以电视纪录片辅助高中英语阅读教学的实践探索*

2014-04-17董敏

基础外语教育 2014年2期

关键词：庞贝板书纪录片

董敏

董敏

本文结合笔者执教的一节高中英语阅读研讨课，阐述了如何利用英语电视纪录片辅助高中英语阅读课的词汇教学和语法教学。

高中英语；词汇教学；语法教学

一、引言

高中英语阅读课的教学通常分两个时段或课时。第一时段要求学生整体理解课文；第二时段则要求学生在复习已学课文的基础上，继续完成对细节信息的提取，处理课文中以词汇为主要内容的语言知识，重组信息并尝试运用重点词汇进行表达，最后总结和提升所学内容。在实际的教学过程中，笔者发现第二时段的教学模式较为单一，基本局限于教师呈现课文中的语言知识，领读、讲解并组织学生操练。这种教学模式让学生感到枯燥无味，没有学习兴趣。针对目前第二时段教学存在的问题，笔者开展了一堂阅读课第二课时的研讨课，尝试将BBC纪录片与阅读文本相结合，以此提高语言知识教学的效率。

二、背景介绍

（一）纪录片介绍

英国广播公司（以下简称BBC）拍摄的纪录片集文字、声音、影像于一身，观赏性较强。其专题系列纪录片有《地球生命》（Life on Earth）、《文明》（Civilisation）、《宇宙奇迹》（Wonders ofthe Universe）、《美丽中国》（Wild China）、《中国学校》（Chinese School）等，其中部分内容与北师大版高中英语教材的单元话题密切相关。将BBC纪录片中丰富多彩的真实语言材料引入高中英语教学，可以为学生提供一个真实的听、说、读、写的活动场景。同时，BBC纪录片所蕴含的历史文化和人文科普知识能拓宽学生的视野，增加学生的文化知识积累。

（二）教材分析

1. 教学内容分析

北师大版高中英语模块六Unit 16 Lesson 1 Pompeii: The city that became a time capsule是一篇记叙文，文章分为两部分。第一部分叙述了古城庞贝在公元79年维苏威火山爆发时被掩埋在岩浆中，并得以完整地保存，小普利尼见证了这一过程；第二部分描述了庞贝城的发掘以及现今的遗址。

2. 语言知识分析

（1）词汇

本课的生词和短语共23个，其中不少与火山爆发有关。根据文本内容，笔者将文章中的

词汇分为两类：第一类是描述维苏威火山爆发和庞贝城被淹没的生词和短语，如occur, erupt, bury, event, disappear, disaster, destroy, capsule, tremble, burst, block out, volcanic等；第二类是描述庞贝城被发掘以及庞贝城现状的词汇，如ash, awesome, booming, authentic, characteristic of, dig out, historical site，rewind, preserve, monument, architecture, on one's side, feel sympathy等。

（2）语法

本课语法学习的内容为学习一般过去时与过去完成时的区别，发现过去完成时的语法构成和使用条件，并能在适当语境中使用。

（三）使用的BBC纪录片介绍

《庞贝古城：最后一天》（Pompeii: The Last Day）是BBC于2003年推出的纪录片。与一般纪录片不同的是，该片采用演员演绎的方式，真实地还原了庞贝城最后一天居民的生活状态。同时，电脑特技使得维苏威火山的爆发过程以及庞贝城被淹没的惨烈过程得以真实再现。

《生死庞贝》（Pompeii: Life and Death in aRoman Town）是BBC于2010年推出的纪录片。该片通过剑桥大学古代史学家玛丽·比尔德的视角，以游记的形式呈现了一个不一样的庞贝城。

三、课堂实录与分析

（一）导入

播放《庞贝古城：最后一天》中00:45—01:40的视频片段，并提醒学生在观看时注意视频中提出的问题。

T: Just now the narrator said how the volcano Mount Vesuvius destroyed them and why so many died was for a long time a mystery. But according to the text, thanks to a man, people nowadays can learn something about that event. What's his name?

Ss: Pliny the Younger.

T: Yes, let's enjoy the second video clip. This time try to use one word from Paragraph 1 to tell us what Pliny the Younger did when the disaster occurred.

播放《庞贝古城：最后一天》中09:40—10:27的片段。

T: Please say the answer.

Ss: Witness.

T: Good job! Read after me. Witness.

Ss: Witness.

T: Please read this sentence (on PPT) together.

Ss: Pliny wrote about a terrible volcanic eruption that he had witnessed.

T: Good. Now enjoy the clip again.

再次播放《庞贝古城：最后一天》中09:40—10:27的视频片段。

T: Please use simple English to paraphrase“witness”.

S1: See something with his eyes.

T: You got it. “Witness” means to see and experience important events or changes. Here we can say Pliny the Younger witnessed the volcano eruption, or we can say he was the “witness” of that event.

导入部分用了两段视频。笔者先通过播放第一段视频，引出了灾难的见证人——小普利尼这一推动文章发展的关键人物；然后播放第二段视频，在师生的问答中引出了目标词汇witness。引出该词后，再次播放第二段视频，使学生加深对该词的理解，并请学生用简单的英语转述该词，然后教师再对witness进行转述，并在相同语境下，告知学生witness作名词的用法。

在导入环节，在视频片段的帮助下，笔者主要采用领读法、转述法和语境法教授witness。领读法可以引导学生以音、形、义相结合的方式学习词汇；转述法帮助学生建立起已有知识和新知识之间的联系，而且“在词汇教学中运用paraphrase，能增加学生的语言输入量，培养学生用英语思维的习惯，提高学生用英语处理信息的能力”（徐琳，2010）；在视频创设的语境下，笔者也教授了witness的名词含义和用法。此外，在师生的问答过程中，教师有意识地使用本节课的

目标词汇destroy, event, volcano eruption, disaster, occur等来推进课堂教学，为学生的有效词汇输出做好铺垫。

（二）呈现

1. 结合视频与课文，学习第一类词汇——关于火山爆发和淹没庞贝

（1）利用视频片段与课文，梳理话题词汇

T: Just now, we said Pliny the Younger was the witness, because he was present. How did he describe what he saw? Please read Paragraph 1 and try to underline some key verbs and time adverbial he used to describe the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.（给学生充分的时间阅读课文）

T: Close your book now. Who can name out the verbs and time adverbial?

S2: Block out, tremble, bury and August 24th, 79 AD.

T: Good.（教师板书）Any other answers?

S3: Come down, erupt and occur.

T: Correct.（教师板书并领读动词）Here we have these useful verbs. Can you use these words to retell the eruption of Mount Vesuvius? It's a little hard to work out, right? Let me give you a hand. Let's enjoy the video clip again.

第三次播放《庞贝古城：最后一天》中09:40—10:27的视频片段，以展现维苏威火山爆发淹没庞贝城的整个过程。

让学生细读课文的第一段并划出描述火山爆发的动词，目的是引导学生回归课文并在语境中梳理关于火山爆发的话题词汇，从而帮助学生聚焦相关话题词汇，并按照语义归类，形成自己的词汇库，提高学生的词汇学习效率。研究表明，学习者心理词库中的词语并非是杂乱无序的，而是按照语义联系构成的组织严密的词语网络（王华、甄凤超，2007）。同时，该环节呈现了与课文相关的视频，动态地再现了课文内容，创设了真实的语言氛围，为学生的语言输出——复述火山爆发过程这一任务提供参考。

（2）利用视频截图，凸显重点话题短语

T: Now all of us have got a general idea of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Here we have some pictures from the video clip. Please match the pictures with the phrases given.

本环节中，教师选取了几幅视频截图，帮助学生以词义配对的方式学习volcanic eruption, come down, block out, bury everything等短语。这一设计是为了凸显重点话题短语，提高其重现率，以帮助学生注意到与主题相关的重要信息和语言形式。

（3）创设语境，运用重点话题短语

T: Look at the pictures and phrases (on PPT). Please choose the right phrases to fill in the blanks.

Ss: There is a curtain in our classroomblocking outthe light, which can help usbury ourselvesin our study.

T: Good. What does “blocking out” mean? Let's read the sentence in the text together.

T and Ss: Pliny described a cloud coming down the mountain, blocking out the sun and burying everything in its path, including whole villages and towns.

T: Look at this picture again. Can we see the sun?

Ss: No.

T: So “block out” means “to stop light reaching a place”. Can you catch it?

Ss: Yes.

T: Who can volunteer to explain “bury ourselves in”?

S4: Pay all our attention to.

T: Do you agree with him?

Ss: Yes.

T: “Bury” means “cover something up”. “Bury ourselves in” means “pay all attention to”.

无论在哪个教学环节，教师都应尽可能利用语境引导学生对词汇进行深入的理解和体会（陈

则航、王蔷，2010）。本环节中，在学生对与火山爆发相关的词汇充分注意的基础上，教师结合文本语境，并利用贴近学生现实生活的语境——教室环境，引导学生在新的情境中理解并运用blocking out, bury ourselves in，以此帮助学生巩固并扩展所学知识。

2. 依托课文和视频语境，适时呈现目标语法

（1）引导学生注意一般过去时与过去完成时的区别

T: Just now, we learned how Mount Vesuvius erupted. Now let's look at the key words on the blackboard. Pay attention to the time adverbial and the tense.（教师标注出板书中的过去式和时间状语）When we describe something in the past, here on August 24th, 79 AD, we should use the past tense, right?

Ss: Yes.

T: On August 24th, 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted. Pompeii was destroyed. Then what kind of city had ancient Pompeii been like before August 24th, 79 AD? Let's enjoy another video clip.

播放《生死庞贝》中04:16—04:56的视频片段，展示航拍的庞贝全貌，有整齐的民居、宏伟的大剧院、角斗场等。

T: Impressive, right? Pompeii was buried under the ashes, so Pompeii you enjoyed just now is exactly what it had been like before the eruption. Now read Paragraph 4, then tell me what kind of city ancient Pompeii had been like.（给学生充分的时间阅读文本）

S5: A booming city.

T: Good, a booming city. Please read the whole sentence (on PPT).

Ss: Before the eruption occurred, it had been a booming Roman city with temples, markets, restaurants and theatres.

T: Yes, before the eruption occurred, before 79 AD, it had been a booming city.（重读had been，并板书before 79 AD）Why had Pompeii been a booming city before 79 AD? I have some background information. While reading, please identify all “had done” structures and pick them out.

首先教师结合上一环节学生总结的火山爆发的过程以及一般过去时使用的条件，引导学生注意到火山爆发发生在过去，接着引导学生思考过去的过去，也就是火山爆发前的庞贝是什么样子。学生在相应视频语境中得以感知后，笔者依据课文，提出了需要用过去完成时回答的问题，从而引出过去完成时，使学生初步意识到一般过去时与过去完成时的区别。

（2）引导学生发现过去完成时的语法构成和使用条件

Background information: The Mount Vesuvius is an active volcano. Before 79 AD, it had broken out several times, bringing ashes around Pompeii. Volcanic ashes contain nutrients（营养物质）that are beneficial to plants, so Pompeii had been a good place for vineyard（葡萄园）before the eruption. Also thanks to the active volcano, Pompeii had been famous for its hot springs（温泉）. Fine wine, hot springs and pleasant weather had attracted many Romans to visit Pompeii frequently on vacations. Before 79 AD, Pompeii had reached its high point in society.

T: Who can read “had done” structures for us?

S6: Before 79 AD, it had broken out several times.

S7: Pompeii had been a good place for the vineyard before the eruption.

S8: Pompeii had been famous for its hot springs.

S9: Before 79 AD, Pompeii had reached its high point in society.

T: Good job! Pay attention to the time adverbial,“before 79 AD”. In what case we can use “had done”structure?

S10: Something before the past.

T: Yes, when we want to describe an action that happened before the past. In this context, before 79

AD, we use the past perfect tense. How to form it? Tell me together.

Ss: Had done.

本节中笔者并未采用传统语法教学中只在句子层面对语法知识进行讲解和操练的方法（Stern, 1983），而是精心准备了含有多个过去完成时结构的背景知识，让学生阅读并挑选其中的过去完成时结构及相应的时间状语，从而感知目标语法的语法构成和使用条件。在对目标语法进行足够详细的语境化显性教学的基础上，确保学生掌握过去完成时的语法构成。

3. 解读标题，引入第二类词汇——关于发掘庞贝及庞贝的现状

（1）思考标题含义，引入关于发掘庞贝的词汇

T: Just now, we learned that ash played an important role in making Pompeii a booming city. Besides that, ash also played another important role. What's that? Please read the title together.

Ss: Pompeii: The city that became a time capsule.

T: 庞贝——一个成为时间胶囊的城市。

T: What is a time capsule? What makes Pompeii a time capsule? Look at this.（展示实物胶囊）Capsule is a kind of medicine. But what does “time capsule” mean？

Ss:（沉默）

T: （播放PPT）Time capsule means “a container that can keep some characteristics of the time”.时间胶囊就是存放具有时代特征的物品的容器。“Characteristics of the time” means “something belongs to a particular time”.具有时代特征的。（教师板书) In the text, when is this particular time? Before or after 79 AD？

Ss: Before 79 AD.

T: Yes. What made it a “time capsule”？（再次播放火山灰掩埋庞贝的视频截图）

Ss: Ash.

T: Yes, ash. This “time capsule” had been buried under the ash for a long time until one day. Now find one sentence from Paragraph 3 to describe it.

Ss: They had started to dig out the ancient city of Pompeii.

T: What's inside this time capsule? Look at these objects dug out by scientists. What are they? Guess.

S11: These are eggs and walnuts.

T: Yes. Do they look real?

Ss: Yes.

T: They are real, and they are authentic.（教师板书并领读）

T: What's this? Can you guess? （教师先呈现在庞贝发掘的面包的图片，然后展示庞贝壁画中工匠制作面包的图片）This is a bread found under the ash. Is it in good condition?

Ss: Yes.

T: So we can say ash helped preserve things inside Pompeii. We can also say things under the ash were well-preserved.（教师板书） Besides, ash also helped preserve buildings in Pompeii. Enjoy this clip again, then name out some buildings, or we say some architectures in it.（教师板书并领读architecture）

结合上一环节背景知识提到的火山灰的作用，笔者引出火山灰的另一作用——保存庞贝遗址。笔者通过实物展示引出标题中的time capsule，并用目标词汇characteristics of the time进行解释，在此基础上给出了该词定义的汉语翻译，这是因为一些专业术语（如time capsule）或表示抽象概念的词汇（如characteristics of）适于用翻译法教授（张献臣, 2007）。接下来，笔者利用图片教授了dig out，并对描述在庞贝发掘的物品的形容词和动词短语进行归类。

（2）观看视频，总结发掘庞贝与庞贝现状的词汇

再次播放《生死庞贝》中04:16—04:56的视频片段，展示航拍的庞贝全貌。

T: Any difficulty in naming out some architectures? Please read Paragraph 4, then you can find the answers.

Ss: Temple, markets, theatres, street.

T: Are these architectures well-preserved?

Ss: Yes.

T: Volcanic ash helped preserve objects and architectures inside Pompeii. Then what happened to the people there? Can they survive?

Ss: No.

T: The next clip will help you know what happened to the people there when the disaster occurred.

播放《庞贝古城：最后一天》中28:30—30:41的视频片段。（很多庞贝人在海滩上等待救援。火山熔岩侵袭后，这些人瞬间变为烤焦的尸体。)

T: Terrible, right? Here are some more pictures.

T: The man in this picture looks as if he is praying; these people look as if they are gathering together; and this one, he is lying on his side. We can say these pictures show the victims' exact shapes. How do you feel for the people there?

S12: Terrible.

S13: Sad.

T: Read this sentence from Paragraph 5 together.

Ss: One can only feel sorrow and deep sympathy for these people.

T: Can it express your feeling?

Ss: Yes.

T: Me too. I also feel sad for these people.

继上一环节归类了关于在庞贝发掘的物品的形容词和动词短语之后，本环节笔者利用视频和课文，归类了关于在庞贝发掘的建筑和居民的形容词和动词短语。最后，笔者利用相关视频情境，层层铺垫，让学生自然而然地体会到sorrow和sympathy。

上一环节与本环节需要处理的目标词汇较多。在设计每个语言点的衔接时，笔者借鉴化学里的“链式反应”原理（杨芝雨，2006），精心设计过渡语，巧妙地把每个语言点串联起来，使学生在不知不觉中进入新的语言点的学习，改变了“就事论事”“见什么教什么”的单调、枯燥的知识点导入方式（杨芝雨，2006）；同时，笔者注意将语言点以语义分类的方式呈现给学生，激发了学生的联想、归纳等思维活动，也使得新知识更加条理化、系统化。

（三）巩固与拓展

1. 小结

T:（教师指着板书进行小结）Today we learned how Pompeii was destroyed in 79 AD, what kind of city it had been like before 79 AD and what can be found by visitors in Pompeii today. What's your feeling after learning this text?

S14: Sad.

T: Why?

S14: Because so many people died and such a good city was destroyed.

T: Do you agree?

Ss: Yes.

T: But a great writer Goethe expressed his feeling like this after visiting Pompeii: “Many a calamity has happened in the world, but never one that has caused so much entertainment to posterity as this one.”（在世界上发生的诸多灾难中，还从未有过任何灾难像庞贝一样，它带给后人的是如此巨大的愉悦。）

2. 讨论

T: Do you agree with his comment? Why or why not? Discuss with your partners, please. Try to use more key words and “had done” structures on the blackboard in your discussion.

笔者要求学生在讨论和做陈述时，都尽可能使用黑板上列出的关键词和过去完成时。

T: I will show you two more video clips. One will present tragedy happening to Pompeii again; the other one will show the greatness of Pompeii.

再次播放《庞贝古城：最后一天》中28:30—30:41的视频片段，展示庞贝人等待救援并瞬间被熔岩烤焦的场景。

播放《生死庞贝》中04:16—04:56和9:10—12:10的视频片段，展示游客参观庞贝城宏伟的剧院、

角斗场、宽阔的街道的场景，以及史学家玛丽·比尔德在镜头前展示被发掘出的精致的首饰、钱币的场景。

分析：输出活动是检查阅读理解程度、培养思维能力、提高语言运用能力及主动建构知识的重要阶段（程瑜，2008）。在本环节，为了帮助学生在学与用之间建立联系、实现两者之间的无缝对接，笔者设计了输出任务，请学生讨论是否赞成歌德的评论，并给出理由。两段视频分别展现了庞贝被淹没时的悲惨以及现今被保存之完好，为学生表达相应观点提供了依据。同时，在呈现板书时，笔者逐步给出了输出环节学生可能用到的目标词汇，这样既能加深学生对目标词汇的记忆和对文章的理解，又能有效地帮助学生完成输出任务。

四、感悟与反思

本节阅读研讨课后，笔者与学生进行了交流。他们表示本课对BBC纪录片的使用使得抽象的文本内容形象化，激发了他们的学习兴趣。笔者认为本课的成功之处在于以下几点：

首先，笔者尝试以话题为中心重组教材，而不是传统地按部就班地教教材。笔者围绕本课话题，利用BBC相关视频重新整合信息，将文本内容、话题知识、语言点有效地融合在一起。

其次，在引导学生回归课文并在语境中梳理相关话题词汇时，笔者巧妙地把握词汇教学的时机，适时进行目标词汇的呈现和复现，使学生逐步加深对目标词汇的理解和掌握。

此外，笔者注意在教学环节的演进中始终贯穿学生对目标词汇的学习，并注重目标词汇与语法教学的环环相扣。

最后，笔者利用相关视频及板书生成，有效地促成了学生的语言输出。

《全日制义务教育普通高级中学英语课程标准（实验稿）》（以下简称《课标》）（教育部，2001）提出：“教师要积极利用音像、电视、书刊杂志、网络信息等丰富的教学资源，拓展学习和运用英语的渠道。”在本次研讨课结束后，课题组进一步对选取BBC纪录片素材提出了以下建议和设想：

第一，在将BBC纪录片引入阅读课时，教师应仔细分析教材及相关视频资料，寻找视频与课文的最佳结合点，同时应从学生的学情出发进行教学设计，只有这样才能有效地落实教学目标。

第二，BBC纪录片篇幅短小，语言凝练，富含文化韵味。在下一阶段，笔者所在学校将结合北师大版高中英语教材单元阅读话题，将相关纪录片，比如《美丽中国》（Wild China）、《中国学校》（Chinese School）的文字解说进行整理、改写，以补充阅读材料的形式呈现给学生。

第三，《课标》中关于文化意识的八级目标包括：“了解英语国家主要的文学家、艺术家、科学家的经历、成就和贡献；初步了解主要英语国家的政治、经济等方面的情况等。”为了有效达成上述目标，课题组准备在本校开设选修课，拟将BBC纪录片《英伦历史》（A History of Britain）和《女王的宫殿》（The Queen's Palaces）推荐给学生。

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