何 如
(福清市東張中學,福建 福清 350300)
運用語言是學習語言的根本目的。《普通高中英語課程標準(實驗稿)》對英語寫作提出了新的要求,強調要特別注重提高學生用英語進行思維和表達的能力。書面表達在高考中所占比重較大(25 分),它的主要目的在于考查學生的語言駕馭能力,書面交流能力和邏輯思維能力,對學生的綜合能力要求比較高。學生的作文全面反映了他們掌握的語法知識,詞匯知識和遣詞造句能力。由此可見,寫作教學在高中英語教學中占有相當重要的位置。
然而現(xiàn)狀卻不容樂觀。學生對寫作充滿畏難情緒,習作質量較低。在課堂教學中,我們深感相當多的學生目前尚不能運用英語進行最簡單的自我表達。語句混亂、詞不達意、句子結構不完整、標點誤用等現(xiàn)象隨處可見;更遑論語篇布局松散、缺乏連貫性以及語法使用錯誤和中式英語現(xiàn)象。
如何有效提高高中生的寫作能力和語言應用能力是高中英語教學的重要課題,值得探討。下面談談筆者在作文教學中的幾點粗淺做法。
英語屬于結構語言,它有自己的基本句型、固定搭配、固定短語等,這些都是不可變的,要想在寫作中用上它們,用好它們,必須加強這方面的基本訓練。首先,加強五種基本句型結構教學。幾乎所有的英語句型都是五種句型的擴大、延伸或變化,在課堂上,結合課本里的重點單詞、短語,進行五種基本句型的造句練習。這五種基本句型是:
(1)S+V(主謂);She stood up.
(2)S+V+O(主謂賓);I am having a wonderful time.
(3)S+V+O+O(主謂+間賓+直賓);He will give us a speech this afternoon.
(4)S+V+P(主系表);It looks funny.
(5)S+V+O+C(主謂+賓+賓補)。We should make our school tidy.
五種基本句型雖然能表達一定的意思,但無法比較自由地表達思想,因此還必須對學生進一步進行擴句訓練,在課堂上充分發(fā)揮學生的想象力,進行擴句練習。
其次,加強句型教學,要對一些重點句子進行分析,增強學生利用各種句子進行一意多種表達的訓練。比如要求學生用各種不同的表達方式改寫課文中出現(xiàn)的典型句子。努力做到一句多種表達。在套用句型的同時,讓學生用英語組織一段短文,敘述一件事情。通過這種初步訓練,提高學生對句子的活用能力。例如,在講‘so…that…”句型時,要求學生譯出“這道題很難,我不會做?!睂W生回答:The problem is so difficult that I cannot work it out.接著教師可引導學生用其他句型表達上句意思。學生即可說出:The problem is too difficult for me to solve.It is not easy enough for me to solve.等句。繼而教師再問學生:What must we do then if we cannot solve the problem? 要學生用英語說出自己的想法。有的學生這樣敘 述:The problem is so difficult that I cannot work it out.But I am not afraid of the difficulty.I can try many different ways to solve it .While I am doing with it,I can look for available methods in reference books.I can also ask my teachers and classmates for help .As I make every effort,the difficulty can be overcome.
在教學中,教師可以有選擇地把課文中的短語列出。要求學生以這些短語為中心詞擴展成句子,并聯(lián)成一段短文,以表達一個完整的意思。例如,在高一英語必修一Unit 1 Friendship 中我們要求學生寫一篇短文“My friend”,必須把be concerned about,be fond of,be good at,to make progress,to make up one’s mind,等短語用到短文中去。有的 學 生 寫 道:Han Li is my classmate.He is a League member.He is always concerned about others.He is fond of English and I am good at Maths.We often help each other.Both of us have made great progress in our studies.We have made up our minds to study harder and win still greater progress.
學生在造句練習中既復習鞏固了所學的短語,又通過短文的連貫練習了解了時態(tài)的用法,訓練了思維。
另外,在聯(lián)句成文的過程中應該特別強調學會使用過渡詞,即關聯(lián)詞。如:
表遞 進:furthermore,moreover,besides,in addition,then,what's more,what was worse,once more,etc;
表轉折:however,but,nevertheless,afterwards,though,although,etc;
表總結:finally,at last,in brief,to conclude,in a word,in general,generally speaking,in short,as you know,in the end,to sum up,etc;
表強調:really,indeed,certainly,surely,above all,etc;
表比 較、對 比:just like,just as,in the same way,more or less,sooner or later,on the contrary,on the other hand;
表并列:and,also,as well as,and then;
表順序、動作過程:first,firstly,first of all,second,secondly,at first,at last,next;
表時間:now,then,afterwards,soon,five minutes later,before long,shortly after that,soon after supper,to this day,just now,just then;
表結果:thus,therefore,so,as a result,seeing that,luckily,unfortunately;
表解釋和說明:that is to say,namely,for example,actually,and so on,such as,believe it or not,to tell you the truth,according to this,for this reason;
表個人觀點:in my opinion,as far as I am concerned,as for me,as I see,personally,from my point of view;
熟記并且能靈活地運用這些關聯(lián)詞無疑會使全文結構緊湊,層次清楚,過渡自然。
筆者在教授課文的時候充分發(fā)掘課文的作用,利用課文中適合寫作練習的內容進行訓練,達到讓學生多寫多練的目的,不僅有利于提高書面表達能力,同時也加強了對課文的理解。教師給出提示詞或提綱,或讓學生獨立寫課文大意。均是可行的訓練方法。在開始階段,適宜用提示方法。教師再對課文進行充分分析后,列出課文重點。或編寫幾道問答題,讓學生按順序敘述或回答問題。敘述聯(lián)句成文后,便為該課文的縮寫。例如,人教版新課標高中英語必修2 Unit1 Cultural relics,教師在閱讀課后可摘列出以下重點讓學生聯(lián)句成文:imagine…,amazing…,be used to…,in the fancy style…,belong to…,as a gift…,in return…,serve as…,had it moved…,add more details to…,one of the great wonders,at war,remain a mystery,學生們可聯(lián)成:The king never imagined the amber room would have such an amazing history,It was given the name because tons of amber were used to make the room.The design of it was in the fancy style.It belonged to the king of Prussia.Later it was given to the Czar as a gift.In return,the king received a troop of best soldiers.And it once served as a small reception hall.Later,Catherine II had the room moved and added more details to it.Although the amber room was considered to be one of the great wonders,it is now missing.It disappeared at war.However,what happened to the amber room remains a mystery.
有些課文在學習后,可以要求敘述自選人物,改寫內容。學生在練習中,應該根據課文的結構模式,盡量運用課文中的詞匯和句型。
通過上述練習,學生既復習了課文,又提高了組織短文的能力。
據分析,近年來的高考作文主要是提示作文,看圖作文和開放性作文,尤其是近三年的福建高考作文題均為根據圖示寫某一話題的半開放性作文。由此可見看圖作文在高中作文教學中有著舉足輕重的地位。
在課堂上,教師可在出示圖畫后,要求學生認真讀圖,分析圖畫中所提供的信息以確定自己所寫的短文需要表達的內容。學生應根據圖示選用詞語,教師亦可以給出限定使用詞語,注意短文的連貫和時態(tài)的呼應。學生可以挖掘圖畫的內涵,發(fā)揮想象力和創(chuàng)造力。但切忌漫無邊際地發(fā)揮想象,雜亂無章亂寫一氣。寫的文句宜樸素,使用自己有把握的和熟悉的簡單句,不寫沒把握濫造的冗長的句子。應緊扣圖示提供的信息,清楚準確地完成表達。教師對看圖在作文的字數(shù)可以稍加限制。
此外,還可以活用課本出現(xiàn)的圖片進行練習。例如人教版新課標高中英語必修3 Unit 1 Women of great achievement 中warming-up 里出現(xiàn)的六位有著杰出貢獻的女性的圖片,以其中Picture 3 為例,可要求學生根據自己所了解的有關宋慶齡的情況,寫一段文字。有的學生寫道:
As we all know,Song Qing ling was considered to be one of the greatest women in the world.She married Dr Sun Zhongshan in 1915.She has been the vice president of the People’s Republic of China for many years.She made so great contributions to the Chinese revolution that all the Chinese people think highly of her.
這樣的段落字數(shù)不太多,但抓住了重點。
再如在人教版新課標高中英語模塊8 Unit4 Pygmalion 中的Warming up 部分里,有三幅關于希臘神話故事Pygmalion 的圖片,要求學生根據所看到的圖片,運用所學的知識給每幅圖分別寫出一到兩句話來概括該幅圖的大意。學生有可能在看完后寫出以下的句子:
①Pygmalion was a very gifted artist.One day,he decided to make a stone statue of a beautiful woman.He worked day and night and at last he finished.He spent a long time making a stone statue of a beautiful woman.It was so beautiful that he couldn’t help loving it and wanted it to be his wife.
②But it was only a stone.How could he make his dream become true? He thought and thought and at last he asked the Greek Goddess to help him to bring it to life.
③Finally the Goddess was moved by his sincerity.His wish was granted 。
④Pygmalion threw himself to his feet,the girl was deeply touched by him.Afterwards,they fell in love with each other and married.
完成了這一步后要求學生將已經寫好的句子聯(lián)成一篇完整故事。
一種做法是,教師只提供作文題目,由學生自由發(fā)揮,構思作文。此為開放性作文。另一種做法是,提供背景材料、情境或圖畫,在短文字數(shù)上加以限制,要求學生根據提供的內容寫作,以加強可控性。此為半開放性作文。后一種練習,在目前更接近高考要求,宜多進行練習。在訓練的過程中筆者建議學生按照如下步驟進行準備:首先,分析主題,審清題意包括弄清題目要求、文體、題材。第二,理清脈絡,列出提綱,起草文章。切勿遺漏要點。第三,對初稿進行潤色及修改;優(yōu)選高級詞匯和句型結構。最后,審稿定稿。要仔細檢查有否遺漏要點,時態(tài)、語態(tài)是否一致;單復數(shù)運用及詞性變化是否有錯,單詞拼寫及字數(shù)等等。在教學中,對學生的書面表達能力的訓練辦法是很多的,不在此一一列舉。筆者認為,在步驟上,可以由句到段,由段成文,由淺入深,由簡單到復雜循序漸進。在方法上,可以依照教學內容而定,不必千篇一律,面面俱到;可以先口述,再動筆整理成文,既練聽說又練寫;亦可統(tǒng)籌安排,有計劃地定期進行各種文體的操練。
總之,高中英語寫作及語言應用能力的提高,不是短期突擊所能奏效的,而應當貫穿于教學的整個過程中。師生們需要樹立正確的寫作意識,厚積薄發(fā)。不懈堅持,必見成效。
[1]燕華興.普通高中英語課程標準(實驗)[M].上海外語教育出版社,2006.