廖彩杏英文童書悅讀記

2013 ETA 研討會演講分享(二)：

從單字 it 的精彩例句思考單字的最佳學習途徑

單字 it 用法 - 1.

Pat-a-cake, pa t-a-cake, baker’s man,

Bake me a cake as fast as you can;

Pat it and prick it, and mark it with T,

Putit in the oven for Tommy and me.

單字 it 用法 - 2.

…

…

…

Are the children all in bed,

For now it’s eight o’clock?

單字 it 用法 - 3.

Christopher Columbus

Was a very great man,

He sailed to America

In an old tin can.

The can was greasy,

And it wasn’t very easy,

And the waves grew higher,

and higher

and higher.

單字 it 用法 - 4.

The sun is a star.

It is the star nearest to you.

It gives you heat and light.

單字 it 用法 - 5.

1.“It’s a lovely day for a swim.

      Anybody coming with me?”

2.“Anybody home?”

    “It’s Daddy!”“Come on in, Daddy.

      We’ve got lots to tell you.”

單字 it 用法 - 6.

The kids in Room 207 became very discouraged.

It seemed that Miss Nelson was never coming back.

And they would be stuck with Miss Viola Swamp forever.

They heard footsteps in the hall.

“Here comes the witch,” they whispered.

“Hello, children,” someone said in a sweet voice.

單字 it 用法 - 7.

It was bad enough the cows had found the

old typewriter in the barn,

now they wanted electric blankets!

“No way,”said Farmer Brown.

“No electric blankets.”

So the cows went on strike.

They left a note on the barn door.

＊＊＊＊＊

以上列出7個it 的單字示範:

有最簡單的用法，代替 a cake: Put it in the oven;

有表示時間: it’s eight o’clock;

有代替 the sun: It is the star nearest to you.;

有表示日子: It’s a lovely day for a swim.;

甚至代替父親: It’s Daddy!

這些都是一般的代名詞，代替單一的具體名詞，

用法簡單、易懂。

然而，其中一首鵝媽媽童謠所用的 it :

…… And it wasn’t very easy, 明顯變複雜了，

it 用來描述一樁事件。類似的用法在

《Miss Nelson Is Missing》、

《Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type》

有更生動活潑的例句:

It seemed that Miss Nelson was never coming back.

It was bad enough the cows had found the

old typewriter in the barn,

now they wanted electric blankets!

這 3 個例句裡的 it 不再只是代替單一物件，

沒有前後文的搭配串連，讀者是無法完全釐清 it

所涵蓋的意義。因為前後文的文采斑斕，

這 3 個例句裡 it 所描述的層面隨之豐富而精彩。

it 不再只是句子裡代替 a cake、the sun、Daddy

等等跑龍套的小角色，it 躍升為左右文意的關鍵字，

讀不懂 it 的真義，就無法通透故事的精髓。

我在 ETA 研討會就這 7 個例句與大家探討思考

『單字的教與學』，究竟應該如何著手，

才能讓孩子接觸到單字的豐富面、

讓孩子感受到單字的多元性、讓孩子領略到

單字的彈性思維，而不是只要求學生記住背熟

「字音」、「字形」、「字義」這三個文字的基本要素而已。

當孩子能夠對單字的各種用法駕輕就熟，

即使在不同故事情節的烘托下，依然能夠掌握單字的精神，

能夠融會貫通單字的多層次演繹。

這才是具備雙語能力的文化思維，才能脫口而出

兼具心、腦、口三合一的語言完整性，

而不是腦子想著中文，心裡琢磨著句型，

嘴巴搜尋著音標的哩哩啦啦半調子英文。

既然語言學習首重『完整性』，因此，

單字學習該從哪裡開始呢?

單字精華又藏在_______裡?