3.1 Pre-Reading
笔者要求学生课外通过浏览网页、阅读报刊杂志、自主学习教学光盘等多种途径了解9·11的背景知识,并搜集与之相关的语块,课堂内以小组为单位进行交流。与9·11事件相关的语块可谓浩如烟海,学生搜集的语块虽只是沧海一粟,却也称得上丰富多彩。比如“ground zero, terrorist attack, coordinated terrorist strike, shake the nation to its core, fly the plane at full speed, the financial district of New York City, burst into flame, advocate violence against the U.S. and its citizens, suspicion centered on Osama bin Laden as the person responsible”等。
学生分组讨论以下话题,笔者鼓励学生尽量使用小组交流时所习得的语块。
Do you know anything about 9/11? (When, Where, What happened?)
Why U.S. was chosen as the target for destruction?
How has 9/11 changed U.S. and the world?
Do you think violence can resolve conflicts? Why?
3.2 While-Reading
在笔者的引导下,学生辨认和识别课文中出现的语块,尤其关注三类语块。第一,洗练优美、具有文采的地道表达,如“undisturbed beauty, one of the engineering wonders of the world”;第二,与9·11事件相关的语块,如“demonic cloud sweep through, post-Sept. 11 baby boom”;第三,促使语篇连贯流畅的框架语,即Lewis笔下的句子框架和引语。此外,笔者还引导学生思考:此篇课文为随感式散文,为口语化的非正式文体,缺乏传统意义上的诸如“firstly, secondly, on (the) one handon the other hand”之类的书面语篇框架语。那么,此文是通过何种手段将看似松散无序的随想粘合在一起呢?在笔者的进一步引导下,学生发现作者以时间和地点为线索串联起文章,从而达到语篇的连贯性,如“at 5 a.m. yesterday on the Brooklyn Bridge, something I saw Monday night on TV, late Tuesday on a subway ride from Brooklyn to the north of Manhattan”。
3.3 Post-Reading
通过多种练习巩固课文中及课外自主学习习得的语块。
中英文互译。如:“无缘无