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Abstract: Foreign language teaching is to make students have not only linguistic competence but also intercultural communicative competence. Cultural awareness helps students to communicate with those with different cultural backgrounds. Cultural instruction is crucial to English teaching.
Key words:cultural awareness,cultural instruction
中图分类号:G642.3 文献标识码:A 文章编号:1673-1875(2008)02-071-01
Since language and culture are inseparably connected, vocabulary, the most active element in language, always mirrors the cultural modes and cultural orientations. So in some sense vocabulary teaching is cultural teaching. However, the traditional vocabulary teaching in China has put little emphasis on cultural factors in vocabulary teaching. Students often misuse words in intercultural communication. As we know, the ultimate goal of foreign language teaching is to raise students’ cultural awareness and cultivate their intercultural communicative competence. So it is important and necessary to instruct culture in vocabulary teaching.
It has been reached consensus that the ultimate goal of foreign language teaching is to make students equipped with intercultural communicative competence. But also a deeper understanding and better command of the socio-cultural factors closely related to the use of a language ( 戚雨村). Therefore, cultural awareness is crucial to language learning.
Through the above analysis, it is clear that the introduction of cultural elements in foreign language teaching is not only constructive in theory, but also feasible in practice. The feasibility can be exemplified by the requirements for students in the New College English Syllabus.
In general, college English teaching follows the College English Syllabus (for Students of Arts and Science). Therefore, the introduction of cultural elements in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) is not against the syllabus but in line with the new syllabus (the revised syllabus).
Compared with old syllabus (1997), there are many differences in the revised version (1999). In the objectives of language teaching, the old syllabus explains:
College English teaching aims to develop in students a relatively high level of competence in reading, an intermediate level of competence listening and a basic competence in writing and speaking. After completion of the course, the students should be able to use the English they have learned as a means to obtain the information they need in their fields of specialization and also as a solid foundation for further improvement of their command of the language (大学英语教学大纲文理科本科用1).
While in the new syllabus, it writes:
The aim of college English teaching is to develop in students a relatively high level of competence in reading and an intermediate level of competence in listening, speaking, writing and translation so as to enable students to communicate in English. College English teaching should help students lay a solid foundation of the language, acquire q good method of language study, improve attainment in cultural knowledge so as to meet the needs of social development and economic construction (大学英语教学大纲修订本1).
It is obvious that the new syllabus makes higher demands for students. According to the old syllabus, students are demanded to use English as an approach to getting the information in English they need in their study. However, based on the new syllabus, students are required to communicate in English, which sets a higher requirement for students’ communicative competence. What is more, such sentence as “improve students’ attainment in cultural knowledge” can not be found in the old syllabus.
It is obvious that the new syllabus emphasizes the relationship between language and culture as well as the importance of cultural background knowledge in language learning. According to the comparison between the two syllabuses, it is safe to say that the traditional teaching mode, which attaches significance only to linguistic knowledge, should be replaced by a new one, because the traditional teaching mode does not emphasize communicative competence, one of the important components needed to conduct communication by means of appropriate wording in certain contexts. To achieve this goal, culture learning should be emphasized in TEFL.
Bibliography:
[1]Bates, d. g. and F. Plog. Cultural Anthropology. ( 3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990.
[2]Howatt, A.P.R. A History of English Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984.
[3]Hymes,D.“On Communicative Competence ”.Sociolinguistics. Eds. J. B. Pride and J. Holms. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972.269-93.
[4]Kessing, F.M. Cultural Anthropology: The Science of Custom. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1965.
[5]Samovar, Larry a. and Richard, E. Porter. Communication Between Cultures. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1995.
[6]Communication Between Cultures. ( third ed.). Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2000.
[7]大学英语教学大纲（文理科本科用）[M].上海:上海外语教育出版社,1997.
[8]大学英语教学大纲（修订本）（文理科本科用）[M].上海:上海外语教育出版社,1999.
[9]戚雨村.语言文化对比;胡文仲主编.文化与交际[M].北京:外语教学与研究出版社,1994:13-24.
Key words:cultural awareness,cultural instruction
中图分类号:G642.3 文献标识码:A 文章编号:1673-1875(2008)02-071-01
Since language and culture are inseparably connected, vocabulary, the most active element in language, always mirrors the cultural modes and cultural orientations. So in some sense vocabulary teaching is cultural teaching. However, the traditional vocabulary teaching in China has put little emphasis on cultural factors in vocabulary teaching. Students often misuse words in intercultural communication. As we know, the ultimate goal of foreign language teaching is to raise students’ cultural awareness and cultivate their intercultural communicative competence. So it is important and necessary to instruct culture in vocabulary teaching.
It has been reached consensus that the ultimate goal of foreign language teaching is to make students equipped with intercultural communicative competence. But also a deeper understanding and better command of the socio-cultural factors closely related to the use of a language ( 戚雨村). Therefore, cultural awareness is crucial to language learning.
Through the above analysis, it is clear that the introduction of cultural elements in foreign language teaching is not only constructive in theory, but also feasible in practice. The feasibility can be exemplified by the requirements for students in the New College English Syllabus.
In general, college English teaching follows the College English Syllabus (for Students of Arts and Science). Therefore, the introduction of cultural elements in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) is not against the syllabus but in line with the new syllabus (the revised syllabus).
Compared with old syllabus (1997), there are many differences in the revised version (1999). In the objectives of language teaching, the old syllabus explains:
College English teaching aims to develop in students a relatively high level of competence in reading, an intermediate level of competence listening and a basic competence in writing and speaking. After completion of the course, the students should be able to use the English they have learned as a means to obtain the information they need in their fields of specialization and also as a solid foundation for further improvement of their command of the language (大学英语教学大纲文理科本科用1).
While in the new syllabus, it writes:
The aim of college English teaching is to develop in students a relatively high level of competence in reading and an intermediate level of competence in listening, speaking, writing and translation so as to enable students to communicate in English. College English teaching should help students lay a solid foundation of the language, acquire q good method of language study, improve attainment in cultural knowledge so as to meet the needs of social development and economic construction (大学英语教学大纲修订本1).
It is obvious that the new syllabus makes higher demands for students. According to the old syllabus, students are demanded to use English as an approach to getting the information in English they need in their study. However, based on the new syllabus, students are required to communicate in English, which sets a higher requirement for students’ communicative competence. What is more, such sentence as “improve students’ attainment in cultural knowledge” can not be found in the old syllabus.
It is obvious that the new syllabus emphasizes the relationship between language and culture as well as the importance of cultural background knowledge in language learning. According to the comparison between the two syllabuses, it is safe to say that the traditional teaching mode, which attaches significance only to linguistic knowledge, should be replaced by a new one, because the traditional teaching mode does not emphasize communicative competence, one of the important components needed to conduct communication by means of appropriate wording in certain contexts. To achieve this goal, culture learning should be emphasized in TEFL.
Bibliography:
[1]Bates, d. g. and F. Plog. Cultural Anthropology. ( 3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990.
[2]Howatt, A.P.R. A History of English Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984.
[3]Hymes,D.“On Communicative Competence ”.Sociolinguistics. Eds. J. B. Pride and J. Holms. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972.269-93.
[4]Kessing, F.M. Cultural Anthropology: The Science of Custom. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1965.
[5]Samovar, Larry a. and Richard, E. Porter. Communication Between Cultures. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1995.
[6]Communication Between Cultures. ( third ed.). Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2000.
[7]大学英语教学大纲（文理科本科用）[M].上海:上海外语教育出版社,1997.
[8]大学英语教学大纲（修订本）（文理科本科用）[M].上海:上海外语教育出版社,1999.
[9]戚雨村.语言文化对比;胡文仲主编.文化与交际[M].北京:外语教学与研究出版社,1994:13-24.