浅谈英语教学中的文化意识.docx

浅谈英语教学中的文化意识

　　[Abstract] Language and culture are inseparable. Language is not just a set of sign system, but also the main expression of culture. For such a long time, the relation between language and culture has not been given enough value in English teaching. Language learners always take it for granted that in teaching practice, they can master English very well, speak English fluently and communicate with natives freely, as long as they carry on the training course for listening, speaking, reading and writing. The fact turns out that repeated mistakes will occur in the communication between different people of different backgrounds. Therefore, in the process of English teaching, cultural teaching plays an very important role. The paper, based on the previous findings, begins with the relation between culture and English teaching. Then it focuses on the importance and the ways to combine cultural teaching with English teaching. Finally, the paper points out some requirements for English teachers. It’s hoped that the present study will help the English teachers improve their teaching approaches, and cultivate the cultural consciousness in students’ minds and stimulate their interests in English learning.
[Key Words] English teaching; English learning; cultural consciousness

【摘 要】语言和文化是密不可分的。语言是文化的载体，是文化的主要表现形式。然而长期以来，在中国的英语教学中语言和文化的这种关系一直未得到足够的重视。语言学习者通常会想当然的认为，在教学实践中，只要继续听，说，读，写的训练课程，他们便可以学好英语，便能流利地用英语同母语是英语的人自由交谈。事实证明，不同背景的人在交际过程中屡屡出现歧义误解现象。因此，在教学过程中，文化教学起着举足轻重的作用。本文基于已有的理论，从文化教学与英语教学的关系出发，重点阐述了将文化渗透到英语教学中的重要性及方法，并在最后提出了对英语教师的一些要求。本文旨在改善英语教师的教学方法，以及培养学生的文化意识并激发学生的英语学习兴趣。
【关键词】英语教学；英语学习；文化意识
1. Introduction
Referring to English learning, we are puzzled by the phenomena that why there are so many learners who learn English at such an early time in our country, while the exceptional ones are so limited? Why many English learners who have begun their English study since they were children still feel difficult to open their mouth? Why after they have mastered its grammatical rules very well, but are they still elusive when they communicate with foreigners? Why is English easy to learn for a baby who grows up in English speaking countries but difficult for a Chinese adult? The answers to those questions have shown that English learning is not just learning a language. English learners should learn English on the basis of its special cultural background. It is indicated that cultural consciousness plays an important role in English learning. For almost ten years, one of the most important subjects for English teaching experts is the research on relations between culture and English teaching.
Despite that the culture learning is seldom listed as component of the second language teaching and an outline of foreign language teaching, the culture learning is a hidden process which is hard to be distinguished but will appear everywhere. Culture relativism suggests that people need to learn more about their own culture than is commonly required. That must be followed by study about, and interaction with, other cultural groups. This intercultural process helps one know what it is like to be a member of the second culture and to view the world from that point of view . To function effectively and comfortably within a second culture, that culture must be learned. [1]
2. The Relation between Culture and English Teaching
English is a kind of language, and language is a part of culture, which also carries on the culture.　Culture refers to the relatively specialized lifestyle of a group of people –consisting of their values, beliefs, artifacts, ways of behaving, and ways of communicating.　As human language is a direct manifestation of culture, learning a second language involves learning a second culture. For teachers of foreign language, they should try to develop the students’ awareness and knowledge of the culture of the target language they are learning. This includes understanding the values of the target culture, acquiring a command of the etiquette of the target culture and the students’ understanding of the difference between the target culture and the students’ own culture. English and Chinese cultures have turned out their own mode of thoughts. The different modes of thoughts are embodied in their own language. Events like these are fairly common when people of different languages and different cultures communicate. Because of cultural differences, misunderstandings may arise, although the language used in communication may be faultless. The same words or expressions may not mean the same thing to different peoples. Because of cultural differences, a serious question may cause amusement or laugh; a harmless statement may cause displeasure or anger. Because of cultural differences, jokes by a foreign speaker may be received with blank faces and stony silence. Yet the same stories in the speaker’s own country would leave audiences holding their sides with laughter.
Language is a part of culture and plays a very important role in it. On one hand, without language, culture would not be possible. On the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture; it reflects culture. In the broadest sense, language is the symbolic representation of a people, and it comprises their historical and cultural backgrounds as well as their approach to life and their ways of living and thinking. Thus, language and culture interact with each other and understanding of one requires understanding of the other.
Cultures differ from one another. Each culture is unique. Learning a foreign language well means more than merely mastering the pronunciation, grammar, words and idioms. It means learning also to see the world as native speakers of that language see it, learning the ways in which their language reflects the ideas, customs, and behavior of their society, learning to understand their “language of the mind”. Learning a language, in fact, is inseparable from learning its culture.
The close relationship between language and culture is readily shown by the fact that culture is transmitted from one generation to the next through language. Language learning and cultural learning are not separable, so the cultural differences should be involved in English learning.　Since the second half of the twentieth century, an increasing number of professionals in language teaching and research have recognized the importance and necessity of integrating language and culture in foreign language classroom. English teaching as a second language teaching is with no exception. It is necessary for English teachers to combine their English teaching with cultural teaching. And many successful examples have proved its possibilities.
The Current Situation of English Teaching in China
In recent years, three major problems in current English teaching in China have been pointed out during the discussion of the reform of English teaching. Some leaders of State Educational Department and some well-known University English teachers have joined in the discussion. They unanimously agreed that inefficient and time-consuming English teaching, high score but low communicational ability, deaf and dumb English have taken the domination of the shortcomings of the English teaching. It is not a surprise to draw this conclusion. With the implementation of the reform policy and entry of the World Trade Organization of China, all students of various grades are expected to have a higher English level, especially their abilities in intercourse communication. These new requirements force English teaching to be reformed. But the present situation has worried those teachers who are committed to carry out the reform.
Inefficient and Time-consuming English teaching
At present, it seems that some problems of the university graduates have reflected some problems of university‘s education, but university’s teachers argued that it is not their faults, because students who graduated from high schools did not have good English foundation, as most of them were under great pressure of the college entrance examination. High schools and parents took the exam extremely seriously, so they hardly worked hard on listening and speaking. How can such “raw material” become excellent students with good listening, speaking just in not more than 200 study periods? The root of this kind of problem lies in the great pressure of “the senior high school entrance of examination” and “the college entrance examination”. The subjects of elementary school, middle school, or university have nothing related to each other, and redundant teaching causes the problem of time-consuming and low efficiency, because the elementary and middle school and the university belong to the different education departments. Therefore, when they formulate some program of teaching plan they have not considered to each other. So English teaching cannot be systematical, some texts have been taught in junior middle school which still will appear in the textbook of senior schools. New knowledge cannot be taught orderly that students’ English levels are still. It directly results in the university students can not pass band-4 or band-6, even they cannot speak a word with foreigners even though they have learned English for almost 6 years. Although these problems have been put forward again and again, they cannot be solved effectively. The low efficient teaching process will greatly reduce the students’ interests in English learning.
Higher score and lower communication ability
Some researches have indicated again and again that there are a lot of problems in the present English teaching method, which results in the high score and low ability in English communication. English teaching in China usually focuses on grammar, translation, reading and literary teaching, but the development of students’ abilities of using language has been neglected. Teachers are still prone to the traditional ways of listening and speaking, with its endless and repetitive drills and teacher is the center of the class. So it can imagine that in the English practice classroom, students are occupied in taking notes, so they can get improvement in reading and writing, but not in speaking and listening.
Although many Chinese students always being the legend of getting high score in TOFFEL exams, the truth is that they do not always succeed in communication in English or in an English spoken country. That is because English teaching in China has not been taught under the specified culture background; most of students cannot communicate with foreigners effectively. Everyone knows that the word “freeze” means “keeping things in cold under zero centigrade”. However, in the American society with the permission of the possession of private gun, an oversea student who was shot to be death because he did not knew another meaning for the word “freeze” in spoken English is “stop”. In United States, “freeze” is a well-known daily expression, if the overseas student knows the culture, his death could be avoided.
Deaf and Dumb English
The same problem baffled most of university teachers who all complained that in their lessons when they put forward an easy question about western table manners, the whole class keeps silent. Even when teachers call them, the student cannot answer in fluent English. The symptom of deaf and dumb English can even be found in university. Most of people ascribe the root of the problem to the inappropriate teaching method in elementary school and middle school. Missing the most suitable period of fostering students’ listening and speaking abilities has caused the serious problems of deaf and dumb English. In fact, when the students got in touch with English at the first time, it is easier to stimulate their learning interest. Noticing their great curiosity of the new things, teachers should tell them that the final purpose of learning English is to cultivate their ability to speak English and use English successfully. Thus, students will realize the importance of learning and speaking instead of fixing their eyes on passing exams.
The present situation of English teaching is not optimistic, so the English teachers should take it seriously. It is caused by the incorrect teaching method. Therefore, the reform should focus on the classroom teaching. However, the purpose of the English teaching is to achieve the effective ways of intercourse communication. Therefore, in order to realize it, the key way is to combine the English teaching with cultural teaching. Thus, every teaching activity can carry on under the cultural background so that the intercourse communicational barrier can be narrowed.
The Importance of Combining the Cultural Teaching with English Teaching
On the World Language Discussion, many linguists emphasis the importance of culture teaching. , an American linguist, indicated that: “Language is the tool of communication, but not an object for analyzing, and can not be separated from culture.”　Language is much more than just a means of communication. It is used to socialize students into their linguistic and cultural communities, developing patterns that distinguish one community from another. The final purpose of English teaching is to realize the successful intercourse communication, and certain knowledge of culture will help students to improve their abilities of language application.　Since there is a closed relationship between language and culture，it is crucial to take time in understanding the culture of the English speaking countries. Many people may always face the circumstance called “non-reacted efficient or opposite efficient communication,” that is when they communicate with an English native speaker, although he talks with them with whole heart and soul, they still do not know what does he say. This is because different cultural background has resulted in their different ways and habits of speaking. In the intercourse communication, they first get in touch with the language, which is produced under the different cultural backgrounds and areas. Both of the communicators pass massage through their own language, so the key to realize effective communication is to have the knowledge of cultural history, tradition and custom of the countries of the target language countries. All English teachers experienced that if they would show the students pictures or introduce some knowledge of tradition or custom of English country, they would remember the grammar points firmly. For students, without understanding the culture of the English speaking countries is unthinkable and makes it very hard for they to master English and communicate very well with native speakers. English has become a useful tool in many international occasions, so it is more and more important to communicate in English.
It is without doubt that students had learnt a lot about cultural knowledge of other countries that will make them g