【摘要】隨著時(shí)間的推移，當(dāng)筆者接觸、通讀、學(xué)習(xí)完完整的《牛津高中英語》教材時(shí)，筆者深感《牛津高中英語》與以前的教材相比，其中一個(gè)鮮明的特色就是有關(guān)定義的理論在本套教材中的使用，定義的運(yùn)用俯首即拾。

【關(guān)鍵詞】《牛津高中英語》；教學(xué)

【中圖號(hào)】G633.41【文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)示碼】A【文章編號(hào)】1005-1074(2009)03-0214-02

2005年暑假，當(dāng)筆者第一次拿到《牛津高中英語》教材，翻開第一模塊Unit 1 School life，讀到“High school is a time of discovery ，learning and hard work”時(shí)，筆者就被編者對High school的界定所折服，因?yàn)殚_篇就告訴讀者中學(xué)是發(fā)現(xiàn)之旅、學(xué)習(xí)之途、用功之程。讀者的眼前一下就會(huì)展開一幅對未來的希望、希冀的自我描摹藍(lán)圖，讀者的想象力得以挖掘和體現(xiàn)。隨著時(shí)間的推移，當(dāng)筆者接觸、通讀、學(xué)習(xí)完完整的《牛津高中英語》教材時(shí)，筆者深感《牛津高中英語》與以前的教材相比，其中一個(gè)鮮明的特色就是有關(guān)定義的理論在本套教材中的使用，定義的運(yùn)用俯首即拾，筆者從《牛津高中英語》教材1-9模塊的Welcome to the unit， Reading， Word power， Grammar and usage， Task， Project和Workbook中梳理出一些運(yùn)用定義的句子，例如：

Welcome to the unit

High school is a time of discovery ，learning and hard work.(模塊1-Unit 1 school life P.1)

Language， in its broad sense， is a way information is transmitted. (模塊三Unit 2 LanguageP.21)

Reading

An advertisement provides information and uses persuasive language and exciting images to encourage people to buy a product or service or believe in an idea. (模塊四Unit 1 Advertising P.2)

Cloning is producing an exact copy of a plant or an animal using its cells. (模塊五Unit 3 Science versus nature P.42)

Word power

Archaeology is the study of civilizations by looking at things remaining from the time when the civilization existed. (模塊三Unit 3 Back to the past P.47)

The music which plays in the background while you watch a film is called the film score. (模塊八Unit 4 Films and film events P.54)

Grammar and usage

Question tags are short questions that come at the end of statements. (模塊一Unit 3 Looking good ，feeling good P.50)

A non-restrictive attributive clause is a clause that adds extra information to the main clause of a sentence. (模塊一Unit 3 Looking good ，feeling good P.48)

Task

A programme is a plan of activities to be done or things to be achieved. (模塊1-Unit 1 school life P.12)

Dialogues are meant to be read aloud， and often use less formal language than other types of writing.(模塊一Unit 2 Growing pains P.36)

Project

In the Tibetan language， Shangri-la means the sun and the moon in one’s heart. Today， Shangri-la has become a common English word ，meaning heaven on earth. (模塊二Unit 2 Wish you were here P.38)

Workbook

Pasteurization is the process of heating foods and liquids in order to kill tiny living things， called organisms， which live in them and cause illness in humans. (模塊七 workbook P.115)

鑒此，我們來回顧一下有關(guān)定義的理論：語義學(xué)(Semantics)是專門研究語言意義的學(xué)問。語義學(xué)家沃坡爾在其著作《語義

學(xué)》中談到，解釋詞義的人需要先找出一個(gè)出發(fā)點(diǎn)，即一個(gè)代號(hào)(symbol )，其所知客體是解釋人共同了解的，然后再用一個(gè)讓被解釋人能夠明白的“定義路線”(definition route)(勒梅林，2000)。換言之定義是通過某種途徑把讀者或聽者從共知的客觀事物帶到他們所不熟悉的客觀事物的過程。定義就是對一個(gè)詞、一個(gè)術(shù)語、一個(gè)事物或一個(gè)概念的含義和特點(diǎn)所做的簡要解釋和確切說明。對詞或術(shù)語下定義，實(shí)際上是把陌生的詞或術(shù)語與一般的和熟悉的詞或術(shù)語聯(lián)系起來。

由此可見，定義使我們在英語學(xué)習(xí)的過程中，對一個(gè)詞、一個(gè)術(shù)語、一個(gè)事物或一個(gè)概念的含義和特點(diǎn)更加清晰、明了。一方面提高了我們對英語的理解力，另一方面，也免去我們外國人學(xué)習(xí)英語所遭受母語干擾的麻煩。

筆者針對定義如此廣泛地在《牛津高中英語》教材各個(gè)版塊（包括welcome to the unit， Reading， Word power， Grammar and usage， Task， Project，Workbook）中出現(xiàn)和運(yùn)用，并且通過對定義理論的學(xué)習(xí)，筆者認(rèn)為獲得了如下啟示：在教學(xué)上借助定義理論解釋詞匯、句子和語法術(shù)語，化繁為簡，化難為易，引領(lǐng)同學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)體會(huì)英語真味；在個(gè)人學(xué)養(yǎng)上促進(jìn)自己動(dòng)手編輯符合學(xué)生時(shí)代特點(diǎn)的英英詞匯手冊。

1解釋詞匯

我們知道從語義學(xué)的角度來說，某一詞與其他詞的聯(lián)系有多種，有類似關(guān)系(similarity relation)，部分與整體關(guān)系(part and whole relation)，因果關(guān)系(causalrelation)，空間關(guān)系(space relation)，時(shí)間關(guān)系(time relation)和上下義關(guān)系(super and sub ordination relation)等。而且教材的各個(gè)版塊給我們提供了大量的藍(lán)本和寬闊的運(yùn)用定義的舞臺(tái)，為此，我們解釋詞匯就有了相應(yīng)的處理方式，常用處理方式為：

1.1直接定義法直接說明事物的性質(zhì)。例如：The Internet chatroom is a new and popular forum in which to meet friends from around the world.（模塊五、P.11）Stand-up is a kind of comedyfrom the West ，in which the comedian stands in front of the audience and talk .（模塊六、P.2）

1.2描述法除了下定義外，描述說明通過上文提及的詞的各種關(guān)系，用平白的語言不斷遞進(jìn)的解釋，對事物的性質(zhì)、形狀、程度、感覺、關(guān)系、狀態(tài)、用途等進(jìn)行多方位的描述，具體方法還有比擬、比較、舉例等（例如：that is， such as）。這樣使復(fù)雜的詞匯通俗易懂，學(xué)生也易于理解和接受。

1.3構(gòu)詞法和轉(zhuǎn)化法以bike為例，bi- means two ，such as bike， bicycle. 又如：ath-is something about sports， such as athlete .

1.4同義詞和反義詞法英語里大量存在著同義詞，同義詞是英語的一大特點(diǎn)，所以解釋詞匯經(jīng)常可以找到它的同義詞，例如：Main means major or chief.

同樣英語里大量存在著反義詞，反義詞有三種情況：①意義相反，例如：A girl is female. A boy is male.②倒轉(zhuǎn)，例如：Mike is my doctor. I'm his patient.③對立面，例如：Beautiful is the opposite of ugly.

2解釋句子

2.1利用同義結(jié)構(gòu)與反義結(jié)構(gòu)理解同義結(jié)構(gòu)包括詞或詞組的互換：就是用一個(gè)意義相近的詞或詞組來解釋復(fù)雜的詞，表達(dá)相同的意思。反義結(jié)構(gòu)也包括詞或詞組的互換：就是用一個(gè)意義相反的詞或詞組來解釋復(fù)雜的詞，表達(dá)相同的意思。

2.1.1用單詞解釋單詞People's attitudes towards friendship may vary from country to country ./Paraphrase: People's manner against friendship may vary from country to county./Teenagers under 18 are not allowed to enter an Internet bar during weekdays./Paraphrase:Teenagers under 18 are prohibited from entering an Internet bar during weekdays.

2.1.2用詞組解釋詞組The strong storm had harmful effects on the crops./Paraphrase: The strong storm did harm to the crops.

2.2利用句子上下文理解Clearly; it is necessary to pack a small first aid kit with you if you go traveling./Paraphrase: Obviously， you have to prepare a small first aid kit and take it along.

2.3利用句子結(jié)構(gòu)理解

2.3.1詞性的變換At all rimes， personal cleanness is of the biggest importance./Paraphrase: At any time， personal cleanness is the most important.

2.3.2短語的變換She turned a suitcase into a bed./Paraphrase: She made a suitcase a bed.

2.4利用補(bǔ)充缺省信息理解Whatever the reason， research shows that in the end， the English saying ‘laughter is the best medicine’may be true after all./Paraphrase:Whatever the reason may/might be， research shows that in the end， the English saying “l(fā)aughter is the best medicine”may be true after all.

2.5利用介紹背景知識(shí)理解Those early settlers would not have survived their first cold winter without the help of their native Indian neighbors./Paraphrase:In early stages， some English and French were forced to leave their motherland because of political reasons and came to settle in USA. They were the early settlers.這是對early settlers的解釋。

3解釋語法術(shù)語

Grammar is the way that spoken words and written words are put together so that thoughts and ideas can go from one person to another.可是以前我們通常用枯燥或困難的方式教語法。學(xué)生只是為了考試而記憶一堆不很重要的規(guī)則，他們學(xué)習(xí)起來既艱難又乏味。實(shí)際上語法恰如上述定義，它供我們在說話和書寫的時(shí)候使用，從而使別人了解我們的意思。同樣它也能幫助我們更好的了解別人說的話或?qū)懙臇|西。如此說來語法應(yīng)該是鮮活的、是與人的生活與經(jīng)歷密切相關(guān)的。這樣就需要明確、清晰，于是在語法教學(xué)中，運(yùn)用定義幫助學(xué)習(xí)者理解術(shù)語、概念在具體語境中的含義，就避免了理解上的誤差，真正讓學(xué)生體會(huì)英語學(xué)習(xí)的真味。

此外，更為重要的是通過定義的學(xué)習(xí)，學(xué)生的言語表達(dá)會(huì)更加規(guī)范、嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)；學(xué)生對文本的理解力提高了；與此同時(shí)學(xué)生的語言思維品質(zhì)也得到了加強(qiáng)和提升。

《牛津高中英語》教材一方面拓展了筆者的教學(xué)思路，另一方面也為筆者提供了學(xué)習(xí)思索的空間。督促自己勤于動(dòng)手，整理收集一些相關(guān)資料，能梳理成冊，以便更好地服務(wù)教學(xué)。教學(xué)之路漫漫，學(xué)習(xí)之途不止，本文只是在教與學(xué)之間時(shí)而獲取一點(diǎn)啟示的一朵浪花。它將不斷激勵(lì)自己上進(jìn)并享受教學(xué)的快樂、學(xué)習(xí)的樂趣。進(jìn)而感染學(xué)生，讓學(xué)生也學(xué)得快樂，于是在師生共進(jìn)的空間里一起成長。