On Target Language Culture in English Language Teaching And Learning.docx

On Target Language Culture in English Language Teaching And Learning.docx

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OnTargetLanguageCultureinEnglishLanguageTeachingAndLearning

OnTargetLanguageCultureinEnglishLanguageTeachingAndLearning

　　【Abstract】Thispaperpresentssomemeditationsoncultureandlanguage;cultureandlanguageteaching;targetlanguagecultureandEnglishlanguageteachingandlearning;targetlanguagecultureanddevelopinglanguageskills.TheaimsaretohighlighttheimportanceoftargetlanguagecultureinEnglishlanguageteachingandlearning;toadvocateteachinglanguageandculturesimultaneously.

　　【Keywords】CultureTargetlanguagecultureLanguageteachingLanguageskills

　　【中图分类号】G642【文献标识码】A【文章编号】1674-4810（2009）12-0037-02

　　1.Culture

　　Kramschregardscultureas“1Membershipinadiscoursecommunitythatsharesacommonsocialspaceandhistory,andacommonsystemofstandardsforperceiving,believing,evaluating,andacting.2Thediscoursecommunityitself.3Thesystemofstandardsitself”（Kramsch,2000b:

127）.Initsbroadestsense,“itincludesawidevarietyofconstructssuchasthementalhabits,personalprejudices,moralvalues,socialcustoms,artisticachievements,andaestheticpreferencesofparticularsocieties”（Kumaravadivelu,2003:

267）.

　　Bytheanthropologists’thought,“itfittodistinguishbetweenCulturewithacapitalCandculturewithasmallc.Theformerisarelativelysocietalconstructreferringtothegeneralviewofcultureascreativeendeavorssuchastheater,dance,music,literature,andart.Thelatterisarelativelypersonalconstructreferringtothepatternsofbehavior,values,andbeliefsthatguidetheeverydaylifeofanindividualoragroupofindividualswithaculturalcommunity”（Kumaravadivelu,2003:

267）.

　　2.Meditationsonculture

　　Differentscholarsandexpertshavegotsuchdifferentviewsonculturethatculturehasbeendefinedinmanywaysbymanyscholarsrepresentingvariousdiscipline.AsKumaravadiveluargues,“cultureissuchacomplicatedconceptthatitdoesnotlenditselftoasingledefinitionorasimpledescription”（Kumaravadivelu,2003:

267）.Butitisforme,fromtheperspectiveorspecialsphereoflanguageteaching,abetterdefinitionforcultureshouldbethecombinationofcapitalCandsmallc.

　　Accordingly,cultureisdefinedasaframeworktoourlives,somethingthataffectsourvalues,attitudesandbehavior.Ascultureissoinclusive,itactuallypermeateseveryaspectofhumanlifeandpredominantlyinfluencespeople’sbehaviorincludinglinguisticbehavior.Therefore,cultureisawidersystemthatcompletelyincludeslanguageasasubsystem.Actually,linguisticcompetenceisonevarietyofculturalcompetences,andspeechbehaviorisonevarietyofsocialbehavior.Therelationoflanguagetocultureisthatofparttowhole.

　　3.Cultureandlanguage

　　Itisextremelydifficulttoseparatelanguageandculture.Ontheonehand,languagebothexpressesandembodiesculturalreality.Firstofall,itexpressesfacts,ideas,orevents,whichrepresentsimilarworldknowledgebyitspeople,butalsopermeatespeople’sattitudes,beliefs,thewayofthinkingandviewingoftheworld.Besides,asasystemofsignswiththeirownculturalvalues,languagemaybeviewedasasymbolofsocialidentity.Forinstance,whenwelearnanewword,wetendtolookforitsmeaningintheworditself.Inadditiontoitsdictionarymeanings,thesamewordmaystirupdifferentassociationsinpeople.Peopleareidentifiedbyusingtheirlanguage.Inthissense,languagesymbolizesculturalreality.

　　AsBrownvividlydescribesthetwoasfollows:

“Alanguageisapartofacultureandacultureisapartofalanguage;thetwoareintricatelyinterwovensothatonecannotseparatethetwowithoutlosingthesignificanceofeitherlanguageorculture”（Brown,2000:

177）.Inthisway,Icancomparetherelationshipbetweencultureandlanguagetotherelationoffishandwater:

languageisfish;cultureiswater.Withoutwaterfishwouldbedead.Similarly,withoutculture,languagewouldbemeaningless;withoutlanguage,culturewouldnotbeshaped.

　　4.Cultureandlanguageteaching

　　Languageisasocialphenomenonandatoolofcommunication,whichwasconventionalizedinthelonghistoryofsocialpracticeinasmuchaslanguagelearningisnotanisolatedprocess.Everylanguageisusedbyitspeopletoexpressthemselvesinspokenandwrittenformsincommunication.Meanwhile,apeople’slanguageisalwaysclosely-relatedtoitsreligion,history,cultureandsocialbackground.Cultureandlanguageareinseparableaslanguageisdeeplyrootedinculture.Languageandculturearecloselylinkedtoeachother.Languageknowledgeisapartofculturalknowledge.

　　Therefore,learningaforeignlanguageenablesyoutolearnitscultureandinturn,learningaboutanewcultureenablesyoutohaveadeepunderstandingofitslanguage.Kramschindicatesthatsecondandforeignlanguagelearnersnecessarilybecomelearnersofthesecondculturebecausealanguagecan’tbelearnedwithoutanunderstandingofthesecondculturalcontextinwhichitisused（Kramsch,2000a）.Asanexample,whenIsaylunchintheUK,myclassmateswhohavewesternculturebackgroundsmaybereferringtohamburgerorpizzabutmyChineseclassmatesmaybereferringtostreamedbreadorrice.Itfollowsthatspecialattentionshouldbepaidtotheteachingofthetargetlanguage’sculture.

　　5.Targetcultureanddevelopinglanguageskills

　　IntheEnglishlanguageteachingcontext,despitegreateffortswithspeakingandlisteningpractices,itishardtoguaranteethatstudentswillnotcommitpragmaticerrorsandmistakesinactuallanguageuse.‘Fromasociolinguisticperspective,competenceinlanguageuseisdeterminednotonlybytheabilitytouselanguagewithgrammaticalaccuracy,butalsotouselanguageappropriatetoparticularcontexts.Thus,successfullanguagelearningrequireslanguageuserstoknowtheculturethatunderlieslanguage’（Tseng,2002:

12）.ThisshowsthatwhenlearningtheEnglishlanguage,thestudentsshouldnotonlylearnitspronunciation,grammar,wordsandidiomsbutalsolearntheEnglish-speakingcountries’cultures,suchastheirideas,customs,andbehaviorofthesociety.

　　Indoingthis,studentscanenrichtheirknowledgeofthetargetlanguage’culture,fostertheirsensitivenesstothedifferentcultures,promotethelogicalthinkingability,andlayastrongbasementofdifferentcultures.Culturalknowledgeisanimportantpartofcommunicativecompetence.Improvingandemphasizingtheunderstandingofthetargetlanguage’scultureisoneoftheaimsofEnglishlanguagelearning.Actually,cultureasanelementwhichaffectsthedevelopinglanguageskillspermeatesthroughtheprocessoflanguagelearningandlanguageuse.

　　6.Targetcultureanddevelopingreadingskills

　　Inthefieldofreading,anarticleisasanentityandavehiclewhichconveysinformation.One’slanguageproficiencywillnotguaranteehimaneffectivereadingoutcomebecausereadingisaresultofaprocessofone’slanguageknowledge,culturalbackgrounds,andprofessionalknowledgewhichworkintegrally,andaprocessofpredictingandcorrectingbasedonone’slanguagecompetence,culturalknowledge,andlogicalabilityaswell.So,thelackingofculturalknowledgeofthetargetlanguagewillhaveanegativeeffectonstudents’languagelearningandunderstandingofthetextanddiscoursetheyarereading.

　　Asanexample,inmyformerteachingclass,whenreadingthissentence:

“ToVingoFloridawasinfacttheLandofPromise’thatappearedinCollegeEnglish（Intensivereading）Unit10/Book1,moststudentscouldnotunderstandthemeaningof‘theLandofPromise”.“TheLandofPromise’isanallusionquotedfromBible,whichmeansthelandGodpromisedtogivetotheIsraelites（Canaanites）andlaterthisallusionisusedasreferringto‘thelandofpromise”.Thisexampleshowsthatareade’sculturalbackgroundimpactsherabilitytounderstandtext’（TsengascitedinAndersonetall,1977）andthatdifficultiesandproblemsinreadingcannotbeovercomeandsolvedonlybylanguageknowledgebecauseapeople’sworksofliteraturereflectstheirculturalheritage.Thus,inteachingreading,teachersshouldteachlanguagepointsaswellasthetarget.

　　7.Targetcultureanddevelopingspeakingskills

　　SpeakingskillsareabigchallengewhichtheChinesestudentshavetofacebecausespeakingabilityisnotmerelytheproblemofdealingwithpronunciationandintonation.Peopletendtohavetheincorrectconceptionthatmasteringalanguagemeanshavingacommandofthebasicpartswhichalanguageconsistsof（grammar,word,idioms,pronunciationandintonation）andlanguageskills（listening,speaking,readingandwriting）.Inourdailylife,languagecompetenceisthebaseofcommunicativecompetence.

　　So,ifteacherswanttheirstudentstohaverealcommunicativecompetence,theymustintroducethetargetlanguage’sculturetothestudents,and‘learnersmaynotonlyunderstandthemselvesbetter,butalsolearntheculturesofotherness,andevenaboutthetargetlanguageculture’（Tseng,2002:

16）.Onlywhenstudentsareexposedtoaquantityoflanguagematerialsrelatedtothetargetlanguage’scultureandlearnedaboutthewesterncultureswilltheybeabletofacilitatetheirspeakingskillsandachievethegoalofcommunicationinthetargetlanguageproperly.Forexample,honestlyspeaking,IcouldnotusethefollowinggreetingsproperlybeforeIcametotheUK:

Howdoyoudo;Howareyou;Hello;Areyouallright;andAreyouOK.

　　8.Conclusion

　　Tosumup,theemphasisshouldbeputonteachingEnglishlanguageandtargetculturesimultaneously.IfweteachEnglishlanguageconnected