to narrower ones since culture is ubiquitous, multidimensional, complex, and all-pervasive and many definitions have been suggested from different angles. From a definition that includes all learned behavior, we can move to a definition that proposes culture with distinct boundaries. “Bates and Plog (1990) proposed a descriptive definition that includes most of the major territory of culture on which scholars currently agree.
Culture is a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors and artifacts that the members of a society use to cope with. Their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning”. [2](p1)
This definition includes not only patterns of behavior but also patterns of thought, artifacts, and the culturally transmitted skills and techniques used to make the artifacts.
Culture was defined as the deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, actions, attitudes, meanings, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and artifacts acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving. [3](p21) Therefore, culture can include everything from rites of passage to concepts of the soul.
2.2 Language and culture
Languages are generally accepted words and rules drawn from speech. Language is the carrier of culture and culture is the content of language. There is no language without culture content. Social linguistics show that language is a system of structure rules and culture-specific behavior rules that humans use to interact with one another. Knowing a language is known not only the grammar, vocabulary and discourse patterns but also the cultural rules of using those components so as to use appropriate language in a particular context.
It is quite true that nothing more clearly distinguishes one culture from another than its language. For example, a major linguistic difference between Americans and Chinese lies in the use of direct and indirect language. Most Americans learn to say “yes” and “no” as a means of expressing their individual views. However, the Chinese usually use “yes” and “no” to express respect for the feeling of others. [4](P23)
In a word, the development of culture can undoubtedly promote that of language, and in the meantime, the up-growth and enrichment of language is the necessary preconditions to the improvement of the whole culture. It is for the especially close relationship between language and culture. Language is regarded as the carrier of culture, the mirror to reflect the national culture.
2.3 Relation between culture teaching and language teaching
Culture and language are closely related. A language can never be learned in a cultural vacuum. Language learning and culture learning are not separable. “It is the same with culture teaching and language teaching. Traditional teaching in foreign language education has limited the teaching of culture transmission of information about the people of the target country and about their general attitudes and worldviews.” (Claire Kramsch, 2000)[5](p3) In traditional teaching, though students master the pronunciation, grammars, vocabularies and quite a lot of listening, speaking, reading, writing and