摘要
This paper addresses the issue of Chinese students＇ oral English skills in talking about Chinese culture from the perspective of conversation analysis. To examine their performance in this regard, group discussion data in the classroom were collected for analysis. Their oral skills in talking about Chinese New Year and Christmas, a Western festival, were analyzed and compared to determine their oral performance in describing their native culture. Comments by two native English speakers on the students＇ performance are used to complement the conversation analysis. The results indicate that, compared with their performance regarding Christmas, the students were able to express a wider range of cultural connotations about Chinese New Year in English, but they used significantly fewer correct culturally-loaded words and phrases, and switched to Chinese much more frequently, suggesting unsatisfactory oral skills in describing Chinese culture.
通过收集课堂小组讨论的话语信息,从话语分析角度对大学生表达中国春节和西方圣诞节的英语口头表达情况进行对比分析,同时引用两位母语为英语人士对学生口语水平的评语作为补充话语分析。结果表明,与谈论圣诞节相比,学生能用英语谈论更多春节文化内涵,但在谈论春节时所使用的正确文化词汇要少得多,而且转向说汉语的次数多得多,学生表达中国文化的口语能力显得不理想。
