英语论文网

er provided TT with important theoretic basis and diverse approach to enrich TT styles and strategies, but there are a few obvious disadvantages in conducting TT,(which will be examined latter). We should look critically at the research which is relevant to language teaching and TT. It may be better for teachers to utilize an eclectic approach, which means they try to adopt the best from different methods and adapt them to their students. 2.2. Theoretical Account Adopted in the Thesis (1) Discourse Analysis Discourse analysis covers an extremely wide range of activities, from the narrowly focused investigation of how words such as “oh” or “well” are used in casual talk, to the study of the dominant ideology in culture as represented, for example, in its educational or political practices (Brown&Yule, 1983). When it is restricted to linguistic issues, discourse analysis focuses on the record (spoken or written) of the process by which language is used in some context to express intention (Schiffrin, 1995). (2) Pragmatics Discourse analysis has much in common with pragmatics especially in the subject of context and conversational principles. Pragmatics is a newly arising discipline with rapid development (He Zhaoxiong, 1999). It has become so important that “we can not really understand the nature of language itself unless we understand pragmatics-how language is used in communication” (Leech, 1983:1). (3) Context Since Malinowski coined the term “context of situation” in 1923, more and more linguists and language teachers have come to realize that contexts of whatever kind are worthy of being viewed as a crucial factor in determination and explanation of people’s ability to speak and understand, and thus involved themselves in research on “the actual use of language in concrete situations” (Chomsky, 1965:4). In terms of classroom context, many factors should be taken into consideration such as teacher and students, their mental world and their relationship; and classroom-the physical environment; together with the social world-general norms and values and the like. Following Verschueren’s theory that language choices are interadaptable with all the factors in the context, the speech acts in TT will be the result of adaptability of the contexts. (4) Co-operative Principles The philosopher, Paul Grice, proposes that all speakers, regardless of their cultural background, adhere to a basic principle governing conversation which he terms the co-operative principles that is, we assume that in a conversation the participants will co-operate with each other when making their contributions. Grice then breaks this principle down into four basic MAXIMS which go towards making a speaker’s contribution to the conversation “co-operative” (Peccei, 1999:27): 1) RELEVANCE: Make sure that whatever you say is relevant to the conversation at hand, 2) QUALITY: Do not say what you believe to be false. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence. 3) QUANTITY: Make your contribution sufficiently informative for the current purposes of the conversation. Do not make your contribution more informative than is necessary. 4) CLARITY: Do not make your contribution obscure, ambiguous or difficult to understand. (5) Politeness Principle Politeness is a system of interpersonal relations designed to facilitate interaction by minimizing the potential for conflict and confrontation inherent in all human interchange (Robin Lako