开展外刊阅读,培养学生英语学科核心素养

2020-12-29 22:56浙江
教学考试(高考英语) 2020年2期
关键词:母语词汇文章

浙江

英语学科核心素养主要包括语言能力、文化意识、思维品质和学习能力。在培养学生核心素养的过程中,教师应突破教材的局限,借助多种材料,培养学生对英语语言的鉴赏、模仿与创造的能力,开拓学生思维,引导学生对比不同文化并形成开放包容的胸怀,帮助学生形成适合自身发展的英语学习策略。

外刊包括英语媒体新闻、英语报刊及英语杂志等,其语言的丰富性、逻辑的严密性、话题的时效性使外刊成为教材教学的有益补充。尤其是在高三复习阶段,在高三学生已有一定词汇以及话题储备的前提下,开展外刊阅读能够避免机械、低效的题海战术,实现目标语输入与输出的交互,在复习备考的同时切实培养学生英语学科核心素养。

为有效开展外刊阅读,所选外刊文章的主题要紧密围绕“人与自我、人与社会、人与自然”,呈现自然、环境、社会、科技、文学、艺术、历史等不同类别,体现主题意义探究对于核心素养发展的引领;其次,所选外刊文章的语篇要完整、文体要明确,不建议选取片断以及非正式文体的文章,以此体现新《课程标准》对语篇的重视,并进一步接轨概要写作等高考题型;另外,为了符合最近发展区理论,所选外刊文章的难度应高于教材文本的难度、等同于或略高于高考难度;最后,所选外刊文章的篇幅不宜过长,一般以300至500词为宜。

本文从提升语言能力、培养思维品质、构建文化意识、深化学习能力四个维度出发,探讨了外刊阅读对于高三备考及培养核心素养的价值。

一、提升语言能力

语言能力指在社会情境中,以听、说、读、写、看等方式理解和表达意义、意图及情感态度的能力。提升语言能力包括语言知识的学习和语言技能的发展。

外刊的言语表达较之教材更为地道、丰富,教师应对其进行二次开发,借此拓展学生对于英语语言的认知深度和广度。

例如,2019年5月《经济学人》中有一篇关于抗生素生产商的困境的文章,其中有片段如下:

At the same time,growing awareness that overuse accelerates development of bacterial resistance to the drugs has led to“antibiotics stewardship”,the practice of using the newest antibiotics only for infections untreatable with older ones.

针对该段落中“awareness”“accelerate”“bacterial”“resistance”等高级词汇,教师可以查阅牛津词典等权威工具,为学生提供这些词汇的词性、英英解释、例句等内容,搭建语言支架,如:

accelerate:v.To happen or to make sth.happen faster or earlier than expected.

eg.Exposure to the sun can accelerate the ageing process.

对于部分词汇,教师更可以设置“汉译英”练习,在语境和实践中加深学生的认知。例如:

(1)她的健康状况好像突然提前衰退了。(accelerate)

(2)这一策略旨在逐步削弱敌人的抵抗力。(resistance)

【参考译文】

(1)The decline of her health seemed to suddenly accelerate.

(2)The strategy was designed to wear down the enemy’s resistance.

在词汇“精讲、精练”的基础上,教师可以引导学生对外刊文章中的长难句进行句子结构分析。在分析的过程中,教师应引导学生以“SV”“SVC”“SVO”“SVOO”“SVOC”的英语基本句子结构作为分析工具,删繁就简,提炼长难句中的关键成分。例如上述有关抗生素的外刊文章片段只有一句话,但这一句话包含了35词,学生应在教师的指导下分析这35词在句子中都发挥了什么作用:

句子主干:Growing awareness (S) has led to (V) “antibiotics stewardship” (O).

同位语从句:that overuse accelerates development of bacterial resistance to the drugs

同位语成分:the practice of using the newest antibiotics only for infections untreatable with older ones

时间状语:at the same time

语言的使用是在社会情境中发生的,不可能脱离情境。在学生准确理解外刊文章语言之后,教师可以对外刊文章进行二次开发,将其改编为符合高考命题规律的语法填空,让学生在情境中输出,借此提升其语言能力。在改编时,针对外刊文章中超纲词汇较多的情况,教师既可以在“词汇精讲”的过程中就这些词汇进行扫盲,也可以在改编时直接提供相关术语的中文解释,并用学生熟悉的词汇替换余下部分,从而回避超纲词汇。例如,按照后一种超纲词汇处理方法,有关抗生素的这篇外刊文章可以设计成如下的语法填空试题:

Getting hold of penicillin in 1943 was a lottery in America.The “miracle drug” ___1___ (discover) 15 years earlier but production capacity was limited,and most went to the war effort.What remained was restricted,and ___2___ single injection cost at least $40.By 1949 ___3___ (good) manufacturing methods allowed the price ___4___ (fall) to 20 cents.The use of penicillin exploded.Antibiotics subsequently became a main part of modern medicine.Massive volumes offset low profit.Finding new molecules (微粒) is getting harder,___5___ means higher development costs.At the same time,growing ___6__(aware) that overuse accelerates development of bacterial resistance to the drugs has led to “antibiotics stewardship (管理)”,the practice of using the newest antibiotics only for infections untreatable with older ones.Volumes,in other words,are often ___7___ (disappoint).___8___ returns from antibiotics down,big pharmaceutical companies have abandoned ___9___ for more rewarding drugs.In the past ten years,___10___ the world began to panic about the rise of resistant superbugs (超级细菌),governments and charities provided early-stage financing.

【参考答案】

1.had been discovered 2.a 3.better

4.to fall 5.which 6.awareness

7.disappointing 8.With 9.them

10.as

二、培养思维品质

思维品质主要体现了学生的心智发展特征以及心智发展水平,其发展有助于提升学生分析问题、解决问题的能力。在英语学科核心素养中,学生的思维品质强调思维的逻辑性、批判性和创新性三方面,包含观察与比较、分析与推断、归纳与构建、批判与创新等思维活动。

外刊中的新闻多为针对某一重大事件的报道,其需要在有限的篇幅内将事件报道清楚,逻辑严密;为足够吸引读者,新闻的话题也需要有一定的讨论性、批判性;同时,部分新闻未表达作者观点,这就为读者创新留下了空间。因此,在指导学生开展以新闻为主体的外刊阅读时,教师应将隐藏于语言内部的逻辑性、批判性、创新性通过合适的方式外显出来。阅读理解就是一种符合学生思维培养要求的形式,《考试说明》指出,学生在进行阅读理解时应做到以下几点:

(1)理解主旨要义

(2)理解文中具体信息

(3)根据上下文推断单词和短语的含义

(4)根据所读内容作出判断和推理

(5)理解文章的基本结构

(6)理解作者的意图、观点和态度

上述的六点要求都是体现思维品质的具体活动,这就要求教师根据外刊文章内容设计多种类型的阅读理解试题,以活动体现思维、训练思维、提升思维。

例如,2019年3月VOA中有一篇关于美国紧急停飞波音737 Max的文章:

【原文】

American President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the United States would ground all Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9 planes “effective immediately.”

The U.S.Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that it “made the decision as a result of the data gathering process and new evidence collected at the site and analyzed today.”

The agency added,“This evidence,together with newly refined satellite data available to FAA this morning,led to this decision.”

The emergency order came after two crashes involving Boeing 737 Max 8 jets in recent months.The latest happened on Sunday,when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed in clear weather ①six minutes after takeoff ② from Ethiopia’s capital,Addis Ababa.All 157 people on board died.

Last October,Indonesia’s Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the ocean 13 minutes after taking off ③from the Indonesian capital,Jakarta.All 189 people on board died.④

By Wednesday,nearly 40 countries had already barred Boeing 737 Max planes from flying in their airspace.The FAA had faced criticism for permitting the jets to continue flying in the United States.

Trump said that“new information”had been found during the ongoing investigation into Sunday’s accident.He said the decision to ground the aircraft“didn’t have to be made,but we thought it was the right decision.”

Trump added that the decision was made with the help of U.S.air carriers,aircraft manufacturer Boeing and Canadian aviation officials.Canada announced it was grounding the Boeing 737 Max planes earlier in the day.

In a statement,the U.S.-based Boeing Company said it“continues to have full confidence in the safety of the 737 Max.” The company said it decided to recommend to the FAA the temporary suspension of operations of all Boeing 737 Max planes “out of an abundance of caution.”

The FAA says there are 74 such planes registered in the U.S.and 387 around the world.

The U.S.-based Southwest Airlines operates 34 Boeing 737 Max planes.The airline said as a result of the order,it has removed those planes from service.

为培养学生思维的逻辑性,提升学生分析与推断的能力,教师可以设置根据上下文推断生词的词义的问题。例如:

1.What does the underlined word“ground”in Paragraph 1 mean?

A.Disable.B.Land.C.Dig.D.Bury.

这类问题需要学生基于语篇所承载的知识进行有效的分析、推断。本题中划线词“ground”用作动词,意为“使停飞”,而非学生熟悉的名词“地面”,属于“熟词生义”,需要学生通过阅读上下文来推断生词含义。与总述作用的第一段相呼应的最后一段总结道“The airline said as a result of the order,it has removed those planes from service.”,根据这一信息中的关键词“removed those planes from service.”,学生可以推断“ground”在文中类似于“disable(使停用,使无效)”。

为培养学生思维的整体性和概括性,提升学生归纳和建构的能力,教师可以设置理解主旨和要义的问题。例如:

2.What happened to Boeing Company?

A.The government increased flights to meet the need.

B.It canceled several flights because of the safety problem.

C.People appealed to the government to change its schedule.

D.American president passed law to close Boeing.

这类问题需要学生关注首尾两段以及每一段的topic sentence(关键句),根据所获得的信息提取共同特征,以此形成新的简单概念。本题需要学生根据第一段“the United States would ground all Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9 planes”以及第四段“The emergency order came after two crashes involving Boeing 737 Max 8 jets in recent months.”等主题句内容概括出得出“be canceled”“safety problem”等关键词,从而选出正确选项B。

为培养学生思维的严密性,提升学生观察与比较的能力,教师可以设置理解文中具体信息的问题。例如:

3.We can learn from Paragraph 4 and Paragraph 5 that_______.

A.Flight 302 crashed because of the bad weather

B.both Flight 302 and Flight 610 are Boeing 737 Max planes

C.all 157 people on Flight 610 died

D.two planes crashed after a long-time flight

这类问题需要学生根据选项回归原文寻找对应的细节信息,再将原文和选项进行匹配、比较,切忌无中生有、张冠李戴。第四段、第五段主要介绍了紧急出台波音737 Max停飞政策的原因,而这与之前两起坠机事件有关。由此可知这两段中出现Flight 302与Flight 610都是坠机的实例,都属于波音737 Max,故B选项正确。而根据画线信息①可知,A选项中的“bad weather”偏离原文。根据画线信息④可知,Flight 610的死亡人数为189,C选项属于信息杂糅。根据画线信息②③可知,两架坠机距离起飞时间均不长,故D选项也不正确。此类问题能帮助学生综合分析各种信息之间的内在关联和存在的各种矛盾,让学生从错综复杂的信息中识别关键问题。

为培养学生思维的批判性,提升学生批判与创新的能力,教师可以设置理解作者的意图、观点和态度的问题。例如:

4.What is the author’s attitude?

A.Indifferent.B.Supportive.

C.Suspicious.D.Objective.

这类问题需要学生针对所获取的信息提出自己的看法,并通过简单的求证手段,判断信息的真实性。本题涉及的关键信息不是明确表达出的,而是隐含于文字线索中,需要学生在理解文章总体内容的基础上,领会作者的言外之意。学生通过阅读可知,作者在这篇时文中只是介绍美国紧急停飞波音737 Max的事件及其原因,并未发表个人看法,所以作者的态度是“objective(客观的)”。

同时,为重点培养学生思维的抽象性和概括性,结合浙江高考英语新题型“概要写作”,教师可以在外刊阅读的过程中穿插概要写作训练。概要写作提供一篇350词以内的短文,要求学生基于该短文写出一篇60词左右的内容概要。概要写作考查学生对原文要点的理解和呈现情况、应用语法结构和词汇的准确性、上下文的连贯性以及对各要点表达的独立性情况。

例如,2019年7月《经济学人》中有一篇关于韩国人对智能手机依赖成瘾的文章,词数为267,结构清晰,条理明确,适合开发为概要写作的原材料。

【原文】

In South Korea smart-phone cases come with rings mounted on the back,to prevent clumsy owners from dropping them.This makes people look like they are literally married to their phones.In many of Seoul’s most popular coffee shops,couples on dates spend vastly more time looking at their screens than at each other.The ramifications go beyond the potentially dire consequences for romance.

Walk around the streets of Seoul or any other South Korean city,and there is a real risk of bumping into people whose eyes are glued to their smart-phone screens.Insurers estimate that around 370 traffic accidents annually are caused by pedestrians using smart-phones.That figure does not include those who bump into lamp posts and the like while perusing the latest cat videos.

The government initially tried to fight the“smombie” (a portmanteau of“smart-phone”and“zombie”) epidemic by distributing hundreds of stickers around cities imploring people to “be safe” and look up.This seems to have had little effect even though,in Seoul at least,it recently replaced the stickers with sturdier plastic boards.

Instead of appealing to people’s good sense,the authorities have therefore resorted to trying to save them from being run over.Early last year,they began to trial floor-level traffic lights in smombie hot spots in central Seoul.Since then,the experiment has been extended around and beyond the capital.For the moment,the government is retaining old-fashioned eye-level pedestrian lights as well.But in future,the way to look at a South Korean crossroads may be down.

【参考范文】

People are deeply addicted to smart-phones in South Korea,which causes negative consequences in many aspects (要点1).Traffic accidents caused by passengers who use smart-phones in the streets are one of the problems (要点2).To solve it,the government gives out stickers to raise people’s awareness of looking up and being safe,but the effect is limited (要点3).However,measures like trialing floor-level traffic lights will be popularized to save smombie’s lives (要点4).(69 words)

三、构建文化意识

文化意识是学生在全球化背景下对中外文化的理解和对优秀文化的认同,也是学生在全球化背景下所表现出的跨文化认识、态度和行为取向。文化意识水平划分需要从文化获取、文化比较、文化理解、文化价值观几个方面去考虑。

例如,2019年1月《经济学人》中有一篇关于外籍家庭母语传承的文章,涉及文化意识维度。

在阅读这篇外刊文章时,教师首先应指导学生在明确的情境中根据提示找到文化信息,实现文化获取。学生根据首段内容“For expat parents,passing on their native languages can be a struggle.”可知,该篇外刊文章围绕着“外籍父母(expat parents)”与“母语(native languages)”展开,阐述“外籍家庭传承母语是一件难事”。同时,学生应超越课堂,在真实生活情境中获取相关的文化信息,思考自己身边是否存在外国人或者外省人,他们的子女在“异语言”环境中是否说过母语;教师更可以鼓励学生利用课余时间询问这些子女是否会说母语、是否想说母语,借此加深对这一文化主题的认知。在成功获取文化信息的基础上,学生应开展文化比较活动,比较本土家庭与外籍家庭对待“母语学习”以及“外语学习”的态度差异,并根据所积累的文化知识为这一差异提供可能解释。在尊重和理解“外籍家庭”身份差异的前提下,教师可以组织学生思考“外籍家庭的子女是否有必要学习母语”这一话题,加深学生的文化理解。经过分析、讨论后,教师应引导学生进一步就“母语学习的重要性、如何平衡母语与外语学习”等话题展开讨论,增强学生的中国文化自信,帮助学生树立正确的文化价值观。

四、深化学习能力

学习能力主要指学生积极运用和主动调适英语学习策略,拓宽英语学习渠道,提高英语学习效率的意识和能力。

在开展外刊阅读的过程中,教师应不断深化学生的学习能力。首先,教师可以提供涉及自然、文化、政治、科技等不同主题的外刊文章,提升学生的阅读兴趣,增强学生的学习动力;通过持续性的外刊阅读,最终让学生对英语学习形成广泛而持久的兴趣与愿望。其次,教师可以帮助学生在外刊阅读前制订阅读计划,明确“读什么、怎么读、如何呈现成果”等问题,实时优化调整自己的学习计划。此外,在外刊阅读中,教师应为学生提供必要的语言和思维支架,鼓励学生在面对阅读困难时主动调控心态和情绪,回顾自己在哪些方面取得了成绩,哪些方面还存在问题,反思学习成效。最后,教师应鼓励学生利用多种方式开展外刊阅读,例如形成外刊阅读小组、开展外刊阅读交流、进行外刊阅读汇报、撰写外刊阅读体会等,拓宽学习渠道。

在高考复习阶段开发外刊作为学生的阅读资源,能为教材复习提供有益补充和延伸,切实提升学生英语学科核心素养。同时,外刊文章主题时代感强、语言地道生动,能让学生跳出枯燥的题海,在充分体会英语学习的意义和价值的前提下,提高复习效率。

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