1、论文摘要众所周知，中学阶段是学生学习英语的重要时期，因此，增强中学生的英语交际能力变得尤为重要。英语，作为中国中学生的主要课程之一，变得越来越关键。近些年来，英语教学中的文化背景知识教学引起了人们的注意。研究表明，文化背景的学习能有效提高学生的语言水平和能力。而且，成功的跨文化交际离不开学生丰富的文化背景知识。因此，对文化背景知识的学习在中学英语课堂中变得越来越重要。本文首先介绍了语言和文化的不可分割性来帮助读者进一步了解语言和文化的关系，然后分析了文化背景学习的目的和重要性。最后给出了文化背景学习的方法和途径。实际上，丰富的文化背景知识包涵了对语言结构和词汇的掌握，同时在很大程度上，语言的理
2、解又依赖对文化传统，风俗习惯，历史思想等的掌握。因此，语言学习和文化学习是不可分割的。语言就像是流动的水，无时无刻不在变化，文化业如此。如果语言是鲜花，那么文化则是培育鲜花的土壤。作为老师，我们应该教授学生全面的知识，也就是说，我们既要教给他们语言，又要教授他们文化背景知识。关键词： 文化背景；语言； 英语教学ContentsI. Introduction .1 A. The definition of language.1 B. The definition of culture.2 C. the relationship between language and culture.3. Th
3、e goals of culture background knowledge5 A. Getting familiar with different situation.6B. Understanding social variables.6 C. Evaluating foreign culture.7 D. Developing cultural creativity7III. The importance of culture background knowledge in language teaching.8 A. necessity of background knowledge
4、 in listening and speaking.8 B. necessity of background knowledge in reading.9 C. necessity of background knowledge in writing and translating10. Approaches to culture background knowledge.11 A. Providing cultural background information in class12 B. Providing authentic materials.13 C. culture lectu
5、re.15 D. Projected media16. Conclusion.17Notes19Bibliography20I. IntroductionLanguageandcultureareinseparable, learning a foreign language means learning aforeign civilization and culture. Whats more, cultural awareness is the assurance of usinglanguage appropriately.Mistakes have frequently been ma
6、de when we use English, owing to our lack of the culture background knowledge. The new English Course Standards （2002）for middle schools has added cultural teaching as one of its main parts; much research hasbeen done about it. But what and how to teach it in middle schools still needs systematicstu
7、dy.A. The definition of languageLanguage is the social production and the symbolic system carried on from generation togeneration by People who live in this society. And in particular language speech may reflectthe social relations between the speaker and addressee, which manifest the interrelations
8、hipbetween people. Language is a vehicle of transmitting thought and information, language distinguishes human from animals，and is very essential to mankind. A broad accepted and tentative definition of language is: language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used forcommunication. So language h
9、as features of duality, arbitrariness, productivity, displacementinter-changeability transmission,（Li Shiqiang, 2003）.B. The definition of cultureCulture is an ambiguous and intriguing concept. There are many kinds ofdefinitions. Richard E. Porter and Larry A. Samovar define culture as the depositof
10、 knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies,religion, timing, rules, spatial relations, concepts of universe and material objectsand expressions acquired by a large group of people in the course of generationsthrough individual and group striving. According to New Ency
11、clopediaBritannica defines cultures as peculiar to mankind together with material objectsthat are part of this behavior and consists of languages, ideas, beliefs, customs,codes, institutions, tools, techniques, works of arts, rituals, ceremonies and so on.The concept of culture was first defined in
12、print by E.B. Taylor, who provided thefirst profound scientific understanding of the nature of the term. According tohim, culture is “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals,law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member ofsociety”. For anthropo
13、logists, culture has long meant the way of life of people,the sum of its learned behavior patterns, attitudes, and material things. “Culture”in the contemporary teaching of languages may be understood in broad andnarrow senses. It may refer to the “intellectual refinement” and artistic endeavor,or t
14、he appreciation of music, literature, the art and so on.this is in the sense of“high culture”, or culture in its broad sense, omen referred to ns culture with a bigC. “Culture with a big C” focuses on “the sum total of a peoples achievementand contribution: art, music, literature, architecture, tech
15、nology, scientificdiscoveries and philosophy”. On the other hand, culture may also refer towhatever to a person must know in order to function in a particular. This is in thesame as in Goodenoughs definition of the term. It reads that a societys cultureconsists of whatever it is one has to know or t
16、o believe in order to operate in amanner acceptable to its members, and to do so in any role that they accept forany one of themselves. Goodenoughs definition is culture in its narrow sense,often referred to as culture with a small c. “Culture witha small c” includes “thebehavior patterns of thelife
17、 style of people: when and what they eat, how theymake a living, the way they organize their society, the attitudes they expresstowards friends and members of their families, how they act in differentsituations, which expressions they use to show approval and disapproval, thetraditions they must obs
18、erve, and so on”.C. The relationship between language and cultureAt present, more and more scholars come to an agreement that culture and language influence each other deeply and greatly. For example, the religious culture that reigned human society for several thousands of years help to develop dif
19、ferent national consciousness, different cultural content and different understanding to language. People with different cultural background express themselves in different ways. On the one hand, language, as a part of culture, largely influences the forming and developing of culture, and it is a mi
20、rror that reflects the culture of a certain community. For example, in Britain, the number “13”is regarded as an unlucky symbol, which means unfortunate. So people in western countries always try to avoid holding any ceremonies, parties on 13th, or inviting 13 persons together.On the other hand, lan
21、guage is influenced and shaped by culture. People with different background express themselves in different ways. In western, acquaintances always greet each other with “How are you?” while in China; people say, “Have you eaten yet?” That is because in old China, lots of people suffered from hunger.
22、 Greeting with “Have you eaten?” could show their warm heart and deep concern to others. Each culture is unique. Learning a foreign language well means more than merely mastering the pronunciation, grammar, words and idioms. It also means seeing the world as native speakers of that language see it,
23、learning the ways in which their language reflects the ideas, customs, and behavior of their society, learning to understand their “language of the mind”. In a word, culture and language are inseparable. Some people describe their relationship with following formula: language （flesh） + culture （bloo
24、d） = a living organism. It is vivid. Language plus culture equal a living organism: language is flesh and culture is blood, without culture, language would be dead; without language, culture would have no shape. The goals of culture background knowledgeSince the native speaker of any language has bu
25、ilt into his language repertoire hisunique cultural assumptions and values, foreign culture acquisition should be duly anddexterously incorporated into the English teaching. The above mentioned goals can beconsidered as references in teaching Chinese students. But we must especially take thefollowing into consideration （Hu Wenzhong, 1994）. The first is the English language context, the Chinese context and the Englishspeaking cul
