（课程与教学论专业论文）语法教学对大学英语阅读理解的贡献.pdf

学校代码：10346 学科、专业代码：040102 研究生学号：y20060266 题目： the contribution of grammar instruction to college english reading comprehension _ 语法教学对大学英语阅读理解的贡献语法教学对大学英语阅读理解的贡献 论文评阅人： 盲审 盲审 盲审 主席（姓名、职称） ：桂清扬 教授 委员（姓名、职称） ：王之江 教授 邵俊宗 教授 沈昌洪 副教授 汤定九 副教授 余卫华 教授 学位授予单位： 杭州师范大学 论文答辩日期： 2009 年 6 月 10 日 独创性声明独创性声明 本人声明所呈交的论文是我个人在导师指导下进行 的研究工作及取得的研究成果。尽我所知，除了文中特别以 标注和致谢的地方外，论文中不包括其他人已经发表或撰写 过的研究成果。对本研究做过贡献的老师和同学均己在论文 中作了明确的说明并表示了谢意。 日 期： 导师签名： 本人签名： 关于论文使用授权说明关于论文使用授权说明 本人完全了解杭州师范大学有关保留、使用学位论文的 规定，即：学校有权保留送交论文的复印件，允许论文被查 阅和借阅;学校可以公布论文的全部或部分内容，可以采用 影印、缩印或其他手段保存论文。 日 期： 导师签名： 本人签名： the contribution of grammar instruction to college english reading comprehension 语法教学对大学英语阅读理解的贡献 shen xiaolian supervisor professor shen changhong a dissertation submitted as a partial fulfillment for the degree of m.a. in education hangzhou normal university hangzhou, china june, 2009 杭州师范大学硕士学位论文 语法教学对大学英语阅读理解的贡献 i 摘要摘要 大学英语语法教学常给人一种学难致用的印象。在阅读教学过程中，教师 十分重视词汇和句法的解释， 然而学生在独立阅读时依然认为词汇和句法问题是 阅读的最大障碍，造成了一种课上学的知识课下不会用的现象，即语法知识成为 了一种惰性知识。本文将探讨语法教学对于提高学生阅读理解能力有何贡献， 学生如何通过学习语法对实现对文章更全面而深刻的理解， 并试图提出一种更有 效且可操作的阅读模式：基于语法的阅读教学模式。 首先，本文重新审视了英语语法在英语和英语教学中的地位和功能。笔者认 为语法教学的关键并不在于如何帮助学生准确地掌握语法知识本身， 而在于如何 帮助学生通过掌握语法知识来提高其语言交际能力（包括听说读写的能力） 。要 让学生将所学的语法知识学以致用， 教师和学生必须首先明确语法对实现交际意 义有着怎样的价值，然后通过学习语法来实现语言交际能力的提高。 本文以韩礼德的功能语法为理论依据，对人们的传统的语法观进行批判，认 为不应把语法视为一套静止的规则，而应把它当成一种表达意义、实现交际的资 源。 语法被视为一个意义系统， 每个讲话者或书面表达者在表述想表达的意义时， 必然要在语法这个意义系统中进行相应的选择， 对意义的选择最终体现在对语法 形式选择上。因此，所讲的话或所写的文字都是在这个意义系统中做出的语言选 择，而所有的语言选择又最终为表达意义而服务。功能语法认为，语法能够表达 三个方面的意义，即表意、人际、语篇三大元功能。写作者根据想要传达的意义 在语法系统中进行选择，而最终的文本正是在语言系统中进行选择的结果，表达 了作者对现实世界（包括内心世界）中的各种经历；作者自己的态度以及影响读 者的态度和行为；作者如何展开谋篇布局。可见，语法对实现交际意义有着重要 的贡献，读者若要充分理解文本，就必须掌握一定的语法知识，并了解语法在文 本中所反映出的意义。 反观目前的阅读教学，不难发现，尽管教师和学生十分注重词汇和句法的意 义， 但对于这些语法结构的理解仅停留于字面意义，忽略了它们作为一种意义资 源对作者传达意义的重要贡献，导致学生对文章理解也仅停留在字面，而无法全 面而深入。 杭州师范大学硕士学位论文 语法教学对大学英语阅读理解的贡献 ii 针对阅读教学中的问题，本文提出如果学生能够掌握一定的语法知识，并能 了解作者在写作过程中如何选择语法（用词、句组成段和篇章）来传达意义，那 么阅读理解的过程便是要求学生在语法知识的基础上去深入理解作者想要表达 的意义，即通过分析文章中的语法现象，揭示作者所要表达的意义。 本文主要针对阅读过程中学生难以把握文章结构、 大意和作者情感态度的两 个方面的问题，提出语法教学所能产生的贡献。依据韩礼德的功能语法理论，文 章从理论上说明作者如何通过话语标记（主要是连接词）的使用来组织文章结构 实现意义连贯，以及如何通过情态（主要是情态动词和情态）的使用来表达作者 的情感态度。 然后，笔者分别从语法的话语标记和情态两方面的语法范畴出发，量性和定 性分析了大学英语四级和全新版大学英语综合教程中三个文本的语法特点， 分别 揭示了在真实的文本中，话语标记（主要是连接词）的使用对组织文章结构实现 意义连贯的作用，以及情态（主要是情态动词和情态）对表达作者的情感态度的 作用。从学生的角度看，通过学习话语标记（主要是连接词）以及探索其在文本 中的作用，学生能够对文章结构、大意有更全面的把握；通过学习情态（主要是 情态动词和情态）并探索其在文本中的作用，能够对作者的情感态度有更深入的 体会。 作者表示，本文是以方法为向导而非结果为向导的研究，最大的贡献在于突 破性地从语法教学的角度来审视阅读教学中的问题， 对教师重新审视语法教学的 意义有一定启示作用。 本文从话语标记和情态两个语法范畴来展示学习语法对全 面而深入理解文本有一定贡献，但也有一定局限性。作者建议今后的研究者能够 研究多方面的语法范畴，从多角度论证语法教学对阅读理解的作用。 关键词：关键词：语法教学; 语法资源观; 阅读理解; 话语标记; 情态 杭州师范大学硕士学位论文 语法教学对大学英语阅读理解的贡献 iii abstract grammar instruction in college english often leaves people a dilemmatic impression. in the course of reading, teachers spend most of the time in explaining the usage of individual words and the structure of a sentence, yet when students are given an unfamiliar text, unknown words and complex sentence structures are taken as their biggest block to comprehension. such a dilemma can be referred to as inert knowledge problem. this thesis aims to discuss about what are the contributions of grammar instruction to the development of college students reading ability, how students can apply the knowledge of grammar to obtain a better understanding of a text and attempt to provide a grammatically-based reading model to help students obtain a holistic and deep understanding of the text. the thesis first reappraises the role and the functions of grammar in language and in language teaching and learning. the author challenges peoples prototypical view on grammar and proposes that grammar is not merely a body of knowledge but resources to communicate meaning and the aim of teaching grammar is more than to help students grasp the knowledge of grammar but apply the knowledge to develop communicative competence. by considering hallidayan functional grammar as a general theoretical foundation, the term grammar here is interpreted rather than a set of static rules but as resources of meaningful choices available to the language users; speaker or writer can choose certain grammar structure to convey meanings embodying in three dimensions, in the experiential, the interpersonal and the textual. for the writer, the process of writing is actually a process of making a good use of grammar; the grammatical forms chosen by the writer in a sense, embodies the message he wants to sent, including his experiencing and interpreting the world, his opinion and attitude towards a fact and his organizing the text. so if a reader wants to have a full comprehension of the meanings conveyed in the text, we need to understand something of the knowledge of grammar, and the ways it works to communicate meaning. 杭州师范大学硕士学位论文 语法教学对大学英语阅读理解的贡献 iv through the analysis of the exiting problems in college english reading, it is believed that problems in reading comprehension stemmed, to a large extent, from the lack of understanding the grammar. teachers and learners always give much attention to the recognition of literal meanings of vocabularies and grammatical structures, ignoring the fact those grammatical forms in text made by the writer can convey more complicated meanings. it is owing to the single-sided understanding of grammar that the students usually understand the text literally without obtaining a holistic and deep understanding of the text. to solve the problem, the author proposes a grammatically-based reading model. to apply the study of grammar to reading comprehension, students can achieve a better understanding of text effectively. aiming at the existing problems on in foreign language reading, mainly the students incompetence in grasping the main message of the text and inferring writers opinion or attitude, the thesis illustrates the theories on the functions of discourse makers and modality to the processing of the text and the expression of writers opinion or attitude in details. then, a case study is carried out on the theoretic ground of the description of discourse makers and modality, which displays the functions of discourse markers and modality on organizing the text and expressing writers opinion or attitude in practical text, and also reveals the fact that the study of grammar and examining the functions of the grammar structures in the text can be an effective means for students to obtain a holistic and deep understanding of the text. the research is oriented towards the methodology not the result. therefore, the biggest contribution is the enlightenment of the new angel in teaching grammar and a fresh orientation to the textual understanding. thesis displays the contribution of grammar instruction to reading comprehension by merely analyzing two grammatical features. the author suggests if permitted, more grammatical features can be analyzed to make research more popularity and validation. key words: grammar instruction; grammatical resources; reading comprehension; discourse markers; modality 杭州师范大学硕士学位论文 语法教学对大学英语阅读理解的贡献 v contents abstract (chinese version).i abstract (english version).iii list of figures.vii chapter one introduction.1 1.1 research background.1 1.2 research motivation2 1.3 structure of the thesis.4 chapter two literature review.6 2.1 the role of grammar in language and language teaching and learning6 2.1.1 the working definition of grammar.6 2.1.2 the role of grammar in language and language teaching and learning7 2.2 rethinking of the grammar and its role in text.12 2.2.1 the role of grammar as resources in language.12 2.2.2 the role of grammar in text.16 2.2.3 summary.17 2.3 the contributing of grammar to reading comprehension.18 2.3.1 the requirements of developing students reading competence18 2.3.2 the gaps between students reading proficiency and objectives.19 2.3.3 problem analysis.20 chapter three theory of grammar instruction contributing to reading comprehension.22 3.1 processing of the text: discourse markers.23 3.1.1 discourse markers.23 3.1.2 classification of discourse markers.25 3.2 writers opinions or attitude: modality.27 3.2.1 modality28 杭州师范大学硕士学位论文 语法教学对大学英语阅读理解的贡献 vi 3.2.2 the realization of modality.30 3.3 summary33 chapter four application.34 4.1 methodology of the research.35 4.2 analysis with samples from cet-4 and new college english integrated course.36 4.2.1 processing of the text and discourse markers.36 4.2.2 writers opinions or attitude and modality.41 4.2.3 grammatically based reading model in intensive reading class.45 chapter five conclusion.53 5.1 conclusion of the research.53 5.2 shortcomings of the research.54 bibliography.56 appendices appendix 1: reading passage: sample one.61 appendix 2: reading passage: sample two64 appendix 3: reading passage: sample three.67 papers published during postgraduate study.70 acknowledgments.71 杭州师范大学硕士学位论文 语法教学对大学英语阅读理解的贡献 vii list of figures 1. fig.2.1 more effective and less effective ways to teach grammar.9 2. fig.2.2 teachers view on the association of grammar with communication10 3. fig.3.1 discourse markers of group a.25 4. fig.3.2 discourse markers of group b.26 5fig.3.3 discourse markers of group c.26 6fig.3.4 modal space.28 7fig.3.5 types of modality.29 8fig.3.6 groups of modal verbs.30 9 fig.3.7 groups of mood adjuncts30 10. fig.3.8 modal values.31 11. fig.3.9 the value of modal verbs.31 12. fig.3.10 the value of mood adjuncts.31 13. fig.4.1 discourse markers in sample 1.37 14. fig.4.2 modal verbs and mood adjuncts in sample 2.42 15. fig. 4.3 the organization of sample 348 16. fig. 4.4 modal verbs, mood adjuncts and verba sentiendi in sample 3.49 杭州师范大学硕士学位论文 语法教学对大学英语阅读理解的贡献 1 chapter one introduction 1.1 research background with the rise of communicative methodology in the late 1970s, the role of grammar instruction in second language learning was downplayed, and it was even suggested that teaching grammar was not only unhelpful but might actually be detrimental (hossein grammar competence is separate from even contradictory with communicative competence. such misinterpretation frequently leads teaching syllabuses and material to heavily concentrate upon communicative tasks with little attention to grammatical accuracy. however, recent research has demonstrated the need for formal instruction for learners to attain high levels of accuracy. chomsky conceded that the theory of universal grammar does not serve language teaching, i.e., ug can not be a theoretical support to the denial of grammar instruction; halliday, the representative of functional grammar recognized the importance of grammar teaching, even for the 1l learning; leech, at the 1986 conference on english grammar and language study discussion forum (lancaster university, 1986) , delivered in his opening speech that we have long neglected the significance of grammar; it is gratifying that grammar has obtained its appropriate place in (davy, 1987:52). these have led to a resurgence of grammar teaching. over the past few decades, there has been an explosion of research upon l2 grammar teaching (e.g.，doughty，2003; doughty ellis，1994; ellis，2005; hinkel norris then，to explain and have the students practice the important words and phrase, called language points. however, the fact is，as a result of this teaching，students read not to obtain new information or message but to learn new words and phrases and sentence patterns. they are good at understanding specific words and sentences，and they are also able to make correct sentences. however they are incompetent at reading comprehension. when they are facing unfamiliar texts，they read with great difficulties and at a relatively low speed for they often resort to the dictionary and pay too much attention to vocabulary and grammatical structures，even without an adequate understanding of the main idea of the text and the writers attitude towards the topic of the text. just as many students for the research complain, when they are given an unfamiliar text they never seen before, strange words and complicated sentence structures are taken as their biggest block to comprehension. long ago, alfred north whitehead (1929) referred to such dilemma as the inert knowledge problem. knowledge that is gained in the classroom remains inactive on inert when put into service outside the classroom. students can recall grammar rules in formal exercise (blanking filling, sentence translation, ect.) but will not use them spontaneously while reading. there is no way we could deny what studentsthrough their performanceare telling us. they need grammar to develop their reading comprehension. all my teacherly instincts were that traditional grammar would not transfer to reading any better than it had to writing. if we aspire to build the bridge between grammatical forms and the reading comprehension, that our students need in order to overcome the inert knowledge 杭州师范大学硕士学位论文 语法教学对大学英语阅读理解的贡献 4 problem, to enhance their attitudes, and to sustain their enthusiasm, we will need to not just do a revision of the grammatical rules they have learned in middle school or an expansion of vocabulary, but to change the way we think about grammar and to consider how grammar instruction can contribute to reading comprehension. with the implement of communicative approach in china for years, people have realized the fact that grammar competence is one of the essential dimensions in communicative competence. however, the focus of the interest in grammar instruction is usually on the swing between implicit grammar instruction and explicit grammar instruction, few in-depth researches are about the exact beneficial effects of grammar instruction on students language skills. in other words, our researches oftentimes focus on grammar itself; to teach grammar for its own sake, but seldom concern about what the exact value of grammar is in language use and what the contribution of grammar instruction is to the development of communicative abilities, both oral form and written form. thats why many teachers and students would take grammar as a pair of beautiful rainboots in a desert: too good to discard, too useless to keep. for the reminder of this thesis, the author will seek the connections between grammar instruction and reading comprehension, in other words, attempt to solve the problems in reading comprehension from the aspect of grammar instruction. the research focuses on two main issues: 1) to seek to justify a new recognition of the value of grammar to textual reading; 2) to analyze the problems in college english reading comprehension from the angle of grammar instruction, and then to suggest a feasible and effective reading model based on grammatical analysis to the text to improve students reading ability. 1.3 structure of the thesis the whole thesis consists of five chapters. chapter one is the brief introduction. it introduces the research backgroundthe necessity to reappraise the role and the functions of grammar instruction in flt in china. then it elicits research motivation and purposes of this study, and the 杭州师范大学硕士学位论文 语法教学对大学英语阅读理解的贡献 5 organization of this paper. chapter two is literature review. it starts with a reconsideration for the role of english grammar in language and language teaching. following is an analysis of the existing problems with foreign language reading comprehension and disclose profound reason for the problems could be peoples single-sided understanding of grammar and propose and present the writers argument that the study of grammar is a necessary and beneficial means for students to achieve a holistic and deep understand of the text. chapter three is the illustration of the benefits of the study of grammar for a better understanding of the text theoretically. aiming at the existing problems on foreign language reading, the focus will be on the analysis the function discourse marker on the processing of the text and modality on the expression of the writers opinions or attitude. in chapter four is a case study carried out on the theoretic ground of the description of discourse makers and modality, which displays the functions of discourse markers and modality on organizing the text and expressing writers opinions or attitude in practical text, meantime reveal