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【摘要】文化是学习语言的最主要因素之一，语言是作为一种文化现象被人们在社会中应用的。因此，外语教学应注重文化对语言的影响。目前我国语言学生对语言文化的了解甚少，这对外语的学习是不利的，也因此导致学而不精，不能应用于实际生活中。本文就这些问题提出在英语教学方面应该改进的方法，增强学生的社会文化意识，提高他们学习英语的兴趣和能力。
【关键词】交际能力 跨文化交际 英语教学
【Abstract】culture is one of the most important factors during language teaching and learning.Language is used in our society regarded as a cultural phenomenon.So we should put premium on the cultural influence during our teaching.At present，our English learners know a little about the culture of English culture.This does harm to the language learning，and their language learning hardly gain certain attainment because of their failure to use the language practically.According to these questions the author puts forwards some improving methods to enforce the students’ social culture awareness，and promote their interests and ability for English learning.
【Key words】communicative ability； cross-culture communication； English teaching
I Introduction
culture penetrates many fields of our life ranging from the clothing，eating，living，traveling to the standard of behavior，the belief of life and the concept of value etc.what is beyond any doubt is culture is one of the most important attributes of language； meanwhile language is one of the essential carriers of the culture.Both of them partly intersect and permeate each other.Language cannot exist without certain social culture，because any language is the reflection of certain social culture and has profound culture connotation.This is the culture function of language.On the other hand，from the angle of the relationship of them we can define language as a kind of social phenomenon whose essential attribute is being the communicative tool of the society.Hymes once said，“Language is a kind of social practice，and the most important problem between theory and practice is the disturbance given by the social factors to the language” （Hymes，1971：140）.
Because of the above-mentioned reasons，language teaching must go along with the mastery of the social culture.The aim of English teaching is cross-culture communication and the cultivation of the talented man who can communicate with the people living in the very different cultural circumstance.Besides the grammatical skill communicative skills include the skill of using language----social language skill，writing skill and tactics skill，that is to say “we should have the awareness of our proper speech” （Hymes，1971：152）.
“To be bilingual，one must be bicultural”（Wang Fuxiang，Wu Hanying，1994：68）.As for the English teaching，it is a crucial point to master the social culture of English speaking countries.The difference between languages is decided by the different culture between west and east.Those language differences include sentence expressions，lexical items，the ways of expressing，language circumstances and proper quality etc.All the spontaneous English learners should try to learn these differences and adapt themselves to these differences.While we are communicating crossing the culture，we’d better think in the way of the social culture of English-speaking countries.Only in that way our communication would go smoothly and satisfyingly.“This kind of understanding absorption and adaptation to English culture is the social culture awareness，which is essential to learn English” （Hymes，1971：160）. After “communicative skill” was put forward by Hymes，“Communicative Language Teaching” has gradually penetrated into the people’s mind in China.At present more and more school are carrying out Quality Education，we all know that the communicative skill is just one important aspect of students’ qualities； under the guidance of the communicative methodology，our English teaching has made great progress.However，how much have the students’ skills of using the language been improved during the communication？ How much has the social culture awareness，which has a great effect on the communicative skills，strengthened？
II How to Avoid the Mistakes of Using Language During Cross-culture Communication
“During the cross-culture communication，if we lack certain knowledge about the social culture tradition of our counterparts，the communication would be halted，because of our mistakes of using language.What’s worse，culture shock would be arose.”（Hu Wenzhong，1994：132）.In order to realize the cultural significance of language，learners should have good social culture awareness，which means understanding the social exerting- regulations of this language，and have enough ability to exert these regulations.As long as the learner have the awareness of language properties or called social culture ability，the mistakes of using language can be finally avoided.
First，communicative situation must be adverted.Our speech and behavior should be in accordance with the atmosphere，the time and scene.Second，the relationship of the speakers should be paid attention to，according to the acquaintance，social status and identity of both parts.We can give proper remarks corresponding with our status either in the serious style or in casual style.Third，communicative strategy either direct or indirect is very practical.For example，how to start，maintain or stop the talk，how to change the topic and how to remedy the talk when problem appears，etc.last but not least，personally communicative intention should be expressed properly.Sushi as greeting，saluting，inviting，expressing one’s thanks and apologizing etc.
Only the above- mentioned points be carried out，can we make sure the fully realization of the cultural meaning of language.
To master a foreign language，the learner must follow a fixed process.That is “from the language ability to social language ability and then to social culture ability”（Wang Fuxiang，Wu Hanying，1994：162）.However，this process should be carried out according to the stages.Teachers cannot infuse too much cultural at the meaning of students’ English learning； this does not mean all the cultural knowledge should be mentioned in their senior classes.When the students have certain language awareness，the main barrier of their communication lies in the culture awareness，i.e.social culture awareness that means the understanding extent of the social culture in the target language and the adaptation to its cultural and communicative mode. III Suggestions to English Teaching
A great many facts demonstrate that language ability，which is the aim of the traditional English teaching，is definitely not enough to make sure the efficient carrying of the communicative activity.So another pressing problem must be considered in our middle school English teaching.During the operation of CLT，students’ understanding about English culture and their adaptation to that culture must run through the whole teaching process，meanwhile their social culture awareness can be improved.
First of all，we need a good teaching outline according to the national condition.The ACTFL has put forward a new point of view “there are five factors within the communicative ability.Addition to the language ability including listening，speaking，reading，writing，social culture ability，which means the harmonious communication with the people under another different culture，is included”（Byrnes，etal：1989：150）.Only those people with the strong social culture awareness can make sure their property of their speech on the basis of enough social culture ability.
Second，a set of good teaching materials is needed.From the survey we can find that students do well in those questions about the daily life which have appeared in the text； but they eel their ability is not equal to their ambition when comes across those questions needing certain change according to the occasion.From this angle，“we should demand certain adjustment on the teaching materials in the hop of emphasizing the communicative value and social value of the language”（Wang Fuxiang，Wu Hanying，1994：154）.For example，during the process of compiling the teaching materials，we should properly turn our emphasis from the language system to the social culture facts.More cultural points can be added to the teaching materials，more authentic materials can be cited at the same time.Those social factors can be English social culture background，English customs and materials about the occasions，identification and relationships.Let students have the chance to get familial with the language variants in different communicative occasions.In order to cope with the varying circumstances，this should be completed.For example，the sentence “I ain’t got none can be analyzed in different ways，we can either regard it as a wrong sentence from the grammatical point of view，or we can guess that the speaker is joking or ill-educated，or we can think the speaker wants to build a harmonious relationship with his counterparts.In a word，the open English teaching is expecting the appearance of corresponding teaching materials. Third，teacher should pay more attention to the cultural difference during English teaching.Teachers can organize students to have discussions according to the different ethnics and areas in our country.By means of this students’ sensitivity about the cultural difference can be enforced，their ability to identify the cultural connotation of the language can be improved，and their cultural awareness also can be inspired at the same time.For instance，sentence like “you have a nice shirt” or “ I like your beautiful watch”，their function mainly lies in expressing friendliness and arising the talk； “ I love you” even can be used to comfort or encourage somebody.In fact all of these examples are non-language behavior.As for some sentences for offer such as “ would you like some coffee？” the native speakers seldom say “No，thank you.” like what our teaching material said.Instead “yes，I’d love，but not now” is their common response.In addition，“in china people usually adopt the way of “acceptation thanks” when they face the offers of others，people in the west especially the Americans who advocate individualism would rather answer in the way of “refusal explanation”（Hu Wenzhong，1994； 160）.Another example，most Chinese are nostalgia and stick to the tradition，on the contrary，Americans who uphold changes and scan widely consider “tradition” to be the same meaning with “ rusty”.The conflict between different concepts of values is always the principal offender of the culture shock.There is only one key to avoid this kind of conflict，that is try to get familial with the cultural difference of different language.
Finally，teachers and teaching methodologies also should change with the pace of the times.English teachers should be qualified of enough social culture awareness.They should emphasize the social meaning of English and the practical applications of English on certain occasion.They can help students place themselves in the life circle full of English and English culture.Not only do the students think in English，but also they following the English culture mode.“On the way to the formation of students’ social culture awareness or cross-culture awareness，teachers are the agencies and explicators of two different cultures”（Byrnes，1984：126）.
VI Conclusion
students’ motivation and the original learning structure would impinge greatly on the arousal and the schedule of their social culture awareness.What’s more，many middle schools are still carrying on “examination education” under the name of “Quality Education”.If more examine questions about social ability can be added to the exams especially the Entrance Exam which is called the guiding stick at present，the utmost significance of English teaching----cross-culture communication would surely be promoted step by step.
References：
[1]Byrnes，et al.，The ACTFL oral proficiency interview：Tester training manual，New York：The American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages，1989.
[2]Hymes，D.H.，On Communicative Competence，Pride
【关键词】交际能力 跨文化交际 英语教学
【Abstract】culture is one of the most important factors during language teaching and learning.Language is used in our society regarded as a cultural phenomenon.So we should put premium on the cultural influence during our teaching.At present，our English learners know a little about the culture of English culture.This does harm to the language learning，and their language learning hardly gain certain attainment because of their failure to use the language practically.According to these questions the author puts forwards some improving methods to enforce the students’ social culture awareness，and promote their interests and ability for English learning.
【Key words】communicative ability； cross-culture communication； English teaching
I Introduction
culture penetrates many fields of our life ranging from the clothing，eating，living，traveling to the standard of behavior，the belief of life and the concept of value etc.what is beyond any doubt is culture is one of the most important attributes of language； meanwhile language is one of the essential carriers of the culture.Both of them partly intersect and permeate each other.Language cannot exist without certain social culture，because any language is the reflection of certain social culture and has profound culture connotation.This is the culture function of language.On the other hand，from the angle of the relationship of them we can define language as a kind of social phenomenon whose essential attribute is being the communicative tool of the society.Hymes once said，“Language is a kind of social practice，and the most important problem between theory and practice is the disturbance given by the social factors to the language” （Hymes，1971：140）.
Because of the above-mentioned reasons，language teaching must go along with the mastery of the social culture.The aim of English teaching is cross-culture communication and the cultivation of the talented man who can communicate with the people living in the very different cultural circumstance.Besides the grammatical skill communicative skills include the skill of using language----social language skill，writing skill and tactics skill，that is to say “we should have the awareness of our proper speech” （Hymes，1971：152）.
“To be bilingual，one must be bicultural”（Wang Fuxiang，Wu Hanying，1994：68）.As for the English teaching，it is a crucial point to master the social culture of English speaking countries.The difference between languages is decided by the different culture between west and east.Those language differences include sentence expressions，lexical items，the ways of expressing，language circumstances and proper quality etc.All the spontaneous English learners should try to learn these differences and adapt themselves to these differences.While we are communicating crossing the culture，we’d better think in the way of the social culture of English-speaking countries.Only in that way our communication would go smoothly and satisfyingly.“This kind of understanding absorption and adaptation to English culture is the social culture awareness，which is essential to learn English” （Hymes，1971：160）. After “communicative skill” was put forward by Hymes，“Communicative Language Teaching” has gradually penetrated into the people’s mind in China.At present more and more school are carrying out Quality Education，we all know that the communicative skill is just one important aspect of students’ qualities； under the guidance of the communicative methodology，our English teaching has made great progress.However，how much have the students’ skills of using the language been improved during the communication？ How much has the social culture awareness，which has a great effect on the communicative skills，strengthened？
II How to Avoid the Mistakes of Using Language During Cross-culture Communication
“During the cross-culture communication，if we lack certain knowledge about the social culture tradition of our counterparts，the communication would be halted，because of our mistakes of using language.What’s worse，culture shock would be arose.”（Hu Wenzhong，1994：132）.In order to realize the cultural significance of language，learners should have good social culture awareness，which means understanding the social exerting- regulations of this language，and have enough ability to exert these regulations.As long as the learner have the awareness of language properties or called social culture ability，the mistakes of using language can be finally avoided.
First，communicative situation must be adverted.Our speech and behavior should be in accordance with the atmosphere，the time and scene.Second，the relationship of the speakers should be paid attention to，according to the acquaintance，social status and identity of both parts.We can give proper remarks corresponding with our status either in the serious style or in casual style.Third，communicative strategy either direct or indirect is very practical.For example，how to start，maintain or stop the talk，how to change the topic and how to remedy the talk when problem appears，etc.last but not least，personally communicative intention should be expressed properly.Sushi as greeting，saluting，inviting，expressing one’s thanks and apologizing etc.
Only the above- mentioned points be carried out，can we make sure the fully realization of the cultural meaning of language.
To master a foreign language，the learner must follow a fixed process.That is “from the language ability to social language ability and then to social culture ability”（Wang Fuxiang，Wu Hanying，1994：162）.However，this process should be carried out according to the stages.Teachers cannot infuse too much cultural at the meaning of students’ English learning； this does not mean all the cultural knowledge should be mentioned in their senior classes.When the students have certain language awareness，the main barrier of their communication lies in the culture awareness，i.e.social culture awareness that means the understanding extent of the social culture in the target language and the adaptation to its cultural and communicative mode. III Suggestions to English Teaching
A great many facts demonstrate that language ability，which is the aim of the traditional English teaching，is definitely not enough to make sure the efficient carrying of the communicative activity.So another pressing problem must be considered in our middle school English teaching.During the operation of CLT，students’ understanding about English culture and their adaptation to that culture must run through the whole teaching process，meanwhile their social culture awareness can be improved.
First of all，we need a good teaching outline according to the national condition.The ACTFL has put forward a new point of view “there are five factors within the communicative ability.Addition to the language ability including listening，speaking，reading，writing，social culture ability，which means the harmonious communication with the people under another different culture，is included”（Byrnes，etal：1989：150）.Only those people with the strong social culture awareness can make sure their property of their speech on the basis of enough social culture ability.
Second，a set of good teaching materials is needed.From the survey we can find that students do well in those questions about the daily life which have appeared in the text； but they eel their ability is not equal to their ambition when comes across those questions needing certain change according to the occasion.From this angle，“we should demand certain adjustment on the teaching materials in the hop of emphasizing the communicative value and social value of the language”（Wang Fuxiang，Wu Hanying，1994：154）.For example，during the process of compiling the teaching materials，we should properly turn our emphasis from the language system to the social culture facts.More cultural points can be added to the teaching materials，more authentic materials can be cited at the same time.Those social factors can be English social culture background，English customs and materials about the occasions，identification and relationships.Let students have the chance to get familial with the language variants in different communicative occasions.In order to cope with the varying circumstances，this should be completed.For example，the sentence “I ain’t got none can be analyzed in different ways，we can either regard it as a wrong sentence from the grammatical point of view，or we can guess that the speaker is joking or ill-educated，or we can think the speaker wants to build a harmonious relationship with his counterparts.In a word，the open English teaching is expecting the appearance of corresponding teaching materials. Third，teacher should pay more attention to the cultural difference during English teaching.Teachers can organize students to have discussions according to the different ethnics and areas in our country.By means of this students’ sensitivity about the cultural difference can be enforced，their ability to identify the cultural connotation of the language can be improved，and their cultural awareness also can be inspired at the same time.For instance，sentence like “you have a nice shirt” or “ I like your beautiful watch”，their function mainly lies in expressing friendliness and arising the talk； “ I love you” even can be used to comfort or encourage somebody.In fact all of these examples are non-language behavior.As for some sentences for offer such as “ would you like some coffee？” the native speakers seldom say “No，thank you.” like what our teaching material said.Instead “yes，I’d love，but not now” is their common response.In addition，“in china people usually adopt the way of “acceptation thanks” when they face the offers of others，people in the west especially the Americans who advocate individualism would rather answer in the way of “refusal explanation”（Hu Wenzhong，1994； 160）.Another example，most Chinese are nostalgia and stick to the tradition，on the contrary，Americans who uphold changes and scan widely consider “tradition” to be the same meaning with “ rusty”.The conflict between different concepts of values is always the principal offender of the culture shock.There is only one key to avoid this kind of conflict，that is try to get familial with the cultural difference of different language.
Finally，teachers and teaching methodologies also should change with the pace of the times.English teachers should be qualified of enough social culture awareness.They should emphasize the social meaning of English and the practical applications of English on certain occasion.They can help students place themselves in the life circle full of English and English culture.Not only do the students think in English，but also they following the English culture mode.“On the way to the formation of students’ social culture awareness or cross-culture awareness，teachers are the agencies and explicators of two different cultures”（Byrnes，1984：126）.
VI Conclusion
students’ motivation and the original learning structure would impinge greatly on the arousal and the schedule of their social culture awareness.What’s more，many middle schools are still carrying on “examination education” under the name of “Quality Education”.If more examine questions about social ability can be added to the exams especially the Entrance Exam which is called the guiding stick at present，the utmost significance of English teaching----cross-culture communication would surely be promoted step by step.
References：
[1]Byrnes，et al.，The ACTFL oral proficiency interview：Tester training manual，New York：The American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages，1989.
[2]Hymes，D.H.，On Communicative Competence，Pride