On Cultivating Intercultural Communicative Competence in English Teaching.doc

on cultivating intercultural communicative competence in english teachingi. introduction the world we live in is shrinking and contact closely. travel that once took months now takes hours. there is no denying that the various cultures of the world are far more accessible than ever before, and that the peoples of these cultures are coming into contact at an ever-increasing rate. in the 21st century, chinas modernizations are closely bound up with intercultural communication. after the announcement of beijing being the host city of the 2008 olympic games, in china, we have set off a new upsurge of learning english. around the whole country, no matter the old or the young, they are all preparing for the coming international event. so cultivating intercultural communicative competence in english is the whole world need. in fact, many foreign scholars and chinese scholars have done a lot of studies concerning how to develop the students cross-cultural competence, because english language teaching and the textbooks in china paid more attention to language forms than to their social meanings, to their practical applications and the cultural differences, many kinds of communicative errors were made. so it is urgent to cultivate students intercultural communicative competence in english teaching.ii. reviews of language-culture studiesa. language and culture language is part of culture and plays a very important role in it. some social scientists consider it the key stone of culture. without language they maintain culture would not be possible. on the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture, it reflects culture. in the broadest sense, language is the symbolic representation of a people, and it comprises their historical and cultural backgrounds as well as their approach to life and their ways of living and thinking. then, what is language? what is culture? what is the relationship between them? language and culture linked closely, so that learning language means learning culture. for example, a child growing up in one of the english-speaking cultures learns to say “can i have a drink?” rather than “give me a drink”, he learns to address his brothers and sisters by their names regardless of whether they are older or younger than himself, he learns to say “thank you” when accepting something. in other words, in learning how to speak, a child must not only master the vocabulary and grammar of a certain language, he must also absorb the social rules how he should use his vocabulary and grammar in concrete situations. he learns a culture that is largely, though by no means totally, expressed through language.1. nature of languagelanguage is the social production and is the symbolic system carried on from generation to generation by people who live in this society. and in particular language speech may reflect the social relations between the speaker and addressee. language is a vehicle of transmitting thought and information. language distinguishes human from animals, and is very essential to mankind. a broad accepted and tentative definition of language is: “language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for communication. so language has features of duality, arbitrariness, productivity, displacement, and cultural transmission”(li, 89). according to the sapir-whorf hypothesis: “language is a guide to social reality” (whorf 25). it implies that language is not simply a means of reporting experience, but more important, it is a way of defining experience. although few sociologists fully accept the notion that peoples view of reality is entirely constructed by the language they speak, they do generally agree there are differences in the way languages represent experience, and these differences influence how people perceive the word, and therefore how they behave.2. definition and characteristics of culture the concept of culture was first defined in print by e.b.taylor. he provided the first profound scientific understanding of the nature of the term. according to him, “culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member of society”(taylor 56). among the many definitions made by scholars, there are those which encompass all material, institutional and psychological aspects of the community, and those which depict culture primarily as behavior patterns and values behind them. this thesis includes the material or physical aspect, but will focus more on the behavioral and value. culture is then a configuration of learned human behavior, results of behavior, and principles controlling behavior that are shared and transmitted by persons in a particular society. culture is unavoidable to be mentioned when talking about intercultural communication, let alone how to communicate. then what is culture? culture is a large conception. scholars have all tried to define culture in different aspects. hall views culture as often subconscious. he compares culture to an invisible control mechanism operating in our thoughts. he believes that members of a given society, internalize the cultural components of that society, and act within the limits as set out by what is culturally acceptable.“culture has always dictated where to draw the line separating one thing from another. these lines are arbitrary, but once learned and internalized they are treated as real” (hall 206). culture is the basis of self-identity and community. culture is the basis for how we tell the world who we are and what we believe. people build their identities through cultural overlays to their primary culture. each of the activities brings with it a set of rules, manners, ceremonies, beliefs, language, and values. they add to ones total cultural outlook, and they represent major expressions of a persons self-identity.3. relationship between language and culture language does not exist in a vacuum. language is not only a part of culture but also influenced and shaped by culture. language plays a large and significant role in the totality of culture. far from being a technique of communication, it is itself a way of directing the perceptions of its speakers and it provides for them habitual modes of analyzing experience into significant categories. and to the extent that languages differ markedly from each other, so should we expect to find significant and formidable barriers to cross-cultural communication and understanding. he concluded: “culture exerts a strong influence on language” (li,105). a language is shaped by a particular culture and society. it is proved that culture differences may cause differences of language. the cultural features vary not only from speech community to speech community, but also within the same speech community. language at the same time influences culture, and is a means of learning and expressing culture. common attitudes, beliefs and values are reflected in the way members of the group use language. some scholars suggest that different people speak differently because their languages make them view the word differently.language is a social phenomenon, and each language stands for one culture. literally, cross-culture communication refers to the communication between a native speaker and a non-native speaker, but broadly speaking, it also means any two persons whether in one culture or not. people have differences in cultures, social backgrounds, living patterns, education, beliefs, sexes, ages, political and economical conditions, even hobbies and characters, so it is impossible that the understandings of messages between a sender and a receiver are the same. from this point of view, communication between any persons is cross-culture communication.b. cultural communication1. interaction between communication and culture british professor gillian brown said, “communication is a business” (brown 98), which means the process of communication is the process of complete interaction. its not an easy thing to fully communicate, because of different histories, cultures, and social habits in eastern and western countries. the so-called communication is a process whereby one sender passes message to another receiver to arouse his/her response. the study of communication cannot be divorced from the study of culture, and the study of culture will be one-sided without the concerning of communication. culture and communication cannot be separated. the relation between culture and communication can be elaborated as follows: 1) culture influences communication. communication is a social and cultural behavior. it occurs within society and is affected by social factors, such as value system, social structure, the social status of the interlocutors, place and time of communication, etc. to understand what a foreigner says, we must understand his cultural background and ways of living. 2) communication reflects culture. communication is a part of culture. both of them are symbolic systems. the difference is that communication is the encoding system of culture. it is the most important system for culture to be transmitted. 3) the acquisition of communication competence and peoples socialization occur at the same time. on the one hand, it is through communication that people become members of their society. on the other hand, it is during the process of socialization acquiring value concepts, thinking patterns, etc. people acquire communicative competence. to sum up, culture has a close relationship with its peoples communicative behavior, process, ways, styles, strategies and pragmatic rules. they depend on each other and have influence on each other.2. communication-the center of culture communication and culture are inseparable. one implication of this insight is that cultures generate symbols, rituals, customs and formats. to use a simple example, every culture has rules for achievement and attainment. in dominant u.s. culture, the symbols of these rites of passage include degrees, promotions, material objects, technology, and symbols of material wealth. a plaque of recognition, a certificate of merit, or a gold watch at retirement symbolizes dominant u.s. cultures communication system. in this way, the communication systems we employ are rooted in the culture where they are used. cultural misunderstanding occurs when we fail to match the appropriate symbols and general communication system to the culture.3. culture differences-influential factors of communication it is widely accepted that intercultural communication is difficult. even if people overcome the natural barriers of language difference, they may fail to understand and to be understood. this is because things such as beliefs, values, religions, thinking patterns, history, social practices etc. are usually not the same across cultures. the diversity of cultures is very likely to be barriers in intercultural communication. failures to understand and to be understood are attributable to cultural interference resulting from cultural differences. culture is the summation and interrelationship of an identifiable groups beliefs, norms, activities, and communication patterns. every culture has themes, values, tendencies, procedures, and rules. culture is like a kaleidoscope with similar shapes but different colors, or with different shapes but similar colors. one reason to study culture is to enable us to recognize its impact on our communication rules, which we bring to intercultural encounters. intercultural communication involves understanding the influence of culture, personal communicator style, and interpersonal relationship attitudes as these affect intercultural communication and perception of difference. these factors influence two people in building communication climate from which they find commonality, reduce uncertainty and anxiety, and provide a context basis for continued communication.c. culture in english language teaching (elt)1. cultures influence on english language teaching and learning language teaching, and learning types are different from culture to culture. in every culture, schools serve a multiplicity of functions. first, they help fashion the individual, or help the formation of characters. second, schools are places where a cultures history and traditions are passed from generation to generation. in other words, education is the transmission of civilization. third, education equips students with conventional and modern knowledge and skills, so that they may make a living upon leaving school. finally, schools play a big role in teaching the informal knowledge of a culture. such as basic values and beliefs, rules of correct conduct, gender-role expectation. as cultures vary in what they emphasize, there is culture diversity in educational concepts and practices.the social organization of the community and the different groups constitute the society, its social classes and occupational, ethnic, cultural and religion groups. students, therefore, frequently come to language learning with positive or negative attitudes derived from the society in which they live, and these attitudes in turn influence their motivation to learn the second language.2. english culture and english language the us claims the declaration of independence to forge the richest, most inventive and most powerful country on earth. this is the country that introduced the world to the right to the pursuit of happiness, free speech, electric light, airplanes, assembly-line automobiles, the space shuttle, computers, blues, jazz, rock & roll and movies that climax at the high-school prom. america is a melting pot a stew in which immigrants individual differences are lost in uniformity. modern american culture is a juicy burger of mass culture garnished with 15 minutes of fame. it owes as much to marketing savvy, communications technology and mass-production techniques as it does to artists and entertainers. the british culture, with a long-standing history enjoys high prestige in the world. regardless of its history, geography, literature, etc. for a long period of time the traditional british culture studies have focused largely on achievement culture. there are four components for the british culture, cultural product, cultural practice, cultural identity/social variation and cultural institution. learning the inter-cultural differences is very helpful to the language learners, especially for the chinese, whose culture differs greatly from both the british and american culture. generally speaking there exists great lack of communication and links between the two cultures. efforts should be made to fill in the gap.3. goals of english language teaching the main goal of english language teaching (elt) is to help learners remove their language obstacles, get to know another culture, enhance their communicative competence, improve their english knowledge and draw conscious attention to the similarities with and differences from the learners first language. that is, to develop the ability to use english effectively for purposes of practical communication. of course, it is also another goal to formulate a solid foundation of skills, language and attitude, such as essential vocabulary and grammatical structures, listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating, which are required for further study, work and leisure. basically, language teaching is related to bringing a target culture to learners, or language learning is related to learning about another culture and acquiring knowledge of a target culture and an ability to communicate with native speakers. so it is most important for teachers of english language to foster and improve learners communicative competence in english language teaching (elt). communicative competence is actually knowledge needed by a speaker or hearer, and is much more broadly based than linguistic competence. now more and more linguists and teachers realize that cultural competence is an important part of communicative competence, and that intercultural communication is the main task of english language teaching, and also that intercultural communication competence is the main goal of english language teaching. in the globalization situation, the main part of international communication is not only to retain and spread ones native culture, but also to introduce and acquire foreign cultures. it is required to enhance cross-cultural awareness and to understand the culture of second language with open-minded attitude from different perspective. moreover, cultural background knowledge is an important consideration in culture teaching and plays a significant role in english language teaching (elt). it may also help learners better understand the different cultural connotation and extension of vocabulary, pave the way for the understanding of contents of text and make accurate evaluation and feedback for the theme of texts. and finally it may help learners grasp language and put it into practice in order to achieve communicative objectives.iii. necessity of developing intercultural communicative competencea. definition of intercultural communicative competence chinas modernizations are closely bound up with intercultural communication. modernization is a process involving both economic development and evolution of value system, in which people make full use of advanced technology and other means to improve their physical and spiritual conditions. this dual nature of modernization and urgency of modernization determine the significance of developing learners intercultural communicative competence. intercultural awareness is closely l