之于商务英语教学

Teaching business communication

商务英语的教学受到很多原则的影响，包括语言学、普通语言教学以及管理培训。因为商务英语不仅仅是关于语言的，而且是关于语言使用的， 所以首要考虑的一个因素是交际能力。最有影响力的模式也许就是基于20世纪60年代的Hymes、70年代的Canale和Swain以及80年代的Bachman和Palmer的研究成果。对早期倾向于专注语言（如书写的语法规则）的教学方法不满意，引发了最基本的讨论。讨论指出在谈论语言技巧时需要考虑多种能力，其中了解语言是最好的一种。语言学习者需要能够在真实的生活语境中使用语言。近年来一直在讨论各种将交际能力划分为各个组成部分的方法，教师们尤其关注这些组成部分的可教性。商务英语教师需要特别关注三个重要组成部分：语言能力、语篇能力以及跨文化能力。

The teaching of business English has been influenced by a variety of disciplines, including linguistics, general language learning and teaching, and management training。 Because business English is not only about language, but also language use, it is worth first considering the issue of communicative competence。 Perhaps the most influential models have been based on work done by Hymes in the 1960s, Canale and Swain in the ‘70s, and Bachman and Palmer in the ‘80s。 The basic argument, which arose out of dissatisfaction with earlier teaching approaches which tended to concentrate on linguistic items (such as written grammar rules), is that there are various components which need to be considered when discussing language skills, of which knowing about language is only one。

Language learners also need to be able to use the language in real-life situations。 Various ways of dividing communicative competence into its component parts have been discussed over the years, with teachers being particularly interested in the teachability of such components。 Business English teachers need to focus on three key components in particular: linguistic competence, discourse competence, and intercultural competence。

语言能力 Linguistic competence

语言能力表现在对形成语言的基本元素的使用上，如词语、语法、音系，等等。最近对商务英语教学的一个重大的影响是我们对词汇（单词以及单词形式）的角色以及它和语法（单词或短语所遵循的形式）之间关系的更深入了解。传统上，词汇和语法被看成语言中相互分离的两个部分，但是随着我们对语言系统的工作原理越来越了解，两者之间的区别就越来越模糊。

Linguistic competence is shown in the use of the basic elements that go together to form a language, such as vocabulary, grammar, phonology, and so on. One of the key influence on business English teaching in recent years has been our deepening understanding of the role of lexis (words and patterns of words) and its relationship with grammar (the way the words and patterns follow rules). Traditionally, vocabulary and grammar were seen as separate aspects of language, but the distinction between the two is becoming more and more blurred as we find out more about how the language system works.

朗文口语和书面英语语法将词汇分为三种类型。词典词（名词、动词、形容词和副词）是有实际意义的词。功能词是处理词典词之间相互关系，或者是表明它们应该如何解释的词，如冠词（the, a, some, any）、代词（it, they）、情态词（can, should）、介词（in, to）、连词（and, but, or）、疑问词（why, whose）。第三类是插入词（yeah, well, ouch）。这种分类可能有重叠。

The Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English divides words into three types. Lexical words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs) are the carriers of meaning. Function words deal with the relationships between lexical words, or indicate how they are to be interpreted. Examples are determiners (the, a, some, any), pronouns (it, they), modals (can, should), prepositions (in, to), coordinators (and, but, or), wh-words (why, whose). The third type are inserts (yeah, well, ouch). These categories may overlap.

多词汇单元（也可以称作词汇短语、词串、词块）由两个或者更多个单词组成，作为一个单元一起出现。在某种意义上它们的用法就像一个单词，所以nevertheless是一个单词，而how do you do用起来则像一个单元。事实上，关于我们记忆语言的研究表明技巧:FTBE一天学一点之商务英语有什么特殊之处⑤-1，贮存语言中的“块”要比单个的部分更容易。然而需要注意的是，大多数的多词汇单元都是不完整的话语。What’s the matter with…和I don’t think it’s …是句头的例子。Start off和bring up则是动词短语。我们知道有些词倾向于与另一些词同时出现，这种现象就是搭配。我们会用small print而不是little print或者说have a meeting而不是do a meeting。有时这并没有特殊的逻辑，它就是那个样子。习语是一种特殊的多词汇单元，它们的意义仅仅看单词的字面意义是不太清楚的（如：It’s going to crop up, We’ve missed the boat或He’s in the driving seat）。

Multi-word units (also called lexical phrases, lexical bundles, or chunks) consist of two or more words, which act together as a unit。 In a sense they behave like a word。 So nevertheless is one word, but How do you do also cats like a single unit。 Indeed, studies on how we memorize language show that it is easier to store ‘chunks’ of language than several individual parts。 Note that most multi-word units are not complete utterances, however。 What’s the matter with 。。。 and I don’t think it’s 。。。 are examples of sentence headers, and start off and bring up are examples of phrasal verbs。

We also know that certain words tend to co-occur with certain other words, a phenomenon known as collocation。 So we say small print, rather than little print, or have a meeting rather than do a meeting。 At times there appears to be no particular logic to such matters; it is just the way it is。 Idioms are a type of multi-word unit where the meaning is not clear from the individual words (e。g。 It’s going to crop up, or We’ve missed the boat, or He’s in the driving seat)。

词汇不仅和其他的词汇搭配，也和其他语义词汇家族搭配（也就是意义相近或相关的一组词汇）。比如商务英语好吗，letter一词可以和动词搭配表示你做了什么（write a letter, post a letter, read a letter, open a letter等），也可以和形容词搭配来表示信件的功能（covering letter, follow-up letter）。Market可以和表明地点的形容词搭配（European market, French market, South East Asian market），也可以和表明大小的形容词搭配（huge market, large market, big market, small market）。最后商务英语好吗，词汇倾向于在某种特定的语法结构（连接）中出现。因此，我们会看到letter of application, letter of complaint, letter of enquiry，但是我们通常不会看到market of Europe, market of France，或者market of East Asia。

Words do not only collocate with other words, they collocate with other semantic word families (i.e. groups of words with related or similar meanings). For example, letter collocates with verbs which show what you can do with it (write a letter, post a letter, read a letter, open a letter etc), and adjectives which describe the function of the letter (covering letter, follow-up letter). Market collocates with adjectives denoting place (European market, French market, South East Asian market), and adjectives denoting size (huge market, large market, big market, small market). Finally, words tend to occur in particular grammatical patterns (colligation). So, for example, we can say letter of application, letter of complaint, letter of enquiry, but we do not normally say market of Europe, market of France, or market of South East Asia.

另一个最新的观点认为口语和书面语是有很大不同的。适合一种形式的语法结构并不一定适合另一种。学习者需要知道，当他们在口语对话中使用书面语语法规则时，听起来会让人感到呆板不自然。

Another fairly recent development is the appreciation that spoken and written grammar can be very different. Forms which are acceptable in one type of grammar are not necessarily acceptable in the other. Learners need to understand that when they use written grammar rules in conversational speech, their language may sound unnatural and stilted.

口语语法通常用在实时互动中。它有不同的词序规则商务英语好吗，使用缩写（can’t, won’t）、停顿（erm, uh）、重复或省略（省略一些词），且常常比较口语化。话语常常不说完整，或者半途改变语法形式。另一个普遍的特点包括前置和附加，如The tape. Yeah we got it erm yesterday I think it was。在这个句子中句尾的I think it was就是对刚刚所说的话的一个限制性的附加。在口语中，同样普遍存在的还有常常出现在句首的语篇标记（例如，OK. Erm what I’d er like to do today is…）、返回通道（mmh, uh-huh, 表示反馈）以及无意义的虚词。

Spoken grammar is normally used in real-time interaction. It has different word-order rules, uses contractions (can’t, won’t), hesitations (erm, uh), repetition, ellipsis (words left out), and is often vernacular. Utterances are often left incomplete, or change their form halfway through. Other common features include fronting and tags. For example, in the utterance, The tape. Yeah we got it erm yesterday I think it was, the I think it was at the end is a tag which qualifies what has just been said. Also common in spoken language are discourse markers, which often occur at the beginning of an utterance (e.g. OK. Erm what I’d er like to do today is…), backchannels (mmh, uh-huh, to signal feedback), and expletives.

商务英语学习者感兴趣的不仅仅是说什么，而是怎么说。音系学就是关于我们如何利用嗓音来说话的。我们用重音、节奏和语调（有时被叫做音韵）来传达意义。语块包括了一组的词汇。这些词汇之间有停顿，它们有音调的变化，组块最后一个音节的音长变化标志组块的结束。综合运用重音、语调和节奏，组块可以改变听话者对信息的理解。

It is not only what is said, but how it is said that is of interest to business English learners. Phonology is about how we use our voices to make the sounds of utterances. We use stress, rhythm, and intonation (sometimes called prosody) to convey meaning. Chunking involves grouping words together, with a pause, or a change in pitch, or a lengthening of a syllable to signal the end of the chunk. Combined with stress, intonation, and rhythm, chunking can alter the way the listener understands the message.

#FTBE一天学一点#