93中国英语教学中的文化教学_问题与对策

CultureTeachingInforeignLanguageInstructiontoChina:ObstaclesandRemedies中国英语教学中的文化教学：问题与对策罗云珍August2003中国英语教学中的文化教学:问题与对策【内容提要】70年代末，80年代初，由于国家对外改革开放的需要，一些外语教师走出国门深造、进修、访问，同时进入中国的外国人也逐年增多。在跨文化交际中，英语教师意识到如果对外国文化不了解，跨文化交际中就会出现矛盾与问题。因此，在英语教学中如何进行文化教学的问题就提出来了。近20年来，有关英语文化教学的研究成果颇多，但中国英语教学中语言教学与文化教学相结合的问题至今尚未得到圆满的解决。文化教学经常是“雷声大，雨点小”。本文主要探讨英语文化教学中存在的问题及其对策。文章首先通过回顾新中国成立以来英语教学中文化教学的情况，并对138位中学英语教师进行问卷调查，了解他们对英语教学中文化教学的看法，力图发现英语教学中文化教学的问题，通过分析这些问题，提出几点改进英语教学中文化教学的方法。【关键词】:英语教学，文化教学，问题，对策AbstractInthelate1970'sandearly1980'sonegroupafteranotherofforeignlanguageteachersinChina,tomeetthedemandsofreformingandopeningtotheoutsideworld,wentabroadforvisitsorfurtherstudies,andatthesametimemoreandmoreforeignerscametoChina.TeachersofEnglishcametorealizeininterculturalcommunicationthatignoranceofforeignculturesoftenresultedincommunicationbreakdownsandconflicts.Therefore,thesubjectofcultureteachinginEnglishteachingbegantobestudied.Inthelast20yearstherehavebeenlotsofstudiesmadeonthesubject.However,theintegrationofEnglishteachingandcultureteachingcanhardlyberegardedassatisfactorywithmuchtalkandlittleeffect.ThepresentpaperbrieflyreviewscultureteachinginEnglishteachingsince1949,investigates138middleschoolteacherstoelicittheirresponsestocultureteachingwithaviewtodiscoveringproblemsincultureteachingand,throughanalyzingtheseproblems,suggestssomeremedies.Keywords:Englishteaching,cultureteaching,obstaclesremedies正文（1——39）CultureTeachingInForeignLanguageInstructioninChina:ObstaclesandRemediesIntroduction0.1TheImportanceofCultureTeachingSinceChinaadopteditsopendoorpolicytotheoutsideworldin1978,internationalcommunicationhasbeenconstantlyontheincrease.HugenumbersofstudentshavegoneoverseastolearnaboutadvancedscienceandtechnologyorbusinessmanagementwhilemoreandmorepeoplefromothercountrieshavebeenpouringintoChinaforbusiness,sightseeing,etc.Thus,greatchangeshavetakenplaceinthelanguageenvironmentinChinaandinpeople'slanguageawareness.Thesocialfunctionoflanguagehasbecomewellrecognized.Socializationamongpeopleofdifferentregionswithdifferentlanguageshasincreasedwithinthecountryforreasonsofeconomicco-operation,academicexchanges,travelandthelike.Co-operationbetweenChinaandforeigncountriesinvariousfieldshasbecomeacommonpartofsocialpractice.Englishasatoolofcommunicationhasbeenplayingapivotalroleincarryingoutinternationalexchangeandcooperation.WhilemoreandmorepeopleareneededwhoarespecializedinvariousfieldsandhavegreatcommunicativecompetenceinEnglish,thecommunicativecompetenceofmostChineseisnotveryencouraging.Alargenumberofpeoplewithafirmknowledgeofgrammarandawiderangeofvocabularyfoundthattheyoftengotstuckandwereunabletocarryouttheircommunicativeintentintheircross-culturalcommunication.ThisisquiteperplexingifwelookatthehighsocialstatusofEnglishinChinawithEnglishteachingoccupyingaprominentplaceinChineseschoolcurricula.Itstartsinprimaryschoolasacompulsorysubjectandiscontinueduptothelastyearoftheseniorhighschool.MostpeoplelearnEnglishforsixyearsthroughjuniorhighschooltoseniorhighschool.SixyearssoundslongenoughforstudentstobequiteinfluentinoralEnglish.However,evencollegestudentshaveunsatisfactoryoralcommunicativecompetencedespitemoreyearsoflearningEnglishatthetertiarylevel.AcaseinpointisthateveniftheyhavepassedtheCollegeEnglishTestBand4andBand6,manygraduatesarestillmuteinspeakingorcannotspeakEnglishappropriatelyandeffectively.ItisnowonderthatmembersofEnglishteachingcirclesinChinaoftenhearthecomplaint,Highgrade,lowability.ThisphenomenonhasbroughthometoChineseeducators,especiallytoforeignlanguageteachersalloverthecountry,therealizationthatonecannotcommunicateeffectivelywithforeignerswithouttheknowledgeoftheirculture.Thatisbecausedifferentcultureshavedifferentnorms,valuesandschema.Dunnett,Dubin&Lezberg(1986:149)havemadethefollowingobservation:1)Languagecannotbetranslatedwordforword.Alllanguageshaveidiomaticexpressions,whichcarryconnotationsthatareaboveandbeyondthemeaningsoftheseparatewordsthemselves.2)Thetoneofaspeaker'svoicecarriesmeaning.Alllanguageshavedifferent`tune'orpatternsofintonation.Similarly,thedegreeofloudness/softnessusedbyspeakersisacharacteristicofthelanguageitself.3)Eachlanguageorcultureemploysgestures,bodymovementsthatconveymeanings.Gestureandbodymovementsarenotnecessarilythesameforalllanguages.4)Wealsounderstandthatdifferentgrammaticalelementsfordescribingalllanguagesusedifferentpartsofthephysicalworld.5)Allcultureshavetabootopics.Partofknowingalanguageisknowingwhatonecanandcannotsaytowhomonwhatoccasions.6)Inpersonalrelationships,thetermforaddressingpeoplevariesconsiderablyamonglanguages.EvenininformalAmericanculture,therearecommonlyagreed-uponrulesindicatingwhenpeopleareaddressedbytheirfirstnameandwhentheyarecalledbytitlessuchasMrs.,Mr.,andDr.Allthesedifferencesincreasealotofdifficultiesforforeignlanguagelearnersandcauseconflictsamongdifferentculturalgroupsininterculturalcommunication.Culturalcommunicationandtheconcomitanttargetculturalreferencesintermsofverbalandnon-verbalformstolanguagechoiceshavebecomeaveryimportanttopicforstudyinforeignlang