中国英语学习者表达异议的交际韵律能力研究

The interactional prosodic competence of Chinese learners of English in expressing disagreement

本研究以Brazil(1997)的语篇语调模型为理论框架,考察了中国高水平英语学习者与低水平英语学习者在表达异议时表达方式和韵律特征的异同。结果发现,高水平英语学习者与低水平英语学习者在表达异议时都遵循了礼貌原则,使用缓和策略来减轻异议的程度。但是,两组受试的韵律特征都与本族语者不同。在调型选择上,低分组学习者大多使用降调和平调,高分组学习者中有一半使用降调,但有1/3的学习者使用升调,表现出接近本族语者的语调特征。在音高水平上,两组受试都没有使用显著的音高差值。研究结果表明,在表达异议时,学习者没有合理地使用韵律线索。因此,在教学中应加强语调的语用功能训练,以提高学习者的交际韵律能力。

Using Brazil’s discourse intonation model(1997)as the framework,this study compares the ways of expressing disagreement,tone choices and pitch height of Chinese learners of high and low proficiency.It is found that:1)both high proficiency learners and low proficiency learners use lexical or syntactic strategies to mitigate disagreement;2)when expressing disagreement,high proficiency learners exploit more rising tone,which is native like,while low proficiency learners dominantly use falling tone and level tone;and 3)both high proficiency learners and low proficiency learners don’t signal disagreement with discordant pitch choice.Therefore,in second language teaching,learners should pay more attention to the pragmatic function of intonation so as to promote their interactional competence.