Cultural Factors in English Teaching and Learning.docx
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CulturalFactorsinEnglishTeachingandLearning
CulturalFactorsinEnglishTeachingandLearning
I.Introduction
Nowadays,cultureplaysaveryimportantroleintheforeignlanguageclassroom.Becauseculturaldifferencesmaygiverisetomisunderstandingthatexistsininterculturalcommunication.SotheteachingofcultureintheEnglishclassroomhasbeenbecomingaheatedtopicandpeoplepaymoreandmoreattentiontotheculturalstudiesandinterculturalcommunicationinrecentyears.Therefore,cultureteachingisfeasibleintheforeignlanguageclassroom.ItcanhelpEnglishlearnersraisetheculturalawarenessanddevelopthecommunicativecompetence.Manyresearchersandeducatorsworldwidewrotearticlestopresenttheirviewsontheimportanceofcultureteachingandtheprinciplesandmethodstocarryoutcultureteaching.MostofEnglishteachershavealreadyrecognizedtheimpossibilityofanEnglishacquisitionwithouttherelevantculturalunderstanding.BothscholarsandpractitionershavereachedaconsensusthattheinclusionofculturalteachinginEnglishclassroomshouldbeamust.D.hymes,thewell-knownAmericansociolinguist,heldthatcommunicativecompetenceshouldincludenotonlylinguisticcompetence,butalsothefullunderstandingandagoodcommandofthesocioculturalelementscloselyrelatedtothelanguageuse.Inthecurrentunderstandingoftheplaceofcultureinsecondandforeignlanguagepedagogy,theworkofMichaelByramhasplayedaprominentrole.Inthelate1980s,Byramobservedthatculturerepresents“hidden”curriculuminsecondandforeignlanguageteaching.Heindicatedthatlanguageteachingcanrarelytakeplacewithoutimplicitlyteachingthecultureofitsspeakersbecauselanguageinvariablyreferstotheirknowledgeandperceptionsoftheworld,theconceptsofcultureandculturelearning.Byramalsopointedoutthatcommunicativecompetenceinvolves“appropriatelanguageusewhich,inpartatleast,isculturespecific”(Byram61).Inpractice,theimportanceofteachingforeignculturehasbeenrecognizedawealthofsuggestionsonclassroomtreatmentofculturalaspectshasbeenofferedbyAllenandValette.Besides,AmericanappliedlinguistG.Robinsonputforwardanimportantconceptthatthroughlanguageandculturalteachinglearnerswouldgain“culturalversatility”.Thatistosay,throughlearningculture,learnerswouldchangeinternally.Thisviewpointisquitesignificant.
InChina,mostscholarshavewidelyconsideredtheimportanceinforeignlanguageteachingandlearning.Inthe1980s,Mr.XuGuozhangpublishedhisCulturally-loadedWordsandEnglishLanguageTeaching,inwhichheindicatedthatindifferentlanguages,manywordswithequivalentsurfacemeaningshavedifferentculturalconnotationsinfactowingtodifferentculturaltraditions,folktalesandvalues,etc.Hencefore,manyotherscholarslikeDengYanchangalsoattemptedtoexplorehowculturehasremarkableimpactontheformsoruseoftheparticularforeignlanguageanddevotedhimtoresearchesinthisfield.
Reflectionshavebeenmadeoncultureteachingsincethelate1990s.TheearliestreflectionontheobjectiveofcultureteachingcanbefoundinthebookForeignLanguageTeachingandCulturewrittenbyHuWenzhongandGaoYihong(1997).Theymaintainthat,toEnglishmajorstudents,theobjectiveofculturelearningismorethanatool(English-grasping),morethanbeingequippedwithcommunicativeskillstosurviveinmodernsociety,andnothinglikemakingthemselvesmodernization.Severalyearslater,GaoYihongextendstheirviewinherdoctoraldissertationForeignLanguageLearning:
“1+1>2”(2001),sheclaimsthatlanguageandculturelearninginthebestcasewillgeneratecreativeenergyandelevatepersonality.
Inordertocommunicatewithforeignerscorrectly,languagelearnershavetoknowthedifferencesbetweenChineseandforeigncultures.Sotheprocessoflearningforeignlanguageisaprocessoflearningitsculture.Thoughmanylinguistsandteachers,eitherabroadordomestic,havealreadyrealizedtheimportanceofculturelearning,theproblemishowtoteachcultureintheEnglishclassroom.Thosetheoriesoflanguageandculturalteachingarenotmeaningfulunlesstheyarereallyappliedtoteachingpractice.ThispaperaimstofindouttheimportanceroleofcultureintheEnglishclassroomandproposetwotentativesuggestionstotheproblemsofculturallearningexistingintheEnglishclassroom.
Ⅱ.TheImportanceofCulturalFactorsinEnglishTeachingandLearning
A.TheRelationshipbetweenLanguageandCulture
What’sculture?
Cultureiscomplex.Themajorinstitutionswithintheculturecontainchurch,government,education,military,massmedia,monetarysystems,andsoon.Sotogiveadefinitionofcultureismoredifficultthantogiveanillustrationofitsinfluence.Culturereferstothepatternsofcustoms,traditions,socialhabits,values,beliefsandthelanguageofasociety.Withineachsocietypeoplewillfindanationalculture.Ascultureissoinclusive,itpermeatesallmen’sbehaviors.Becauseofinternationalcontacts,peopleintheworldkeepinfrequenttouchwitheachother.Interculturalcommunicationoccurswhenamemberofonecultureproducesamessageforconsumptionbyamemberofanotherculture.Becausethedifferentculturesmisunderstandingandbarriersoftenhappenintheprocessofcommunication.
Weknowlanguageisausefultoolforpeopletocommunicatewitheachother.Anditisacommonfeaturetoallculturesandthatallowsthemembersoftheculturetocommunicatewithoneanother.Culturecontainseveryaspectofpeople’slife.Theconnectionbetweenthemissostrongthatitishardtotalkaboutsingleonewithoutothers.Languageisinfluencedbyculture.Allculturesseemtobelievethathistoryisakindofchartthatguidesitsmembersintothefutureanditgetspassedonfromgenerationtogeneration.
However,therelationshipbetweenthetwoismorecomplexthantherelationshipofapartandthewhole.Ontheonehand,languageisthecarrierandcontainerofculture.Somesocialscientistsevenconsiderlanguageasthekeystoneofculture.Allthecomponentsofculture,suchasbeliefs,customs,institutions,objects,arts,andtechniques,canbedescribes,analyzed,andevaluatedbylanguage.People’sexperienceaboutthemisstormedandtransmittedbylanguageaswell.Ontheotherhand,languageisinfluencedandshapedbyculture;itreflectsculture.Thetwointeracts,andtheunderstandingofonerequirestheunderstandingoftheother.
1.Culture’sInfluenceonLanguage.
Theinfluenceofculturetolanguagecanberoughlyexploredinthreemajordomains:
lexicon,syntaxandregister.
Lexicon
Lexicon,orvocabulary,isthebasicconstructionelementofalanguageandthemainstayoftheexistenceofthevastlanguagesystem.Bothofthemhaveuniversalcharacteristics,whichmakedifferentlanguagesabletoexpressalargenumberofcommonconcepts,andhavenationalcharacteristics,whichmakeacertainlanguagepossibletoreflectsomeuniqueunderstandingofacertainculture.Forthisreason,theculturaldifferenceisreflectedmostoutstandinglyandwidelyonthelevelofvocabulary.Themostawkwardsituationintranslationisthatsometimes,thesewords,suchas“brunch(breakfastlunch)and“motel”(motorhotel)inEnglish,butnotinChinese.Onthecontrary,thereis“馒头”inChinese,whileEnglishpeoplehavenoideawhatkindfoodofitisanditcanonlybetranslatedinto“steamedbread”.Citeanexample,inChinese,“blue”means“肃穆、美好”,butinEnglish“blue”implies“depression,sorrow”,suchas“inabluemode”,“ablueoutlook”.
Moreover,somewordsseemtomeanthesamethingorthesameconceptsuperficially;however,whattheyinfactrefertoarenotornottotallythesame.Eachactuallyhasitsownculturallyloadedmeaning.Onewordmaytakemoremeaningthanits“translation”,ortheremaybesomeothersubtledifferencesbetweenthem.Yettheconceptualdifferenceisjustadropofwaterinthevastseaoftheculturaldifferencesdemonstratedbywordmeaning.Agreatdivergenceisintheendlessassociationmeaningbehindthewords.SoforstudentswhoarelearningEnglish,itisessentialthatknownotonlytheconceptualmeaningofwords,butalsotheculturalinformationthewordshavewiththem,andotherwiseseriousmisunderstandingcanoccurincross-culturalcommunication.
Syntax
Englishisalanguagegovernedbystrictrulesandregulations.However,Chinesegrammarisveryflexible.IthasalsobeendiscoveredthatEnglishadoptsthebranchingsentencepattern,liketreeswithtrunk,oneormorebranchesandtwists,whileChinesereliesparticularlyonthetemporalsequenceandadoptsthelinearsentencepattern,likeaflowingriverwithouttributaries.Therearealsosomeotherimportantdifferences.ThelinguisticcontrastbetweenthesetwolanguageshasbeenrelatedtotheculturaltraditionsinEnglish-speakingcountriesandChina.
Register
Moredifferenceswillbeknowninlanguageandculture,ifthewaylanguageusedineverydaylifeisexamined.Thatiswhatwewilltalkaboutthedifferencesbetweenlanguagesatthelevelofregister.Theregisterevolvesfromthecontext.Therefore,theregisterproducedindifferentculturalcontextwillinevitablyreflectdifferentculturalcharacteristics.Forexample,theEnglishandChinesewaysofgreeting,congratulations,etc,havedifferencesinvariousdegrees.Inaword,culturesdifferfromeachotherandeachcultureisunique.Ascultureisdiverse,languageisdiverse.
2.Language’sInfluenceonCulture.
Languageisaninseparablepartofcultureaswell.“…Languagepre-eminentlyembodiesthevaluesandmeaningsofaculture,refers