The Impact of the Differences between Chinese and English Culture on English Learning and the Strate.docx

The Impact of the Differences between Chinese and English Culture on English Learning and the Strate.docx

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TheImpactoftheDifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishCultureonEnglishLearningandtheStrate

TheImpactoftheDifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishCultureonEnglishLearningandtheStrategy

　　Abstract：

Here，theessaytakesEnglishlearningbetweenChinaandEnglishcountriesasanexample.WhenwearelearningEnglish，weshouldnotonlylearnthebasicthings，butshouldacquirecross-culturalawareness.However，it’sdifficulttoputitintopractice.Weneedtoknowasmuchculturalbackgroundaspossible.Withregardtothis，thisessaywillputforwardsomeskillsinlearningEnglishandexploretheimportanceofcultureandstrategies.

　　Keywords：

culture;culturaldifferences;Englishlearning;cross-cultural;awarenessstrategies

　　Introduction

　　Astheworldisbecomingsmaller，languageistheprincipalmeanswherebyweconductoursociallives.Whenitisusedincontextsofcommunication，itisboundupwithcultureinmultipleandcomplexways.Therelationbetweenlanguageandculturewouldnotconstitutesuchseriousdifficultiesforcross-cultureunderstandingifitwerenotforthenumerousmisconceptionsaboutlanguageanditsfunctionwithinasociety.However，thefactisthatwewillmakemistakesinEnglishstudyanddailycommunicationduetothelackofunderstandinginculturalbackgroundanddifferencebetweenChinaandEnglishcountries.Thus，asalanguagelearners，firstyouneedtoknowtheimportanceoflearningaforeignlanguage，thenyouneedtoknowwhattheculturedifferentreallymeaninlearningEnglish.Ifyouwanttobeanexpertinforeignlanguage，it’simportanttolearnthebasicthingssuchaswords，grammarandsentencestructures，andmoreimportantistoacquireculturalawareness.

　　1.Culture，CommunicationandInteract-

　　ion

　　1.1TheDefinitionofCulture

　　Thetermsofculturehasawiderangeofmeaningstoday，becauseithasactuallychangedinmeaningovertime，Goddard（MikkoLehtonen，2000：

58）providinggreatvarietyofchanges.InitsearliestEnglishusage，culturewasanounofprocess，referringtothetendingofcropsoranimals.Themeaningisfoundinwordssuchasagriculture，horticultureandviniculture.

　　1.2Culture，CommunicationandIntercul-

　　turalInteraction

　　Anunderstandingofinterculturalcommunicationiscruciallyrelatedtoanunderstandingofthewaysinwhichthespokenandwrittenwordmaybeinterpreteddifferentially，dependingonthecontext.Themessagereceivedisnotalwaystheoneintendedbythespeakerorthewriter.Tomanageinterculturalinteractioneffectively，speakersneedtobeawareoftheinherentnormsoftheirownspeechpractices，andthewaysinwhichnormsvarydependonsituationalfactorsandthewaysinwhichspeakersformotherlanguagebackgroundsmayhavedifferentexpectationsoflanguageusageandbehavior.Researchoncross-culturalcommunicationtypicallycomparescommunicationpracticesofoneculturalgroupwithanother，whilestudiesoninterculturalcommunicationfocusonfeaturesofthesharedcommunicationbetweenspeakersfromdifferentculturalbackgrounds.　　2.TheImpactofDifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishCultureonEnglishLearning

　　2.1TheroleofChineseCulturalFactorsinEnglishLearning

　　WhenwetryingtolearnEnglishasaforeignlanguage，besidesgrammar，weshouldlearntheknowledgeofitsculturalbackgrounds，andbefamiliarwithexpressionsconcernedwithChineseculturefactors.WithdeepeningofthepolicyofopeninguptotheoutsideworldandenteringintotheWTO，EnglishexpressionwithChineseculturefactorsisdefinitelyanunavoidablepathtopromoteChineseculturetotheworld，andabeginningofpenetratingChinesecultureinEnglishteachingandlearning.

　　2.2TheImpactofDifferencesCultureonEnglishLearning

　　Itisacommonviewthatforeignlanguagelearnersnecessarilybecomelearnersoftheforeignlanguageculture，anditisnowanincreasingconsensusthatlanguageandculturelearningcannotrealisticallyseparated.SoEnglishlearningisalsoEnglishcultureknowledgelearning.Theunderstandingofculturalknowledgeinfluencesone’sabilitytouseEnglish，evenwecansayusingEnglishproperlymustbepredicatedawellunderstandingofculturalknowledge.Culturalfactorsaffectlanguagelearninginwords，idioms，readingandwriting.InmodernEnglishlearning，itisgenerallyacceptedthatculturalfactorsareoneofthemostdifficultpoint.

　　2.2.1Words&idioms

　　TherearelotsofwordsandidiomswithdifferentevenoppositemeaningsinEnglishandChineselanguages.Animalswiththecertaindistinctivefeaturesarenotalwayswiththesameimplicationindifferentcultures.Whenwelearnanewword，usually，wetendtogetitsmeaningbyitself.While，figurativemeaningsindifferentlanguagemayhavedifferentassociations.Incross-culturalcommunication，wemustseewhatimagesofthemcanbebroughtabout，andwhatcontextshouldbeconsideredtograspthemeaningofwordsandexpressionfromonelanguagetoanother.

　　2.2.2Readingcomprehension

　　Asweknow，Englishreadingisonekindofcomprehensiveabilitywhichisanintelligenceactivityuniquetous.Readingisnotsimplyaprocessofknowingbackgroundknowledge.Somereading，althoughhasnotbumpedintoanewwordinthereadingprocess，anddoesnothavethegrammarbarrier，butitisdifficultforthestudentstoknowthemeaningofthewholepassage，especiallywhenthestudentslackoftheinterculturalknowledge.

　　2.2.3Languageandculturecontextsinwriting　　Owingtoculturaldifferences，weshouldpayattentiontomanypartsinlinguistics.Duringitslongtimeofpractice，thelexiconhasaccumulatedrichculturalmeaning.Differentculturalbackgroundshavedifferencesinthelexiconsystem.Theinfluenceofcultureispervasiveandfarexceedsthedifferencesthatoccurbetweenindividualswithinanygivenculture.Itisculturethatleadstodifferentinterpretationsandreactionstolanguage.Languageisthetransformingmediumanditreflectsculture.Manyeuphemismshavecloserelationswithhabits，customs，psychologicalfactors，socialconventions，socialphenomenaandliteraryworks.

　　2.3TheImportanceofKnowingtheCultureinEnglish-speakingCountriesWhenLearningEnglish

　　Languageisimportanttohumanactivitybecauseitishowwereachouttomakecontactwithoursurroundingsandotherhumanbeings.Languageisaprincipaltoolforustocommunicatewithpeopleinothercountrieswherepeoplewouldnotusethesamelanguage.Therefore，weneedtolearnaforeignlanguagetokeepintouchwithforeignerssothattheworldwouldcontinuallywork.Therefore，howtolearnEnglishmeettheneedsofsocialdevelopmenthasbecomeanurgenttasktous.Inthisstudy，themainpurposeistoraiseourinterculturalawarenessandtodrawmoreattentiontotheimportanceofculturalbackgroundknowledgeinEnglishlearning.

　　3.Strategies

　　3.1TheCulturalElementsinEnglishLearn-

　　ing

　　InconsideringtheaboveaccountmadebySpir，Iwanttostressthefollowingpointsbysayingthatlanguageisaparticularcomponentofculture：

firstly，languagepenetratesintoeverylevelofcultureandthelinguisticsysteminterpenetratesallothersystemswithinculture.Secondly，languageisthemostimportantmeansbywhichcultureistransmitted，suchasmusic，drawing，etc，yetnoothersystemsaresocomprehensiveandpowerfulaslanguage.Furthermore，languageisalsothemostimportantmediumthroughwhichcultureactively，butnotpassively，languagecan，inasense，createculturebyconstructingasymbolicworldandbyreinforcing，preservingandtransmittingculturalheritage.Lastbutnotleast“languageisagreatforceofsocialization，”Itislargelythroughlanguagesocializationthatanindividualwillacquirethecultureofthepeoplehesheliveswith.（MarkRobson[M].2008：

132）

　　Withhisviewthatlanguageisaparticularpartofculture，wecanseethatlanguagecanneverbefreeofitsculturalbackground，and“thereisnonaturallanguagethatcanbeusedasapureinternationallanguage”.Therefore，learningalanguagenaturallyinvolveslearningitsculture.　　3.1.1Words&idioms

　　ManyscholarsbelievedthatEnglishhasitsChinesecharacteristicsatdifferentlinguisticlevelsinChina，namelypronunciation，vocabulary，syntaxanddiscourse.Atthelexicallevel，manyChinesewordsandtermshavebeentranslatedintoEnglish.SincethecultureshockwouldcausesomanytroublesininterculturalcommunicationbetweenChineseandEnglishspeakingpeople，itisveryimportanttoknowthecultureinEnglishspeakingcountrieswhenlearningEnglish.Thetypicaluseofaparticularwordorgrammaticalstructureinacertaincontextistheuser’sconsciousandun-consciouschoice，whichisinfluencedorpartiallygovernedbyhisnativelanguageandculture.

　　3.1.2Readingcomprehension

　　Readingcomprehensionshallnotonlygraspvocabularies，grammar，butalsoproperlygrasptherelationshipbetweenEnglishlearningandcultureunderstanding.

　　Firstly，thefirstreadingcanoffersomerelatedknowledgeandbuildabridgebetweenthereadingpassageandthereaders’backgroundknowledge.Secondly，thestudentscanbringtheirpriorknowledgetothetext.Duringthereading，thestudentalsocanusetheirinterculturalknowledgetounderstandthecontext.Finally，previewthetext，focusingonsomespecificinterculturalknowledgeandsummarize.Thiscanhelpusfurthercomprehendthetext.

　　3.1.3Inwriting

　　ThedifferencesbetweentheChineseandwesternmodesofthinkingplayanimportantpart，Chineseareaccustomedtothinkinginaspiralway，whileEnglishandAmericansinalinearway.Thisdifferenceinthinkin