Cultural Knowledge in College English teaching

闵丹

Abstract

Language is the carrier for spreading culture. Only after understanding the cultural connotation in language， can students master a foreign language to great extent. However， in our English teaching， teacher only focuses on linguistic forms rather than English countries society or culture. Due to this kind of English teaching， students may misunderstand the connotative meaning of the whole sentence and fail to communicate with people from different culture in real communication situation.

Based on the relationship between culture and language teaching， the paper discusses the problems caused by ignoring the impacts of culture in English teaching and continues to present some practical methods of inputting cultural background knowledge in English teaching so as to foster students communicative competence.

Key words： culture； English teaching； methods

【中圖分类号】H319

Introduction

Language is a tool for human communication as well as an essential component of human culture. Recently， language researchers and teachers pay more and more attention to culture in language teaching. “Learning a language should develop two competencies at the same time： linguistic competence and cultural communicative competence” Hu Wenzhong， （1999）.

I. The relationship between culture and language teaching

Language is the most important component of culture and it reflects culture. And at the same time， it is influenced and shaped by culture. Culture differs from one another， so languages diverse. To some extent， language and culture are inseparable. The general idea that language is a component of culture is not under debate.

Culture teaching in language teaching should consist of the cognitive goals of culture teaching， the affective goals of culture teaching and the behavioral goals of culture teaching （H. H. Sten， 1992）.The cognitive goals of culture teaching include the learners abilities to know the target language culture and its characteristics， to realize the differences between mother tongue cultures， and to master a language and its social or cultural connotation. The affective goals of culture teaching refer to learners interests， curiosities and empathy in target language. The behavioral goals of culture teaching contain the learners abilities to comprehend foreign cultural behaviors， and to use language appropriately in some situations. English is a language spoken all over the world， providing information about cultures in many western countries. Besides， learning and using English seem to be a process in which the native culture and the culture to which English originally relates are brought together to interact. This interaction takes place both internally and externally. By communicating with other people who do not share the same cultural background， the learner also can interact with the outside world. In these two senses， English can be regarded as a means of cultural interaction.endprint

II. Problems caused by ignorance of cultural background knowledge

The aim of English teaching in effect in China stresses on training the students basic linguistic skills while the most important goal is to foster the ability of communication. However， for students， the motivation of learning English is a means to get high scores in tests. Teachers greatest concern is given to the mastery of linguistic knowledge and skills. Cultural background knowledge is ignored. But if we pay no attention to others culture， there will be many conflicts or trifling matters. Many failures arise during English teaching.

2.1 Failure in language understanding

In any language， there are many simple words which contain abundant potential cultural implications. For example， in English， “white” is connected with favorable connotations： purity， bright， fair， stainless， honesty etc. On the contrary， in Chinese， it can also mean bloodlessness， coldness， frigidity， weakness etc. Different nations have different mental perceptions which make the associative meanings of color more colorful. If students fail in mastering the potential implications， they may be confused when coming across these words in particular situations.

2.2 Failure in communication

Here are three questions： （1） How old are you？ （2） Are you married？ （3） Whats your income？ If a student asks a young lady from western country the above questions， he has made a serious mistake. In fact， in western countries， questions like these interfere into peoples private life. We can conclude that teacher should tell students when we interact with foreigners in English language， we prefer to follow western cultural rules and customs rather than neglect the differences between native culture and alien culture.

Ⅲ. Suggestions on Inputting Cultural Background Knowledge

Teacher should input cultural background knowledge in English teaching. The ways to introduce cultural background knowledge in English teaching are various. The most essential way is to give a course of social culture. However， it is difficult to carry out this plan in most schools and colleges in China. Under such condition， teachers can take supplementary presentation of cultural background knowledge in the course of English teaching. The following approaches are suggested.

3.1 Selecting proper teaching materials

Fortunately， nowadays， some schools have adapted some textbooks from abroad on the base of the unified textbooks， such books more and more emphasize the importance of culture and cultural contents about relevant target language countries， such as art， education， history， literature， music， politics， religion， everyday life， social customs and value outlook. In English teaching， we should select some proper textbooks published abroad， or we can make use of some authentic materials. These authentic materials about the everyday life abroad contain some culture background knowledge such as American customs and taboos. They can help students to learn some typical background knowledge of another culture.endprint

3.2 Encouraging extensive reading

“The best way to improve your knowledge of a foreign language is to go and live among its speaker. The next best way is to read extensively in it” （Nuttal， 1998）. By reading extensively， students can develop a wider knowledge of the world and an increased understanding of other cultures. They will be exposed to different cultural aspects， literary texts （novels or short stories）， specialized reports and so on. Once students have acquired additional cultural knowledge， they can discuss certain topics rather than just sitting passively as a recipient.

At the class， the teaching of English class is very limited， but students have sufficient disposable time after class. Teachers must guide the students to spend extra-curricular time in reading western English Literature， newspapers， magazines， comments on current affairs and other materials， which are vivid and abundant with material to understand the character， the psychological state， culture characteristics， convention， history and social relationships. Besides， teacher may ask students to write down the culture problems or differences， and tell them to pay attention to these problems.

3.3 Paying attention to the social meaning of words

In English， there are many words whose references are completely new and puzzled to a Chinese student in his English learning. As a matter of fact， the things that these words refer to do not exist in our Chinese culture at all. One example would be sufficient to prove this point： “Haggis” is not served in a typical Chinese restaurant， even the definition is quite clear. The student can understand the explanation literally， but he is still confused to know how a haggis is made， what it tastes likes， when and why the Scottish eat it. He may remember the literal definition of this word， without any perceptual knowledge and image of this food. In this case， teacher is supposed to pay attention to the social or cultural meaning of some words in teaching produces by showing relevant pictures.

3.4 Using native English tapes and films

Culture acquisition can not be achieved merely through classroom teaching. The best way to learn a new language is to become immersed in that language， so it is most helpful to learn another culture by jumping right in. This may not always be practical， however， for most students and teachers， radios， English songs， videos and films can be helpful ways to begin to learn culture. In English films， there are a lot of social， political and popular culture contents， so it is easier for us to pick up idioms， slang， and to get familiar with verbal and non-verbal behavior. Seeing films is the most effective way to observe non-verbal behaviors of the target culture. For teachers， making full use of pictures， films， TV， computers and other audio-visual aids can have the teaching lively and interesting.endprint

3.5 Designing meaningful classroom activities

Proper class communicative activities play an important role in language teaching. Eills （1990） has listed six criteria for evaluating： communicative purpose； communicative desire； content， not form； variety of language； no teacher intervention； no materials control. When teacher designs class activities， he or she should take these points into consideration. At the same time， during these communicative activities， teacher has to develop students cross-cultural awareness. Designing meaningful class activities can provide opportunities for students to use the language in situational conversations and understand foreign culture in varied situations.

Conclusion

In summary， language is only a part of culture. Language learning will be much influenced by attitudes towards culture. From the above， it is clear that English teaching is indeed culture teaching. Both teachers and learners must bear in mind culture significance. The suggestions on inputting cultural background knowledge in English are expected to be helpful for educators to improve English teaching effect and develop students communicative competence.

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