英语专业学生应对专四考试作文评论部分的常见问题和解决办法

2021-08-13 14:51毕琳娜
知识窗·教师版 2021年5期
关键词:解决办法问题

毕琳娜

摘要:英语专业四级考试作文部分改革后,学生在应对作文新题型的评论部分时产生了普遍且突出的问题,主要体现在论点不突出、论据支撑不平衡、误用连接词、层次不分明、结论过于简单这五个方面。基于此,本文论述了英语专业学生应对专四考试作文评论部分的常见问题,并提出了解决办法,以提高学生应对专四考试作文的能力。

关键词:专四考试作文  评论  问题  解决办法

2016年,英语专业四级考试作文部分已经改革,很多教师对这一改革并不了解,很多学生对作文的认识还停留在改革前的传统作文写法上。作文部分的改革主要表现为:不再考查小作文;传统立论+支撑观点+结论三段式大作文转型升级。

目前,作文部分新题型增加了阅读内容,即给出了一篇文章,要求学生先阅读和理解,再根据这篇文章的主要内容写总结,针对文章主题进行评论,评论部分可以看作是传统作文的浓缩版,最后给出结论,结论部分在新旧题型中没有太大变化。下面,笔者将举例说明学生在作文中存在的普遍且突出的问题。

一、评论时论点不突出

如以下三种论点:“I think its correct.”“I support this idea.”“I hope that situation will get improved.”评论部分作为传统作文的浓缩版,必须完成立论并支持论点这样的基本任务。评论既然是传统作文的浓缩,重要性可想而知,但是很多学生不重视这一点,在提出论点时轻描淡写,使用代词代替关键信息,甚至出现很多口语化的句子,这些句子无法承担立论的重量。立论的句子一定要意思完整、结构严谨,才能突出这句话在全文中的重要性。例如:“In my opinion, it is meaningful to develop local cultural tourism for overall benefits.”再比如:“I support that a record fine should be imposed on the companies which violate national laws and regulations and do harm to the whole society.”

二、评论时论据支撑不平衡

例如:“First, civil servants enjoy very good welfare. Besides five social insurances and one housing fund, they also enjoy basic salary, allowances, subsidies and bonuses. Secondly,and more important, civil servant is a good choice for women. Although the country has laws to protect employers from gender discrimination, many women are still faced these discrimination. If a female employer working in private enterprises is faced with giving birth to baby, she will suffer from salary reduction or demotion. But this will not happen to female civil servants because their rights are better protected by law.”在上述例子中,學生用了两个论据,第一个论据有23个字,第二个论据长达70个字,从字数上看,两个论据极不平衡,支撑观点的力量肯定不均匀。专四考试作文字数要求为200字,除去第一段介绍,以及总结和后面的结论,中间评论部分一般100字比较合理。那么,普通学生大概能写两到三条论据来支撑论点,论据的字数分配应该是平衡的。换句话说,如果是两个论据,那么字数应该各占一半,如果是三个论据,字数应该各占三分之一,这样论证结构会比较平衡。假如第一个论据写了六句话,而第二个论据只有两句话,那就说明了两个问题:要么是学生对第二个论据了解不多,没有充分展开,支持论点的力量薄弱,要么是第一个论据过于冗杂,在内容上有东拉西扯的嫌疑。

三、误用或不用连接词

例如:“On one hand, informal language is more flexible than formal language. On the other hand, informal language contributes to spreading culture.”在这个例子中,画线短语在文中通常翻译为“一方面”“另一方面”。而事实上,在英文中这对连接词通常在两者有对比关系时使用。也就是说,当两者为并列关系而非对比关系时,使用这对连接词不恰当。表示并列应该选用另一对连接词,即for one thing, for another。这一对连接词在中文中也翻译为“一方面”“另一方面”。但两者没有对比的意思,而是表示理由之一和理由之二。所以说,连接词和普通单词一样,虽然翻译过来的中文意思都一样或差不多,但实际上英文意思并不完全相同,学生在选用时要谨慎。有的学生习惯一句一句压着写,丝毫没有起承转合,看不出逻辑关系,这是不妥的。在行文中,学生应适当使用提示层次的词语,比如:“first,second, third; first of all, next, then, finally”;在层内有一些表示前后语句关系的连接词,比如“whats more, in addition, besides, apart from”;在有因果关系时,应有“because, for, since, due to, owing to”等连接词。合理使用定语从句和状语从句,其中的连接词都能对读者思维起到引导作用。例如:“I am a sophomore majoring in English. I am greatly honored to write to you report the terrible dining condition in our school. The dining hall is vary congested at the peak because it is not large enough. We always have to wait for about 10 to 15 minutes to get our meals. The purveyance is not to our taste. It remains the same all the year around and we have been fed up with it. If we come late, there would be no food left.”这一段没有任何连接词,读起来不容易理解其中的逻辑关系,如果加上合适的连接词,读者就能轻松理解作者思路。修改后为:“I am a sophomore majoring in English. I am greatly honored to write to you report the terrible dining condition in our school. First, the dining hall is vary congested at the peak because it is not large enough. We always have to wait for about 10 to 15 minutes to get our meals. Second, the purveyance is not to our taste because it remains the same all the year around and we have been fed up with it. What's more, if we come late, there would be no food left.”

四、评论时层次不分明

例如:“Cultural tourism has many advantages. It can improve peoples level of civilization. It is of great help to develop and promote the national culture. Tourism is beneficial to enrich peoples knowledge about geography, history and local customs.”有的学生一开始就是一大段,甚至比这段更长、更复杂,既看不出哪里是总结,哪里是评论,又看不出评论哪里是观点,哪里是论据,还看不出哪里是第一个论据,哪里是第二个论据。总之,洋洋洒洒写了一大堆,毫无逻辑可言。其实,这段内容看起来第一句是观点,后面连续用了三个论据。学生只要稍微改一下,加一些提示论点和论述层次的连接词,就显得很有逻辑了:“I believe cultural tourism has many advantages. First, cultural tourism can improve peoples level of civilization. Second, cultural tourism is of great help to develop and promote the national culture. Third, cultural tourism is beneficial to enrich peoples knowledge about geography, history and local customs.”

五、结论过于简单

例如:“So it is lucky that we get an ideal and stable job like civil servant.”这是一篇有关公务员考试文章的结论,学生的观点是鼓励大学生参与公务员考试,结论相当于重申了观点。然而,一篇作文的结论起码具有两个功能:一是对自己所写文章进行小结,二是对自己所议论的话题进行评论。单独一句话结尾基本没办法实现这两个功能,且对于整个文章来说,一句话结尾过于单薄,可修改为:“In conclusion, since the employment situation is still harsh, it is lucky for college students to participate in civil servant exam. After all it appears to be an ideal job for those who very much favor welfare and stability in work.”

六、結语

综上所述,英语专业学生在应对专四考试作文新题型时,常见错误按语言类型划分有两种,即语法错误和逻辑错误;按写作模块划分有三种,即总结错误、评论错误和结论错误。以上这五种错误案例主要由学生不良语言习惯的长期积累和缺乏主动思考造成的。市面上各种写作模板可能有一定的速成功效,但不一定适合基础薄弱的学生,所以学生需要日积月累地阅读、模仿、纠正,才能写出理想的作文。

参考文献:

[1]潘鸣威.英语专业四级考试指南[M].上海:上海外语教育出版社,2016.

[2]邹申.写作教程[M].上海:上海外语教育出版社,2013.

(作者单位:内蒙古科技大学外国语学院)

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