胡詠梅

(貴州大學 外國語學院,貴州 貴陽 550025)

英語說明文寫作研究探析

胡詠梅

(貴州大學 外國語學院,貴州 貴陽 550025)

英語說明文是以“解釋”為旨的文體,總的說來它是回答“怎么樣”和“為什么”一類問題的。教師在說明文寫作教學過程中,讓學生掌握寫作要領(lǐng):抓住特點進行說明,根據(jù)需要安排說明順序,引起讀者的興趣,恰當運用說明方法。這對提高學生的英語輸出能力具有重大意義。

DocuScope;英語寫作;說明文;體裁

英語寫作能力是英語聽、說、讀、寫四種基本能力之一,英語寫作能有效地促進語言知識的內(nèi)化。經(jīng)常練習寫作,可以鞏固和發(fā)展聽說能力,還可以促進閱讀能力的提高,有助于提高使用語言的準確性。《大學英語課程教學要求》指出,大學階段的英語教學中對書面表達能力的較高要求是,能用英語撰寫所學專業(yè)的簡短的報告和論文,能以書面形式比較自如地表達個人的觀點,能在半小時內(nèi)寫出不少于200詞的說明文或議論文,思想清楚,內(nèi)容豐富,文章結(jié)構(gòu)清晰,邏輯性強。

一、英語寫作的體裁

英語寫作的體裁大致包括四類:記敘文、說明文、描寫文、議論文。不同的體裁有不同的語言特征。說明文是一種以說明為主要表達方式的文體。它是對客觀事物的性狀、特點、功能和用途,等等,做科學的說明。說明文通過說明客觀事物,使人增長知識和技能。筆者對貴州大學經(jīng)濟081班的37名同學進行了英語說明文的寫作訓練和測試,要求他們寫一篇他們感興趣話題的說明文,告知讀者某方面信息。作者通過卡內(nèi)基·梅隆大學計算機技術(shù)DocuScope和Minitab軟件來幫助學生練習英語說明文寫作,得到及時的反饋,以達到提高學生英語輸出能力的目的。通過操作DocuScope和Minitab得到的數(shù)據(jù)分析,譚同學的記敘文特征最明顯,而安同學的文章最具說明文的特征。下面是兩個同學的作文范例。

(1)The Spring Festival——By Tan Yingmei

The Spring Festival is one of the most important festivalin China.After have a lunch,everyone would be busy to prepare the dinner.Usually,men and boys are post the Spring Festival couplets which wrote by one who write well in the village.After those,men and boys will kill the chicken which feed by the family and fish.Women and girls begin cook the dinner,it would cost a long time to prepare for the dinner.At 5 clock p.m.,everything is finished,hold a memorial ceremony for their ancestors.Man will light the candles and firecrackers.About 6 p.m.,everything is finished,before eating,they drink some drinks or beer,they cheer and say some blessings each other.After dinner,father or grandfather will give money to the children,it is the most pleased thing for every child.

譚同學的作文具有明顯的記敘文特征,有時間狀語、對事件的陳述,等等。

(2)How to make a Chinese dish-By An Feiling

Now more and more foreigners are fondof Chinese food.It’s so delicious and special that attracted many people to come to China and many people would like to learn to how to make a Chinese dish.I was born in a traditional Chinese family,my mother is also a traditional Chinese woman who is very good at cooking Chinese food.In the summer vocation,I have learned a dish from my mother named Tangcu Fish.

Now let me introduce the making steps. the material you should prepared have:a fresh fish,some onion,some ginger,wet starch and other Seasoning.Firstly,kill a fresh fish,scale it,take outthe internal organs,dig both cheeks,wash it cleanly.Then chop the onion and ginger into pieces.Secondly,put some oil into the pan,let the oil very hot.Then put the cleaned fish into the oil to fried some minutes (now you should roll it over)till its meat turn to golden yellow.If you think the meat is ripe, you can scoop the fish up.Thirdly,put the wet starch in the pan which you used to fry the fish before.You should stir it many times. And now some tomatoes are allowed to put in the pan if you like.I think this way will let the fish taste more nature.About two minutes later,the juice will become so dense that smells very delicious.Then you can put some onion and ginger in the juice,at the same time some soy sauce,sugar,salt,a little vinegar and some other ingredients you like can put in.You also need to stir it evenly,then put the fried fish in the pan,let it absorb the juice fully mixed with juice.The last step,put the fish in a dish,you can also put some green vegetables to decorate it.This step can help you enjoying the delicious fish.Do you hungry?A Tangcu Fish is completed.Is it so easy?

China diet culture has had a long history already.Eating is very important to Chinese. Chinese food is a part of Chinese culture,make a Chinese dish may help you know china deeply.If you love China,you may be also like making Chinese food.

安同學的作文縱坐標上最高,最符合說明文文體的特點,同時,橫坐標上,她的語言最靠近說明文語言的幾大特征。語言的綜述能引起讀者的興趣。

二、說明文寫作要領(lǐng)和技巧

要寫好說明文,必須注意以下幾點:

第一,抓住特點進行說明。一般來說,事物大多數(shù)都是可觸摸的。對它們相互比較、鑒別,就可以從中找出區(qū)別于其他事物而又常常被人們所忽視的某些特征。

第二,根據(jù)需要安排說明順序。說明順序是使說明內(nèi)容條理化的必要條件。

第三,引起讀者的興趣。說明文不一定就是板起面孔來說話,未嘗不可帶一點風趣。

第四,恰當運用說明方法。采用恰當?shù)恼f明方法能把事物說得更清楚明白,便于讀者理解。

舉例子(Exemplifying)。舉出實際事例來說明事物,使所要說明的事物具體化,以便讀者理解。

作比較(Comparing)。說明某些抽象的或者是人們比較陌生的事物,可以用具體的或者大家已經(jīng)熟悉的事物與它比較,使讀者通過比較得到具體而鮮明的印象。

作詮釋(Supporting)。從一個側(cè)面,就事物的某一個特點做些解釋。

三、結(jié)語

說明文是以說明為主,兼用敘述、描寫、議論等表達方式,介紹事物、解說事理的文體。一篇優(yōu)秀說明文的語言必須簡潔、準確、明白,同時趣味性強,能引起讀者興趣。在大學非英語專業(yè)的說明文寫作教學過程中,讓學生掌握寫作要領(lǐng),進行寫作練習和反饋,對提高學生的英語輸出能力具有重大意義。

Research about Information Writing for Non-English Majors

HU Yong-mei (College of International Studies,Guizhou University,Guiyang Guizhou550025)

In College English teaching,writing has gradually become a very important course.English majors and non-English majors must obtain the most basic writing skills training to express their ideas in a clear and complete way.As one of the four skills in English learning,English writing can be effective in promoting the knowledge internalization. Information writing is based on interpretation.In general,it is to answer“how”and“why”.In writing course,some students are found unknown about the different styles of English writing.

DocuScope;English writing;information writing;style

H315

A

1673-1395(2010)03-0242-02

2010-04-07

胡詠梅(1976—),女,貴州貴陽人,講師,碩士,主要從事英語寫作研究。

責任編輯 強 琛 E-mail:qiangchen42@163.com