Language, Culture and English Teaching

Language,CultureandEnglishTeaching

inCollaboration



























































金寨县油坊店乡中心学校张金武

二○○九年六月





Language,CultureandEnglishTeaching

inCollaboration





InEnglishteaching,teachersnotonlyletstudentsmasterasetofrulersofgrammarandpronunciation,butalsomakethemrememberalargenumberofwordsandexpressions.Itisverynecessaryforstudentstobeabletolistento,say,readandwritethelanguageknowledgethattheyhavelearnt.Butonlythis,itisstillnotenoughtomakesurestudentsdonotmakeanymistakesinpracticewhentheyusewhattheyhavelearned,thisisbecausetheproceduresoflearninglanguageisnotindependent.

Anylanguageisalwaysusedbythepeoplewholiveinacertainlanguageusingarea.Andtheyalsousethelanguagebycommunicatingwitheachotherinoralorinwritteninacertaincontext.Atthesametime,acertainlanguageisalwaysrelativetousingthelanguage’speople,history,cultureandsocialbackgroundetc.Therefore,teachersnotonlyteachsomelanguageknowledgeandtheabilityofusingittostudents,butalsoemphasizetoteachsomerelativeculturebackground,forindifferentcountriestherearedifferentcultures.Itisjustbecauseoftheculturaldifferences,evenifthewordsorexpressionsarethesame,itisstillimpossibletostandforthesamethingfortheforeignpeople.Andtheyusuallymakepeoplemisunderstand,evensomecommonwordsmaymakeotherssurprisedorangry;asimplewordmaymakepeoplelaughaheartylaugh.

Forexample,theChineseusuallysaytoeachother“Whereareyougoing?”“Areyougoingout?”whentheymeet,thoughtheydonotwanttoknowwheretheothersreallygo.Once,anAmericanteachermetaChinesestudentonthewaytotheschoolhalltoseeafilm,thestudentaskedtheteacherpolitely,“Areyougoingtoseethefilm?”Theforeignteacherwasverystrangetohiswords.Hethoughttohimself,“YoucertainlyknowI’mtowardsthehalltoseethefilm.Whydidyouaskmethequestionlikethis?”ThisisjustbecausetheculturebetweenChinaandAmericaisquitedifferent.

HereisanotherexampletoshowtheculturaldifferencesbetweentheEasternandtheWesterncountries.Oneday,aforeignteachermetaChinesegirlstudentinabeautifuldress,andofcourseitwasverybeautifulonher,sotheforeignteachersaidtoherhappily,“Youlookverybeautifultoday.”Thegirlstudentansweredshyly,“No,no.Thisisanordinarydress.”Andanothertime,theforeignteachercomplimentedastudentonherspoken-English,“YourEnglishisquitefluent.”Afterhearingthis,thestudentrepliedmodestly,“No,no.MyEnglishisquitepoor.”Thetwostudents’answersmadetheforeignteachersurprisedandunhappy.Fromtheexamplesabove,wecaneasilyfindthatwehavetopayattentiontotheculturaldifferencesbetweentheEasternandtheWesterncountrieswhilelearningEnglish.

InEnglishteaching,weareofteneasytonoticemothertongue’sdisturbing,whileneglectingculturalfactor’sdisturbing.Whenpeoplearelearningtheirmothertongue,theabilitiesoflanguageandcultureareacquiredatthesametime.ButEnglish,asaforeignlanguage,canmostlybelearnedinclass,andthestudents’onlycontextandsocietyaretheteacher.Ifourteachingaimsareonlyteachinggrammarrules,thenstudentsreallycannotlearntouselanguageinreallifeandalsocannotacquiresocialcultureatanytime.Wemustpaymoreattentiontolanguage’susefulvalueandsocialmeaning.Whenweputlanguageintogeneralculturalenvironmenttostudy,itcanbehelpfultoourEnglishteaching.Itcanhelpstudentstoacquireawholelanguageoutlookwhentheyarelearninglanguage.

Asweknow,languageisarepresentativeshapeofculture.IfwedonotknowaboutEnglishandAmericanculture,itisimpossibleforustolearnEnglishwell.Onthecontrary,themoredeeplyweknowofthehistory,culture,tradition,conventionsandlifestylesetc.inEnglish-spokencountries,themoreaccuratelyweunderstandEnglishandthebetterweuseit.

IntheaspectofEnglishlistening,wefoundthatthereweremanystudentsoftencomplainingthattheyspentmuchtimeintrainingtolisten,buttheystillmadelittleprogress.Somestudentsevenboughtarecordertoimprovetheirlisteningabilityandittookthemhoursadaytolisten,buttheystillcannotunderstandsomenewmaterials.Whatreasononearthisit?Ontheonehand,itmaybebecausesomestudents’Englishispoororthematerialsaretoodifficult;ontheotherhand,animportantreasonisthattheymayknowlittleaboutEnglishandAmericancultureknowledge.TheabilityofEnglishlisteningiscloselyrelativetothefamiliaritywithBritishandAmericanculture,politicsandeconomyetc.Judgeastudent’slisteningability,infact,itisageneralchecktohisEnglishstandard,knowledgeandabilityofanalysisandimagination.WhenstudentslistentosomematerialsaboutEnglishandAmericanculture,itisquitedifficulttounderstand.Althoughsomeofthemaresimple,andstudentsalsounderstandtheliteralmeaning,duetothelackofcultureknowledge,theystillcannotunderstandtherealmeaning.Forinstance,Americansoftentellthesetwojokes:

1.A:Whereareyoufrom?B:I’llaskher.(Alaska)

2.A:Whereareyoufrom?B:Howareyou.(Hawaii)

Inthesetwojokes,AthinksBisnotansweringthequestionsbecauseAdoesnotknowaboutAmericangeography.IfAknowsthatinAmericatherearetwostatesfarawayfromthecontinent:AlaskaandHawaii,thenhecannotregardAlaskaas“I’llaskher.”andHawaiias“Howareyou.”Therefore,inEnglishlisteningteachingteachersmustintroducesomerelativecultureknowledge.

Justlikelistening,theabilityofspeakingisnotonlytheproblemsofpronunciationandtone,studentswanttoimprovetheirabilityoforalexpressionandcommunication,thentheymustmasterlargenumbersoflanguagematerialsandknowofwesternculturethroughwidereading.Therefore,inoralpractice,teachersshouldusesomematerialsaboutreallife,andhelpstudentstoknowaboutwesternlifestylesandconventionsect,orhecanstillmakeothersmisunderstandorunhappyevenifhisEnglishisquitewell.Forinstance,inEnglish,manyfixedexpressionscannotbechangedarbitrarily,suchas“Howdoyoudo?”Itsanswerisalso“Howdoyoudo?”Afterbuyingsomething,youmayask“Howmuch,please?”notask“Howmuchdoyouchargeme?”or“HowmuchdoIoweyou?”Afterfinishingyourmeals,youmaysay“Waiter,billplease!”notsay“Excuseme,sir,we’vefinishedeating.Howmuchisit,please?”Whenmakingtelephonecalls,youshouldask“Who’sspeaking,please?”“Whoisit,please?”notask“Whoareyou?”“What’syoursurname?”“Whereareyou?”or“What’syourunit?”Alltheseexamplesaboveindicatethattheculturaldifferencesmakelanguagedifferent.

IntheaspectofEnglishreading,toreadEnglish,buttoimprovetheabilityofcomprehension,cultureknowledgeisalsoaquiteimportantaspect.Generallyspeaking,studentsdonothavedifficultiesinChineseculture,butwhenreadingEnglisharticles,theculturaldifferencesbetweenChinaandtheWesterncountriesoftenbringthemmanydifficulties.Herearetwogoodexamples.

AmericanTimeeversaidthatNixon’svisitingtoChinawas“Nixon’sOdysseytoChina”.HereOdysseywasoriginallyaheroicepicwrittenbyanancientGreekpoetHomer.TheepicdescribedOdysseusexperiencedalongandhardjourney.HereitreferstoalongjourneyoftherelationshipbetweenChinaandAmerica.Ifstudentsdonotknowaboutthisstory,itishardforthemtounderstandtherealmeaningof“Nixon’sOdysseytoChina”.

DuringthesecondWorldWar,Churchill’stalkonHitler’sinvasiontotheSovietUnionwasagoodexample.Thefollowingisoneoftheparagraphs.

“Afterdinner,whenIwasthinkingonthecroquetlawnwithChurchill,herevertedtothistheme,andIaskedwhetherforhim,thearchanticommunist,thiswasnotbowingdowninthehouseofRimmon.MrChurchillreplied,‘Notatall,Ihaveonlyonepurpose,thedestructionofHilter,andanylifeismuchsimplifiedthereby.IfHilterinvadedHellIwouldmakeatleastafavourablereferencetothedevilintheHouseofCommons.’”

Inthisparagraph,Churchillquotedthreereligiousstories:First,“bowdowninthehouseofRimmon”isfromtheBible,whichmeans“someone’swordsandbehaviorarenotthesame.”Thesecondis“Hell”andthethirdis“thedevil”.Ifstudentsdon’tknowaboutthem,theycannotunderstanddeeplythatChurchilllookedontheSovietUnionledbytheSovietCommunistPartyas“Hell”,andthemembersinthePartyas“devil”.Obviously,ChurchillwasstronglyagainsttheCommunistPartythroughquotingthethreereligiousstories.

SoinEnglishteaching,teachersshouldemphasizetoteachsomecultureknowledgeatthetimeofteachinglanguageknowledge,sothatstudentscanunderstandthearticlesmoredeeply.

Asfortranslation,italsoneedssomecultureknowledge.Intranslation,eveniftherearesomequitesimplewordsorexpressions,westillneedtoconsidertheirconcreteculturebackgroundandconventions.Whenstudentslearnanewword,theytendtolookforitsmeaningintheworditself.Yetinadditiontoitsdictionarymeanings,thesamewordmaystirupdifferentassociationsindifferentpeople.Taketheword“dog”forexample.Theword“dog”isquiteasimpleword,becauseoftheculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish,studentsmayoftenmakemistakes.IntheUnitedStates,theword“dog”inmostinstancesconjuresupanimageofafurry,domesticatedfamilypet.Insomeareasoftheworld,suchasHongKong,however,dogsareconsideredtobeaculinaryamenityandareofteneaten.Therefore,theword“dog”elicitsaquitedifferentmeaningbecauseofdifferentculturalexperiences.Pleaselookatthefollowingthreesentences:1.Everydoghasitsday.2.Youare,indeed,aluckydog.3.Lastnightmyfathercamehomedogtired.

IfstudentstranslatethemintoChineselikethis,theycertainlymakeabigmistake.1.每条狗都有自己的节日。2.你真是一条幸运的狗。3.昨晚我爸爸回到家中像狗一样累了。

Indeed,thesethreesentencesaboveshouldbetranslatedintoChineselikethis:1.人人皆有得意时。2.你真是个幸运儿。3.昨晚我父亲回到家中非常累。

Generallyspeaking,itisverynecessarytoemphasizetoteachsomecultureknowledgeinEnglishteaching.InordertoimproveourEnglishteaching,teachersnotonlyhelpstudentstosolvethelanguageproblems,butalsosolvetheculturalbarrier.

ThenhowtoteachcultureknowledgeinEnglishteachingisnotaneasything.Ofcourse,teachersmustmastersomedifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish.Teachersnotonlyofferstudentssomeforeigninformation,butalsomakethemexpressthemselvescorrectlyindifferentoccasions.

First,teachingmaterialsareveryimportant.InEnglishteaching,sometimesstudentsshouldusesomeforeignteachingmaterialsandsomemoreauthenticmaterials.

Secondly,teachersshouldletstudentscollectandmastersomematerialsaboutrelativecultureknowledge,conventionsandsoon.Tomoststudents,theymainlydependonreadingsomerelativematerialsindirectlytoknowmoreaboutBritishandAmericansociety.Throughreadingsomeforeignnovels,magazines,newspapersect,studentscanacquiresomeinformationthatislackintheirreadingmaterials.

Thirdly,inEnglishteaching,teachersnotonlypayattentiontotheaccuracyoflanguage,butalsopayattentiontousingitcorrectly,becauseteachersshouldsetagoodexampleforstudents.

Fourthly,inEnglishteaching,teacherscanusecards,moviesect.toteach,whichcanefficientlyhelpstudentstorememberwhattheyhavelearnt.

Finally,whenlearningaforeignlanguage,it’sveryimportantforstudentstocommunicatewithforeigners.Theycanlearnmorefromtheforeigners,whilemanyChineseteachershaven’ttaughtthembefore.

Tosumup,inEnglishteaching,weshouldfocusattentiontothecultualdifferencesandstudythemcarefully.AsEnglishteachers,wenotonlyhelpsstudentstolearnhowtouselanguage,buthelpsthemtoknowaboutforeignculture.OnlythuscanwemakestudentsacquiremoreknowledgeandstudyEnglishbetter.

























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