跨文化交际中的语用失误和初中英语教学中的文化教学

1、On Pragmatic Failure in Cross-cultural Communication and the Culture Teaching in Middle School English EducationA Thesis Submitted to School of Foreign LanguagesOf Handan College in Partial FulfillmentOf the Requirement for the DegreeOf Bachelor of ArtsHandan, ChinaMay, 2012郑重声明本人的毕业论文是在指导教师王颢的指导下独立

2、撰写完成的。如有剽窃、抄袭、造假等违反学术道德、学术规范和侵权的行为,本人愿意承担由此产生的各种后果,直至法律责任,并愿意通过网络接受公众的监督。特此郑重声明。毕业论文(设计作者(签名:年月日ContentsAcknowledgements (iAbstract (iiAbstract(Chinese (iiiIntroduction (1Chapter One Pragmatic Failures in Cross-cultural Communication (41.1 The Classification of Pragmatic Failures (51.2 The Reasons o

3、f the Pragmatic Failures (9Chapter Two Culture Teaching in Middle School English Teaching (102.1 The Present Situation (102.2 Pragmatic Failures of Middle School Students (112.3 The Reasons. . (11Chapter Three The Methods of Culture Teaching (133.1 Cultural Penetrating in English Classes (133.2 Desi

4、g ning Special Activities (14Conclusion (16Notes (18Bibliography (19AcknowledgementsI would like to avail myself of this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to all those who have offered me help in my thesis writing. First of all, my thanks are particularly extended to my supervisor, Lecturer,

5、Wang Hao, whose inspiring insights, generous encouragements, and enthusiastic instructions have facilitated me much throughout my thesis writing. Her penetrating and insightful comments afford me with inspiring source. She has been in constant concern about my paper, spared no pains to entertain my

6、thesis draft. She also teaches me the format of the thesis. She has walked me through all the stages of the writing of this thesis. Without her consistent and illuminating instruction, this thesis could not have reached its present form. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to the Foreign L

7、anguage Department of Handan College as well as all my teachers. Thanks to their instructive guidance and comprehensive education during the four years schooling, I can acquire the opportunity to further study English. And I want to thank my parents. It is them who brought me up and give me financia

8、l support through my college life. Finally, my great gratitude also goes to all my friends, especially my roommates who gave me their help and time in listening to me and helping me work out my problems during the difficult course of the thesis.AbstractThere is a great potential for communicators to

9、 suffer communication breakdowns in intercultural context because of the cultural differences. The aim of this paper is to find a means to solve this problem through analyzing the pragmatic failures in cross-cultural communication so as to improve the studentsability in cross-cultural communication.

10、This thesis tends to talk about the pragmatic failure in cross-cultural communication and the culture teaching in middle school English education. Chapter one introduces classifications and reasons of the pragmatic failures. The author analyzes the pragmatic failure in cross-cultural communication f

11、rom two sides: ragmalinguistic failure and sociopragmatic failure. And chapter two explains the present situation of the middle school English teaching , the reasons which cause this and then analyze the pragmatic failures that the students often make. Chapter three is about the suggestions on cultu

12、re teaching in middle school English classes and how to improve the students consciousness of culture and ability of cross-cultural communication.Key Words: cross-cultural communication pragmatic failure cultural teaching摘要在跨文化交际过程中,文化差异的存在很有可能会引起交际者中断其交际行为,从而导致交际失败。本文旨在通过对跨文化交际中语用失误的分析来寻找解决这一问题的方法,

13、以提高学生的跨文化交际能力。这篇论文主要谈论跨文化交际中的语用失误和初中英语教学中的文化教学。文章第一部分给出了“语用失误”的分类和原因,从语用语言失误和社交语用失误两个角度分析跨文化交际语用失误。第二部分阐述了初中英语教学的现状及造成这种状况的原因,分析了学生常出现的语用失误。第三部分提出了在初中英语的教学中如何渗透文化教学的一些建议,培养中学生的文化意识及跨文化交际的能力,以尽量减少和避免在交际过程中因文化差异而导致的失误。关键词:跨文化交际;语用失误;文化教学IntroductionJenny Thomas, a British linguist, advanced the pragma

14、tic failure in nineteen eighths. He called the faults that people cant get the perfect effect in the communication pragmatic failure. According to Thomas, pragmatic failure, which can be divided into pragmalinguistic failure and sociopragmatic failure, refers to the inability to understand what is m

15、eant by what is said. As Chinese culture is not the same as that of the English-speaking countries, the rules for using Chinese are, in some respects, different from those for using English. Therefore, it is difficult for Chinese learners to select a linguistic form that is appropriate for a specifi

16、c situation, or to use English appropriately in social interactions. In other words, pragmatic failure often occurs when Chinese learners communicate with English native speakers.That is the inability to understand what is meant by what is said. During the cross-culture communication, people from di

17、fferent part of the world have different cultures. They often understand what other persons say as their own experience, so the pragmatic failures come to exist. In modern foreign languages teaching, people think that the interference from culture is one of the headaches in teaching. If a teacher ca

18、nt know the background of the culture well, he or she cant teach the language well. These years the culture and the difference between different cultures occupy larger and larger percent in all the exams. The exchanges of cultures between China and other countries in all the fields are more and more

19、 frequently. These trends of development tell us how important it is to pay attention to the culture teaching. It asks the English teachers to give more attention to the different cultures. This paper will center on Chinese learnerspragmatic failure and the possible sources of such failure and the m

20、ethods of culture teaching in middle school English education.To have a more complete picture about the issues I am examining, I decide first to do a state- of-the-type of study and then see what has happened in this area over the past twelve years.In Cross-cultural Communication, Gu Yueguo introduc

21、es some general concepts and models of communication, some cultural shocks, social Interaction and Roles and Relations and some other knowledge in cross-cultural communication. Cross-cultural communication is an extremelycomplicated process and can be quite painful at times. This book introduces the

22、 knowledge of cross-cultural communication to us from lots of living examples. Through these, they tell us the importance of cultural knowledge and how to avoid the failures.Then Gu Jiazu shows us the principles in cultural communication in Cross-cultural Communication: Covert Culture in Foreign Lan

23、guages and Literature. The principles are treating each other equally, respecting the private rights of each other, seeking common ground and reserve differences, and combining the involvement with keeping independence. The two side of communication should be equal. Respecting the private rights of

24、each other can solve lots of problems when they communicate. In my opinion, one word can summarize the opinion of Gu Jiazu, that is respect. Respecting the different cultures, languages, faiths and some other things of each other, the communication can be going on successfully. This thesis illustrat

25、es how to use the principles in communication and how to infiltrate them in culture teaching in middle school education.In addition, Wang Zhenya explains the communicative competence. In English Language and Culture,he introduces two different views. The first are from Canale and Swain. They say the

26、 communicative competence should contain grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, textual competence and strategic competence. The second is from Bachman. He put forward the communicative language ability in 1990, including language competence, strategic competence and psychophysical mech

27、anisms. And then Bachman complained the language competence further. The language teaching shouldnt be independent, but be combined with culture teaching. Then it can receive the best effect. The culture teaching in middle school English education should follow this theory to nuture the studentscult

28、ural consciousness, and then they can communicate with others well. In middle school, students need to learn a foreign language and its culture together, that is a very perfect way to learn and use a foreign language well.Moreover, Zhu Yifeis article Pragmatic Failure in Cross-cultural Communication

29、 and English Teachingis published in Journal of Liaoning Administration college. It appeals the teachers to instruct the differences between cultures clearly to the students in middle school. Only by doing so can we avoid the pragmatic failures which are caused by the differences. In this article, s

30、he analyze the representations and reasons of the pragmatic failure in cross-culture in English teaching and the effective means to avoid the failure. It has important meaning for Englishteachers to study the pragmatic failure. The traditional English teaching attaches importance to the form and str

31、ucture of the language, the vocabulary and the grammar, and often ignores the socio-function and communicative function. These students can use the language correctly but not appropriately. So she calls us to add the culture teaching in English teaching.Furthermore, Zou Lihua puts forward his view i

32、n Pragmatic failure in Cross- cultural Communication and the Culture Teaching in English Education. He considers foreign language study is a study of culture in deed. If one wants to learn the foreign language, he must know the culture of the target language well, especially familiar with the differ

33、ences between the source language and the target language. This article analyses the pragmatic failure in cross-culture communication from the cultural angle, inquires what causes the phenomenon and suggests the measures to overcome the phenomenon. The pragmatic failure in cross-culture is a phenome

34、non Chinese students often face when they learn English. The root cause of this condition is the lack of systematic learning of the western culture, especially the lack of discernible ability and comprehensive ability of the differences between Chinese culture and western culture. So foreign languag

35、es learning is the study that one needs to develop his language skill and culture skill.Where there are cultures, there are differences. Sun Meihua and Wang Zengcui put forward a proposal that the teachers should strengthen the students correct lead of cultural knowledge when they pass on the Englis

36、h knowledge to the students. This view comes from The Inspiration of English Teaching from the Pragmatic Failure in Cross-culture Communication. They use some living examples to analyse the pragmatic failure in cross-culture communication. They classify the failure into three kinds: the failure of p

37、ragmatic-language, the failure of sociopragmatical and the failure of non-verbal communication. At last they show the inspiration of English teaching: strengthen the consciousness of cross-culture and learning and accumulating the pragmatic knowledge of cross-culture.Zhou Xiaoqins Pragmatic Failure

38、in Cross-cultural Communication and the Countermeasures also puts forward a view about the pragmatic failures. Different peoples have different cultures and principles of the communication. We know that language is the most direct and effective means of communication. Language was controlled and aff

39、ected by culture. She also considers that if one wants to have a successful cross-cultural communication, he must be good at both his own culture and the culture of the other side. In this article, she analyses the causes andclassifies them. At last she points that language teaching, study and cultu

40、re teaching should be at the equal position.Li Hong, in The Culture Teaching in Middle School English Educationgives us the particular methods of the culture teaching in English teaching in middle school. He mentions the language is the carrier of the culture. The differences between the cultures ar

41、e the main reasons of the pragmatic failure in cross-cultural communication, so teachers should pay more attention to train the students consciousness of cross-cultural communication from junior middle school. The content of the culture teaching in middle school can accord to the teaching materials

42、to sum up the different cultures between English-spoken countries and Chinese culture. The first part Li Hong summarize the kinds of pragmatic failures, such as about basic necessities of life. And then he submits the realistic and practicable measures to educate the cultural consciousness of the mi

43、ddle school students.In English is the important means to have international communication , Luo Yanfeng says in his article Let the Culture Teaching Go Back to the English Lessons of the Junior Middle School. Now more and more teachers realize the importance of the culture. Culture teaching is prac

44、tical in middle school. It should be combined with the teaching practice of middle school. Culture teaching is not a task of one grade or one stage, but a great event that runs through all the states of learning English. During teaching languages, we must clear the relation between culture teaching

45、and language teaching. They two promote each other.About the culture teaching in middle school English education, Hu Konghua has clear explanations in Talking about Blending Culture in Middle School English Teaching. Language is the important supporter of culture and language. This article explains

46、the importance and necessity of blending culture in middle school English teachers, then analyses the existing problems in English teaching in middle school at present, and at last raises the means to integrate cultures in English teaching in middle school.Yet, the seniors get so many achievements o

47、n this topic and then the author will study it basing on their articles. This paper aims to analyze the pragmatic failure on cross-cultural communication and the cultural teaching in middle school English teaching. So as to improve the cultural consciousness of the students.Chapter One Pragmatic Fai

48、lures in Cross-cultural CommunicationThe concept of pragmatic failure was first proposed by Jenny Thomas to define the inability to understand what is meant by what is said. He explains that although the speaker uses sentences which are grammatically correct, they unconsciously violate the norms of

49、interpersonal relationships and social norms in speech, or take no notice of time, hearer and context. Wolfson points out, In interacting with foreigners, native speakers tend to be rather tolerant of errors in pronunciation or syntax. In contrast, violations of rules of speaking are often interpret

50、ed as bad manners since the native speaker is unlikely to be aware of sociolinguistic relativity.1 This chapter will introduce the classification and reasons of the pragmatic failure.1.1 The Classification of Pragmatic FailuresAs Thomas points out, pragmatic failure refers to the inability to unders

51、tand what is meant by what is said2. He further divides pragmatic failures into two types: pragmalinguistic failure and sociopragmatic failure. This definition can, of cause, cover any sort of pragmatic failures and therefore is adopted by many scholars in their study of pragmatic failures. Sun Ya a

52、nd Dai Lin distinguished pragmatic failure in the broad and narrow sense in their survey of pragmatic studies in China. Qian Guanlian notices that pragmatic failure can be divided into pragmatic failure in intercultural communication and pragmatic failure within the same mother tongue communication3

53、, or in Sun Yas term interlingual pragmatic failure and intralingua l pragmatic failure. Based on their research findings, the author arranges and groups the data collected into two categories, namely, pragmalinguistic failure and sociapragmatic failure.The essence(本质of the pragmalinguistic failure

54、is the problem of language. The foreign English learners often apply the native language expression to the target language or understand the words that the native English speakers say as the native language expression. So the pragmalinguistic failure appears.Firstly, the same language behavior in di

55、fferent languages brings pragmalinguistic failure. The disjunctive question often makes Chinese and foreigners misunderstand each other, because of theanswer. In Chinese, no matter the first part of the disjunctive is sure or negative, the word yes is to express the agreement. But in English, the wo

56、rd yes is to make sure the verb itself, but not the sentence.Example 1A(a foreigner: So you didnt know that before, did you?B(a Chinese guide: Yes.A: You didnt mean that you knew it in advance, did you?B: Yes, Miss.This happens between a foreign tourist and a Chinese guide. Some tourists come to tra

57、vel in China. They meet a lot trouble on their way, so they feel a little angry after reaching the destination. But the trouble appears again. After visiting the planned attractions, they have plenty of time. The guide suggests going to the zoo to appreciate the performance of pandas. Although they

58、have to pay extra cost, because the panda is the national treasure of China, the tourists agree. After arriving at the zoo, unfortunately, they are told that the pandas were borrowed to another place. After the above dialogue, the tourists take the guide to the court. The pragmalinguistic failure ma

59、kes the guide suffer a lot.Secondly, literal Meaning also brings pragmalinguistic failure.Example 2The bell is ringing. students in class are still talking when the teacher comes in.Teacher: There is much noise here.Students: Yes.Teacher: Would you be a little quiet?Students: All right, sir. (stop talkingIt seems that the student does not understand