Effective Commenting on the Text (88

УДК 81’42 ББК 81.071

П58

Рецензенты:

Никулина Е. А. докторфилологическихнаук, профессоркафедрылексики английского языка МПГУ;

Рябинина М. В. кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры второго иностранного языка МПГУ.

П58 ПоповаВ. В., КаширинаЕ.С. Effective Commenting On The Text:

Учебное пособие. – М.: МПГУ, 2011. – 48 с.

Пособие направлено на овладение стратегиями комментированияанглийскоготекстаинформационногостиля. Впособииописаны требования (риторические, лексико-грамматические и стилистические) кэффективномукомментарию. Особоевниманиеуделяетсяпостроению содержательной структуры комментирования. Кроме того,

в пособии содержатся модели комментирования коротких текстов,

атакжеязыковойинструментарий(фразы-маркеры). Заданияиобразцы текстов, предложенные авторами, позволяют студентам поэтапно освоить практику комментирования.

Данное пособие может использоваться студентами и преподавателями языковых и гуманитарных факультетов на занятиях по практике речи английского языка, а также на спецкурсах по проблемам эффективности речи.

ISBN 978-5-4263-0042-2

©В. В. Попова,Е. С. Каширина, 2011

©МПГУ, 2011

©Оформление. Издательство «Прометей», 2011

Содержание

Предисловие . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Part I. Oral commenting on the text. Other forms of public speaking.

The structure of commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Part II. The requirements for a correct commentary. . . 9

Part III. Short Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Part IV. Long Texts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Supplement 1. The Language Bank of Speech and Sentence Starters and Connectives

to be Used in Commentary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Supplement 2. Here below are sample one-line

thematic texts to comment on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Supplement 3. Sample many-line thematic texts. . . . . . . . . . . . 35

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Part I

ORAL COMMENTING ON THE TEXT.

OTHER FORMS OF PUBLIC SPEAKING.

THE STRUCTURE OF COMMENTARY

From our own experience with disappointment we must say that very few students have a clear idea of commenting. At best juniors replace it by retelling the text and seniors mix it up with interpretation. And it is no wonder, as it has never been the subject of special study. So at first, it will only be logical to consider the concept of “comment” as it is.

The word comment is of Latin origin. In old times it meant “explain” and “analyse”. As it is clear from modern dictionaries the semantics of the word has considerably expanded: “explain, criticize, interpolate, interpose, remark, mention, note, observe, analyse, give opinion, react, refer”. And it suggests the following procedures of commenting: evaluating the given information, analyzing its advantages and disadvantages and finally adding related or new matters. It is noteworthy that evaluation is a characteristic feature of commentary. No wonder, a comment is sometimes referred to as a collection of spoken or written opinions, judgments and explanations.

Just as analysts and experts through their competence and critical approach comment on particular issues, so the students do when commenting on a text of informational style.

And now it will be useful to compare commenting with such textbased activities as interpretation, critique and lecture so as to point out their common and distinctive features. That will hopefully help to define the structural outline of commentary and its practical and educational value more vividly.

Interpret is also of Latin origin and it meant “explain, expound, make clear, explicate”. The words “interpret” and “interpretation” were used in reference to a musical composition, drama and according to one’s conception of the author’s idea. The interpretation of texts began as early as ancient Greece, in times of ancient

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philosophers and poets. By the time of Plato, in regards to education, studying of the interpretation of Greek poetry was a foundation of learning.

According to modern dictionaries, the word means “clarify, clear up, decode, define, explain, paraphrase, render, simplify, understand, make sense”. The semantic structure clearly points out the practical purpose of interpretation — to increase possibilities of understanding, and its educational purposes — to reveal the author’s idea and message and evaluate the merits and demerits of the composition through its linguistic and non-linguistic factors.

Another form of handling the text is critique. According to modern dictionaries the word means “analyse, appreciate, assess, discuss, judge, review”. When you write a critique of a text you usually analyse and evaluate it. In your critique you answer the questions: “how?”, “why?” and “how well?”. Your reaction to the text may be largely positive, negative, or a combination of the two. Here it is important to explain why you respond to the text in a certain way. Like interpretation, critique is traditionally used in the treatment of works of art and literature.

Another form of public speaking — a lecture — is also worth mentioning. According to modern dictionaries “lecture” means “speaking before the audience on a certain subject or issue for the purpose of instruction”. Though semantically “lecture” stands far apart from “comment”, this speech activity might still be interesting from the point of view of its structure. Traditionally lectures are distinguished into the classical with sections of points; the problemcentred with alternative views and solutions in favour or against; and finally, the sequential with linked statements based on different approaches that logically lead to a conclusion. It is clear that structurally “lecture” and “comment” have common features — both are aimed at evaluating the main points on the bases of analysis with further suggestions and conclusions. We believe that if students have already acquired lecture constructing skills they will definitely find commenting easy to do.

Now that we have got a general idea of the common and distinctive features of the above forms of public speaking it won’t be difficult to conclude that commenting as a text-oriented form of public speaking is aimed at the evaluation of the given information, its analysis and further development. The schematic structure of practical commentary may look the following way:

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INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION

This structure is also based on thorough study of a great number of British newspaper and journal articles rubricated “Comment and Analysis”, “Critique” and “Review”.

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Part II

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A CORRECT COMMENTARY

If you want to get effect in commenting, you should follow some necessary requirements. First, a few general requirements for a successful speech presentation of any type.

Your speech should be well-articulated, informative and rewarding for listening.

You presentation should show independence of thinking and intellectual maturity.

You should handle the text with competence so as to be able to evaluate, expand and develop it further on.

If you want to comment clearly and logically, with accurate language forms and variety in language and also persuade your listeners of your analytical talent, then you should fulfill a number of linguistic requirements:

Lexically you should use:

Connectives and speech and sentence starters that logically link blocks of points of the text, and express the speaker’s attitudes to it (see Supplement 1, page 26).

Verbs that mean the ways of saying something and the ways somebody feels about something (see Supplement 1, page 26) e.g. demonstrate, criticize, admit, reveal, etc.

e.g. One can’t but admit that historic monuments help people to remember their past. The text demonstrates the obvious advantages of travelling by air.

Stylistically you should use:

Intensifying adverbs (see Supplement 1, page 26). e.g. It’s absolutely clear that…

Words with emotive meaning and other stylistic devices (metaphor, simile, epithet, idioms etc.) of which periphrasis and paraphrase appear especially effective as they help avoid monotony and thus demonstrate your creativity.

e.g. It was really a fantastic idea to build the Millennium Dome in Greater London.

Emphatic constructions.

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