探究初中英语教学中的文化导入

论文总字数：33611字

摘 要

随着经济全球化的发展，英语已经成为一门重要的国际通用语言。英语学习受到了广泛的重视。目前我国初中英语教学中仍然存在诸多问题，其中英语教师忽视文化背景知识的导入，对学生的学习产生了不利的影响。因此，在初中英语教学中有必要加强对文化背景知识的导入，以便提高学生的英语学习兴趣和英语综合能力。本文阐述了语言与文化的关系，论述了文化导入在教学中的必要性，在指出英语课堂教学中文化导入缺损的现状的基础上，探究了文化导入在英语课堂教学中的方案。

关键词： 初中英语教学；文化背景；跨文化交际

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

3. Language and Culture 2

3.1 The definition of language 2

3.2 The definition of culture 2

3.3 The relationship between language and culture 3

4. The Functions of Cultural Introduction in English Learning 4

4.1 Arousing the interest in English learning 4

4.2 Helping students understand English effectively 4

4.3 Helping students apply English properly 5

5. Current Situation of English Teaching in Junior Middle School 6

5.1 Current situation of English vocabulary teaching in middle schools 7

5.2 Current situation of English reading teaching in middle schools 7

6. Suggestions on the Application of Cultural Introduction in English Classroom Teaching 9

6.1 The application of cultural introduction to vocabulary teaching 9

6.2 The application of cultural introduction to reading teaching 10

6.3 The rich cultural reserve of English teachers 11

6.4 The diversification of classroom activities 12

7. Conclusion 13

Work Cited 15

1. Introduction

In recent years, cultural introduction has caused a heated discussion because it has become an important factor of learning English. In fact, there is still a phenomenon that cultural introduction is neglected in junior high school English teaching in China, which not only hinders students from learning English, but also is not advantageous to cultural communication and inheritance. With the gradual deepening of education reform, more requirements related to cultural introduction or communication skills have been proposed. They not only require teachers to study for life to improve themselves, but also require teachers to implement the fundamental purpose of English in the middle school English class - facilitate students’ communication. Moreover, China"s foreign trade is constantly developing, and all fields have to use English in their communication. The thesis aims to solve the problem of how to learn English well. In view of the problems of cultural introduction in middle school English teaching, we will explore the countermeasures to solve the problems from the relationship between language and culture.

The paper is divided into three parts. The first part helps us understand language and culture systematically. The second part analyzes the reasons for cultural introduction. The third part explores how to use effective methods for cultural introduction in English teaching in junior middle school.

1. Literature Review

The relationship between language and culture was mentioned by American Linguist Brown in his book Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. He thought that language, as a means of communication, is the most visible and effective description and presentation of culture itself, cultural manifestations, people"s customs and lifestyles. As for the necessity of cultural introduction, the relationship between language and culture is mentioned in Brown and Brook"s books. Intercultural communication is one of the purposes of learning English, and it is also one of the reasons for the introduction of classroom culture. Students use the cultural knowledge they have accumulated in the actual situation to achieve one of the purposes of language learning - communication. The new English curriculum standard also requires teachers to pay attention to the cultural connotation of textbooks and help students learn English through appropriate supplement and adjustment.

1. Language and Culture

3.1 The definition of language

There are many ways to inherit culture, such as character, clothing, invention of papermaking, etc. They are closely related to people"s life. In addition, the language we use every day is also a way of expressing culture. Language is the most important one in these ways. Generally speaking, every nation has its own language and language is a medium for people to exchange ideas. Language is not unchangeable. It belongs to a developing process. According to the origins of its phonetics, grammar and vocabulary, the world"s languages are divided into language families. Each linguistic family includes a number of different languages, which have a certain geographical distribution, and many cultural characteristics are closely related to it. Different regions have different cultures. and these cultures are very different, Therefore, it is quite difficult for Chinese to learn English and for foreigners to learn Chinese. Cultural differences have a great influence on language learning, so it is a wise decision to help students understand Western culture in middle school English teaching.

3.2 The definition of culture

Culture is all the human spiritual activities and products related to economy and politics. It includes the history of groups from the past to the future, and is the content of all activities of the groups based on nature. It is the internal whole of all the material representation and spirit of the ethnic group. Specific human cultural content refers to the history, geography, customs, tools, lifestyles, religious beliefs, literature and art, norms, laws, systems, ways of thinking, values, aesthetic tastes and so on.

Sapir thought that culture is the inheritance of experience and ideas, and the culture that is preserved often has a great impact on people"s life. According to Nida, Culture is the result of behavior obtained by people living in society through observation, imitation and other behaviors. (Butties amp; Byram 6) From this point of view, the culture we observe in everyday life is the giant image of the culture and a specific part of the city"s cultural system. But our research topic is culture introduction in middle school English classroom, so we need to focus on middle school English classroom. Our cultural introduction needs to follow the requirements of the English syllabus and properly supplement the cultural traditions of some English-speaking countries, such as social norms, logical mind and cultural values.

3.3 The relationship between language and culture

As brown said, Language, as a means of communication, is the most common and effective description and presentation of culture itself, cultural manifestations, people"s customs and lifestyles. (Brown 87) The process of human thinking is inseparable from language. Culture and language are closely related. For example, classical culture is embodied in classical literary works, but literary works are one of the manifestations of language. Language has an effect on the formation of culture. We can see that language is used for describing the past life experience. For example, allegorical stories or songs have been passed down for many years, all of which have the cultural characteristics of the past era and have a certain historical significance. Without cultural support, language cannot exist independently. A language is like a documentary which is used for recording history. It reflects the culture of a nation. We usually classify a society"s customs and lifestyles as culture. Whether these customs and lifestyles are passed on is one of the indicators of whether society continues to develop, so the importance of language is self-evident.

Byram, who has proposed that cultural learning and language learning cannot take place of each other strongly advocated that culture is the soul of language and the internal expression of language (Brook amp; Nelson 97). As a matter of fact, culture and language usually complement each other. The prosperity of culture promotes the development of language. The increase or decrease of language will also affect the speed of cultural exchanges. Language has social functions. Internal factors determine external factors so the essential features of language are the key factors. Therefore, in English teaching, it is essential to understand English culture so that we can realize the communicative function of English. The more a student has access to English, the better they understand that learning English is for communication rather than for exams.

1. The Functions of Cultural Introduction in English Learning

4.1 Arousing the interest in English learning

Einstein once said, "Interest is the best teacher." The interest in learning English encourages students to learn English. It can change students" learning process from inefficient to efficient. Classroom culture is advantageous to focus atudent’s attention. Teachers use a variety of teaching media in English classroom to introduce Western culture to students and encourage students to find cultural differences so as to help them know the cultural connocation of the text. The introduction of classroom culture is a good way to arouse students" interest, which is conducive to mobilizing students" enthusiasm and subjective initiative in English learning.

Junior high school students in adolescence are curious about the unknown. In the process of English learning, mechanical vocabulary teaching and grammar teaching may make students feel that English learning is boring, thus resulting in low learning efficiency. If the teacher supplements the cultural knowledge of the natural environment, human customs and living habits of the target language appropriately in the classroom, then the students"desire for English learning can be stimulated.

4.2 Helping students understand English effectively

Sometimes, the cultural connotation of the text is important of the understanding of the content. If you don"t have a knowledge of the nature, history, human environment, customs and habits behind the text, then it"s very difficult for you to really understand the implied meaning of the text. Although junior high school students have mastered a certain number of vocabulary and grammar, they still can not understand the specific content of English articles. Through the introduction of culture, teachers help students understand the cultural characteristics of the target language, so that students can understand the content of the text while feeling the culture.

As we all know, the connotation of culture teaching is to require teachers to introduce culture into the classroom on the basis of cultural knowledge. Teachers should consciously cultivate students"cultural awareness so that students can understand English well. For example, in our reading teaching, the students should base the whole text on context. Context affects the overall understanding of the article. Teachers can use cultural introduction in the context teaching process to help students gradually enhance their awareness of context, so as to better understand the text.

4.3 Helping students apply English properly

With the advancement of society, many teachers or parents understand the pivotal position of culture, and slowly sum up the close relationship between language and culture. Therefore, many scholars have also put forward their own views on the implementation of cultural introduction in education. A brand-new subject, intercultural communication, has been established. In the book “silent language,” Hall clarifies his understanding of culture, cultural existence and people’s lives, and culture influences every aspect of people’s lives. It can be seen that language we use is a part of culture. The smooth progress of intercultural communication is the result of language and cultural cooperation. Mastering cultural connotation is the basis of expressing language. (Hu 85)

In intercultural communication, the use of language strategies is indispensable. If a person has good communication skills in everyday communication, he can achieve the value or purpose of communication. Due to cultural differences, many foreign language learners cannot choose appropriate communication strategies in actual conversations. Only by understanding the foreign cultures and trying to understand the logic of Westerners can we successfully complete communication activities. In addition, grammar ability is also very important and it is related to the correctness of a sentence structure, which is the premise of completing communicative activities. With regard to textual competence, it is based on cultural understanding and clarifies the use of appropriate language for communication. Learning English is a gradual process. Students should first learn the basic knowledge, and then learn the other parts. Without the support of basic knowledge, any communication activities can hardly go smoothly. Social language ability and strategic ability are also very important factors. Only when various factors are coordinated can students improve their comprehensive ability.

The completion of communication requires the participation of multiple media, and the sound is the one that is easier to perceive, So language is an important factor in the process of communication. Communication activities are conducted by language, which is the ultimate goal of language. Language learning is inseparable from communication. Many students have mastered vocabulary and grammar, but they copy them mechanically and make sentences that do not conform to Western minds. These sentences have no communicative value, so they can"t be carried out in formal communication. As the American educator Winston Bremberg said, the best way to train a great fool who is fluent in language is to adopt a teaching method that only knows language but not culture. This sentence reminds teachers to pay attention to cross-cultural education in middle school English teaching and help students understand the cultural background of the target language.

1. Current Situation of English Teaching in Junior Middle School

5.1 Current situation of English vocabulary teaching in middle schools

Learning English from words is a way that most students take. Most Chinese students first memorize words, then learn phrases, then master a lot of grammar rules, and finally consolidate their knowledge through a lot of practice. Many students neglect the principle that English learning is used for communication. They think that once they finish the test paper exercises, they will learn English well. Nowadays, the new English textbooks are widely used all over the country, but there are still some students who can"t understand the meaning of the words in a specific sentence and don"t know their usage in a specific context. Some problems arise, such as translating "as strong as cow" into "as strong as cow" and "everyone is proud" into "every person has a happy day". Teachers in the classroom can supplement cultural background knowledge. Students can accumulate cultural knowledge through different ways and use it flexibly in actual situations. Only in this way can students ensure that their communication activities go on smoothly.

At present, vocabulary teaching in English classes in our country still stays at the stage of teaching literal meaning, which can be proved by the vocabulary table at the end pages of the book. The vocabulary table at the end pages of the English book lists the pronunciation and meaning of words in turn, and then English teachers supplement the usage of some words. However, many English teachers deviate from the use of text, which leads to students not using the word in other contexts correctly. The word "treat" means " cure, probe, dispose of", "treat, entertain" and so on. But if a teacher asks what "Dutch treat" means, students will surely be confused: "Does Dutch hospitality mean?" In fact, in British culture, Dutch people are budget-conscious, even treating guests are no exception. So "Dutch treat" means " self-paid dinner". As an English teacher, if he wants to solve the problem mentioned above fundamentally, he must tell the students the cultural background of the words.

5.2 Current situation of English reading teaching in middle schools

In the practice of reading teaching, the purpose of the reading class is to enable students to understand and use the information in the article to effectively solve related problems. In the real classroom, although students accumulate some meanings in everyday learning, they still cannot understand the true intention of the author. They just learn literal meaning and bring the literal meaning into the text, but we all know that a complete word meaning is composed of surface meaning and deep meaning, which is its cultural connotation. If you just understand its literal meaning, you can"t get the most accurate answer. Therefore, understanding the significance of culture is advantageous for students to improve their text comprehension. (Kramsch 25)The concept of cultural introduction has long been proposed, and many people agree to take this strategy into force, but there are a small number of English teachers who can practice this strategy in the classroom. Some teachers are content with their knowledge and use what they have learned to teach their students. In fact, this is not conducive to students’ interest in English. The traditional reading mode is not conducive to the development of students" open thinking, and does not reflect the student-centered teaching philosophy. Advocating culture-oriented teaching can"t just be a slogan. Every teacher should realize its importance and put it into practice. Others hold that students’ current knowledge level is not suitable for cultural teaching, because the cultural content in textbooks is far beyond students" knowledge level.

As long as students get high marks in exams, they don’t care whether their class includes cultural introduction. Some teachers think that students’ knowledge, ability and understanding cannot support the practice of cultural education. Another point is the impact of exam-oriented examinations on students. In many examinations, most of the papers are designed for inspecting students" vocabulary and grammar knowledge, while the proportion of cultural content is relatively small, so some teachers do not attach importance to cultural introduction in English classroom in junior high school. All these reasons lead to the students’ inability to use English effectively in communicative activities and people in a communicative situation also have many pragmatic mistakes because the lack of cultural introduction lead to reading comprehension errors.

1. Suggestions on the Application of Cultural Introduction in English Classroom Teaching

6.1 The application of cultural introduction to vocabulary teaching

Teachers can explain the culture of the vocabulary directly, for example, when a teacher is introducing. the word "Halloween", he can tell students the origin of Halloween, the development of Halloween and ways of celebrating halloween in Western countries directly. Teachers can ask questions, such as: (1) What is the topic of this text? (2) Who can tell me some information about Halloween? (3) Do you know the origin of Halloween? (4) Who can tell me the development of Halloween? Teachers give students several mintues to think about these questions and then use PPT to tell students some information about Halloween directly, so as to help students understand Western culture. On this basis, teachers can also properly supplement the information of other common Western festivals in English classes to stimulate students" curiosity about Western culture.

When explaining new words, the teacher compares the translation of words with the corresponding meaning in Chinese. For example, the teacher translates "feel blue" into "melancholy". But we have learned that blue in Chinese culture means a calm and peaceful state. Because of the different concepts of words in different countries, some English words can not be explained in Chinese. By comparing the meanings of words, teachers can help students remember words better, such as "let the cat out of the bag". We translate it into Lou Ma Jiao, but there is no word "horsefoot" in English, and Westerners do not understand it, so in English, "the cat" is used instead. Students can memory this word for a long time. There are many words like this, such as: (1) Like a rat in a hole (2) Among the blind the one-eyed is king. Therefore, when they explain similar vocabulary in English class, teachers can use contrastive analysis to help students intuitively feel the influence of cultural differences on vocabulary teaching. (Zhang 2007)

The principle of gradual progress need to be followed by teachers in vocabulary teaching. Due to the differences of students" knowledge background and cognitive ability, teachers can not directly teach the complex cultural system behind words in the process of cultural introduction. They should let students have a knowledge of the existence of cultural differences. In daily teaching, according to the content of textbooks, teachers can selectively add some Western cultural knowledge in order to arouse students’s interest in English. For example, in Unit2 of 8A, the topic of the text is about school lives. Teachers in classroom teaching can properly supplement the western campus facilities or types of subjects, but can not directly explain the western school system to students. Some information have exceeded the ability of students" cognition, and students can not absorb and use them well.

6.2 The application of cultural introduction to reading teaching

Multimedia in class gives students a visualized impression about the cultural understanding. As far as reading itself is concerned, it only needs the participation of visual organs, but through multimedia teaching, teachers can realize the participation of visual and auditory senses in reading and stimulate students" interest in reading. For example, in Unit2 of 8A of Yilin Press, it mainly introduces the campus life in the United States and Britain to students. In this part of the reading class, teachers can play videos of British campus life and American campus life to help students understand the western campus culture intuitively, in order to enhance students" interest in learning.

According to the characteristics of the text, teachers create situations for students and guide them to use English in situations and make them feel the cultural differences between China and the West. For example, in Unit4 of 8A, the topic of the text is about DIY. Teachers can divide students into different groups. Each group have a chance to show their understandings or opinions of the DIY. Students can use their imagination to show, thus discovering the difference between Western DIY and Chinese oil painting or handicraft. In this process, Students" imagination and comprehensive English ability have been improved.

In the process of reading texts, the teacher can ask questions related to culture, and then divide the students into groups, so that the students can discuss and express their views according to their reading experience. It is advantageous for students to develop their ability of self-confidence and self-expression. In the process of discussion, students can deepen their understanding of cuture of the text, so as to enrich their knowledge accumulation. By expressing their own views, students can memory the Western culture for a long time and improve their ability of reading. People cannot use Chinese thinking to understand the texts, but should follow the thinking habits of Westerners, in order to truly understand the author"s writing intentions.

6.3 The rich cultural reserve of English teachers

The new curriculum standard for Chinese junior high school English is a key. It has changed the current situations of most English teachers. Teachers must adjust the teaching content according to students’ learning conditions or students" knowledge background. Then teachers improve students’ subjective initiative through various small games, help students develop a reasonable and effective learning plan, and encourage students to insist on their plans. The 45 minutes in class are limited, and the knowledge that students can master is limited. Therefore, self-study after class is even more important. English newspapers or various English radio stations are effective ways to learn English. In addition to the points mentioned above, we also need to recognize the importance of cultural differences, because cultural differences can affect the normal conduct of communicative activities.

Teaching English is not difficult. Teaching English well is very difficult. In addition to the requirements of the new curriculum, the importance of other teaching qualities cannot be ignored. For example: renewing teaching ideas, enriching their own reserves, and cultivating students" awareness of cross-cultural communication.

Teachers need to renew their teaching concept. For a long time, in the field of primary and secondary education in our country, knowledge-centered teaching structure has been pursued, while the importance of cultural introduction has been neglected. We all know that the lesson plan includes the teaching reflection. Through continuous reflection, the teacher finds his own shortcomings in the classroom, and then tries to find better ways to help students learn English well. In the classroom teaching, teachers can use video, photos, English songs, etc. to help students understand western culture. In addition, teachers must continuously enrich their knowledge basis. Help students understand through multiple examples or diverse situations when they have difficulties in understanding due to cultural differences.

Teachers need to erect the conception of “study for life”. Most of the current English teachers have insufficient cultural reserves. Students are like a piece of white paper. The teacher paints whatever color the students have. Therefore, teachers should input a large amount of knowledge of eastern and western cultures, and use it extensively in class, so as to promote students" understanding of knowledge.

6.4 The diversification of classroom activities

Teachers should organize diversified activities to arouse students" interest in English learning. English is a complete knowledge system, and basic knowledge is only a part of it. Therefore, through some examples, students can feel the existence of western culture in the process of learning English. In addition, it is also very important to cultivate students" good habits of active learning. Only by realizing the importance of something can you insist on doing it. Teachers consciously participate in activities when designing teaching plans, for example: telling English stories, singing English songs and so on. Teachers should teach students the cultural connotation behind them, and stimulate students" interest in Western culture from the visual and auditory point of view. In everyday practice lesson, teachers consciously provide some western public tips for students to discuss and divide them into different groups to put forword some opinions about the topic. Teachers should make students understand the culture of English-speaking countries and appreciate the charm of English from multiple perspectives.

English teachers can create English corner activities in this class. Teachers provide some classic works of the West in the classroom for students to read. Then, teachers can use their spare time to communicate with students about reading comprehension. In this way, students" English thinking ability is gradually improved. Through reading, students can not only accumulate some basic knowledge, but also broaden their horizons.

A lot of input will produce output. Teachers can organize students to read western literary works in English class because literary works of different periods have different cultural characteristics. Through reading, the cultural connotations behind the literary works are excavated, and students can successfully communicate through the accumulation of these cultural knowledge. To help students understand these books, we should not only teach sentence translation and analysis of sentence components, but should guide students analyze from the perspective of improving students" literary connotation.

7. Conclusion

At present, there is no explicit regulation on the introduction of culture of the target language in Chinese education, but far-sighted teachers should be aware of the importance of cultural introduction. In order to help students to learn English well, teachers should adopt a variety of teaching methods in the classroom to supplement the students" Western cultural knowledge. In-service English teachers should be given targeted suggestions to help them to understand how to introduce culture in teaching and help students learn English independently. To learn more about the cultural knowledge is conducive to their cross-cultural exchanges. In the Nine-Year Compulsory Education English Teaching Syllabus for Full-time Junior Middle Schools, the listening, speaking, reading and writing training in the middle school classroom has a certain influence on the students" basic knowledge of English. However, without the participation of communication strategies, it is still difficult for students to complete the communication activities. Therefore, teachers should design some situations according to the text to help students make better use of knowledge with the help of cultural background and communicative strategies.

In order to achieve a fluent level of communication, students must learn culture as well as language. The proportion of cultural introduction should also increase accordingly. In middle school English teaching, we should properly introduce, analyze and reveal the cross-cultural differences in the target language, so as to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts in communication. While teaching English, we have to face the cultural issues of English-speaking countries, so we need to consciously cultivate students" sensitivity to cultural differences between China and foreign countries in order to improve students’ comprehensive ability.

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