訓練閱讀技巧 (6) — Understanding Transition Words - Hello! E.T. Where a new vision begins

文／黃元怡
國立清華大學、臺灣科技大學講師
美國波士頓大學教育媒體與科技碩士

這一期，我選擇了常見閱讀技巧中的轉折語 (Transition Words)，這些字詞其實都不難，但是針對文意理解非常有幫助。這些轉折語不只是出現在閱讀文章中，也會出現在口語表達，最後運用於寫作的訓練，因此熟練如何使用轉折語也是寫作技巧的重要主題。

Table of Contents

Step 1：講解閱讀技巧

轉折語 (Transition Words) 的主要功能在於文意的連結、引導文意的轉折、對比或是對立、強調或是同意、表達目的、結果或是結論。轉折語會讓閱讀者更容易也更快理解文章的架構和脈絡。不同的轉折語常常扮演著不同的功能，以下列舉一些常見的例子：

Step 2：速讀找出重點字

我找了點閱率非常高，時間又不會太長的 TED Talks 影片當作例子。首先印出講稿，讓學生在時間限制內自行閱讀，我會給學生 12~15 分鐘閱讀這幾篇文章，並要求學生在過程中將所有的轉折語畫上底線。此時，學生不用想太多，只要先迅速畫上所有底線就好。

第一篇是 “A new way to get every child ready for kindergarten” ，當中有許多語意轉折，例如：Since Head Start, we’ve made strides, but there are still 2.2 million children in the US without access to early learning, or more than half of the four-year-olds in the country. 語意轉折 (00:47)

And we tell them the software can check every reading, math and science box, but they’re going to be responsible for motor skills and self-help skills, and together, we’re going to work on social emotional learning. 語意轉折 (03:46)

That plan has worked in three states to date: Utah, Indiana and South Carolina. We’ve also piloted the program in a number of states and identified champions. 語意連結 (07:46)

第二篇是 “My seven species of robot — and how we created them” ，例如：It flips its body 180 degrees and it swings its leg between the two legs and catches the fall. So that’s how it walks. 表達結果 (00:43)

And thus, DARwIn I was born in 2005. It stands up, it walks — very impressive. However, still, as you can see, it has a cord, an umbilical cord. thus 是表達結果；however、still 是語意轉折 (08:54)

第三篇是 “A song of the city”，這一篇很難得出現了一個轉折語 on the other hand，這通常是在閱讀文章中而不是在口語表達，但是很幸運地讓我找到了！

So, the other character is Otto, the automobile. He is invited for a party — he never wants to leave. …Very egotistical: he carries only one or two people and he asks always for more infrastructure. Freeways. He’s a very demanding person. And on the other hand, Accordion, the friendly bus, he carries 300 people — 275 in Sweden; 300 Brazilians. 語意轉折 (02:29)

第四篇是 “A mini robot — powered by your phone”，這篇出現一個常常被誤用的轉折語 in fact。in fact 常被用來當作中文的「其實」，但「其實」不只是這樣喔！ in fact 也有語意連結的功能，用來強調語氣和補充說明。

But the most important thing about Romo is that we wanted to create something that was literally completely intuitive. You do not have to teach someone how to drive Romo. In fact, who would like to drive a robot? Okay. Awesome. Here you go. but 是語意轉折；in fact 是語意連結 (02:57)

Step 3：閱讀理解小測驗

從前面的例子中，學生們應該已經很熟悉轉折語的用法，這時可以挑選一篇包含不同轉折語的 TED Talks 來練習，根據上下文填入適當的轉折語。我用這篇 “When do kids start to care about other people” 設計以下的文意選填，而這些轉折語也在表格裡出現過。

Well, I’m a psychologist and not a mind reader, _____ many people think that’s the same thing. 語意轉折 (00:16)
A. also______B. because______C. so______D. although

Clearly, our concern with how other people will evaluate us is a big part of being human. _____ this being a big human trait, however, we know relatively little about when and how we come to care about the opinion of others. 語意轉折 (00:44)
A. So______B. For______C. Despite______D. Not only

Well, if my husband were up here right now, he would tell you that I interview babies, _____ he would rather not say that his wife experiments on children. 表達原因 (01:59)
A. because______B. so______C. also______D. however

Step 4：整合練習

最後一個階段，就像前幾期一樣，我會找另外一篇學生沒有接觸過的 TED Talks 文字稿，將文字稿剪成條狀，讓學生以小組方式進行文章重組，他們必須運用學到的轉折語來判斷句子排列的先後順序。這個活動非常有意義，因為學生在重組過程中，必須要先能判斷文意是連結、對比、原因還是結果，然後才有辦法重組句子的順序。

Step 5：如何尋找恰當的 TED Talks?

其實找影片非常花時間，所以在專欄的最後一篇，我想和老師們分享我是如何找影片的！以這期的主題為例，若要尋找跟轉折語 also 相關的 TED Talks 影片：

步驟一：點選官網上方的 “Watch” → TED Talks。
步驟二：接下來設定 “Topic”、”Language”、”Duration”。
步驟三：選擇自己想要的影片及點選影片下方的 “Transcript”。
步驟四：點選 Chrome 右上角的設定，再點選「尋找」。
步驟五：輸入 “also”，就會尋找網頁中所有的 “also”。

希望這些教學技巧的分享能夠對各位老師們有所幫助喔！