英語講座/講話是以口頭的方式傳授知識、表達觀點,兼具口語和書面語的語言特征,并有一定學術性。

講座/講話帶有書面語特征。

講座/講話都是演講者/講話人圍繞某一話題做主題陳述。講座的形式通常為長篇獨白,相比講話更接近書面語;講話雖然從形式上看仍是對話,但對話者間交互很少,絕大多數(shù)時間都是講話人自己在敘述,也比日常會話更有書面體特色。

因為講座/講話接近書面語,它們的詞匯更正式,句式更復雜,語篇更通順。以下面這段官方樣題中的講話為例。

Dr. Miller: Thank you for that introduction. Today, I’d like to preface my remarks with a story from my own life which I feel highlights the common concerns that bring us here together. Several years ago when my grandparents were well into their eighties, they were faced with the reality of no longer being able to adequately care for themselves.?

My grandfather spoke of his greatest fear, that of leaving the only home they had known for the past 60 years. Fighting back the tears, he spoke proudly of the fact that he had built their home from the ground up, and that he had pounded every nail and laid every brick in the process. The prospect of having to sell their home and give up their independence, and move into a retirement home was an extremely painful experience for them. It was, in my grandfather’s own words, like having a limb cut off. He exclaimed?in a forceful manner that he felt he wasn’t important anymore.

For them and some older Americans, their so-called “golden years” are at times not so pleasant, for this period can mean the decline of not only one’s health but the loss of identity and self-worth. In many societies, this self-identity is closely related with our social status, occupation, material possessions, or independence. Furthermore, we often live in societies that value what is “new” or in fashion, and our own usage of words in the English language is often a sign of bad news for older Americans. I mean how would your family react if you came home tonight exclaiming, “Hey, come to the living room and see the OLD black and white TV I brought!” Unfortunately, the word “old” calls to mind images of the need to replace or discard.

Now, many of the lectures given at this conference have focused on the issues of pension reform, medical care, and the development of public facilities for senior citizens. And while these are vital issues that must be addressed, I’d like to focus my comments on an important issue that will affect the overall success of the other programs mentioned. This has to do with changing our perspectives on what it means to be a part of this group, and finding meaningful roles the elderly can play and should play in our societies. (CET 6官方樣題一)

從上面這段講話可以看出講座/講話所具有的一些書面語特征。

首先,講座/講話有時會使用日常口語中較少出現(xiàn)的正式詞匯。

例如,講話者用“remarks”而沒使用“words”,用“highlight”、“occupation”、“discard”和“perspective”不用“stress”、“job”、“throw away”和“opinion”,另外“social status”、“material possessions”、“public facilities”和“senior citizens”等都是相對較為書面的表達方式。

其次,結構復雜的主從句在講座/講話中出現(xiàn)的頻率比日??谡Z更高。

例如,上面這段講話一開篇就是定語叢句“I’d like to preface my remarks with a story from my own life which I feel highlights the common concerns that bring us here together”,這句話先用“which”引導的從句修飾“a story from my own life”,再用“that”引導的從句修飾“which”從句中的賓語“the common concerns”。之后還有狀語叢句“Several years ago when my grandparents were well into their eighties, they were faced with the reality of no longer being able to adequately care for themselves”。

當然還有名詞性的賓語叢句“I mean how would your family react if you came home tonight exclaiming…”等。

綜觀上面這段Dr. Miller的講話,主從句多達11句,而這段講話的節(jié)選總共才15句,主從復雜句占比逾七成。

再次,演講者/講話人會使用諸如非謂語動詞等在內的多種語法結構,讓自己的句式更靈活多變。

例如,上面這個段講話中,講話人就多次使用非謂語動詞,“that of leaving the only home they had known for the past 60 years”,“Fighting back the tears, he spoke proudly of the fact…”,以及“…you came home tonight exclaiming…”等。

此外,名詞性短語的使用也體現(xiàn)了書面語的特色。

在文件、法規(guī)等文本中,本來可以使用句子的地方,卻換成名詞性的表達,藉此讓語言顯得更正式,更精確。我們在上面這段樣題中都能找到這樣的表達,如“The prospect of having to sell their home”、“the decline of not only one’s health but the loss of identity and self-worth”、“changing our perspectives on what it means to be a part of this group, and finding meaningful roles”等。

最后,連接詞和過渡句的頻繁使用,展示了句子間,段落間的邏輯關聯(lián),使語篇顯得更通順、更嚴密,結構也更清晰,這也體現(xiàn)了書面語的特色。

如果一臺講座或講話是一段旅程,連接詞和過渡句就像路標,提示聽眾現(xiàn)在的位置和前進的方向。這些看似不傳達主題信息的成分其實讓講座/講話更容易被理解,被記住。上例講話主要使用了過渡句等手段把不同的部分銜接起來,理清了整體脈絡,讓講話變得通順。講話人在開篇用“I’d like to preface my remarks with a story…”指明了緊接著要敘述的內容。

后面又用兩個過渡性的結構“Now, many of the lectures given at this conference have focused on the issues of…”和“And while these are vital issues that must be addressed, ?I’d like to focus my comments on an important issue…”將講話重心從之前的事例過渡到論述的主題。而最后這句“First of all, I’d like to talk about . . .”是非常典型的列舉分話題的句型。?

雖然出于傳授知識的特殊需求,以及缺少交互的特別情況,決定了講座/講話帶有一些書面特色,但講座/講話的語言畢竟是演講者在與聽眾面對面的語境中,用嘴說出,不是用筆寫下的。講座/講話歸根到底還是一種口語形式,被打上了“口語烙印”。

其一、雖然講座/講話的詞匯比日常會話更正式,更接近書面語,但構成講座/講話主體的仍是人們在口頭交流中最常使用的基礎詞匯。只是相比尋常對話,俚語等口語色彩非常濃重的非正式表達法較少出現(xiàn)。

其二、講座/講話中出現(xiàn)主從句、長句等復雜句式的頻率相比日常對話更高,但整體還是體現(xiàn)口語的句法特征

首先,講座/講話中最常見的還是“主謂賓”依次排列的自然句型,類似倒裝句、強調句等在書面體中常被使用的特殊句式很少出現(xiàn)。

其次、講座/講話中的主從句一般只包含一個主句和一個從句,從句里還有從句的多層次復雜結構極為少見,而且從句往往也是最常見的時間、原因、結果、條件狀語從句、定語從句和“that”引導的表示說話、思索等具體內容的賓語從句。講座/講話中的長句往往也是由“and”連接簡單句,表示單純的并列關系。由并列或轉折連接詞“and”、“but”連接數(shù)個主從句,構成厄長的復合復雜句,這種情況在講座/講話中并不常見。

再次、第一人稱“I”、“we”等和第二人稱“you”、“your”在講座/講話中出現(xiàn)的次數(shù)比在書面正式文體出現(xiàn)的次數(shù)多,如單復數(shù)第一人稱在上例講話中出現(xiàn)高達15次——這在論文寫作中可以說是不能接受的。

另外、講座/講話會使用正式書面語中比較忌諱的縮略表達,例如“I’d”、“don’t”、“It’s”等。

最后,講座/講話還傾向于使用簡單常用的指示代詞“it”、“this/that”,而不是其他用法更復雜的指結構。

通常情況下,講座/講話都是由權威專家向聽眾傳播專業(yè)性信息,因此,講座/講話具有一定的學術性。“學術性”要求語言準確、客觀。講座/講話在某種程度上就像口頭做的論文,也要符合一定的“學術規(guī)范”。

首先,要做到“準確”,這主要體現(xiàn)在兩個層面:專業(yè)詞匯讓用詞更準確,主從句讓語義間的邏輯關系更清晰。講座/講話都是針對某個專業(yè)領域的。既然針對專業(yè)領域,就不可避免要使用專業(yè)術語。雖然出于講座目的、講座對象層次等方面的考慮,專業(yè)術語的使用有多有少,有難有易,但基本的專業(yè)詞匯總是必不可少的。如果勉強繞過專業(yè)術語,想把道理說清,結果往往只能是講授一方費時費力,接受一方云里霧里。

當然,CET-6是語言測試而不是專業(yè)考試,參考的考生也來自不同的專業(yè)背景,其中講座/講話聽力涉及的專業(yè)詞匯至多是“科普”級別,即使出現(xiàn)了較為生疏的術語,其后往往會緊接著給予解釋定義。

例如,上例中可以找到一些跟社會、心理相關的詞匯表達,“graying society”、“self-worth”、“self-identity”、“social status”、“material possessions”、“public facilities”、“pension reform”、“medical care”。這些詞匯也許并不是尋常百姓街談巷議中的常用詞,但在見多識廣的大學生眼中,可能已從“專業(yè)”變得“基礎”。

從句子層面而言,學術講座/講話如果僅用簡單句表達復雜的思想,需要使用的簡單句數(shù)量會比較多,從而造成的必然結果是指示代詞的頻繁使用,而過多的代詞可能會引起指代混亂,反而增加了聽眾處理信息的負擔,甚至會產(chǎn)生歧義,導致誤解。

其次,要做到“客觀”,即演講者/講話者應避免做出太過主觀的評價,得到過于武斷的結論,要讓論證使人信服。

為達到“客觀”的目的,主要從句型,時態(tài),用詞幾方面著手。

句型方面:避免使用感情色彩強烈的祈使句、疑問句或感嘆句,使用語氣平直、懇切的陳述句;時態(tài)方面:使用一般現(xiàn)在時陳述事實;

用詞方面:利用一些表達方式讓語氣顯得委婉,給觀點留有余地。那種完全肯定或完全否定,非黑即白的語言在講座/講話中是比較少見的。

如上例講話中“we often live in societies that value what is “new” or in fashion, and our own usage of words in the English language is often a sign of bad news for older Americans”,兩個“often”的使用讓講話人的觀點顯得不太一定。同樣是這段講話,“while these are vital issues that must be addressed, I’d like to focus my comments on an important issue that will affect the overall success of the other programs mentioned”,講話人在突顯自己研究重要性的同時,也肯定了其他學者講座的意義。

總之,這些看似模棱兩可的表達,反而幫助演講者避開錯誤,讓講座/講話顯得更客觀,更有說服力。

綜上所述,在詞匯層面,講座/講話基于口語常用詞,偏向書面體的正式詞匯,但避免過于口語化的表達,在必要的時候會使用相關專業(yè)詞匯;在句子層面,講座/講話更頻繁地使用主從句和長度較長的復合句,但主從句的結構不會過于復雜,復合句也往往表示并列關系;講座/講話的句子絕大多數(shù)是陳述句,通常使用一般現(xiàn)在時;在篇章層面,講座/講話會用連接詞和過渡句串聯(lián)起不同的成分。

雖然演講者/講話人的個人風格,學科專業(yè)特點,聽眾的層次等諸多因素會影響講座/講話的遣詞造句。但講座/講話所具備的整體語言共性是不變的——兼具口語和書面語特點,并有學術性。

更多四六級推薦課程:

大學英語四級簽約班?(351-380首選) ?
大學英語六級簽約班?(351-380首選) ?
零基礎直達CET4級考試版?(350分以下) ?
四六級筆試口試班(一門課搞定6張證書?。?/strong> ?
大學英語四六級連讀 (連報更優(yōu)惠?。?/strong> ?
零基礎直達CET6級考試版(350分以下) ?

總有一款適合你哦!四六級考試加油↖(^ω^)↗