人,上帝造人时在第六天”,凸显了片名《第六日》的宗教文化含义;《圣经》中还讲道:“耶和华神用地上的尘土造人,将生气吹在他的鼻孔里,他就成了有灵气的活人,名叫亚当”(《旧约·创世纪》,2:7)[6],片中主人公也恰恰以上帝所创造的第一个人的名字“亚当”命名;还有,主角亚当·吉布森(Adam Gibson)的姓“吉布森(Gibson)”在古德语中的含义又是“光明磊落的誓约”,此名表达父母希望子女继承其祖先财物及传统的愿望。
这些细节除了在艺术手法上起到呼应主题的作用之外,更深层的含义则是表现该片主创者文艺创作的价值取向,即《圣经》和基督文化所秉承的传统的基督教伦理,即着眼于在肉体层面或物质范畴解读人(尤其是基督徒)与他人、社会及万物的关系嬗变,目标指向以神人和谐为基础,重建被罪扭曲的人与他人、人与社会乃至整个自然界的关系[7],重新回归到“神”所安排的正常的社会和人类生活秩序。
可见,影片中所反映的克隆人争议以及人们的矛盾心理,究其根源,正是来源于《圣经》深刻影响下的民族文化传统,也反映了影片主创者对克隆人问题鲜明的“上帝取向”的生命价值观和态度,即任何生命的诞生,尤其是人,只有通过正常途径出生、成长的人,才是《圣经》中所讲的“神所应许的”,才是“神”所喜悦的,才是合情合理合法的,否则就是对上帝的不敬——因为人不可能像上帝那样创造人类和世界;当然就是也是反传统的和伦理的,自然不会成为多数人的共识而被普遍接受。
四、结语
任何文艺作品都会反映作者本民族特有的文化传统及其附带的价值观念。欧美大片对所有学英语、用英语的人来说不啻于一个学习和了解西方文化的生动而鲜活的教材,也为我们提供了一个加深中西文化间相互了解、增加彼此间信任的绝好窗口。另外,一部好的电影带给人们的应该不仅仅是精神上的享受以及文化学习和交流的素材,电影故事背后的故事及其带来的对生命和人性的理性思考也非常值得我们去关注。
参考文献
[1]董广坤,王传顺.《2012年》中的神话原型与末日隐喻[J].电影文学,2011:20.115-116.
[2]赵玲洁,赵彦荣.《圣经》在西方文化中的表现形式及影响[J].时代文学,2011:8.88-89.
[3]杨然.电影中的宗教魅力——谈基督教文化在电影中的文化价值[J].电影评介,2009:19.8-9。
[4]佟磊,沈秋敏.浅谈西方文化与西方电影片名翻译[J].时代文学,2009:15.149-150.
Key words:Black English; American English; American Culture; Influence
Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. The Characteristics of Black English 2
2.1 Phonetics 2
2.2 Grammar 3
3. The Influence on American Culture 7
3.1 The Influence on American English 7
3.2 The Influence on American Art 9
3.3 The Influence on American Literature 11
4. The Practical Significance of Black English 14
5. Conclusion 15
Acknowledgements 16
References 17
1.Introduction
Black English is a social dialect of American English, and it has been historically influenced by West African languages, General Southern American English and English-based creoles.
This kind of English shares several characteristics with the forms of Creole English spoken by people throughout the whole world. In addition, it also has pronunciation, grammatical structures, and vocabulary in common with various West African languages.[1]198 Since a large number of Black people migrate to America and they have the percentage of more than 12%, [2]496the Black English has been popularized in this country. But in the American society, people seldom realize the influence and contribution of Black English and they never give the equal state to Black people. In fact, the language and culture of American reflect the contributions of the Black English in many aspects, such as linguistic, art and literature.
Nowadays, it is reasonably acceptable to say that Black English is not only an independent language but also making practical significance to American English and the American Culture. Researchers need to study the significance in details. So this paper intends to collect the study of the characteristics of Black English, and then summarize its influences on the American English. Since the change of language can lead changes in other aspects, such as Art and Literature aspects, this paper also states the influence in detailed options.
The method of this paper is reviewing the past study and surveys, not just from the linguistic point of view or the historical aspects of Black English, but from its formation and characteristics to demonstrate the existence and development of Black English and the practical significance. Through the analysis of Black English on the profound impact of American culture, the paper advances a view on the value of Black English and its prospects. Finally it puts forward the importance and necessity of enhancing learning and research on Black Culture as the continuous improvement and economic conditions of Black people.
2. The Characteristics of Black English
Black English, as a unique variant of English, has many differences with the Standard English based on the structure of language. And this paper tends to discuss the features of Black English in phonetics and grammar aspects. Since Black English is not just a simplified version of English, it has a unique language system with the same fixed structure as any other dialect all over the world.
2.1 Phonetics
Most Black people use a distinctive English variant. This black dialect has aroused many linguists’ interests. Repeatedly been labeled as “pidgin English”, Black English’s role in the development of American Culture can not be questioned. Black English as a source of Black Culture has always been paid more attention by linguists and sociologists in nowadays.
2.1.1 The Weakened Consonant
Because of the influence of West African, some voiced consonants are the same with their form of voiceless consonant. Word-final devoicing of /b/, /d/, and /g/ are always pronounced to //, //, //, and in most cases these phonemes are ignored. In order to make a difference between them, sometimes the vowel before the voiced consonants could be slightly re-read harder, take the “heat and heed”, “let and led” and “fate and fade” which is ended with the word “e” as examples.
In the syllables which are combined with consonants and vowels, some nasals can also be weakened, such as “sum, sun, sung”, and only the vowel // in the word which is somewhat influenced by the nasal.
2.1.2 The Omission of Consonant Clusters
The simplification of Consonant Clusters is an obvious feature of Black English. The mutes in English are //, //, //, //, //, //, //, //, //, //. Black English often omit the mutes in the end of a word, and the word “side”// is always pronounced to “sigh”//. This kind of omission is not arbitrary, and it is decided by the situation of pronouncing a word: when the mute at the end only represents the morpheme is not connected, for example, the frequency of reserving // is higher than integral part of the stem in the word “borrow”. It will also be reserved if there is vowel behind the mute, such as the first “d” in the phrase “tried hard”.
2.1.3 The Pronunciation of // and //
The omission of // is a notable characteristic of Black English. In American, it is a tendency of underclass to omit // before vowels but not only of Black English.[3]297Because of this kind of omission, there is no differences between “guard-god”, “fort-fought” and “sore-saw” in Black English.When // is between two vowels, the syllable after it needn’t be pronounced, as “Paris” could be read as//; when there is a word beginning with vowel behind it, the // could also be regretted.
// is voiceless before the consonant, such as the word “health” always be pronounced to // and so on. However, when // is after the vowel as the end of the word, it is assimilated by the phoneme before it, such as the similar pronunciation with “mail” and “may”//. In addition, // is voiceless before // and //, as “always”//, “already” //. The more interesting thing is that they pronounce “will” to “ah”,for example, “I ah be there in a minute.” While the correct form in Standard English is “I will be there in a minute.”
2.1.4 The Pronunciation of // and //
In Black English, // is always pronounced as // and // is always pronounced as //, for example, “think” is pronounced to be //. While the // in the end of a word is transformed to //, and “mouth” is pronounced to be //, “nothing” is to //. In addition, the “th” in the middle of a word is always pronounced to be //, so “mother” is to //, “other” is to //, and “brother” is to //.
Actually, there are many more characters than mentioned in the paper, but we can recognize the differences of phonetics between Black English and Standard English just from the mentioned examples.
Smith Thurman, a well-known expert in Black English, said that black dialect used same number of English phonemes with white, and the only difference is the distribution pattern of phoneme.[4]553
2.2 Grammar
There are also many researches who have found the special usage in grammar of Black English. For example, the different meanings in the sentences “He workin’” and “He done worked” are hard to be explained by the Standard English. The first means “He is working 253.It also indicates the difference between Simple progressive and emphasized perfective. Not only the tense plays a different role in the grammar, there are many other points such as the relative usage of the word “be”, the negation and transmission of the word.
2.2.1 Tense
Syntax best embodies the characteristics of Black English. In the verb-system, the differences between Black English and Standard English are most significant, which is most similar with pidgin and Creole their ancestors used. In Black English, the only duty of the verb in the sentence is to indicate the time concept of one or a few verbs, and other verbs can be expressed in verb stem. Sometimes when the context gives essential temporal support, the tense can be totally regretted. For example, in the following section of black sermons, the Preacher has made it clear that he is talking about the past, because both the life and devotion of Jesus have already happened: “The man Jesus,he come your sins! He the thieves and here. He die to walk the earth. He you from go among try to Save the unrighteous. The master say whoever will let him come!”
In addition, the singular verb of third person in Present Tense is not ended with “s”, for example, “She work in the factory”.
Black English has two Perfect Tenses: “Remote Perfect aspect” which is constituted by the “been” and “Immediate Perfect aspect” constituted by “done”. At this point, Black English and West African languages is extremely similar. [6]
(i) The “been” in “remote perfect aspect” has a certain meaning of action in past tense. And this kind of perfect tense could be divided into two forms: I been know him(momentary action), I been knowin’-him.(ongoing action).
(ii) “Immediate Perfect aspect” uses the auxiliary verb “done”. In modern Black English, following sentence are commonly used:
① I done go.
② I done went.
③ I done gone.
These three are used in different situations:
① Used in the Immediate Present sentences.
② Used in the Simple Past sentences.
③ Used in the semi adjective structures.
2.2.2 Relative usage of “be”
The usage of“be”in Black English is also very special. If one action, thing or state does not happen frequently, the“be”in this sentence will be deleted. For example, “he in the house -watchin’ TV”. The abbreviation of the copula such as “is” and “are” can also be deleted. In addition, when in a passive sentence the passive voice is not expressed so clearly by the speaker, “be” can also be deleted, for example, “the factory built in 1958”. However if the action happens frequently, “be” can be used as the predicate verb in the sentence“they be out in the yard every night.”
When“be” and“do” work together means this kind of thing happens frequently in the Interrogative sentences and Emphatic sentences. For example, “Do you be playing all day?” (Do they play all day?) “Yeah, the boys do mess around a lot.”(Yeah, the boys do mess around a lot.) Famous linguist William Labov researched a lot in the Black English and concluded that: all the“be”which can appear in the forming of abbreviation can be deleted in Black English. [7]113Actually, the usage of “be”is far more complex than this conclusion which is easily got from the above descriptions.
2.2.3 Negation
There are three different versions of negation in Black English: “ain’t”, “don’” and “dit’n”, which can be written as “ain’t”, “don’t” and “didn’t”. While the special usage of “ain’t” is a feature of Black English. Ain not is a negative form in past tense: I ain’t see. In a sentence, the negation always repeated: I ain’t see nothin’ like that no place. The meaning is equivalent of: I did not see anything like that anywhere. (I’ve never seen this kind of thing in any place.) When the predicate is not active verb, ain’t become the only symbol of negation. For example, I ain’t afraid of nothing. He ain’t gonna get no money out of it. Besides, it can be combined with "ing" and make up the present continuous tense. For example, we ain’t kidding and we ain’t quitting, we ain’t turning back.
The function of “ain’t” in Black English is same with the “haven’t” in Standard English. Therefore the “We haven’t contacted each of her since last Christmas.” can be evolved to “We ain’t contacted each of her since last Christmas.” Sometimes, “ain’t” can replace the phrase “didn’t” in simple negation sentence. So in Black English, sentences can be like following forms: “She ain’t email me yesterday.” The young boy insisted, “I ain’t steal his wallet.” “I ain’t run like that in years.”
Multi-negation means there is not only one symbol of negation. Under this regulation, the pronoun needs to add some mark of negation.
For example: “She ain’t see any thing/ anyone at the railway station” can be changed into “She ain’t see nothing/ nobody at the railway station”. If the subject is “nobody” but not “he” or “Janet”, it will add negative determiner at the beginning of the sentence. This is called “negative inversion” by linguists. As a result, it is very common to hear that “Didn’t nobody say nothing to the peoples!”
3. The Influence on American Culture
An important contribution of Black English is the influence on the American Culture. The familiar “negro spiritual”, the unusual rhythms and the famous performance in movie and literature —all these originated with the slaves. It is said that what is the best and most original in American popular culture has its roots in Black English. Important black speakers, singers, actors and writers are too numerous to list.
3.1 The Influence on American English
He Ruigao expresses his opinion in his article Black English that there are some differences in certain aspects of language between Black English and American English. And he believes that after all, Black English is a variant of English, so the differences are only in some degree rather than fundamental, and do not affect the people’s contacts.
It is clear that there is a strong relationship between Black English and American English, while the distinct characters of Black English are not fully explained and its origins are still a matter of debate. One theory is that Black English arose from one or more slave creoles that arose from the trans-Atlantic African slave trade and the need for African captives to communicate among themselves and with their captors. According to this theory, these captives’ language developed into what are called pidgins, simplified mixture of two or more languages. As pidgins are from closely contact between members of different language communities, the slave trade would have been exactly such a situation. Not until the time of the American Civil War did the language of the slaves become familiar to a large number of educated whites. As the time passes, the Black English gradually plays an important role in the United States and U.S. Culture.
3.1.1 The Forming of Black English
In the slave society, there are so many different languages that the natives on two sides of the river cannot understand each other. But the safest way for them to keep their authority is to trade with the different nations on both sides of the river. The famous writer, Cotton Mather, claimed to have been very familiar with his slaves’ speech, and his imitative writing shows features presented in many Creole languages and even in modern Black English. By the time of the American Revolution, varieties among slave creoles were not quite mutually intelligible.
Not until the time of the American Civil War did the language of the slaves become familiar to a large number of educated whites. In Army Life in a Black Regiment (1870), Thomas Wentworth Higginson detailed many features of his soldiers' language. Shana Poplack has also provided corpus-based evidence from isolated enclaves in Samaná and Nova Scotia lived by descendants of migrations of early Black English-speaking groups. All of these researches suggest that the grammar of early Black English is closer to that of contemporary British dialects than modern urban Black English to current American dialects. We can find that the modern language is a result of divergence from mainstream varieties, rather than the result of creolization from a widespread American creole.
3.1.2 The Relations with the American English
In United States, blacks worked in this land with the identity of slaves and inherited some habits from the African culture and language, and thus gradually formed a black American society with unique culture. While the communication between the black slaves and the slavers became a major hub linking the two cultures, and produced a subtle influence to American English, which mainly reflected in English words borrowed, as well as the meaning of the word twists and turns, and the absorption of idioms. Its pronunciation is, in some respects, common to Southern American English, which is spoken by many African Americans and many non-African Americans in the United States.
There is little regional variation among speakers of Black English.89 In order to understand the United States and American culture, and to acquire its development, Blacks melt their culture, such as language, literature and art, with those of the United States. Later, Black English is not only for Black people, it is still widely used by a number of regional dialects. Even in literature works, authors often use Black English to show the hero's nationality, identity and upbringing.
Not only the phonetics and grammar of Black English prove the influence to American language, but we can also achieve it from the assertion of Black English. For example, “the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice” means “she is very mature and favorable”. Another example, “you aren’t got a pot to piss in on a window to throw I tout of” means that you are very pool. “If I tell you a hen hip snuff, look under its wing and find a whole box” means that all you said is true. “You never miss yo water till yo well run dry” means that “you will never feel the importance of water until you are very thirst”.[10]6-7 The representative assertion is very lively and meaningful, suggesting the wisdom of the Black English.
3.2 The Influence on American Art
When Blacks live in Africa, they have the hobby to sing and dance during laboring. But then they are later taken away as slaves by the colonists to the southern United States plantation. They work in the fields wearing shackles and live in the primitive hut in the deserted swamp and jungle. But due to this kind of suffering, they create a valuable oral literature including hymns and blues and other Black Art, which has made an outstanding contribution to the culture to the United States.
3.2.1 The Integration with Music
It is generally believed that music of blacks has some distinctive forms from American music like American Ragtime, Blues, Jazz, Musical and Country music. Ragtime was first played by a black Anonymous piano, which was very popular in the late 19th century to early 20th century. It uses segmentation rhythm, trying to evolve from the popular dance music of blacks, and then Ragtime music appears. Scott. Joplin is one of the Ragtime representatives, and his performance of “Maple Leaf pull tone” has been a smash hit, which is so famous that all of the Ragtime pianist would play in their shows.
Blues is from field horn and songs with a strong feeling of African tradition and its tunes are always sad. The most famous Blues singer is Bessie Smith, known as Blues Queen. When Ragtime, Blues and other tunes with rich colors of Africa's influence add together with the elements in Europe, the Jazz comes into being.
With the integration of grammar, the ways people sing a song become various in American. Many young people jump into the swim of “rap” and “hip-hop”, which is considered as a really fashion style to express one song and the soul. While among the most famous masters, more than 90 percent are black people, such as the episode in Prison Break.
The word “rap” meant “blame” in the middle of 18th century and was always used in phrase in the 19th, “to take the rap” meant “to take the blame”. After the civil war, black people used it to blame white people and requested the equality with them. And finally it replaced the word “conversation” to be popular among the white teenagers. There are many simplifications of words in “rap” which become totally different with American English. For example, the “er” in the end of word is changed into “a”, “nigger” into “nigga”.[11]185 Besides, the “ks” or “cks” in the end of a word can be replaced by “x” because they have the same pronunciation. All of these examples prove that it has become a new version of grammar in American English. For example, the “re” or “e” which can’t be heard during a speedy song are always omitted such as “more” and “mo”, “for” and “fo”, or the number “4”. The omission of “g” in “ing” is another new grammar in American English.
Some words also change its pronunciation. For example, in the word “through”, “gh” never being pronounced is know to all, since we pronounce “th” // in stead of // there is no difference in pronunciation with the word “true”.
In the “rap”, the Black English has many distinct characters and its lyrics tend to be more fashion and creative. Most of these new word are very short or the abbreviation of some long words so that even the local Americans can not understand. In order to keep its character of fashion, “rap” uses word on the point of fashion. Therefore, the characteristics of Black English are the foundation of “rap”, which makes it no longer a simple style of music but a diverse style.
3.2.2 The Integration with Film
Film is an integrated form of art, with combination of test technology, art and commerce, and the thought of images it brings to the human mind is revolutionary. Because it's easy to be accepted, the film is destined to be a mass media on hundreds of millions people when it appears. In a short century, Hollywood becomes a symbol of American mass culture, and the influence on American society is immeasurable.
Film expresses and promotes the life style and values of Americans. During the war era, it boosts moral e of the soldiers. While in the Depression era, it could replace the cash of the American dream and reflected the public's ideals and dreams. In this case, blacks also express their dream to achieve the equality in the American society through the film, such as Shaw shank Redemption, the Pursuit of Happiness and Death Pact and so on. Because of the success of these works and the influence on future, some later generations continued to collect and summarize the classic dialogue in these black films, and to commemorate the black culture for future generations to study at the same time.
There are two characteristics of grammar which can be easily found in the black films.First is the invariant of “be”, and second is the multi-negation of“ain’t”.The invariant of“be”is used before verb, adjective, noun and passive voice in Black English.
(i)Your gas bill be high, don’t it? (Your gas bill is usually high, isn’t it?)
(ii) My boss be in his office by 8am. (My boss is usually in his office by 8am.)
(iii)It don’t be dogged. I grease it and oil it. (It isn’t usually dogged, I grease it and oil it.)
Laurel Avenue (1993) is a story about a family’s effort to counter drug, faction and violence in order to achieve the “American Dream”. In the film, when Rashhawn’s uncle blamed on his sailing drug, he said that “What the hell I be giving you money fuh[for ]?” while his word can also be translated to “Do you know why I always give you money ? ”
It is worthy to mention that this kind of grammar in the film is also very popularized by young Latinos. Therefore, the Black English users have crossed the racial boundaries and expanded to the crowd who are favor of hip hop culture.
The multi-negation of “ain’t” can be fully realized in the most influential black filmmaker Spike Lee’s masterpiece Do the Right Thing. The story happened in Brooklyn, New York, and demonstrated an explosion caused by the ethnic problems. There are a large number of unique performances of Black English in the dialogues: “Ain’t no brothers on the wall? I ain’t run like that in years. Don’t call me no bum. Jade don’t come here no more, all right? Don’t call me nothing.”
Although many so-called “not standard”regulations of Black English have been criticized for a long time, its expression is an important means to promote Black Culture of the Hollywood directors and become a beautiful view in American films.
3.3 The Influence on American Literature
In the destiny of black, there must be a clearly visible way, on which they have worked with effort to win dignity and literary. Through their effort, it exhibited such a road as well as those marks in relation to life along the way: once in Black history, unforgettable pain is essential for the experience to the results today. Black Literature, in the United States and the world, has been mainly as slaves, especially in countries outside Africa.
The Black English writer Toni Morrison was born in black family, and later achieved today’s scholars and writer’s identity by reading. In 1993, because of her “making the important part of American society much more vigorously through the rich poetic imagination and expression”, she won the Nobel Prize for Literature, and became the only black women writer in history to be honored.
Not only the Black Literature but also the American Literature has these characters of Black English in their works.
The Sound and the Fury (1929) is written by a famous American writer William Faulkner (1897-1962). The first part, “April 7th, 1928”, describes the conversation and action between the children in the farm waiting for the coming of procession.
“I skeered I going to holler,” T.P said.
“Get on the box and see is they started.”
“They haven’t started because the band hasn’t come yet.” Caddy said.
“They ain’t going t have no band.” Frony said.
“How do you know?” Caddy said.
“I know what I knows,” Frony said.
“You don’t know anything,” Caddy said.
“She went to the tree.”
“Put me up,” Versh.
“Your paw told you to stay out that tree,” Versh said.
“That was a long time ago,” Caddy said,
“I except he’s forgotten about it, besides he said to mind me tonight. Didn’t he say to mind me tonight?”
“I’m not going to mind you, T .P and Frony are not going to either,” Jason said.[12]4
The children in this conversation turn out to be totally different between T.P, Frony, Versh and Caddy, Jason. The dialogue of the first three people has some characters of Black English. For example, “be” in the sentence “I (am) skeered (that) I (am ) going to holler” which is the distinct signal of Black English. On the contrary, the conversation of Candy and Jason do not omit this part as Jason says that “I’m not going to mind you,TP and Frony are not going to either”. And the singular verb of third person even does not have any difference with first person or any one else in the sentence “I know what I knows”. In addition, the mixture of // and // of the word “git” in the sentence “got on the box” is very common in Black English. It turns out that T.P, Frony and Versh are children of black in the farm, while Caddy and Jason are children of the farmer.
On the other hand, many black people like Frederick and William, not only struggle to learn the culture, but also use the pen as a weapon after the flight. They took active part in the abolitionist movement and expressed positive public opinions. Slave owner always treat Black people as the inferior race, so Black people’s ability to carry out literature itself is a powerful evidence of that lie, let alone the rich ideological content in their articles. And all of these proof that Black people is an excellent nation with a historical cultural tradition on the literature and their language also plays an irreplaceable role in the development of American literature.
4. The Practical Significance of Black English
In1863, 2 years before the war ended, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in the Confederate states. Shortly after the war ended in 1865, the thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution freed all slaves. A few years later, the fourteenth and fifteenth Amendments gave the former slaves full civil rights, including giving African-American men the right to vote.[13]77
In politics, more blacks are voting, and more are getting elected. Since 40 years ago, the Black middle-class group has risen from scratch and grown in their standard of living. There are no difference in professional skills and educational background with the white middle class. Outstanding representatives of Black people appear in many areas of the United States, such as the Black mayor, governor, ministers and members of Congress, and all of them are no longer surprise to us. The much more important thing is that Democratic candidate Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential election in 2008 to become the first real chance to win the presidency in the Black.
Blacks are also trying to improve their financial position by going into professions or starting their own business. There are now more than 600,000 black-owned companies in the U.S. and blacks are more numerous than ever in the professions-as teachers, doctors, lawyers, judges and ministers.
In 1952, Ralph Ellison, a black author, wrote a book about blacks in the U.S. called the Invisible Man. Since the 1960s, blacks have become more visible on TV and in movies and magazines. Networks, filmmakers and advertisers now realize that black consumers want to see their race represented. Today, blacks in significant numbers work as newscasters, TV actors and actresses, and movie stars.
Huang Weifeng says in his African American English on a Number of Historical Issues that, “Only when the racism in American society has been completely eradicated from the mind, the Black Cultural expressions of Black English can really be recognized.”81
5. Conclusion
“Black English” is widely used as the name because it is used by Black people. In fact, its user of this language is far beyond our imagination. In addition to the external community in the black population, it is also used by lower middle and low classes in America. It has profound impacts on American culture and communication in various aspects, especially with the continuous improvement of their political, economic and cultural status, and Black English has been paid more and more attention. In view of this, the paper starts to explore the formation and characteristics of its existence and development. It is said that the view of helping people understand the Black Culture correctly, the concept of eliminating the racial discrimination and enhancing the awareness to protect national culture plays an important role to cultural exchanges and cultural diversity.
The above discussion of Black English is by no means comprehensive but it can serve our purpose to improve the regulation and state of Black English. The significance of studying the nature of Black English is really multifaceted. While the most direct one is the significance for lingu istic research. The attitude to the question that whether Black English is a dialect or a language determines the methods of research. This paper argues that Black English is essentially a separate system and its significance to the American Culture. It should be researched as an independent study of language. [17]34
Undoubtedly, the Black English makes Black people more dramatic in the movies. The syntax rules and special vocabulary of Black English, which are incompatible with the mainstream of English, become the foundation of their culture with their bold dance and passive music. Although most black people using Black English live in the southern United States and the countries, those well-educated middle-class blacks also use Black English in some informal gatherings.
With the black music, novels and movies continuously mix into the mainstream of American society, the syntax rules and special vocabulary of Black English begin to be accepted by American English and become parts of the American culture. Because of the worldwide spread of English and increasingly prosperous Black Culture, the Black English will be more widely active in screen as a mature variation of English and an important way to display the diverse culture of the United States.
Acknowledgements
My initial thanks go to my tutor, Wu Qing, who patiently supervised my dissertation and was at times very willing to offer me illuminating advice or suggestions. Without her help, I could not have finished this dissertation.
I am also indebted to other teachers and my classmates who have not only offered me their warm encouragements but also shared with me their ideas and books.
My greatest personal debt is to my grandparents and parents, who have cultivated a soul of sensitivity, hospitality, and honesty out of me, and offered a harbor of happiness and sweetness for me.
The remaining weakness and possible errors of the dissertation are entirely my own.
References
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[8] Baker, Houston A., Jr. Blues. Ideology and Afro-American Literature: a Vernacular Theory [M].University of Chicago Press, 1984.
[9] Baugh, John, Beyond Ebonics. Linguistic Pride and Racial Prejudice [M].New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
[10] 杰克•丹尼尔. 黑人英语中的影响[M]. 英国伦敦出版社, 1973.
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[13] 张卫平. 美国制度与文化[M]. 中国人民大学出版社, 2006.
[14] 黄卫峰. 对现代英语词汇学的两处质疑[J]. 云梦学刊, 2003.
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[17] 葛咏涛. 美国文化风云人物[M]. 四川大学出版, 2007.
诚 信 承 诺
我谨在此承诺:本人所写的毕业论文《论黑人英语对美国文化的影响及其现实意义》均系本人独立完成,没有抄袭行为,凡涉及其他作者的观点和材料,均作了注释,若有不实,后果由本人承担。
承诺人(签名): 徐珊珊
关键词:权力距离 不确定性规避 个人主义-集体主义 男性度-女性度
一、Hofstede的文化心理模式与写作
荷兰跨文化合作研究所的霍夫斯特德(Hofstede,1980)做过一项著名的跨文化比较研究,他曾对IBM公司在40个国家、地区中的10余万雇员,用20种语言进行了一项长达7年的研究,发现这些国家在文化上的差异主要表现为4个方面:即“权力距离”、“不确定性回避”、“个体取向与集体取向”、“男性化与女性化”。这4个方面也就是民族文化差异的4个维度,每一种文化的特点都可以用它在这4个维度上的强弱来表示。
1.“权力距离”(power distance) ,指一种文化对社会地位差别和等级重要性的看重程度。也可视为上级对下级,管理者对被管理者的影响力和控制力的大小。在权力距离大的文化中,整个社会是一个等级较鲜明的组织系统;而权力距离较小的文化则会使人们有较为平等的观念。
2.“不确定性规避”(uncertainty avoidence),指社会大众面对不确定性和模糊情境所产生恐惧感的强弱,及是否采取措施消除这种恐惧感。不确定因素规避指数高的文化信赖权威,避免分歧和不确定;而不确定因素规避指数低的文化乐于冒险和接受新奇、陌生的事物。
3.“个人主义-集体主义”(inpidualism-collectivism),指一种文化依赖和忠于个人自我的程度。个人主义倾向的社会,注重自我需要的满足,追求多样化的生活和自我价值的实现;而集体主义倾向的社会则重视集体的利益及个人对集体的责任。
4.“男性度-女性度”(masculinity-femininity),指一种文化是看重自信、成就和财富拥有,还是更看重社会支持、生活质量等其他方面。男性度指数高的社会崇尚成就和野心及其他阳刚行为;男性度指数低的文化中,工作和成就则是次要的,提倡的是人与人的相互依赖与和谐相处,同情弱者,重视人与自然的和谐。
文化属于社会结构的概念,是社会形态的组成部分,文化模式就是一个社会中所有文化内容(包括文化特质与文化丛)组合在一起的特殊形式和结构,因此,文化模式反映的是一个社会的结构、形态、运行等总的社会意识。语言作为文化的载体,必然负载着一个民族的文化心理模式。美国应用语言学家罗伯特.凯普兰(Robert Kaplan,1966)便发现,语言和写作是文化现象,每一种语言都有其独一无二的修辞习惯,篇章的组织方式反映了人的思维模式。他总结了五种文化不同的段落组成类型,其中英语的段落模式与汉语的段落模式便有很大的不同,英语篇章的组织和发展是"直线型"(linear),即直截了当地陈述主题,进行论述;汉语学生典型作文方式呈"螺旋型"(circular/spiral),即不直接切入主题,而是在主题外围"兜圈子"或"旁敲侧击",最后进入主题。卡普兰有关思维模式和写作的研究导致了对比修辞研究的发展。文化和心理模式的研究成为探讨第二外语写作的重要角度。本文便想从霍夫斯特德的四种文化思维模式来透视中国学生英语论文与英语母语论文的差异。
二、中国人的文化心理模式
1.中国文化中较大的权力距离
中国经过长期的封建社会和儒家礼教的熏陶,整个社会都笼罩在“三纲五常”的等级观念中。上下级甚至父子、兄弟之间都有不同的权力等级。虽然“君叫臣死,臣不得不死;父叫子亡,子不得不亡”等封建观念已然过时,但“长兄如父、官大一级压死人、师道尊严”这些上下观念依然深入人心。较大的权力距离使得中国文化中的人们比较尊重上级、长者或已有的权威,习惯顺从和接受。与之相比,英语国家封建社会的历史都较短,文化在很大程度上继承了古代希腊文明的民主议会制度,说英语人数最多的美国和澳洲又都是年轻的大陆,英语文化的权力距离相对较小,人们崇尚平等,敢于提出自己的观点。
2.中国文化中较高的不确定性规避指数
不确定性和标新立异往往与社会等级化的程度成反比。在即成的、稳定的社会组织系统中,不确定性自然不受青睐。因此,中国文化的不确定性规避指数也相应较高,人们对尚未被社会舆论或权威确定的事物往往采取规避态度,不太喜欢竞争和冲突,追求有秩序的社会生活,力求将可能发生的不确定性降低到最低限度。另外,中国作为四大文明古国,处肥沃之地,以居住地为根,衍出“家本位”,更导致人们对不确定和模糊情境的较强恐惧;而多数英语国家探险和迁移的传统使得英语文化中的人们较喜欢探索未知的领域,敢于冒险和面对挑战。
3.中国文化强调集体主义
在英语文化中,个人主义(inpidualism)包含着自我认知、自我实现、自我控制、自我突破等优秀品质(Waterman,1984)。但在中国文化中,个人主义常有自私、不考虑集体利益、特立独行等负面内涵。中国的文化更重视互相依赖和共享的集体利益。自我的价值实现、成就的追求会受到有意识的压抑和贬低,以求得同集体中其他成员的和谐。
4.中国文化的女性主义倾向
根据霍夫斯特德的界定,男性主义的文化崇尚成就和野心;而女性主义文化提倡的,人与人的相互依赖、重视的是人与自然的和谐相处。虽然中国有男尊女卑思想,且对物质和金钱非常崇拜,表面上看是一个男性度高的社会;但本质上,对追求成功、重视成就、崇尚力量、速度、高大等男子气概并不认同。相反,中国的儒家精神倡导“修身、齐家、治国、平天下”,强调道德规范自觉能力,人的价值通过“内省”、“克己”来表现,形成中国人内倾的性格。 林语堂先生在其成名作《中国人》上,把中国人的性格概括为,“老实温厚,遇事忍耐,消极避世,超脱老滑,和平主义,知足常乐,幽默滑稽,因循守旧。”虽然有些偏颇,但也真实反映了中国文化的女性主义倾向。
从以上四种文化维度的内涵和数据上都可以看出,中国文化与英语文化在价值取向上有很大差异。这些差异不仅体现为跨文化交际中的障碍,对第二外语写作也会产生一定的负迁移作用。Connor(1997)在《对比修辞——第二语言写作中的跨文化层面》一书中提到,霍夫斯特德的四种文化维度可以用来进一步从心理学的角度探讨跨文化写作的差异。 Nelson & Carson(1995)和SU-YUEH WU也都分别对中国和北美学生英文写作中的各自的“集体主义”或“个人主义”倾向进行过研究。本文想通过将中国学生用英语写的学术论文与英语母语学者用英语写的学术论文进行对比,从霍夫斯特德的四个文化维度角度来找寻差异的原因,以改进我国学生的英语论文水平。
转贴于 三、中国学生的ESL学术论文和英语母语学者学术论文的对比
1.引用时附带的尊称
英文母语论文中每逢引用名家或其他作者的原文时,往往只加上“According to(根据xxx的话)”、“As xxx says(如xxx所说)”,或直接在引号后注上所引的出处。英语母语的论文很重视将别人的话加上引号,标明出处。但标明本身即意味着尊重,很少再附加其他的尊称。但中文的论文在引用名家之言时,仅仅说明出处似乎远不能表达对作者的尊重,“xx先生”、“xx教授”、“xxx翁”、“著名xxx家”等标签常常可见。中国学生的英语论文中在引用时也相应地有“the well-known(famous/great/experienced(知名的/著名的/伟大的/资深的))”等恭维性修饰词,或“其观点对xx领域做出重要贡献(奠定了xx的基础)”等推崇性句子,以表明其所引话语的权威性。这种对权威的恭维明显是受中文传统的影响。而这种传统可能是源于中国较大的权力距离造成的习惯思维。在权力距离大的社会中,直接提到长者的名讳是十分无礼的,甚至有砍头之罪。这种传统流传下来,便造成了习惯性的附加尊称,在用第二语言写作时,也难以避免。
2.引用成语或俗语的频率
这里所说的成语或俗语是指已在语言中固定下来的表达法,这些引用在英语论文中并不得到欣赏,被称为“cliché”(陈词滥调),英语的论文中喜欢使用某些自创的隐喻,或灵活使用一些惯用语,却很少照搬已有的成语或俗语(在统计的5篇文章中,这种“cliché”的数量为零)。而中文论文却把这些固定成语、谚语或格言看作是全篇必备的“华彩乐章”,一种文采的体现。因此中文中的引用不仅仅包括英语中常用的“观点回顾”(literature review),更重要的是用名家之言、古诗、古谚使自己的话更有说服力。这种应用成语俗语的习惯也常常被沿用到中国学生的英语写作中,动辄“as the old saying”(古语云)等。然而,这种引用在英语中却有“拉大旗,作虎皮”之嫌。对成语、名家的引用也反映了不同文化对权威的态度以及对不确定性的规避程度。中国文化不确定性的规避指数较高,权威之言意味着被社会广泛认可,因此,引经据典可以尽量避免分歧,减少可能发生的不确定性。相反,英语文化喜欢竞争与冲突,因此,自己的观点尽量用自己独特的表达方式,避免步人后尘。英语文章不仅不喜欢使用“陈词滥调”,对自己的观点还常常从不同角度反证其可能性。而中国学生的论文则追求自圆其说,尽量减少不确定性。
3.结论中第一人称复数和第一人称单数的使用频率
从数据上看,中文的5篇论文与英语的五篇论文使用第一人称复数(we/us/our)的频率似乎相当,但实际上,5篇英语文章的结论都在700-1000词左右,而汉语的结论则都在200-300字左右,中国学生的英语论文的结论也很短,都在200词左右。在这样的字词总数比例下,第一人称复数在汉语文章中的使用频率就远远高于在英语文章中的使用频率。英语文章结论中使用较多的是第一人称单数(first singular pronouns)和个人的观点(personal anecdotes)。在有的文章中达到12次之多,如
By way of concluding, I would like to make four comments.
I have now stated that…
I have suggested that…
I consider it important to …
I want to make it clear that…
My second/third comment relates to
I have pided…
I have outlined…
I believe that…
My concern here is …
第一人称单数和个人观点的使用体现了文章作者对自我的展示和肯定,体现了英语文化中的个人主义倾向和男性主义倾向。他们认为个人的经历最有说服力,只有自己相信自己,才能说服读者。而中文论文却相比之下,对自己的观点比较谦虚,常常出现“以上各点信手写来,全是一孔之见,还望行家不吝指正”(李观仪,2003)等谦辞,以保持学术界的和谐。这种对和谐的追求体现了中国文化的集体主义和女性主义倾向。中国学生的英语论文对自己的观点评价不够自信,更多使用的是第一人称复数,也显然受此影响。
四、结语
论文摘要:目前,国内关于非物质文化遗产中传统音乐方面的文本资料繁多,识记理论复杂,在传统的学习与交流方式中存在着形式单一、学习媒体落后、怠视非物质文化遗产工作者的主体性等许多不足,这些因素已经妨碍了非物质文化遗产工作者在高标准高效率、高质量的方面接受中国传统音乐的交流。为此,合理利用多媒体技术进行非物质文化遗产中传统音乐的学习与交流,有助于非物质文化遗产工作者对知识丰富内涵的理解与把握,扩展其艺术文化视野。
中国传统音乐是指具有一定流传时间的、不属于当代音乐家创作的音乐。在我国学术界,通常把清代以前即已形成的音乐或以后所发生的具有传统音乐形态的音乐,划归于传统音乐的范畴。其中不仅包括在历史上产生、流传至今的古代作品,也包括当代中国人民用本民族固有形式创作的、具有本民族固有形态特征的音乐作品。可以说,中国传统音乐在它数千年的发展历程中,无论从律制、音阶、宫调、音乐形态特征、文化传统到民族思维方式,均形成了自己独特的规律和特点。、
中国传统音乐文化是中国非物质文化遗产的重要部分,是东方文化的集中表现之一,有着独特的价值系统和思维方式,是人类文明发展史上的一块瑰宝。传承和保护中国传统音乐文化,有助于增强我们的民族自尊心与自信心,可以开阔文化视野,了解与把握传统音乐文化的精神与特质,加强的历史责任感。充分运用多媒体技术在中国非物质文化遗产中国传统音乐学习与交流中的应用具有十分重要的意义。
1传统音乐学习与交流存在的问题
1.1人类思维网状结构与传统教材组织上的线性有序特征之间的矛盾
认知心理学的研究已经证明,人类的思维记忆具有联想特征,在阅读或思考问题时经常从一个概念或主题经过联想转移到另一个相关的概念或主题,是一种非线性的、纵横交织的网状结构。目前国内出版的所有中国传统音乐教材,在学习内容组织上均体现出线性、有序的特征。在这种线性的内容组织环境下,非物质文化遗产工作者对知识的摄取难免被动、程式化,在一定程度上会限制其联想思维能力的发展。
1.2文本资料过多、识记理论复杂趣味性少与学习兴趣之间的矛盾
国内传统音乐学习与交流多年来一直存在着纯文本资料过多、各民族传统音乐独立单处、针对性研究、形成不了一条主线的缺憾,这是专家根据自身研究方向进行的单一民族传统音乐的研究造成的。
1.3手段陈旧有限的时间内很难完成繁重的学习与交流内容
中国传统音乐的学习与交流一般都以专家口头传授为主,加入一些视听资料,无法及时地展现知识信息,专家的讲授受到限制,授课的视听效果不能做到步调一致,讲授中出现的问题不能及时地反馈给非物质文化遗产学习者。如中国传统音乐讲授、中需要介绍到各个时期大量的谱例,传统的讲授方法只能通过专家的板书让非物质文化遗产工作者观看,然后做谱面上的分析,或者利用钢琴即兴演奏,动作示范只能是局部的,学习者很难把动、静有机地结合起来,毕竟钢琴的音色是单一的,表达音乐风格的准确性不能尽如人意。
2多媒体技术对传统音乐学习与交流的积极作用
2.1多媒体技术可以扩展和放大信息空间
用多媒体技术处理的信息可以呈现出多样化和多维化,使那些抽象难懂,用语言不易表达的内容变得生动具体一目了然。多媒体课件利用“超文本”和“超媒体”技术按照人脑的联想思维方式在课件中重新组织编排讲授信息,将讲授内容整合为一种非线性的网状结构,专家在授课时就可根据讲授思路在不同章节之间、章节内容知识点之间灵活“跳转”,及时获取课件上的相关信息来辅助讲授。
2.2多媒体技术的应用缩短了学习者将信息转变为知识的过程.
科学研究表明:人类的思维方式是一种散发式的非线性的思维方式。多媒体的信息组织方式正符合中国传统音乐讲授的需要,它可以实现多角度、多方位、多层次、非线性的信息传输与交流,帮助学习者建立思维、改善思维、减少思维过程中的弯路,较快的接近学习目标;多媒体的引入还能把声音和谱例完美结合,实现音色和风格的统一,完成音乐风格的具象化,使学习者能够身临其境。
2.3应用多媒体技术可以营造一个身临其境的学习氛围,符合时代要求
多媒体技术的迅猛发展与广泛应用为我们传统的外国音乐讲授手段和方法改革带来了新的契机,这是中国传统音乐讲授过程别重要的,学习者的认知当然需要从别的教材、工具书中汲取一些专业信息作为补充,但是如果我们利用多媒体讲授手段的信息集成优势,则会大大扩展原有的讲授资源。
3多媒体技术在中国传统音乐学习与交流中的应用
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to compare the structures of English-language titles in the two counterpart journals in economics field and whether. To this end, the corpus of 237 titles in Quarterly Journal of Economics (QJE) and 311 titles in Jingjixue Jikan (China Economic Quarterly) or (CEQ) are built. And all the titles are categorized into five classes: Noun Phrase, Compound, Full-sentence, Verbal Phrase, and Prepositional Phrase. More detailed investigation includes the comparison of words and expressions in the titles. The results show a sharp contrast between structure of the titles in two journals and the trend of title forms, such as the different frequency of occurrences of types or subtypes of titles. And the results provide guidance for the L2 Chinese writers compile a suitable English research article titles while publishing articles in journals in either domestic or international journals.
关键词: 论文标题;经济学;体裁分析;对比研究;二语写作
Key words: research article titles; economics; genre analysis; contrastive analysis; second language writing
中图分类号:G23文献标识码:A文章编号:1006-4311(2011)18-0304-03
0引言
近十余年来,随着对学术语篇研究的兴起,语言学家越来越重视体裁分析方法在这一领域的应用,并形成了以John Swales (1990) 为代表的语步分析法,其对学术语篇前言进行了实证研究提出了CARS Model。随后引发了学者们的浓厚兴趣,他们将注意力集中于学术语篇的不同部分,例如,Lores (2004)和Martin(2003)研究了学术语篇的摘要部分,Homes(1997)研究了学术论文讨论部分,Yang和Allison (2003)研究了学术论文的结论部分,等等。本文将针对学术论文的标题部分进行对比研究,其方法也是体裁分的实证研究方法,目的在于发现国内外经济学期刊英语标题的结构特点,并能够对中国学者撰写英语标题提供参考。
1学术论文标题研究综述
80年代末以来,以“体裁分析之父”(Pérez-Llantada, 2004:140)John Swales (1990) 为代表的体裁分析法(genre analysis)的研究范式逐渐确立其在学术语篇的语言学研究中的地位。在1990年,John Swales 指出标题是学术体裁研究中被忽视的一个方面之一。随着学者们对标题研究的关注与日俱增,研究成果不断涌现。Yitzhaki (1997)比较了18种不同人文学科期刊的论文标题中的实词数量目的在于检验学术论文标题的信息密集性。Busch-Lauer (2000) 分别对比了医学和语言学领域内的英语和德语标题,发现医学领域内的标题长度比语言学内的论文标题的字数明显要多一些,并且确证了以德语为母语的学者习惯于用德语的思维方式撰写标题,同时发现了所有的标题在两个领域内的作用都是交际功能的作用。Laurence Anthony(2001)通过对计算机领域期刊中600个论文标题的长度,标点使用,介词使用和词频进行了研究,结果表明,计算机学科的论文标题有其自身的特点,例如,他发现介词和冠词在此类标题中出现的频率最高,其中介词for在所选的6种期刊中的4种当中出现的频率最高。最终得出的结论是计算机科学领域内的标题有其自身的特点,但是同时也提出,论文标题的特点因学科不同而有差异,这样的普遍性结论有待进一步的研究。随后在2002年Yitzhaki又研究了24个重要期刊的论文标题与论文长度的关系,同时做了历时比较的研究,发现文章长度和论文标题长度的关系是因科学类别的不同而不同,在所谓“硬”科学内标题长度与文章长度的相关性较“软”科学更强。Haggan (2004)则是同时分别比较研究了文学,语言学和理科科学的论文标题的结构特点。她将标题按形式分为句子型,名词型和短语型三类。研究结果显示出三个不同领域内的标题都互不相同,各有特点,同时指出标题的功能在于引起读者阅读文章的兴趣。Hartley (2005c,2007a,2007b)从不同方面探讨了论文标题的特点或功能:一、指出论文标题应当同时具有传递信息和吸引读者的作用;二、将论文标题按功能重新分类,共有12类并且分析了各类的特点和功能;三、研究了冒号在学术论文中的使用偏好。最近的研究是Soler (2007)对研究型学术论文和综述型学术论文的标题结构的实证研究。在570个标题中,480个为研究型论文标题,90个是综述型论文标题,时间跨度从1996年至2002年,涉及的学科领域是生物学和社会学,她将标题按结构分为句子型,问句型,名词词组型和复合型,同时还对标题的长度进行了研究,结果表明,综述型标题的长度在两个领域都非常的短,复合型标题是社会科学体裁研究型论文标题的特点。句子型标题是研究型论文标题的文章类型的特点,尤其是生物学领域内的研究型论文标题的特点。
国内的标题研究主要分为两类:汉英单语种独立研究和汉语标题的英译。例如王英格(1993)研究了英语学术论文标题的语法和修辞特点。化柏林(2007)对图书情报学类核心期刊论文标题进行了计量研究,共对42989篇文献的标题进行统计分析,涉及到标题长度,句型以及标题中相关词汇的研究,如题首词,题尾词,关键词等。而论文标题的汉英翻译的研究有,段萍和顾维萍(2002)的关于医学论文的标题和摘要的汉译英的常见错误的分析的研究,周永模(2002)的关于哲学和人文社会科学的论文标题的汉译英的标准的探讨。另外,值得一提的是王成宇(2003)对英汉双语的疑问型学术论文标题进行的对比研究。
综上所述,学术论文的标题研究成果逐渐丰硕,本文将就前人的研究成果继续深化和推进学术论文标题的研究,基本的研究思路是以体裁为切入点,即语言学类研究型学术论文;英英对比,其特点在于中国学者的英文标题和国际学者的英文标题的对比;以及采用实证研究方法。
2研究方法
首先本文选取了中美经济学两本在各自学术共同体中的权威期刊:中国的《经济学(季刊)》(China Economic Quarterly (CEQ))和美国麻省理工学院(MIT)的Quarterly Journal of Economics (QJE)。建立了一个含有548个英语科研原创论文标题的语料库,其中CEQ 中随机选取311 个标题,QJE 中随机选取237个标题。按照语料库的建库原则以及对比语言学的可比性原则,标题的选取时间跨度为2004至2009年(由于研究时间限制,2009年只收集部分标题),且不包括书评类以及其他体裁类型的文章标题。其次本文将所选标题分为五大类:名词词组型(Noun Phrase [NP]), 复合型(Compound [CP])即一个标题由两部分组成,中间被冒号或其他符号隔开, 句子型(Full-sentence [FS]), 动词词组型(Verbal Phrase [VP]), 以及介词词组型(Prepositional Phrase [PP])。另外,本文还进一步细分了名词词组型标题和复合型标题,同时还统计了本语料库中的NP和CP标题在近五年内(2004-2008)的变化趋势。
3研究结果与讨论
标题应当体现信息性和经济性原则。信息性是指标题应当全面准确反映论文的内容。经济性是指标题应当用最少的词表达最丰富的意义。表1显示了两本期刊英语标题的平均长度。明显的差异在于国内的CEQ论文标题要比国外的QJE论文标题用词偏长。就其原因在于英语不是中国人的母语,并且中国学者在撰写英语论文标题时会受到中国文化的影响(Connor, 1996)。另外,无论CEQ论文标题是出于投稿人的翻译或重新用英语撰写,都会受到原来汉语标题的影响,我们的统计发现,汉语标题会经常出现“论”、“研究”以及“探讨”之类的标题标记(尹世超,2001)。同时,国内学者撰写的英语论文标题会将这类标记词翻译出来形成“The study of …” 或“The analysis of …”之类表达形式。这无形中会增加英语标题的长度而不会因此增加标题的信息含量。
标题的功能有四种(尹世超,2001):称名功能,概括功能,吸引功能和引导功能。如果综合考虑标题的两个原则和四个功能,那么复合型标题是最理想的标题形式。表2的复合型标题频度百分比正好体现了这一选择在英语环境下的要求。按照Swales和Feak(1994)的观点此类标题(英语)的构成为:问题-解决(problem-solution),一般-详细(general-specific),话题-方法(topic-method)和主要-次要(major-minor)。这一构成就能够是撰写者不通过语言手段而在两部分之间建立联系,达到信息性、经济性和吸引功能的统一。由于标题的基本功能是称名功能所以名词词组型标题在两本期刊中都占有较多的频度。有趣的发现是,美国的QJE期刊论文标题出现了较多的句子型标题,共15个占该期刊语料的6.33%,以及较多的动词词组型标题,共8个占该期刊语料的3.38%。
两本期刊使用最多的名词词组型标题都是NP+PP结构,即一个核心名词后接一个介词短语的结构。但是,相比较而言,CEQ期刊论文NP标题的结构相对较复杂。这一点似乎验证了Connor(1996)的观点,写作是一种深嵌于文化的行为。即国内学者撰写英语论文标题时,会采用复杂的介词短语限定讨论话题的形式,而国外学者会直接采用其他策略比如说采用CP型标题结构。这同时似乎也表明非母语写作者会在使用第二外语时无意识的会凸显过滤某些文化因素,这些因素会表现在语言层面,比如说,复杂的介词短语结构标题。
在标题具有称名这一点上,中美期刊论文撰写者又一次达成一致,即标题的前后两部分都是名词词组结构[NP:NP]。但是QJE期刊CP论文标题并不仅仅是依赖这一结构,作为美国学术共同体的研究者,他们会更多关注英语标题的其他功能如吸引功能,所以该类标题在QJE中呈现出较多的其他次级结构,如Q:NP[问句:名词词组]型。本语料库中,最强烈的对比在于,QJE中会出现PP:NP类型标题和Q:Q类型标题,而CEQ中却无此类型标题出现;另外,在CEQ中会出现PP:NP和Q:VP类型标题,但是在QJE中,撰写者不会才取此类型去撰写标题。此现象有待于进一步的大规模的语料收集和分析。
从上图可以看出,NP和CP标题在五类标题中在近五年内呈增加趋势。有趣的发现是,CP标题在两本期刊中在2007年增至最多,相反的NP标题在两本期刊中减至最少。相对于2007年来说,两本期刊中的CP标题在2008年有所减少,而NP标题有所增加。最终的结果表明,经济学类期刊英语论文标题NP和CP类型出现的频度趋近于相同,但总体呈增加态势。
4结论
本研究表明经济学类中美两本期刊的英语论文标题存在明显差异。这些差异是由于文化社会因素造成。本研究的意义在于为经济学类同行撰写英语论文标题提供帮助。进一步的研究可细致深入地探讨经济学类英语论文标题的用词特点。
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【关键词】研究生英语;教学改革;建议
0 引言
目前,专家学者大多关注着我国小学、中学及大学本科阶段的英语教学的费时低效现象。中学英语教学受中考高考的导向,考试型的教学令学生进入大学以后,很难达到“学习者在多元文化的环境中,不仅能用英语与他人交流,同时也要做“言之有物”和“言之有理”(文秋芳,2002)” 的大学英语教学的目标。大学英语教学总在补救式与发展中挣扎。同样,从本科生读上来的研究生们,在英语学习过程中也是存在种种问题。现实要求研究生毕业后,他们不仅能阅读与专业相关的外文资料, 还能具有一般的外语日常交流能力, 逐步过渡到口、笔探讨学术问题, 作学术专题发言等。然而,事实上, 许多同学不仅不能进行简单的日常对话, 连许多常用的单词都读不准。
1 目前研究生英语教学存在的问题和压力
学生当中有一部分在大学本科两年英语学习之后能坚持自学英语, 大部分却处于断档阶段; 两年之后,又进入一次艰苦的循环, 而后又是两年的断档, 他们中一部分又进入博士阶段的更短的循环。硕士研究生在公共必修课中,英语课时最多,任务最重,效果却是最低的。在我校研究生教学安排中,第一学期64个课时,每周4个课时的综合英语学习。第二学期口语和写作共64学时,每周各2个学时。我们的课程设置仍然沿用本科阶段的模式, 重视阅读训练, 轻视听、说和写的能力的培养。特别是研究生应该具备的论文写作能力,国际学术会议发言的听说能力的培养没有进入课程设置中。教师们常常在一年的教学任务完成之后经常惴惴不安地问自己: 我们给了自己的学生多少帮助?他们在过去大部分考过了英语四级, 有相当一部分考过了英语六级。我们研究生阶段的教学还能用什么考试来加以有效地检验? 能否经得起检验?
在面临诸多问题的同时, 高校研究生英语教师也不断感受着各种压力。
1)研究生招生规模的逐年增加是教师感受最明显的压力。研究生教育从以前的精英式教育变成现在的大众化教育。招生规模庞大, 学生的英语程度参差不齐,同时师生比严重失调,教师不能全面了解学生情况,教学资源雪上加霜。这些必然导致教学效果差强人意。
2)网络技术的发展给英语教学带来的压力。“学生已趋向于摈弃仅仅靠教材来学英语的模式, 转而采取从多种媒介和渠道接受输入。”(郑树棠,1996) 例如,在I Tunes U 上有来自世界各地的350,000 多个免费的讲座,视频,电影等其他学习资源,这使传统的课堂英语教学受到极大的挑战,如何改变课程设置,如何在有限的课时中,把课堂学习与网络有效利用结合起来成为研究生教学急需思考的问题。
3)社会英语办学热对英语教学的压力。研究生期间各专业学生均有与国外大学合作做交换生或参与某项研究项目的机会,学生们充分感受到自己英语能力与个人就业前途的利害相关,许多学生在校外社会培训机构参加英语辅导班。这让我们经常反思, 我们自己的研究生英语课程该如何设置得更合理来适应他们的需要。
4)专业英语教学对英语教学的压力, 许多研究生在本系必修的一些专业课程中有些是导师直接使用英语来讲授, 使用的教材、讲义也都是最新的;要求学生定期阅读最新的本专业英语论文。甚至有的要求学生用英语讨论、写文章。再有, 还有些专业聘请外籍教师短期讲授一些专业课程或讲座。如何处理好研究生公外英语教学和他们在专业学习中对外语的使用这两者之间的关系是很重要的。
2 新的教改新模式
这些压力促使我们去思考和改革现在的教学模式, 要求我们结合自身的条件和特点,勇于创新,不断尝试与时俱进的教育教学模式。新的模式试从以下几个方面来进行。
2.1 课程设置方面的改革
第一学期开设听力口语及阅读与写作课。第二学期,开设国际会议交流英语、西方文化、英汉比较研究及专业英语阅读等系列课程。
第一学期课程设置在于强调学生培养运用能力,特别是阅读与写作课,除介绍写作的基础知识、资料的查询外, 重点放在英语论文写作上, 培养学生正确和规范地陈述和发表自己的研究成果的能力。英语写作部分包括: 英语写作基本知识, 实用英语写作, 论文写作。此外具体地介绍如何利用国际互联网查找资料, 如何避免侵权行为, 如何写电子邮件, 如何制作计算机辅助文稿演示片等新的内容。上课内容不限于书本, 而是多方面涉猎。学生以指定阅读、浏览的书本作为课前预习内容, 带着问题有针对性地听课再写作展示。
第二学期的国际会议交流英语是对第一学期听力口语及写作课的拓展,国际会议交流英语主要包括下列内容:论文的种类、摘要写法、论文体例、、版权问题、论文宣读。学习之后, 建立模拟课堂, 使学生有机会参与和观摩国际会议的场景。
西方文化对于任何层次的学生都是必要的, 因为文化渗透至语言的各个层面。以往教师只是把课文中遇到的文化背景知识加以介绍, 现在将其单设为一门课, 有利于学生比较系统地了解西方的文化知识, 也必然会帮助学生更好地掌握英语。西方文化主要以讲授美国文化为主。内容涵盖: 文化的基本概念、美国简介、社会阶层、经济活动、农业与农场主、家庭的变化、学校与教育、大众传播、科技与社会、种族关系、社会制安、老人与青年、政府与司法、社会变革等。上课的方式可以是老师讲授,学生阅读相关文章然后讨论,也可以辅助以美国电影,电视。
英汉比较研究课旨在将学生多年来学习英语获得的感性认识规律化、系统化, 揭示出英汉两种语言主要的规律性差异, 让学生的感性认识得以升华, 提高他们英语阅读理解和欣赏能力, 使他们能用比较地道的英语进行表达。英汉比较研究讲座主要是在词汇、句法、逻辑、修辞、语篇等各层面讨论英汉两种语言的规律性差异, 主要内容包括:英汉宏观比较、英汉词汇意义的对应关系、英汉句型的转换、英汉否定的异同、语法关系与逻辑关系、英语修饰语与被修饰语的逻辑关系、英语逻辑意义重点、英语明喻和隐喻、英语行为、思维和言语动词的转换、英语定语从句的逻辑意义、英语长句的理解和翻译等。
专业英语阅读就是以学科为依托的英语教学,目的在于使学生通过熟悉的专业知识来理解并掌握英语表达的方式。以内容为基石来学习英语语言的应用。例如我校可以选用水利英语,金融英语,医学英语,商务英语,材料英语等。这样可以把专业学习与英语语言学习有效结合,减少学生记忆负担。
2.2 教学手段方面
1)调整课程时数。第一学期,听力口语课每周2个学时,共32学时。阅读与写作课每周2个学时,共32个学时。 第二学期,开设国际会议交流英语、西方文化、英汉比较研究及专业英语阅读等系列课程。每门课可以根据内容适当调整课时数,比如可以设为10个学时或16,但是要求学生确保每学期的64个课时。其目的在于学生在有限的英语学习时间灵动地学到实用的英语技能并付诸实践,改变多年一沉不变的语言的学习模式。
2)进行分级教学。使英语水平一般的学生通过听说读写译各方面的深入学习, 巩固他们本科阶段的英语基础, 进一步提高他们的基本能力, 使他们大部分顺利通过学位课考试, 修得学分; 另一方面, 对于通过考试证明英语基本能力已经不错的学生, 满足他们在英语文化知识方面和语言交际能力方面学习的需要。快班由任课教师在统编教材的基础上较大力度地补充其他教学材料, 根据他们语言能力相对优于普通班学生的特点, 更多地组织他们进行形式多样的互动教学, 进一步提高他们在语言实际运用方面的能力。
3)教学方式多样。课堂讲授式,大班讲座式,师生互动式,小组讨论展示式等都是可以尝试的教学方式。再者,传统课堂与网络技术融合,把课堂不仅仅设在教室,也可以有网络教室。把一些教学资源及教学要求语言中心的局域网上, 学生自主安排时间分散地学习, 教师通过网络与学生交流, 答疑解惑,布置作业并检查。同时在教师选择方面,一些课可以请外教来进行,一些课可以邀请有参加国际会议和多次在国际学术杂志上的丰富经验的教师做讲座, 使学生能学有榜样。
3 以上的改革措施成功实施并能取得效果的前提条件
1)课程设置的变化要求有足够满足各课程教学的老师。目前的师生比是完全满足这样的教学要求的,所以需要引进更多的教学人员进入研究生教育活动;同时研究生教学的老师要有进修学习的机会,特别是假期短期的培训,参与学术研讨会尤为重要。
2)要有众多的各类适合的教材和教学资源。因为新开设的课程很多重在实用,那么选择新颖、适用的教材势在必行。教材所选文章的语言要合适。那些要么浅显直白; 要么晦涩艰深,要么课文题材陈旧, 话题过时; 要么选文求新求长,结果通篇尽是哩语、俗语的教材都是要摈弃的。
3)通过有效的考核建立学习激励的机制。即将建立的学位课考试应该包含部分课程内容,否则学生的英语学习很难坚持。学生英语学习的考试,既有水平测试,也要有课程考试。
4)加强学生英语学习管理。对学生的课堂表现进行量化统计, 设立学习目标杠杆调控出勤的自觉意识。
4 结束语
本校研究生英语教学大刀阔斧的改革提到历史日程,以上是初步设想及措施,在实施的过程中,一定会有新的问题出现,让我们为完善教学实践进行积极的努力。进一步深化英语教学改革, 使研究生的英语教学更上一层楼。
【参考文献】
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