文化背景知识对高中生英语阅读理解的影响

TheImpactofCulturalBackgroundKnowledgeonEnglishReadingComprehensionforHighSchoolStudents文化背景知识对高中生英语阅读理解的影响TheImpactofCulturalBackgroundKnowledgeonEnglishReadingComprehensionforHighSchoolStudentsAbstract：Accordingtothe2017editionoftheGeneralSeniorHighSchoolEnglishCurriculumStandard,thecorecompetencyoftheEnglishsubjectincludeslanguageability,culturalawareness,thinkingqualityandlearningability.Culturalawareness,asanimportantpartofit,isindispensableinEnglishlearning.Itisalsoconducivetotheall-rounddevelopmentofstudentstoacquirescientificandculturalknowledge,broadeninternationalvisionandcomprehendthediversityofworldcultureinreallifesituationandcross-culturalcommunication.Readingcomprehensionisanimportantskillinlanguagelearning,anditalsooccupiesaconsiderableproportionintoday’sEnglishproficiencyassessment.Tofullyunderstandanarticle,oneshouldnotonlymasteralargenumberofvocabularyandbasicgrammar,butalsoneedtounderstandtheculturalbackgroundknowledgecontainedinit.Unfamiliarcustoms,religiousbeliefs,historicalbackgroundsandotherfactorswillalsohaveanimpactonstudents’readingcomprehension.ThisstudymainlyfocusesonEnglishreadinginhighschool,andexploresthesignificanceandfunctionofculturalbackgroundknowledgeinEnglishreadingcomprehension.Thetheoreticalbasisisformedbyconsultingrelevantliterature.Throughquestionnaires,experiments,interviewsandothersurveymethods,wecanunderstandthereadinginterestsandhabitsoftoday’sstudentsinEnglishlearning,aswellastheirunderstandingoftheculturalbackground.Incombinationwiththeteacher’spointofview,wecanfindouthowmuchEnglishteachersattachtoculturalbackgroundknowledgeinpracticalteachingandtheproblemsencounteredinteaching.Basedonexperimentaldata,theresearchanalyzestheimpactofculturalbackgroundknowledgeonEnglishreadingcomprehension,andprovidesteachingenlightenmentforEnglishteachers.Furthermore,ithelpsoptimizeclassroomquality,increasetheinterestofEnglishreading,enhancestudents’readinginterest,anddevelopgoodreadinghabits.WeoughttoprovidestudentswithvariousmethodstolearnEnglishculture,andfurtherpromotethestudyofEnglish.Keywords：Englishreadingcomprehension;culturalbackgroundknowledge;impact;seniorhighschool文化背景知识对高中生英语阅读理解的影响摘要：根据2017版普通高中英语课程标准，英语学科的核心素养包括语言能力，文化意识，思维品质和学习能力。文化意识作为其中的重要组成部分，在高中英语学习中不可或缺。在真实的生活情境和跨文化交流中获取科学文化知识，拓宽国际视野，领悟世界文化的多样性，同样有利于学生的全面发展。阅读理解在语言学习中是一项重要的技能，在现如今的英语能力考核中，阅读也占据着相当大的比重。充分理解一篇文章，不仅要掌握大量词汇和基本的语法知识，还需要了解其中所蕴含的文化背景知识。陌生的风俗习惯，宗教信仰，历史背景等因素，对于学生的阅读理解同样会产生影响。本研究主要针对高中阶段的英语阅读，并探究文化背景知识对高中生英语阅读理解的意义和作用。通过查阅相关文献资料，形成理论基础。通过问卷、实验、访谈等调查方法，了解现如今学生在英语学习中的阅读兴趣与习惯，以及他们对文化背景的认识程度与看法。结合教师的观点，了解英语教师在实际教学中对文化背景知识的重视程度，在传授中遇到的问题等。基于实验数据，分析文化背景知识对英语阅读理解的影响，并为高中英语教师提供教学方面的启示，帮助优化课堂质量，增加英语阅读的趣味性，提升学生阅读兴趣，养成良好阅读习惯。为学生提供更多有利于学习英语文化的方法，进一步促进对英语这门学科的学习。关键词：英语阅读理解；文化背景知识；影响；高中ContentsTOC\o"1-1"\h\u16464Abstract ii6476摘要 iv26032Introduction 7244941.Literaturereview 7257671.1Onculture 829611.1.1Thedefinitionofculture 823731.1.2Thecharacteristicsofculture 8156161.2Onreading 10201561.2.1Thedefinitionofreading 10144471.2.2Schematheoryofreading 10280511.2.3Theimportanceofreadinginlanguagelearning 11191091.3Therelationshipsbetweenculturalbackgroundknowledgeandreadingcomprehension 1211202.Relevantstudieshomeandabroad 13207422.1Relevantstudiesabroad 13305952.2.RelevantstudiesinChina 14125273.Theexperiment 15182893.1Introduction 1580113.2Researchsubjects 16231793.3Researchmethods 16249773.4Theproceduresoftheexperiment 17242254.Resultsanddiscussion 17152894.1Analysisoftheresults 17183144.1.1Analysisoftheresultofthequestionnaire 1769054.1.2Analysisoftheresultofthetests 21234164.2Discussionoftheresults 23192684.2.1Thesuggestionsfortheteachers 237554.2.2Thesuggestionsforthestudents 2413792Conclusion 25413Bibliography 2622927Appendix1 279774Appendix2 2828959Appendix3 3313137Acknowledgements 39IntroductionThespecificgoaloftheseniorhighschoolEnglishcourseistodevelopstudents’languageability,culturalawareness,thinkingquality,learningabilityandsoon.AfterreceivingEnglisheducation,studentsacquireculturalknowledge,understandculturalconnotations,compareculturalsimilaritiesanddifferences,andhavecertainabilityofcross-culturalcommunication.Inaddition,studentscandistinguishthespecificphenomenainlanguageandculture,andcananalyzetheinformation.Culturalbackgroundknowledgeincludesgeography,history,politicsandotherdifferentaspects.Italsoembodiesthesocialbackground,lifestyle,socialtraditionandotheraspectsofacountry.Foralongperiodoftime,ourEnglishteachingmainlyfocusesonphonetics,vocabularyandgrammar,ignoringtheinfluenceofculturalbackgroundknowledgeonreading,whichcausesdifficultiesinreadingcomprehension.CultivatingstudentstodevelopahigherEnglishreadingability,theteachingofculturalbackgroundknowledgeisanimportantpartinEnglishteaching.TheintroductionofculturalbackgroundintohighschoolEnglishreadingclasscanhelpstudentsunderstandthecontentofteachingmaterials,broadentheirscopeofknowledge,andstimulatestudents’desireforEnglishreading.Thepurposeofthisstudyistolearnabouttheattitudesandthoughtsofhighschoolstudentsonculturalbackgroundknowledgethroughquestionnairesandexperiments,andwhetherteachingculturalbackgroundknowledgehasanpositiveeffectonthecorrectrateofhighschoolstudents’Englishreadingtest.Onthisbasis,wetrytoexploreabetterwaytoteachEnglishreading,soastocultivatestudents’readinginterestandreadinghabits.IntermsofEnglishteaching,traditionalreadingclassfocusesontheexplanationofwords,sentencepatternsandgrammarinthetext.Itreflectsthebottom-upmodel.However,thiskindofteachingstrategyisfarfromperfect.Ifstudentswanttohaveamorethoroughunderstandingofthetext,theyshouldlearnaboutculturalconnotations,insteadofasimpletranslation.Fromalong-termperspective,itisnotbeneficialtothedevelopmentofstudents.Throughthisresearch,Ihopetoinnovateteachingmethodsandadapttothetrendofcross-culturaldevelopment.1.Literaturereview1.1OncultureThispartwillprovideabriefintroductiontoculturefromtwoaspects.Thefirstpartinvolvesageneraldefinitionofculture,andthesecondpartisaboutsomecharacteristicsofculture.1.1.1ThedefinitionofcultureCultureisafundamentalissueinthestudyofanthropologyandotherhumanities.Theword“culture”comesfromtheLatinword“cultura”inthewest,andtheoriginalmeaningreferstothecultivationofplantsduringfarming.Sincethe15thcentury,thecultivationofhumanmoralityandabilityhasalsobeencalledculture.Culture,asthewidestcontextofhumanbehavior,isasimportanttothepsychologistastothesocialstudent,tothehistorianastothelinguist.Indifferentfields,scholarshavegivenvariousdefinitionstoculture.BritishanthropologistEdwardBurnettTylorpointedoutinthebookPrimitiveCulture:cultureorcivilization,takeninitswideethnographicsense,isthatcomplexwholewhichincludesknowledge,belief,art,religion,morals,law,custom,andothercapabilitiesandhabitsacquiredbymanasamemberofsociety.BritishanthropologistMalinowski,BronislawKaspardividescultureintomaterialequipment,spiritualculture,languageandsocialorganizationinAScientificTheoryofCulture.Basedonvariousmanifestationsofculture,healsomentionsthatitobviouslyistheintegralwholeconsistingofimplementsandconsumers’goods,ofconstitutionalchartersforthevarioussocialgroupings,ofhumanideasandcrafts,beliefsandcustoms.Ingeneral,twomaincategoriesaredistinguished:abroadsensecultureandanarrowsenseculture.Cultureinabroadsensereferstothesumofallmaterialandspiritualproductscreatedbyhumanbeings.Thenarrowsenseofculturerefersexclusivelytolanguage,literature,artandideology.Cultureisacquiredthroughacquiredexperienceandknowledge,notinherited.Byanalyzingthedifferentdefinitionsofcultureproposedbyscholars,wecanrecognizethatcultureiscloselyrelatedtohumandevelopment.Whetherweconsideraquiteprimitivecultureoraextremelycomplexone,wecannotdenythatcultureiscloselyrelatedtohumanthought.1.1.2ThecharacteristicsofcultureCultureisrichinitscharacteristics.Firstofall,culture,asauniquephenomenonofhumansociety,istheproductofpeople’ssocialpractice.Humanbeingsarenotbornwithculture,becauseitiscultivatedthroughtheexperienceofsociallife,especiallythroughparticipationinculturallifeandacceptanceofeducation.Furthermore,culturedoesnotexistinisolation.Throughinterpersonalcommunication,peoplebuildbridgesofsocialconnectionsandspreadculture.Atthesametime,advancedculturewillpromotethedevelopmentofsociety.Conversely,backwardculturewillhinderitsdevelopment.Anotherimportantfeatureisdiversity.Duetodifferencesineconomy,politics,historyandgeography,differentcountries,nationsandregionshavetheirownculturalbackground.Culturaldiversitycanbereflectedinvariousaspects,suchaslanguage,religion,literature,art,architecture,customsandhabits.Fromthenationalfestivalsandculturalheritage,peoplecandeeplyfeelthecharmoftheworldculture.Therefore,itisnecessarytoadheretotheprinciplethatallculturesareequal.Thatis,inculturalexchanges,wemustunderstandandrespectdifferences,andjointlypromotetheprosperityofworldculture.Cultureisalsotransmissive.Thetransmissionofknowledge,information,emotionsandbeliefs,aswellasallsocialinteractions,canberegardedasculturalcommunication.Culturalcommunicationismutual.Forexample,educationisanimportantwayofculturalcommunication.Nowadays,themediacansurpassthelimitationsoftimeandspacetothegreatestextent,gatherinformationfromallovertheworld,andincreasinglyshowthepowerfulfunctionsofculturaltransmission,communicationandsharing,whichhasbecomethemainmethodofculturalcommunication.Withthedevelopmentofthetimes,culturewillalsochange.Nocultureisimmutable.Themainfactorsaffectingculturaldevelopmentarethereplacementofsociety,theadvancementofscienceandtechnology,andtheideologicalmovements.Nowadays,theimpactofeconomicglobalizationisextensive.Hence,inordertodevelopandinnovateculture,peopleshouldestablishcross-culturalawareness,thenpromoteculturalcommunications,absorbandlearnfromforeignexcellentculture.Developingeducationisawaytopromotethetransmissionofculturefromgenerationtogeneration.1.2OnreadingThispartwillbrieflyintroducethereadingfromthreeaspects.Thefirstpartmainlyfocusesonageneraldefinitionofreading,thesecondpartisschematheoryofreading,andthelastpartistoemphasizetheimportanceofreadinginlanguagelearning.1.2.1ThedefinitionofreadingReadingisaformoflanguageprocessing.Itisacomplexcognitiveprocessofdecodingsymbolstoderivemeaning.Itmeansthatpeoplecanacquirelanguage,informationandideasinthisway.Readingisalsoasocialphenomenoninwhichaspecialformofcommunicationexists.Theauthor,thetext,andthereaderarethreebasicelements.Thisprocessinvolvestheinteractionbetweenreaderandtext.Thetextplaysanimportantroleincarryingthecommunicativeinformation.Thereadingprocesscanbedividedintoperception,understanding,expression,evaluationandotherdifferentstages.Theperceptionstagereferstogenerallyunderstandingthestructureofthearticle,focusingonthemainpointsviewineachparagraph,andfinallyforminganoverallimpressionofthetext.Theunderstandingstageistoformadeeperunderstandingafterthereaderunderstandstheconceptinthetext,combiningtheexistingknowledgeandexperience.Theexpressionstageistoexpressthecontentofreading,andthisprocesswillgeneratenewideas.Intheevaluationstage,thereadermakesjudgmentsandevaluationsonthetext,whichisbasedonhisunderstanding.Duringthereadingprocess,thereaderisinaproactiveposition.Asthesubjectofreading,thereaderdeterminesthepurposeandmethodofreading.Thecorrespondingreadingobjectreferstothereadingmaterial,suchasanarticle,anewspaperorabook.Inconclusion,readerscanmakeuseofvariousreadingstrategiestodecodesymbolsintosoundsorothervisualrepresentationsofspeech.Atthesametime,theycanusecontextcluestounderstandthemeaningofunknownwords.Finally,theyintegratethesewordsintotheirexistingknowledge.1.2.2SchematheoryofreadingSchematheoryproposesthatwhenindividualsacquireknowledge,theyattempttoincorporateitintocertainstructuresinmemorythathelpthemunderstandtheknowledge.Schemataareorganizedmentalstructuresthatallowsthelearnerstounderstandandassociatewhatisbeingpresentedtothem.Ourschemataareourknowledge.Allofourgenericknowledgeisembeddedinschemata.SchematheorybelievesthatEnglishreadingpatternRumelhart(1983)includeslinguisticschema,formalschemaandcontentschema.First,linguisticschemareferstotheabilityoflearnerstomasteranduselinguisticknowledge,includingvocabulary,language,speech,andotheraspects.Linguisticschemaisthebasisoflearninglanguage.Secondly,theformalschemameansthelearner’smasteryoftheformofreadingmaterials.Therearemanykindsofgenre,suchasnarration,argumentation,expositionandsoon.Articleswithdifferentgenres,theirstructure,andwritingtechniqueswillbedifferent.Therefore,understandingtheframeworkofthearticleisbeneficialforreaderstohaveanoverallunderstandingofthearticle,soastodistinguishthemaincontentandthetransitionpart.Italsohelpsreadersboostreadingefficiency.Last,contentschemaisthelearner’sunderstandingofthediscoursecontent.Contentschema,alsoknownasbackgroundschema,referstothebackgroundknowledgerelatedtothetopicofthearticle.Personalexperienceandculturalbackgroundknowledgearealsoimportantintheimprovementofreadingcomprehensionability.1.2.3TheimportanceofreadinginlanguagelearningReadingisanimportantskilloflanguagelearning.AccordingtotheitemsofmostlanguagetestsinChinaandabroad,theproportionofreadingcomprehensionisabout40%.Readingcomprehensionisanimportantindicatortomeasureaperson’slanguageability.Readingplaysasignificantroleinimprovingthecomprehensiveskills.Itcanbereflectedinthefollowingaspects:Firstofall,readingextensivelyisoneofthemosteffectivewaystoenlargevocabulary.Vocabularylearningisanimportantpartinlanguagelearning.Thereadingmaterialprovidesarealcontext.Whenisolatedwordsappearinanarticle,readerscancombinethecontexttounderstandandrememberthem.Thiseffectivememorizingstrategyismoreclear.Secondly,readingcancultivatelearners’senseoflanguage.Thesenseoflanguageistheabilitytodirectlyandquicklyunderstandthelanguage.Itisnotonlyanimportantsymboloflanguageproficiency,butalsoareflectionofthecomprehensiveuseoflanguageskills.Theincreaseinreadingcanexpandtheaccumulationofcorpusandpromotetheunderstandingoflanguage.Furthermore,theenhancementoflanguagesensealsocontributestoreadingitself.Itshowsthattherelationshipbetweenreadingandsenseoflanguageiscomplementary.Inaddition,readingcanstimulatestudents’interestinlanguagelearning.Coherentandvividreadingmaterialsenablelearnerstorelatetheinformationinthetexttopreviousknowledgeandtoproactivelythinkaboutthecuriousorinterestingparts.Throughdeepreading,studentscanunderstandthemeaningofthearticleandlearnnewknowledgefromit.Foreignscholarsalsoprovedthatthepositionofreadinginlanguagelearningshouldnotbeunderestimated.Throughthreeexperiments,BenikoMasonandStephenKrashenconfirmedthevalueofextensivereadinginEnglishasaforeignlanguage(EFL).InExperiment1,so-called“badstudents”inEnglishasaforeignlanguagedidextensivereadingforonesemester.Bytheendofthesemester,theynearlycaughtuptothetraditionallytaughtcomparisonstudentsonaclozetest.Theyimprovedalotwithanextensivereadingtreatment.WarwickB.ElleyandFrancisMangubhaiconductedacomparativeexperimentwith380students,confirmingthehypothesisthathigh-intereststoryreadingplaysacrucialroleinsecondlanguagelearning.Theresultsshowedthatstudentsexposedtolotsofstoriesprogressedinreadingcomprehensionattwicethenormalrate.1.3TherelationshipsbetweenculturalbackgroundknowledgeandreadingcomprehensionCulturalbackgroundknowledgeiscloselyrelatedtoreading.Itcanberegardedasacommonsense,theaccumulationofknowledgeorexperiencethatthereaderalreadyhas.Itincludeshistory,customs,politics,religionandotheraspects.Firstofall,readingmaterialsoftencontainthiskindofknowledge,soitplaysakeyroleintheunderstandingofthearticle.Itismainlyreflectedintwoaspects.Ontheonehand,thewritingbackgroundhasanimpactonthearticleitself.TakeF.ScottFitzgeraldasanexample,hisfictionsaretheembodimentofthespiritoftheJazzAge,inwhichheshowsthelifeoftheupperclass.IntheGreatGatsby,itvividlyreflectsthementalstateandsociallifeofyoungAmericansthroughtheexperienceoftheprotagonist.Attheendofthestory,itshowsthattheAmericandreamisalsodisillusioned.Ontheotherhand,thewayofthinking,religionorregionalcultureembodiedinthearticlearetheimportantinformationandcharacteristics.JohnMilton’s“ParadiseLost”istingedwithelementsofreligion,andthethemeofthispoemcomesfromthefamousBibleintheWest.Secondly,theproperuseofbackgroundknowledgecanpromotereadingcomprehension,becausethecombinationofculturalbackgroundknowledgeandlinguisticknowledgecandeepentheunderstandingofitsmeaning.Toacertainextent,itcanhelpreaderstoinfertheinformationinanarticle.ReadersnotonlyneedalargeamountofvocabularyaccumulationinEnglishreading,butalsoneedtounderstandadeepermeaningofanarticleonthebasisofitsliteralmeaning.Withthefoundationofculturalbackground,readerscanmoresmoothlygeneralizeandanalyzetheauthor'spointofview,writingintentionandsoon.Numerousstudieshaveshownthatifthereaderdoesnothavetherelevantculturalbackgroundknowledge,theentirearticlecannotbebetterunderstood.Inaddition,learningtheseculturescanalsoreducetheambiguitythatarisesinreading.Forexample,idiomsappearinginEnglisharticleshavedistinctlanguagecharacteristics.Ifreadersonlyunderstanditliterally,itoftenleadstomisunderstanding.Finally,thesupplementofculturalbackgroundknowledgecanalsoenablereaderstobuildself-confidencewhilereading.Whenthereaderisfamiliarwiththebackgroundknowledgecorrespondingtothearticle,evenifheencountersnewwords,hecanalsoinferthemeaningofthearticlebasedonthebackgroundknowledge.Inshort,readingcomprehensionisnotjustanunderstandingofwords,sentences,andtext.Itisnotenoughtoimprovereadingabilitybyexpandingvocabularyandmasteringgrammar,becauseculturalbackgroundknowledgeisthekeytoimprovereadingability.RelevantstudieshomeandabroadConcerningtheimpactofculturalbackgroundknowledgeonreadingcomprehension,scholarsathomeandabroadhavecarriedoutdifferentstudiesandconstantlyputforwardmanynewviewpoints.RelevantstudiesabroadForeignresearchershaveconductedlotsofresearchesontheinfluenceofculturalbackgroundknowledgeonEnglishreading.AbuRabia,Salimstudiedeighth-gradestudentsinthreedifferentsocialcontexts,andfoundtherelationshipofattitudesandculturalbackgroundknowledgetoreadingcomprehensioninthesecondlanguage.Itprovesthatregardlessofthelanguageofthearticle,studentscanbettercomprehendtheirownculture’sstories.Thisshowsthatitiseasierforreaderstounderstandtheknownculturalbackgroundinreading.RobertPritchardstudiedtheimpactofculturalschemataonstudents’readingcomprehensionandfoundthatstudents’choiceofreadingstrategiesisrelatedtothedegreeoffamiliaritywithculturalbackground.Whenreadingculturallyfamiliarmaterials,studentsaremorelikelytoestablishintersententialtiesandusetheirbackgroundknowledge.Rumelhart(1977)publishedTowardsanInteractiveModelofReadingandputforwardaninteractionmodel.Thetheoryrequiresthereaderoftheaverageabilitytohaveacertaindegreeofsocialandculturalbackgroundknowledge,andalsorequiresthereadertojudge,reasonandsummarizethereadingmaterial.Theinteractivemodelbelievesthatintheprocessofreading,theknowledgeinteractionatdifferentlevelscanbeabidirectionalprocess.Peoplefirstacceptthevisualstimulationofwords,andconstantlyextractthemeaningofwordsorphrases,whichrequiresreaders’abilitytorecognizenewwordsandanalyzedifficultsentences.Atthesametime,theycanmakeuseofcommonsense,experienceandculturalknowledgetoanalyzethemeaningofthearticle.Thistheoryfurtherillustratesthatthereadingprocessiscomplexandhasmultiple

levels.PatriciaJohnson(1981)didastudytoinvestigatetheeffectsofthecomplexityoftheEnglishlanguageandtheculturaloriginofproseonthereadingcomprehension.ThestudyindicatedthattheculturaloriginofthestoryhadmoreeffectonthecomprehensionoftheESLstudentsthanthelevelofsyntacticandsemanticcomplexity.Researchwithnativelanguagereadershasshownthattheamountoflanguagecomplexityhaslesseffectonreadingcomprehensionthantheorganizationoftheideasinthepassage.Theculturallydeterminedbackgroundofthetext,whetheritisforeignornativetoreaders,hasaneffectonreadingcomprehension.2.2.RelevantstudiesinChinaWithregardtotheinfluenceofculturalbackgroundonreadingcomprehension,domesticresearchershavedonethefollowingresearches.LiuJinfangproposedthatthemorebackgroundknowledgeEnglishlearnershave,thefastertheunderstandingofanarticlewillbe,andtheaccuracywillbeimprovedaswell.Therefore,Englishlearnersshouldlearnasmuchaspossibleaboutallaspectsofknowledgeandexpandtheirculturalbackgroundknowledge.ZhangYaninvestigatedstudentsofahighschoolinYichunandfoundthatafterbeingsupplementedbyculturalbackgroundknowledge,studentsweremoreinterestedinlearningEnglishandwouldbemoreproactiveinlearning.Atthesametime,theirreadingabilityhadbeenimprovedsignificantly.AccordingtoXiaoJinmei’sresearchofagroupofhighschoolstudentsinTongliangNo.1MiddleSchool,theresultshowsthatthestudyofculturalbackgroundknowledgehelpsstudentsunderstandreadingmaterials,especiallyinthearticlesofeducationandtourism.Itcanalsoplayapositiveroleinunderstandingthesubject,theauthor’sintentionsandattitudes.XiongYaninvestigatedthecurrentreadingsituationofhighschoolstudents.Throughinterviews,theresearchfoundthatmanystudentssometimesreadEnglisharticleswithsimplesyntacticstructurebutcan’tunderstandthearticle’sintentions,andlosepointsintheexam.Thiskindofphenomenonismainlyrelatedtotheculturalbackgroundknowledgeofthearticle.TheexperimentTheexperimentincludesquestionnairesandtestpapers.3.1IntroductionThroughtheinvestigationofhighschoolstudents,thestudytriestoverifytheconjecture:thesupplementofculturalbackgroundknowledgehasapositiveimpactonhighschoolstudents’Englishreadingcomprehension.Throughquestionnairesandexperiments,wecanunderstandtheirattitudestotheculturalbackgroundknowledgeinEnglishreading,knowmoreaboutthecurrentsituationofEnglishreadingclass,soastoanalyzetheproblemsexistinginreadingclass.Combingtheoryandpractice,wetrytoseeksolutionsandmakesuggestionstostudentsandteachers.Ontheonehand,itenablesstudentstoestablishcross-culturalawareness,accumulateculturalknowledge,cultivatereadinginterest,andimprovetheirreadingability.Ontheotherhand,itisinstructivetoteachers’teachingstrategies,helpingthemtooptimizeEnglishteachingmethod.Whenteacherspayattentiontovocabularyandgrammarknowledge,theyshouldalsolayemphasisonthesupplementofculturalbackgroundknowledge.3.2ResearchsubjectsThestudyisaimedatstudentsinNanchangNo.1MiddleSchool.Choosingthisgroupisbasedonthefollowingreasons:First,highschoolstudentshavepassedtheseniorhighschoolentranceexamination.Fromtheknowledgelevel,highschoolstudentshaveacceptedthenine-yearcompulsoryeducation.ItmeansthattheyhavebasicknowledgeinEnglish,reachacertainlevel,andhaveEnglishreadingability.Secondly，learningisstillamajorpartoftheirlife,andEnglishisanimportantcourseinseniorhighschool.Duringthisperiod,highschoolstudentsgraduallybecomeindependentinthoughtandaction.WithabasicunderstandingofChineseandforeigncultures,theyarefullofcuriosityaboutthem.Thus,it’seasiertocultivategoodhabitsofreading.Lastbutnotleast,inthefirstyearofhighschool,theyhavelesspressureoncollegeentranceexams,sotheyhaveenoughtimetocompletethesurvey.Thus，fromallthestudentsinthefirstgrade,twoparallelclasseswithsimilarEnglishproficiencyareselectedtoensurethescientificityandaccuracyoftheexperiment.Thereare55studentsinClass5,Grade1.56studentsareinClass6,Grade1.IselectClass5asthecontrolgroupoftheexperiment.Class6istheexperimentalgroup.3.3ResearchmethodsThisstudymainlyusesquestionnairemethodandexperimentmethod。Thequestionnairehas15questions,whicharemultiple-choicequestions.Thepu