Chapter9ImplicationsofStylisticsforTeachingEnglishLiteratureOurtaskinthischapteristoexploretheimplicationsofstylisticsforteachingEnglishliteraturetoadvancedChineseEFLstudents.Stylisticiansabroad,especiallyinBritain,haveenthusiasticallystartedtoapplystylisticstotheteachingofEnglishliteraturetobothhomeandforeignstudents.TheworksbasedontheirteachingexperienceofsuchscholarsasH.G.Widdowson,A.RodgerandR.Carterareindeedinvaluableandinsightful.Muchofwhatissaidinthischapterresultsfromtheinspirationreceivedfromreadingtheseworks.Toexaminetheimplicationsofaparticulartheoryforteaching,itmakessensetofirstfindoutasmuchaspossibleaboutthetargetstudents.9.1BriefDescriptionofStudentsAccordingtothemostrecentNationalSyllabusforUniversityEnglishMajors(NationalAdvisoryBoardonUniversityForeignLanguageTeaching,2000),therearetworequiredEnglishliteraturecourses:BritishLiteratureandAmericanLiterature.Theseareone-yearcoursesanddesignedtobetaughttothethird-yearandfourth-yearstudents.Thestudentsaremostlyovertwentyyearsofage,andarethereforephysicallyandemotionallymature.Whentheygraduate,mostofthemwillworkasForeignLanguageWorkers-anumbrellatermforforeignlanguageteachers,translators,interpretersandresearchers.Somemaygoontopostgraduatestudies.Asweknow,mostoftheseprofessionsaskforabasicliterarycompetence.Ourstudentsareusuallyhighlymotivatedtostudy,thoughasmallnumberofthemarelessmotivatedforonereasonoranother.Nevertheless,eventhelessmotivatedstudentsareofteninterestedinEnglishliteratureforthepleasureitprovidesandoutofloveandrespectforgreatliteratureingeneral.TheEnglishliteraturethatthestudentshaveencounteredbythethirdyearoftheirstudyconsistsmostlyofsimplifiedorabridgedshortstories,novelsandsomeshortpoems.Theirreadingisorientedtolanguagestudy,nottothematicmessage.Studentsmayhave,however,readafairamountofChineseliteratureandthetranslatedversionsofsomeEnglishliteraryworks.Asfarasthestudents'Englishlanguageproficiencyisconcerned,itisassumedthattheyhavemovedintotheadvancedstageoflearning.Inthefirsttwoyearsoftheircollegework,accordingtothenewnationalsyllabus,theyshouldhaveacquiredagoodmasteryofbasicEnglishpronunciationandintonationandtheessentialsofEnglishgrammar.Theyshouldhavecovered5,500~6,500Englishwordsandbeabletofluentlyandappropriatelyuse3,000~4,000ofthemandtheircollocations.Inshort,theyshouldhaveacquiredagoodgrammaticalcompetenceandevenafairlygoodcommunicativecompetence.Withtheabove-mentionedcharacteristicsofthetargetstudentsinmind,wearenowinabetterpositiontostarttoexploretheimplicationsofstylisticswhichaffectallaspectsofliteratureteaching.Inthischapter,wewillbeabletodiscussonlytwoaspects,namely,definingtheaimsofteachingliteratureanddevisingclassroomliteraryexercises.9.2ImplicationsofStylisticsforDefiningtheAimsofTeachingLiteratureItisofparamountimportancefortheteachertohaveaclearideaoftheaimsofthecourseheorsheisteaching.Itisevenmoreimportant,however,fortheaimstobedefinedappropriatelyonthebasisoftheoryandpractice.Thefailuretodosowillnecessarilyleadtothefailureofthecourse.HowmightwedefinetheaimsofteachingEnglishliteratureinthelightofthetheoryandmethodsofstylistics?AsdiscussedinChapterOne,animportantassumptionofastylisticapproachisthatliteratureismadeoflanguage.Themediumoftheliterarywriterisverydifferentfromthemediumofthesculptororpainter.Itisalreadymeaningfullystructuredandsystematized.Asthemostcomplexmodeofhumancommunication,languagealreadyhasitsownbuilt-inrulesandconventions.Thistheliterarywritermayexploitandarrangeinunusualwaystocreateafictionalworldindependentofanyconcretesituation.Butthemeaningofapieceofworkunquestionablydependsonthenormsofthatlanguageevenwhereitmostdeviatesfromthem.Thus,thefactsofaliterarytextarelinguisticfacts.Everythingelseinaworkisonlyinferencefromthesefacts.Inconventionaldiscourse,concretesituationsaregiven;weunderstandthetextorconversationpartlybecauseweknowwhattoexpectinthosesituations.InWiddowson's(1983)words,wecountonschematicknowledge.Forexample,ifwelistentotheweathermanonasummer'sdayinBeijing,wewillnotbesurprisedtohearthattherewillberainorastorm.Butwewillbesurprisedtohearofaheavysnowcomingup.Inliterature,however,therearenoestablishedconventionalschemataofthissort.Literatureiscontextuallydislocated.Thecontextofsituationinliteratureisonlycreatedfromthecluessuppliedbythelanguageofthetext.Therefore,ourunderstandingofapieceofliteraryworkreliesheavilyonahighlydevelopedawarenessoftheworkingsoflanguageineverydaycommunicativesituationsaswellasinliterarydiscourse.Basedonthisanalysis,wemaynowsuggestthatwhatisofprimaryconcernforaliterarycourseisthedevelopmentofakeenawarenessinthestudentofhowlanguageworksinliterarydiscourse.Widdowsonhasmadethepointexplicitly,literatureasasubjecthasasitsprincipalaimthedevelopmentofthecapacityforindividualresponsetolanguageuse(1975:76).Theadoptionoftheaboveaimastheprimarygoalofaliterarycoursewouldmeanthattheteachershouldfocusthestudents'attentionmainlyontheintrinsicfactsofatextasopposedtoextrinsicfactssuchasthoseaboutthelivesandopinionsofauthors,aboutsourcesandinfluence,aboutgenres,fashions,s