英语文体学Implications of Stylistics for Teaching English Literature.docx

英语文体学Implications of Stylistics for Teaching English Literature.docx

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英语文体学ImplicationsofStylisticsforTeachingEnglishLiterature

Chapter9ImplicationsofStylisticsforTeachingEnglishLiterature

    OurtaskinthischapteristoexploretheimplicationsofstylisticsforteachingEnglishliteraturetoadvancedChineseEFLstudents.Stylisticiansabroad,especiallyinBritain,haveenthusiasticallystartedtoapplystylisticstotheteachingofEnglishliteraturetobothhomeandforeignstudents.TheworksbasedontheirteachingexperienceofsuchscholarsasH.G.Widdowson,A.RodgerandR.Carterareindeedinvaluableandinsightful.Muchofwhatissaidinthischapterresultsfromtheinspirationreceivedfromreadingtheseworks.

    Toexaminetheimplicationsofaparticulartheoryforteaching,itmakessensetofirstfindoutasmuchaspossibleaboutthetargetstudents.

    9.1BriefDescriptionofStudents

    Accordingtothemostrecent"NationalSyllabusforUniversityEnglishMajors"（NationalAdvisoryBoardonUniversityForeignLanguageTeaching,2000）,therearetworequiredEnglishliteraturecourses:

"BritishLiterature"and"AmericanLiterature".Theseareone-yearcoursesanddesignedtobetaughttothethird-yearandfourth-yearstudents.Thestudentsaremostlyovertwentyyearsofage,andarethereforephysicallyandemotionallymature.Whentheygraduate,mostofthemwillworkas"ForeignLanguageWorkers"-anumbrellatermforforeignlanguageteachers,translators,interpretersandresearchers.Somemaygoontopostgraduatestudies.Asweknow,mostoftheseprofessionsaskforabasicliterarycompetence.

    Ourstudentsareusuallyhighlymotivatedtostudy,thoughasmallnumberofthemarelessmotivatedforonereasonoranother.Nevertheless,eventhelessmotivatedstudentsareofteninterestedinEnglishliteratureforthepleasureitprovidesandoutofloveandrespectforgreatliteratureingeneral.TheEnglishliteraturethatthestudentshaveencounteredbythethirdyearoftheirstudyconsistsmostlyofsimplifiedorabridgedshortstories,novelsandsomeshortpoems.Theirreadingisorientedtolanguagestudy,nottothematicmessage.Studentsmayhave,however,readafairamountofChineseliteratureandthetranslatedversionsofsomeEnglishliteraryworks.Asfarasthestudents'Englishlanguageproficiencyisconcerned,itisassumedthattheyhavemovedintotheadvancedstageoflearning.Inthefirsttwoyearsoftheircollegework,accordingtothenewnationalsyllabus,theyshouldhaveacquiredagoodmasteryofbasicEnglishpronunciationandintonationandtheessentialsofEnglishgrammar.Theyshouldhavecovered5,500～6,500Englishwordsandbeabletofluentlyandappropriatelyuse3,000～4,000ofthemandtheircollocations.Inshort,theyshouldhaveacquiredagoodgrammaticalcompetenceandevenafairlygoodcommunicativecompetence.

    Withtheabove-mentionedcharacteristicsofthetargetstudentsinmind,wearenowinabetterpositiontostarttoexploretheimplicationsofstylisticswhichaffectallaspectsofliteratureteaching.Inthischapter,wewillbeabletodiscussonlytwoaspects,namely,definingtheaimsofteachingliteratureanddevisingclassroomliteraryexercises.

9.2ImplicationsofStylisticsforDefiningtheAimsofTeachingLiterature

    Itisofparamountimportancefortheteachertohaveaclearideaoftheaimsofthecourseheorsheisteaching.Itisevenmoreimportant,however,fortheaimstobedefinedappropriatelyonthebasisoftheoryandpractice.Thefailuretodosowillnecessarilyleadtothefailureofthecourse.

    HowmightwedefinetheaimsofteachingEnglishliteratureinthelightofthetheoryandmethodsofstylistics?

AsdiscussedinChapterOne,animportantassumptionofastylisticapproachisthatliteratureismadeoflanguage.Themediumoftheliterarywriterisverydifferentfromthemediumofthesculptororpainter.Itisalreadymeaningfullystructuredandsystematized.Asthemostcomplexmodeofhumancommunication,languagealreadyhasitsownbuilt-inrulesandconventions.Thistheliterarywritermayexploitandarrangeinunusualwaystocreateafictionalworldindependentofanyconcretesituation.Butthemeaningofapieceofworkunquestionablydependsonthenormsofthatlanguageevenwhereitmostdeviatesfromthem.Thus,thefactsofaliterarytextarelinguisticfacts.Everythingelseinaworkisonlyinferencefromthesefacts.Inconventionaldiscourse,concretesituationsaregiven;weunderstandthetextorconversationpartlybecauseweknowwhattoexpectinthosesituations.InWiddowson's（1983）words,we"countonschematicknowledge".Forexample,ifwelistentotheweathermanonasummer'sdayinBeijing,wewillnotbesurprisedtohearthattherewillberainorastorm.Butwewillbesurprisedtohearofaheavysnowcomingup.Inliterature,however,therearenoestablishedconventionalschemataofthissort.Literatureiscontextuallydislocated.Thecontextofsituationinliteratureisonlycreatedfromthecluessuppliedbythelanguageofthetext.Therefore,ourunderstandingofapieceofliteraryworkreliesheavilyonahighlydevelopedawarenessoftheworkingsoflanguageineverydaycommunicativesituationsaswellasinliterarydiscourse.

    Basedonthisanalysis,wemaynowsuggestthatwhatisofprimaryconcernforaliterarycourseisthedevelopmentofakeenawarenessinthestudentofhowlanguageworksinliterarydiscourse.Widdowsonhasmadethepointexplicitly,"literatureasasubjecthasasitsprincipalaimthedevelopmentofthecapacityforindividualresponsetolanguageuse"（1975:

76）.

    Theadoptionoftheaboveaimastheprimarygoalofaliterarycoursewouldmeanthattheteachershouldfocusthestudents'attentionmainlyontheintrinsicfactsofatextasopposedtoextrinsicfactssuchasthoseaboutthelivesandopinionsofauthors,aboutsourcesandinfluence,aboutgenres,fashions,schoolsandmovements.Theteachermustrealizethattheseextrinsicfactsareonlysecondarytotheintrinsicfacts.

    Theadoptionofsuchaprimaryaimwouldalsomeanthatthechiefcriterionforselectingtheteachingcontentshouldbedifferentfromthatofaknowledge-orientedcourse.Itshouldnotbetheclassicstatusofthetexts,"buthastodowithwhethertheworkcanbeusedtodevelopsensitivitytolanguageinthemosteffectiveway"（Widdowson,1975:

85）.Aselectionmadechieflyaccordingtothiscriterionmaynotcontainasmanyclassicsaswasusuallythecase,butisneverthelesssuitableforpreparingthewayforameaningfulandenjoyablereadingofthematafuturedate.

    Theadoptionofsuchanaimdoesnotmeantherejectionofotherteachingaimssuchas'theacquisitionofliteraryknowledge','thelearningofculturalfacts'and'thecultivationofmorality'.Butitshouldberealizedthattheseaimscannotbeachievedifthestudentisunabletounderstandthelanguageofthetexts.Puttingitinanotherway,therealizationoftheprimaryaimcanfacilitatetheattainmentofotheraims.

9.3ImplicationsofStylisticsforDevisingClassroomLiteraryExercises

    Webrieflydiscussedtheimplicationsofstylisticsfordefiningaimsofteachingliteratureintheprecedingsection.Inthissectionwewillexploretheimplicationsofstylisticsfordevisingliteraryexercisesforclassroomuse.

    WemadethepointinSection1.5thattoascertainthestyleoruniquenessofatextnaturallyinvolvescomparisonsoflanguageofthetextwiththatusedinconventionaltypesofdiscourseandconcludedthatstylisticanalysisisanactivitywhichishighlycomparativeinnature.InSection1.3,weexaminedtheassumptionthatliteratureismadeoflanguage.Intheprecedingsection,wefurtherpointedoutthatthefactsofaliterarytextarelinguisticfactsandeverythingelseinitisonlyinferencefromthese.Theunderstandingofaliterarytextthusreliesheavilyonahighlydevelopedawarenessoftheworkingsoflanguageineverydaycommunicativesituationsaswellasinliterarydiscourse.Thepointswemadeinthesesectionshavemanyimplicationsfordevisingclassroomliteraryexercises.Whatwesaidchieflyimpliesthattheexerciseswedeviseforourstudentsshouldbeinsomewaycomparativeandshouldhelpthestudentsmakesenseofliterarydiscoursethroughutilizingthecluessuppliedbythelanguageofthetext.

    OnetypeofliteraryexercisethatWiddowsonadvocatesisthesettingofexamplesofliterarydiscoursealongsideexamplesofconventionaldiscourseinordertodemonstratethedifferencesinthewaythelanguagesystemisrealizedforcommunicativepurposes（1975）.Forexample,forteachingTennyson'spoemTheEagle,wemayselectfromanencyclopaediathedescriptionoftheeagleandthenpresentittothestudentstogetherwiththepoem.

    TheEagle

    Heclaspsthecragswithcrookedhands,

    Closetothesuninlonelylands,

    Ring'dwiththeazureworld,hestands.

    Thewrinkledseabeneathhimcrawls;

    Hewatchesfromhismountainwalls,

    Andlikeathunderbolthefalls.

    eagle（e'gel）,thepopularnameforanyofseverallargebirdsofpreythatbelongtothehawkfamily.Eaglesarefoundthroughoutmuchoftheworld.Someliveinopenmountainousareas,othersinhabitforests,andstillotherslivenearthesea.

    Mosteaglesrangeinlengthfrom2to3feet（0.6to0.9meters）,andtheirbroadwingsmayspanmorethan6feet（1.8meters）.Likemostofthehawks,thefemaleeagleisslightlylargerthanthemale.Alleagleshaveaheavy,sharplyhookedbillandstrongsharpclaws,calledtalons,whichtheyusetoseizeandkillprey.Theeagle'splumageisusuallybrown,gray,orblack,anditissometimesm