英语论文网

processing differences. Meanwhile, compared with readers with relatively weaker sense of language, readers with stronger sense of language seem to be more familiar with the alphabetic writing system, which will also facilitate their word recognition. For instance, when two Chinese readers, one with strong sense of language, the other without, encounter an English word “RESTAURANT”, the one with strong sense of language may be quicker than the other in relating the word to its Chinese meaning “饭店”. As the one without strong sense of language may have to go through two steps (RESTAURANT→restaurant→饭店) before finally get the meaning. However, the one with strong sense of language may relate the word directly to its meaning, because he is more familiar with the alphabetic writing system. When referring to the effects caused by social context differences, Chinese readers with stronger sense of language usually feel easier to get across. For example, Chinese readers with stronger sense of language usually know more about the cultural differences between Chinese and English. This can greatly diminish the negative influence caused by social context difference on English reading. As in the example cited before, if a Chinese reader with stronger sense of language encounters the word “red”, he may not mis-comprehend it as a token of “luckiness”. Another case in point is this sentence: My love is like a dragon. When a Chinese student with weak sense of language come across it, his immediate response may be that if a “love” is called “a dragon”, this “love” should be a man, as the Chinese people are often referred to as the “descendants of the dragon”, and also this man must be somebody instead of nobody, as there is a saying in Chinese: “他是一条龙,我是一条虫.” (Literally it means: He is a dragon while I am only an insect. Figuratively it means: He is somebody while I am nobody.) But to English speakers, the sentence means quite another thing: My love is a fierce woman. This difference arises as “dragon” means differently in Chinese and English. In English, a dragon is an imaginary fire-breathing animal in children’s stories, and when it is used to refer to a person, it means “a fierce older woman, esp. one who allows little freedom to a young girl in her charge.” To understand the sentence, one should know this background knowledge of culture. As readers with stronger sense of language usually acquire more information about the English culture, they may be more acute to such kind of cultural differences. Then they will be able to sort out the correct meaning of the sentence and comprehend the sentence better. In addition, readers with stronger sense of language seem to be more familiar with the content of a selected text or the English culture. For instance, a Chinese reader with strong sense of language may be more familiar with American charities, and he may know what is so-called “loneliness industry”. Then he will find no difficulty in understanding such a sentence as “The United States has now set up a loneliness industry”. Compared with readers with weak sense of language, readers with stronger sense of language usually obtain more experiences and information. When they come across a reading material, they will be able to recall different text-related experiences and information, and invoke more imaginations and associations, thus they will be able to comprehend the material better. It has been argued that memorizing based on comprehension will