刘静论文定稿.docx

刘静论文定稿.docx

《刘静论文定稿.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《刘静论文定稿.docx（9页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

刘静论文定稿

TheCultivationofCross-cultureConsciousness

inMiddleSchoolEnglishTeaching

.Introduction

Culture,asthetotalpatternofhumanbehavioranditsproducts,overstepsgeographicallimitsandhistoricalconditionsinmanyways,anditischaracterizedbyitsstrongpenetrativeness,peopleofdifferentculturalbackgroundsapparentlyinteracteachother（Wang,1999:

139）.EspeciallyafterChina’saccessiontotheWTOandtheoutsideworldpowerisstrengtheninginChina,secondlanguageusagebecomesincreasinglyextensive.Cross-culturalcommunicationisparticularlymoreimportantthanbefore.

Languageisanimportantcarrierofculture,whichisassumedhavethetaskofculturalheritagecontinuation（Wang&Wu,1994:

89）.What’smore,foreignlanguageteachingisthekeytocross-culturalcommunication,thatmeansgettingmoreteachersandstudentsbegintorealizethatmereknowledgeoflanguagesandskillsaboutculturehasbeenfarfrommeetingtherequirementsofsocialdevelopment,the“abilityofcross-culturalcommunication”istheultimategoalofforeignlanguageeducation.

Tomeetthisdemandofthesituationdevelopment,Englishteachingshouldbemadesubstantialadjustments.Amongthem,“culturalconsciousness”playsitsroleasoneofthefivebasicelementsincurrentsituation.Howtotrainstudentsinculturalconsciousness,enhancecross-culturalcommunicationabilityofstudents,thenew“Englishcurriculumstandards”setforthexplicitrequirementsforteachers:

teachers’teachingshouldbebasedoncognitivefeatures,graduallyexpandthescopeofculturalknowledge（Fan&Jiang,1997:

80）.Inthestart-upphase,teachersshouldenablestudentstounderstandprimaryEnglishnationalculture,thesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenChineseandforeigncultures,studentsshouldbecloselyrelatedtothedailylifearoundthem,cultivatetheirinterestsinlearningEnglish,andencouragethemtoimprovethesensitivityofChineseandforeignculturesandtheabilitytodistinguishrightfromwrong,therebyenhancingcross-culturalcommunicationability.

.TheFunctionofCross-cultureConsciousnessinMiddleSchoolEnglishTeaching

Thefunctionofcross-cultureconsciousnessinEnglishteachingistomakestudentsawareofculturalknowledge,understandnotonlyanothercountry’ssocialnorms,commonrulesofconduct,valuesandculturalstructuresofsocialpositioning,butalsotheidentificationsofimportantfactsinthecultureandhavethecapacitiestodistinguishbetweenacceptableandunacceptableculturebytheculturalknowledgeininterculturalcommunicationorcross-culturalcommunication.InChina,becauseofthelimitedEnglishenvironment,mostforeignlanguageslearninghappenjustinschoolscene,thevastmajorityoflearnersrarelyhavetheopportunitytotargetculturalcommunitylearning,workandlife,andmostteacherscanonlystayintheclassrooms,theirgoalisjustexportthelifelesslanguagepointtostudents,especiallyinhighschool.However,inthenew-standard-basedteaching,thefunctionoflanguageteachingistohelpstudentsdeveloptheinterculturalcommunicationskills,andinterpersonalskillsonthelanguageformsofwordstheimportationofculturalobjectivescaninsertthelanguagelearningprocess（He,2000:

267）.

.TheProblemsinMiddleSchoolCross-culturalTeaching

ThemiddleschoolstudyperiodasabasicfoundationofsecondlanguagestudyplayanimportanceroleinfurtherEnglishstudy.Thatcausesourspecialattentiontohighschoolstudents’study.However,manyproblemsexistinhighschoolteachingaffectedEnglishstudy.

3.1EnglishvocabulariesandEnglishgrammarsareemphasized

ThecurrentproblemsinhighschoolEnglishteachingisthattheyemphasizeprimarilyteachingEnglishvocabulariesandEnglishgrammars,Mostteachersfocusonthesentences’structuresandgrammarsknowledgeanalysis,andneglectofcross-culturalinterpersonalskillstraining（Yang,2002:

118）.Someteachersthinkthecross-culturalpenetrationisawasteoftime,thetimeofaclassislimited,iftotalkaboutculturalknowledgeintheclassroom,theycannotcompletecoursesontime,andthereforeaffectthescoresofstudents,thephenomenonmostcanbeseeninhighschoolclass-roomteaching.

3.2Lackofspeakingenvironment

Foreignlanguageapplicationswillinevitablyinvolvedifferentculturalpractices,differentworldoutlooks,anddifferentwaysofthinking,differentpoliticalbeliefsandreligiousbeliefs.However,foralongtime,themothertonguealwaysconsciouslyorunconsciouslyinvolved,becauseourstudentsliveinthemothertonguecountry,andChinaislackoftheenvironmentthateveryonespeakEnglish.Whencometotheinternationalcommunication,theUnitedStatespeopleoftendonotunderstandourculture,Chineseeither,thatresultintheactualcross-culturalcommunicationinwhichstudentsoftenhavesome“culturalerrors”（Zhang,2003:

94）.Ourteachingmaterialdonotpayattentiontoofferahumanisticcontentandsentencesusing,whichevenmisleadourstudents,sotheyarestillfollowtheincorrectmaterialandwritingorspeaking“Chinglish”.Inthissense,Ithink,maybewecansaytheproblemsisnotmadebythestudents,butthesocietyandeducatorshouldtakemoreresponsibilityfortheconsequence.

Inaword,theeducationmethodshouldberenewed,thatmeansthe“exam-oriented-education”shouldbereplaced,otherwisethenewmethodofteachingwillnotbeapracticalreformation.

.TheReasonsfortheCultureUnawareness

ThecauseofthemistakesmadebyChinesestudentsincross-culturalcommunicationinvolvesbothculturalandcommunicatingknowledge.Onlyknowingdifferentculturalfeatures,andhowtogetasuccessfulcommunicatingwithmembersofothercultureswithsincerely“desire”,canourstudentsfarthestovercomeculturaldifferencescausedbydifferentculturalbarriers?

Chinesehigh-schoolstudents’mistakesincross-culturalcommunicationmayberesultfromfollowingreasons.

4.1Lackofknowledgeandunderstandingofdifferentculturaldifferences

EnglishlanguageandChineseculturaldifferencesoftencausestudentsmakethesamemistake.Firstly,thetitleinEnglishandChineselanguagesculturaldifferencesexists.Ininformaloccasion,ChineseandWesternerswilldirectlycallpeoplenames,toshowthecloserelationship.Chinesethinkitisimpolitetocallstranger’sgivenname.Therefore,whenChinesepeoplecalleddirectlycalledforeigners’givennames，theChinesepeoplewillfeelsorryforthepeoplewithfeelinginadequateorimmodest,butthefactisdifferent.Secondly,thegreetingscauseculturaldifferencesbetweenthetwowhichwewillexploreinnextsection.

HoldingtheChinesewayofthinking,transplantittotheEnglishexpression,commonlyknownas“Chinglish”equatetoneglectedculturaldifferences.Asamemberofculturalobservers,anotherculture,heoftenusedownculturemodeltojudgeandinterprettheobservedphenomena.Whenthetwoculturesconflictwitheachother,thesestudentsareapttousenativemodeltounderstand“Greek”culture,thoughtandexpression.

Forexample,Englishwordsareoftenusedinthegreetings“Hi/Hello!

”“Howareyou?

Goodmorning!

Goodafternoon!

Goodevening（Goodnight!

）”aboveintheChineselanguagegreetingsisrarelyused,andweChinesepeopleintheparty,commonlyusedare:

“Haveyoueaten?

”（Scollon,2000:

285）

ThisistheChinesepeople’scommongreetings.Infact,donotreallywanttoknowtheexperienceoftheothers’meals.However,inEnglish,thelanguageisnotinsuchgreetings,andinviteseachothertoexpressthemeaningofapieceofdining.

AnothercommonChineselanguageis“whereareyougoing”?

Itisnotreallywanttoknowwhoregardstowheretogooranything.IfaskingWesternersinthisway,theyareoftenunhappy,andwillconsidersuchissuesintheiraffair.Instead,theytalkedabouttheweather.Therefore,ifyoudonotunderstandculturaldifferencesintheWest,therewillbemanymisunderstandings.ConscientiouslystudyandthecorrectuseofEnglishgreetingsdifferencesareparticularlyimportant.

Moreover,theWestcross-culturalcommunicationisusuallythewaythroughconversation.“Teacher”isthetitlephrasethatcannotbeused.Chinesepeopleoftengreettheirteachers“Goodmorning,teacher”.Infact,itisincorrect,inEnglishlanguage,“teacher”cannotbeusedasatitle,theyusuallyuse“Mr.orMiss.”intheclass.

4.2Lackofreallanguageenvironment.

Aseveryonehasrealized,Englishisnotourfirstlanguage,thelanguageisrestrictedtotheclassroompracticeandpresentation,duetothelackofpracticallanguageenvironment.Becauseofthetraditionalteachingmethods-Lawtraditionimpactonmyclassroomteachingasa“spoon-fed”education,classroomteachersbecomethe“voice”ofteachersreadingofpreparedstatements,thestudentslearnonlyblind,passivelylanguageinformationasaninternationallanguage,Englishshouldbedynamicandcolorful.Notonlyjustinitsgrammarandfixedsentence,butalsointhesettingofagoodtopicforstudentstocreatetheatmosphereoflearningEnglish,studentswon’tfeellearningEnglishistasteless,loseinterestinlearningEnglish.Inthisway,studentscommunicatewithteachersandclass-matesmorethanbefore,whichcanimprovetheirspokenEnglishandcorrecttheirmistakes（Hu,2005:

72-73）.

4.3Lackofthehorizonofworldwide

Mostteachersthemselvesarelackofthehorizonofworldwide,theyareaccustomedtotheoldteachingmethodofmechanicalinformationexport,theyhaven’trealizedincurrentsituationtheyshouldimprovethemselvestocatchonwiththemodernsocietyandmeettheneedofstudents,whichcanmakethestudentslosemoreinterestin