1、Cultural Factors in English Learning and Teaching 论英语教学中的文化因素山 东 经 济 学 院本科毕业设计(论文)论英语教学中的文化因素设计(论文)题目: Cultural Factors in English Learning and Teaching 指导教师： 学 号： 姓 名： 外国语学院（部）英语 专业 届山东经济学院教务处制 山东经济学院学士学位论文原创性声明本人郑重声明：所呈交的学位论文，是本人在导师的指导下进行研究工作所取得的成果。除文中已经注明引用的内容外，本论文不含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写过的研究成果。对本文的研究做
2、出重要贡献的个人和集体，均已在论文中作了明确的说明并表示了谢意。本声明的法律结果由本人承担。学位论文作者签名： 年 月 日山东经济学院关于论文使用授权的说明本人完全了解山东经济学院有关保留、使用学士学位论文的规定，即：学校有权保留、送交论文的复印件，允许论文被查阅，学校可以公布论文的全部或部分内容，可以采用影印或其他复制手段保存论文。指导教师签名： 论文作者签名： 年 月 日 年 月 日Cultural Factors in English Learning and Teaching ABSTRACTEnglish plays an essential and significant role
3、 in our life. How to teach and study English well has become a public concern. As culture has closely associated with language, many an educator finds that cultural knowledge has become an important part in our English learning and teaching.This thesis includes four parts. The first part is about th
4、e relationship between language and culture. As cultural difference is an obstacle to English listening, speaking, reading and writing, and our mastery of English knowledge has an important influence on our communicative competence, the author explores why we teach culture in EFL in the second part.
5、 What we should learn about the culture covers many aspects. In the third part, the author talks about cultural contents of English teaching. The last part is the most important part of the whole thesis. It is about suggesting teaching methods in cultural learning and teaching. Keywords: culture; En
6、glish; learning and teaching论英语教学中的文化因素摘要英语在我们的生活中起着举足轻重的作用。如何学习英语已经成为一个备受公众关注的问题。由于文化与语言紧密相连，许多研究者发现英语文化已经成为英语教育和学习中的重要部分。本篇论文共包括四部分。第一部分主要是关于语言和文化的关系。由于文化的不同是我们英语听，说，读，写中最大的障碍，并且我们掌握的文化知识将影响到我们的交际能力，在第二部分中作者阐述了我们学习英语文化的原因。我们要学习的文化知识涉及到诸多方面。在第三部分中，作者论述了在英语教学中的应涉及到的文化内容。最后一部分是全文中最重要的一部分。在该部分中,作者就文化教
7、学中教学方法方面提出了自己的建议。关键词：文化；英语；教学CONTENTSWorks Cited 15Acknowledgements .16 IntroductionThere is no denying that English has played and will continue to play a rather essential and vital role in our life. Many an English educator exerts all their attempts and efforts to reform the English language teach
8、ing and learning methods. As we all know, language has emerged and developed together with culture. Language is the keystone of the culture. On the one hand, language is shaped by the culture. On the other hand, as different languages have different culture，language influences culture.Nowadays, ther
9、e is a wide spread that educators associate cultural components with pure language teaching. They pay more attention to develop students cross-culture awareness. If students are lack of the important cultural knowledge about the culture they learn, they cannot use it properly and freely, then their
10、communication obstacles will arise. What is more, a language learners understanding of the language is fundamentally influenced by his or her culturally-defined world views, beliefs and presuppositions.Chapter OneRelationship between Language and CultureI.What is Language?Someone may have already kn
11、own this legend, God was afraid that, we common people could climb to the heaven by the tower called Bible that people built. So he decided to put an end to the common language shared by we common people. Since without a common language, we cannot communicate and cooperate with each other. Then our
12、great dreams and plans will not come true forever. From this legend, we can see that, language plays a quite significant and essential role in our life.Language is so important that it renders us to wonder what language is. Based on Oxford Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary, “language is a
13、 system of vocal sounds and combination of such sounds to which meaning is attribute, used for the expression or communication of thoughts and feelings” (Wallance 833). Language, to put it simply, is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. In other words, these vocal symbol
14、s are combined together according to some special rules. For these symbols, there is no correction between the word and the item in the world that it refers to.Communication is considered to be the primary function of the language. However, functions of language are varied. According to Hu Zhuanglin
15、, there are seven functions:1.informative, providing useful information for our life. 2.interpersonal function, by which people establish and maintain their states in a society. 3.performative, changing the social states of persons. 4.emotove function, changing the emotive states of an audience for
16、or against something or someone. 5.phatic communication, social interaction of language. 6.recreational function. 7.metalingual function, talking about language itself. (11-16)II.What is Culture?As we all know, different languages have different cultures. “Culture is the collective programming of th
17、e mind which distinguish the members of one category of people from another” (Hofstede 154). Culture, in a broad sense, is an integrated pattern of human behavior that includes communication, practices, beliefs, values, customs, thoughts, rituals as well as manners of interacting and roles. As cultu
18、re is inclusive and rich, it almost permeates every aspect of peoples life and affects peoples behavior.In this part, I just want to explore two basic ways to define the term “culture.” The first definition comes from humanities. It emphasizes on the way a social group represents itself and others b
19、y its material productions, for example, their works of art, literature, social institutions, artifacts of everyday life, and the mechanisms for their production. The second definition comes from the social science. It refers to the attitudes and beliefs, ways of thinking, behaving and remembering s
20、hared by members of the community. III.The Relationship between Language and CultureThere is no doubt that language is a significant and vital part of a given culture and the effect of the culture upon a given language is evident and indispensable. Different languages may reflect different cultures.
21、 Different cultures entail different language expressions. Language and culture closely associated with each other and depend on each other. In other words, they emerged together, developed bit by bit together; at last they were mature together.i. Historical RelationshipThe origin of language is clo
22、sely associated with the origin of human beings. Around three millions years ago, the natural condition was very harsh and serious. Humankind had to face the threats of low temperature, fierce animals and other danger which made their living difficult. As a result, they were in great need of uniting
23、 and cooperating together. Then, language, as an inevitable vocal tool for their communication, emerged in their life. As any tribe or group has their own way of living, their own customs, habits, their language evolved with the influence of their culture. In a word, language and culture intrinsical
24、ly depend on each other. They have evolved though the history.ii. Geographical RelationshipThere are numerous tribes and communities in different parts of the world. For instance, China is in Asia, France is in Europe. Different countries and societies have different cultures and languages. To say C
25、hina again, the people in China speak Chinese and they also have their own way of thinking and behaving as well as some customs and festivals. For example, the most important festival in China is Spring Festival while the French regard Christmas Day as their most important day. What is more, how to
26、celebrate their festivals is different from one country to another according to their traditions.However, with the global village, the boundary of geography is gradually obscure. Protecting the traditional culture has become a public concern. Some countries have already taken some urgent and effecti
27、ve steps to protect their particular culture, even their language.iii. Educational RelationshipThe importance of teaching culture has been widely recognized for teachers. Educators fear that the mere mastery of language systems by no means guarantees the international communication and cooperation.
28、Although students gain a large number of vocabularies, grammar points, they could not use English in a proper and free way. Nowadays, in China, more and more English teachers try their best to find a way in which students can speak unadulterated English. As a matter of fact, students cannot truly ma
29、ster the language until they have also mastered the cultural context in which the language occurs.“Applied linguists and language teachers have increasingly aware that a second language or foreign language can rarely be learned or taught without addressing the culture of community in which it is use
30、d” (Hinkel 2). Thomas observes that “nonnative speakers are often perceived to display inappropriate language behaviors and often are not even aware that they do” (Thomas 92). He further points out that “teachers must draw on research on to develop ways of heightening and refining students metagrama
31、tic awareness, so that they are able to express themselves as they choose”(94). Chapter TwoWhy Teaching Culture in EFLI.Culture Differences: the Obstacle of Understanding EnglishAs different countries have different cultures, some difficulties and obstacles will arise when we listen, speak, read, wr
32、ite English. In the following paragraphs, I will explore some misunderstandings of English because of cultural differences.i. Listening Obstacles in EnglishWith wide spread of English, we get more and more chances to listen to English. However, some teachers and students continue to complain the difficulties in understanding English. They have an acceptable mastery of vocabularies, grammar points as well as pronunciation knowledge. Some students buy tape records for listening a
