1、英语写作中的信息组织,山东大学外国语学院苗兴伟 ,一、引言,在语篇的展开过程中，发话者需要根据信息流(information flow) 的推进合理地组织和编排信息，从而保证语篇的信息连贯。,在语篇信息流的推进过程中，信息的编排一方面要受到交际目的的制约，即语篇要传递一定的信息，另一方面又受到交际者认知局限性的制约，即信息的编排要符合人类的一般认知规律，以便使受话者以较小的认知努力获取信息。,发话者为保证语篇信息流的畅通，需要时常对受话者的认知状态作出假设，以便决定将哪些信息处理为已知信息或背景信息，哪些信息处理为新信息或前景信息。,二、信息连贯与意义连贯,信息：语言学所说的信息指的是以语言为
2、载体所传输的消息内容（徐盛桓1996：5）。 信息与意义有何区别？,句子的意义是句子内部语言成分之间相互作用的结果，并且是保持稳定的，而句子的信息价值取决于交际者的认知状态。某一命题意义是否具有信息价值完全取决于该命题意义能否改变受话者对世界的心理表征（mental representation）。（ Lambrecht1994：43）,一方面，同一个句子所表达的意义是相对固定的，但其信息价值则是因人而异的。(1) John bought the car yesterday.,另一方面，深层结构相同但表层结构不同的句子所表达的命题意义是相同的，但在信息结构上表现出明显的差别。(2) a. Th
3、e rain destroyed the crops.b. The crops were destroyed by the rain.(Widdowson 1978: 2),英语写作、语篇组织、语篇制作,Halliday (1994)：语篇是一个语义单位 van Dijk (1977)：语义连贯微观结构/宏观结构 (microstructure/macrostructure)局部连贯/整体连贯 (local coherence/global coherence,(3) This morning I had a toothache. I went to the dentist. The dent
4、ist has a big car. The car was brought in New York. New York has had serious financial troubles.,语义连贯是语篇合格性的充分条件吗？,我们暂不考虑语用连贯 语义连贯是必要条件，而不是充分条件,McCarthy (1991): (4) Dear Joan,Im sitting here at my desk writing to you. Outside my window is a big lawn surrounded by trees, and in the middle of the lawn
5、 is a flower bed. It was full of daffodils and tulips in the spring. Youd love it here. You must come and stay sometime; weve got plenty of room.Love, Sally,(5) Dear Joan,Me, Im sitting here at my desk writing to you. Whats outside my window is a big lawn surrounded by trees and its a flower bed tha
6、ts in the middle of the lawn. When it was full of daffodils and tulips was in the spring. Here youd love it. Its you who must come and stay sometime; What weve got is plenty of room. Love, Sally,Halliday (1978): (6) Now comes the President here. Its the window hes stepping through to wave to the cro
7、wd. On his victory his opponent congratulates him. What they are shaking now is hands. A speech is going to be made by him. Gentlemen and ladies. That you are confident in me honours me. I shall, hereby pledge I, turn this country into a place, in which what people do safely will be live, and the on
8、es who grow up happily will be able to be their children.,金立鑫 (2000): (7) 从前有座山，山上有座庙，庙里有个老和尚，老和尚在给小和尚讲故事。老和尚说(8) * 从前有座山，有座庙在山上，有个老和尚在庙里，小和尚在听老和尚讲故事。老和尚说,如果把写作看作是信息组织的过程，作者在语篇的展开过程中需要根据对读者的认知状态的假设合理地编排信息，同时在信息的组织上能够使读者以较小的认知努力获取信息。,这就要求作者在信息的组织过程中根据语篇信息流的需要对语言结构做出调整，从而使语言结构的选择服从于语篇的信息连贯。,三、语篇的信息组织方
9、式,语篇的连贯性常常被解释为语篇各组成部分在意义上的连接关系（Brown & Yule 1983；Crystal 1992；stman & Virtanen 1995）。许多语言学家也大都从语义、语用和认知等角度来探讨语篇在意义上的连贯性，如van Dijk（1977）的宏观结构理论、Mann & Thompson（1988）的修辞结构理论以及Beaugrande & Dressler（1981）的程序操作模式等等。,但是，从信息传递的角度看，语篇不只是意义的载体，同时也是信息的载体，因此一个合格的语篇在信息上也必须是连贯的。,什么是信息结构？,信息是已知或可预测与未知或不可预测之间的张力In
10、formation is the tension between what is already known or predictable and what is new or unpredictable (Halliday 1994: 296). 信息结构涉及将话语划分为信息单元，并把信息单元中最重要的部分标记出来。Information structure includes the division of what is said into units of information and the signalling of portions of those information un
11、its that are most important (Fries 1994: 230). 信息结构的交际效果就是将小句信息内容的某些方面前景化，并将其余方面背景化。The communicative effect of information structure is to foreground certain aspects of the message of the clause, but to background others.,信息结构的理论,Given New (Halliday 1994, Chafe 1992)Presuppostion Assertion/Focus (C
12、homsky 1971, Jackendoff 1972, Gundel 1988, Lambrecht 1994 )Backgrounding Foregrounding (Tomlin 1985 ),Given New,在语言交际过程中，发话者总要传递一定的信息，并且把自己所要传递的信息以信息单元（information unit）的形式组织起一定的信息结构，并通过语言结构形式表达出来。Halliday（1994: 296）认为，信息单元是由新信息和旧信息构成的，而信息则生成于新旧信息的相互作用之中。,信息的新与旧是根据发话者对受话者的认知状态的假设来确定的。旧信息指的是发话者认为受话者可
13、以复原的(recoverable) 的信息，即上文提及过的事物、处于语境中的事物以及正在谈论中的事物； 新信息指的是发话者认为受话者不可复原的信息，即上文未提及过的事物或意想不到的事物（不管上文是否提及过）。,(9) Yesterday I saw a little girl get bitten by a dog. I tried to catch the dog, but it ran away.,GivenNew. GivenNew. GivenNew.(10) Ernest Miller Hemingway was born in 1899 at Oak Park, a highly
14、respectable suburb of Chicago, where his father, a keen sportsman, was a doctor. He was the second of six children. The family spent holidays in a lakeside hunting lodge in Michigan, near Michigan settlements. Although energetic and successful in all school activities, Ernest twice run away from hom
15、e before joining the Kansas City Star as a cub reporter in 1917.(Cook 1989: 63),Given Ernest Miller Hemingway was born. where his father, He was The family,Newin 1899 at Oak Park, a highly respectable suburb of Chicago.a keen sportsman, was a doctor.the second of six children.spent holidays in a lak
16、eside hunting lodge in Michigan, near Indian settlements.,Presupposition Assertion/Focus,发话者在发出一个语段时往往同时表达了预设信息和断言信息。断言信息构成了信息流中的新信息，而预设信息则是信息结构的起点，它所传递的是发话者对共知信息的假设或交际双方所共同接受的信息。,(11) It is the boy who is petting the cat. (Given: X is petting the cat; Focus: X = the boy)(12) What the boy is petting
17、 is the cat. (Given: the boy is petting X; Focus: X = the cat)(13) Nobody else had known where the entrance to the cave was situated. *What John discovered was the cave.,Backgrounding Foregrounding,前景信息和背景信息涉及语篇中的设景结构（grounding structure）。前景信息对语篇的展开起关键的主导作用，构成语篇发展的主线。背景信息对语篇的发展和情节的展开起铺垫作用，有助于前景信息的表达
18、。,设景结构中的前景信息和背景信息与语法系统之间存在着密切的联系。Hopper（1979）、Hopper & Thompson（1980）以及Tomlin（1985，1987）：特别是在叙述语篇中，前景信息与背景信息的区分往往与句法特征联系在一起：,（一）动词体：前景信息由完成体表达，背景信息由非完成体表达； （二）语序； （三）语态； （四）小词（particle）的使用； （五）及物性：前景信息与高度及物的特征联系在一起;背景信息与低度及物的特征联系在一起； （六）主从结构：前景信息往往与主句相吻合，背景信息往往与从句相吻合（Chafe 1992a）。,(14) John got up e
19、arly. He didnt catch the early bus.(15) John got up early, but didnt catch the early bus.(16) Although John got up early, he didnt catch the early bus.(17) John got up early, although he didnt catch the early bus.,在语篇的生成过程中，发话者为保证语篇信息流的畅通，需要时常对受话者的认知状态作出假设，以便决定将哪些信息处理为已知信息或背景信息，哪些信息处理为新信息或前景信息，从而合理地
20、编排信息。,在语言交际过程中，发话者不但要使语篇具有一定的信息量（informativeness），而且还要使信息具有最佳的可及性 (accessibility)。这是因为在语篇信息流的推进过程中，信息的编排：一方面要受到交际目的的制约，即语篇要传递一定的信息（新信息或前景信息）。另一方面又受到交际者认知局限性的制约，即信息的编排要符合人类的一般认知规律，以便使受话者以较小的认知努力获取信息（已知信息或背景信息作为出发点或铺垫）。,由此看来，语篇的信息连贯与信息内容传递的方式之间存在着密切的关系。换句话说，信息连贯不是意义上的连贯，而是与信息单元中的成分在信息传递过程中的信息状态和交际价值有关
21、。,四、小句位置与信息组织,从句与主句的排列顺序与信息结构有关。,Biber et al（1999：835）指出，许多前置状语从句包含已知信息，即上文已经提及的信息，而主句呈现新信息。 因此，当包含已知信息的状语从句前置时，具有承上启下的语篇衔接功能。相反，如果主句包含已知信息的话，表达新信息的状语从句通常出现在末端位置。,(18) Its not the rummy that aggravates my blood pressure. If there were no cards, there would still be the stock market, and if there wer
22、ent the stock market, there would be the condomium in Florida.(19) The houses were perched precariously up the hillsides Because it was so hilly the area seemed constantly to be in a dark blue haze.(20) Neither will need to become a forced seller if the property market gets really nasty.,前置状语从句还可以为后
23、续语篇提供框架（Biber et al 1999：836）。当状语从句为后续语篇设定情景时，需要出现在句首位置，充当背景信息。(20) When the president sent Congress his 419-page epistle on the economy Tuesday, all the hits from yesteryear were playing once again: Tax cuts to stimulate growth. Balanced budgets down the road just a bit, accomplished without the ne
24、ed for higher taxes. Promises of economic growth as far as the eye can see. Just as they did with Reagans economic outlooks, the critics griped.,在因果关系的主从结构中，原因与结果的排列顺序也会受到语篇因素的制约。一般认为，因果关系的无标记语序是原因在前，结果在后，因为原因在时间上先于结果（van Dijk 1977）。但Schiffrin（1985）的研究表明情况并非如此。,在语篇的层面上，因果关系的语序与语篇的话题连续性有很大关系。话题连续性制约着
25、“X so Y”与“Y because X”的使用。当上文的话题为X时，“X so Y”的出现频率更高；当上文的话题为Y时，“Y because X”的出现频率更高。,（21）What is perhaps less obvious, but even more important, is the way in which the plausible deniability rule protects the cuckolded spousewhom we will assume, for present purposes, to be the wife. It might be though
26、t that the pretence of secrecy is a male supremacist device designed to cover up the sins of errant husbands. But in fact the old rule helps to redress a natural imbalance of power that favours men. In real life, most often it is men who not only seek but also benefit from affairs which threaten mar
27、riages, because they can (and often do) remarry a younger, prettier mate.,Y because X,（22） Since my voting in these elections is founded on ignorance and indifference, it might be more honest not to vote at all. I vote because I recognise that some of us must in order to keep the mechanism ticking o
28、ver, just in case we really need it at some point.,X so Y,（23） In fact, we do admire people for qualities they did not create, but inherited. And it is hard to disentangle（区分）talent from effort, so by rewarding superior performance we also reward graft（艰苦工作）.,（24）Moreover, throughout the world, a gr
29、owing proportion of desirable jobs are now graduate only. We needed more graduates “to avoid losing competitive advantage, ”as the CBI says; we now have the graduates, so everything is set fair.,Degand（2000）也指出，主、从句的选择及其语序容易受到语篇上下文的影响，因为说话者或作者需要根语篇上下文的主题来组织语篇。(25) In my time at Oxford, I do not thin
30、k I encountered a single person who admitted that they were opposed to the university establishing a business school. But I heard dozens of objections to the procedures used to establish it. And because the procedures are ill-defined, there is always a case for these criticisms. Another tactic is de
31、ferral (延期）. Because time is not valued and urgency is not felt, it is thought unreasonable to resist the suggestion that a decision be delayed.,五、小句状态与信息编排,在语篇的层面上，有些信息构成语篇发展的主线，此类信息为前景信息（foreground information）；有些信息只是为语篇的发展设定情景或提供预设信息，服务于前景信息的表达，此类信息为背景信息（background information）。,Tomlin（1985）通过研究发
32、现，语篇中的前景信息是通过独立小句表达的，背景信息是通过从属小句表达的。,在语篇的发展过程中，并不是所有的相关信息都具有同等的重要性，发话者为了突出主要信息并保证信息传递的效率，往往将不属于语篇宏观结构的命题处理为预设信息或背景信息（朱永生、苗兴伟2000：27）。,(22) There was nobody but ourselves in the field. When we had lain on the bank for some time without speaking I saw a man approaching from the far end of the field. I
33、 watched him lazily as I chewed one of those green stems on which girls tell fortunes. He came along by the bank slowly. (James Joyce, Dubliners)作者描述了主人公与一位饶舌的陌生人相遇的情景，因此有关主人公视觉的信息要比其它信息重要得多。在语篇的组织上，作者将不表现主题内容的附属信息通过从属分句处理为背景信息。,(23) There was nobody but ourselves in the field. We had lain on the ba
34、nk for some time without speaking. I saw a man approaching from the far end of the field. I watched him lazily. I chewed one of those green stems. Girls tell fortunes on them. He came along by the bank slowly.,(24) (Ostrom & Cook 1988：58-59) His first volume of poems was published in 1827. Very few
35、people bought copies. He successfully gained admission to West Point in the summer of 1830. He was expelled from the Academy the following spring. He became a successful magazine editor in Richmond, Virginia. The owner of the magazine in time objected to his habits. The owner fired him in 1837. Late
36、r in New York he wrote his famous poem, “The Raven.” It brought him much publicity. It failed to bring him much money. For years he struggled to become proprietor of a magazine. He hoped the magazine would make him rich. He finally became owner of the Broadway Journal. It went bankrupt in three mont
37、hs.,b. His first volume of poems was published in 1827, although very few people bought copies.,c. Although his first volume of poems was publishedin 1827, very few people bought copies.,1. His first volume of poems was published in 1827. 2. Very few people bought copies.,a. His first volume of poem
38、s was published in 1827, but very few people bought copies.,d. When his first volume of poems was published in1827, very few people bought copies.,Topic sentence:Through his life Edgar Allan Poe faced a series of disappointments.,Through his life Edgar Allan Poe faced a series of disappointments. Wh
39、en his first volume of poems was published in 1827, very few people bought copies. After successfully gaining admission to West Point in the summer of 1830, he was expelled from the Academy the following spring. Even though he became a successful magazine editor in Richmond, Virginia, the owner of t
40、he magazine in time objected to his habits and fired him in 1837. Although later in New York he wrote his famous poem “The Raven,” which brought him much publicity, it failed to bring him much money. When he became proprietor of the Broadway Journal, after years of struggle to own a magazine that would make him rich, it went bankrupt in three months.,六、结束语,在语篇的信息连贯中起关键作用的是发话者，因为处于交际过程中的发话者需要不断地对受话者的认知状态作出假设，以便合理地编排信息，从而在保证语篇以连贯的方式向前发展的同时，还要使受话者在构建命题的连贯关系时能以较小的认知努力从记忆中提取所需的信息。,在英语写作中，学习者在把握好语篇的意义连贯的同时，需要考虑语篇的信息连贯，从而使语篇的信息组织不但符合语篇信息流的需要，而且减小读者在语篇理解过程中的认知努力。,THANK YOU !,
