BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE TEACHING IN ENGLISH IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS.docx

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE TEACHING IN ENGLISH IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS.docx

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BACKGROUNDKNOWLEDGETEACHINGINENGLISHINMIDDLESCHOOLS

BACKGROUNDKNOWLEDGETEACHINGINENGLISHINMIDDLESCHOOLS

Name:

TongMengyuan（佟梦媛）

Major:

EnglishEducation（英语教育）

Grade:

2007（Class5）

College:

CollegeofForeignLanguages

Date:

March14th,2011

Tutor:

LuLi（路莉）

Abstract：

Asweallknow,middleschoolphaseisanimportantphasefortheChinesestudentstolearnEnglish,soithasbecomeveryimportanttoimprovetheEnglishcommunicatingabilityofmiddleschoolstudents.English,here,asamaincourseofstudents,playsamoreandmoreimportantroleinmiddleschoolinchina.Inrecentyears,theculturalbackgroundknowledgeinEnglishteachinghasattractedgreatattention.Theinvestigationshowsthatculturalknowledgelearningishelpfulforimprovinglanguagelevelandcompetence.Also,successfulcross-culturalcommunicationrequiresstudents’acquaintancewiththedifferencesbetweenthetwocultures.Therefore,theteachingofculturalbackgroundknowledgeinEnglishclassshouldoccupyanimportantplaceinmiddleschool.Thispaperfirstexpoundstheinseparabilityoflanguageandculturetohelpreadersknowmoreabouttherelationshipbetweenthem.Then,itanalysesthegoalandimportanceofculturalbackgroundknowledgeinlanguageteachinginmiddleschool.Next，itintroducestheapproachestotheculturebackground.Infact,richculturalknowledgeiscontainedinlanguagestructureandvocabulary.Togreatextent,languagecomprehensionreliesonbeingfamiliarwithculturaltradition,customs,history,thoughtsandsoon.Languagelearningandculturelearningcannotbeseparated.Languageisjustliketherunningwater.Itchangesineverymoment,forculturebackgroundchangesfromtimetotime.Iflanguageisaflower,culturewillbethesoilforthisflower.Asateacher,weshouldgivestudentsthelivinglanguage:

bothflowersandsoil.Thatistosay,weshouldteachthemboththelanguageandtheculturebackgroundknowledge.

Keywords:

backgroundknowledgelanguageEnglishteaching

论文摘要

众所周知，中学阶段是学生学习英语的重要时期，因此，增强中学生的英语交际能力变得尤为重要。

英语，作为中国中学生的主要课程之一，变得越来越关键。

近些年来，英语教学中的文化背景知识教学引起了人们的注意。

研究表明，文化背景的学习能有效提高学生的语言水平和能力。

而且，成功的跨文化交际离不开学生丰富的文化背景知识。

因此，对文化背景知识的学习在中学英语课堂中变得越来越重要。

本文首先介绍了语言和文化的不可分割性来帮助读者进一步了解语言和文化的关系，然后分析了文化背景学习的目的和重要性。

最后给出了文化背景学习的方法和途径。

实际上，丰富的文化背景知识包涵了对语言结构和词汇的掌握，同时在很大程度上，语言的理解又依赖对文化传统，风俗习惯，历史思想等的掌握。

因此，语言学习和文化学习是不可分割的。

语言就像是流动的水，无时无刻不在变化，文化业如此。

如果语言是鲜花，那么文化则是培育鲜花的土壤。

作为老师，我们应该教授学生全面的知识，也就是说，我们既要教给他们语言，又要教授他们文化背景知识。

关键词：

文化背景；语言；英语教学

Contents

I.Introduction………………………………………………………………...1

A.Thedefinitionoflanguage………………………………………………..1

B.Thedefinitionofculture………………………………………………….2

C.therelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture…………………………...3

.Thegoalsofculturebackgroundknowledge………………………………5

A.Gettingfamiliarwithdifferentsituation………………………………….6

B.Understandingsocialvariables…………………………………………...6

C.Evaluatingforeignculture………………………………………………..7

D.Developingculturalcreativity……………………………………………7

III.Theimportanceofculturebackgroundknowledgeinlanguageteaching...8

A.necessityofbackgroundknowledgeinlisteningandspeaking…………..8

B.necessityofbackgroundknowledgeinreading…………………………..9

C.necessityofbackgroundknowledgeinwritingandtranslating…………10

.Approachestoculturebackgroundknowledge………………………….11

A.Providingculturalbackgroundinformationinclass……………………12

B.Providingauthenticmaterials…………………………………………...13

C.culturelecture…………………………………………………………...15

D.Projectedmedia…………………………………………………………16

.Conclusion………………………………………………………………..17

Notes…………………………………………………………………………19

Bibliography…………………………………………………………………20

BackgroundKnowledgeTeachinginEnglishinMiddleSchools

I.Introduction

Languageandcultureareinseparable,learningaforeignlanguagemeanslearningaforeigncivilizationandculture.What'smore,culturalawarenessistheassuranceofusinglanguageappropriately.

MistakeshavefrequentlybeenmadewhenweuseEnglish,owingtoourlackoftheculturebackgroundknowledge.ThenewEnglishCourseStandards（2002）formiddleschoolshasaddedculturalteachingasoneofitsmainparts;muchresearchhasbeendoneaboutit.Butwhatandhowtoteachitinmiddleschoolsstillneedssystematicstudy.

A.Thedefinitionoflanguage

LanguageisthesocialproductionandthesymbolicsystemcarriedonfromgenerationtogenerationbyPeoplewholiveinthissociety.Andinparticularlanguagespeechmayreflectthesocialrelationsbetweenthespeakerandaddressee,whichmanifesttheinterrelationshipbetweenpeople.Languageisavehicleoftransmittingthoughtandinformation,languagedistinguisheshumanfromanimals，andisveryessentialtomankind.Abroadacceptedandtentativedefinitionoflanguageis:

languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforcommunication.Solanguagehasfeaturesofduality,arbitrariness,productivity,displacementinter-changeabilitytransmission,（LiShiqiang,2003）.

B.Thedefinitionofculture

Cultureisanambiguousandintriguingconcept.Therearemanykindsofdefinitions.RichardE.PorterandLarryA.Samovardefinecultureasthedepositofknowledge,experiences,beliefs,values,attitudes,meanings,hierarchies,religion,timing,rules,spatialrelations,conceptsofuniverseandmaterialobjectsandexpressionsacquiredbyalargegroupofpeopleinthecourseofgenerationsthroughindividualandgroupstriving.¹AccordingtoNewEncyclopediaBritannicadefinesculturesaspeculiartomankindtogetherwithmaterialobjectsthatarepartofthisbehaviorandconsistsoflanguages,ideas,beliefs,customs,codes,institutions,tools,techniques,worksofarts,rituals,ceremoniesandsoon.TheconceptofculturewasfirstdefinedinprintbyE.B.Taylor,whoprovidedthefirstprofoundscientificunderstandingofthenatureoftheterm.Accordingtohim,cultureis“thatcomplexwholewhichincludesknowledge,belief,art,morals,law,custom,andanyothercapabilitiesandhabitsacquiredbymanasmemberofsociety”².Foranthropologists,culturehaslongmeantthewayoflifeofpeople,thesumofitslearnedbehaviorpatterns,attitudes,andmaterialthings.“Culture”inthecontemporaryteachingoflanguagesmaybeunderstoodinbroadandnarrowsenses.Itmayrefertothe“intellectualrefinement”andartisticendeavor,ortheappreciationofmusic,literature,theartandsoon.’thisisinthesenseof“highculture”,orcultureinitsbroadsense,omenreferredtonsculturewithabigC.“CulturewithabigC”focuseson“thesumtotalofapeople’sachievementandcontribution:

art,music,literature,architecture,technology,scientificdiscoveriesandphilosophy”.Ontheotherhand,culturemayalsorefertowhatevertoapersonmustknowinordertofunctioninaparticular.'ThisisinthesameasinGoodenough’sdefinitionoftheterm.Itreadsthatasociety’scultureconsistsofwhateveritisonehastoknowortobelieveinordertooperateinamanneracceptabletoitsmembers,andtodosoinanyrolethattheyacceptforanyoneofthemselves.Goodenough’sdefinitioniscultureinitsnarrowsense,oftenreferredtoasculturewithasmallc.“Culturewithasmallc”includes“thebehaviorpatternsofthelifestyleofpeople:

whenandwhattheyeat,howtheymakealiving,thewaytheyorganizetheirsociety,theattitudestheyexpresstowardsfriendsandmembersoftheirfamilies,howtheyactindifferentsituations,whichexpressionstheyusetoshowapprovalanddisapproval,thetraditionstheymustobserve,andsoon”³.

C.Therelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture

Atpresent,moreandmorescholarscometoanagreementthatcultureandlanguageinfluenceeachotherdeeplyandgreatly.Forexample,thereligiousculturethatreignedhumansocietyforseveralthousandsofyearshelptodevelopdifferentnationalconsciousness,differentculturalcontentanddifferentunderstandingtolanguage.Peoplewithdifferentculturalbackgroundexpressthemselvesindifferentways.

Ontheonehand,language,asapartofculture,largelyinfluencestheforminganddevelopingofculture,anditisamirrorthatreflectsthecultureofacertaincommunity.Forexample,inBritain,thenumber“13”isregardedasanunluckysymbol,whichmeansunfortunate.Sopeopleinwesterncountriesalwaystrytoavoidholdinganyceremonies,partieson13th,orinviting13personstogether.

Ontheotherhand,languageisinfluencedandshapedbyculture.Peoplewithdifferentbackgroundexpressthemselvesindifferentways.Inwestern,acquaintancesalwaysgreeteachotherwith“Howareyou?

”whileinChina;peoplesay,“Haveyoueatenyet?

”ThatisbecauseinoldChina,lotsofpeoplesufferedfromhunger.Greetingwith“Haveyoueaten?

”couldshowtheirwarmheartanddeepconcerntoothers.

Eachcultureisunique.Learningaforeignlanguagewellmeansmorethanmerelymasteringthepronunciation,grammar,wordsandidioms.Italsomeansseeingtheworldasnativespeakersofthatlanguageseeit,learningthewaysinwhichtheirlanguagereflectstheideas,customs,andbehavioroftheirsociety,learningtounderstandtheir“languageofthemind”.Inaword,cultureandlanguageareinseparable.Somepeopledescribetheirrelationshipwithfollowingformula:

language（flesh）+culture（blood）=alivingorganism.Itisvivid.Languagepluscultureequalalivingorganism:

languageisfleshandcultureisblood,withoutculture,languagewouldbedead;withoutlanguage,culturewouldhavenoshape.

.Thegoalsofculturebackgroundknowledge

Sincethenativespeakerofanylanguagehasbuiltintohislanguagerepertoirehisuniqueculturalassumptionsandvalues,foreigncultureacquisitionshouldbedulyanddexterouslyincorporatedintothe