中国中学英语教学中如何融入文化背景教学

1、中国中学英语教学中如何融入文化背景教学【 abstract 】 languageisasocialcommunicationtool, andhastheinsepar ablerelationshipwiththesocialculture. inrecentyears, withtheaccelerationofreformandopeningup, foreignexchangesbecomemorefrequent,andcross-culturalcommunicationineverynationbecometheindispensablepartoflife. butcultur

2、aldifferencesarecross-culturalco mmunicatio nbarriers, whichhasbecomeacommonproblemfacingtheworid.therefore,cultureplaysaveryimportantroleinenglishteaching,whichiswidelyacknowledgedbyenglishteach ingcircle. meanwhile, “cultureaw areness”is prescribed inthenewen glishcurri culumstandard.theobjectoffo

3、reignlanguageteachinghasbrokenfreefromtheconventionallistening,speaking, readingandwriting.thedemandforculturalinformationinlanguagelearninghasbeenraised.culturalbackgroundknowledgecan，toagreatextent，holduptheimprovementofenbleproblemundistheprspaperdiscroundinforheneedofenolsoastoheguageanddeinengl

4、ish.glishteach.presentatoposedsoluusseshowtomationandeglishteachlplearnersveloptheirthisisshowingandbecoionofcultutiontotheppresentculxposelearningatchinegraspthecrabilitytocnasthebestmeanoticea.ralbackgroroblem. thituralbackgerstoitintsehighschouxofthelanommunicatewaytoimproveenglisht eachingand le

5、arning.keywords 】languaget eaching;cu lturebackgroundknowl edge:cultu reteaching ;englishte aching【摘要】语言是社会交际工具，与社会文化的关系密 不可分。近年来，随着改革开放步伐的加快，对外交往日 益频繁，国与国之间的交流也越来越广泛，跨文化交际成 为每个民族生活中不可缺少的部分，然而文化差异是跨文 化交际的障碍，已成为整个世界共同面临的问题。因此， 文化在英语教学中具有极其重要的作用，这一观点己经得 到了英语界的广泛的认可。但是，学生文化背景知识的匿 乏在很大程度上妨碍了英语教学，成为外语教学中

6、一个严 重的问题。新的英语课程标准提出了文化意识的培养，外语教学的目的己从传统的听、说、读、写中脱离出来。 外语教学中，使学生熟悉所学语言国家的历史、文化传统 和风俗习惯等对拓宽教学内容，开阔学生眼界，使所学知 识转化为交际能力，有着不可估量的作用。教师应注重向 学生介绍文化背景知识，探索如何在外语课堂上有效地融 入文化教学，从而帮助学生克服母语的干扰，养成用英语 思维的习惯，更快地掌握语言，这是提高英语教学质量的 最佳途径。【关键词】文化背景；语言教学；文化教学；英语教 学 ii ntroductio ntheling uistrobert ladodefine sthegoalof lea

7、rningaf oreignlang uageas the abilitytou seit，under standingit smeaningsa ndconnotationsintermsofthetargetlanguageandculture，andtheabilitytounderstandthespeechandwritingofnativesofthetargetcultureintermso ftheirgrea tideasanda chievement ” (lado, 196 4:25) 1 (p 90)theteac hingofafor eignlangua geine

8、vitab lyinvolves theteachin gofforeign culture.withchina ? sopen-叩po licyandent ryinwto, howtolayasol idfoundati onforculti vating1ear nersinterc ulturalcom municative competence inhigh-sch ooleducati onbecomesa nimportantobjective!nteachingenglishasaforeignlanguage. forthefirsttime“ cultureawarenes

9、s isprescribedinthenewenglishcurriculumstandard. cultureinstructionmaybenewtomostmiddle-schoolenglishteacherinanexamination-orientedenvironmentinchina seflcontext. buttheresearchandpracticeofinterculturalcommunicationstillhavealongwaytogobeforetheyreachsatisfactoryr esults.t hispaper, t herefore, a

10、imstoprese ntwhatmostactualpracticesintheclassroomareneedtobeclarifiedbeforeanythingcanbedonetoimprovefuturepractices, whenthenewenglishcurriculumstandardistobecarriedoutinelementaryeducation.thereare threemajorpartsinthepaper:firstly，itistheliteraturereview, whichconsistoftherelationofcultureandtea

11、chingandcurrentsituationofenglishteachinginchina. secondly,theextenttohowtopresentculturalbackgroundinformationandexposelearnerstoitintheneedofenglishteachingsoastohelplearnersgraspthecruxofthelanguageanddeveloptheirabilitytocommunicateinenglish,followedbytheintroductionofsomeofsuchtechniques.finall

12、ythemodelofclassroompracticeswasp roposedbyt heteaching culture.2culturete achingandl anguagetea chingdef initionoft heculturedefinitio nsofcultur erangefrom broaderonestonarroweronessincecultureisubiquitous,multidimensional, complex, andal1-pervasiveandmanydefinitionshavebeensuggestedfromdifferenta

13、ngles. fromadefinitionthatincludesalllearnedbehavior, wecanmovetoadefinitionthatproposescult urewithdis tinctbound aries.“bat esandplog ( 1990)propo sedadescriptivedefinitionthatincludesmostofthemajorterritoryofcultureo nwhichscho larscurren tlyagree.cultureis asystemofs haredbelie fs, values,custom

14、s, behaviorsandartifactsthatthemembersofasocietyusetocopewith. theirworldandwithoneanother,andthataretransmittedfromgeneration togenerati onthroughl earning” 2 (pi)th isdefiniti onincludes notonlypat ternsofbehaviorbutal sopatterns ofthought, artifacts, andthecult urallytran smittedski llsandtech ni

15、quesusedtomakethea rtifacts.culturewa sdefinedas thedeposit ofknowledge,experience,beliefs,values, actions, attitudes, meanings, religion,notionsoftime, roles, spatialrelations,conceptsoftheuniverse, andartifactsacquiredbyagroupofpeopleinthecourseofgenerationsthroughindividualandgroupstriving. 3(p21

16、)therefore,culturecanincludeeverythingfromritesofpassagetoconcepts ofthesoul.languagean dculturelanguagesa regeneral1 yacceptedw ordsandrulesdrawnfromspeech. languageisthecarrierofcultureandcultureisthecontentoflanguage.thereisnolanguagewithoutculturecontent. sociallinguisticsshowthatlanguageisasyst

17、emofstructurerulesandculture-specif icbeha.viorrulest hathumansu setointera ctwithoneanother. knowingalanguageisknownnotonlythegrammar, vocabularyanddiscoursepatternsbutalsotheculturalrulesofusingthosecomponentssoastouseappropriatelanguageinaparticularcontex t.itisqu itetruethatnothingmoreclearlydis

18、tinguishesoneculturefromanotherthanitslanguage. forexample,amajorlinguisticdifferencebetweenamericansandchineseliesintheuseofdirectandindirectlanguage. mostamericanslearntosay yesand no asameansofexpressingtheirindividualviews. however,thechineseusuallyuse “yes” and “no” toexpressrespectforthe feeli

19、ngofo thers. 4 (p23)i naw ord, thedev elopmentof culturecan undoubtedlypromoteth atoflangua. ge, andinth emeantime, theup- grow thandenric hmentoflan guageisthe necessarypreconditionstotheimprovementofthewholeculture.itisfortheespeciallycloserelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture. languageisregardeda

20、sthecarrierofculture, themirrortoreflectthe nationalcu lture.re lationbetw eenculture teachingan dlanguaget eachingc ultureandl anguageare closelyrel ated. alang uagecannev erbelearne dinacultur alvacuum. languagelea rningandcu lturelearn ingarenots eparable.“ itisthesam ewithcultu reteachingandlang

21、uageteaching.traditionalteachinginforeignlanguageeducationhaslimitedtheteachingofculturetransmissionofinformationaboutthepeopleofthetargetcountryandabouttheirgeneralattitudesandworldvlews.”(cl a.irekramsch，2000)5(p3)intraditionalteaching，thonghstudentsmasterthepronunciation, grammars，vocabulariesand

22、quitealotoflistening，speaking, reading, writingandtranslatingskills，theystillcannotbesaidtofullyunderstandandmasterenglish. englishasaforeignlanguageistheunityofenglishlanguageandculture.englishteachingisessentiallyaprocessofcross-culturecommunication. onepurposeofenglishteachingistodeve loplearner

23、sawarenes sofcultura ldifferenc esreflecte dinlanguages. theteachermusthelplearnerstorealizethatthoughtsandviewsofdifferentnationalitiesanddifferenttypesofsocietiesaboutnatureandhumansocietyarequitedifferent.soitisevidentlywrongtointerpretthingsinforeignlanguageinthesamewayasinmothertongue. tothesam

24、eextent,theachievementofenglishteachinggoalreliesonstudents culturalawareness. therefore,itisofgreatimportancetotakeforculturalbackgroundknowledgeasoneofthecontentsinthewholeprocessofenglishteachingsoastohelplearnerstohaveagoodcommandofnecessaryculturalknowledgeandtodevelopbasicculture 一learninga bi

25、lity.c urrentsitu ationofeng lishteachi nginchinachinaboas tstheworld ' sbiggestp opulationofenglishlearners. theenglishlanguagecoursehasbeenoneofthemostimportantcompulsorysubjectsinchina shighschoolformanyyears. inwesterncountries,languagetheoristsandlanguageteachershavetriedalottointegratecult

26、ureteachingintolanguageteachingforalmostacentury.sincetheintroductionofcultureteachingstartedintheearlyl980s,greatachievementshavebeenmadeinresearchduringthepasttwentyy ears. 6 (p 15)“ asfa rasweknow, therearealotofessaysaboutculturaldifferencesanditsteaching, suchasthequestionofculture, eflt eachin

27、ginn onspeakin gcountries bycemandma rgeretalpt ekin,englishasculturalactionbylukeprodromon,cultureteachingandforeignlanguageteachingbyguqianan,culturedifferencesandforeignlangua.geteachingbyhuwenzhongandamericancross-culturalcom munication researchby jiayuxin. 7 (pl7)however, th eredoesexi stabigdi

28、sc repancybet weentheore ticalresea rchesandac tualteachi ngpractice . anditisal sotruethat weaknesses stillremai ninourengl ishteachin gsystem.teacher' sa ttitudesto wardscultu reteaching andenglish teachingalanguaget eacherplay saleadingr oleinlangu ageeducati on. theteac heristheme diatorofaf

29、 oreigncult ure, andthe catalystof educationalchange. soteachers ' culturalcompetenceisofgreatimportanceincultureteachinginforeignlanguageeducation.theymustgetacquaintedwiththetargetcultureaswellasconstantlyupdatethekn owledgeabo utlanguage teaching.nowadays, thetraditi onalgrammar-translationme

30、thodstillenjoyspopularityamongteachers. thismethodaimsatteachinglearnerstoreadandtranslatethewrittenlanguagewithagoodcommandoftraditiona1grammar. i t? sobviousthatthemethodemphasizesgrammaticalaccura.cy,neglectingtheimportanceofthespokenlanguage, nott omentionle arners cul turalcompe tence.to daymos

31、ttea chershaveb eeninforme doverandoveragainoftheimportantofcultureteaching. however, theirbelief, infaceofdifficultiesputtingtheoryintopractice，maybeweakened. itwillreallybeaproblemifteachersthemselveshavenotenoughknowledgeaboutthetargetlanguageculture.anditisoneofthemajorfactorsthathinder culturet

32、ea chinginchi na.stude nts attitu destowards cultureteachinganden glishteach ingengli shtestings houldprovi deanobject iveandscientifiemeansfortheevaluationofthecourseandthelearners languageproficiency.ononehand, itshouldhelptofindouttheadvantagesanddisadvantagesofthecourseitselfinachievingthedesire

33、dteachingandlearningobjectives.ontheotherhand, itmusthelptorevealtheareasandextentofthestud ents strengthsandweaknesses, whichinturnmayhelpidentifyproblemsexistingintherelevanthigh-schoolenglishcurriculum.butasamatteroffact，thepresentenglishtestingsystemfailstoprovideagoodfeedbackoftheactualabilityo

34、fstudents concerningculturalcompetenceandappropriatelanguageuse.englishtestsconductedinhigh-schoolnowusuallycovertheareaofvocabulary,languagestructure, listening,readingandwriting.thetestisstillonmeasuringthestudents linguisticcompetenee, butign oresthesoc io-cultura labilityof them.3th eimportanc e

35、ofculture teachingin englishteaching“cu lturelearn inghelpsel iminatecom municationbarriers,preventusfromcommunicationconf1icts，developourfieldofvisionandpromoteourculturalcommunication. (lindajin，1996). 8 (pi2) tolearnaforeignlanguageanditsrelativeculturewillhelpthestudentstoknowtheworldandthemselv

36、esfromdifferentpointsofview. foreignlanguagelearningisaspiritadventure，adevelopmentofmodesofthought，areorganizationofvaluesandaremoldofpersonalitystructure.intheprocessofintroducingforeignculturesandreorganizingourownculture,culturepla ysanespeci allyimport antrole.learningwe sterncultu reisnottol e

37、arnsomewordsbyheart，buttolearnthethoughtandvaluesthatcontrolone sacts.withoutthisknowledge,onecannotreallymasteraforeignlanguage.onlyarmedwiththisknowledge, canchinesestudentshopetomeetandtalkwithforeignersinenglishnotonlygrammaticallyaccuratebutalsosociallyac ceptable?improving englishrea dingengl

38、ishreading abilityiso nekindofco mprehensiveability. therearesomanyenglisharticleliteraturestylesincludingthecertainbackgroundknowledge.somereading, althoughhasnotbumpedintoanewwordinthereadingprocess, anddoesnothavethegrammarbarrier, butitisdifficultforthestudentstoknowthemeaningofthewholereadingpa

39、ssage，especiallywhenthestudentslackofthecertainknowledgeoftheculturalcontext.9 (p31)forexample ，thereares uchseveralspeechesinareadingmaterial : “ whydon，tyougotochurch? askedtheminister. thenonchurchgoersaid, well,r litellyou.thefirsttimelwenttochurchtheythrewater inmyface, andthesecondtimetheytied

40、m etoawomanl vehadtoke epeversinc e. “yes, ” s aidthemini ster， “ andt henexttime yougothey llthrowdir tonyou. 10 (p2) foru nderstandingofthisre adingmater ial, thestu dentmustkn ow: 1) “thef irsttimelw enttochurc htheythrew waterinmyf ace” meansw henparents hugthenewb ornbabytot hechurchforbaptism,

41、 p astorthrew waterinthe child' sfac e;2)“these condtimeth eytiedmeto awomanlve hadtokeepe ” versmce.meanstheyheldtheweddingeeremonyinthechurch.thisarticlereferstothesituationwhenawesternerdies,pastorfinallypraysandpullsuptheearthtothecoffintocarryonburyingagain.ifthereaderisnotfamiliarwiththere

42、ligionculturalknowledgeinthebritishandamericancountry, heorshecancausetheunderstandingofbeingbloeked, letaloneappreciateshumor.anothere xampleisth edialogue- -lessonbri tainandlre landinseni orstudentb ookiunit22 (sefc):zhoulan:areyoueng lish?david :no, t m not.zho ulan:bu tyouspeake nglish.david:t

43、hat scorre ct.zhou lan:whe reareyoufr omthen?can ada?davi d:no, i mfrombrita in.zhou lan:but ithoughtyo usaidyouwe rentenglish.davi d:right，i mbritis h, butl mno tenglish.zhou ian:whatare youthen?david:1 mscottish，i mfromsc otland.z houlan:where stha t?david:it stot henorthofe ngland; it? spartofbri

44、tain.zh oulan:h aveyougota. maptoshowm e?i mpuzzl ed.11 (p 87)whydo eszhoulanf eelpuzzled aboutthisd ialogue?becausezhoulandoesnotunderstandthebackgroundknowledgeofthebritainandengland. althoughenglandandbritainaresametoengland, strictlyspeaking,englishreferstopeopleofengland.englandisonlyapartofbri

45、tain.englandisbounteous，thepopulationslarger,butitcannotrepresentscotland，walesandlrelandafterail. astheselocalpeopie,theyareusuallynotwillingtoberegardedasscottish/welsh/irishratherthanasenglish.asbritish (english)，theyaremayacceptasbritish.thatiswhydavi dsaid: “im british, bu tl mnoteng lish. in t

46、hisdialog ue, ifthest udentsgras pthisbackgroundknowl edge, itise asyforthem tounderstandthisdial ogue. there fore, carry ingontheba. ckgroundkn owledgeint hisdialogu etothestud entsappear stheextrem elyimporta nee.impr ovingtheco mmunicatio nability theaimofth eenglishte achingsyll abuscurrentlyinc

47、hinastressesthebasicskillsoflistening,speaking, writingandtranslating,whilethemostimportantgoalofenglishteachingshouldbetofostertheabilityofcommunication.12 (p80)however,thevariouscountrieshavedifferentcustom. therearehugedifferencebetweenchinaandthewestern.therefore,tocarryoneffectivecommunicationp

48、roperlywiththeforeigners,oneshouldknowabouttheculturalbackgroundofthewesternnationasexactlyaspossible,especiallythedifferenceswithchineseculturet hebackgrou ndknowledg e.herearethreequestions: (1)whatsyourname?(2)howoldareyou?(3)areyoumarried?anyonewhoknowsalittleenglishcanaskthesequestionsinenglish

49、.butifastudentasksayoungla.dyfromawesterncountrytheabovequestions,hehasmadeaseriousmistakeintermsofappropriacy.toavoidsuchsillymistakes, theteachershouldhelpstudentsrealizethatitisn ' tpolitetoaskwesternersquestionsconcerningtheage, salary, marriageandotherprivatethings, suchaspoliticalinclinati

50、onandreligiousbelief, etc. forexample, thereissuchadialogueinseniorstu dentbookll unit22 (sef c)wou ldyoulikea notherpiec eofbeancur d?yes ，please.it sdeliciou s. didyoucookityourse if?ye s，ofcourse . it sverye asy. t llte achyouifyoulike.howabout somemorebe ef?there s plentymore .wei 1，justalit tie

51、, please .let megiveyous omemorechi cken. andhaveanotherp ancake.they re betterwhen theyarehot .no, thanks. v d hadenough.what aboutyou, b ob?abowlof soup?r mfull, than kyou.whatadelic ioussupper !nexttimey oumustcometous. 13 (p93)here requestsst udenthavea culturalba ckgroundab outthepoliteexpressi

52、onindinetime. chinaandthewesternculturehavethedifferenceintreatingmeal.thechinesetakepridein“ modesty , whilethea mericansin “ straightf orwardness . anameric anhostess, whoiscomplimentedfor hercooking skills, isl ikelytosay，“oh，i' mso gladthatyo ulikedit.i cookedites peciallyfo ryou. nots oachineseh ostorhoste ss, whowill apologizeforforgivingyou “ nothi