Cultural Awareness in English Instruction.docx

Cultural Awareness in English Instruction.docx

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CulturalAwarenessinEnglishInstruction

CulturalAwarenessinEnglishInstruction

Thesisstatement:

Culturalawarenessisaveryimportinreadinginstruction;moreattentionshouldbepaidtoimprovethestudents’culturalawareness.

Outline

.Introduction

.Culturaldifferences

A.Chineseandwesternculturaldifferencesincustoms

B.Chineseandwesternculturaldifferencesinvalueorientation

C.Chineseandwesternculturaldifferencesinreligion

D.Chineseandwesternculturaldifferencesinhierarchy

E.Chineseandwesternculturaldifferencesintraditionsandethics

F.Chineseandwesternculturaldifferencesincourtesy

G.Chineseandwesternculturaldifferencesinsocialrelation

1.EqualityconceptVSclassconcept

2.NucleusfamilyVSextendedfamily

H.Chineseandwesternculturaldifferencesinhistoricalbackground

.Themethodstoraiseculturalawarenessinreadinginstruction

A.Comparisonmethod

B.Dramamethod

C.Culturalaside

Ⅳ.Conclusion

.Introduction

Withthedevelopmentoftheworld,Englishhasbecomeanimportantinformationcarrier.Inordertoopenthedoortotheglobalvillage,weshouldtryourbesttofindthekeyandithasbecomeanecessityforChinesestudentstostudyEnglishwell.However,itisneveraneasythingtolearnEnglish,andduringtheprocessofstudyingEnglish,studentsinevitablycomeacrossanumberofdifficulties.Ingeneral,Englishstudycanbedividedintofourparts,whicharelistening,writing,speakingandreading.Andinthecourseoflearninghowtoread,studentsusuallyarenotinapositiontogetthekeypointandasaconsequence,theycannotacquireanyusefulinformationinspiteoftheinnumerouseffortsthattheyhavemade.

Somereading,althoughhasnotbumpedintoanewwordinthereadingprocess,anddoesnothavethegrammarbarrier,butitisdifficultforthestudentstoknowthemeaningofthewholereadingpassage,especiallywhenthestudentslackcertainknowledgeoftheculturalcontext（谢珏2000:

15）.However,takingthepresentconditionofculturaleducationinseniorEnglishteachingintoconsideration,wearepuzzledbythephenomenathatsomanystudentswhohavebeguntheirEnglishstudysincetheywerechildrenstillfeeldifficulttounderstandtheauthor’sthoughts,andtheyarestillelusivewhentheycommunicatewithforeigners.FromtheperspectiveofNEEC（NationalEntranceExaminationforColleges）,Englishisconsideredtobeimportanttoallseniorschoolstudents.Formoststudents,themotivationoflearningEnglishisjusttreatingitasameanstopasstheexamsandgethighscoresinEnglishproficiencytests.AndtheteachersofEnglisharejustthefacilitatorsofrealizingthisgoal.Teachers’greatestconcernisgiventothemasteryoflinguisticknowledgeandskills.Studentsspendmostofthetimeonlearningvocabulary,structuresandgrammarthroughlotsofdrills,practiceandconsolidationsoastomemorizethoselinguisticelementsandreproducethem.Butculturalknowledgeisignored.Inthiscase,cultureisoftenseparatedfromitscarrier—language.Bothteachers’andstudents’culturalawarenessarepoor.Englishreadingabilityisonekindofcomprehensiveability.TherearesomanyEnglisharticleliteraturestyles,includingthecertainbackgroundknowledge.Somereader,althoughhasnotbumpedintoanewwordinreadingprocess,andencountersnogrammarbarrier,itisdifficulttoknowthemeaningofthewholereadingpassage,especiallywhenthestudentslackthecertainknowledgeoftheculturalcontext,whichleadstothefailureincommunicationandunderstanding.Englishlearningisnotlearningalanguage,andstudentsshouldlearnEnglishonthebasisofitsspecialculturalbackground.Thusculturalawarenessinreadinginstructionbecomesabsolutelynecessary.ItplaysanimportantroleinEnglishlearning.

.CulturalDifferences

Thereisnotoneaspectofhumanlifethatisnottouchedandalteredbyculture（Samovar&Porter2004:

28）.Differentcountrieshavedifferentcustoms.Therearehugedifferencesbetweenchinaandthewesterncountries.Therefore,tounderstandtheliteratureswrittenbythewestauthors,oneshouldknowabouttheculturalbackgroundofthewesternnationasexactlyaspossible,especiallythedifferencebetweentheChineseandwesternculture.Languagelearningandculturallearningarenotseparable,sotheculturaldifferencesshouldbeinvolvedinEnglishlearning（胡斌2003:

4）.

A.ChineseandWesternCulturalDifferencesinCustoms

Mannersandcustomsarerootedinpeople’sownlivesandsocialstructure.Differentsocialstructurewillinevitablyformdifferentcustoms,whichinvolveawiderangeofaspects,suchaseconomy,politics,religionandsoon.

Forexample,ayoungChinesetouristsatinaLondoncaféandorderedtea.Twiceheaskedformorehotwatertotopitupwhileputtingthesauceronthecuptokeeptheteawarm,ashewouldhavedoneathome.Thewaitergrewimpatient.“ThisChineseistoostingytopayformoretea.Anddoesn’theknowthesaucergoesunderthecuptocatchthedrips?

”TheChinesemannoticedthedispleasureonthewaiter’sfaceandlostpatiencehimself.“Thiswesternwaiterisreallystingyandsilly!

Whyishesoreluctanttoservemehotwater?

Whydoesheputthelidunderthecup?

”hegotangry,andleftthecafésteamingwithresentment.

AnotherexampleinChina,ourChinesepeopleregardedourselvesasthedescendantsofChinesedragon（Long）,andthedragonisthesymboloftheChinesenation,whiledragonmeanstomostwesternersasymbolofevil,anevilmonsterthatdestroysandthereforemustbedestroyed（Deng2003:

55）.Sowhenstudentsdescribeapersonenergetic,theyshouldsay“He/Sheisfullofvimandvigor.”Insteadof“He/Sheisaslivelyasadragonandtiger.”StilllikeinEnglishlionisthekingofbeasts,andstandsforcourageandmajesty.Onedictionarydefinitionaboutlionis“afamousandimportantperson.”WhatliontoBritishiswhatLong（dragon）toourChinese.However,ourChinesedonothaveagoodimpressionofthelion,suchas“狮子大开口”,oftenmakingderogatorysense.

B.ChineseandWesternCulturalDifferencesinValueOrientation

Everyculturehasitsuniquevaluesystemofgoodandevil,ofbeautyandugliness.Thecriteriaarealsodifferent,inthisculturethatisgood,butinanotherculturemaybethatisbad.Theyexistreasonablywithinthesystemoftheirownculture,andbynomeanscanweinterpretavaluestandardasbeingadvancedwhiletheotherbeingbackward.ValuesinEnglishandChineseculturearedifferent,andthemostprominentoneisthecollectivismandindividualism.Forexample,theword“individualism”inChinesehasstrongderogatorysense,becauseinChineseculture,wearepursuingcollectivism,thatis,therealizationofpersonalvalueishiscontributiontosociety,andthusno“individualism”and“personalstruggle.”ButinEnglishculture.Thegreatnessofthevalueofamanliesinthestrengthofhispersonalstruggle.Thus“individualism”isacomplimentarywordinBritainandtheU.S.

Inshort,duetothedifferentsocialbackgroundsofculturaldevelopmentofChinaandthewesterncountries,thereisahugeculturaldifferenceamongvariouscountriesandregions.Tosomeextent,thesedifferencesaredistinctcharacteristicsofthecountryandnation,butatthesametime,theseculturaldifferencesalsobringaboutacertainamountofinconveniencewhenthegroupscommunicatewitheachother.Soitisveryimportanttobefamiliarwiththesedifferencesandavoidmisunderstandingincross-culturalcommunication.

C.ChineseandWesternCulturalDifferencesinReligion

Asanindispensablepartofculture,religiouscultureinfluenceswidelyandprofoundlyourlanguagecommunicationinoursociallife.ThedifferencesbetweentheChineseandwesternculturessurelyinfluencetheverbalbehaviorandlanguagenotionsofthepeopleofthesetwocountries.

AsmanywesternpeopleareChristians,churchesareverycommoninBritain.Usuallythereisnofoodstoredinchurchasaholyplace,somicelivinginchurchesareoftenstaving,whichresultedintheidiom:

“aspooraschurchmouse”.Besides,BritishpeoplehaveafirmbeliefintheexistenceofGod,heaven,hellanddemonandsoonduetotheinfluenceoftheBible,somanyBritishidiomsinvolvereligiousterms.Taketheword“God”forinstance:

“MyGod!

”,“Godblessme!

”,“ThankGod!

”,“Godforbid!

”,“PlayGod.”,“Godhelpsthosewhohelpthemselves.”,“Goddamnyou!

”

AnotherexamplefromtheBibleis“ThereisabitofoldAdaminUSall.”The“oldAdam”isapersonagefromtheBible,whichhasbeenentitledwithcertainculturalconnotation,meaning:

“thefirstancestorofhumanbeings,AdambetrayedthewillofGodoutoftheselfishandevilnatureofhumanbeings”.

InChina,BuddhismisprevalentsinceitwasintroducedintoChinamorethan1,000yearsago.ChinesepeoplebelieveinBuddha,itisverycommontoseethebuildingsoftemplesinwhichpeopleworshiptheBuddhabyburningincense.ThereforemanyChineseidiomscontainsuchreligioustermsasBuddha,templeandmonk.Forexample,“借花献佛”，“放下屠刀立地成佛”，“僧多粥少”，“菩萨心肠”，“临时抱佛脚”，“跑得了和尚跑不了庙”，etc.Chinesepeoplewillpray“菩萨保佑”or“上天保佑”whentheywanttogainsuccess.

D.ChineseandWesternCulturalDifferencesinHierarchy

InChina,alonghistoryofcultureandtraditionofrespecttoancestorsgivebirthtonumeroustitletaboos.Themodernsocietyhasestablishedademocraticandequalsocialinstitution,butininterpersonalinteractions,thereisstillthesituationof“titlebamboo”,thatis,peopleoflowofficiallevelcannotdirectlycallthenamesoftheirsuperiors,unequally,peopleofhigherofficiallevelhavesuchprivilege,andtheyo