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Abstract：The goal of education is the facilitation of change and learning .The present system of education in prescribing curricular goals and dictating what shall be learned, denies persons both freedom and dignity. However, many teachers of English now pay much attention to explaining the language points and grammar, even though we are now under the new teaching strategy. According to the problems caused by a lack of cultural knowledge input in English teaching and learning in senior school, this essay concerns the idea of the importance of putting the cultural knowledge into English teaching and learning ,in order to improve the efficiency of English teaching and learning.
Key words：cultural knowledge consciousness of participation efficiency
1 Introduction
Nowadays, many students in China lose the interest and patience in learning English, especially in the rural areas. Even though we are now in the new teaching system and many new topics are attractive, they feel nervous, stressed and embarrassed when they are speaking English. The main reason that results in this problem is: for a long period of time, English teaching has focused on explaining grammar and translating texts. Teachers explain the language points and grammar in detail instead of training students communicative competence, especially they have neglected the cultural knowledge teaching in English class in senior school, they are not willing to tell the students about cultural background knowledge and information such as western beliefs, arts, laws, behavior, customs, morals and so on. This goes against the regulations of language learning and the purpose of language teaching. So we teachers should try to not only create an easy and comfortable English learning environment but also make learners understand the language in its cultural context; also we teachers should be sensitive to students effective needs and make students feel that they are working on something together with the teacher. If the relationship between the teacher and the students and among the students themselves is friendly and cooperative, teaching will go on well and learning takes place.
2 Problems for teaching cultural knowledge
2.1 The shortage of qualified English teachers
Some of teachers, especially the teachers in rural schools hold the view that they have to stick very closely to the traditional teaching methods which ,however ,often prevent them from focusing on the development of the students communicative abilities. Also some teachers are poor in cultural knowledge of English ,so they are not able to talk about the culture of the target language in English class. It is obvious that the successful application of a communicative approach relies heavily on the teachers proficiency in English and their understanding of the cultural knowledge and practical aspects of the approach. So far, some students have formed false cultural stereotypes and fatigue, they are not able to understand the different ways of the expression and the context.
2.2 Misunderstanding of cultural knowledge teaching
Many of the teachers consider the cultural knowledge teaching as a waste of time. As we all know, our time is limited ,we have only fortyfive minutes each class, if we talk about the cultural knowledge in English class, we will not able to complete our teaching curriculum on time, as a result, students examination will be affected. In fact, this idea is a true stumbling block for teachers to put in cultural knowledge in English teaching, so it is hard for students to communicate in English with each other properly, and it is unthinkable and very difficult for students to master English and communicate well with its native speakers without a good knowledge of English cultural traits and standards.
3 Necessity of cultural knowledge teaching
First, lets make it clear what culture is. Culture, according tothe thought of some linguists, is the context within which we exist, think ,feel and relate to others; culture may also refer to whatever a person must know in order to function in a particular society. John Donne says: “It is the glue that binds a group of people together”.
And it is well known that language is the carrier of culture, so every language is closely related to its cultural traditions. Most language are contained within their cultures, and a society language is an aspect of its culture. There is a dialectical relationship between language and culture, that is to say, language is a part of culture and culture is a part of language, so, language cant but serve and reflect cultural needs. The acquisition of a second language is also the acquisition of a second culture. This is because culture has strong influences on language, at the same time, language reflects culture and also likewise influenced by culture. From these we conclude that foreign language teaching and learning should go in harmony with culture.
P.P Giglioli thinks that the premise for a second language learners to communicate with native speakers and understand social meaning is to have a common cultural standard and background knowledge (1972.P.6).So in learning English, we teachers should try to make students understand English in its cultural context. The students can never be expected to learn the language well without learning and understanding the culture of the people who is the native speaker. And we teachers should try to foster students to learn and master social culture in English teaching. Many theoreticians say that having an intimate knowledge of culture is conducive to making sure about the proper application of a foreign language. In their view, the reinforcement of cultural knowledge teaching is not only necessary but also very important. Thereby, in English teaching we teachers should foster the cultural consciousness of students and make them know that learning is both learning language and learning culture.
While students are mastering English pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary , idioms and drills, they have a need to know about how English native speakers regard things, learn about how English native speakers reflect their thoughts, habits and behavior in their society in their own language. Only by knowing about their culture can we students master English really and thoroughly and attain the real communicative goal in a real sense.
4 Suggestions for cultural knowledge teaching
In the latest SEB textbooks, there are many elements that reflect the culture of the west, if we teachers only emphasize the language structure, it is imperfect. We teachers should attach great importance to crosscultural factors in the language learning process and integrate cultural background knowledge and information into our teaching curricula.
First of all, we teachers of English should be aware of the importance of cultural knowledge input in English class; we should enrich our teaching experience with our cultural knowledge. A qualified teacher can give lectures on western culture and can compare Chinese culture with western culture, if so, teachers can teach students some popular songs, interesting slang, famous poems, well known sayings, idioms etc in class when possible. This can arouse students interest and thirst for knowledge and can enliven the atmosphere of the classroom.
Secondly, we should make a good use of the role of students under the guidance of teachers. In the process of language teaching and learning, the students are the corpus and are also the corpus of developing themselves. In class, we should lower students anxiety and change their negative attitude, encourage students to try risktaking, if the students gain their selfesteem, we teachers will set up a realculture context for students. So we should train students to form the consciousness of participation, the consciousness of active speech, the consciousness of being good at listening, the consciousness of comprehension, the consciousness of accepting the cultural knowledge. As long as students take an active part in the class teaching process, they can improve the ability of speaking or writing the language properly.
Thirdly, we teachers may ask the students to pay attention to cultural elements in the texts or magazines while they are reading. We should consider consciously developing students crosscultural experience in language teaching; we can also advise students to read some excellent books on various subjects, such as famous western literary works, biographies of important people, or see some famous western films or listen to some excellent passages about the west, and ask them to do the same job while reading.
5 Conclusion
Foreign language teaching and learning is a complicated project , it is partly a science and partly an art. Teachers must be very familiar with the principles and many details of the cultural knowledge, but more important ,we must be able to put them into practice flexibly and effectively. According to my teaching experience, we should take the following aspects into consideration: the good use of textbooks, the good use of the teaching methods. While teaching, cultural knowledge put is a very important part in attaining our objective, and so it must be taken seriously in our foreign language teaching and learning.
In short, we teachers can see that the language teachers is inescapably a teacher of culture in foreign language teaching, we should attach great importance to cultural knowledge teaching in class, and can never put our teaching emphasis on pronunciation, grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary etc, because it is very important for teachers to foster the ability of students in comprehension and communication. As a foreign language teacher, we should put more emphasis on the cultural knowledge in language teaching, and add more content on this aspect in our English teaching, so many mistakes in comprehension and communication caused by a lack of cultural knowledge may be avoided.
The society is changing, people not only regard foreign language as a kind of knowledge, but also as a useful tool in the future and as a basic skill in life. To Chinese people, some events such as Beijings successful bid for the 2008 Olympic Games, Chinas entry to WTO, and Shanghais successful bid for the EXPO, not only have plunged us into great excitement but also brought our ideal thinking: we should see clearly the challenge has supplied us a new chance to reform our teaching methods in English teaching.
References
1. Barry Tomplin, Susan Stempleski. Cultural Awareness [M]. Oxford University Press,1993.
2. Peter Skehan. A cognitive Approach to Language Learning [M]. Oxford University Press,1998.
3. H.G.Widdowson. Teaching language as Communication [M]. Shanghai Foreign Language Educational Press,1999.
4. Ellis, R.The Study of Second Language Acquisition [M]. Oxford University Press, 1994.
5. Bassnett, Susan et al.Language through Literature [M]. Singapore:Longman Singapore Publishers Pte Ltd,1993.
6. 顾嘉祖. 跨文化交集 [M].南京师范大学出版社,2000.
7. 关世杰. 跨文化交流学 [M]. 北京大学出版社,1995.
Key words：cultural knowledge consciousness of participation efficiency
1 Introduction
Nowadays, many students in China lose the interest and patience in learning English, especially in the rural areas. Even though we are now in the new teaching system and many new topics are attractive, they feel nervous, stressed and embarrassed when they are speaking English. The main reason that results in this problem is: for a long period of time, English teaching has focused on explaining grammar and translating texts. Teachers explain the language points and grammar in detail instead of training students communicative competence, especially they have neglected the cultural knowledge teaching in English class in senior school, they are not willing to tell the students about cultural background knowledge and information such as western beliefs, arts, laws, behavior, customs, morals and so on. This goes against the regulations of language learning and the purpose of language teaching. So we teachers should try to not only create an easy and comfortable English learning environment but also make learners understand the language in its cultural context; also we teachers should be sensitive to students effective needs and make students feel that they are working on something together with the teacher. If the relationship between the teacher and the students and among the students themselves is friendly and cooperative, teaching will go on well and learning takes place.
2 Problems for teaching cultural knowledge
2.1 The shortage of qualified English teachers
Some of teachers, especially the teachers in rural schools hold the view that they have to stick very closely to the traditional teaching methods which ,however ,often prevent them from focusing on the development of the students communicative abilities. Also some teachers are poor in cultural knowledge of English ,so they are not able to talk about the culture of the target language in English class. It is obvious that the successful application of a communicative approach relies heavily on the teachers proficiency in English and their understanding of the cultural knowledge and practical aspects of the approach. So far, some students have formed false cultural stereotypes and fatigue, they are not able to understand the different ways of the expression and the context.
2.2 Misunderstanding of cultural knowledge teaching
Many of the teachers consider the cultural knowledge teaching as a waste of time. As we all know, our time is limited ,we have only fortyfive minutes each class, if we talk about the cultural knowledge in English class, we will not able to complete our teaching curriculum on time, as a result, students examination will be affected. In fact, this idea is a true stumbling block for teachers to put in cultural knowledge in English teaching, so it is hard for students to communicate in English with each other properly, and it is unthinkable and very difficult for students to master English and communicate well with its native speakers without a good knowledge of English cultural traits and standards.
3 Necessity of cultural knowledge teaching
First, lets make it clear what culture is. Culture, according tothe thought of some linguists, is the context within which we exist, think ,feel and relate to others; culture may also refer to whatever a person must know in order to function in a particular society. John Donne says: “It is the glue that binds a group of people together”.
And it is well known that language is the carrier of culture, so every language is closely related to its cultural traditions. Most language are contained within their cultures, and a society language is an aspect of its culture. There is a dialectical relationship between language and culture, that is to say, language is a part of culture and culture is a part of language, so, language cant but serve and reflect cultural needs. The acquisition of a second language is also the acquisition of a second culture. This is because culture has strong influences on language, at the same time, language reflects culture and also likewise influenced by culture. From these we conclude that foreign language teaching and learning should go in harmony with culture.
P.P Giglioli thinks that the premise for a second language learners to communicate with native speakers and understand social meaning is to have a common cultural standard and background knowledge (1972.P.6).So in learning English, we teachers should try to make students understand English in its cultural context. The students can never be expected to learn the language well without learning and understanding the culture of the people who is the native speaker. And we teachers should try to foster students to learn and master social culture in English teaching. Many theoreticians say that having an intimate knowledge of culture is conducive to making sure about the proper application of a foreign language. In their view, the reinforcement of cultural knowledge teaching is not only necessary but also very important. Thereby, in English teaching we teachers should foster the cultural consciousness of students and make them know that learning is both learning language and learning culture.
While students are mastering English pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary , idioms and drills, they have a need to know about how English native speakers regard things, learn about how English native speakers reflect their thoughts, habits and behavior in their society in their own language. Only by knowing about their culture can we students master English really and thoroughly and attain the real communicative goal in a real sense.
4 Suggestions for cultural knowledge teaching
In the latest SEB textbooks, there are many elements that reflect the culture of the west, if we teachers only emphasize the language structure, it is imperfect. We teachers should attach great importance to crosscultural factors in the language learning process and integrate cultural background knowledge and information into our teaching curricula.
First of all, we teachers of English should be aware of the importance of cultural knowledge input in English class; we should enrich our teaching experience with our cultural knowledge. A qualified teacher can give lectures on western culture and can compare Chinese culture with western culture, if so, teachers can teach students some popular songs, interesting slang, famous poems, well known sayings, idioms etc in class when possible. This can arouse students interest and thirst for knowledge and can enliven the atmosphere of the classroom.
Secondly, we should make a good use of the role of students under the guidance of teachers. In the process of language teaching and learning, the students are the corpus and are also the corpus of developing themselves. In class, we should lower students anxiety and change their negative attitude, encourage students to try risktaking, if the students gain their selfesteem, we teachers will set up a realculture context for students. So we should train students to form the consciousness of participation, the consciousness of active speech, the consciousness of being good at listening, the consciousness of comprehension, the consciousness of accepting the cultural knowledge. As long as students take an active part in the class teaching process, they can improve the ability of speaking or writing the language properly.
Thirdly, we teachers may ask the students to pay attention to cultural elements in the texts or magazines while they are reading. We should consider consciously developing students crosscultural experience in language teaching; we can also advise students to read some excellent books on various subjects, such as famous western literary works, biographies of important people, or see some famous western films or listen to some excellent passages about the west, and ask them to do the same job while reading.
5 Conclusion
Foreign language teaching and learning is a complicated project , it is partly a science and partly an art. Teachers must be very familiar with the principles and many details of the cultural knowledge, but more important ,we must be able to put them into practice flexibly and effectively. According to my teaching experience, we should take the following aspects into consideration: the good use of textbooks, the good use of the teaching methods. While teaching, cultural knowledge put is a very important part in attaining our objective, and so it must be taken seriously in our foreign language teaching and learning.
In short, we teachers can see that the language teachers is inescapably a teacher of culture in foreign language teaching, we should attach great importance to cultural knowledge teaching in class, and can never put our teaching emphasis on pronunciation, grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary etc, because it is very important for teachers to foster the ability of students in comprehension and communication. As a foreign language teacher, we should put more emphasis on the cultural knowledge in language teaching, and add more content on this aspect in our English teaching, so many mistakes in comprehension and communication caused by a lack of cultural knowledge may be avoided.
The society is changing, people not only regard foreign language as a kind of knowledge, but also as a useful tool in the future and as a basic skill in life. To Chinese people, some events such as Beijings successful bid for the 2008 Olympic Games, Chinas entry to WTO, and Shanghais successful bid for the EXPO, not only have plunged us into great excitement but also brought our ideal thinking: we should see clearly the challenge has supplied us a new chance to reform our teaching methods in English teaching.
References
1. Barry Tomplin, Susan Stempleski. Cultural Awareness [M]. Oxford University Press,1993.
2. Peter Skehan. A cognitive Approach to Language Learning [M]. Oxford University Press,1998.
3. H.G.Widdowson. Teaching language as Communication [M]. Shanghai Foreign Language Educational Press,1999.
4. Ellis, R.The Study of Second Language Acquisition [M]. Oxford University Press, 1994.
5. Bassnett, Susan et al.Language through Literature [M]. Singapore:Longman Singapore Publishers Pte Ltd,1993.
6. 顾嘉祖. 跨文化交集 [M].南京师范大学出版社,2000.
7. 关世杰. 跨文化交流学 [M]. 北京大学出版社,1995.