原書と簡易化テキストが英語学習者に与える経験の相違の考察

Abstract

It is not uncommon to use simplified texts in the language classroom for reading. This study seeks to understand what types of simplifications are used in language learner literature and how the kinds of language used in simplified texts can be different from the ones in authentic texts. This has been done through a comparison and an analysis of two classroom texts in terms of grammar, vocabulary and discourse to provide a commentary on the processes of simplifying texts. The first text is extracted from a short story, ‘the Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez’, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, published in 1904. The second text is extracted from a simplified version, ‘the Golden Glasses’, originally written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and retold by Janet McAlpin. It was produced for learners of English (level 3 of Penguin readers) and published in 2000. The following features of the two texts are compared: sentence length, phrase structure, clause structure, tense and aspect, word choice, cohesive features, meanings omitted and meanings changed and metaphors. Subsequently the ways in which we teach reading in the classroom will be discussed and some suggestions will be made to facilitate our reading instructions.