Teaching culture in the English Classroom.docx

1、Teaching culture in the English ClassroomTeaching culture in the English Classroom Abstract:This essay argues that culture and language are inseparable and therefore must be taught together. It recognizes that there are two ways of understanding the world culture and it is important to be aware of t

2、his in any discussion on the subject. A superficial understanding of the concept of culture and a deeper understanding of culture in the language of a people. It also argues that students may learn to speak with grammatical accuracy but fail to understand the discourse system and so be culturally in

3、appropriate. English, as an international language challenges the need for teaching specific cultural information of a superficial kind and still needs to expound the deeper and more subtle linguaculture of the language. Finally, the essay puts forward the value of movie studies as a comprehensible

4、means of teaching language with its culture. Key Words:linguaculture language teaching language learning Culture plays an important role in language teaching and learning, while language is also the carrier of culture, when language learners expect to master a foreign language ( their target languag

5、e),they need to get a good command of its culture so as to use the targte language efficiently ang effectively.This paper discusses the significance of culture in language teaching and learning by presenting some examples in some aspects. .Language and linguaculture When the Pepsi Cola company began

6、 to sell their product in China they advertised themselves with the arresting slogan: Come alive with the Pepsi generation!Come alive here meansbe rejuvenatedor refreshed, reawakened, reanimated, reactivated. The image is of a person whose life is colourless, bland, insipid, boring, jaded and irrele

7、vant, who is not with it. This person is encouraged to drink a Pepsi and by doing so to identify themselves with other Pepsi drinkers who are pictured as awake, alive, vital, engaged, vibrant, successful, dynamic and vigorous. Pepsi is the agency, medium or instrument to change a person, to bring ab

8、out a metamorphosis, a conversion from dullness, irrelevancy, from being a stuffed shirt, an old fuddy duddya stick-in-the-mud to being cool, chic, trendy, up-to-the-minute, sophisticated, groovy and hip. When it was translated into Chinese it came out as:Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the gr

9、ave! This amusing story illustrates the difficulties of understanding English when one is unaware of the cultural context in which it exists.What becomes startlingly clear is the complex interpenetration of language and culture.Come alive with the Pepsi generation!when isolated from its culturally-s

10、pecific bed of meanings, becomes an absurd statement.The slogan is packed with metaphorical connotations, implications and nuances. It exists within a linguaculture which is the larger social, cultural and psycholinguistic structure in which all languages are embedded. .Definition of culture What th

11、en is culture?Peterson and Coltrane offer the following definition:“an integrated pattern of human behaviour that includesthoughts,communications,languages,practices,beliefs,values,customs, courtesies, rituals, manners of interacting and roles, relationships and expected behaviours of a racial, ethn

12、ic, religious or social group; and the ability to transmit the above to succeeding generations.They are:Thoughts,Communications,Languages.Practices,Beliefs,Values,Customs,Courtesies, Rituals. Manners of interacting and roles, Relationships and expected behaviours. .Courtesies and Rituals The courtes

13、ies and rituals of a culture present an immediate and particular problem for strangers. An American was visiting a Chinese home. The host introduced the American to his wife. The American turned to his host and said, Your wife is very beautiful. The host smiled and demurred politely.Where! Where! (N

14、ali!Nali!) The American, somewhat puzzled, took this to be a question and proceeded to detail the outstanding features of the wifes beauty. Her hair, her smile, her eyes! he said.The host was confused and embarrassed as was the American visitor when he realized that Where! Where! was not a question

15、in this instance but a ritualistic response, a courtesy specific to the Chinese culture. The American was linguistically correct in responding to “Where! Where!” as a question.But his response was not culturally appropriate. .Linguistic competence and cultural awareness Here we make the distinction

16、between linguistic competence on its own and linguistic competence within a framework of cultural awareness. Peterson and Coltrane put it like this: Linguistic competence alone is not enough for learners of a language to be competent in that language. Language learners need to be aware,for example,

17、of the culturally appropriate ways to address people, express gratitude, make requests, and agree or disagree with someone. They should know that behaviours and intonation patterns that are appropriate in their own speech community may be perceived differently by the members of the target language s

18、peech community.They have to understand that, in order for communication to be successful,language use must be associated with other culturally appropriate behaviour. Here they identify culturally appropriate ways of : addressing people, expressing gratitude,making requests,agreeing or disagreeing w

19、ith someone. .Behaviours and intonation patterns They also point to“behaviours and intonation patterns”as being significant areas of cultural difference. “Hey you! Come here!” as a form of address is linguistically correct but is only culturally appropriate at certain times. You would not address yo

20、ur grandfather in this manner. It would be culturally inappropriate. “Excuse me, granddad, would you please come over here? I want to show you something.” would be appropriate. A good example of the subtleties of intonation in English may be seen in the following example:“Youre from Australia,arent

21、you?”This may be said with two different intonations which alter the meaning significantly.If it is said with a rising intonation on the words “arent you?” then it means that the speaker is genuinely unsure of where the person comes from. They are asking a question. If it is said with a downward int

22、onation on the same words it means that the speaker knows that the person is from Australia and is merely seeking confirmation of that fact. .Distinction between a grammatical system and a discourse system Krasner quotes from Michael Agar who says:“ the main problem in interethnic communication is n

23、ot cause by grammar. Although languages use grammar as the system of expressing ideas, it is the discourse system that produces the greatest difficulty the grammatical system sends the message while the discourse system tells how to interpret the message.” This distinction between a “grammatical sys

24、tem”and a“discourse system”is useful when considering the question of teaching culture in the English language classroom. Good grammar sends the message but the interpretation of the message can only be gained through understanding the discourse system. A discourse system may be understood in the sa

25、me sense as the linguaculture in which each and every language has its existence. .Language proficiency and communicative proficiency Krasner gives a very good example from her own experience as a migrant from Russia to America. On her arrival in America she attended English classes.On one occasion

26、the teacher gave a lesson on the culturally appropriate way of presenting oneself at a job interview. The teacher said that in America when presenting for a job interview one should: 1. Shake hands firmly with the interviewer. 2. Smile a lot 3. Keep eye contact with the other person 4. Be positive a

27、bout yourself This advice contradicted Krasners Russian cultural upbringing which had taught her that: 1. It was impolite for a man to shake a womans hand. 2. Smiling all the time was a mark of insincerity, of personal phoniness. 3. It was indiscrete to maintain eye contact with a person. 4. Being p

28、ositive about oneself was a kind of bragging or showing-off. This example may well apply to Chinese as well. Krasner sums up:“language proficiency and communicative proficiency are two different things.” .Cultural Frames The fact is that we all live within cultural frames.The notion of a “cultural f

29、rame” is a pattern of behaviour which started developing within us, unconsciously, as a child. The goal of language teaching is to help students to understand that there are different cultural frames. Our cultural frames consist of certain cultural conventions. Krasner describescultural conventions

30、“asinformation about how people behave both linguistically and extra-linguistically in common everyday and crisis situations.” .Connotation Connotation takes a step deeper into the relationship between language and culture. Connotation is the point at which language and culture come together to form

31、 meaning. An example of connotation is the different set of associations connected to the word privacy. Privacy is a very positive concept in Western culture. To seek privacy is regarded as essential from time to time and basic to ones mental and physical well-being. In Chinese there is no word that

32、 precisely captures the Western concept of privacy. The Chinese word for privacy is embraces the ideas of secrecy, selfishness and deceitfulness. To seek privacy in China is to raise doubts about your integrity as a person. So it becomes critically important that the connotations of privacy in English speaking countries be clearly explained in the foreign language classroom. Here is a word that has connotations in the Western culture that are misunders