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Abstract: Sentence Combining is very important to the English learners. This essay mainly analyses what may cause the mistakes in the language learning and explain how English learners can get rid of them.
Key words:Sentence Combining; Exercise; Mistakes
Sentence Combining: An Effective Exercise for the Teaching of English to Chinese-speakers
Wang Le Yan zhijun
Many Chinese students of English have difficulty with proper sentence construction because of the differences in grammatical construction between the two languages. So it is necessary for us to have a knowledge of differences in syntax between English and Chinese. However, syntactic differences are numerous. What, after all, is the essential difference between the two? To answer this question, Let's quote one passage from Dr. Eugene A. Nida, a well-known American translator:
For Chinese and English, perhaps one of the most important linguistic distinction is the contrast between hypotaxis and parataxis. In English, and in most Indo-European languages, a great deal of subordination is clearly marked by conjunctions as if, although, because, when, in order that, so that. One may, however, communicate essentially the same concepts by means of parataxis; that is to say, placing two propositions together without marking the relationship but indicating by content which is the evident relationship. One may, for example, say, "Because it is late, I must leave", in which the logical relationship is marked by the conjunction "because"; or one may say "It is late I must go". Though the meaningful relationship is not lexically marked, certainly the relationship is evident.
Dr. Nida specifically points out"hypotaxis vs parataxis" as the main syntactical difference of English and Chinese syntax. This seems to be a very pertinent remark, right to the point For, as we know, English sentences are generally constructed in the way of hypotaxis, i. e. the component parts of a sentence ( words, phrases and clauses) are generally jointed together by definite connectives ( conjunctions, prepositions, relative pronouns, etc.), so the constructions appears to be very precise and compact, and somewhat mechanical. But in Chinese the sentences are generally arranged in the way of parataxis, i. e. the component parts of the sentence are jointed together by their sense without any definite connectives in between, so the construction appears somewhat loose, but rather concise and expressive.
Another area of the major difference between the two languages is the formation of relative clauses. Here, let us make a very brief comparative study of sentence structure of relative clauses of Chinese and English to see the characteristic features of the former and to note the difference in mode of expression of the latter.
1)In Chinese there is an absence of relative pronouns and adverbs such as which, who, whom, that, when, where, etc.
2)In Chinese, modifiers always precede the word being modified, whereas in English, modifiers of more than one word, including relative clauses, usually follow the word being modified. Here are two examples:
Chinese: 你给我的这些书很有价值。
Literal translation: You give I these books are very valuable.
Standard: English: These books (that) you have given me are very valuable.
Chinese: 他开的那辆车不是他的。
Literal translation: He drives that car not is his.
Standard English: The car he (which / that) he drives is not his.
When Chinese students learning English first encounter this kind of complex sentences, they quickly learn rules governing them in English. However, the practical reinforcement needed to internalize those abstract and hazy rules is lacking. For the students, the natural thing to do is to stick to simple and "safe" sentences. The natural tendency to use short sentences instead of relative clause is amplified by the short sentences patterns inherent in Chinese relative clause formation. To native English speakers, this type of sentences sounds like "childish English." So guiding Chinese students to recognize and practice the syntactic rules of the English language is a very important strategy.
The process of sentence combining is a means of affecting this strategy. Both from a practical and theoretical standpoint, sentence combining can be an important technique to ensure correct writing of relative clauses, and can be very helpful in developing a more fluent style, richer in variety and interest. Generally speaking, Chinese students learning English already have some knowledge of grammatical rules. Thus, it is easy for them to understand how sentences combining works, how they can make it come out correctly and how they can go back to the original simple sentences to correct any mistakes. Therefore, the practice of sentence combining may be an effective means to help Chinese speakers in speaking and writing English sentences with grammatical constructions that do not exist in their native language.
A list of references consulted
1. John F. Savage, Position Paper "Sentence Combing: A Promising Practice." One of a series of significant contributions to the teaching of English from SRA, Publishers of "The English Book."
2. Jeske, Doreen Pat "Talking on Paper? An Antidote." Revised version of a paper presented at the CATESOL Conference (Monterey, CA, 1981)
3.Frank O Hare, "Sentence Combining: Improving Student Writing without Formal Grammar Instruction."
中文摘要:句子构成对英语学习者非常重要。这篇文章主要分析了哪些因素造成了语言学习中的困难并对学习者怎样解决这些问题做出了解释。
关键词:句子构成练习错误
作者简介:王磊(1981-),男,河北保定人,河北师范大学附属民族学院外语系教师,助教,主要从事民族教育理论和跨文化交际研究;闫志军(1982-),男,河北石家庄人,河北师范大学附属民族学院外语系教师,助教,主要从事民族教育理论研究
Key words:Sentence Combining; Exercise; Mistakes
Sentence Combining: An Effective Exercise for the Teaching of English to Chinese-speakers
Wang Le Yan zhijun
Many Chinese students of English have difficulty with proper sentence construction because of the differences in grammatical construction between the two languages. So it is necessary for us to have a knowledge of differences in syntax between English and Chinese. However, syntactic differences are numerous. What, after all, is the essential difference between the two? To answer this question, Let's quote one passage from Dr. Eugene A. Nida, a well-known American translator:
For Chinese and English, perhaps one of the most important linguistic distinction is the contrast between hypotaxis and parataxis. In English, and in most Indo-European languages, a great deal of subordination is clearly marked by conjunctions as if, although, because, when, in order that, so that. One may, however, communicate essentially the same concepts by means of parataxis; that is to say, placing two propositions together without marking the relationship but indicating by content which is the evident relationship. One may, for example, say, "Because it is late, I must leave", in which the logical relationship is marked by the conjunction "because"; or one may say "It is late I must go". Though the meaningful relationship is not lexically marked, certainly the relationship is evident.
Dr. Nida specifically points out"hypotaxis vs parataxis" as the main syntactical difference of English and Chinese syntax. This seems to be a very pertinent remark, right to the point For, as we know, English sentences are generally constructed in the way of hypotaxis, i. e. the component parts of a sentence ( words, phrases and clauses) are generally jointed together by definite connectives ( conjunctions, prepositions, relative pronouns, etc.), so the constructions appears to be very precise and compact, and somewhat mechanical. But in Chinese the sentences are generally arranged in the way of parataxis, i. e. the component parts of the sentence are jointed together by their sense without any definite connectives in between, so the construction appears somewhat loose, but rather concise and expressive.
Another area of the major difference between the two languages is the formation of relative clauses. Here, let us make a very brief comparative study of sentence structure of relative clauses of Chinese and English to see the characteristic features of the former and to note the difference in mode of expression of the latter.
1)In Chinese there is an absence of relative pronouns and adverbs such as which, who, whom, that, when, where, etc.
2)In Chinese, modifiers always precede the word being modified, whereas in English, modifiers of more than one word, including relative clauses, usually follow the word being modified. Here are two examples:
Chinese: 你给我的这些书很有价值。
Literal translation: You give I these books are very valuable.
Standard: English: These books (that) you have given me are very valuable.
Chinese: 他开的那辆车不是他的。
Literal translation: He drives that car not is his.
Standard English: The car he (which / that) he drives is not his.
When Chinese students learning English first encounter this kind of complex sentences, they quickly learn rules governing them in English. However, the practical reinforcement needed to internalize those abstract and hazy rules is lacking. For the students, the natural thing to do is to stick to simple and "safe" sentences. The natural tendency to use short sentences instead of relative clause is amplified by the short sentences patterns inherent in Chinese relative clause formation. To native English speakers, this type of sentences sounds like "childish English." So guiding Chinese students to recognize and practice the syntactic rules of the English language is a very important strategy.
The process of sentence combining is a means of affecting this strategy. Both from a practical and theoretical standpoint, sentence combining can be an important technique to ensure correct writing of relative clauses, and can be very helpful in developing a more fluent style, richer in variety and interest. Generally speaking, Chinese students learning English already have some knowledge of grammatical rules. Thus, it is easy for them to understand how sentences combining works, how they can make it come out correctly and how they can go back to the original simple sentences to correct any mistakes. Therefore, the practice of sentence combining may be an effective means to help Chinese speakers in speaking and writing English sentences with grammatical constructions that do not exist in their native language.
A list of references consulted
1. John F. Savage, Position Paper "Sentence Combing: A Promising Practice." One of a series of significant contributions to the teaching of English from SRA, Publishers of "The English Book."
2. Jeske, Doreen Pat "Talking on Paper? An Antidote." Revised version of a paper presented at the CATESOL Conference (Monterey, CA, 1981)
3.Frank O Hare, "Sentence Combining: Improving Student Writing without Formal Grammar Instruction."
中文摘要:句子构成对英语学习者非常重要。这篇文章主要分析了哪些因素造成了语言学习中的困难并对学习者怎样解决这些问题做出了解释。
关键词:句子构成练习错误
作者简介:王磊(1981-),男,河北保定人,河北师范大学附属民族学院外语系教师,助教,主要从事民族教育理论和跨文化交际研究;闫志军(1982-),男,河北石家庄人,河北师范大学附属民族学院外语系教师,助教,主要从事民族教育理论研究