浅论中学英语教学中的跨文化意识培养.docx

浅论中学英语教学中的跨文化意识培养.docx

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浅论中学英语教学中的跨文化意识培养

浅论中学英语教学中的跨文化意识培养

［Abstract］Withthedevelopmentofglobalization，China’sentryintoWTOandthecomingOlympicGamesin2008,internationalcontactshavebecomemoreandmorefrequent.Thesocietyisingreatneedofpersonnelwhohaveagoodcommandofknowledgeandareabletocommunicatewithpeoplefromdifferentcountries.HowtomakeEnglishteachingmeettheneedsofsocialandeconomicdevelopmenthasbecomeanurgenttasktoEnglishteachers.Therefore,developingstudents’interculturalcommunicativecompetencehasbeenpaidmoreattentiontoinEnglishteaching.Nowadays,ithasbeenprescribedintotheNewEnglishCurriculumStandards.Obviously,MiddleSchoolEnglishteachersarefacingthechallengeofexploringappropriatemeansofcultureinstructionintheirteachingcontents.However,becauseofthetestingsystem,teachers’academicproficiency,students’attitudeandsoon,cultureintroductionhasbeenignoredinmiddleschoolandstudents’interculturalcompetenceispoorlydeveloped.Sincelanguageandcultureareinseparable，onecannotmasterthespiritofaforeignlanguagewithoutknowingitsculture.CultureteachingshouldbegivenprioritytoinEnglishteaching.InthehopeofimprovingcultureteachinginmiddleschoolEnglishclasses,practicalprinciplesandeffectivetechniquesaresuggested.Thisarticleproceedswiththeunderstandingofculture,analysesthedifferencesbetweenChineseandWesterncultures,discusseshowtohelpstudentstolearnculturedifferencesatthebeginningofEnglishlearningandhowtorelateChineseandWesternculturedifferenceswithlanguagedifferencessoastodevelopstudents’culturalsensitivityandtheirabilitiestousevariouswaysofcommunicationflexibly,soastoenablestudentstocarryoutinterculturalcommunicationwithEnglish.

［KeyWords］middleschoolEnglishteaching;interculturalawareness;interculturalcommunication;differencesinlanguagesandcultures

【摘　要】随着全球化的发展，中国进入ＷＴＯ，２００８年北京奥运会的临近，国际间的交流越来越频繁。

社会迫切需要具有跨文化交际能力的全面外交人才。

如何使英语教学迎合社会经济发展的需求，如何提高学生的跨文化交际能力是对英语教师和目前英语教学的提出的新要求。

中学作为英语教学的基础阶段，由于注重学生跨文化意识的培养，新课程标准已经把这部分作为重要内容。

中学英语教师面临着文化与英语语言知识教学的新挑战，然而由于我们的测试系统，教师的学术水平及学生的学习方式等问题，中学的文化教学依然很薄弱，学生的跨文化交际能力低下。

语言与文化密不可分，不了解英语文化也就不能真正掌握这门语言。

文化教学必须在中学英语教学中上升到一定高度。

本文从文化的认识入手,分析了中西文化差异,探讨在初中英语教学中如何帮助学生学会透过文化差异现象看本质,如何把中西文化差异和语言差异有机结合起来。

培养学生的跨文化意识，增强学生的文化敏感性和灵活运用各种交际手段的能力,从而使学生成功地用英语进行跨文化交际。

【关键词】　中学英语教学；跨文化意识；跨文化交际；文化语言差异

1．Introduction

ProfessorDengYanchangoncesaid，“LearningaforeignLanguagewelldoesnotsimplymeanmasteringitspronunciation，grammarandvocabulary.Infact，thelearningofaLanguageisinseparablefromthelearningofitsculture.”〔1〕Thefundamentalfunctionoflanguageistocommunicate.AsuccessfulEnglishteachingistohelplanguagelearnerscultivateagoodcommunicativeability.ButnowadayswealsocanseethataftermanyyearsofEnglishstudy,studentsstillfinditdifficulttocommunicatewithnativeEnglishspeakers.Thereasonisthattheylacktheknowledgeofwesternculture.Therefore,Englishteachersarefacingoneproblem:

furnishingstudentswiththeknowledgeofculturebackgroundandimprovingtheirinterculturalcommunicativecompetenceinEnglishteaching.Thenculturalawarenessindicatesthatforeignlanguagelearnershaveagoodcommandofculturalknowledgeofthetargetlanguage,astrongcompetenceofadjustmentandcommunication.Inaddition,theycanthinkandreactinthewaysasnativespeakersofthatdimensionsofculture.Itisdifficulttocultivateandenhancelearners’culturalawarenessalthoughtheyhavewellrealizedtheexistingdifferencesbecausetheyoftenunconsciouslyattempttosuperimposetheirnativecultureontothetargetlanguage,whichgreatlyhindersaneffectiveinterculturalcommunication.［2］

2.ThenecessityofinterculturalawarenesscultivationinmiddleschoolEnglishteaching

requirementofsyllabus

“Languageissystemofarbitrary,vocalsymbolsbymeansofwhichthemembersofaspeechcommunitycommunicate,interact,andtransmittheirculture.”［3］Thisdefinitionisgiventoemphasizethatthefunctionoflanguageisnotonlyatoolofcommunicationbutalsoanimportantvehicleofculture.Solearningaforeignlanguageisaprocessofacquiringthelanguageanditscultureforcommunicatingpurpose.EnglishsyllabuscurrentlypointsoutthattheultimategoalofEnglishteachingistofosterstudents’interculturalcommunicativecompetence.Cultureisthecontentoflanguage;everylanguagereflectsitsownculture.People’slanguageshouldadapttothecontext.Whattosay,howtosayit,whentosayit,andtowhomtosayitarealldeterminedbytheunderlyingbeliefsandvalues.［4］AsWolfson（1983）noted,“Incommunicatingwithforeigners,nativespeakerstendtoberathertolerantoferrorsinpronunciationorsyntax.Incontrast,violationsofrulesofspeaking（pragmaticfailure）areofteninterpretedasbadmannerssincethenativespeakerisunlikelytobeawareofsociolinguisticrelativities.”［5］InthenewsyllabusforSeniorMiddleSchoolEnglish,itshowsthatstudentsofFull-timeSeniorMiddleSchoolEnglishnotonlyshouldgraspvocabularies,grammar,andpronunciation,butalsoproperlygrasptherelationshipbetweenlanguageteachingandcultureunderstanding.［6］Hence,weshouldcarryoutculturalteachinginmiddleschoolandimprovestudents’interculturalawareness.

Thepresentteachingmaterials

Nowadays,interculturalawarenessandinterculturalcommunicativecompetencehavebeenprescribedintotheNewEnglishCurriculumStandards.Thenewlyorganizedteachingmaterialsofjuniorandseniormiddleschoolinvolvesomewesternculture,forexample,greeting,westernfestivals,literature,music,bodylanguageandsoon.ThenculturebecomesanimportantpartofEnglishteaching.Itisunwise,inordertosavetime,onlytoteachEnglishwiththeneglectofculturalintroduction.BarriersinEnglishlearningsometimescomefromthelackofculturalknowledge.

Someteachershaveattributedtheirstudents’poorreadingandlisteningcomprehensiontolinguisticdeficiencies.Theybelievethatsolongastheirstudentsgraspthemeaningofeveryword,everysentence,andeverytextpassage,theywillhavenodifficultyincomprehendingthewholetext.Thisideaisnotcorrect.Englishreadingmaterialsinevitablyconveywesternculture.WhenweteachChristmasDayandThanksgivingDay,someculturalbackgroundknowledgeofthesefestivalscanhelpstudentsovercomeobstaclesinthetextandgrasplanguageknowledgebetter.Inaddition,manywords,inthetextbookofmiddleschool,haverelationswithculturalcontexts,suchas,old,name,dog,pork,beef,lookout,breakfast,andsomewordstoexpresscolors.Forexample,inthetextbook“blue”and“green”arenotonlythemeaningofcolors,eachhasitsimpliedmeanings.“Blue”inEnglishoftenassociateswithunhappyfeelings,“inabluemood”or“havingtheblues”expressesasad,gloomyordepressedmood.“AblueMonday”（thefirstdayofweek-workorschoolafterapleasant,happyweekend）hasthesimilarmeaning.Also,inEnglish,“green”isalsousedtoindicateapersonwholacksexperience,oranewcomerwhoisnotfamiliarwithlocalcustoms.Languageandcultureevolvetogetherandinteractwitheachother.AccordingtotheNewEnglishCurriculumStandards,inmiddleschool,teachersshouldnotneglecttheculturalfactorsexistinginEnglishteaching.Definitelytheinterculturalawarenesscan’tbeneglectedinEnglishteachingatmiddleschool.

3.ThecurrentsituationofinterculturalawarenesscultivationinmiddleschoolEnglishteaching

ChinahasnowbecomeaformalmemberofWTO,BeijingwillhosttheOlympicGamesin2008.What’smore，ourcountryhasbeentakingeffectivemeasurestofurthertheopeningupandreformpolicies.Consequently,moreandmorecooperativeandexchangeprogramswillbeheldbetweenChinaandforeigncountries.Thereshouldbemorestudentswithinterculturalcompetencetomeetthisneed.It’snecessarytocommunicatewithpeoplefromdifferentculturalbackgrounds.ButwhatistheresultofEnglishteachinginourmiddleschools?

Despitethegreatamountoftime，energy,andmoneyspentonEnglishteaching,itisraretofindaChinesemiddleschoolstudentwhoisabletocommunicatewithwesternerssuccessfullyaftersixyearsofEnglishlearning.Infact,learningaforeignlanguagewellmeansmorethanmerelymasteringthepronunciation,grammar,wordsandidioms.Italsomeanslearningtoseetheworldasthenativespeakersdo.［7］Therefore,languageandcultureshouldbetaughtatthesometime.However,therearemanyproblemsininterculturalawarenesscultivationinmiddleschool.

Teachers’attitude

Nowadays,mostmiddleschoolEnglishteachersstillfollowthetraditionalgrammar-translationmethod;theyneglectculturalteachinginEnglishteaching.TheNewCurriculumStandardsemphasizesthenecessityofdevelopingstudents’interculturalcompetence.However,atpresent,intheseniormiddleschoolthecollegeentranceexaminationstillseriouslyaffectteachers’teachingidea.It’smostvaluedbystudents,teachersaswellastheauthorities.Inordertohelpstudentsscorehighonlinguisticproficiency,teacherspayalotoftimetoexplainvocabularyandgrammarknowledgeintheclass.Inthiscase,studentshaveimprovedtheirlanguageknowledge,buttheirinterculturalcommunicativecompetencehasnotenhanced.Infact,ithasviolatedEnglishteachinggoalandtheeducationforall-arounddevelopmentprinciple.Mr.WinstonBareback，theforeignlanguageteachingexpertoftheUSAindicated,teachinglanguagewithoutcultureisthebestwaytocultivateafoolwithfluentspokenlanguage.［8］Obviously,itsconsequenceisserious.What’smore,someteacher