空军预警学院 陈 琛 李 艳

中美大学生英语演讲稿的对比修辞分析

空军预警学院 陈 琛 李 艳

对比修辞是 1966 年美国应用语言学家罗伯特·开普伦首次提出的，目的在于提高学习者的二语阅读和写作

中美大学生 英语演讲稿 对比修辞 分析

一、谋篇布局

例1: I once failed my College Physics in my sophomore year. I remembered clearly that when I attended the retake course with huge shame, professor Jiang said…Thanks to the precious experience, I get to know that I can give a speech to hundreds of people here. Ladies and gentlemen, there is a question we can't avoid:how can we touch the world?

例 2: I'm going to tell you the story about my struggle with my skin color.My whiteness.My "war with myself", as George Yancy wrote in his essay Dear White America. Maybe my story will resonate with feelings you have been experiencing. If not, maybe my story can inspire you to be at war with yourself. Let me explain.

从上面的例子不难看出，例2开篇阐明演讲的主题和内容，例1则通过个人经历引出某个问题，但主题没有明确。中西方思维方式存在较大差异。西方重逻辑性、实证性、分析性，喜欢开门见山、开宗明义。中国人重直觉、顿悟、意象，表达比较迂回含蓄，习惯于螺旋引入。正如Kaplan总结的，在语言理解与写作方面东方人思维方式呈螺旋形，西方人的思维方式则是直线型。

二、论述视角

论述视角指研究者在演讲过程中以某个主题为出发点，看待评价一些事物。中国大学生偏好以第一人称复数作为视角，目的是以此拉近与听众的距离，引起大家的共鸣。

例 3: We complained that the life here is boring, weather annoying; we complained about anything and didn't realize that God has opened another door for us already…Perhaps one day, even if we have to put off this uniform; we'll still carry on and be armed with perseverance, independence, tenacity bravery and responsibility.

美国大学生的演讲稿更多用第一人称单数阐述演讲者的个人经历和个人态度，个体性较强。

例 4: I know this is not the answer but hear me out. I am uncomfortable in my skin sometimes because I know it symbolizes oppression and privilege. I know that my ancestors did not value different colored people as precious human lives. I know my skin allows me to benefit from poverty and from a system of discrimination.

出现这种差异的原因是中西方思维方式的不同。西方国家的思想核心是“个人主义”，提倡彰显个性，拥有自己独立的思维和行为方式，能自由表达自己的想法和观点。这一点在西方的家庭和学校教育都得到深刻体现。中国人集体主义观念较强，受“天人合一、知行合一、情景合一”的整体性思维影响，重视集体精神、规范的言行和共同的价值追求，因此经常使用we来增强感召力，抓住听众的心。……