（外国语言学及应用语言学专业论文）中加小学语言课堂学习文化对比研究.pdf

湖 北 工 业 大 学 硕 士 学 位 论 文 i 摘摘 要要 文化是通过社会获得的知识，语言是一个知识系统。语言是文化的有机组成部 分。每一种语言都与一定的文化相关，并受文化的影响甚至是限制。此外，语言是 形成思想和表达思想的工具，句子结构，语篇结构和文章的结构也反映了思维方式 和习惯，语言是文化的载体。作为教育的初级阶段，语言课堂教学在理论和实践上 都有了很大的发展。不可否认的是，语言和文化之间存在着不可分割的关系。然而， 由于文化习俗和信仰不仅涉及到社会行为和利益，而且影响到对学习和教学方法的 选择。教学语言的过程也能揭示文化如何影响人们的思维和活动的， 因此研究语言 课堂是有必要。有鉴于此，本研究旨在通过比较两种不同文化下语言课堂的各因素， 发现其中的课堂学习文化的差异，其结果是有助于理解不同文化下的课堂教学活动 的差异。 本文从此项研究的重要性及研究方法的介绍开始。第一章介绍了有关概念以及 本文研究的理论基础,着重强调语言与文化，以及语言课堂上各要素与文化的关系。 第二章介绍了本文的研究方法与对象，研究对象分别是中国和加拿大小学五年级一 个班的学生。第三章介绍了学习风格调查问卷的结果。通过学习风格调查问卷表得 出两国学生分别偏向的学习风格，并根据得出的结论分析引起差异的文化因素。第 四章通过比较两国相仿年级语言教材，以及分别观察两国学生上各自母语课的录像， 找出他们教材以及实际语言课堂教学的差异。本研究发现中国学生和加拿大学生的 学习风格有一定的差异，中国学生的学习风格以听觉型为主，加拿大学生的学习风 格以视觉型为主，这种学习风格的差异是由不同的思维方式以及处理信息的方式不 同引起的。通过比较两国学生各自母语课所用的教材，发现中国语言课的教材内容 多以历史性的文章或典故为主，非常重视语法等基础知识，课后练习也以巩固基础 语法知识为主；加拿大语言课的教材内容相对较新，多以儿童感兴趣的故事为主， 课后问题富有启发性，练习种类丰富，并附有答案，学生可根据自己的学习情况自 测。在语言课堂上，中国教师对学生较严格，课堂教学内容，对学生学习进度的要 求，以及所布置的练习非常统一，学生在课堂上几乎没有对老师所教授的内容提出 质疑，习惯性的接受老师所讲授的知识；在加拿大语言课堂上，气氛教轻松，教师 对学生的学习进度有大致的统一安排，但在学习过程中会根据学生不同情况有小的 变动，学生在课堂上会对老师所讲授的知识提出疑问。这些由教材和语言课堂所反 映出来的不同的原因是他们不同的对待时间的态度，价值取向，思维方式，归根到 湖 北 工 业 大 学 硕 士 学 位 论 文 ii 底是由于文化差异引起的。第五章分别从教材，教师，以及测试的角度总结本研究 的结果对我国语言课堂的启示,课堂中教师应把学生作为学习的主体,了解学生的需 求,增加与学生的互动与交流,根据不同学生的学习特点布置学习任务,语言课所用 教材内容应尽可能丰富,贴近学生的生活,课后练习应突出能力的培养, 语言测试的 形式应该多样化，评价方式应主客观相结合，将学生的语言运用能力和交际能力作 为测试的主要内容，这样才能较全面的评价学生的语言水平和能力，同时也能对教 师的语言教学起积极的引导和导向作用。第六章总结并阐述了本研究的实际意义。 关键词:关键词: 语言课堂, 文化差异, 价值观, 思维方式 湖 北 工 业 大 学 硕 士 学 位 论 文 iii abstract culture is the knowledge acquired through society, but language is a knowledge system acquired through contacting with language environment developed from human beings special language ability, language is the organic component of culture. every language is correspondent to certain culture, and is influenced or even restrained by that culture. in addition, language is the tool of forming thought and expressing thought, the sentence structure, discourse structure, and article structure of a language also reflect the mode and convention of thinking, so language is the carrier of culture. as the primary stage of education, language classroom teaching has been greatly developed both in practice and theory. it is undoubtedly that there exists inseparable relationship between language and culture. nevertheless, since culture mores and beliefs relate not just to social behaviors and interests but affect assumptions about ways of learning and teaching. the process of teaching and learning a language reveals how the culture influences the thought and activities in language classroom, so there is a necessity to study the language classroom. in light of this, the present study is designed to address the language classroom culture by comparing the relatively comprehensive aspects of language classrooms. and the findings are helpful to understand cultural differences in the classroom and ease the conflicts caused by culture. this paper begins with the brief introduction of the importance and research methods of the study. chapter i introduces relevant concepts, and the theoretical basis of this study. it emphasize on the relationship between language and culture, as well as the relationship between some elements of language classroom and culture. chapter ii describes the method and the subjects of the research, the subjects were two classes of fifth-grade elementary school students of china and canada respectively. chapter iii introduces the results of the survey of learning styles questionnaire. through the survey of learning style questionnaire, we can see the preference of learning styles of chinese and canadian, and then analyze the culture differences in accordance with the conclusions drawn from the results. chapter iv finds out the differences of the language teaching materials and the actual language classroom between the two countries by comparing the language teaching materials and observing on the video of their mother-tongue classes. the study finds that chinese students and canadian students have some differences in learning styles, the main learning styles of chinese students is auditory-based, but the main learning styles of canadian students is visual-based. the differences in learning styles are caused by their different ways of thinking and the ways of processing information. by comparing the language teaching materials used by students in their respective mother-tongue, we can see that, chinese language textbook has more historic articles and classics, the textbook attaches great importance on the grammar and basic knowledge, the exercises after the texts also stress the solid foundation for basic knowledge; the articles in canadian language textbook are relatively new, there are many interesting stories that children interested, the exercises after the texts are helpful for 湖 北 工 业 大 学 硕 士 学 位 论 文 iv enlightening the students, and the forms of practices are divers along with the answer, students can do self-test according to their own learning level. in the language classroom, chinese teacher is strict to students. the contents of language teaching, the requirements of students learning progress, and the assignment of the exercises are very uniform, students almost has no challenge to the knowledge teacher taught. they habitually accept what the teacher taught. in canada language classroom, the atmosphere is relaxing. the teacher has a general unified arrangement of learning progress of all the students, but she also makes small changes according to the different learning level of students. students usually express their different opinions. all the differences reflected from language teaching materials and the language classrooms are caused by their different attitudes toward time, different values, and different ways of thinking. in a word, it is due to culture differences. chapter v summarizes the suggestions to our language classroom from the results of the study with the angle of language teaching materials, teachers, and the way of language test respectively. in the classroom, teacher should regard the students as the subjectivity of learning, understand the needs of students, and increase the interaction and communication with them. they also should assign learning tasks according to different learning characteristics of different students. the content of language teaching materials should be as rich as possible, and close to the lives of students. the exercises after texts should focus on cultivating the abilities of students. the forms of language testing can be diversified, and can take interpersonal communication skills as the main content of the test to evaluate the language level and abilities of students comprehensively. chapter vi makes a conclusion and sets out the practical significance of this study. key words: language classroom, culture differences, values, way of thinking 学位论文原创性声明和使用授权说明 原创性声明原创性声明 本人郑重声明：所呈交的学位论文，是本人在导师指导下，独立进行研究工 作所取得的研究成果。除文中已经标明引用的内容外，本论文不包含任何其他个 人或集体已经发表或撰写过的研究成果。对本文的研究做出贡献的个人和集体， 均已在文中以明确方式标明。本声明的法律结果由本人承担。 学位论文作者签名： 日期： 年 月 日 学位论文版权使用授权书学位论文版权使用授权书 本学位论文作者完全了解学校有关保留、使用学位论文的规定，即：学校有 权保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交论文的复印件和电子版， 允许论文被查阅和 借阅。 本人授权湖北工业大学可以将本学位论文的全部或部分内容编入有关数据 库进行检索，可以采用影印、缩印或扫描等复制手段保存和汇编本学位论文。 学位论文作者签名： 指导教师签名： 日期： 年 月 日 日期： 年 月 日 湖 北 工 业 大 学 硕 士 学 位 论 文 1 introduction there is a chinese saying, “by nature all men are alike, but by education widely different.” in the process of education, the attitudes, values, ways of thinking, and behavior patterns of people to be formed. because of the impact of different education and education culture, the values, ways of thinking, behavior of people are different. education plays a vital role in the formation of peoples characters and personalities. it is important to examine the educational setting, because you can gain valuable insight into a culture by studying its perception and approach to education. as children grow, what they learn and the ways in which they learn influence their thinking and behavior. from a childs view, education provides a way to certainty. it offers to every child a set of guidelines and values. the english philosopher herbert spencer wrote, “education has for its object the formation of character” (spencer, 2005). children are also shaped by school as they become aware of what they need to know in order to lead productive, successful, and satisfying lives. schools are primary means by which a cultures history and traditions are passed from generation to generation. by the time children attend school, they have already been exposed to and internalized many of the basic values and beliefs of their culture. they have learned the rules of behavior that are considered appropriate for their role in the community and have begun to be socialized into that community. the function of an educational system is to teach the informal knowledge of a culture. in the integrated educational system, children continue the learning process and learn the rules of correct conduct, a hierarchy of cultural values, respect, and all of the other informal matters of culture. or as historian will durant said, “education is the transmission of civilization.” (durant, 1978)to transmit civilization, schools teach the formal knowledge a culture deems necessary: language, history, government, science, art, music, and how to survive in society. the study of this paper is significant both theoretically and practically. firstly, by describing and comparing the videos of language classroom between western and chinese students, the study can show the different teaching and learning processes of students of different culture, by qualitatively examining and comparing the questionnaire of “learning channel preference checklist” lynn obrien (1990) between western and chinese students, the study can show different style preference of students under different culture. the results then can enrich the studies on language teaching and learning in multicultural society. secondly, the study can provide some empirical 湖 北 工 业 大 学 硕 士 学 位 论 文 2 evidence for theory of teaching methods, learning style, cognition style, and thus is conducive to the further construction of the theory. thirdly, since the study may show some language classroom outcome of different culture, some pedagogical implications can be drawn, and then help the teaching and learning of language. culture is the knowledge acquired through society, language is a knowledge system acquired through contacting with language environment developed from human beings special language ability. language is the carrier and organic component of culture. as the primary stage of education, the impact of teaching and learning language under certain culture will have a profound impact to the life of students. through the family education, school edition, internal influence of social group, and various educational modes of mass media, a society makes its natural person to gradually establish the ideal of life, sets up the values, forms the corresponding behavior ways, and obtains the qualifications of a social person. this process is the socialization process. and it is also the process of continuity and transmission of a particular culture. nevertheless, since culture mores and beliefs relate not just to social behaviors and interests but affect assumptions about ways of learning and teaching, the process of teaching and learning a language reveals how the culture influences the thought and activities in language classroom. because of the differences between chinese and western culture, there are some differences between the values, ways of thinking, and behavior patterns of chinese and western students. these differences make chinese language classroom and western language present different scenes .through analyzing these differences under cultural factors we may have better understanding of learning culture of different cultures, and alleviate the conflicts caused by culture. so it is necessary to study learning culture in the language classroom. 湖 北 工 业 大 学 硕 士 学 位 论 文 3 1 theoretical foundations 1.1 about culture 1.1.1 the definition of culture to begin with, it is really necessary to define the “culture” clearly, although defining the term “culture” has always been a very difficult task. the opinions on the implication of “culture” vary. according to statistics, there are over 200 definitions of culture (hu, 1994). in western languages, the meaning of “culture” is similar to that in “analects” and “the book of history”. culture is a derivation from the latin word “colere” (cure, take care, etc.). many latin authors used it for the cultivation of soul of mind, when left without cultivation, the human spirit will not achieve its proper results unless trained or educated (william, 1967). since a long period of time, culture was considered to be a ubiquitous, and all-encompassing of human knowledge and behavior entirety, it was generally considered as a “way of life”, “all aspects of social life”, “heritage objects”, “values system”, “large number of norms”, as well as “art, politics, economy, education, self-cultivation, literature, language, the sum of thinking ” and so on. values and virtues of a people set the pattern of social life through which freedom is developed and lived. this is called a “culture”. culture is the medium evolved by humans to survive. nothing in our lives is free from cultural influences. it is the keystone in civilizations arch and is the medium through which all lifes events must flow (hall, 1959). social linguist goodenough believed that the culture is composed of what people must know and believe in order to make their activities be accepted by other members of a society (goodenough, 1957). hobel and frost, who see culture in nearly all human activity, define culture as an “integrated system of learned behavior patterns which are characteristic of the members of a society and which are not the results of biological inheritance” (hobel and frost, 1976). when exposed to culture-specific data, provided by the physical world, the mind is thought to generate systems of knowledge consisting of accumulated and classifiable sets of thoughts, feelings, values and beliefs that are specific to a particular culture group. by virtue of their group membership, and their innate possession of the formal structures needed to process culture-specific data, individual members are assumed to have full and equal possession of these sets of knowledge (sarangi, 1994). however, the term culture is generally regarded to be carrying two different 湖 北 工 业 大 学 硕 士 学 位 论 文 4 meanings in our modern sense. one is the narrow definition of culture, referring to something artistic or academic. the other is the broad definition of culture or anthropological definition of culture. it refers to the way of life of a people, and it is containing the way of thinking, customs, habits, traditions of a society. the culture in this paper mostly belongs to this category. 1.1.2 culture determination as we have seen, culture is ubiquitous, multidimensional, complex, and all-pervasive. however, values associated with such things as ethics and morals, work and leisure, definition of freedom, the importance of the past, religious practices, the pace of life, and attitudes toward gender and age are so deeply embedded in and determined by a culture that they persist generation after generation. that is culture determination. the influence of culture becomes habitual and subconscious. even the perception of something as simple as the blinking of ones eyes is affected by culture. “people learn to think, feel, believe, and act as they do because of the messages that have been communicated to them, and those messages all bear the stamp of culture. this omnipresent quality of culture leads hall to conclude that “there is not one aspect of human life that is not touched and altered by culture” (hall, 1959). all cultures are marked by a dominant group who greatly influences perceptions, mode of thinking, communication patterns, beliefs, and values. to individuals, the culture plays the role of molding personality of individuals and realizing the function of socialization. through the family education, school edition, internal influence of social group, and various educational modes of mass media, a society makes its natural person to gradually establish the ideal of life, sets up the values, forms the corresponding behavior ways, and obtains the qualifications of a social person. this process is the socialization process. and it is also the process of continuity and transmission of a particular culture. to the whole society, culture plays the role of integration and guiding. in any society, its members may be different in values more or less. but in a unified culture, the vast majority of people will be generally consistent with the fundamental aspects of social life. culture is both teacher and textbook (samovar, 2005). wood notes, the large system affecting communication is our culture, within which all our interactions take place. the rules, values, norms, traditions, taboos, and customs of a kind of culture all affect the other areas of the communication system (wood, 1994). different culture has different realities and belief system. cultural mores and 湖 北 工 业 大 学 硕 士 学 位 论 文 5 beliefs relate not just to social behaviors and interests but affect assumptions about ways of learning, even the meaning of “learning” may be different within different social constructs. 1.1.3 the relationship between language and culture german linguist humboldt believes that language not only has the ability of expressing, it also has cognitive function, as well as the tool of thinking and perception of a nation. each language contains a unique culture and world view. american linguist sapir said t