《CULTURAL BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE AND ENGLISH TEACHING.doc》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《CULTURAL BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE AND ENGLISH TEACHING.doc（3页珍藏版）》请在三一办公上搜索。
1、Cultural Background Knowledge and English Teaching Outline: I.Problemsarousedbydifferentculturalbackgrounds A.Somedifficultiesincommunicationcausedbydifferentculturalbackgrounds B.Briefillustrationofrelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture C.ProblemsinEnglishteachingandteachingmaterialcausedbyneglectof
2、culturalbackgroundknowledge II.Importanceofculturalbackgroundknowledgeinlanguageteaching A.Necessityofculturalbackgroundknowledgeinauralcomprehension B.NecessityofculturalbackgroundknowledgeinoralEnglish C.Necessityofculturalbackgroundknowledgeinreading 1.Fromtherespectofallusionsasillustration a)Ol
3、dallusionsfromhistory,religionandliterature b)Newallusions 2.Fromtherespectofidiomsasillustration D.Necessityofculturalbackgroundknowledgeinwritingandtranslation 1.Intranslation 2.Inwriting a)DifferencesinChineseandEnglishwritingstyles b)Necessityofknowingthesedifferences III.Howtocarryouttheteachin
4、gofculturalbackgroundknowledge A.Selectingproperteachingmaterial B.Encouragingwidereading C.Payingattentiontoproperwordingintheclassroom D.UsingnativeEnglishvideotapesandfilms E.EncouragingcommunicationwithnativespeakersofEnglish F.Holdinglecturesaboutculture IV.Conclusion:Itisnecessaryforteachersto
5、passonculturalbackgroundknowledgetostudents. OnceanAmericanwasvisitingthehomeofaChinese.Asthevisitorsawthehostswife,hesaid,“Yourwifeisverybeautiful.”Thehostsmiledandsaid:“Where?Where?”whichcausedtheAmericanssurprise,butstillheanswered:“Eyes,hair,nose”ananswerthatthehostfoundabitpuzzling.Thesurprisin
6、gwascausedbydifferentcultures.“Where?Where?”meaning“哪里！哪里！”inChineseisakindofhumblesaying.ButtheAmericanunderstooditas“Whichpartsofthebodyarebeautiful?”So,thereasonforbothsidesmisunderstandingswasdifferencesincustomsandhabits.Eachwasexpressingandunderstandingwhattheothersaidaccordingtohisorhercultur
7、e. Eventslikethesearefairlycommonwhenpeopleofdifferentlanguagesandculturescommunicate.Becauseofculturaldifferences,misunderstandingsmayarise,althoughthelanguageusedincommunicationmaybefaultless.Thesamewordsorexpressionsmaynotmeanthesamethingtodifferentpeoples.Becauseofculturaldifferences,aseriousque
8、stionmaycauseamusementorlaughter；aharmlessstatementmaycausedispleasureoranger.Becauseofculturaldifferences,jokesbyaforeignspeakermaybereceivedwithblankfacesandstonysilence.Yetthesamestoriesinthespeakersowncountrywouldleaveaudiencesholdingtheirsideswithlaughter. Languageisapartofcultureandplaysaveryi
9、mportantroleinit.Ontheonehand,withoutlanguage,culturewouldnotbepossible.Ontheotherhand,languageisinfluencedandshapedbyculture;itreflectsculture.Inthebroadestsense,languageisthesymbolicrepresentationofapeople,anditcomprisestheirhistoricalandculturalbackgroundsaswellastheirapproachtolifeandtheirwaysof
10、livingandthinking.Languageandcultureinteractandunderstandingofonerequiresunderstandingoftheother. Culturesdifferfromoneanother.Eachcultureisunique.Learningaforeignlanguagewellmeansmorethanmerelymasteringthepronunciation,grammar,wordsandidioms.Itmeanslearningalsotoseetheworldasnativespeakersofthatlan
11、guageseeit,learningthewaysinwhichtheirlanguagereflectstheideas,customs,andbehavioroftheirsociety,learningtounderstandtheir“languageofthemind”.Learningalanguage,infact,isinseparablefromlearningitsculture. However,ithasbeengivennotenoughcaretoinourteachingforalongtime.Althoughmanystudentshaveacquiredf
12、ourskillslistening,speaking,readingandwritingaccordingtothedemandofourtraditionalsyllabus,theyoftenmakemistakesinapplicationoflanguagetoreallife,becauseourteachingandteachingmaterialsattachimportancetolanguageformsbutignorethesocialmeaningsoflanguageformsandlanguageapplicationinreality.Wecanseethefo
13、llowingdialoguesinmanytextbooks: 1.A:Whatsyourname? B:MynameisLiHong. A:Howoldareyou? B:Imtwenty. A:Wheredoyoucomefrom? B:IcomefromNanjing. 2.A:Whereareyougoing? B:Imgoingtothelibrary. 3.A:Areyouwritingalettertoyourparents? B:Yes,Iam. A:Howoftendoyouwritetoyourparents? B:Aboutonceaweek. Alltheaboved
14、ialoguesareroughlythecombinationofChinesethinkingandEnglishform.Althoughsuchformsarecorrect,theyarenotappropriate.Exceptforhospitals,immigrationofficesandsuchplaces,itsunimaginableforsomeonetoaskastringofquestionslike:“Whatsyourname?”“Howoldareyou?”“Wheredoyoucomefrom?”ThenaturalreactionofEnglish-sp
15、eakingpeopletothegreetingslike:“Whereareyougoing?”wouldmostlylikelybe“Whydoyouask?”or“Itsnoneofyourbusiness.”Questionslike“Areyouwritingtoyourparents?”wouldbethoughtointrudeononesprivacy.Ourteachingmaterialseldompaysattentiontodifferencesbetweencultures,soourstudentsareusuallyignorantofthefactorofcu
16、ltureandtheycanonlymechanicallycopywhattheyhavelearned. Soinlanguageteaching,weshouldnotonlypassonknowledgeoflanguageandtrainlearnerscompetenceofutilizinglanguage,butalsoenhanceteachingofrelativeculturalbackgroundknowledge. Inteachingofauralcomprehension,wefindmanystudentscomplainthatmuchtimehasbeen
17、usedinlistening,butlittleachievementhasbeenacquired.Inordertoimprovecompetenceoflisteningcomprehension,somestudentsspeciallybuytaperecordersforlisteningandspendquiteafewhourseverydayonit,butoncetheymeetnewmaterials,still,theyfailtounderstand.Whatisthereason?Ontheonehand,maybesomestudentsEnglishisver
18、ypoorandtheyhaventgraspedenoughvocabularies,cleargrammarorcorrectpronunciation,ormaybethematerialisratherdifficult,etc.Ontheotherhand,animportantreasonisthattheyareunfamiliarwithculturalbackgroundoftheUSAandEngland.Auralcomprehension,whichiscloselyrelatedtotheknowledgeofAmericanandBritishculture,pol
19、iticsandeconomy,infact,isanexaminationofonescomprehensivecompetencewhichincludesonesEnglishlevel,rangeofknowledge,competenceofanalysisandimaginativepower. Maybewehavethisexperience:whenwearelisteningtosomethingfamiliartous,nomatterwhatisconcerned,usuallyweareeasytounderstand.Eveniftherearesomenewwordsinthematerial,weareabletoguesstheirmeaningsaccordingtoitscontext.However,whenweencountersomeunfamiliarmaterialorsomethingcloselyrelatedtoculturalbackground,wemayfeelratherdifficult.Evenifthematerialiseasy,weonlyknowtheliteralmeaning,butcantunderstandtheconnotation,be
