英语习语在英语教学中的文化应用.doc

本科毕业设计(论文)英语习语教学中的文化应用设计(论文)题目: application of culture in english idiom teaching and learning学士学位论文原创性声明本人郑重声明：所呈交的学位论文，是本人在导师的指导下进行研究工作所取得的成果。除文中已经注明引用的内容外，本论文不含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写过的研究成果。对本文的研究做出重要贡献的个人和集体，均已在论文中作了明确的说明并表示了谢意。本声明的法律结果由本人承担。学位论文作者签名： 年 月 日关于论文使用授权的说明本人完全了解大学有关保留、使用学士学位论文的规定，即：学校有权保留、送交论文的复印件，允许论文被查阅，学校可以公布论文的全部或部分内容，可以采用影印或其他复制手段保存论文。指导教师签名： 论文作者签名： 年 月 日 年 月 日application of culture in english idiom teaching and learningabstractas the essence of the language of a nation, english idioms carry plenty of cultural information which includes environment, geography, history, customs, literature and so on. idioms stem from so many fields that they always astonish many people, even the scholars. after years of research, many a scholar find that the application of culture can lead immeasurable promotion to english idiom teaching. thanks to this advantage, it has become a necessary part of english idiom teaching.this thesis consists of four parts. the first part objectively elaborates the relationship among idioms, language and culture. as is known to all, the proficiency of idiom application directly decides the efficiency of the communication with the native speakers. only when we know well cultural meanings of idioms, we really master idioms. so the second part emphasizes on the importance of application of culture in english idiom teaching. however, idioms has been neglected for a long time, let alone their cultural meanings, which constitutes the pessimistic situation of present english idiom teaching that is introduced in the third part. with regard to the problems in todays english idiom teaching, the last part provides suggestions about improving teaching environment, teaching facility and teaching method.keywords: culture; english idioms; teaching and learning英语习语教学中的文化应用摘要作为一个民族语言的精华，英语习语承载了极为丰富的文化信息，天文地理、历史民俗、文学艺术皆成源头，其涵盖范围之广，令人叹为观止。经过多年的研究，许多学者发现文化因素的应用对英语习语教学具有不可估量的促进作用，文化应用已经成了英语习语教学不可或缺的一部分。本篇论文共四部分。第一部分主要阐述了习语、语言和文化的关系。习语使用的是否熟练直接决定我们与英语本土居民的交际效果，而只有了解其中的文化因素，才称得上是真正掌握了英语习语，第二部分着重强调了文化应用在英语习语教学中的重要性。然而英语教学一直把习语当做一个可有可无的部分，更不必说其中蕴含的文化信息了，第三部分重在介绍当今英语习语教学不容乐观的现状。针对前面提出的问题，第四部分对英语习语教学环境设施的改善以及教学方法的改进提出了建议。关键词：文化；英语习语；教学contentsintroduction1chapter one relationship among idioms, language and culture2i.what are idioms?2ii.relationship between idioms and language2iii.relationship between idioms and culture3chapter two cultural analysis in english idiom teaching4i.cultural factors reflected in english idioms4i.historical factors reflected in english idioms4ii.religious belief reflected in english idioms4iii.english idioms from literature works4ii.importance of cultural analysis in teaching english idioms5i.essentiality of teaching english idioms5ii.function of cultural analysis in teaching idioms5chapter three absence of culture application in current idiom teaching6i.lack of enough attention to idiom teaching6i.neglect of idioms in editing english textbooks6ii.disregard for english idioms in teaching attitude6ii.lack of culture application in idiom teaching7i.disadvantages of present methods of idiom teaching7ii.necessity of reforming the teaching method of idioms7chapter four suggestions on english idiom teaching8i.paying attention to culture application in idiom teaching8i.emphasis on culture application in idiom teaching8ii.providing cultural environment or conditions for idiom teaching8ii.suggestions on methods of idiom teaching9i.teaching english idioms in context9ii.presenting english idioms with rich illustration9iii.applying group discussion in comprehending english idioms10iv.teaching english idioms with readers theater10v.teaching english idioms with dialogue writing and role-play10conclusion11works cited12acknowledgements.13 7introductionnowadays, idioms are gradually becoming an essential part in a proficient communication with the foreigners. and if one wants to have a good master of english idioms and applies them in an appropriate way, he should first have a good knowledge of the cultural factors related to idioms.as more and more scholars study on idiom teaching, they find that idioms, language and culture are interrelated while they are influenced by one another. only when the learners are familiar with the cultural background of an idiom, they can then correctly make use of it in the real communication. when the idioms are separated from the cultural information that they can convey, their meanings will be changed to a surprising one, which absolutely bring misunderstanding in communication. applying cultural analysis in english idiom teaching can not only enlarge the vision but also improve the communicative skill of the english learners.chapter onerelationship among idioms, language and culture. what are idioms?as is known to all, idioms are the part and parcel of language. “most phrasal lexemes are idioms, especially a sequence of words which is semantically and often syntactically restricted” (hu zhuanglin etc, 106). idioms, to make them simple, are short phrases or expressions that have hidden meanings and that are not easily understandable from their literal meanings of individual elements. most commonly, an idiom consists of two words or more, of which the structure is usually stable and the meaning is unpredictable from its formation. from the above definition we can conclude that each idiom stands as a whole, while no element in an idiom can be changed. in many cases, idioms hold implied meanings, and cannot be interpreted just according to their literal meanings. idioms, as a most expressive form of a language, enjoy their own specific characteristics. usually, idioms are brief and concise, lively and vivid, dynamic and forceful, implicit and thought-provoking, expressive and figurative, not only frozen in structure but also colloquial in style. but for all these features which make idioms of great vitality, idioms would not have been passes down generation by generation. however, all these features decide the difficulty of learning idioms; as a result, idioms become one of the obstacles in language learning. so, learning how to master english idioms become significant to english learners. relationship between idioms and language as a particular part of a language, idioms include metaphorical phrases, slangs, colloquialisms, proverbs and so on. all these are the most expressive and lively forms of a language. they are of national character which merely belongs to a particular group. from long time ago, any group has its own language whose vocabulary is of distinctive features. as hundreds of thousands of years pass by, most of words and phrases become lost, while those which have more strength to express the common life remain to be handed down. idioms, which are passed down from generation to generation, belong to the latter obviously. for the above reason, one can easily understand that why idioms are always regarded as the essence of a language.language is born to be applied to communication. the native language is always rich of all kinds of idioms, which make the natives expression more natural and vivid, without the stiffness that is always found in a nonnatives expression. if a second-language learner pursuits to naturally communicate with the natives without any obstacles, he needs to have a good master of idioms, the basic of a native language.we can extract the relationship of idioms and language into two aspects.a) an idiom is the result of language development. it is language that gives birth to idioms and also polishes idioms. refined by long usage, idioms have been regarded as the core of language. b) an idiom is the representative of a language. it can be regarded as the most expressive formation of a language. if one plans to have a good knowledge of a language, he firstly should be proficient in the application of idioms. relationship between idioms and culture “every language is part of a culture. as such, it cannot but serve and reflect culture needs” (hu zhuanglin etc, 250). so, idioms, as part of language are naturally indispensable to culture. they are the heritage of history and product of cultural evolvement. as the essence of a language, idioms carry a large amount of cultural information such as history, geography, religion, custom, nationality psychology, thought pattern and so on, which naturally comes to a conclusion that idioms relate closely to their own culture and convey different cultural features and attitudes and messages of their own nation. from a dynamic view, idioms and culture interact with each other and shape each other. on one hand, we can view idioms as the carrier of culture, which in turn is the content of language. on the other hand, we can dig out cultural features from idioms and explain language the specialties of idioms with culture. consequently, we can know much about culture through studying idioms and in turn get better understanding of idioms by learning the cultural background behind them.for the close relationship between idioms and culture, the second-language learners must pay attention to the cultural affects and related knowledge of a nation where produces its own idioms. “a sufficient knowledge of the respective cultures and the subject matter is indispensable requisites for translators” (eugene a. nida, 26). not only in translation, but also in inter-cultural communication, culture plays an important part when idioms are dealt with. without cultural analysis, many problems may emerge in the course of learning idioms, either in comprehension or in application. therefore, cultural background and environment are urgently needed when idioms are touched upon in english teaching and learning.chapter twocultural analysis in english idiom teaching.cultural factors reflected in english idiomsidioms basically come from the real life. in the course of long-time usage, idioms are deeply affected by the culture of a nation. english idioms, as part of the colorful language, are deeply interrelated to a nations history, belief, literature, customs and so on, which reflect the historic development and the present life from different aspects. to a great extent, idioms reflect a nationalitys cultural characteristics, the natives experience of life and their national character. historical factors reflected in english idiomshistory, as part of social culture, is an influential factor not only for a nation but also for a language. in the development of a country, it plays an indispensable role in promoting the evolution of a language and affecting its idioms. as british is an island country, the native deal with the sea from the very beginning of the history. they often ride on the waves and these experiences produce many idioms that are relevant with the sea and the adventure on the sea. idioms like “rock the boat” “over head and ears” “sink or swim” are all produced by the sailors from their sailing experiences on the early history, and afterward are gradually accepted by people settled on the continent.sometimes, an idiom may even summarize a historical event. for example, the idiom “to cross the rubicon” means “to take a decisive and irrevocable step”. the allusion is to julius caesars act when with his army in 49b.c. he unconstitutionally crossed the river rubicon, which separated his province from italy, and so brought on the civil war. religious belief reflected in english idiomsthe origin of religion can be dated back to primitive society. as lamb observes, “it is clear that religion and culture are inextricably entwined”. religion is the everyday practices of a culture, gives us insight into culture. so lots of idioms concerning religion and beliefs occur in english language.today in many western countries, most people choose to believe in christianity, which constitute a kind of culture together with its own doctrine. they believe in god and hope god could help them out of difficulties, so idioms related to god emerge as the situation require. such kind of idioms as “god helps those who help themselves” “the danger passed and god forgotten” and the curse like “go to hell” are all associated with the western religion. english idioms from literature worksliterature is an art to reflect life experiences, convey thoughts and express emotions, which is also rooted in the real life. it is an important part of spiritual culture. in ancient times, people created myths, legends and fables. as time flies, novels, plays and poems all spring like mushrooms. these literature works provide a plentiful of resources for idioms, some even produce idioms directly.in literature works, many characters are endued symbolic meanings by the writer, and these symbolic meanings which spread in the society finally become idioms familiar to everyone. achilles in the idiom “achilles heel” is a character in iliad which is written by homer, the famous greek poet. the allusion is to the god achilles whose heel is his vulnerable spot. it means the one weak spot in a mans circumstances or character.the dialogue or language in some literature works also provides the resources of english idioms. bible and the works of shakespeare are just among those works. for example, “out of joint” comes from hamlet, while “to swear ones heart on ones sleeves” are derived from othello. from bible, “as old as adam” come into daily use in english. importance of cultural analysis in teaching english idioms.essentiality of teaching english idiomsidioms carry an important function of inter-cultural communication, either in daily talk or in literature comprehension and translation.idioms are frequently used by the native speakers in their daily life. there exists an odd phenomenon that many english majors could not understand what the natives talk about when they set foot on the exotic land for the first time. usually they surprisingly find that what they have learned is not very practical in daily use, which result from lack of knowledge of idioms and related culture. therefore, if one wants to communicate with the native speakers naturally and avoid misunderstandings, he should manage to have a good master of idioms.thanks to the cultural characteristics of idioms, they are frequently applied to enriching the cultural meaning of literature works. to many english learners, these idioms become a great obstacle in literature studying. they are often puzzled with those idioms which cannot be interpreted from their literal meaning. idioms like “to swear ones heart on ones sleeves” stumble the readers at almost every time. therefore, if one wants to gain something from reading literature works, he must learn to master idioms in different forms in order to obtain information from the works without any misunderstanding.english skills such as listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating all demand a great knowledge of idioms of the users. so the importance of idiom teaching and learning is immeasurable.function of cultural analysis in teaching idiomsas idioms are applied in everyday use, they should not be separated from the whole language even the whole society. in fact, they are closely related. so, when idioms are being explained, their cultural background and related information become a necessary part of the explanation. in modern english class, cultural analysis plays an important role in teaching, especially in idioms-teaching which carries lots of cultural information.if idioms are introduced with cultural background and other related information, they may have the function of enlarging the vision of the english learners. knowing about another kind of culture, such as customs, education, politics, beliefs and even the values which the nation possesses, helps the learners develop their sense of worth in a an all-round way. besides, the accumulation of cultural knowledge leads the english learners to a rich spiritual life which other knowledge or experience cannot come to. additional to those above advantages, cultural analysis in learning idioms could make the english lessons interesting which can stimulate the students more active to take part in the class.in all, cultural analysis in the course of teaching idioms contributes a lot to english learning. in our teaching course, we must pay attention to the cultural factors carried by idioms and appropriately applied them in order to effect our teaching.chapter threeabsence of culture application in current idiom teachingas has been noted, idioms play an important part in language learning and teaching. however, in our chinese educational system, idioms are placed in an insignificant position in language teaching. from the primary school to the university, idioms are hardly found in the course of english teaching, let alone cultural analysis in idiom teaching. in one word, the present educational system carries a lot of weaknesses and disadvantages in idiom teaching.lack of enough attention to idiom teachingidioms are not popular in present english teaching, which becomes a common phenomenon in education from children to adults. there exist millions of reasons, but the most importan