【作者】 陈昕；

【导师】 王守宏；

【作者基本信息】 吉林大学 ， 外国语言学及应用语言学， 2011， 硕士

【摘要】 阅读能力是人类获取信息的重要手段之一,对于二语学习者,阅读能力更显得尤为重要。只有掌握较强的二语阅读能力,二语学习者才会在专业学习、日常交际等各领域取得更大进步。因此,相对于听说写译等其他语言技能,阅读教学一直被认为是外语教学的核心环节。阅读能力的提高会在很大程度上促进其他语言能力的增长。近些年来,中国二语阅读教学取得了长足进步,学生的阅读能力与水平显著提高,但值得注意的是,传统的“自下而上”的阅读教学模式充斥着大学英语课堂中并占据主导地位。学生在二语阅读学习上投入了大量时间与精力,但依旧会遇到很多阅读障碍。一部分障碍虽然来自于生词或长难句理解,而更多的却来自学生对语篇整体结构、深层含义、作者态度等语篇信息的理解。因此,如何进一步促进大学生二语阅读水平增长,特别是对于阅读材料宏观把握能力的提高已经成为语言学家及语言教师们研究的重要课题之一。本研究尝试将主述位理论运用于大学英语阅读教学,证明主述位理论的恰当使用可以对其产生积极的促进作用,并抛砖引玉,为广大英语教师提供一点有益的教学启示。主位与述位的概念,最早可以追溯到古希腊的柏拉图。法国学者亨利·维尔(1844)在《古代语言与现代语言的语序比较》一书中提出,句子的思想运动不同于句法运动,思想运动靠词序表达出来,而句法运动靠词尾来体现。不论古典语言或现代语言,思维次序与表达思想的次序是一致的。因而,每一句话都含有一个出发点和讲话目标。出发点是说话人与听话人都知道的东西,是把会话双方结合在一起的内容,是他们的共同点,而讲话目标则只属于说话人,听话人是不知道的,是要传递给听话人的信息。这可以被看做是主述位理论的雏形。布拉格学的马泰修斯(1939)吸收并发展了亨利·维尔的观点,他以句法功能观为理论基础,创立了句子的实义切分方法,将句子切分为三部分,分别命名为“主位”、“述位”与“连位”。主位是“表达出发点”,是特定语境中能为人们感知的东西或已知信息；述位是“表述核心”,是说话人对前者进行的阐释；连位则是连接主位与述位的部分。系统功能学派的韩礼德在马泰修斯的理论基础上提出了关于主位的不同看法,并在1967年,1970年和1985年分别对主位理论进行了阐述。他认为主位是信息的起点,是小句所关心的成分；述位是除主位外信息的剩余部分,是主位的发展。韩礼德更强调句子和语篇中各个成分所发挥的语义功能,在《功能语法导论》一书中,他区分了单项主位、复项主位与句项主位三种主位形式。单项主位和复项主位的根本区别是前者无内部结构,不可进一步分析,而后者具有一定的内部结构,可以进一步划分为语篇主位、人际主位与话题主位。句项主位则是由一个小句做主位,并体现概念功能。其他很多语言学家也对主述位理论进行了细致的研究。捷克语言学家丹尼斯(1974)通过观察发现,语篇是多种多样的。他从貌似无规律可循的语言素材中总结出三种主位变化的基本模式,称为主位推进模式。丹尼斯指出：主位推进模式,是指在组句成篇的过程中,各句的主位与主位之间、述位与述位之间,前一句的主位或述位与其后句子的主位和述位之间按照一定的规律不断联系变换。这种动态的变化发展也影响到语篇的信息流程,已知信息引发新信息,新的信息又不断地成为已知信息,并以此为出发点,再触发更多的新信息。国内许多学者,如徐盛桓(1982),黄衍(1985),黄国文(1988),胡壮麟(1994),朱永生、严世清(2001)等也都在此领域活动大量研究成果。黄国文(1988)指出,句子成分的排列与句子之间的配列具有一定规律,都受到制约,而主位推进模式正是对这些规律和制约的描述。各组主述位之间的相等或相同并不是简单的词汇重复,而是有多种情况。徐盛桓(1982)也指出,每个语篇不单只用一种推进模式,而是多个模式的综合使用。大量的语料证明,从头至尾只按照一种模式推进的语篇为数不多,大多数的语篇采用复合模式推进。在国内,一些语言学家与教师已尝试将主述位理论应用到英语阅读教学中,并取得了可喜的成果。例如,赵红(1998)将主述位理论应用于英语专业四八级快速阅读教学,并指出主述位理论可以提高学生的阅读速度；刘辰诞(2000)把主述位理论应用于大学英语阅读与写作教学；项兰(2002)在大学英语阅读教学中使用诸位推进模式,并指出该模式可以有效地辅助与文章分析,但却受制于文章体裁。综合来看,黄衍(1985)提出的七种主位推进模式影响力较大,因此本研究将采用韩礼德的主述位概念及黄衍的主位推进模式作为理论基础,开展研究。总体来看,这些应用研究是比较成功的,但有些却缺乏详细的论证过程及足够的数据支撑,而且也仅能反应英语阅读教学中某一层面存在的问题,并不能全面地阐述主述位理论对英语阅读教学的积极作用。基于此,本研究旨在探讨以下三个问题：1.在教授主述位理论之前,学生的英语阅读方法存在哪些问题?2.在教授主述位理论之后,该理论的应用是否可以解决这些问题,并且提高学生的英语阅读能力?3.主述位理论的应用可以在哪些方面影响并提高学生的英语阅读能力?为了圆满解答上述研究问题,本研究选定吉林大学和平校区2009级4个本科班的学生为研究对象,其中实验动物专业与农林经济管理专业设为控制组,共85人；物流管理专业与食品质量安全专业设为实验组,共86人。开展教学实验前,研究者通过问卷对研究对象进行调查,结果表明,两组实验班的年龄与男女比例大致相等；学习英语时长大致相等,大部分为6至8年;且最近一次大学英语四级考试的阅读理解部分成绩无显著差别；平时英语阅读学习中遇到的阅读障碍也基本相同。为进一步确保实验准确性,在实验开始前,两组同时参加了一次内容相同的实验前期测试。使用SPSS数据分析软件对测试结果进行对比分析后,相关数据表明两组学生的前期测试成绩,无论是平均分、各题型平均分还是各分数段人数分布均无显著差异。前期测试结束后,在教学时间、教学材料与阅读训练材料一致的情况下,研究者对实验对象展开为期16周,共计48学时的阅读干预实验。在阅读教学与阅读训练两个环节中,对于控制组,实验者主要采取“自下而上”的传统教学模式,着重训练学生的词法与长难句分析翻译能力,并带领学生逐词逐段地对语篇进行梳理、推进。但因受到教学时间等因素限制,宏观篇章信息并不是授课重点,学生也仅能简略地了解诸如段意、中心思想等语篇知识。而对于实验组,实验者主要采取“自下而上”与“自上而下”相结合的教学模式,在以宏观语篇信息为重点的同时,也不放弃对语言基础层面的讲解与训练。研究者首先教授学生必要的主述位及主位推进模式理论知识,进而在教学环节中进行大量的相关练习。学生被要求明确切分课文中句子的信息起始部分与信息中心部分,从而勾画出整篇文章的主位推进模型。与此同时,借助于此模型,学生可以清晰方便地观察到文章脉络与逻辑结构,较好地把握文章脉络、作者写作意图等各级语篇信息。此种阅读教学方法重视学生对文章整体的理解,但语言基本技能方面的训练被削弱。实验后期,两组学生参加一次内容相同的后期测试,以检验不同方法干预后的阅读教学结果是否存在差异。研究者使用SPSS数据统计软件分析测验结果,并综合问卷调查与访谈的转写内容,采用定量与定性的研究方法对本实验结果进行分析,发现两组学生在前后两次考试中取得的成绩以及试后的访谈结果在很大程度上解答了本实验提出的研究问题。实验结果表明,两种不同的阅读教学方法对学生英语阅读能力的提高都有促进作用,然而在起始条件相等的情况下,应用主述位理论进行教学的实验组在后期测试中取得了比控制组更好的成绩,且有显著差异。这表明,恰当地在英语阅读教学中应用主述位理论,能够使学生获得有效的语篇信息,高效地把握语篇结构、主要内容及文章基调等在内的整体因素,并参照主位推进模式快捷地总结出文章大意,更清晰地掌握作者思路。除此之外,主述位理论的应用对于学生获取文章细节也具有一定积极影响。主述位的相关知识可以增强学生英语阅读过程中的信心,减小信息查找范围,明确推理方向,而且文章各句的主位的选词特点在某种程度上可以揭示句际关系,段际关系以及作者写作态度等语篇细节。最后,实验结果表明主述位理论的应用对于学生的英语阅读速度的影响并不明显。对于阅读测试中的快速阅读部分,文章难度相对较低,实验组学生的确表现出了比控制组更快的阅读速度。然而一旦涉及到类似深度阅读理解的较为复杂,难度较高的文章时,无论是实验组还是控制组,学生都会因为文章中较多生词、长难句以及晦涩的隐含义而不自觉地放慢阅读速度,进而转入低层阅读,因而阅读速度并没有明显提高。研究者希望本实验结果可以在某些方面对英语阅读教学有所贡献,并对广大教师有所启示。英语教师应使学生懂得,阅读是一个积极互动的追寻作者写作思路的过程,一个意义创建的,从整体到细节的理解过程。实验证明,无论是传统的阅读教学方法,还是新兴的语篇分析方法,都有其弊端。只有二者有机结合,既重视语篇,又不抛弃语言基础知识的综合阅读教学法才是适合现阶段大学英语阅读教学的有效方式。本研究仅是一次非常有限的实践尝试,力争为大学英语阅读教学贡献一点微薄之力。虽然本实验在很大程度上是成功的,但仍有很多不足。研究者希望本文能够起到抛砖引玉的作用,为其他研究者对此领域更深刻更广泛的讨论和研究提供实验设计启示及数据参考,尽一份微薄之力。更多还原

【Abstract】 Reading is a key way of human beings to acquire information; it is not only frequently used by native speakers but also those foreign language learners particularly the college students. With strengthened reading proficiency, EFL readers shall make greater progress and achieve superior development in all academic areas. Furthermore, reading comprehension ability could be a primary means for students to search out experiences and accumulate the necessary information in their specialties after graduation. Therefore, EFL reading comprehension competence is considered as the core of EFL teaching. However, even if the EFL reading teaching in China has made great progress and the students’English level is significantly enhanced, it still requires more time and energy for exploring and reforming. The traditional "bottom-up" model of EFL reading teaching is excessively adopted in classroom instruction, students have consumed much more time and energy in learning reading but still encounter a mass of tough problems in text comprehension.The notion of Theme is an important component of text linguistics, which is initially put forward by Henri Weil in 1844. Mathesius (1937) of the Prague School divides a clause into three parts:Theme, Rheme and Transition; and he deems that Theme is "the starting point of the utterance, that which is known or at least obvious in the given situation, and form which the speaker proceeds", while "what the speaker states about, or in regard to, the starting point of the utterance" is Rheme. (Nwogu and Bloor,1991:396) Later in 1985, Halliday and Hasan accepted Mathesius and other Prague School linguists concepts of Theme, published their Language, Context and Text, in which they propose that Theme is "the element which serves as the point of departure of the message; it is that which the clause is concerned. The Remainder of the message, the part in which the Theme is developed, is called Rheme". (Halliday,1985:38) Halliday also puts forward different types of Theme according to the syntactic structure of the initial constituents of a sentence, and generally classifies them as Simple Theme, Multiple Theme, and Clausal Theme.Without a doubt, Hallidayan Theme-Rheme theory offers the far-reaching implications on contemporary linguistics. For enlarging Hallidayan Theme-Rheme theory, Danes (1969) firstly reckons that it is the systematic arrangement of Themes and Rhemes that develop the contexts and he formalizes the three Thematic Progression patterns. In China, many researchers such as Xu Shenghuan (1982), Huang Yan (1985), Huang Guowen (1988), Hu Zhuanglin (1994) and Zhu Yongsheng (1995) respectively propose their studies on Thematic Progression.At the meantime, many researchers in China also apply the Theme-Rheme Theory and Thematic Progression to EFL Reading Teaching as well. Zhao Hong (1998) applies the Theme-Rheme Theory to the fast reading of TEM-4 and TEM-8 and she points out that the adoption of Theme-Rheme Theory is a highly efficient instrument to increase the students’ reading rate. Liu Chendan (1999) announces that the Theme-Rheme Theory should be involved in EFL reading and writing teaching and he manifests detailedly how to analyze a text with the Theme-Rheme theory to students. Additionally, other researchers including Zhu Yongsheng (2002) and Zhang Delu (2003) propound that Theme-Rheme Theory is helpful for improving students’reading efficiency, while Xiang Lan (2002) links Theme-Rheme Theory to English reading teaching and counts that the Thematic Progression is the outline of text content but restricted by its genres. All these research have laid solitude foundations for the present study.The principal objective of this research is to apply the Theme-Rheme theory in EFL reading teaching for Non-English majors in college. It also explores the influence of this theory on students’EFL reading proficiency. The research begins with the participation of 171 students of Jilin University Heping Campus, who are distributed in one control group (85 persons) and one experimental group (86 persons). The reading intervention treatment starts after pre-experiment test and the questionnaire, in which totally 48 academic hours are involved. In the Reading Teaching and Reading Training Section, a conventional "bottom-up" reading teaching model is performed to the control group while generally the combination of "bottom-up" and "top-down" models is conducted in experiment group. That is to say, for CG, the instructor chiefly delivers the traditional reading teaching methods for the instruction. The clarification and accumulation of vocabulary and the analysis of complex sentences are highly emphasized. However in EG, not only the linguistic knowledge but also the contextual information, especially the initial parts of sentences and the logical interlink among sentences and paragraphs are highlighted. The students are required to generate summaries on what they have read in class and draw the sketches of Thematic Progression patterns of some of the passages. After the treatment, a post-experiment test and an interview are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the experiment, and all the data are collected and both qualitative and quantitative methods are involved for statistics analysis.The result of this study proves that the Theme-Rheme theory and the thematic progression patterns is an effective system and they have positive influence on college EFL reading teaching and learning. The findings reveal that, firstly, the students’capability of global understanding can be trained by the application of Theme-Rheme theory, which proposed a new-fangled approach of EFL reading teaching and learning because the macro-grasp of text is highly valued by both teachers and students. Secondly, the students’ capability of detailed understanding is obtained. The arrangement of the details in a text turns to be more logical and clear and easy to grasp, the theme sentences of paragraphs, and the authors’attitudes are highlighted by students while reading. Thirdly, the students reading rate are enhanced but it is only effective when dong some comparatively simple reading materials. When it comes to those more complicated passages, the students still need to seek their understanding by word recognizing and sentence analyzing, hence, their reading rate slows down.In conclusion, EFL reading instruction should attach weight to comprehend usage of various teaching methods and the application of Theme-Rheme theory to EFL reading teaching is feasible and effective.更多还原