Unit 4 Language and Economy课文翻译大学体验英语四

of eating life with bread,\host at dinner of your kitchen1. We are waiting for you with various kinds of bread, cakes and sandwiches.\

The general meaning is clear, but could it ever be considered correct English? Yes, according to an American academic in Japan, who says that \English\has as much claim to legitimacy as the English spoken in, for example, India, Jamaica and the Philippines.

Marshall Childs, who has a doctorate in education, believes that Japanese students should ignore the \a way that suits them, even if that means breaking the accepted rules of grammar, pronunciation and sentence structure.

But his championing of \also known here as \has infuriated some of his colleagues and led to a lively spat in the columns of Japan's English language newspaper, the Daily Yomiuri

Mr Childs, who is academic dean of an international college in Japan, says the blend of two languages is acceptable because it makes English comprehensible to the Japanese ear.

\those who expect standard syntax, but the meaning is usually perfectly comprehensible, perhaps because it follows a natural flow of thoughts.

\problem, not a Japanese problem.\

A resident of Japan for 16 years, Mr Childs criticizes English language schools which \

\of a new teacher that she had to relearn pronunciation from the ground up, this time learning it 'properly' in British English.

\not need high-prestige accents; they need to develop smooth habits of hearing and speaking. These habits are much more easily developed if the variety of English is congenial to the learner.\

Mr Childs adds: \sheer exuberance of popular uses of Japanese English is admirable and should be encouraged, not condemned.\

\their lives.\

to specialists in literature, the performing arts, interpreting and international negotiation.

Nonsense, retorts fellow American academic Daniel Webster, who says Mr Childs is doing Japanese students of English a disservice by telling them something is right when it is simply wrong.

\Childs compares Japanese English can and do converse fluently in them, with each other and with foreigners\Waseda University in Tokyo. \can also understand English-language movies without subtitles, and the educated among them can understand Henry James. Some of these latter can even write in an English that is of the highest literary quality.

\that the only place where this Japanese-English exists as a real medium for more than the most rudimentary kind of communication is in households where one, or some, of the members is a native-speaker of Japanese and the other, or the others, is not. \will never extend beyond these homes. Outside of those individual houses and apartments, the Japanese-English Childs admires so much is just a lot of gobbledegook. And that's exactly what it will always be,\

Japan is currently looking for ways to improve the standard of English teaching in its schools. Although virtually all children learn English for several years, the Japanese lag behind other Asian countries in English proficiency --- a trend which politicians and business leaders say makes them less effective in commerce and diplomacy. A textbook called \are enrolling in English courses to improve their promotion prospects.

Last year, a panel of experts advising then prime minister Keizo Obuchi called for a national debate on whether to make English Japan's \which would oblige the government, local councils and other official bodies to draw up documents in both languages, has been criticized by some as a further move towards western erosion of Japanese culture.

Whatever the new government of Junichiro Koizumi decides, one can only hope that no one removes the notice at the Tokyo City Air Terminal which advises passengers to be \for pickpockets.\Or the sign on a drinks vending machine which says the company responsible has selected \class ingredients with confidence for offering consumer best products which get you a nice time day after day.\

B “日本式英语”能成为一种合法的语言吗?

在我们当地的面包店的招牌上这样写着：“我们希望总能提供给你新鲜的面包并建议你享受有面包吃的生活乐趣，特别是，我们想成为你厨房晚餐的主人。我们用各种不同类型的面包、蛋糕和三明治恭候你们。”

这段话大意清楚，但能认为是正确的英语吗？是的，回答是肯定的，这是一位在日本的美国学者的观点。他说日本式英语与印度英语、牙买加和菲律宾等国说的英语一样也应看作是合法英语。

教育学博士马歇尔?奇尔兹认为，日本学生应该不管英式和美式英语的“势利”，以适合自己的方式来说英语，即使这样做可能会违背语法、发音和句子结构等公认的规则 但是，他对“日本式英语”的推崇却激怒了他的一些同事，而且还在日本的一家英文报纸《读卖新闻》专栏上引发了一场激烈的争论。

奇尔兹先生是日本一所国际学院的院长，他认为两种语言（英语和日语）的混合是可以接受的，因为在日本人听来，这种英文更容易理解。

“创造性地使用语法结构是日本式英语的特征，其结果对那些期待使用标准语法的人来说是非常令人震惊的，但是其意义通常是完全可以理解的，也许这是因为它遵循了自然的思路。

“如果我们（以英语为母语的人）对日本式英语有偏见的话，那是我们的问题，不是日本人的问题。”

作为一个留居日本已有16年之久的居民，奇尔兹先生批评英语语言学校，说它们“羞辱”学生，让他们注册学习“正确的”英语课。

“我认识一位学生，在学了15年英语之后，她诚恳地听了一位新老师的意见，从最基础的东西开始，重新学习发音，这次学习的是?得体?的英式英语。”

“她的这次经历耽误了她好几年的时间，花费了几百万日元。其实大多数学生并不需要漂亮地道纯正的口音；他们需要的是培养流利的听说习惯。如果他们可以学他们喜欢的英语变体，则这些听说习惯就更加容易培养起来。”

奇尔兹先生还补充说:“广泛使用日本式英语所产生的生动活泼的局面本身是值得赞赏的，应该受到鼓励，而不是批评。

他还说：“在学校，学生非常厌烦与他们生活无关的?正确?英语”。他还认为学习流利标准的英式或美式英语是文学家、表演艺术家、翻译家和国际谈判家的事。”

“一派胡言，”他的一位美国同行和学者丹尼尔?韦伯斯特反驳道。他说奇尔兹先生的所作所为对日本学生学英语有害无益，明明是错误的东西，他却告诉学生是正确的。 韦伯斯特先生是东京早稻田大学英语系的客座教师，他说，“在亚洲和加勒比海地区的人说的那些英语类似奇尔兹先生作比拟的日本式英语，可他们却能使用他们的英语相互之间进行流利的交流，也可以和外国人进行交流。他们也能看懂没有字幕的英语电影，他们之中一些有文化的人还能理解亨利?詹姆斯的作品，有的甚至能以高雅的文笔用英语写作。

“上述情况对那些使用日本式英语的人来讲决非易事。事实上，我敢向奇尔兹先生打赌，真正用日本式英语作为交际媒介来进行最基本的需求之外的交流的唯一场合只能是家庭，其中有一个或几个家庭成员是日本人，而另一个或几个非日本人。”

韦伯斯特先生宣称，“日本式英语的使用范围不会超出家里，在那些各家各户的住宅和公寓外面，日本式英语只能是许多令人费解的佶屈聱牙的话语，而且会永远如此。” 日本目前正在寻找提高学校英语教学标准的途径。事实上，虽然所有的孩子都学了几年英语，但就其水平，日本远比其他亚洲国家落后。政治家和商业巨头们说，这一趋势使得他们的商业和外交效率低下。一本名叫《40岁以上的人学英语》的教科书在这里十分畅销，近来越来越多的主管领导为了提高他们的晋级机会正在报名学习各种英语课程。

去年，专家小组给当时的总理大臣小渊惠三建议，要求在全国范围内就是否应把英语作为日本的第二官方语言进行一场辩论。这种想法将迫使中央政府、地方当局和其他官方机构用两种语言草拟文件，因而它被看作是向西方对日本文化的腐蚀所作的另一妥协，受到一些人的批评。

无论小泉纯一郎领导的新政府做出何种决定，人们可以预料没有人会抹去东京市机场候机厅用日本式英语写成的告示“注意扒手”，也不会有人拿掉自动饮料销售机上的牌子，上面写着日本式英语：该公司选择“有把握的上等原料为消费者提供最好的产品，让你日复一日地有好心情”。