英语（心得）之How to Bring Target Culture into Foreign Language Teaching

1、英语论文之How to Bring Target Culture into Foreign Language Teaching How to Bring Target Culture into Foreign Language Teaching株洲市荷塘区星光小学 汤旭内容摘要： 文化与语言学习紧密相连, 学生成为学习活动的主角，老师是学习活动的引导者把握了这样的关系，就能够使目标语文化融入到学生的语言学习之中，促进学生对目标语文化的理解和吸收。关键词： 目标语文化； 外语教学； 教学方法Introduction English teaching has had a long history

2、in China. At the very beginning, it was immature. We didnt know the advanced theory of English teaching. So the teachers pay much attention to the textbooks. They just teach their students grammar, pronunciation, words and sentences in class. They seldom hold activities in class, and seldom talk abo

3、ut foreign countries cultures. At that time, most of the students had no interest in English learning. They just view it as a task of the countrys education. But as time goes on, English teaching in China has been developing quickly. Many new methods and theories are accepted by our English teachers

4、. Great changes have taken place in this field. English teaching is no longer confined to the textbooks or examinations. Many teachers have come to realize that the aim of teaching English is to help the students to communicate with others, to teach them more about foreign countries, not just to pas

5、s different kinds of examinations. Now, the teaching of target culture has become a very important part of our daily foreign language teaching. Teachers should promote the students awareness of culture while teaching English in the classroom. Different countries have different cultures. But among th

6、ese differences, we can find some similar points. So the aim of bringing target culture into English teaching is to let our students understand that our world is a unity though it has many different countries. First we should make this question clear: what culture do we teach in class? In Europe and

7、 North America, teachers usually teach their students about American/Canadian lives, including history, geography, institutions, literature, art, music and so on. Gail Robinson, a very famous American researcher in the area of cross-cultural education, has made a research about the question What doe

8、s culture mean to you? among many English teachers. The answer falls into three categories: products, ideas and behaviors. Products: literature, folklore, art, music Ideas: beliefs, values, institutions Behaviors: customs, habits, dress, foods, leisureThese are the elements of culture. Second, we sh

9、ould use some materials to help our students to collect cultural information. There are course textbooks, audio-cassettes, radio broadcasts, TV broadcasts, videos, cuttings from newspapers, magazines, etc. Teachers should arrange these materials well for the class. The most important thing is to giv

10、e the students some practice after the teachers explanation. When all the materials are ready for class, approach should be taken into consideration now. Generally speaking, there are three ways:-Work together in pairs or small groups to gather the segments of information;-Share and discuss what the

11、y have discovered;-Interpret the information within the context of the target culture and in comparison with their own culture. I. Students are the protagonists in target culture teachingTo bring target culture into foreign language teaching is a very arduous task. It can t be done by teachers alone

12、. It would be vain if the teachers just standing on the blackboard, and talking about foreign cultures. At present, more and more English teachers have realized the importance of target culture. And they are beginning to insert cultures into their teaching. But most of the teachers still teach their

13、 students under a traditional pattern. Here are two ways of giving the students an impression of the Christmas dinner: 1.The teacher tells them the American like eating turkeys in the Christmas dinner directly. 2.Playing a video about Christmas. When the students see the big turkey on the table, the

14、y would know that turkeys must be the Americans most favorite food. Obviously, the second way is advanced and effective. So in my opinion, the best way to bring target culture into foreign language teaching is to view the students as the protagonists. Let them comprehend the target culture by themse

15、lves. Teacher is just the guide, his job is to lead the students to discuss the target culture in the class, and to help the students when they have difficulties. When I was a junior student in college, there is a curriculum called Teaching Methodology. In that course, the professor has emphasized t

16、he target culture. In every lesson, she would spend 15-20 minutes on target culture. On Christmas Day, she drew a Christmas tree on the blackboard and hung a pair of stockings on the wall. At the beginning of the class, she asked us to say something about Christmas. After that she made some suppleme

17、nts to our answers. Then she played a song called Christmas Eve which is easy for us to learn. Quickly, we could sing it, and then, we played together, singing the song, drawing pictures, etc. On that day, we remembered the Christmas culture by heart when we were playing together. Last term, I went

18、to a middle school to be a student teacher. I taught senior students. I have tried my best to bring target culture to my class. I still remember now, I taught my students an article about newspapers which I prepared for a long time. I collected a lot of materials, including newspapers in Chinese and

19、 in English, such as China Daily and 21st century, etc. In the class, before I explained the composition to my students, I showed them the newspapers which they were interested in first. After reading the newspapers, I asked them a question Composing in Chinese and in English, which is easier? Why?

20、My students discussed the question intensely. Then some students said that composing in Chinese is easier than in English, but others thought composing in English is much easier. The reasons given by them were multifarious. After that I told them the right answer. Composing in Chinese is much easier

21、 than in English. Because the sizes of Chinese characters are the same, but the sizes of English words are different. Though it is a small difference between Chinese and English, it involved these two different cultures. Now the students can realize that the cultures in the world are different, and

22、if a person wants to learn foreign language well, he must comprehend the target culture well. So he can communicate with the native speakers fluently. Because I know my students are still children, I used objects which they are interested in. They are interested in objects. They want to find out the

23、 answers by themselves. If I just told them the right answer directly, they would bored and would forget it quickly. This is my personal opinion. In the area of cross-cultural education, there are many different theories on teaching target culture in class. Next I will show you several ways of targe

24、t culture teaching.II. Ways of bringing target culture into English teaching 1. Teaching the students how to recognize cultural images and symbols. First, the teachers should familiarize the students with popular images and symbols in the target culture. They should help their students to identify a

25、nd compare the images and symbols in British and American culture, and then to contrast these with the images and symbols in their own country. For example, when talking about the Spring Festival, the teacher could tell the students the history of Spring Festival in China or let then discuss about w

26、hat kind of activities are held during Spring Festival. And then the sentence: “Spring Festival is the most important festival in China.” Should be made and written on the blackboard. After that, the teacher may ask the students: What about American/British Festivals? Then the students may answer: “

27、Christmas is the most important festival in America/Britain .” Obviously, the answer is right. At this time, teachers could make a comparison between Spring Festival and Christmas, including time, the main activities, origin, etc. Second, culture matches. When preparing for the class, teachers could

28、 prepare some materials about culture matches. For example, a list of pairs of corresponding American/British words: baseball / soccer President / Prime Minister NewYork / London Franklin D. Roosevelt / Winston Churchill The teacher can write them in small cards and then give these cards to the stud

29、ents. Let them discuss freely and find their matches quickly. After that, ask them to provide some background information about these words. If there are some difficulties, the teacher should help them with the materials which were well prepared before class. Third, in order to increase the awarenes

30、s of the cultural images and references used in pop songs and music videos, teachers can show their students some typical English songs in class. These songs should have cultural references. For example, the song may tell a story which is short and easy to be understand. The teacher should also prep

31、are enough copies of task sheets to give one to each student. On the task sheets, the teacher can list a series of questions about the song, such as: What is the main theme of the song? What cultural values are reflected in the song? In your opinion, what kinds of people have these values? When all

32、the things are well prepared, the teacher can begin this class. Firstly, ask the students to choose one word to describe the song after playing the song in the classroom. Then ask the students to work in pairs to tell the reason they choose those words. At last, ask them to explain to their classmat

33、es why they choose the words. Secondly, play the song line by line and ask the students to repeat the sentences they have heard. When the students have some difficulties in understanding the song, the teacher should help them and write the whole song on the blackboard. Thirdly, pide the class into g

34、roups, let them discuss about this song beginning with the sentence: This song is about. . They can use the questions listed on the task sheet. At this time, a spokesperson should be chosen to make some records about their discussion. Finally, each groups spokesperson would record about their discus

35、sion and make a brief speech to the rest of the class. Now, this activity is finished. But if the students are advanced, the teacher can try to extend this activity. Generally speaking, each song has a video that matches with the words in the song. So the video can help the students to understand th

36、e song better. When playing the video, the teacher could ask the students to write down the images and symbols they saw on their note books. Then ask the students to match the words in the song with the images. After that, the teacher can pide the students into small groups again, and let them discu

37、ss the following question: If this video was made in our country, what kind of images and symbols would we use to explain the song? Why? After the discussion, the students may understand something about different cultures between different countries. Listening to music can be accepted easily by stud

38、ents since they are interested in it. So they will try their best to cooperate with the teacher, and remember what theyve learned easily. This way of teaching is worth of trying.2. Using some culture products in class.In class, teachers always use some teaching aids such as pictures, models and obje

39、cts. With these objects, students will be more interested in learning. But teachers seldom use objects to explain foreign cultures to the students. Using them correctly in class can offer the students a cultural experience which helps them to be more confident. A large number of things can be used a

40、s materials in class. Souvenirs, cartoons, travelogues, money, photographs, newspapers, stamps are all very suitable things to be brought into the classroom. If the students have these things in their hands, it would be easier for them to talk about foreign countries or communicate with others in cl

41、ass.Let the students find out the differences by themselves, this will be more effective than told by the teachers.As we all known, language environment is very important to the foreign language learners. Environment also plays an important role in foreign culture learning. In order to form such a m

42、ini environment representative of the target culture, the teachers can ask the students to bring to the classroom any objects, pictures, postcards or souvenirs they get from the target-culture country. In the class, the teacher should arrange the objects on a table, and put up the postcards and phot

43、ographs on the wall. Then let these things stay in the classroom for several days. After that, teacher can explain the objects to the class. If the students are at a high level, the teacher can get the students themselves to explain what each of the items represents for. For example, if there is a p

44、icture of Sydney Theatre, the teacher can ask the following questions:-Whats this?-Which country is it in?The students would give the answers: This is the Sydney Theatre. Its in Australia. Then the students can make dialogues of this kind one by one. Maybe they can say something more about each obje

45、ct. Through such communications in the class, the students would get more and more information about famous places and monuments in different countries. This is a good way to enlarge their vocabulary.Another good cultural product is cartoon which plays an important role in the western culture. To co

46、mpare British/American cartoons with cartoons in the students own culture would be useful for the students to understand the difference between cultures of the two countries.Teachers should collect enough cartoons for the class from British/American newspaper and magazines. These cartoons can be pid

47、ed into some categories, such as politics, relations between men and women, drunkenness, animals, etc. The students are required to categorize the cartoons given and drawm up a list of the different types of cartoons. Then a discussion would be held among the students. They can talk about the cartoo

48、ns which were given by their teacher, or those they know before. Some of the cartoons they themselves knew may be from their own culture. So they can compare different countrys cartoons with that of their own countrys. And after that, teachers should ask some spokesperson to say something about thei

49、r discussions. The speech may contain the following questions:-What is the most common subject matter of cartoons in western countries and in your own country?-How are they different?-Which he prefers?-What did he learn about British/American humor from the cartoons?-What did he learn about humor in

50、 his own country?At last, the teacher should make a summary. And the most important thing is to correct them when they are wrong.Besides cartoons from newspapers or magazines, there are many cartoon videos. Teachers can play cartoon videos in the classroom instead of collecting cartoons from newspap

51、ers or magazines. For example, the most typical cartoon video in America is Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck which was produced by Disney Cartoon Company. This is very familiar to the students, and they would be interested in it. Another thing is the cartoon video is easier to be understand. So if the c

52、ondition permitted, this way is worth of trying.There are many other physical objects can be used in the class a. Currency. Teachers can bring some target-country coins and banknotes to class. Tell them some knowledge about currency.b. Foreign newspapers. Tell the students the features of the front

53、pages, headlines and the special grammar used in newspapers. China Daily and 21st Century are two popular foreign language newspapers in China. So teachers can use these newspapers as examples in the class. Besides these, teachers can talk something more about newspapers or magazines. They can tell

54、their students that the most popular newspaper in British is Washington Post and the most popular one in America is Times. Thus, the students knowledge field would be enlarged quickly.c. Videos about different cultures. These videos may be about Christmas, Thanks Giving Day, Hallowin, etc. When watc

55、hing such videos, the students would compare them with their own countrys traditional festivals naturally. For example, Spring Festival in China. Poems, radio news, stamps and TV programs are also very good objects for students to feel different countries. In a word, to use cultural products in the

56、class can encourage the students to learn cultures from foreign countries. It can make our foreign language lessons more interesting and more useful.3. Everyday life patterns In our country, as we known, examinations are so important things in the school that teachers and students pay much attention

57、 to grammars. They almost take no notice on everyday life patterns in foreign countries. We must realize such a phenomenon: a student who can get high marks in the school cant study or work well in foreign countries. Though he is good at doing exercises or examinations, he doesnt know enough about f

58、oreigners way of life and their social customs. So teachers should also talk about lifestyles of people in different cultures. The easiest one is to compare and contrast feature of the target culture with feature of the students culture. For example, the teacher can choose some typical videos about the target culture such as meeting in street, in the office, having dinners, visiting others, etc. to play in the class. When meeting in street, British people often talk about the weather, but Chinese people often talk