定语从句——英语避免重复的实用手段

Attributive Clauses——a Practical Approach to Repetition Avoidance in English

大学英语教学传统上主要从语义、语用角度对定语从句展开描写和解释,但解释定语从句连接词所采取的循环论证策略和汉语相应称谓的缺位加重了以汉语为母语的学生对定语从句的理解难度。信息输出时,汉语学生或者回避使用定语从句,或者由于错误使用关系代词而导致句子结构出现问题。从语言分析系统的语形角度看,定语从句是英语避免重复的实用手段。避免重复一方面是理解定语从句的关键启发信息,另一方面是信息输出中选择定语从句的重要参照。从避免重复角度分析定语从句对丰富大学英语教学理论、提高母语是汉语的大学生始于理解而终于表达的英语能力具有理论价值和实践意义。

Attributive clauses are mainly described and explained in terms of semantics and pragmatics in traditional college English teaching,from which arise two shortcomings contributing to the difficulty in Chinese students' acquisition of this grammar.One is that the connectives such as the relative pronoun and the relative adverb are defined in circular argument;the other is that there are no counterparts to these grammatical terms in Chinese.Consequently,Chinese students either avoid attributive clauses where relative adverbs are involved or output attributive clauses by misusing relative pronouns.If viewed from the perspective of morpho-syntax,which,together with semantics and pragmatics,constitutes a linguistic analysis system,the use of attributive clauses in fact is a practical approach to repetition avoidance in English.Hereby,Chinese learners would make better sense of attributive clauses by taking repetition avoidance as a key hint for insight and also would make more natural sentences by taking attributive clauses as a key reference.This approach to the acquisition of attributive clauses adding variety to college English teaching thus has its theoretical and practical values.