CulturalEducationinEnglishTeaching

CulturalEducationinEnglishTeaching

陈媛

关键词：语言；文化；英语教学；文化教育

作者简介：陈媛，任教于江苏省苏州市新草桥中学。

Thereisanaturalrelationshipbetweencultureandlanguage.Thelanguage,amainexpressionofculture,isacarrierofculture.Languagereflectshowthepeopleofanationformtheuniquewayoflifeandthewayofthinking.Thelanguagedevelopsalongwiththedevelopingofnation:itisonepartofsocialfolkcultures.Thedifferentnationhasdifferentculture、history、customsandsocialcustoms.Thelanguagecan’tgetawayfromculture,andtheculturedependsonlanguage.Cultureisanimportantthemeofcontemporaryforeignlanguageeducation(FLE)research.Peoplegenerallyagreethatcultureisanimportantpartofforeignlanguageeducation.Scholarsathomeandabroadhaveachievedalotinthisarea.However,itmustbepointedoutthatenthusiastictheoreticalexplorationsinthefieldofculturalstudiesinthepastdecadesarenotfollowedbyequalzealinEnglishteachingandlearningpractice.Itiscommontoseeteachersbusyingthemselveseitherinimpartinglanguagepointstolearnersorindevelopinglearners’languageskills,butpayinglessattentiontoculturalinstruction.Therefore,Englishteachingnecessarilyinvolvesculturaleducationandteachersshouldpayattentiontotheculturaleducationwhileteachingthelanguage.

I.Therelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture

Cultureiscloselyrelatedwithlanguage.Thespecificcultureofeachnationisreflectedinavarietyofways;however,thereisnootherthingthatshowsasmuchcontentofanation’sspecificlifestyleasitslanguage.Fromtheperspectiveoflanguageandsocialculture,1anguagemayberegardedasaspecialphenomenonofsocialculture.Thedevelopmentoflanguagealsokeepsaclosepacewiththeculturalandsocialadvancementofanation.Forexample,thesocialchangesandprocessofthinkingareconstantlyenrichingthelexiconofthelanguage.Therefore,toinvestigateintothesocialandculturalaspectandtonurturetheculturalcompetenceoflanguagelearnersaretwoimportanttopicsofEnglishteaching.Inasense，thelearningofasecondlanguageistheunderstandingofasecondculture.Itisaprocessorconflicting，communicating，interactingandreconstructing.AnEnglishteacherisabridgebetweenthetargetlanguagecultureandthelanguagelearners.Tothelearners，theprocessoflearningasecondlanguageisalsotheprocessofknowingthespecifictraditionsofthepeoplespeakingthatlanguage.

II.Thereasonsoftheculturaleducation

WhenevertalkingaboutEnglishlearning,manypeoplemayrecallthetrainingofthefourbasicskillsoflistening,speaking,readingandwriting．Intheirteachingpractices，theactivitiesofmanyteachersarealsolimitedbythismethodology.Surely,teachingthesebasicskillsisnecessarybecausethepurposeoflearningalanguageistouseit.However,theproblemisthatalthoughalotofstudentshavelearnedthefundamentalsoftheseskillsaccordingtothesetraditionalmethods，theyarestillshowinganobvioustendencyofmakingmistakesofvariouskinds.Somewesternexpertsoncesaid,“Maybethegrammaticalmistakesmakepeopleunhappy,oraffectthecommunicationunsuccessfully,butatleastitcanmakereceiverunderstanditsexistence.Oncethereceiverrealizethatthespeakersarenotgoodatgrammaticalrules,theymayforgivethemiftheymakeamistake,whentheycommunicatewithforeigners.Ontheotherhand,ifapersonwhocanspeakEnglishwithoutanygrammaticalmistakes,thereceivermayconsiderhimimpoliteorrudeifheorshemakesamistake.Theymaythinkweoffendtheirfeelingonpurpose.Sometimesthepragmaticmistakesareevenworsethanthegrammaticalmistakes.Knowinglanguageisnecessarybutnotenough,weneedtolearnmoreaboutthepeopleandtheirwayoflife,includingtheirvalues,history,habits,andthesubstanceoftheirpersonality.Thisdemandinghighlightstheimportanceofcultureteaching---concernstheirrolesinfacilitatinginterculturalcommunication.However,foralongtimeinChina,thegrammar-orientedperspectiveleadstotheemphasisonthegrammaticalcompetence.Furthermore,itispositivethatForeignLanguageTeaching(FLT)shouldbefarmorethanjustacquiringcommunicativecompetence(DirvenandDutz,1993;HuandGao,1997).Kramer(1991)complainsthat,“muchforeignlanguageteachingisstillalmostentirelyconcentratedofliterarytext”(9td,inDirvenandPutz,1993),andhepleadsforICCcompetence.

Inordertoovercometheproblems,improvethestudents’abilitytomeettheneedofthesociety,enhancetheirabilitytocommunicatesuccessfully,andtrytoavoidmiscommunicationoreveninterculturalconflict,asateacher,wemustputthecultureconnotationintotheclassroom.Ifstudentsareinterestedintheculture,media,customsandhabitsofforeigncountries,theirinternalmotivewillbestimulated.Therefore,anEnglishteachershouldtrytomotivatethembyallmeanssothatitwillachieveagoodteachingresult.Theculturaldifferenceistheobstacleofinterculturalcommunication；itisacommonplaceproblemforthisworldtoovercometheobstaclefromtheculturaldifference.Forexample,Ifanenterprisewantsletitsproductssellverywellintheinternationalmarket,itnotonlyneedssuperbeconomyandtechniquemeans，butalsoneedsthoroughunderstandingofthecounterpart’sculture.Thenitmakesthattheproductmeetsthecounterparty’sneedinpackingdesignandutility.Asaresult，theprocessoflearningEnglishnotonlymeansthetrainingofthesefundamentalskillsbutalsoincludesthefamiliaritywiththesocialandculturalconventionsoftheEnglish一speakingcountries.OnlyinthiswaycanlearnershaveagoodcommandoftheEnglishlanguage.Otherwiseerrorsmayeasilyarise.

III.HowtoinputculturaleducationinEnglishteaching

Therearevariesofmethodsofculturaleducation，theteachershouldadoptmuchmorevividmethodtoimprovethestudent’sensitivitytoculture.calculatingtheessenceoftheculture，whichleadthemtoabsorbingthenewculturalenvironmentspontaneously.Strengthenthecomparisonbetweenorientalandwesternculturaldifferences，peoplearetryingtheirbesttonaturallyinvolvethedifferencesinEnglishteachingbothpartiesingreeting，appreciation，modestyandvalueetc.naturallyseepthroughEnglishtheteaching.Withtherapiddevelopmentofsociety,changestotraditionshouldbeaccepted，ifnotwelcomed，andthebalancebetweenchangeandtraditionshouldbehandledthroughinteractionbetweenthehomecultureandforeignculture.ThisproposalforselectionrequiresustoreconsidertheroleofforeignlanguageeducationandconsequentlythegoalsofteachinginChina,whichisanovertexpressionofthewayinwhichChinaconfrontsforeignculture?Findingallanswertothisquestionnecessitatesclarificationofwhatweseetobetherelationshipbetweencultureandlanguage.

WecantaketheESTforexample.ThestrongestargumentfortheindependenceandculturalneutralityoflanguageistobefoundintheadvocacyofEST.Therefore,weshallexaminetheseclaimsfirst.Inthepreviousdiscussion，theteachingofESP(EnglishforSpecialPurposes)wasmentioned.AccordingtoSwales0985)，EST(EnglishforScienceandTechnology)isoneparticularlyimportantareainthedevelopmentofESP.

Theoretically，therewasnolinkbetweenESTintheWestandthepedagogicalmanifestationoftheChineseformulationthatis，teachingEnglishasaculturallyneutralinstrumenttolearnWesternscienceandtechnology.WhenESTwasdevelopingintheWesternworld，China’sdoorwasstillclosedbecauseoftheCulturalRevolution.However，itisnotdifficulttoseewhythepropositionofESTwassofavoredinChinesewhenherdoorwasopenedinthelate1970s.

SofarwehaveknownthatscientificEnglishcouldbelearnedasaculturallyneutralinstrumentisduetoamistakewhichmixeduplanguage，languagelearningandlanguageuseasoneissue．Useoflanguageist60closelyintegratedwithboththetargetcultureandthelearner’sculture.

V.Conclusion

Asacomplicatedsocialphenomenon，languageentailstoomuchculturalinformation.Toalargeextent，languageasasocialcodeissignificantlyinfluencedbythespecifictraditionsandconventionsofanation.Culturalinfluencenowadayshasbecomethekeyconceptinsecondlanguageteachingandlearning.Withouttheconceptofculturallearning，onecannotbeexpectedtohaveafullcommandofthenormsandcustomsthatareparticularininfluencingthebehaviorofthenatives.Asaresult，Englishlearnersshouldbeawareoftheculturalaspectsofthetargetlanguagetoavoidcommunicativemistakesofvariouskinds.ItisaswelltheresponsibilityofEnglishteacherstoremindhisorherstudentstheunderstandingofEnglishcultureatlarge.

Althoughtherearevariousteachingmethodsincurrentdays，wehavepaidmuchattentiontothespecialwaystotheculturaleducationinEST.Withtheglobalizationofsocietycommunication,itrequestsustoknowmoreaboutthedifferentcultures,sothatwecancommunicatefluently.Generallyspeaking，wehavediscussedtherelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture，thecauseofculturaleducationinteaching，andsomeculturesrelevanttotheEnglishteachingandhowtoinputculturaleducationinEnglishteaching.Fortheculturaleducation，ithasitsrespectivecharacteristicsfordifferentcountries.Weshouldknowthatandmakeagoodsenseinlearningprocess,andthen,whattakesasignificantplaceinEnglishteaching?Generallyspeaking，itisculturaleducation，whichtellspeoplethedifferentcustom，historiesandhabits.

References:

[1]李艳.跨文化交际与英语教学[J].宁波教育学院学报，2003(4).

[2]杨阳，彭锦秀．关于中学英语阅读课程现状的调查报告[J].中小学外语教学，2004(5)．

[3]Dirven,R.andPutz,M.InterculturalCommunication[J].LanguageTeaching.1993(5).

作者单位：江苏省苏州市新草桥中学

邮政编码：215011

CulturalEducationinEnglishTeaching

ChenYuan

Abstract:Thereisanaturalrelationshipbetweencultureandlanguage.ThispaperstatestherelationshipbetweenlanguageandcultureandmainlyexpoundshowtoinputculturaleducationinEnglishteaching.

Keywords:language;culture;Englishteaching;culturaleducation