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浅谈初中英语中的文化教学(1)(3)

2014-11-26 02:14
2.2 The Relationship between Culture and Language
Why is culture so important for foreign language teaching? The answer lies in the close relationship between language and culture.
Firstly, the relationship between language and culture is that between a part and the whole. Culture has several components, one of which is language. The Chinese language is part of Chinese culture and English is also part of English culture. Every culture has its own disparate culture.
Secondly, language is the carrier and container of culture. Human knowledge and experience are described, stored and evaluated in language including customs, habits and behavioral patterns, social institutions, value systems, beliefs, world views even the visual and auditory arts. To be sure, culture can exist in the form of materials. But language as the medium of communication is indispensable in their production and use. For example, during the production, the cooperation between the workers is carried out through language. Even the manuals of the products such as the washing machine are a proof of the fact that language can represent every aspect of culture.
Thirdly, as a mirror of culture, language is strongly influenced and shaped by culture. Words, grammar, language use, idioms and proverbs are all shaped to varying degrees by culture. Take the words for example; “Tai ji” is very familiar to our Chinese whereas there is not a word related to it in English because it is the special culture production in Chinese history.
Fourthly, language also exerts its influence on culture. The nature of this influence is best captured by American structural linguists Charles Hockett when he says that “languages differ not so much as to what can be said in them, but rather as to what it is relatively easy to say in them”.[5] Let’s cite an example to clarify the meaning of this statement. For example, the kinship relations can be expressed more easily in Chinese than in English because Chinese have more kinship terms. “奶奶” and “外婆” are equivalent to only one word “grandmother” in English. This fact helps to reinforce the concept of kinship relations, which is important to the Chinese people. （转载自中国科教评价网http://www.nseac.com）
In a word, language and culture is closely related, each influencing and shaping the other. To learn a foreign language implies to learn the culture in which it is spoken. A language can never be in a cultural vacuum. Culture is learned through language. Without language as the medium for formal or informal instruction, no culture could ever be learned.
3. Culture education of junior English in China
3.1 Importance and necessity of Culture Teaching
3.1.1 Culture Barriers in communication
As Clememt Attlee once claimed, “The people of the world are on islands shouting at each other over seas of misunderstanding.” [6] Owing to different time, space and nations, cultures have their unique contents, which cannot be equalized to others.
Being settled during its own process of development, each culture contains its special belief system, behavior patterns and criteria of normal or abnormal words and deeds. What fits in one culture web may not fit in another. More or less, the differences between cultures constitute Culture Barriers, which will cause communicative problems of people in different cultures. From the aspect of communicative competence especially the inter-culture communicative competence, culture teaching is necessary and important enough to be brought to focus.