中国学生对英语习语的理解:习语类型与二语水平的作用  

Processing of English idioms by Chinese EFL learners — Effects of idiom type and proficiency level

作　　者：吴旭东[1] 陈斌[1] 黄丽辉[2] 

机构地区：[1]广东外语外贸大学,广州市510420 [2]广东外语艺术职业学院,广州市510507

出　　处：《外语教学与研究》2006年第3期196-201,共6页Foreign Language Teaching and Research

基　　金：广东外语外贸大学外国语言学及应用语言学研究中心资助。

摘　　要：本文以习语的概念基础/文化内涵和语言表达方式两个因素为基础,分别建立跨概念和跨文化的英汉习语对比分类框架,并以此为理论依据分别调查了我国英语专业中级和高级学生对包含隐喻和文化内涵的习语的理解。结果显示:习语类型对理解结果产生显著影响,外语水平的影响则不一贯,不明显。本文的结论是:二语习语理解实质上是概念或文化迁移的过程,但由于我国外语课堂环境不利于二语语言形式与其相关的概念体系和文化内涵之间关系的建立,学习者通常只能靠与母语相关的概念体系和文化内涵的迁移来理解二语习语,导致理解成功率低下。This paper addresses the following research problem central to the understanding of how English idioms are processed by Chinese EFL learners: What is the effect of idiom type on the comprehension of L2 idioms by learners of different proficiency levelsBased on the equivalence/similarity and difference between surface linguistic forms and their underlying conceptual basis or cultural connotations, two contrastive models for English and Chinese idioms, one for idiomatic metaphors, and the other for color idioms, were built, each distinguishing five possible combinations. Then two empirical studies were conducted in which adult Chinese EFL learners of intermediate and advanced levels performed an idiom interpretation test. Both studies revealed significant effects of idiom type on interpretation. The effect of proficiency level, however, is less clear_cut, especially in the case where the correct comprehension presupposed culture_specific knowledge. It was concluded, based on further analysis of the above findings, that comprehension of L2 idioms can be regarded as a process of conceptual or cultural transfer, both from learners’ L1 and L2, and Chinese EFL learners’ low success rates of comprehension can be ascribed to a learning environment detrimental to the establishment of relationship between surface linguistic forms and their underlying conceptual basis or cultural connotations.

关 键 词：二语习语理解 概念基础 文化内涵 习语对比分类 中国学生 

分 类 号：H319[语言文字—英语]