浅析在中国学生英语阅读理解的交际障碍 [6]
论文作者:佚名论文属性:短文 essay登出时间:2009-04-21编辑:黄丽樱点击率:12426
论文字数:4144论文编号:org200904212250467679语种:英语 English地区:中国价格:免费论文
关键词:Englishlanguagelinguistspsychologistseducationalists
imited, because what he can see is his brain’s interpretation of the brain. (Smith, 1973: 205)
In reading comprehension, the deficiency of the non-linguistic knowledge such as the thinking model and the cultural background will cause the communicative obstacles.
2.2.1 Thinking model differences
Chinese people and English native speakers have different ways of thinking and expression. Most Chinese don’t have the natives’ living experiences and cultural background so they cannot comprehend the effective information of the texts. Those thinking model differences often cause obstacles in students’ comprehending of their English texts.
A case in point is the English way of negation. We often come across sentences that are affirmative in form but negative in content, or vice versa. For example:
ex. 2-5
a. I know better.
b. I couldn’t feel better.
Readers really have difficulty in understanding the two sentences. While, ex.2-5 (a) is meant as “I don’t think so” and ex.2-5 (b) is “I’m feeling great.”
c. You could have come at a better time.
d. I hope you’re none the worse for that fall from your horse.
To Chinese students, native English-speakers have a peculiar way of negation. Usually, only efficient readers can understand ex.2-5 (c) as “You have come at a wrong time” and ex. 2-5(d) as “I hope you didn’t hurt by the fall from your horse.”
Ambiguity sometimes arises in Chinese students’ English reading because English natives usually look at things at different angles. Look at the following examples:
e. I was sitting behind a pint.
f. He was not the eldest son of his father for nothing.
Not all students can understand the two sentences. The ex. 2-5 (e) should be understood as “I was drinking beer” and the ex. 2-5 (f) as “He was a capable eldest son of his father.”
Engl ish natives have different thinking model from Chinese. They think in a lineal way, that is, objective, rational and directly. However, Chinese thinks matters in a round way, that is, subjective, affectionate and indirect. Those differences usually cause comprehension obstacles in English reading comprehension.
2.2.2 Cultural background differences
Reading comprehension is an interaction between the reader’s thought and the writer’s graphic designs. Therefore, in order to decode those graphic designs, readers must be equipped with not only the knowledge of language but also the knowledge of the world. Cultural background knowledge plays an important role in comprehending a text. For example:
ex. 2-6
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate. (Shakespeare)
Chinese readers often have difficulty in understanding these two lines of Shakespeare. Firstly, there are three old English words thee, thou and art in this passage. Readers without any knowledge of the old English cannot understand thee is you (objective), thou is you (subjective) and art is are in modern English. Secondly, readers may get puzzled why a summer’s day could be lovely and temperate. In China, a summer’s day is not so welcome by people for its unbearable heat. Moreover, readers should know Shakespeare is a British. In Britain, a summer’s day usually is mild and comfortable. Obviously Shakespeare aims to praise “your” beauty and temperance.
Thus, readers should pay more attention to the descriptive words of figures, customs, geographical features, etc. in the text. Those words usually are useful sources to explore the writing settings and
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