On Culture Education of Junior English in China
[Abstract] Along with development of the cooperation between nations, the international communication becomes more and more important. But, the culture difference brings about lots of misunderstanding and obstacles in communication. Therefore, the knowledge of culture background is essential to the effective communication. Nowadays, English has become a very significant tool in the international communication. It is a must to pay enough attention to the culture education in the process of English learning. The paper intends to make an analysis of our traditional junior English teaching, which indicates that the culture education of this stage is not so satisfying and exists lots of problems. It also focuses on the strengths and the weaknesses of the current culture teaching approaches, showing an opinion that only to develop the strong points and improve the weak, can our culture education of junior English become successful. The present paper also lays emphasis on what a teacher should and what a teacher can do in the process of culture education, discussing the practicable teaching approaches and extracurricular activities. 浅谈初中英语中的文化教学
[Key Words] intercultural communication; culture education; junior English; communicative ability; cultural awareness
【摘要】 随着国际合作的不断发展，国际交流日益加强。文化差异引起的交际误解及障碍在一定程度上影响阻碍了其有效进行，因而，对文化背景的了解有助于有效交际的顺利进行。当今社会，英语已成为了至关重要的国际交流语言之一。在学习英语的 过程中，必须把文化教学当作不可或缺的内容。本文通过对我国初中英语传统教学法的分析，发现这个阶段的文化教学现状令人不甚满意，存在着诸如师生的文化意识薄弱等问题，分析了现行的一些文化教学法的优缺点，指出只有认清优缺点，发扬长处改正缺点才能够使文化教学得以有效开展，取得成功。文章侧重探讨分析了在初中英语文化教学过程中，老师必须注意的方方面面及其在课堂、课外必须且能够采取、组织的各种文化教学方法和活动方式。
【关键词】 跨文化交际；文化教学；初中英语；交际能力；文化意识
1. Introduction
Along with the more and more frequent international cooperation, English, as a bridge between China and the world, plays a role of the utmost importance. But, the neglect of the culture background brings about lots of misunderstanding and obstacles in communication. Therefore, it is a must to pay enough attention to the culture education in the process of English learning, considering it as an indispensable part of language learning. In China, most of us begin to learn English from junior. The culture education of this stage is not so satisfying and exists lots of problems, such as the weak culture awareness, the unreasonable design of textbook, the quality of teachers, the ignorance of culture teaching because of pressure of exams and so on. To improve the situation needs the cultivation of culture awareness, the reformation and proper choice of textbook and the adjustment of evaluation systems. Admitting the mistakes and improving them is of great importance, and meanwhile, we should recognize the desirable measures, such as some good current culture teaching approaches and extracurricular activities.
Therefore, the present paper will discuss about the problems and merits of the culture education of junior English in China, probe into how to introduce culture backgrounds in EFL teaching and explore the improvements for it.
2. Culture and language
2.1Definition of Culture and Language
What is culture? Facing this heatedly debated issue, people gives hundreds of answers.
English word “culture” is a loan word from Latin in which it mainly meant, “cultivating or trilling the land”. As time passed, its meaning was extended from physical activities and production of food to include metal, moral, aesthetic, educational and intellectual activities. For example, the National Center for Cultural Competence in U.S.A defines culture as an “integrated pattern of human behavior that includes thoughts, communications, languages, practices, beliefs, values, customs, countries, rituals, manners of interacting and roles, relationships and expected behaviors of a racial, ethnic religious or social group; and the ability to transmit the above to succeeding generations”. (Goode, Sockalingam, Brown, and Jones, 2000) [1]
The following definition advanced by Daniel Bates and Fred Plog (1990) is generally reg
