Teaching culture in the English Classroom.docx

Teaching culture in the English Classroom.docx

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TeachingcultureintheEnglishClassroom

TeachingcultureintheEnglishClassroom

　　Abstract:

Thisessayarguesthatcultureandlanguageareinseparableandthereforemustbetaughttogether.Itrecognizesthattherearetwowaysofunderstandingtheworldcultureanditisimportanttobeawareofthisinanydiscussiononthesubject.Asuperficialunderstandingoftheconceptofcultureandadeeperunderstandingofcultureinthelanguageofapeople.Italsoarguesthatstudentsmaylearntospeakwithgrammaticalaccuracybutfailtounderstandthediscoursesystemandsobeculturallyinappropriate.English,asaninternationallanguagechallengestheneedforteachingspecificculturalinformationofasuperficialkindandstillneedstoexpoundthedeeperandmoresubtlelinguacultureofthelanguage.Finally,theessayputsforwardthevalueofmoviestudiesasacomprehensiblemeansofteachinglanguagewithitsculture.

　　KeyWords:

linguaculturelanguageteachinglanguagelearning

　　Cultureplaysanimportantroleinlanguageteachingandlearning,whilelanguageisalsothecarrierofculture,whenlanguagelearnersexpecttomasteraforeignlanguage（theirtargetlanguage）,theyneedtogetagoodcommandofitsculturesoastousethetargtelanguageefficientlyangeffectively.Thispaperdiscussesthesignificanceofcultureinlanguageteachingandlearningbypresentingsomeexamplesinsomeaspects.

　　Ⅰ.Languageandlinguaculture

　　WhenthePepsiColacompanybegantoselltheirproductinChinatheyadvertisedthemselveswiththearrestingslogan:

ComealivewiththePepsigeneration!

"Comealive"heremeans"berejuvenated"or"refreshed","reawakened","reanimated","reactivated".Theimageisofapersonwhoselifeiscolourless,bland,insipid,boring,jadedandirrelevant,whoisnot"withit".ThispersonisencouragedtodrinkaPepsiandbydoingsotoidentifythemselveswithotherPepsidrinkerswhoarepicturedasawake,alive,vital,engaged,vibrant,successful,dynamicandvigorous.Pepsiistheagency,mediumorinstrumenttochangeaperson,tobringaboutametamorphosis,aconversionfromdullness,irrelevancy,frombeinga"stuffedshirt",anold"fuddyduddy"astick-in-the-mudtobeingcool,chic,trendy,up-to-the-minute,sophisticated,groovyandhip.WhenitwastranslatedintoChineseitcameoutas:

Pepsibringsyourancestorsbackfromthegrave!

　　ThisamusingstoryillustratesthedifficultiesofunderstandingEnglishwhenoneisunawareoftheculturalcontextinwhichitexists.Whatbecomesstartlinglyclearisthecomplexinterpenetrationoflanguageandculture."ComealivewiththePepsigeneration!

"whenisolatedfromitsculturally-specificbedofmeanings,becomesanabsurdstatement.Thesloganispackedwithmetaphoricalconnotations,implicationsandnuances.Itexistswithinalinguaculturewhichisthelargersocial,culturalandpsycholinguisticstructureinwhichalllanguagesareembedded.

　　Ⅱ.Definitionofculture

　　Whatthenisculture?

PetersonandColtraneofferthefollowingdefinition:

“anintegratedpatternofhumanbehaviourthatincludesthoughts,communications,languages,practices,beliefs,values,customs,courtesies,rituals,mannersofinteractingandroles,relationshipsandexpectedbehavioursofaracial,ethnic,religiousorsocialgroup;andtheabilitytotransmittheabovetosucceedinggenerations."Theyare:

Thoughts,Communications,Languages.Practices,Beliefs,Values,Customs,Courtesies,Rituals.Mannersofinteractingandroles,Relationshipsandexpectedbehaviours.

　　Ⅲ.CourtesiesandRituals

　　Thecourtesiesandritualsofaculturepresentanimmediateandparticularproblemforstrangers.

　　AnAmericanwasvisitingaChinesehome.ThehostintroducedtheAmericantohiswife.TheAmericanturnedtohishostandsaid,‘Yourwifeisverybeautiful.’Thehostsmiledanddemurredpolitely.Where!

Where!

（Nali!

Nali!

）TheAmerican,somewhatpuzzled,tookthistobeaquestionandproceededtodetailtheoutstandingfeaturesofthewife'sbeauty.Herhair,hersmile,hereyes!

"hesaid.ThehostwasconfusedandembarrassedaswastheAmericanvisitorwhenherealizedthatWhere!

Where!

'wasnotaquestioninthisinstancebutaritualisticresponse,acourtesyspecifictotheChineseculture.TheAmericanwaslinguisticallycorrectinrespondingto“Where!

Where!

”asaquestion.Buthisresponsewasnotculturallyappropriate.

　　Ⅳ.Linguisticcompetenceandculturalawareness

　　Herewemakethedistinctionbetweenlinguisticcompetenceonitsownandlinguisticcompetencewithinaframeworkofculturalawareness.

　　PetersonandColtraneputitlikethis:

"Linguisticcompetencealoneisnotenoughforlearnersofalanguagetobecompetentinthatlanguage.Languagelearnersneedtobeaware,forexample,oftheculturallyappropriatewaystoaddresspeople,expressgratitude,makerequests,andagreeordisagreewithsomeone.Theyshouldknowthatbehavioursandintonationpatternsthatareappropriateintheirownspeechcommunitymaybeperceiveddifferentlybythemembersofthetargetlanguagespeechcommunity.Theyhavetounderstandthat,inorderforcommunicationtobesuccessful,languageusemustbeassociatedwithotherculturallyappropriatebehaviour."

　　Heretheyidentifyculturallyappropriatewaysof:

addressingpeople,expressinggratitude,makingrequests,agreeingordisagreeingwithsomeone.

　　Ⅴ.Behavioursandintonationpatterns

　　Theyalsopointto“behavioursandintonationpatterns”asbeingsignificantareasofculturaldifference.

　　“Heyyou!

Comehere!

”asaformofaddressislinguisticallycorrectbutisonlyculturallyappropriateatcertaintimes.

　　Youwouldnotaddressyourgrandfatherinthismanner.Itwouldbeculturallyinappropriate.

　　“Excuseme,granddad,wouldyoupleasecomeoverhere?

Iwanttoshowyousomething.”wouldbeappropriate.

　　AgoodexampleofthesubtletiesofintonationinEnglishmaybeseeninthefollowingexample:

“You'refromAustralia,aren’tyou?

”Thismaybesaidwithtwodifferentintonationswhichalterthemeaningsignificantly.Ifitissaidwitharisingintonationonthewords“aren’tyou?

”thenitmeansthatthespeakerisgenuinelyunsureofwherethepersoncomesfrom.Theyareaskingaquestion.IfitissaidwithadownwardintonationonthesamewordsitmeansthatthespeakerknowsthatthepersonisfromAustraliaandismerelyseekingconfirmationofthatfact.

　　Ⅵ.Distinctionbetweenagrammaticalsystemandadiscoursesystem

　　KrasnerquotesfromMichaelAgarwhosays:

“themainproblemininterethniccommunicationisnotcausebygrammar.Althoughlanguagesusegrammarasthesystemofexpressingideas,itisthediscoursesystemthatproducesthegreatestdifficultythegrammaticalsystemsendsthemessagewhilethediscoursesystemtellshowtointerpretthemessage.”

　　Thisdistinctionbetweena“grammaticalsystem”anda“discoursesystem”isusefulwhenconsideringthequestionofteachingcultureintheEnglishlanguageclassroom.

　　Goodgrammarsendsthemessagebuttheinterpretationofthemessagecanonlybegainedthroughunderstandingthediscoursesystem.

　　Adiscoursesystemmaybeunderstoodinthesamesenseasthelinguacultureinwhicheachandeverylanguagehasitsexistence.

　　Ⅶ.Languageproficiencyandcommunicativeproficiency

　　KrasnergivesaverygoodexamplefromherownexperienceasamigrantfromRussiatoAmerica.OnherarrivalinAmericasheattendedEnglishclasses.Ononeoccasiontheteachergavealessonontheculturallyappropriatewayofpresentingoneselfatajobinterview.

　　TheteachersaidthatinAmericawhenpresentingforajobinterviewoneshould:

　　1.Shakehandsfirmlywiththeinterviewer.

　　2.Smilealot

　　3.Keepeyecontactwiththeotherperson

　　4.Bepositiveaboutyourself

　　ThisadvicecontradictedKrasner'sRussianculturalupbringingwhichhadtaughtherthat:

　　1.Itwasimpoliteforamantoshakeawoman'shand.

　　2.Smilingallthetimewasamarkofinsincerity,ofpersonalphoniness.

　　3.Itwasindiscretetomaintaineyecontactwithaperson.

　　4.Beingpositiveaboutoneselfwasakindofbraggingorshowing-off.

　　ThisexamplemaywellapplytoChineseaswell.

　　Krasnersumsup:

“languageproficiencyandcommunicativeproficiencyaretwodifferentthings.”

　　Ⅷ.CulturalFrames

　　Thefactisthatwealllivewithinculturalframes.Thenotionofa“culturalframe”isapatternofbehaviourwhichstarteddevelopingwithinus,unconsciously,asachild.Thegoaloflanguageteachingistohelpstudentstounderstandthattherearedifferentculturalframes.Ourculturalframesconsistofcertainculturalconventions.

　　Krasnerdescribesculturalconventions“asinformationabouthowpeoplebehavebothlinguisticallyandextra-linguisticallyincommoneverydayandcrisissituations.”

　　Ⅸ.Connotation

　　Connotationtakesastepdeeperintotherelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture.Connotationisthepointatwhichlanguageandculturecometogethertoformmeaning.

　　Anexampleofconnotationisthedifferentsetofassociationsconnectedtothewordprivacy.PrivacyisaverypositiveconceptinWesternculture.Toseekprivacyisregardedasessentialfromtimetotimeandbasictoone'smentalandphysicalwell-being.

　　InChinesethereisnowordthatpreciselycapturestheWesternconceptofprivacy.TheChinesewordforprivacyisembracestheideasofsecrecy,selfishnessanddeceitfulness.ToseekprivacyinChinaistoraisedoubtsaboutyourintegrityasaperson.SoitbecomescriticallyimportantthattheconnotationsofprivacyinEnglishspeakingcountriesbeclearlyexplainedintheforeignlanguageclassroom.

　　HereisawordthathasconnotationsintheWesternculturethataremisunders