Unit 1
T A Language Teacher's Personal Opinion
Will Pidcroft This text is taken from Incentive Themes by W. S. Fowler, J. Pidcook & L. R. Rycroft. Nelson. Australia. 1980.
close1RT Every day I see advertisements in the newspapers and on the buses claiming that it is easy to learn English. According to these advertisements, with very little effort on the student's part, he will be able to speak the language fluently in three months or even ten days. There is often a reference to William Shakespeare or Charles Dickens to encourage him even more. When I see advertisements like this, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. If it were as easy to learn English as they say, I would have to look for another job, because very few qualified teachers would be needed. But a large number of people must believe these ridiculous claims, or else the advertisements would not appear.
一名語言教師的個人看法
威爾·皮德克羅夫特
我每天都會在報紙上、公共汽車上看到各種廣告，聲稱輕輕松松就能學(xué)好英語。這些廣告號稱，學(xué)生不必費什么力氣，要說一口流利的英語只需短短3個月，甚至10天就行。廣告還常常提到威廉·莎士比亞和查爾斯·狄更斯等英語文學(xué)大師的名號來增強吸引力。每當看到諸如此類的廣告時，我真是哭笑不得：如果學(xué)英語真像這些廣告所說的那么輕松，我恐怕得另謀出路了，因為不需要那么多合格的英語教師了。但是肯定有許多人相信這些可笑的噱頭，不然的話這些廣告也不可能出現(xiàn)。
It is natural for students to be attracted to methods that will teach them as quickly and efficiently and cheaply as possible. But it is difficult for anyone to explain in simple language why one method is better than another, and it is no use pretending that anyone has discovered a perfect way of teaching English in every possible situation. Some experts even argue that there are as many good methods of teaching a language as there are good teachers, because every teacher is an individual with his own personality. No doubt this is true to a certain extent, but it is not very helpful to students.
學(xué)生們喜歡實惠的速成學(xué)習(xí)方法也在情理之中，但要用淺顯易懂的語言去解釋為什么某一方法比另一方法更有效并不是一件簡單的事，而且也無需裝模作樣地聲稱有什么人已經(jīng)找到了一個萬能的適合所有學(xué)習(xí)環(huán)境的教學(xué)方法。一些專家甚至認為，有多少個好老師就有多少種好的教學(xué)方法，因為每一個老師都有其自身的特點。這種說法無疑是有幾分道理的，但對學(xué)生來說不是很有幫助。
For a long time people believed that the only way to learn a language was to spend a great deal of time in a country where it was spoken. Of course it is clear that students who go to England, America, or Australia to learn English have a great advantage over others, but a large number of students cannot afford to do so. Some students go to the opposite extreme and think they can teach themselves at home with dictionaries. But it is wrong to assume that each word in English has a precise equivalent in another language and vice versa, and it is impossible for any translation method to provide students with the natural forms of a language in speech, let alone produce good pronunciation and intonation.
有很長一段時間，人們認為要學(xué)好一門語言，只有去使用那種語言的國家待上一段時間。當然去英國、美國、或者澳大利亞等國家學(xué)英語的學(xué)生肯定比那些不能去的學(xué)生具有很大優(yōu)勢，但是很多學(xué)生支付不起那筆費用。有些學(xué)生走向另一極端：他們認為可以借助詞典在家自學(xué)。如果你認為英語中的每一個詞在另一語言中都有完全對等的詞（或反之亦然），那就錯了。通過翻譯法來給學(xué)生講解口語的自然形式是不可能的，更不要說做到語音、語調(diào)地道了。close4RT A great deal of teaching is still based on behaviorist psychology. Behaviorists are fond of making students repeat phrases and making them do exercises where they continually have to change one word in a sentence. If we were parrots or chimpanzees, these methods might be successful. A large number of theorists seem to think it is a pity we aren't, because it would make it easier to use their methods.
現(xiàn)在大量的教學(xué)活動還是建立在行為主義心理學(xué)的基礎(chǔ)之上。行為主義者熱衷于讓學(xué)生復(fù)述短語，不斷做一些只需更換句中某個詞的練習(xí)。假如我們是鸚鵡或黑猩猩，那這些方法或許能奏效，可惜我們不是，這似乎讓很多理論家引以為憾，否則他們提出的那些方法用起來就會容易得多了。close5RT In my personal opinion, no one can ever learn to speak English or any other language unless he is interested in it. Human beings, unlike parrots and chimpanzees, do not like making noises unless they understand what the noises mean and can relate them to their own lives. It is worth remembering that language is a means of communication. What people want to say and write in another language is probably very similar to what they want to say and write in their own. What they listen to and read cannot be a formula. It must be real.
我個人認為，假如沒有興趣，任何人都不可能學(xué)好英語或其他任何語言。與鸚鵡或黑猩猩不同，人類不會無緣無故地發(fā)出噪音，除非他們明白這些聲音是什么意思，并且能將其與自己的生活聯(lián)系起來。值得牢記的是：語言是一種交際手段，人們在母語中怎么說怎么寫，用另一種語言表達時也大同小異。因此，人們所聽所讀的不應(yīng)該是程式化的東西，聽的讀的材料必須真實自然。close6RT There is another relevant point worth mentioning here. We need other people to talk to and listen to when we communicate. If what we are learning is strange to us, it will be helpful if there are other students around us who can work with us and practise the unfamiliar forms with us in real situations, talking to each other about real life in real language.
還有一個相關(guān)的問題值得一提：在交際時我們需要有交談或傾聽的對象。在學(xué)習(xí)較生疏的內(nèi)容時，如果有其他學(xué)生和我們在實戰(zhàn)中一起學(xué)習(xí)和練習(xí)那些陌生的語言形式，用真實的語言去談?wù)撜鎸嵉纳睿且欢〞芤娣藴\。
2
Learning to Read
John Holt This text is adapted from The Norton Reader (11th Edition) by W. W. Norton, L. H. Peterson & J. C. Brereton. New York & London. 2004.
close1RT In one of my classes were many children who had had great trouble with schoolwork, particularly reading. I decided to try at all costs to rid them of their fear and dislike of books, and to get them to read oftener and more adventurously (冒險地).
學(xué)會去讀書
約翰·霍爾特
在我曾經(jīng)任教的一個班上有許多孩子學(xué)習(xí)起來非常吃力，尤其是閱讀。因此我決定不惜任何代價消除他們對書籍的恐懼和厭惡心理，讓他們能夠多讀些書，更勇于嘗試。close2RT One day soon after school had started, I said to them, "Now I'm going to say something about reading that you have probably never heard a teacher say before. I would like you to read a lot of books this year, but I want you to read them only for pleasure. I am not going to ask you questions to find out whether you understand the books or not. If you understand enough of a book to enjoy it and want to go on reading it, that's enough for me. Also I'm not going to ask you what words mean."
開學(xué)沒多久，我對孩子們說："我要跟你們說說讀書的事，也許還沒有哪個老師這樣對你們講過。今年我想要你們讀許多書，你們只需要為尋求樂趣而讀書，我不會去檢查你們讀懂了沒有。如果你讀了一點兒，覺得會喜歡這本書，并愿意把它讀完，這就夠了。我不會去考你們詞語的意思。"close3RT "Finally," I said, "I don't want you to feel that just because you start a book, you have to finish it. Give an author thirty or forty pages or so to get his story going. Then if you don't like the characters and don't care what happens to them, close the book, put it away, and get another. I don't care whether the books are easy or hard, short or long, as long as you enjoy them. Furthermore, I'm putting all this in a letter to your parents, so they won't feel they have to quiz or check your reading at home."
"最后，"我繼續(xù)說道，"你們不要覺得讀一本書就得把它讀完。先讀三四十頁，看看故事情節(jié)如何發(fā)展。如果你不喜歡書中人物，或者對他們的經(jīng)歷不感興趣，只管合上書，放到一邊，去讀另一本。你們讀的書是難還是容易、篇幅長還是篇幅短，我都不在意，只要你們喜歡就行。另外，我會寫信把我的意思告訴你們的家長，好讓他們知道沒有必要在家里查問或檢查你們的讀書情況。"close4RT The children sat stunned (使震驚) and silent. Was this a teacher talking? One girl, who had just come to us from a school where she had had a very hard time, and who proved to be one of the most interesting, lively, and intelligent children I have ever known, looked at me steadily for a long time after I had finished. Then, still looking at me, she said slowly and solemnly, "Mr. Holt, do you really mean that?" I said just as solemnly, "I mean every word of it."
孩子們都愣住了，坐著不出聲。這真的是老師在說話嗎？其中一個女孩，因為功課不好最近才轉(zhuǎn)學(xué)到我們學(xué)校來，后來我發(fā)現(xiàn)她非常有趣、活潑、聰明，在我所有的學(xué)生中都算突出的。我講完后，她盯住我看了很久。然后，她繼續(xù)看著我，緩慢而嚴肅地問："霍爾特先生，你說的話是真的嗎？"我也同樣嚴肅地回答："真的，一點不假。"close5RT Apparently she decided to believe me. The first book she read was Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, not a hard book even for most third graders. For a while she read a number of books on this level. Perhaps she was clearing up some confusion about reading that her teachers, in their hurry to get her up to "grade level," had never given her enough time to clear up. After she had been in the class six weeks or so and we had become good friends, I very tentatively (試探性地) suggested that, since she was a skillful rider and loved horses, she might like to read National Velvet. I made my sell as soft as possible, saying only that it was about a girl who loved and rode horses, and that if she didn't like it, she could put it back. She tried it, and though she must have found it quite a bit harder than what she had been reading, finished it and liked it very much.
顯然，她打算照我說的辦。她讀的第一本書是索伊斯博士寫的《格林奇偷走圣誕節(jié)》，這本書對大多數(shù)三年級的學(xué)生都不算難，更不要說這個年級的孩子了。有一陣子，她讀的書都在這個難易度上。也許她是在消除對閱讀的一些困惑，而以前她沒時間去做，因為老師總是催促她看這個年級"該看的書"。她在這個班上學(xué)習(xí)了六七個星期后，我們成了好朋友。我試探地向她建議：既然她喜歡馬，而且騎馬的水平還不錯，她可以讀一讀《俠女神駒》。我盡可能委婉地提出這個建議。我只告訴她那是一本關(guān)于一個熱愛馬并常常騎馬的女孩的故事；如果她不喜歡讀，她可以放回書架。她去讀了，也許她覺得這本書比她先前讀的書要難點，但是她讀完了，而且挺喜歡。close6RT During the spring semester, she really astonished me, however. One day, in one of our many free periods, she was reading at her desk. From a glimpse of the illustrations I thought I knew what the book was. I said to myself, "It can't be," and went to take a closer look. Sure enough, she was reading Moby Dick, in the edition with woodcuts (木刻) by Rockwell Kent. When I came close to her desk, she looked up. I said, "Are you really reading that?" She said she was. I said, "Do you like it?" She said, "Oh, yes, it's neat!" I said, "Don't you find parts of it rather heavy going?" She answered, "Oh, sure, but I just skip (略過，跳過) over those parts and go on to the next good part."
春季的那一學(xué)期，她的表現(xiàn)可真的讓我吃驚了。一天，在我們的自習(xí)課上我看到她坐在課桌前看書。我瞥了一眼書中的插圖我就知道這是一本什么書了。但是我不相信我的眼睛："不可能吧。"我走過去仔細一看，果然她在讀《白鯨》，那版本配有羅克威爾·肯特的木刻畫。我走近她的時候，她抬起頭來。我問她："你真的在看這本書嗎？"她說，是的。我又問："你喜歡這本書嗎？""嗯，是的。這本書很好。"她答道。"你不覺得有些地方很難嗎？"我又問道。"有啊，不過，看不懂就跳過去，挑有意思的地方看。"她這樣回答。close7RT This is exactly what reading should be, but in school, reading is not always an exciting, joyous (充滿歡樂的) adventure. Find something, dive into it, take the good parts, skip the bad parts, get what you can out of it, go on to something else. Why should we insist that every child should read the same book and get the same scrap(碎屑)of "understanding" out of it?
真正的閱讀就該如此。但是上學(xué)時，閱讀不見得總是有趣或讓人喜歡。拿上一本書，鉆進去，讀有趣的部分，跳過不好的部分，盡可能從書中得到點收獲，然后再去讀其他書。為什么非要讓每個孩子讀一樣的書，作出同樣的"理解"呢?
