Cultural Awareness in English Teaching.docx

Cultural Awareness in English Teaching.docx

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CulturalAwarenessinEnglishTeaching

CulturalAwarenessinEnglishTeaching

Abstract:

Languageisthecarrierofculture.Unlessunderstandingthecultureofthetargetlanguagecanlearnersusethelanguageinanaccurateandappropriateway.ThisthesisdiscussestheculturaldifferencesbetweenChinaandEnglish-speakingcountries,aimingatevokingEnglisheducatorsandlearners’attentiontocultureteachingandlearning.

Keywords:

Englishteaching;culturaldifferences;cultureteaching

英语教学中的文化教学

摘要：

语言是文化的载体，只有了解所属的文化才能准确恰当地运用语言。

本文通过论述在英语学习中遇到的一些中西文化差异现象，旨在引起英语教育者与学习者对文化学习的重视，进而提出几个文化教学的方法。

关键词:

英语教学文化差异文化教学

CulturalAwarenessinEnglishTeaching

I.Introduction

Inthe20s-30softhe20thcentury,thestudyofcross-culturalcommunicationhasdrawninterestintheUSA.Itfocusesontheproblemsarisingfromcommunicationbetweenpeopleofdifferentculturalbackgroundsandseekssolutiontotheseproblems.TheaimsofEnglishteaching,inthesameway,aretoenablestudentstomasterthepurelanguageandtocommunicatewiththepeoplefromtheEnglish-speakingcountries.However,becauseofthedifferencesinallaspectsofcustom,wayofthinking,norm,valueandetc.,Englishlearnersoftenmakemistakesbyapplyingtheirownculturetotheforeignone.Itisthegreatestobstacleforthefailureinsuccessfulcommunication.ItalsodemonstratesthedefectofourEnglishteaching---lackofculturalawareness.

EnglishteachinginChina,especiallyinmiddleandhighschool,followsastereotypedmodel,thatisword—phrase—sentencepattern,withlessconcernofculture.Overemphasisongrammarandtheignoranceofculturaldifferencesfrequentlyresultinmisunderstandingevenconflictininterculturalcommunication.Thus,culturelearning,bothhomeandforeignculturelearningappearstobecruciallysignificant.Thispaper,fromaspectsofdailycommunication,vocabulary,nonverbalbehaviorandvalues,discussesthewaysofteachingofculture.

II.Relationsbetweenlanguageandculture

2.1.Conceptionsoflanguageandculture

Tostartwiththediscussionofcultureteaching,twoconceptionsareindispensabletobementioned,namelylanguageandculture.Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication①.Languageisasocialphenomenon,andeachstandsforoneculture.Broadlyspeaking,communicationreferstothecommunicationbetweenanyoftwopersonsofthesameordifferentcultures.Inthisthesis,wediscusstheonewhichaccruingbetweennative-speakersandnonnative-speakers.

Culture,inabroadsense,meansthetotalwayoflifeofapeople,includingthepattersfbelief,customs,objects,institutions,techniques,andlanguagethatcharacterizethelifeofthehumancommunity.Inanarrowsense,culturecanbemostlyfoundinfolkculture,enterprisecultureorfoodculture②.Inthesesenses,cultureisthecommongroundofthepeopleofagivencommunity,wheretheysharethesamematerialcultureandspiritualcultureaswell.Conversely,neitherpeople’swayofthinkingnorbehaviorisnotinfluencedbytheirculture.Language,too,asanimportantelementofculture,ispermeatedwiththecharacteristicofitsoriginalculture.

Cultureandlanguageintrinsicallydependoneachother.Ontheonehand,language,asthecrystalofaculture,playsanimportantroleintransmittingitsownculture.Whenachildacquireshismothertongue,orapersonmovestoanothercountryandlearnsthelocallanguage,thetransmissionofculturetakesplace.Inthesetwocases,thedifferenceisjusttheextentofacquisitionoftheculture.Thefunctionoflanguagetocultureshowsthatlanguageisthesurfaceformoftheculture.Whatpeoplesaydirectlyreflectstheirattitude,belief,valuesandetc.,---thatisculture.Thereasonembeddedinthisphenomenonthattherearevariouslanguagesintheworldisthatculturesarediverse.So,inadeepsense,thenatureofthelinguisticdifferencesliesinthedifferencesbetweencultures.

Ontheotherhand,cultureconditionstheformofitslanguage.Andcontinuously,cultureputitsessenceintothelanguage,whichthenbecomestheconnotationofcultureandthecontentofthelanguage.Nolanguagecanbeseparatedfromitsculture.ThefollowingexamplesbellowwillshowhowtheChineseandwesternphilosophyexerciseinfluenceontheirlanguagesrespectively.Traditionally,theChinesepeopleputmoreemphasisonunity,whichtakesheavenandhumanasawhole.Reflectingtolanguage,Chineselanguageisparataxis,whichcontainslessornoconjunction,e.g.“枯藤老树昏鸦,小桥流水人家,古道西风瘦马,夕阳西下,断肠人在天涯”.Amongthetwenty-eightcharactersofthispoet,therearefourteennounswithoutaverbandconjunction,butthewretchedcontextisvividlyexposed.ItiscomprehensibletoChinesepeople.Whereas,beingalanguagefeaturedbyanalysis,Englishishypotaxiswithstrongsenseoflogic,suchconjunctionsasand,if,although,but,consideringareoftenusedinsentences.e.g.“ifwintercomes,willspringbefaraway”,theuseof“if”compactsthestructureofthesentenceandpresentthehypotheticalrelationofthetwoclauses.

2.2.ImportanceOfCultureTeaching

Inmodernsociety,withtheglobalizationoftheworld,contactsinallsortsoffields,suchaseconomy,scienceandtechnologybecomemoreandmorefrequent.Itisinevitableforpeoplearoundtheworldtocommunicatewiththosefromanotherculture.Toavoidunexpectedmisunderstanding,whichiscausedbyignoranceofculturaldifferences,itisimportanttocarryoncultureteaching.Sincelanguageisinseparablefromculture,cultureteachingisindivisiblefromEnglishlanguageteaching.Althougheducatorshavebeenawareofthenecessityofcultureteaching,itisnotpopularizedineducation.

Intermsoflearners,languagecompetencesdonotonlyrefertotheabilitytospeakinalanguage,butalsotousethelanguageinaneffectiveway.AmongChineseEnglish-learner,itiscommonthattheycreate“Chinglish”,whichisastructurecombinedChinesewayofthinkingandEnglishlinguisticform.AlthoughthereisnoneedtocreateChinglish”,ChineseforeignlanguageeducatorsshouldconsiderhowtouseEnglishtoexpresstheirowncultureaswellincross-culturalcommunication.Thisshouldbaseontheaccurateunderstandingofbothhomeandforeignculture.Inthisway,students’languagecompetencecanbefullyacquired.Therefore,sufficientexposureoftheforeigncultureseesessentialinalongrun.

Inaddition,theadvantagesofcultureteachingareeasilyfoundinthewholeEnglishteachingprogram.Firstly,cultureteachingdoesgreatgoodtolanguageacquisitioninlearninglanguageitself.Aswediscussabove,theEnglishstructureandexpressionarerelatedtoculture,thus,cultureteachingwillcertainlyabeneficialsubsidiarytoEnglishlanguageteaching.Theprocedureofculturelearningisatthesametimeofthedevelopingoflanguageability.

Secondarily,cultureteachingsatisfiesstudents’curiosityaboutthetotallydifferentenvironmentoftheothercountry.WhatEnglishlearnerswanttolearnaboutisnotjustthesignofthelanguage,butthepeopleandthenationinwhichthelanguageisused.Increasinglearners’sensibilitytoculturalfactor,educatorscanmakeuseoftheircuriosityandmotivetoachievethegoaloflanguageteaching.

Thirdly,thelearningofanewlanguageinvolvesinnotonlymeaningbetweenwords,sentencesandtextbutalsoaninteractionbetweenknowledgeandexperienceandnewthings.Fromthispointofview,languagelearning,includingculturelearningprovidesagoodopportunitytowidenstudents’horizonofknowledge.

III.Aspectsoftheteachingofculture

3.1.Dailyconversation

Towhateverkindofsuccessfulcommunication,beingpoliteinconversationisthebasicprinciple;otherwise,efficientcommunicationisimpossible.Indifferentsocialcontext,thewaysofconveyingpolitenessaredistinct.Withoutsufficientknowledgeofthetargetcountry’scustoms,peopleofdifferentcultureswillprobablyunderstandpolitenessinaconverseway.Thefollowingaresomeillustrationsofculturaldifferencesinlanguageuse,whichwemayoftencomeacrossinourdailylife.

3.1.1.Greeting

WhenChinesepeoplemeet,theyoftengreeteachotherwith“你吃了吗”or“上哪去啊”,whichshowsone’sconcernabouttheotherone.Whilethewesternersalwaystalkabouttheweather,e.g.“Itisaniceday,isn’tit?

”Ifwestartaconversationwiththemwith“haveyoueatenyet”,whichisdirectlytranslatedfromtheChinese,theywillfeelveryconfused,becauseaccordingtowesternculture,suchasentencesuggestaninvitationtomeal.Aswesternpeoplehighlyrespectforprivacy,itisimpolitetoaskthem“whereareyougoing”.Inmostcircumstances,theymustbeangry,because“itisnoneofyourbusiness”.Thesephenomenonsoftenhappenamongthestudentswithlessknowledgeofwesternculture.Inthiscase,culturediffersfromnationtonationbecauseofgeographiclocationandothersocialreality.Asweknowthat,Englandisanislandnationwithfrequencyofrainsothatpeoplemayevenencounterfourseasonsinasingleday.Itisacountryofrainandmoisture.Soweatherbecomesaninstanttopicamongthepeople,whileChinaisanagriculturalcountrywithgreatpopulationworkingon.Addingtimesofstarvationinhistory,dietisgreatlyconcernedaboutbytheChinese.AccordingtotheEnglishnativespeakers,theyareaccustomedtogreetotherswith“hello”,”howareyou”,“goodmorning/afternoon/evening”.

3.1.2Farewell

Culturaldifferencesinfarewellareevident.Inwesterncountries,whenguestisabouttoleave,hewillindicatetheirleavein15-20minutesinadvance.Onthisaccessions,peopleareusedto