学生要熟练掌握
日常口语会话,就
必须掌握范围广阔的、基本得当的日常用语,以服务于交际目的。如怎样表示想与陌生人交谈;怎样表示喜爱与厌恶,赞同与异议;怎样问路与指路;怎样发出与接受邀请;怎样处理电话;怎样抱怨与安慰别人;如何购物、求医、求学,节假日或旅游时的交际范围有那些等等。这些问题看似简单,但由于中西文化及语言的差异,好多学生不知如何应付这些问题。在基础会话单元教学过程,笔者针对这一情况首先通过中西方语言差异比较,将学生感到困难的关键句列在黑板上,然后将学生分组,自己设计情景,组织会话,并进行反复实践,使学生对自己使用不当的和道得体的语言行逐步加深印象。如在对学生发出各种各样的由英文语法+汉语表达的"邀请"信息后,笔者便将各种得体地道的表达形式列于黑板:
1) How about coming to my place for dinner this Saturday?
2) Have you got any plan for this
weekend?
3) I am having some friends around during the
weekend. Would you like to join us?
4) Let's get together sometime next week. What date do you suggest?
5) I wonder if we could arrange a meeting.
6) I'd like to invite you over for dinner this Friday.
或者更口语化些:
7) Shall we have lunch together?
8) Why don't we have lunch together?
然后要求学生用所给的关键句,设计情景,反复实践,直到娴熟。
在这一阶段教学中,笔者还注意结合所练内容不断给学生补充一些与他们日常生活及学习密切相关的语句, 如:
1) Simon blew Mary a kiss.(西蒙给马丽一个飞吻)
2) I'll walk (take or see) you home. (我送你回家。)
3) We pooled in money to buy <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Alice a birthday cake.(我们凑钱给爱丽斯买了个生日蛋糕。).
4) I was pressed for time.(我时间很紧张。)
5) The cameras whirred and the flashbulbs popped.(照相机飕飕响,闪光灯呼呼叫。
6) The second book was a slim volume.(第二本书很薄.)
7) The teacher was impressed with me.(老师对我印象很深。)
8) She let out the secret by a slip of the tongue.(她说走了嘴。)
9) Exercises dull our appetite.(运动使得我们没了胃口。)
10) Her job at the TV Station didn't
officially start for another two weeks.(她在电台的工作两周以后才正式开始。)
11) One morning I woke up early and flipped on a movie channel.(一天早上我醒来很早,顺手摇开了一家电影屏道。)
12) She was chewing a huge wad of gum, which she fashioned into a bubble with her tongue.(她正在嚼一大块口香糖,然后把它吹成一个泡。)
13) The California sunlight blinded me as I walked back to my motor home.(在我回我旅宿汽车的路上,,加利福尼亚的太阳照得我睁不开眼。)
14) Soon after that I ran a relay race during an important high school track and field meet.(不久,在学校一次重要的田径会上,我参加了接力赛。)
15) She was already half way down the path, pushing her
bicycle with a slow, dream like gait.(她已经走到半路了,象在梦中一样地缓慢地推着自行车。)
16) She'd arrived to collect Grace in the normal way.(她像往常一样来接格雷斯)
17) She brought her mother tea in bed and ran a bath for her.(她给她妈妈倒了一杯茶,送到床头,接着又给她放好了洗澡水。)
18) Everyone else wore T-shirts with slogans on them.(人人都穿文化衫。)
19) The Rock music blared from their dormitory.(从他们宿舍中传来了摇滚乐的吼叫声。)
20) They heard television blare.(电视机的声音震耳欲聋。)
21) His English was good but in moments of stress, he dropped words.(它的英语不错,但在关键时刻,他说的丢三拉四。)
22) A flush of alarm prickled her skin.(一阵恐慌使得她浑身起鸡皮疙瘩。)
这些用语地道、实用,是笔者从广泛的阅读中摘录下来的。学生从一般的教科书中很难发现。这样的语句对于细微的描述与表达非常有用,很受学生欢迎。
对日常生活题材的讨论是训练学生
口语能力一个重要阶段。在这个阶段中,通过组织多种形式课堂和课外的讨论活动,适时以引导学生广泛地对日常生活中的各类题材相互间进行会话,既增强了学生学习兴趣、逐步提高了学生对语言的驾驭能力又活跃学生的思维、扩大了知识面。此类话题涉及邻里关系、购物、运动与健康、家庭生活、抽烟与疾病、教育与发展、少年犯罪等等。下面是众多讨论题材中的两则:
A:
(1) Tell the class about your holiday. Did you go home or travel? What did you do with your family each day or where did you do/who did you see/visit? Explain.
(2) Discuss the customs of Chinese New Year. What do people do to prepare for the New Year/Spring Festival? Are there some interesting activities that you do in your family or hometown to celebrate? Explain.
(3) This Chinese New Year is the Year of the Dragon. What does that mean and what should happen in a Dragon year? Discuss the 12 years/animals of the new year and what each one is supposed to bring according to which animal.
(4) If you have a different favorite holiday other than Spring Festival, discuss what it is and why it is your favorite holiday.
(3) What is the best place you have ever
traveled to? Why did you like that place and what made it special?
B :
(1) What kind of service do you get in stores? Has it
gotten better or worse over the years? Do you think more shops are employing a "The customer is always right" attitude and greeting people more often with a smile? Or are stores too
aggressive now in promoting sales?
(2) Have you ever been treated by a shop-assistant who was not willing to help you? What happened and were you able to
remedy the situation? Are shop-assistants ever punished or fired for being rude to customers?
(4) What kinds of things do stores do to get customers to come in to shop? Do they often offer something for free if you shop there more frequently or by more goods? Have you ever
gotten something free or won anything in a store?
(5) Have you ever bought things you don't need in hopes of
winning something? Were you lucky or
unlucky? Some people spend a lot of money on things like
lottery tickets, hoping to win a lot of money or a big prize. Do you think there is always a chance you might by lucky, or that it is a waste of money?
If shops are to be successful in their sales, what should they do to have good customer relations, encourage shoppers, and
promoter their goods?
在讨论这样的题材时,有时是全班一起讨论,有时是每组负责讨论一个问题,然后面向全班阐述自己的观点;有时是各小组将各自讨论的结果作对比,分析总结异同,并且学生即兴发言,最后教师进行总结。在讨论某一问题时,要求每个发言者不能只顾自说自己的,而是要针对前一个人的发言做出评论,提出自己的观点,阐述自己的看法。这样不仅使每位同学都能集中注意力,同学间相互学习和逐步领会驾驭语言的要领,而且也促进了学生思维能力及驾驭语言能力的提高,从而为
口语能力的进一步提高打下良好的基础。