Discourse Grammar for Academic Reading: Textual Relationships

Abstract

本文旨在介紹篇章語法於英語閱讀教學上的應用。目前多數英文老師都知道教授閱讀技巧的重要性，相關技巧如掌握要點(Skim)、尋找重要細節(Scan)、進行推論(Infer)等，都會在課堂提及。但是老師們同時面臨的困難是，不知如何指引學生從文章中的詞彙或句構來尋找線索。其實，在這問題上篇章語法的教授有助於達到有效閱讀的目的。本文以篇章語法中的文章結合關係(Textual relationships)為主題，解釋它在閱讀上的應用。首先，我們闡明文章有層級性架構。而文章中的單句必需透過文章結合關係，才能連結組成這個架構。其次我們指出讀者可以由兩種語言成份來一窺文章結合關係：連結詞彙(Connectors)及篇章結構詞彙(Discourse-organizing words)。作者將舉例說明經由文章結合關係的分析，學生可以充份掌握文章的結構及論點之鋪陳，進而瞭解全文要旨。

The purpose of this paper is to propose a method of reading instruction from a discourse perspective. The current practice of reading instruction is usually confined to explanation of vocabulary and sentence structure. This kind of instruction neglects the communicative nature of reading, which entails that readers not only passively decode the meanings of words and sentences but also actively work on the identification and understanding of the main ideas of the text. The present study does not dismiss the importance of language forms in reading; however, it is not confined to sentential grammar. This paper moves a step further to explore the roles of words and sentences in relation to the whole text. In the approach, reading instruction involves both top-down global and bottom-up local analyses. The global level instruction presents the hierarchical structure of a text by describing how sentences are strung together by textual relationships to form the text. At the local level, this approach, on the other hand, teaches the function of discourse-organizing words in understanding textual relationships. With such two-way instruction, EFL students know what linguistic clues they should look for and how they may interpret the meanings and functions of the clues as they tackle the reading task.