英语专业“思辨缺席症”疗法初探——以英语词汇学教学为例

Dealing with “the Absence of Critical Thinking”——Based on the Teaching Practice of English Lexicology

文章简单综述了中外学者关于培养学生思辨能力的观点,结合目前国内英语专业教学的现状,以英语词汇学课程为例,探讨了英语专业"思辨缺席症"的解决方案。思辨能力应该是英语专业培养目标的一个重点,由于思辨能力的培养方法是多种多样的,也不可能一蹴而就,文章仅以英语词汇学这门课程的教学实践作为切入点。选取了词汇学教学过程中"新古典复合词"和"名词复合词与名词短语的辨析"两个方面作为例证,说明技能课之外的语言学方向的或者是文学方向的专业课是培养思辨能力的绝佳途径。

This paper briefly reviews the literature on the ways to foster critical thinking ability in college students. Based on the teaching method of English lexicology, the paper proposes some suggestions to‘cure'the so-called‘the absence of critical thinking'in English education in China, which is a phenomenon widely acknowledged by Chinese scholars. As the ways to cure this deficiency are various, the paper mainly based the discussion on the teaching process of English lexicology, which is usually an optional linguistic course for English majors in China. The two examples cited are English neo-classical compounds and the distinction between nominal compounds and noun phrases. Then, the paper maintains that apart from those courses that focus on language skills, linguistic and literature courses are valuable chances to encourage the students to think critically.