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【Abstract】Cross-cultural education plays an important part in English teaching. Most teachers focus on the teaching of western culture in English classroom and ignore the education of native culture. In fact， bending Chinese culture in English teaching is helpful for students to have an intercultural awareness and master the target language. This paper discusses the importance and feasibility of Chinese culture in English teaching， and put forward three ways to reinforce the Chinese culture education in English teaching.
【Key words】Chinese culture; English teaching; cross-culture; language use
【作者簡介】张晶，宜兴高等职业技术学校。
1. Introduction
Culture plays a crucial role in language teaching and learning. The use of language transmits the different cultures; culture learning is helpful for learners to master a foreign language. At present the importance and necessity of cultural education have been widely recognized and applied to the English teaching. However， when we open the English texts concerned with culture， most of which refer to the British or American culture， Chinese culture is seldom introduced into the English teaching materials. As a matter of fact， Cross-cultural education is mutual and the cultures of native language and target language are both necessary for learners to learn. For the English learners in China， English is a tool for us to communicate with foreigners and show native culture to them， so the teaching of Chinese culture should be a part of English course.
2. The current situation of English teaching in the school
English language education in China has been paid much attention by the government and it has been an essential part of basic curriculums of every school——from the primary school to the college. For example， in my vocational school， professional skill training should be focused on and put on the first place， but English is also taken as a major subject for students. What’s more， the students of five-year junior college must continue the English learning not the Chinese at the forth year. Under such circumstance， it seems that the English learning is much more important than Chinese learning. Actually the students in the vocational school have poor groundwork and little interest in English， with a result that there is no improvement in both English and Chinese. The one reason of failure in English teaching in vocational school is “students’ enthusiasm for learning can be kindled through the use of foreign language， particularly through reading extensively， bringing learning into their individual life.”（Zhang Zhengdong 443）. Because of lacking the opportunities to bring English into their individual life， students lose the interest in learning English and find it useless to spend much time on it. 3. The importance of Chinese culture in English teaching
Cross-cultural education now has been a key to foreign language teaching and learning. The objectives of cross-cultural education is to arouse learners’ interest in learning target language; foster students’ positive cross-cultural states of minds; have learners acquaint with different cultures and respect them; master the target language effectively and fairly in cross-communication and so on. Nevertheless， the English education in China emphasizes more on the British and American culture， for Chinese culture， we can find little from the teaching materials， which leads to the consequence that students are incapable of transmitting native culture to the foreigners. Meanwhile， due to the ignorance of learning native culture， students’ competence of language use gets lower and lower. To be honest， it is a dangerous signal. So the writer thinks that it is necessary to add Chinese culture to the English teaching. Although the target culture is indispensable in foreign language teaching， we also need to attach importance to the native culture.
4. The ways to reinforce Chinese culture in English classroom
Firstly， the teachers should enhance the awareness of native culture. In English classroom， teachers spend all the time in teaching words， expressions， sentences and grammar in order to have all the students pass the examinations. For them， the instruction of culture is not important; sometimes they even think it’s a waste of time. Another situation is that teachers will explain some cultural knowledge to the students when the reading materials involve it， but they will seldom go deep into it. For example， when coming across an article about manners， the teachers introduce the western manners such as the table manners， the greetings， etc. to students， but the content is confined to this article; no more information will be presented for saving the time. So the teachers should change their way of teaching and realize the significance of cultural education. As a guide of English classroom， teachers need to take the initiative to know the cultures of target language and have a comprehensive understanding of local culture to make their lessons full of cultural charm. Most important of all， teachers should know well and full appreciate the splendid culture of our motherland so that we can combine native culture with foreign language teaching.
【Key words】Chinese culture; English teaching; cross-culture; language use
【作者簡介】张晶，宜兴高等职业技术学校。
1. Introduction
Culture plays a crucial role in language teaching and learning. The use of language transmits the different cultures; culture learning is helpful for learners to master a foreign language. At present the importance and necessity of cultural education have been widely recognized and applied to the English teaching. However， when we open the English texts concerned with culture， most of which refer to the British or American culture， Chinese culture is seldom introduced into the English teaching materials. As a matter of fact， Cross-cultural education is mutual and the cultures of native language and target language are both necessary for learners to learn. For the English learners in China， English is a tool for us to communicate with foreigners and show native culture to them， so the teaching of Chinese culture should be a part of English course.
2. The current situation of English teaching in the school
English language education in China has been paid much attention by the government and it has been an essential part of basic curriculums of every school——from the primary school to the college. For example， in my vocational school， professional skill training should be focused on and put on the first place， but English is also taken as a major subject for students. What’s more， the students of five-year junior college must continue the English learning not the Chinese at the forth year. Under such circumstance， it seems that the English learning is much more important than Chinese learning. Actually the students in the vocational school have poor groundwork and little interest in English， with a result that there is no improvement in both English and Chinese. The one reason of failure in English teaching in vocational school is “students’ enthusiasm for learning can be kindled through the use of foreign language， particularly through reading extensively， bringing learning into their individual life.”（Zhang Zhengdong 443）. Because of lacking the opportunities to bring English into their individual life， students lose the interest in learning English and find it useless to spend much time on it. 3. The importance of Chinese culture in English teaching
Cross-cultural education now has been a key to foreign language teaching and learning. The objectives of cross-cultural education is to arouse learners’ interest in learning target language; foster students’ positive cross-cultural states of minds; have learners acquaint with different cultures and respect them; master the target language effectively and fairly in cross-communication and so on. Nevertheless， the English education in China emphasizes more on the British and American culture， for Chinese culture， we can find little from the teaching materials， which leads to the consequence that students are incapable of transmitting native culture to the foreigners. Meanwhile， due to the ignorance of learning native culture， students’ competence of language use gets lower and lower. To be honest， it is a dangerous signal. So the writer thinks that it is necessary to add Chinese culture to the English teaching. Although the target culture is indispensable in foreign language teaching， we also need to attach importance to the native culture.
4. The ways to reinforce Chinese culture in English classroom
Firstly， the teachers should enhance the awareness of native culture. In English classroom， teachers spend all the time in teaching words， expressions， sentences and grammar in order to have all the students pass the examinations. For them， the instruction of culture is not important; sometimes they even think it’s a waste of time. Another situation is that teachers will explain some cultural knowledge to the students when the reading materials involve it， but they will seldom go deep into it. For example， when coming across an article about manners， the teachers introduce the western manners such as the table manners， the greetings， etc. to students， but the content is confined to this article; no more information will be presented for saving the time. So the teachers should change their way of teaching and realize the significance of cultural education. As a guide of English classroom， teachers need to take the initiative to know the cultures of target language and have a comprehensive understanding of local culture to make their lessons full of cultural charm. Most important of all， teachers should know well and full appreciate the splendid culture of our motherland so that we can combine native culture with foreign language teaching.