词汇衔接在阅读理解中作用

词汇衔接在阅读理解中的作用[摘要] 阅读理解在外语教学和测试中占有重要地位,本文旨在探讨词汇衔接在阅读理解中的重要作用:词汇衔接与语篇的连贯紧密关联,通过分析词汇衔接手段和衔接纽带有助于推测生词含义,把握语篇的宏观结构,推导语篇主旨。

[关键词] 词汇衔接衔接纽带英语阅读理解1 引言20世纪60年代以来,语言学家逐渐认识到衔接和连贯在语篇构成及语篇解读方面的重要性。

衔接是将篇章中的句子连接为一个整体从而创造连贯的重要手段。

衔接理论自诞生以来深深地影响了语言教学和研究,许多研究者尝试把衔接理论运用于英语写作、翻译中。

鉴于阅读理解能力在外语教学和测试中的重要地位,笔者尝试将词汇衔接运用于阅读理解,分析其在推测生词含义,把握文章宏观结构和主旨方面的作用。

2 词汇衔接的含义及分类在《英语的衔接》中,halliday&hasan对衔接作了明确的界定: “我用‘衔接’这个词专门指那些组成语篇的非结构性关系。

它们…是语义关系,语篇是一个语义单位”(halliday, 1976:7)。

尽管如此,我们在讨论衔接时,总是以形式特征的出现作为衔接出现的证据。

但须明确一点,即形式特征本身并不是衔接关系,而是用于体现衔接关系的。

也就是说,在讨论语篇衔接时必须考虑到衔接所涉及的两个层次:其一是语义层次,衔接是一个意义概念;其二是形式层次,即衔接关系是由语言形式体现的。

词汇衔接是“衔接中最突出、最重要的形式,是创造篇章织体的主要手段,占篇章衔接纽带中的40%左右”(hoey,1991:9)。

词汇衔接指的是“通过词的重复、同义、反义、上下义、互补、整体与部分等关系,来使语篇语义连贯”(黄国文,1987:122)。

不少学者对词汇衔接的分类作了研究,如halliday&hasan(1976)把英语词汇衔接关系分为复现关系(reiteration)和同现关系(collocation);hoey (1991)把词汇衔接分为简单重现、复杂重现、简单同义转释、复杂同义转释四大类;胡壮麟(1994)则把词汇衔接方式分为重复、泛指词、相似性、可分类性和搭配五大类等。

tanskanen(2006)综合了halliday&hasan(1976)、hasan(1984)、halliday(1985)、mccarthy(1998)、morris&hirst(1991)、hoey(1991)以及martin(1992)的研究并加以改进,提出新的分类框架。

本文采用tanskanen的观点,他将词汇衔接分为复现关系(reiteration)和同现关系(collocation),这二者又进一步细分如下:词汇复现关系分为:简单复现(simple repetition): 指词汇重复时功能和形态不变,有时仅根据语法要求作细微变化,如名词的单复数变化。

复杂复现(complex repetition):指复现的词与原词形态相同,但语法功能不同,或是两词形态不同但词根相同,如teach——teacher。

代替(substitution): 代替这一传统意义上的语法衔接手段可以起到同词汇复现一样的作用。

最常见的代替手段有人称代词、指示代词、one、do、so等。

近义词(equivalence): 指以原词的同义词或近义词的形式重现,如method——approach。

上义词(generalisation): 指复现的词比原词更具一般意义,如imported oil——energy products。

下义词(specification): 指以原词的下义词形式重现,如children——brother。

共下义词(co-specification): 指复现的词同原词有共同的上义词,如brother——sister。

反义词(contrast): 指复现的词语原词意义相反,如out of fashion——up to date。

词汇同现关系分为:共处序列(ordered set): 指处于一个序列中的词之间的语义关系,如昨天——今天——明天。

与活动相关的搭配(activity related collocation): 指与某一活动有关的地点,人,行为等词语之间的语义关系,如cyphers——decode。

词汇套(elaborative collocation): 处于同一词汇套中的词处于同一知识结构框架(frame)中,一个词的出现会使人联想到另外一个词。

例如cambridge——lecture。

3 词汇衔接在四级阅读理解中的作用阅读理解是一种读者与作者的交互活动,作者在篇章中运用词汇衔接,给读者的解码过程提供有形线索,而读者则可以利用这些词汇衔接纽带理解词句的含义,把握文章脉络,推导全文主旨。

3.1 词汇衔接用于推测生词词义使全文连贯的词汇衔接是推测词义的重要线索,下面举几个例子予以说明。

例1、i have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough place will be made plain,and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.在这段文字中,exalted和crooked places的意思就可以通过词汇衔接关系来判断。

valley和mountain是属于一个词汇套中的词,在这段话中,作者用了对比手法,把valley和mountain的高度进行对比,从这个语境来说将valley和mountain作为反义词复线更合理,因此用于修饰valley的exalted和修饰mountain的low也应构成反义关系,从而可以推断exalted的意思应该为“填满,提高”。

就crooked places而言,plain与straight 构成近义词复现关系,而plain和straight 分别修饰rough place和crooked places 的性质,因此rough place和crooked places也应该是近义词复现,所以才rooked places的意思是“崎岖的地方”。

例2、(李学萍, 2006:200) (1)when americans are talking, they expect others to respond to what they are saying. (2)to americans, polite conversationalists empathize by displaying expressions of excitement or disgust, shock or sadness. (3)people with a “poker face”, whose emotions are hidden by deadpan expressions, are looked upon with suspicion…4. a“poker face” (para.2, line3) refers to a face which isa) attentive b) emotional c) suspicious d)expressionless 首先,(2)中的expressions以其原词形式复现在(3)中,形成简单复现关系;其次,(2)中的excitement与disgust同为(3)中的emotions下义词,构成上下义复现关系;再次,(2)中的displaying 与(3)中的hidden构成反义复现。

从这三组复现关系中,可以看出,该段话的话题是expression, (2)与(3)描述的两种“expression”形成对比,由此很容易就得出正确答案为d)。

例3、(李学萍, 2006:200) however , in 1955, rudolf flesch touched off what has been called “the great debate” in beginning reading. in his best-seller why johnny can’t read, flesch indicted the nation’s public schools for miseducating students…the phrase “touch off” (para.3, line 1) most probablymeans_talk about shortlystart or causecompare withoppose句中的“touched off”与“the great debate”形成搭配。

当我们看到“the great debate”时,往往容易联想到的是“引起”或“激起”某场“争论”,他们构成同现关系。

在四个选项中b与“引起”意思接近,最有可能与“debate”同现在句子中,因此为正确答案。

3.2 词汇衔接用于分析篇章结构,揭示语篇主题两个相互联系的词项构成的衔接形成衔接纽带,如果该纽带中有多个衔接词项,则形成衔接链,衔接纽带通常都以衔接链的形式出现。

根据词汇衔接手段的分类,衔接链可分为复现链和同现链。

衔接链的作用存在于两个方面,一是提醒读者始终注意某个话题,揭示语篇的主题,二是从不同角度扩展语篇的话题,从而促进话题的逐步展开。

通过分析篇章中的衔接纽带/链,有利于读者迅速把握文章脉络,把握主旨,下面以2006年6月大学英语四级考试中的一篇阅读理解(余高峰, 2005: 7-8)为例,进行分析:(1)americans are proud of their variety and individuality, yet they love and respect few things more than a uniform, whether it is the uniform of an elevator operator or theuniform of a five-star general. (2)why are uniforms so popular in the united states?(3)among the arguments for uniforms, one of the first is that in the eyes of most people they look more professional than civilian (百姓的) clothes. (4)people have become conditioned to expect superior quality from a man who wears a uniform. (5)the television repairman who wears a uniform tends to inspire more trust than one who appears in civilian clothes. (6)faith in the skill of a garage mechanic is increased by a uniform. (7)what easier way is there for a nurse, a policeman, a barber, or a waiter to lose professional identity (身份) than to step out of uniform?(8)uniforms also have many practical benefits. (9)they save on other clothes. (10)they save on laundry bills. (11)they are tax-deductible(可减税的). (12)they are often more comfortable and more durable than civilian clothes.(13)primary among the arguments against uniforms is their lack of variety and the consequent loss of individuality experienced by people who must wear them. (14)though there are many types of uniforms, the wearer of any particular type is generally stuck with it, without change, until retirement.(15)when people look alike, they tend to think, speak, andact similarly, on the job at least.(16)uniforms also give rise to some practical problems.(17)though they are long-lasting, often their initial expense is greater than the cost of civilian clothes. (18)some uniforms are also expensive to maintain, requiring professional dry cleaning rather than the home laundering possible with many types of civilian clothes.65. the best title for this passage would bea) uniforms and societyb) the importance of wearing a uniformc) practical benefits of wearing a uniformd) advantages and disadvantages of uniforms65题以选择文章的标题为形式,考察学生对文章主旨的理解。