Cultural Factors in English Teaching1.doc

英语教学中的文化因素Cultural Factors in English Teaching ContentsAbstract 1Key words 1 .Introduction 1. Importance of Cultural Factors in Language Learning .32.1. Problems 32.2 Culture & Language .4. Cultural Factors.4 3.1 Understandings of Cultural Factors. 43.2Classification of Cultural Factors .6. Culture Teaching.74.1Problems.74.2 The Significance and Functions of Culture Teaching in English Teaching.84.2.1 The Significance of Culture Teaching.84.2.2 Sample Teaching Methods.94.2.3 Functions of Culture Teaching .104.3 What is Culture Teaching?.104.4 Two Modes for English Culture Teaching .114.4.1 Intercultural Communication (跨文化交际法) .11 4.4.2 Mold II：The Acculturation Mode（文化移入法） .124.4.3 Features of the Two Molds.13. Learners Factors .14 5.1 English Majors vs. non-English Majors145.2 Advanced English Learners vs. lower Learners.14 5.3 Short-Time Learners vs. Long-Time Learners.14. Conclusion.14References.15Cultural Factors in English Teaching摘要: 英语语言的学习和对该语言的运用能力与文化因素是分不开的.英语教学一改以往重语法知识轻交际能力,重语言形式忽略文化因素的不良模式,将文化教学作为一项重要教学内容.因此文化教学的内容设置应以文化因素自身特点为依据,针对不同授课对象,在英语教学中进行文化移入或跨文化交际模式的文化教学，并将文化教学与传统的英语教学结合起来将使英语教学更有效履行其培养具有跨文化交际能力的外语人才的使命. 关键词: 文化因素；文化教学；文化移入法； 跨文化交际法Abstract: Cultural factors are playing quite important roles in the process of English learning and have immense influence on the ability of using this language. Changes are happening to English teaching methods that culture teaching is being taken as a necessary part of teaching this language. English teaching used to put most attention to the teaching of grammars and structures, neglecting to cultivate the learners cross-cultural communicating competence and strengthen the forms of the English language too much to lend enough importance to cultural factors. In culture teaching, features of cultural factors should be taken into consideration before deciding what to teach. Acculturation Model and Inter-cultural Communication Model are typical ways to conduct culture teaching. Choices can be made between the two according to the different learners. The task of cultivating students English language ability and cross-cultural communicating competence can be better performed when culture teaching is combined with traditional English education.Key words: cultural factors; culture teaching; acculturation model; intercultural communication model IIntroductionEnglish learners have been facing a problem of misunderstanding when communicating with English speakers, although the language used in communication may be faultless. A serious question is that the speaker tends to cause amusement or laughter, a harmless statement would probably cause displeasure or anger and jokes to a foreign speaker who may respond with blank face and strong silence. It is cultural differences that cause the awkwardness. Because of cultural differences, the same word or expression may not mean the same thing to people of different cultures. For many years, English teaching has been following a traditional way of studying pronunciation, vocabularies, grammar and rhetoric. Although these language points are essential to our students in hearing a language and its quite important for teachers to put on basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation, a demand for cultivating the ability of intercultural communication is not satisfied in present English teaching. Foreign language teaching in some respects involves teaching a foreign culture. One cannot learn a foreign language well unless one has the knowledge of the culture of the country or the people who speak it, although some other issues concerned with the communicative use of the language have to be dealt with in the class designing. Cultural factors are among these issues, such as the awareness of cultural difference between the people of the target language and the learner group. This lies in the fact that language is a part of culture and plays a very important role in it. Language is influenced and shaped by culture (Deng & Liu, 1989) .So teaching a language, in fact, is inseparable from learning its culture. According to Jia Yuxin, cultural factors mean not only such material things as cities, organizations and schools, but also non-material things such as ideas, customs, family patterns, languages, etc. Cultural factors are always implied in a certain language and reflected from the course of using this language (Zhao ai guo& Jiang yaming, 2003) English teaching must aim at something higher than communication in daily life situations. The English language learners should obtain higher aims, social cultural competence. Two ways of culture teaching are mainly discussed in this paper: Acculturation Model the process of becoming adapted to a new culture(Brown, 1980:33) and the Intercultural Communication Model, aiming to help organize communicative class where learners get the awareness of cultural difference.Learners factors are very influential to the conduction of culture teaching. Differences exist among college students. Contrast can be made in three catalogues: English majors vs. Non-English majors; learners whose English is at low level vs. those at high level; Short time learners vs. long term learners. Importance of cultural factors in Language Learning2.1. ProblemsEnglish learners have been facing a problem of misunderstanding would arise when communicating with English speakers although the language used in communication may be faultless. A problem that is originally serious may cause amusement or laughter, a harmless statement may cause displeasure or anger. And sometimes jokes by a foreign speaker may be received with blank face and strong silence. It is cultural differences that cause the problems. Because of cultural differences, the same word or expression may not mean the same thing to people of different cultures. Differences across cultures are more talked about and explored than differences within the same culture. The reason for this is due to the common belief that people from the same country have the same cultural veins and therefore a good match for each other because they are falsely assumed to be "matched culturally or ethnically. Followings are some examples from our life that are concerted with cultural differences:Example I: A young Chinese went for a swim in a nearby public pool. To the surprise of his roommates and a foreign friend, he returned very quickly. “The pool was too crowded”, he explained. “And the water should have been changed a long time ago. It was so dirty .It was like “芝麻酱煮饺子” (dumplings being cooked in sesame paste). But to the foreigner, who had never tasted sesame paste and had never seen jiaozi being cooked, as a result the humor was totally lost. To describe a very crowded gathering, westerners often say “it was packed like sardines” .Similarly very few Chinese have ever seen a newly opened can of sardines, with neat rows of finger- sized fish packed tightly in a small flat container.Example II: In an English class when we learn words “farmer” and “peasant”, we should take more care to use them properly, because “peasant” usually means a uneducated person with low social status.Example III: An English major may translate a Chinese idiom “布衣蔬食” as: “Wear cotton clothes and eat vegetables food”. All the examples above revealed difficulties or misunderstandings in communication. It is not difficult to find that it is cultural differences that cause those problems. Culture shock happened in the first example and the second example reminded us of words from Will Carleton in his The First settlers story: “Careful with fire” is good advice, we know, careful with words, is ten times doubly so. In the third example, the translation is literally of no wrongness. However, people of nowadays will think their ancestors were really living a life similar to that of their own. It might be better translated as “wear coarse clothes and eat simple fare” So cultural differences exist because of differences of nationality and the times.2.2 Culture & LanguageEvery culture significantly influences and shapes our values, attitudes and behaviors. Some people are able to resist these cultural influences while others are more easily taken by these cultural forces. Some of these pieces are similar between various cultures while others are significantly different. When we make such kind of mistakes or misunderstandings, we broke some rules in language. According to the sociosemiotic theory of language, there are several ingredients, which seem to be essential: the text, the situation, the text variety, the code, the linguistic system and the social structure. Cultural factors exist in all the linguistic terms.Language is the symbolic representation of a group of people. Their historical and cultural backgrounds as well as their approach to life and their ways of living and thinking will have more or less influence on the use of language. In this case, it is not hard to understand “Language is influenced and shaped by culture” (Deng Yanchang & Liu Lanqing, 1989) So in order to learn English well, one also learns to see the world as the native English speakers see it, to learn how their language reflects their ideas and customs. Since there are countless English speakers, there would be thousands of cultures. It is difficult to generalize about a whole nation. There are differences of national origins, classes, geographical region, occupation, age and sex. However, there are certain attitudes and ideas, certain culturally prescribed rules of behavior that seem to be accepted by most Americans or Britons. It is these attitudes, ideas, and ways that we shall be referring to throughout teaching. Culture has such a close relationship with language that it is quite natural to say, to learn a language, to some extent, is to learn its culture. This implies that when conducting English Teaching, cultural factors should be counted in. Cultural Factors3.1 Understandings of Cultural Factors Since the importance of cultural factors in language learning is discussed as above, a further question What are cultural factors is naturally aroused. Views on this have been given widely, one of which is culture consists of all the shared products of human society.(Robertson 1981). Even though it was widely accepted, it still cannot give a concrete description as to in what way cultural factors affect us. The following may help better understand: Culture means not only such material things as cities, organizations and schools, but also non-material things such as ideas, customs, family patterns, languages. (Jia yuxin, 1989) Zhao Aiguo and Jiang Yaming gave a definition for cultural factors from the aspect of foreign language teaching: Cultural factors consist of a inner system of language signals, i.e. apart from pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar, they include all the humane factors of a race implied in a certain language as well as the cultural knowledge and background related in the course of this language development. The followings are some examples:Example I: A young Chinese girl who was majoring in English in college got her first job as an interpreter for an EX-Trade company. Mr. Smith, an American, was her first customer to serve. When the American got to the company, the young interpreter said “You come this way”, “You sit there”, “Follow me”, “Dont be late”. The next day, Mr. Smith was not willing to go out with her. The Chinese girl did not know why, because she had tried her best to show her. Her customer, however, thought he was rudely treated. Example II: Another cultural difference can be found in the way family numbers call each other in many English-speaking countries. An American son calls his father or grandfather by their first name directly. And in most cases, sons are given the same name as their grandfather. How about in China?Example III: Cultural differences sometimes may affect understanding for literature works. Because of the different location between England and China, different understanding may occur to the Chinese and the English for the “West wind” in the poem “To the West Wind” by the English poet Shelley. When west wind is blowing, it is warm and sunny spring in England, but in China, it is the late fall or early winter. So Shelley regarded west wind as a symbol of hope and strength, but many Chinese readers can hardly understand it if they have no knowledge of the Mediterranean climate. What are “cultural factors”? Problems in the examples above revealed a fact that cultural factors exist in terms of social factors, psychological factors, linguistic factors, and communicative factors. And differences in values, universal perspectives, and national characteristics generate different cultural systems. Culture is something that influences our attitudes, behaviors and values and teaches us how to live our lives. Culture something around us that we experience and that to which we are exposed. The schools (educational system/structure), media and laws are all some examples of "cultural pieces." These pieces collectively define and organize a particular culture. 3.2 Classification of Cultural FactorsIn order to teach cultural factors efficiently, classification for cultures is necessarily helpful. There have been many ways of classifying them; however, I personally regard Zhao aiguo and Jiang yamings as among the best ones, in term that it has provided good angles for making a good designing for cultures teaching. They hold that cultural factors can cover respects of ways of thinking, ways of behaving, customs, concepts, region, religion, and body languages. Examples below help to make concrete explanation. 1) Ways of thinking: In China, we have Red Tea and many English speakers refer to it as Black Tea. Because Chinese people name it according to the color of the water and foreigners to the black color of the tealeaves.2) Ways of behaving. Cultures of this kind form in daily life. There are rules or habits to be careful with when communicating with foreigners. How to greet? How to call him or her? How and when to show your appreciation? To what extent should you flatter a foreigner? Would your apologizing acceptable? How to say a perfect goodbye? And who should speak first when making a call? To solv