關(guān)于外語教材科學(xué)性的幾個問題

摘 要：外語教材的質(zhì)量源于科學(xué)性，它直接影響學(xué)習(xí)者的學(xué)習(xí)效果。文章比較了《21世紀(jì)大學(xué)英語讀寫教程》（第三版）第四冊部分課文與原文，分析課文改編中詞匯替換和篇章刪節(jié)方面的具體問題，指出教材編寫容不得疏忽和差錯，應(yīng)該對編者的語言能力、責(zé)任意識和職業(yè)操守提出更高要求。

關(guān)鍵詞：外語教材；大學(xué)英語教材；《21世紀(jì)大學(xué)英語讀寫教程》

中圖分類號：H319 文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)識碼：A

一、引言

外語學(xué)習(xí)者在教材的引領(lǐng)下，以課文為范例，記憶模仿課文的語言現(xiàn)象，感受認(rèn)知和運(yùn)用目的語，這一過程始終是外語學(xué)習(xí)的范式。在信息技術(shù)日新月異的今天，教材對外語學(xué)習(xí)的重要性顯得尤為突出。大數(shù)據(jù)、云計算對人們的工作、學(xué)習(xí)和生活產(chǎn)生著巨大的影響。教材的載體千變?nèi)f化，紙質(zhì)也好，數(shù)字化也罷，其主導(dǎo)外語學(xué)習(xí)的作用不僅無可替代，而且呈幾何級放大。在強(qiáng)大的數(shù)字技術(shù)助推下，一部教材當(dāng)下的影響力已大大超過其10年前、甚至5年前的影響力，任一瑕疵或錯誤的影響絕非限于一校、一地，而是足以誤導(dǎo)千百萬計的學(xué)習(xí)者，因此教材質(zhì)量比以往任何時候都顯得更為重要。

評價教材質(zhì)量的重要指標(biāo)是科學(xué)性。教材的科學(xué)性是個大概念，涉及教材編寫的方方面面，歸結(jié)到一點(diǎn)，就是語言規(guī)范性。在編寫教材的過程中，根據(jù)教學(xué)目標(biāo)編輯修改語料是常規(guī)步驟。語料處理不當(dāng)會損害教材質(zhì)量，降低甚至喪失教材功能。語言規(guī)范性問題涉及句子和篇章兩個層次。句子層次包括語法結(jié)構(gòu)和遣詞造句，篇章層次包括謀篇布局和銜接連貫（繆學(xué)，2016）。

目前，數(shù)十種大學(xué)英語教材競爭于市場，質(zhì)量參差不齊，其中列入普通高等教育國家級規(guī)劃教材名錄的幾部在編排、選材等方面質(zhì)量可圈可點(diǎn)，獲得了較為普遍的好評。

《21世紀(jì)大學(xué)英語讀寫教程》在1999年正式出版，現(xiàn)為第三版。這套教材幾經(jīng)修訂，力爭與《大學(xué)英語課程教學(xué)要求》保持一致，具有一定的時代氣息、人文精神和開放意識，它著力教材的信息量、趣味度、實用性，較好地融合了大學(xué)英語的工具性和人文性的特點(diǎn)。

《21世紀(jì)大學(xué)英語讀寫教程》共分四冊，每冊由8個單元24篇課文組成，配有多種語言技能練習(xí)。關(guān)于《21世紀(jì)大學(xué)英語讀寫教程》語法結(jié)構(gòu)、遣詞造句、謀篇布局和銜接連貫等語言規(guī)范性問題已作另述（繆學(xué)，2016）。本文擬比較《21世紀(jì)大學(xué)英語讀寫教程》（第三版）第四冊部分課文與原文，并對課文改編提出一些想法。

二、關(guān)于詞匯替換

詞匯的替換不可隨意任性，以不改變原意、不傳遞錯誤使用信息、不增加理解負(fù)擔(dān)為原則。

例1：But he added a word of caution （原文：caveat）：“Sometimes great people dont make it into the history books. A lot of women achieved great things or were influential but went unrecognized.”（Unit 1，Text A：Who Is Great？）（例中粗體和下劃線為筆者所加，下同。）

《劍橋高階學(xué)習(xí)詞典》（Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary）中caveat有兩層含義，即“a warning to consider something before acting further or a statement which limits a more general statement”。當(dāng)其表示“a warning to consider something before acting further”之意時，可以用“word of caution”替換。然而，課文中不存在與“acting further”相關(guān)聯(lián)的義項。此句顯然是對前文“Someone who has made a lasting contribution to human civilization is great”這一結(jié)論的限制性說明，并非警告。因此，課文中用word of caution替換表示“a statement which limits a more general statement”之意的caveat不妥。

例2：They listen to different interest groups（原文：constituencies）better and make the necessary compromises.（Unit 1，Text A：Who Is Great？）

根據(jù)《牛津高階英語詞典》（Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary），interest group意為“a group of people who work together to achieve sth that they are particularly interested in， especially by putting pressure on the government， etc.”，而constituency則是“the people who live in and vote in a particular district”?！袄婕瘓F(tuán)”等同于“選民”？此處的改編不僅破壞了原文的意義，而且違背了英美人日常生活的常規(guī)。

例3：In the sciences， those with “genius level” IQs do have a better chance（原文：shot）at achieving recognition， added Simonton. （Unit 1，Text A：Who Is Great？）

《韋氏高階英語學(xué)習(xí)詞典》（Merriam-Websters Advanced Learner's Dictionary）關(guān)于shot的定義是“chance that something will happen or be achieved”，即“成功的幾率”。此處用chance意義不符，且shot也非超綱詞，沒有替換的必要。endprint

As a child， Einstein became fascinated with the way magnets are drawn to metal （原文：draw iron filings）. （Unit 1，Text A：Who Is Great？）

此處用動詞被動語態(tài)替換原文的動詞主動語態(tài)，似乎僅僅為了避開filings一詞。筆者以為：此舉無異于畫蛇添足，而且留下常識錯誤之嫌。試問：磁體的吸引作用是主動產(chǎn)生還是被動誘發(fā)？再問：metal等于iron filings嗎？metal都能吸引magnet嗎？退一步說，magnet都能吸引metal嗎？

例4：So the cunning money-lender proposed that they let chance（原文：Pro-vidence）decide the matter.（Unit 3，Text B：Lateral and Vertical Thinking）

根據(jù)《柯林斯COBUILD英語詞典》（Collins COBUILD Dictionary of English），Providence意為“God or fate thought of as the guide and protector of all human beings”。此處即使需要替換，也應(yīng)是fate，而非chance。

例5：Since the remaining pebble is， of course black，（原文：is of course black，）it must be assumed that she has taken the white pebble， since the money-lender dare not admit his dishonesty.（Unit 3，Text B：Lateral and Vertical Thinking）

標(biāo)點(diǎn)符號的使用受到語言使用習(xí)慣的約束，從一個側(cè)面反映語言使用者對語言使用習(xí)慣的習(xí)得程度，或者說其語言的地道程度。按照插入語的實用習(xí)慣，此處的逗號只有兩種符合英語習(xí)慣的用法，其一是原文的用法，其二是“Since the remaining pebble is， of course， black”。課文中標(biāo)點(diǎn)符號的用法不符合英語使用習(xí)慣。

例6：A survey of the childrens parents and teachers found that those who as four-year-olds had enough self-control（原文：the fortitude）to hold out for the second marshmallow generally grew up to be better adjusted， more popular， adventurous， confident and dependable teenagers.（Unit 6，Text A：The EQ Factor）

根據(jù)《劍橋高階學(xué)習(xí)詞典》（Cambridge Advanced Learners Dic-tionary），fortitude意為“bravery over a long period， courage”?？v觀全文，self-control是情商的重要標(biāo)志，fortitude只是self-control的一種表現(xiàn)形式。此處作者尚未討論情商的構(gòu)成部分，出現(xiàn)self-control為時尚早，且不適用于描述四歲兒童。

例7：They could not endure（原文：buckled under）stress and shied away from challenges.（Unit 6，Text A：The EQ Factor）

原文兩個并列謂語動詞形式一致，意義貫通。沒有必要替換成現(xiàn)在的否定結(jié)構(gòu)，造成前后不一，且buckle也非超綱詞。

例8：...why some people remain upbeat（原文：buoyant）in the face of troubles that would sink a less resilient soul...（Unit 6，Text A：The EQ Factor）

根據(jù)《韋氏高階英語學(xué)習(xí)詞典》（Merriam-Websters Advanced Learner's Dictionary），buoyant意為“happy and confident”。此處可以用optimistic或happy and confident替換buoyant，編者為何選用了口語體的upbeat尚不得而知。

例9：His thesis： when it comes to predicting peoples success， brainpower as measured by IQ and standardized achievement tests may actually matter less than the qualities of mind once thought of as “character” before the word began to sound old-fashioned（原文：quaint）.（Unit 6，Text A：The EQ Factor）

根據(jù)《牛津高階英語詞典》（Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary），quaint意為“attractive in an unusual or old-fashioned way”，與課文中的old-fashioned完全不是一回事，這樣的替換對原意的歪曲顯而易見。endprint

例10：Goleman admits the danger of suggesting that you can assign a numerical value（原文：yardstick）to a persons character as well as his intellect...（Unit 6，Text A：The EQ Factor）

根據(jù)《牛津高階英語詞典》（Oxford Advanced Learners Dic-tionary），yardstick意為“a standard used for judging how good or successful sth is”，即“（好壞或成敗的）衡量標(biāo)準(zhǔn)”。value只有“值；數(shù)值”之意，不足以表達(dá)原文“衡量標(biāo)準(zhǔn)”之意。

例11：But he did somewhat reluctantly approve（原文：（begrudgingly） approved）an “unscientific” EQ test in USA Today.（Unit 6，Text A：The EQ Factor）

此處改為reluctantly approved足矣。強(qiáng)調(diào)結(jié)構(gòu)的使用隱含著作者的某種不滿情緒，但是在文章中找不到類似的或明或暗的依據(jù)。此外，大學(xué)生英語寫作中使用強(qiáng)調(diào)結(jié)構(gòu)已成為一種標(biāo)配，似乎不用強(qiáng)調(diào)結(jié)構(gòu)的文章就不是一篇地道的英語文章。從某種意義上說，現(xiàn)在的大學(xué)英語教學(xué)不得不面臨一個矯枉過正的難題：告知學(xué)習(xí)者恰當(dāng)使用倒裝等強(qiáng)調(diào)結(jié)構(gòu)。教材中出現(xiàn)不合時宜的強(qiáng)調(diào)結(jié)構(gòu)在很大程度上抵消了教師在這方面所做的一切努力。

例12：Developing self-awareness requires tuning in to what emotions make our bodies feel like（原文：what neu-rologist Antonio Damasio， in his book DescartesError， calls “somatic markers”） — literally， gut feelings.（Unit 6，Text B：Whats Your Emotional IQ）

根據(jù)《劍橋高階學(xué)習(xí)詞典》（Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary），gut feeling意為“a strong belief about someone or something which cannot completely be explained and is not necessarily decided by reasoning”。此處，somatic markers的確是個陌生詞語。但是，名詞性分句what emotions make our bodies feel like的意義更令人費(fèi)解，以晦澀難懂的詞語替換生詞，違背了改編篇章的初衷。

例13：Take someone who is annoyed by an（原文：a rude）encounter for hours after it occurred.（Unit 6，Text B：Whats Your Emotional IQ）

此處an encounter不足以支撐annoyed，而原文的a rude encounter與annoyed形成邏輯的上下文關(guān)系。編者刪除rude的目的不明，且破壞了原來的語境。

例14：Positive motivation— the marshaling of feelings of enthusiasm， energy （原文：zeal）and confidence — is paramount for achievement.（Unit 6，Text B：Whats Your Emotional IQ）

此處的改編可能出于enthusiasm與zeal同義的考慮。根據(jù)《美國傳統(tǒng)英語詞典》（The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language），enthusiasm意為“great excitement for or interest in a subject or cause”，zeal意為“enthusiastic devotion to a cause， an ideal， or a goal and tireless diligence in its furtherance”。顯然，enthusiasm與zeal雖同義，但存在差異。用energy替換zeal意義不通，且還涉及energy是否屬emotion范疇的問題。

例15：...its been oddly（原文：strangely）satisfying...（Unit 7，Text A：My Fathers Son）

此處用oddly替換strangely顯得過于隨意，不知編者出于何意。一來，這兩個副詞意義上沒有實質(zhì)性差異；二來，strangely遠(yuǎn)非生詞，詞頻上也許還略高于oddly。

例16：I knew this would push my fathers buttons（原文被刪除部分：but felt it was necessary）. It worked.

正確理解push my fathers buttons的意義后就能理解為什么原文那部分不應(yīng)該被刪除。根據(jù)《韋氏高階英語學(xué)習(xí)詞典》（Merriam-Websters Advanced Learner's Dictionary），push ones buttons意為“to do or say something just to make one angry or upset”，即“惹惱”。endprint

例17：But I couldnt tell him， him of all people（原文：above all）.（Unit 7，Text B：An Open Letter to a Young Person with an Enemy）

根據(jù)筆者的教學(xué)經(jīng)歷，與原文相比，him of all people對學(xué)習(xí)者而言更難理解，與例12的問題相同。

三、關(guān)于篇章刪節(jié)

出于教材篇幅考慮，篇章刪節(jié)有時確為無奈之舉，但是篇章刪節(jié)應(yīng)遵循保持原意、維持連貫、利于理解的原則。就《21世紀(jì)大學(xué)英語讀寫教程》第四冊部分課文而言，篇章刪節(jié)所造成的問題有下列三條：

1.內(nèi)容不完整

例18：第一單元A篇課文“Who Is Great？”一文刪除了原文最后章節(jié)“What price greatness？”，使流暢的討論戛然而止，缺乏關(guān)于“偉大與人際關(guān)系”“偉大與性格特征”等問題的探討，造成對篇章立論探討不完整的缺憾。

例19：第三單元B篇課文“Lateral and Vertical Thinking”一文截取原作者論述兩種思維方式語篇的開頭部分，在作者展開討論前結(jié)束。標(biāo)題與文章不完全吻合，不如直接以“The Black Pebble”為題。

2.篇章不連貫

為了節(jié)省篇幅，編者對原文進(jìn)行了大規(guī)模刪減，致使課文上下文不連貫，邏輯關(guān)系紊亂，人為造成了理解障礙。

例20：Mood Management. Bad as well as good moods spice life and build character. The key is balance.

（原文被刪除部分：We often have little control over when we are swept by emotion. But we can have some say in how long that emotion will last. Psychologist Dianne Tice of Case Western Reserve University asked more than 400 men and women about their strategies for escaping foul moods. Her research， along with that of other psychologists， provides valuable information on how to change a bad mood.）

Of all the moods that people want to escape， rage seems o be the hardest to deal with.（原文被刪除部分：When someone in another car cuts you off on the highway， your reflexive thought may be， That jerk！ He could have hit me！ I cant let him get away with that！ The more you stew， the angrier you get. Such is the stuff of hypertension and reckless driving.）

What should you do to relieve rage？ One myth is that ventilating will make you feel better. In fact， researchers have found that's one of the worst strategies. Outbursts of rage pump up the brain's arousal system， leaving you more angry， not less. A more effective technique is “reframing”， which means consciously reinterpreting a situation in a more positive light.（原文被刪除部分：In the case of the driver who cuts you off， you might tell yourself： Maybe he had some emergency. This is one of the most potent ways， Tice found， to put anger to rest.）（Unit 6，Text B：Whats Your Emotional IQ）

不難看出，沒有被刪除部分的話，這段課文支離破碎，連貫性很差。課文第二段中的rage缺乏上文關(guān)照，出現(xiàn)得很唐突，而且也沒有展開論述“Of all the moods that people want to escape， rage seems o be the hardest to deal with”這一觀點(diǎn)。課文第三段圍繞如何克服“rage”，大部分篇幅放在否定人們普遍的認(rèn)知上，重點(diǎn)部分應(yīng)該是“reframing”，但是這部分卻一句話匆匆?guī)н^，給人本末倒置的感覺。根據(jù)“A more effective technique”的措辭，邏輯上還應(yīng)該提供另一個方法，原文有進(jìn)一步的闡述，課文卻停留在此，給人欲言又止的印象。

例21：To motivate yourself for any achievement requires clear goals and an optimistic， can-do attitude. Psychologist Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania advised the MetLife insurance company to hire a special group of job applicants who tested high on optimism， although they had failed the normal aptitude test. Compared with salesmen who passed the aptitude test but scored high in pessimism， this group made 21 percent more sales in their first year and 57 percent more in their second.endprint

（原文被刪除部分：A pessimist is likely to interpret rejection as meaning Im a failure； Ill never make a sale. Optimists tell themselves， Im using the wrong approach， or That customer was in a bad mood. By blaming failure on the situation， not themselves， optimists are motivated to make that next call.）

（原文被刪除部分：Your pre-disposition to a positive or negative outlook may be inborn， but with effort and practice， pessimists can learn to think more hopefully. Psychologists have documented that if you can catch negative， self-defeating thoughts as they occur， you can reframe the situation in less catastrophic terms.）（Unit 6，Text B：Whats Your Emotional IQ）

在此段中，作者以情商中的“樂觀”和“悲觀”心態(tài)為切入點(diǎn)闡述情商對于人們工作的影響。按照連貫性規(guī)律，有必要在下文中展開進(jìn)一步的討論，而課文刪除的兩段正是不可或缺的內(nèi)容。

例22：Children were told that they could have a single treat， such as a marshmallow， right now. However， if they would wait while the experimenter ran an errand， they could have two marshmallow. Some preschoolers grabbed the marshmallow immediately， but others were able to wait what， for them， must have seemed an endless 20 minutes.（原文被刪除部分：To sustain themselves in their struggle， they covered their eyes so they wouldnt see the temptation， rested their heads on their arms， talked to themselves， sang，even tried to sleep. These plucky kids got the two-marshmallow reward.）（Unit 6，Text B：Whats Your Emotional IQ）

此段被刪除部分正是 “marshmallow”實驗的重要部分，即使在A篇課文中已涉及，B篇課文作為一個獨(dú)立篇章應(yīng)該具有信息的完整性。

例23：People skills. The capacity to know how another feels is important on the job， in romance and friendship， and in the family.（原文被刪除部分：We transmit and catch moods from each other on a subtle， almost imperceptible level. The way someone says thank you， for instance， can leave us feeling dismissed， patronized or genuinely appreciated. The more adroit we are at discerning the feelings behind other peoples signals， the better we control the signals we send.）（Unit 6，Text B：Whats Your Emotional IQ）

課文的這個段落以一句話解釋“people skills”，對于“people skills” 的作用機(jī)理以及產(chǎn)生何種作用則避而不談，完全失去了提出“people skills”這一概念的意義。

例24：Without even thinking about it， I froze him out of my life， speaking only when spoken to. I learned to use silence like a knife. My one communiqué for an entire dinner was usually a sarcastic “May I be excused now？ I have homework.” I lay awake at night imagining him being transferred by the gas company he worked for to an oil rig in the North Sea. But it didnt happen， and soon all that remained was the contest of wills.（Unit 7，Text A：My Fathers Son）endprint

（試比較原文：Without even thinking about it，I froze him out of my life with even less mercy，volunteering nothing，speaking only when spoken to，my one communiqué for an entire dinner eventually reduced to a sarcasm-drenched，“May I be excused now？ I have homework.” I lay awake at night imagining him being transferred by the gas company he worked for to an oil rig in the North Sea. But it didnt happen， and soon all that remained was the contest of wills，a reflex so conditioned that if hed told me I should try smoking dope，Id have been on the next bus to Utah to become a Mormon missionary. I learned how to use silence like a knife. It became a standing joke among my friends that if they called and didnt get me，it was no use asking when I would be home. Nobody at home would know.）

經(jīng)過比較，課文與原文最明顯的差異在于“I learned how to use silence like a knife”一句的位置。課文把此句前移略顯輕率，既然已經(jīng)“use silence like a knife”，為什么還會說話并出現(xiàn)“My one communiqué”呢？這樣的處理方法造成文章敘述的漏洞。

例25：Maybe he wasnt the best father. Maybe I wasnt the best son， but I realize I will never be ready to cope with his leaving. I know that Im luckier than some of my friends， whose fathers died while they were still locked in the battle that neither really wanted.（Unit 7，Text A：My Fathers Son）

（試比較原文：Maybe he wasnt the best father. Maybe I wasnt the best son. But I could have done worse. And now I realize that there will be a day when he dies and leaves me behind. I know that Im luckier than some of my friends， whose fathers died while they were still locked in the battle that neither really wanted. But I will never be ready to cope with his leaving.）

同上例，編者把“I will never be ready to cope with his leaving”一句前移，顯得唐突，上下文支撐不夠，而原文的敘述方式更為飽滿、合理，由于前文鋪墊充分，這句話的出現(xiàn)恰到好處。

3.標(biāo)題不貼切

標(biāo)題是對篇章內(nèi)容的高度概括，起著點(diǎn)睛的作用。通常說來，即使改動原文，對原標(biāo)題的處理也應(yīng)慎重。本冊教材在標(biāo)題處理上也出現(xiàn)較大瑕疵。

例26：第七單元A篇課文“My Fathers Son”，原文首刊于1995年6月18日華盛頓郵報，后于2014年收入作者的作品集Youre Not Lost if You Can Still See the Truck： The Further Adventures of Americas Everyman Outdoorsman，標(biāo)題始終是“TRUCE AND CONSEQUENCES”。或許由于原標(biāo)題略顯晦澀，但是從全文的內(nèi)容不難看出作者旨在圍繞父子關(guān)系，觸及父子關(guān)系中最普遍的問題：貌似獨(dú)斷的父親與叛逆的兒子間那割舍不斷的親情。“My Fathers Son”以兒子為主題，不能概括原文，且體現(xiàn)不出原標(biāo)題的意韻。

例27：第七單元B篇課文“An Open Letter to a Young Person with an Enemy”取自美國黑人運(yùn)動員杰西·歐文斯原作。原文含義深刻，超越種族膚色，從人性的角度闡述平等、和諧。編者改變原標(biāo)題“Open Letter to a Young Negro”，給學(xué)習(xí)者帶來的首要困難就是無法確定a young person with an enemy究竟是什么樣的人。但是，難道a Young Person with an Enemy就是a Young Negro嗎？

四、結(jié)語

質(zhì)量關(guān)乎教材的影響力，關(guān)乎學(xué)習(xí)者的學(xué)習(xí)效果。教材的質(zhì)量源于科學(xué)性，最終由編寫者落實。教材編寫者不僅要有扎實的語言功底，而且應(yīng)該具備強(qiáng)烈的責(zé)任意識，堅守職業(yè)操守。教材編寫不同于其他類型的著作，受眾面寬，示范效應(yīng)強(qiáng)，不容絲毫疏忽和差錯。

參考文獻(xiàn)：

[1]Goleman，Daniel.Whats Your Emotional IQ？[J].Readers Digest，1996（1）.

[2]Heavey，Bill.TRUCE AND CON-SEQUENCES[J]. Washington Post，1995（6）.

[3]Owens，Jesse.Open Letter to a Young Negro [EB/OL].www.myteacherpages.com/.

[4]Ryan，Michael.Who Is Great？[J].Toledo Blade，1996（6）.

[5]繆 學(xué). 簡析外語教材語言規(guī)范性問題——以《21世紀(jì)大學(xué)英語讀寫教程》第二冊為例[J].教師，2016（26）.

[6]翟象俊. 21世紀(jì)大學(xué)英語讀寫教程（第四冊）（第三版）[M].上海： 復(fù)旦大學(xué)出版社，2015.endprint