中西文化差异对英语阅读理解的影响

1、Cultural Differences and English ReadingComprehensionAbstract With English teaching and learning prevailing in China, we have made great progress in this field. However, there are still many problems in our English teaching and learning. A critical one is that students frequently make comprehension

2、mistakes when reading English texts. This kind of comprehension barriers is caused mostly by the cultural differences between Chinese and English language. This paper first illustrates the effects of cultural differences on reading comprehension, then analyzes the causes of cultural differences, and

3、 finally develops some tentative methods to help to improve reading comprehension both in English teaching and learning.Key Words cultural differences; reading comprehension; English teaching and learning1.IntroductionIn our traditional English learning and teaching classes, especially in the readin

4、g part, the teachers always emphasize the language points and the grammatical structures of the reading texts by analyzing the sentences one by one. As a result, most of the students can only get a superficial understanding of the meaning of the reading material, which means that the studentsreading

5、 ability cannot be actually improved. As a matter of fact, English reading comprehension is more of a process of intercultural communication than a material of grammar and language points learning. Consequently, teaching culture in English reading classes is very important. Generally speaking, it is

6、 found that whether or not the students can get a complete comprehension of a text and a complete mastery of a foreign language depends on their knowledge of the target culture. This paper focuses on the effects of Chinese and Western cultural differences on English reading comprehension, trying to

7、arouse the echo in English teaching and learning: how cultural content can affect us when we learn a foreign language? We should involve cultural education in English teaching and learning in order to teach or learn it better, which is very significant. To elaborate my opinion, this thesis first ill

8、ustrates the effects of cultural differences on reading comprehension, then analyzes the causes of cultural differences, and finally developssome tentative methods to help to improve reading comprehension both in English teaching and learning.2.Effects of cultural differences on reading comprehensio

9、n2.1 The comprehension of wordsWords can reflect cultural differences widely. Not only does a word have a direct and superficial meaning in the dictionary, it can also have an implied and affective meaning, which can always be the barriers in reading comprehension (Luo Xiaoling, 2008:114. Consequent

10、ly, if we learn new English words, it is of great importance for us to know not only their denotations, but also their connotations. Generally speaking, the words that can cause barriers in reading comprehension because of cultural differences between China and the West can be divided into two types

11、: words that have ambiguous meaning and words that have specific meaning.Words that have ambiguous meaning refer to the ones that have the same denotation but different cultural connotations. For example, the English word “dragon” has its equivalent “龙” in Chinese. Although their denotation is simil

12、ar, they differ greatly in their connotation. In Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, we can find two explanations of the word “dragon”: (1 an imaginary fire-breathing animal in childrens stories. (2 a fierce older woman, esp. one who allows too little freedom to a young girl in her charge. F

13、rom these two definitions, we can know that “dragon”is not liked in the English culture. And just because of this, “dragon”is always used as a negative word in the western countries. To the contrary, Chinese people are particularly fond of the word “龙”. We call ourselves “Descendants of the Dragon”.

14、 The word “龙”in Chinese culture is a noble and auspicious symbol. It symbolizes authority, power, wealth and future. If we know the cultural difference in this respect, we will not misinterpret the term “t he old dragon”, which actually means “the devil”, as “the dragon that is old”when we encounter

15、 it in our reading comprehension. In consequence, we should not simply equate some English word with a Chinese word in reading.Words that have specific meaning refer to the ones that dont have their equivalents in another language. That is to say, they only express things andphenomena that are pecul

16、iar to a certain language, and we cannot find any equivalents in another language both in form and in content.An example that is often cited is the word “hippe”. The word “hippe”is a peculiar well-known product of American society which refers to the decadent and passive American young people who ar

17、e rebellious and discontented to the social reality. They vent their dissatisfaction by wearing long hair, dressing in unusual clothes, believing in sexual freedom and taking illegal drugs and excessive drinking. There is no Chinese equivalent for “hippie”. If we translate it directly as “嬉皮士”in Chi

18、nese, it will lose its own cultural connotation. Therefore, this also brings barriers to reading comprehension.2.2 The comprehension of idiomsBesides words, cultural differences are reflected by idioms as well. And cultural differences reflected by idioms in Chinese and English can also affect reade

19、rs in English reading comprehension. Idioms are the pith and the marrow of the language development and they constitute the kernel and cream of a language(Shen Jun, 2005:115.Both Chinese and English idioms contain their own specific cultural information and reflect their own specific cultural featur

20、es. They are two kinds of different productions of the life experience in different social and regional environment. Hence, they are cultural specific expressions which contain profound cultural connotations. Though idioms are combination of single words, their meaning cannot be simply determined by

21、 the meanings of the individual words. Because of this, idioms are hard to understand by readers from a different culture. For example, in the sentence “After playing football, he drank like a fish”, “drank like a fish”means that he drank a lot, which is equivalent to “牛饮”in Chinese. And it is inapp

22、ropriate to understand it as “drank as a fish” or “drank a little”.2.3 The comprehension of textsCultural differences are by no means confined to words and idioms. They can also be reflected by texts. Language is the record of thinking. Different ways of thinking may result in different types of lan

23、guage(Cheng Hongzhen, 2005:50. Since Chinese people and the western people are different in their mode of thinking, the ways how their texts are structured are also different. And such differences can alsocause barriers to English reading comprehension.Western peoples mode of thinking is linear. Hen

24、ce, an English text tends to follow a straight line of development. It often begins with a topic sentence which is followed by a series of subdivisions of the central idea. That is to say, the central idea is usually clear at the very beginning of the text and is gradually developed in a deductive t

25、hinking pattern. However, Chinese peoples mode of thinking is roundabout. Consequently, a Chinese text is inclined to follow a circular line of development, which is always developed in a inductive thinking pattern. Take the following paragraph as an example.I believe that I speak for every sincere

26、and serious representative in theUnited Nations, so I am encouraged to believe by the speeches to which wehave already listened this morning. When I say that the anniversary must bean occasion for an honest assessment of our failures in the past, matched byan equally determined will to do better in

27、the future, so that we can escapefrom frustration and turn the anniversary into an inspiration andachievement.(Zhu Peiying, 2005:76In this short paragraph, the speaker first declares his attitude, and then he gives an account of the background and purpose of his statement. This is a typical speech o

28、f the English thinking pattern. However, if we turn it into Chinese, we usually put the background and purpose before the conclusion and declaration.From what has been discussed above, we can know that cultural differences affect many aspects of comprehension: comprehension of words, idioms and text

29、s. “Every stage of comprehension involves readers background knowledge of culture.”(Anderson, 1997, 14:369 Therefore, it is of great significance for us English learners to understand the culture of English, which is helpful to reading comprehension. After knowing the influence that cultural differe

30、nces can have on cross-cultural reading comprehension, lets see what causes these differences. The following section will illustrate the causes of these cultural differences in detail.3. Causes of cultural differences in reading comprehension3.1 Causes of differences by national historical cultureLa

31、nguage itself is not only an important component of culture; it is also the carrier of culture(Sun Yingxu &Zhang Qi, 2006:160. Every kind of language is a peculiar production of a national culture which all has its unique history. Consequently, they all have their own specific culture-loaded wor

32、ds such as words, idioms and illusions to reflect their things and conceptions. As foreign or second language learners, we often meet barriers when we meet such words in our reading comprehension.For example, in the sentence “I have let the cat out of the bag already, and I might as well tell him th

33、e whole thing now.”, the expression “let the cat out of the bag” is an idiom which originates from a story. In the old New Y ork City, the peasants always put their piglets in the bags to sell them. However, sometimes they would put cats in the bags instead of piglets as cats were cheaper than pigle

34、ts. And if they were careless, the cat would jump out of the loosen bag and the peasants intrigue would be uncovered. Therefore, to let the cat out of the bag means to let slip the truth.3.2 Causes of differences by regional cultureRegional culture refers to the culture shaped by geographical enviro

35、nment and natural conditions of an area(Zheng Jun & Zhou Longchang, 2002:49. Since different region has different feature of geographical environment and natural conditions, their regional culture are bound to be different. China and the western countries locate in different regions. Hence, they

36、 are sure to be distinctive in their regional culture. A typical example is that in British poet Shelleys poem “Ode to the West Wind”, Chinese readers are always confused by the sentence “O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind.”since they dont know the regional cultural knowledge of Brit

37、ain. In fact, British is an island country which is affected by temperate maritime climate. And because of this, the wind from western sea is warm and moist. Here Shelley compared the west wind to the warm and delightful wind that brings forth spring. However, due to the regional feature, the west w

38、ind is always cold in China. And to Chinese people, the west wind means not only coldness but also decline and depression.3.3 Causes of differences by religious cultureReligious culture is one of the most important components of human culture. It is composed of religious belief and consciousness, wh

39、ich shows different nations cultural diversity in the aspect of adoration and taboo(Hao Xiaojing, 2007:126. In our country, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism are three main religions whereas in English-speaking countries, people believe in Christianity and have been influenced by Christian values se

40、riously. The Bible is the holy book of Christianity which is very different from our classical religious books. As a result, in order to improve our English reading comprehension, we should know something about the characters and events in the Bible. For example, Solomon is the king of Hebrew who wa

41、s famous for his wisdom. Now it refers to the wise man in general. Similarly, Samaritan is a character in Bible who was always willing to help others, and now it can be interpreted as a willing helper.3.4 Causes of differences by national psychologyNational psychology refers to the psychological pat

42、terns and features such as personality, affection and values which are formed during a nations long process of evolvement (He Naiping, 2008: 94. Both Chinese and English cultures all have a history of ages. Consequently, they differ greatly in their national psychology. Learning English in a non-Eng

43、lish environment, Chinese students naturally dont understand some social customs of the English-speaking countries. For example, there is an article says that every job in England requires more workers than it actually need, as the workers are always slow and lazy at work. When students are asked ho

44、w to understand “Tea breaks do matter”, an overwhelming majority of them say, “They can be used by the workers as an excuse to take time off from work.” However, the actual meaning of the sentence is “They are the important aspect of the British way of life”. The students misunderstand the sentence

45、because they dont know that in English peoples daily life, the tea break is very important.4.W ays to improve reading comprehension in English teaching and learningNow that we have discussed the effects of cultural differences and the causes of cultural differences on reading comprehension, we know

46、that cultural differences can really have a great impact on English reading comprehension. In the process ofEnglish reading, Chinese students can always meet many cross-cultural barriers of every aspect. Consequently, we should involve cultural education in English teaching and learning in order to

47、improve Chinese studentsEnglish reading comprehension, for the more cultural knowledge the students have, the more they can understand the textual materials. In this section, we will explore the ways to improve reading comprehension in English teaching and learning4.1 Ways to involve cultural knowle

48、dge in English teachingAccording to Ma Bo (2009:17, a successful English reading teaching should consider adequately the influences that cultural background knowledge can have on studentsreading comprehension. It is well acknowledged that readers are more interested in the texts and can comprehend t

49、he texts better when the texts are culturally familiar to them. As a consequence, teachers should introduce cultural background knowledge to students before reading and supplying relative cultural background passages to widen studentsscope of knowledge and develop studentssense of intercultural comm

50、unication (Liu Guorong, 2009:192. In order to enrich students cultural background knowledge, teachers should select appropriate materials for students to read in class so as to help them minimize cultural misunderstanding and interference and maximize the comprehension of the reading texts (Xu Xuefe

51、n, 2004:36.For example, if the reading text is about the United Kingdom, the teacher can prepare some information about the United Kingdom for the students to read. In this way, the students can not only have a better understanding of the reading material, they can also at the same time know some ot

52、her knowledge about the United Kingdom besides what has been told in the text, which can in turn help them understand other texts of the same kind.Besides introducing cultural background knowledge in class, teachers ca n also do some comparison of the two cultures while analyzing the reading materia

53、ls. As it has been discussed above, there are many differences between Chinese culture and the English-speaking countriesculture, which often cause barriers to studentsEnglish reading. Consequently, comparing the differences can also make students better acquire the reading texts.4.2 Ways to acquire

54、 cultural knowledge in English learningBesides the teachersefforts to involve cultural knowledge in English teaching, the students should also actively learn cultural knowledge by themselves. “Foreign language learners should be aware of the cultural differences and develop the cultural understandin

55、gs, attitudes and performance skills needed to function appropriately within a society of the target language and to communicate with the culture bearer.”(Seelye, 1981:39 Following are some strategies for English learners to acquire cultural knowledge effectively.First of all, English learners shoul

56、d establish an active and positive attitude towards learning cultural differences. As an old saying goes, “Attitude determines everything”, that is to say that people can do things better if they have a good attitude and vice versa. Consequently, establishing a sound attitude towards learning cultur

57、al differences can effectively help the English learners. Secondly, besides the intensive reading in class, English learners should also do some extensive reading outside class. While culture can help us better understand the reading materials, reading materials can also provide us with cultural kno

58、wledge. Numerous outside extensive reading can help us learn the foreign culture more comprehensively. Hence, English learners should do more extensive reading after class. Thirdly, English learners can also learn cultural knowledge through English movies and TV programs. Just as an English proverb goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words”, by watching movies or TV shows, English learners can not only learn some