On Culture Instruction in English Teaching in Senior Middle Schools

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1、高中英语教学中的文化教学On Culture Instruction in English Teaching in Senior Middle SchoolsAbstract: With the implementation of the New National English Curriculum in senior middle schools, the notions of cultural awareness and culture instruction are being accepted and carried out in classrooms by English teac

2、hers. It is commonly believed that language and culture are inseparable and that culture instruction must be integrated with language teaching. With the methods of integrating theories into practice, the thesis presents the necessity of culture teaching and approaches of culture teaching.Some sugges

3、tions are put forward to helping improve cultural teaching. For all, this thesis focuses on enhancing students cultural awareness, intercultural communicative competence and their language skills. Key words: culture instruction; ELT in senior middle schools; approach 摘要：随着普通高中英语课程标准的实施，文化意识和文化教学的理念正

4、逐渐深入中学英语课堂。文化与语言密不可分，要成功地实现英语的教学目的，必须将文化教学与语言教学有机结合起来。文章运用理论联系实际的方法论述了文化教学的必要性、文化教学实施的现状、途径以及在教学中的实践，分析其中存在的问题及其原因，探讨解决的对策并提出了一些建议。这些对策和建议的主要目的是加强学生的文化意识培养，提高他们的跨文化交际能力和语言技能。关键词：文化教学； 高中英语教学； 文化教学途径ContentsI. Introduction.1A. Language and culture.11. On defining culture.12. Language and culture.2B.

5、The necessity of culture instruction in ELT in senior middle schools.2II. The Contents of Culture Instruction3A. The goals of culture instruction in ELT in senior middle schools.3B. The contents of culture instruction in ELT in senior middle schools.4III. The Approaches of the Culture Instruction5A.

6、 Suggested approaches for culture instruction in class51. Direct introduction.52. Comparing cultural differences between Chinese and English.63. Setting cultural background.74. Classroom activities75. Giving lectures.8B. Suggested approaches for culture instruction out of class.91. Reading literatur

7、e works/newspapers/magazines. 92. Enjoying video programs.103. Acquiring culture knowledge from internet11C. Suggestions on culture instruction in ELT in senior middle schools. .111. Improving assessment of culture learning.11 2. Suggestions for teachers12. Conclusion.13Works Cited.14. IntroductionW

8、ith the rapid development of modern transportation and communication, the whole world has become a “small village”, and the contact between peoples of different cultures becomes more and more frequent. Therefore, English teaching plays a more and more important part at senior middle schools in China

9、. However, when people communicate with each other, they find only knowing the target language cannot solve all the problems, because different cultures will bring about different ways of life, different customs which will often lead into misunderstandings. A. Language and culture1. On defining cult

10、ureCulture is a concept with rich connotations. Different scholars from different fields may give different definitions. Even within the same field, culture has been defined from a number of perspectives. In 1952, American anthropologist A.L.Kroeber and C. Kluckhohn published a book “Culture: A Crit

11、ical Review of Concepts and Definitions”. In the book, they reviewed more than 160 different definitions about culture. The concept of culture was first offered by the British anthropologist Edward B.Tylor in his Primitive Culture, who looks at “culture” as “that complex whole which includes knowled

12、ge, belief, art, morals, law, customs and other habits acquired by man as a member of society” (Hu&Gao 23).In 1991, Richard E. Porter and Larry A. Samovar (86) define culture as the deposit of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, timing, rules, spatial

13、 relations, concepts of universe and material objects and expressions acquired by a large group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving.In 1997, Jia Yuxin notes the definition given by the sociolinguist, Goodenough, is beneficial to the study of cross-cultural co

14、mmunication. For Goodenough, “Culture.consists of standards for deciding what is, standards for deciding what can be, standards for deciding how one feels about it, standards for deciding what to do about it, and standards for deciding how to go about doing it” (Jia 47). In 2000, Wang Zhenya (63) po

15、ints out, culture has the following properties:1. Culture is human specific.2. Culture is a social phenomenon.3. Culture is a national phenomenon.4. Culture is also a historical phenomenon.5. Culture is general and abstract.All the above definitions involving customs, arts, social institutions and b

16、eliefs of a certain society which clearly show that culture has already permeated every corner of our lives. However, “Culture is like an iceberg. Most of culture is below the surface of our awareness. It includes feelings and attitudes about how things are and how they should be” (Davis 231). 2. La

17、nguage and cultureLanguage and culture are tightly linked together. American linguist Edward Sapire, in 1920s, pointed out that “there is something behind language, that is culture. Language cannot exist without culture” (Mo 2). In 1957, Goodenough once said, “A societys language is an aspect of its

18、 culturethe relation of language to culture is that of part to whole” (Mo 2).In 1991, Samovar and Porter comment on the relationship between language and culture: “To a very extent our language is a product of our culture. At the same time, our culture is very much a product of our language. Culture

19、 and language are inseparably intertwined” (Mo 4).In 1995, Deng Yanchang and Liu Runqing (46) note that language is a part of culture and plays a very important role in it. Some social scientists consider it the keystone of culture. Without language, they maintain, culture would not be possible. Lan

20、guage is influenced and shaped by culture: it reflects culture. Culture is an integral part of language. Language and culture are closely related, each influencing and shaping the other. Therefore, language and culture have close ties. They exist, affect each other, and cannot be separated from each

21、 other. Hence, in our language teaching, culture should be taught at the same time.B. The necessity of culture instruction in ELT in senior middle schoolsIn 1989, Byram holds that cultural learning and language learning cannot take place when they are independent of each other. “ as learners learn a

22、bout language they learn about culture and as they learn to use a new language, they learn to use a new culture. They learn to communicate with other individuals from a new culture the meanings of a particular language point to the culture of a particular social grouping, and analysis of those meani

23、ngs their comprehension by learners and other speakers involves the analysis and compression of that culture” (Mo 3).Chen Shen also puts his view: “The learners will be seen to require not simply the development of knowledge about foreign culture, nor will they be taught just to conform to foreign w

24、ays in order to behave appropriately during communication with native speakers. More importantly, learners will be required to have a better understanding of both foreign culture and home culture” (Chen 112).Nowadays, as the contact between peoples of different cultures becomes more and more frequen

25、t, they find when people communicate with each other, only knowing the foreign language is not enough to solve all the problems, because different cultures will bring about different ways of life, different customs, which will often lead into misunderstandings. Therefore, more and more people are aw

26、are of the importance of the culture instruction in foreign language teaching (FLT). But traditional FLT, which has been influenced by Chomskys “linguistic competence”, which focuses on linguistic forms, such as phonetics, vocabulary, grammar and so on, paying little attention to the cultural factor

27、s. In recent years, the culture teaching and learning has been paid more and more attention. In China, more and more English teachers and students have realized that foreign language teaching with pure linguistic form cannot meet the new demands of social development, and the first time cultural awa

28、reness and intercultural communicative competence has been put forward in the New National English Curriculum. However, there are still some limitations and problems in culture instruction. The main reasons may concern the following two aspects. On one hand, language teaching in China has long been

29、focusing on linguistic knowledge, and culture leaning and teaching has been ignored. On the other hand, many English teachers are lack of theoretical and practical instruction.Therefore, this paper intends to discuss the necessities and importance of teaching the culture of English-speaking countrie

30、s and what and how to teach in the current teaching practice, hoping the importance of cultural instruction can arouse the attention of the teachers and students and improve its current situation.II. The Contents of Culture InstructionA. The goals of culture instruction in ELT in senior middle schoo

31、ls In 1996, Tavares and Cavalcanti (19) point out: the aim of teaching culture is to increase students awareness and to develop their curiosity towards the target culture and their own, helping them to make comparisons among cultures.According to the “National English Curriculum” issued by the State

32、 Education Commission in 2001, the goal of culture teaching in senior middle school English is: Students will broaden their vision, build awareness of and sensitivity to differences between their native culture and the target culture, and develop cross-cultural communication competence. Specific aim

33、s of culture teaching in senior middle school English are as follows:1) To help students develop an understanding of the connotation of common English idioms and proverbs; 2) To help students develop an understanding of the English allusions and legends in cross-culture communications;3) To help stu

34、dents develop an understanding of the experiences, contributions and achievements of famous writers, artists and scientists in English-speaking countries;4) To help students to develop an understanding of political and economic status in main English-speaking countries;5) To help students develop an

35、 understanding of mass media information in main English-speaking countries ;6) To help students develop an understanding of different life styles between target culture and native culture;7) To help students develop an understanding of different norms, customs and conventions between target culture

36、 and students culture;8) To help students developing an understanding of main religious in English-speaking countries;9) To help students develop an understanding of diverse cultures through English learning, and cultivate learners awareness of globalization;10) To help students develop a deep under

37、standing of students own culture through the contrast with the target culture. In a word, the goal of culture teaching should be cultivating students intercultural communicative competence, and let students have decent verbal behaviors, non-verbal behaviors and extra-verbal behaviors in intercultura

38、l communication (Wang Zhenya 33).B. The contents of culture instruction in ELT in senior middle schoolsAs stated above, the various descriptions of the definitions of culture and the goals of cultural teaching have been presented to the people. But what should be taught in senior middle schools?As w

39、e know, Culture knowledge is one of the basic goals of the course, and students are expected to gain some degree of culture knowledge in the language learning. In teaching culture, we should first determine what to teach, and what is required for students to master for improving their cultural compe

40、tence. Based on the above, culture teaching in middle schools shall include the following contents:1) Verbal communications. It includes the hails, greetings, thanks, apologies, phone calls, requests and invitations; taboos; euphemisms; social conventions, etiquettes and so on.2) Expressions in nonv

41、erbal communications, such as gestures, body motions, customs and different attitudes.3) Knowledge of politics, economic, history, geography, literature of the English-speaking countries.4) Understanding of the differences of values and mind-sets between the Chinese and the westerners, which include

42、s outlooks on life, ethics and so on.III. The Approaches to the Culture InstructionA. Suggested approaches to culture instruction in class Cultivating students cultural awareness can be achieved mainly in English class during the process of language teaching. So teacher should take every opportunity

43、 to teach culture knowledge in teaching practice. They are many approaches to integrate culture teaching with language teaching to cultivate students cultural awareness in classroom teaching, while only some of the efficient approaches are discussed here. 1. Direct introductionIn English teaching, t

44、eachers can provide students with information about the English-speaking countries as much as possible. This approach emphasizes the classroom presentation of culture information by the teacher. The information, which can be presented, includes an English-speaking countrys geography, history, govern

45、ment, economics, religion, customs, literature, art, education, holidays, and quality of life and so on. This approach is often used in the classroom by many teachers. The teacher directly explains those cultural points which may confuse students. For example, “fireplace”, “pudding”, and “sandwich”

46、are unique in western culture. By the teachers explanation and presentation, learners can accept the cultural knowledge directly and clearly. Usually, the direct introduction impresses learners a lot.2. Comparing cultural differences between Chinese and EnglishThe next step which is important to acq

47、uire knowledge of culture is to take every opportunity to compare cultural differences while teaching the class. To do this, it is necessary to compare cultures to establish similarities and identify differences (Deng YanchangLiu Runqing 106). The middle school syllabus points out clearly: “In order

48、 to locate focal and different language points for teaching, teachers may adopt the approach of making contrast between Chinese and foreign languages.” In English teaching, more and more teachers are conscious of that make comparisons between Chinese culture and English-speaking countrys culture is

49、of great importance. The approach of comparing cultural differences is an easily-controlled and effective way for students to learn cultural knowledge, and further develop their understanding to both Chinese and English culture, as well as to help them avoid or decrease the misunderstanding in cross

50、-cultural communication. So in English teaching practice at senior middle schools, its important to compare culture of English and Chinese to analyzing similarities and identify differences.In teaching practice, comparing cultural differences show its advantages in cultivating students cultural awar

51、eness. By comparing cultural differences, teachers can encourage students to think the related culture of English and Chinese to develop their creativity and imagination. When teaching “Festivals” (SEFC 1B Unit 2), the teacher may try to wake up the students knowledge about Chinese festivals, during

52、 which a warming-up question can be designed to students to distinguish a pair of festivals. The teacher can ask students to tell how the two festivals play the same or similar function in their respective countries.FestivalsQi Xi / Valentines Day Spring festival / ChristmasAfter the activity, the s

53、tudents may have a clear picture about the festivals in both Chinese and western countries. They know Christmas in the west and Spring Festival in China has something in common, which are both the most important festivals; the Valentines Day and Qixi are festivals about love and affection of men and

54、 women. Then the teacher can ask the students to find out the differences of these festivals, which will help students realize the different traditions and different history in the west country and China.By comparing cultural differences, the students may be involved in the difficult and abstract to

55、pics they are not interested in. In the teaching of “A garden of poems” (SEFC 2B Unit 4), which mainly introduces the history of poems of UK, most teachers are worrying that the students will meet some frustration because of the boring content and difficult terms. So instead of introducing the knowl

56、edge about English poems directly, the teacher can present a Chinese famous ancient poem in English vision to help the students can understand the meaning of the poem quickly. Then they were given a simple English poem and asked to translate it into Chinese with their own understanding. At this time

57、, the students will pay all their attention to the English poem. The comparisons of English and Chinese poems aims at helping students enjoy the beauty and the elegance of the English poems. Culture differences comparison is an efficient way to strength their understanding of the both cultures. The

58、approach of comparing cultural differences can help students involve themselves in English culture easily, as it can change the cultural knowledge from unfamiliar to familiar, from difficult to simple. Above all, by comparing cultural differences, students will study cultural knowledge and develop t

59、heir cultural awareness easier.3. Setting cultural background Setting cultural background is an essential way for teaching culture and cultivating students cultural awareness. Setting cultural background knowledge can help students imagine living in a real native environment, and makes students lear

60、n what is taught easily and happily. This approach in English teaching not only guarantees the success of students activity, but strengthens their ability of thinking in English in pleasant environment, as well as enhances students motivation and interest in English learning and deepens their unders

61、tanding to English culture. This is particularly important in a foreign language setting where the reality of language use in the speech community is geographically and psychologically far removed from the classroom (Stern 89).For instance, when teaching “I have a dream”(SEFC 2B, Unit 14), the teach

62、er should give students some pictures of Martin Luther King to make the students tell how much they know about him, then discuss the situation of black people in 1960s in American in order to be familiar with the historical background of the passage. In this way, the students passion and curiosity w

63、as aroused and they wondered what dreams King wanted to achieve in that situation. During reading the text, the students keep their passion to King speech and show their sympathy to the blacks all the time.In short, setting cultural background is to supply more chances for students to contact with f

64、oreign culture, to deepen students understanding to the cultural knowledge as well as cultivate students cultural awareness.4. Classroom activitiesHaving various classroom activities on cultural knowledge, such as pair work, group discussion, role-playing, duty report and debate, is also an efficient way to help students cultivate cultural awareness in English teaching.Pair work and group discussion can improve student