21世纪英语美学读本中美学问题研究

自20世纪初西学东渐起,西方美学理论进入中国。历经一个多世纪,虽对西方美学理论的研究取得了很大进展,却仍有许多空白和短板。西方美学研究重点何在?经典篇什几何?进入新世纪又出现了哪些变化?这些都是值得我们关注的问题。为了帮助解决这些问题,完成西方美学经典文献的梳理工作,搞清当代西方美学研究的基础和热点问题,本文以21世纪以来出版的英语美学读本为研究对象,采用统计的方法分析读本中的主题概念,并通过比较读本中收录的美学家以及关键著述的统计结果,绘制美学生产力与影响力地图:,透过19本重要美学读本的分析,我们可以窥见西方美学在当代的知识生产图景,从而为本土的西方美学研究提供评价与参照。

十九世纪英语美学文献学问题

十九世纪英语美学涵盖了英伦和北美,是西方美学的一个重要组成部分。总体上说,十九世纪英语美学似不如德国甚至法国同期美学那样辉煌,但也有自己的区域特色和文化特点。这一时期英语美学存在哪些经典作家和经典文献,是西方美学研究的一个难题。本文从西方美学史、美学读本和大型文献丛书等三类著述入手,寻找在西方美学界被学术共同体所认可的经典作家和经典文献,进而描绘出十九世纪英语美学的知识图谱。在此基础上反观中国美学对十九世纪英语美学的传播和接受,在比较参照中发现本土研究所忽略的西方经典文献,探索改进中国的西方美学文献学建设的路径。

十八世纪欧洲英语美学的文献学问题

西方美学在中国已有上百年的研究历史,业已成为中国本土美学研究的有机组成部分。晚清以降,前辈学者在西方美学文献的译介和研究上做了大量艰苦的工作,但从文献学角度看,仍有很多西方经典文献未被中国美学界关注、译介和接受,文献学的“瓶颈”限制了本土的西方美学研究。本文以十八世纪欧洲的英语美学文献为问题焦点,通过西方美学史研究的相关文献的考察,归纳整理出这一时期的英语美学的经典作家和经典文本,再进入本土对其接受的比较分析,总结出当下需要关注、译介和研究的十八世纪英语美学经典作家及其著作。借助于这一比较文献学的研究,提倡通过改善西方美学文献学建设工作,来提升本土的西方美学研究水准。

英语歌曲融入英语教学的基本原则及操作演示

将英语歌曲融入英语教学,一直是相当普遍的行为,却至今缺乏比较全面的操作性分析和理论性总结。教学歌曲的选择必须遵守语言性、教育性和艺术性相统一的原则,期以丰富学生的精神生活,强化其心理调适能力,促进其知识技能的多样化。教师需要树立英语教育美学的观念,提升审美能力和艺术能力。最后的教学案例具体演示了英语歌曲教学的课堂设计和基本程序。

音乐价值理论研究的分野与聚合

在美学领域,音乐价值理论被分散在不同的研究论域。由于音乐价值主、客体关系的划分造成了音乐价值在这两个维度上的分野,在音乐价值的具体内容上缺乏明确的理论界定,功能转化问题研究占据了大量的理论空间。在此意义上,倡导音乐价值理论的聚合具有了很强针对性和实效性。

English newspapers and magazines and the teaching of College English

Reading English newspapers and magazines is an effective way to help the students get the latest information worldwide and improve English levels. The present article first analyzes the features of the English newspapers and magazines and then proposes making good use of them through such classroom activities as discussing the hot issue and role-playing to provide more authentic situations in which the students can have chances to practice four English skills, achieving the ideal teaching result.

On the naturalization of lexical choices in Sino-English translator training

Through analyzing the difference between British lexis and Americanism and the translation teaching status quo related with lexical choices, the author elaborates on translator competence training in the lexical choice of Sino-English translation, and who puts forwards several suggestions on how to facilitate the effective communication between the business persons through naturalizing the lexical choices in Sino-English translation.

Question-Generation Reading Strategy of Iranian EFL Learners

This paper tries to explore the effect of question-generation reading strategy on the reading comprehension of Iranian intermediate EFL （English as a Foreign Language） learners. Since the researchers did not have any control over randomization of students and it was considered as one of the features of experimental method, this study is not a true experimental method. This method is called Intact Group Study. In this research there were experimental and control groups. The age range of the learners in both groups was between 19 to 22; the age range difference was so limited that we could neglect the difference concem. The number of students in both groups was closely the same. One of these groups received question-generation reading strategy instruction and the other group---control group--did not receive this instruction. Participants in both groups studied a task-based course book called New Interchange 3 by Richards （2005）. They studied the last eight units of this book during a whole term. The instruction was the same for both groups except for the reading parts. Participants in experimental group were taught how to generate questions as being linked to the main ideas of the text they were reading. They were also given feedback on the correctness of the questions they generated. Then they answered the follow-up questions However, participants in control group received a traditional method of reading for comprehension; they read the text on their own and answered the follow-up questions. Of course both groups enjoyed a warm-up before reading each text. The statistical independent group T-test of the reading comprehension posttest showed that participants in the experimental group performed better than the students in the control group

An investigation into the speechlessness of Chinese native culture in Chinese EFL learners＇ intercultural communication in English

Based on a survey of intercultural competence in intercultural communication in English, this paper discusses the speechlessness of Chinese native culture in Chinese EFL learners＇ English intercultural communication, its effects as well as its pedagogical implications for English learning ＆ teaching in Chinese EFL context.

The relationship between depth of vocabulary knowledge and Iranian EFL learners＇ lexical inferencing strategy use and success

This study was an attempt to examine the relationship between Iranian EFL （English as Foreign Language） learners＇ depth of vocabulary knowledge and their lexical inferencing strategy use and success. The participants in this study were 32 intermediate senior students of Shiraz Azad University majoring in English translation. The Word Associates Test （WAT） （Read, 1993） was used to measure their depth of vocabulary knowledge and lexical inferencing strategy questionnaire which was part of Schmitt （1997）, vocabulary learning strategies as well as a reading passage （Haastrup, 1999）, cited in Nassaji （2004）, were used to determine their lexical inferencing strategy use and success. Results indicate that： （1） Those who have stronger depth of vocabulary knowledge use certain strategies more frequently than those who have weaker depth of vocabulary knowledge; （2） The students with stronger depth of vocabulary knowledge make more effective use of certain types of lexical inferencing strategies. These findings support the importance of depth dimension of vocabulary knowledge and the role it plays in guessing the meaning of unknown words.

The application of integrated literature instruction in freshman English teaching

This paper explores the benefits of using literature to improve freshmen＇s language skills in English. Teaching strategies of literature instruction encouraged peer collaboration and constructing meaning with other students prior to class, in class and after class. Various activities, such as group discussion on guided questions, presentation of reading diary and peer correction of reflection poems were applied to enhance students＇ learning interests. Four intact advanced-level classes of 162 freshmen participated in the study. They answered a questionnaire and took an English proficiency pre/post test. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, Scheffe post-Hoc test, independent t-test and a paired t-test were used to analyze data. Results showed literature instruction effectively promoted students＇ English skills and their awareness of cultural differences. Watching the adaptation of the novel on DVD before they read the book helped students＇ comprehension. Finally, there was a significant improvement in both students＇ reading and listening exam grades. Future studies may consider looking for participants from different levels of English proficiency and extending the instruction time from one semester to two semesters.

Several pragmatic techniques for harmony of English teaching

A few problems affecting harmonious English teaching exist in both linguistic and non-linguistic aspects at present. Several pragmatic techniques, including individuality, flexibility, the concept of ＂One for all, and all for one＂ are suggested on a trial basis in this paper.

An overview of the research on lexical knowledge in China

This paper serves as a comprehensive guide to the recent work on lexical knowledge in China from the year of 2000 to 2009. It covers the two conventional dimensions of vocabulary knowledge： The breadth and depth. The recent wok on the breadth of vocabulary knowledge extends beyond the old fashion of rigid word counting of learners at various proficiency levels. Meanwhile, multi-dimensional study is also witnessed when it comes to the research into the depth of lexical knoweldge, the developmental and dimensional perspective, along with psycholinguistic account of the incremental nature of the acquisition process.

Cultural constraints on translators＇ selection of translation strategies

This article interprets why domestication and those translation techniques as addition, deletion and shift are widely adopted by most translators in modem China and how the target socio-cultural factors at the time constrain the translators＇ selection of strategies in literary translation.

Analysis of listening strategies employed by college students of science and technology

Based upon the theoretical studies of learning strategies and listening comprehension, an investigation of listening strategies employed by college students of science and technology is conducted to find out the general features of their choices of listening strategies and to reveal the differences in the use of such strategies between effective listeners and less effective ones. The authors hope that this paper may be helpful for the teaching and learning of listening skills.

Facilitating Accessibility for EFL Learners to Articulation Through Praat

Acoustic terms are useful academic tools to help EFL （English as a Foreign Language） learners to perceive pronunciation visually. Pratt is worldewide famous free acoustic professional software applied to the articulation with the help of the graph of ampplitude plotted and spectrogram. The paper will apply the professional acoustic tool Praat to pronunciation pedagogy to facilitate discrimination and articulation and suggests that the program can be adapted for the teaching of pronunciation to Chinese EFL learners.

National Nonsense and V. S. Naipaul＇s Ethical Distance

This paper examines two postcolonial writings by the Nobel Prize winner Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, The Mimic Men （1969） and In a Free State （1984）. In particular, it studies how Naipaul reflects on the historical experiences of national nonsense--the seemingly contradictory existence of transnationality in nationality--and how he manages in his writings to keep an ethical distance from both the colonial empires and the nation-states that came up to replace the colonial empires in the postcolonial world.

Are Terms ＂African（s）＂ or ＂Black（s）＂ Appropriate Substitutes for ＂Bantu（s）＂ in the South African Context？

The name, ＂Bantu＂, is a classificatory term which refers to a sub-group of the Niger-Congo languages, i.e., the Benue-Congo group of languages, which are spoken extensively in the equatorial and southern part of Africa, as well as the family of peoples speaking these languages. As a result of its association with racism during the Apartheid regime in South Africa, the term was heavily politicized and lost its original meaning to acquire racist connotations. In South Africa, the names ＂African（s）＂ or ＂Black（s）＂ are used as substitutes for the stigmatized name ＂Bantu（s）＂ with reference to the Bantu speaking peoples and their languages. This research investigates the use of the words, ＂Africans＂ and ＂Blacks＂ to assess their suitability as replacements for the word ＂Bantu＂. An intensive outline of the classification of the languages of Africa is given to authenticate the basic meaning of these classificatory terms, especially the term ＂Bantu＂

The Effect of Text Familiarity on Summary Writing Skill

Research has been done on the effects of text familiarity on reading comprehension. It has been shown that there is no relationship between familiarity with the content of a passage and better comprehension of that passage through reading it. More specifically, it has been indicated that students perform better on a passage with an unfamiliar content （Carrel, 1983）. This study focuses on the effect of text familiarity on summary writing skill of foreign language students. In order to achieve this goal, 60 male and female students participated in this study. Four passages were selected from among reading comprehension TOEFL （Test of English as a Foreign Language） texts Two passages were familiar and the other two were unfamiliar. They were given to students for summary writing Through the processes of test administration, each subject was tested on four passages. The subjects performed better on the passage with unfamiliar content.

Applying Consciousness-Raising Method to a Writing Class

C-R （Consciousness-Raising） has been around for some years, and while studies on the effectiveness of C-R have mainly focused on the learning of grammatical features, more attention needs to be paid to the mastery of other language areas. The present study is a small-scale research that explores the impact of C-R technique on the learning of some elements of written business communication. Several intermediate EFL （English as a Foreign Language） learners were exposed to models of good business letters and instructed to notice three elements, namely, the rhetorical moves, the grammatical patterns, and the expressions. Afterwards, they were assigned to write letters on their own. Their mistakes were counted and analyzed for the kinds of mistakes in each of the elements above. The result shows that they did very well in arranging the ideas in correct rhetorical moves but made much more mistakes on grammatical features and appropriateness of expressions. The explanation offered to account for this finding concerns the learners＇ allocation of cognitive capacity to different demands of task complexity. The more complex the task, such as writing in correct grammar or writing appropriate expressions, the less they devote their attention and effort to language formal features. A suggestion concerning focus-on-form activities is then offered to teachers