中国学生大多是在纯汉语的氛围中学习外语的,在极有限的课堂学习中所嗅到的一点英语气息,转瞬间就被浓郁的汉语气氛稀释得淡无踪迹.于是乎,学生写起作文来无法走出母语干扰的阴影,硬套汉语规则和习惯,写出的不符合英语表达习惯的畸形句子俯拾即是,这就是学生常犯而难以根除的"汉式英语"或"中国式英语"("Chinglish")的毛病,从而成为制约学生四级写作水平提高的瓶颈,已经到了不治不行的地步.

　　一、 "Chinglish"在写作中的诸多表现形式

　　新修订的《大学英语教学大纲》对原来处于第三层次的写译能力提高到与听说能力同等重要的水平,随着大学英语教学和测试中对写作的要求不断提高,学生的写作水平在逐步改进的同时亦暴露出了很多问题,其中"Chinglish"现象颇为突出,其主要表现如下:

　　1. 死搬

　　学生在写英文句子时普遍存在一种倾向,即往往先用汉语打初稿或列出中文提纲,然后逐句进行机械的转换,把英语单词一个萝卜一个坑地填入事先设置好的中文框框里,于是就出现了下面的汉语式的英文句子.

　　1) My English base is very poor and composition is always my weakness. I must make use of a strong measure to raise my English level all round. (大意是:我的英语基础很差,写作一直是我的薄弱环节.我必须采取强化措施全面提高英语水平.)

　　2) Reading made me learn a lot of correct new words. (此句欲表达:阅读使我学到了许多单词.)

　　3) The numbers of vocabularies I have mastered have enlarged-I have studied more than 5,000 vocabularies. (大意是:我掌握的词汇量扩大了,我已学会了5000多词汇.)

　　2. 硬套

　　所谓硬套,就是学生完全依赖中文字面意思,不顾词性内涵、前后搭配等而张冠李戴.如:

　　4) Except for studying the text-

　　book, I also insist on reading "China Daily" (除了学习课本,我还坚持阅读《中国日报》.)

　　5) This year my listening skills have made much progress.(今年我在听力技巧上取得了很大进步.)

　　6) I like the dictionary, but its price is expensive.(我喜欢这本辞典,但是它的价钱太贵了.)

　　7) Reference books are only reference books. They can't instead of our studying.(参考书只是参考书而已,它们代替不了我们的学习.)

　　3. 生造

　　这在本质上和死搬硬套并无明显区别,只不过是造出的句子,意思更加难以猜测,让人不知所云.如:

　　8) Somebody just know to copy answers. Because they are lazy. (有些人只知道抄答案,因为他们太懒了.)

　　9) I suggest the teacher had better help us win much more chances to have oral comprehension .(我建议老师最好给我们提供更多的讲口语的机会.)

　　以上都是学生作文中出现的"不伦不类"的句子,但有时候读起来却给人一种甚为"流利"的印象,普通语法错误一经指出,学生会心悦诚服地自觉纠正,但碰到这类问题,却往往会固执己见,钻进牛角不出来.

　　二、 "Chinglish"的病因及诊治对策

　　"Chinglish"作为一种语言毛病,不少人认为其出现在汉语化环境中是一种正常现象,应当容忍.但它却成了我们深化英语学习的一大障碍.不及时注意和近早克服,任其发展,终会积重难返.笔者从汉英对比的角度,剖析"Chinglish"现象发生的症结并寻求相应的对策.

　　1. "介词"意识的缺失

　　介词虽属虚词,在英语中却是重要"功能词".离开了介词,实词就会变得空泛,孤立无援,难以产生意义.介词是英文句子中的重要韧带,能否掌握介词已被认为是能否真正掌握现代英语的标尺之一.然而,中国学生在写作时常常"瞧不起"介词,一些常用介词在实际应用中通常被忽视,或者压根儿就想不起来,这也是造成"汉语式英语"的一个重要原因.如下面就是学生在写作中表达的几句话的内容:

　　1) 我进去时,他正在读书,没有抬头看.

　　2) 因为生词太多,这文件我理解不了.

　　3) 比赛结果是3比2,客队赢了.

　　4) 他每天开车接送她上下班.

　　大多数学生会不费力地表达如下:

　　1) When I went in, he was reading a book and didn't raise his head to have a look.

　　2) As there are too many new words in it, the document is beyond me.

　　3) The result of the game was 3 to 2, and it was the team from abroad that won.

　　4) Every day he drives the car to take her to the factory, and then bring her back home.

　　如果学生具有"介词"意识,上述句子完全可以简化为:

　　1) When I came in, he didn't look up from his book.

　　2) With too many new words in it, the document is beyond me.

　　3) The score was 3 to 2 in favor of the visiting team.

　　4) Every day he drives her to and from work.

　　通过比较,不难看出改进前后的表述优劣自见,后者均凝炼、传神、地道,几处不起眼的介词的运用起到画龙点睛的作用,学生看后,恍然大悟,茅塞顿开.

　　2. 名词使用的误区

　　汉语动词普及,英语名词却占优势.有些学生写的句子虽然在语法上挑不出什么毛病,但动词过多,结构松散,表现乏力.究其原因,学生们普遍对名词的认识似乎步入了一种重语法、轻语用功能的误区,即认为名词的功能就是在句中作主语、宾语、表语等句子成分.其实英语中大量的名词的运用已超越了句子成分范畴,若名词得以妙用,句子显得生动、流畅、简洁,可谓是"名"正才能言顺.试比较下列每句中前后不同的表述.

　　1) 他手臂疼痛,脱衣服都很不方便.

　　Original: His arms were painful, which made it difficult for him to take off his clothes.

　　Revised:The pain in his arms made it difficult for him to undo his clothes.

　　2) 我们搭乘一架波音767飞机到上海.

　　Original: Taking a Boeing 767 plane, we went to Shanghai.

　　Revised: A Boeing 767 took us to Shanghai.

　　3) 他年轻时对动物很感兴趣,便参加了动物园的工作.

　　Original: As he was interested in animals when he was young, he went to work at the zoo.

　　Revised: An early interest in animals led him to work at the zoo.

　　从上述例子可以看出,改动后的句子显得更简练、地道,富有一种难以言状的隐形表现力.要摆脱"Chinglish"中"多动词"的困扰,就得走出传统的名词语法功能的误区,寻求其丰富多彩的表达特色.

　　3. "动词"表述的陷阱

　　英语结构和汉语大体相同,遵循"主谓结构"这条主线.英语动词的使用没有汉语随便,但其运用的好坏将左右整个句子结构并会影响句子主旨的传达.英语和汉语动词在多数情况下所承载的信息类型以及语言材料的组织方式是不同的.英语中有不少及物动词并不表示人或物做出某个动作或实施某个行为,而是"令或使宾语如何或怎么样",如:astonish 使惊讶;confuse 使困惑;convince 使信服; fertilize 使肥沃;involve 使卷入;terrify 使惊恐;impress 使获得深刻印象;grieve 使悲伤等.中国学生对此类词的用法颇感陌生,受汉语思维定势影响,一见到"使……"、"让……", 潜意识马上想到make或let两词,造成其使用的泛滥,试比较下列表述:

　　1) 我对该问题的回答使老师感到很失望.

　　Original: My response to the question made the teacher feel disappointed.

　　Revised: My response to the question disappointed the teacher.

　　2) 参考书让你能够更方便地学英语.

　　Original: Reference books let you be able to learn English more conveniently.

　　Revised: Reference books facilitate your study of English.

　　3) 这使我想起了一句老话--熟能生巧.

　　Original:This made me think about an old saying"Practice makes perfect."

　　Revised:This reminded me of the old saying"Practice makes perfect."

　　4. 句子结构的汉化

　　英语句子结构紧凑,而汉语结构松散.英语句子又称"竹节句",即由不可缺的各种连接词衔接而成,宛如节节相连的竹子;汉语句子喻为"流水句",即少用乃至不用连接词行文仍然流畅.中国学生受汉语结构的影响,写出的英文句子松散、单调,缺失韵味和节奏感等.如:

　　1) 密西西比河是世界上最长的河流之一,春天时河水常常漫过堤岸,许多人的生命没有安全保障.

　　Original:The Mississippi River is one of the longest rivers in the world, and in spring time it often overflows its banks, and many people's lives are endangered.

　　Revised: The Mississippi River, which is one of the longest rivers in the world, often overflows its banks in the spring time, endangering the lives of many people.

　　2) 我们不应该将时间浪费在聊天上,而应该花在学习上.

　　Original: We should not waste our time on chatting. We should spend time on studies.

　　Revised: Instead of wasting our time on chatting, we should spend it studying.

　　5. 比喻转换的尴尬

　　操英汉两种语言的人们均受制于各自特定的自然和地理条件,其生活方式、风土人情、风俗习惯、思维模式等都必然在各自语言形式上得到反映.语言是文化的载体,又是反映文化的窗口.文化背景迥异,语言表达必然存在许多悬殊差异.中国学生在写作中用比喻等修辞手法时,常常想当然地生吞活剥式地照搬汉语现成的说法,从而触犯了文化禁忌,甚至闹出一失"笔"乃成千古恨的笑话来.下面就是学生习作中出现的错误表述:

　　1) 因为上过大学,我父亲当时被看成是村里唯一"有一肚子墨水"的人.

　　Original: My father was then regarded as the only person in the village who "had a stomach of ink", because he had gone to college.

　　Revised: My father was then regarded by the village as the most knowledgeable person because he had received higher education.

　　2) 健康比财富更重要,因为我们知道"留得青山在,不怕没柴烧".

　　Original: Health is more important than wealth, because we know that "keep a green mountain , and there is plenty of wood ".

　　Revised: Health is more important than wealth. As an old saying goes, "where there is life there is hope."

　　文中列举了当今大学生英文写作中"Chinglish"的种种语病及矫正策略,乍看起来,这与学生的语言功底不够扎实息息相关,但透过现象不难看出,中国学生学习英语普遍存在一个深层次问题--受到母语的干扰.这就要求我们在汉语环境的外语学习中,做到勤"思"敏"行",在学习中不断通过对比、推断、归纳、分析等发现英汉表达的差异规律,培养灵敏的语言直觉意识,唯如此,我们写出的句子才能饱含情味,充满趣味,富有风味;写出的篇章才能摆脱汉化的"匠气"和"死气",充满"生气"和"灵气".这是英语写作中永无止境的目标,需要每一位学习者孜孜不倦地追求和探索。

　　(文/高旭阳; 英语通大学英语四级考试版2004年第5期;版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)