The Importance of Cultural Background Knowledge in College English Teaching

Abstract:In recent years， with the development of reform and open policy as well as the frequent foreign exchange， especially the enhancement of social informalization and the widespread of Internet， more and more people are involved in Intercultural communication. Change and requirement of the new age make more and more English teachers， especially the college English teachers， come to realize the important role of culture in English teaching. College English teaching should not merely limit in the language teaching and cultivating students' intercultural communication competence is more important. To know the cultural background knowledge is a significant aspect of cross-cultural communication and also an important aim of college English teaching. It requires college English teachers put cultural education on a significant position and combine the language teaching and culture teaching together， so as to cultivate students' language competence in intercultural communication.

Key words:cultural background knowledge college English teaching importance intercultural communication

I. Introduction

It is commonly thought that language is a tool for communication， and the chief aim of college English teaching is to enable learners' to communicate successfully with native speakers. Do people with different cultural background think and behave alike? What factors affects learners' appropriateness in intercultural communication? How can learners in the artificial and standardized environment of a classroom have access to the central code of another culture?

In traditional teaching methods such as Grammar Translation Methods， college English teachers in China have been concerned merely with developing learners' linguistic competence. Learners trained by those methods more than not， are unable to communicate with native speakers. Social practice has proved that only mastery of linguistic competence is not enough for successful communication among people who are with different cultural backgrounds. Now， more and more college English teachers come to realize the important fact that English is not only a different language， but also an alien culture， and they become interested in the important role of culture in English teaching and aware of the value of intercultural competence. \"So it is quite necessary to develop a full understanding of the systems of knowledge， beliefs， customs morals and emotions of the new culture as well as the social and psychological integration of the with the target language (Chen 272).\" And how to combine cultural studies and language teaching becomes an interesting topic in English teaching as a foreign language. Some important issues， such as relationship between language and culture， important of teaching culture， relevant materials and suitable contents to teaching culture， and some teaching methods need to be investigated further.

II.Problems in English teaching and teaching material caused by neglect of cultural background knowledge

It has been given not enough care in English teaching for a long time. Although many students have acquired four skills—listening， speaking， reading and writing according to the demand of our traditional syllabus， they often make mistakes in application of language to real life， because our teaching and teaching materials attach importance to language forms but ignore the social meanings of language forms and language application in reality. I can give some very simple examples that we can see in many textbooks:

1. A: What's your name?

B: My name is Li Hong.

A: How old are you?

B: I'm twenty.

A: Where do you come from?

B: I come from Liaoning..

2. A: Where are you going?

B: I'm going to the library.

3. A: Are you writing a letter to your parents?

B: Yes， I am.

A: How often do you write to your parents?

B: About once a week.

All the above dialogues are roughly the combination of Chinese thinking and English form. Although such forms are correct， they are not appropriate. Except for hospitals， immigration offices and such places， it's unimaginable for someone to ask a string of questions like: \" What's your name?\" \" How old are you?\" \" Where do you come from?\" The natural reaction of English-speaking people to the greetings like: \" Where are you going?\" would mostly likely be \"Why do you ask?\" or \"It's none of your business.\" Questions like \" Are you writing to your parents?\" would be though to intrude on one's privacy. The English teaching material seldom paying attention to differences between cultures， which result in English learners' ignorance of the factor of culture and they can only mechanically copy what they have learned.

So in English teaching， especially at the college， we should not only pass on knowledge of language and train learners' competence of utilizing language， but also enhance teaching of relative cultural background knowledge.

In the following parts， the paper will attempt to offer some suggestions and methods to incorporate cultural background knowledge into the English lessons.

III. Ways of incorporating cultural background knowledge into the college English lessons

From what had been discussed， it is clear that cultural background knowledge is necessary in college English teaching. College teachers should help students to solve the difficulties in language as well as in culture. It is not easy to teach cultural background knowledge. Firstly， teachers must be acquainted with the differences between the two linguistic cultures. Teachers can provide cultural information， as well as make students express themselves correctly in different occasions， and the latter is more important.

A. Establishing and strengthening the cultural sense in class

1.Selecting proper teaching material

Teaching material is important. At the same time， it is important for teachers who want to stress culture themes in English courses to evaluate materials carefully. A set of new textbooks incorporate related culture into the college English teaching material must be complied in a notional-functional approach， which makes language learning more meaningful and effective. \" An intercultural view inevitably will be implicit in the materials utilized for instructional purposes. (Dunnett 106)\" It should include more information on customs， habits and behavior patterns of native English speakers. The textbooks may provide cultural notes on greeting， addressing people， hand-shaking， leave-taking， etc. Students can learn cultural knowledge effectively through these materials and also experience the customs， beliefs， behaviors which are different from their own.

The teaching material should be authentic， especially dialogues， because it's more authentic and reflects cultural behavior followed by speakers. Authentic material refers to material selected from authentic activities concerning social factors. Next， teachers should explain cultural factors involved in the material with purpose. Meanwhile the use of supplementary authentic materials can broaden learner's horizon when they come into contact with more culture diversities.

All in all， materials used in college English teaching should convey cultural biases. These materials should implicitly communicate attitudes concerning the culture of target language and student's native culture.

2.Using native English video tapes and films

Use good native English videotapes and films in class and follow it up with discussions. When watching videotapes or seeing a film， students and teachers should pay much attention to the scene of daily life， such as conversations between shopkeepers and clients， dialogues on the telephone， chat in the street， etc. After that， teachers and students may exchange views and replenish each other. The resources are now easily accessible， but their potentiality has not yet been tapped.

B.Encouraging wide reading to improve English proficiency

Encourage students to read extensively， including novels， magazines， and newspapers etc. To most Chinese learners， acquisition of knowledge of western culture， mainly depend on reading material， while literal works is the most rich material through which we can know something about a people's psychology， cultural characters， customs and habits， social relations etc. Teachers should guide students to accumulate relative cultural background knowledge when reading material. For example， teachers can assign students to read short stories and plays and require them to note down significant details related to the English culture. Through enormous reading， students' understanding of culture will become ripe and complete， and also develop a more mature and all-round understanding of the target culture. Reading extensively may not yield immediate result， but it does help students understand another culture at a deeper level.

C.Encouraging communication with native speakers of English

Encourage students to communicate with native English speakers. But so far， we haven't carried out such activities enough， because at college we have not so many native English or American teachers. Inviting some native people as visitors to class is also a good and practicable way. In contact with native speakers， students can be deeply impressed by the differences between two cultures at first hand. Moreover， in such relaxed conversations， students can learn much knowledge， which cannot be learned in the classroom.

D. Organizing some in-class activities

1. On class discussion

Teachers may organize discussions on cultural traits of different regions and nationalities in the Western countries that they learn from reading books， watching films or even communicating with native speakers. Students can be divided into groups to discussion the cultural differences between Western countries and China. Such exchanges and discussion enables students to understand that cultural difference are a natural phenomenon and helps foster greater sensitivity to cultural details.

2. Role play

\"Role play gives students a chance to use language in new contexts and for new topics. And it adds interest to a lesson. (Adrian 240)\" In this means， teachers can design many different dialogue situations and ask students to imitate different roles in real life. It is the most direct way for students to understand the target culture and to overcome cultural barriers and communication conflict easily.

E. Holding lectures about culture

Hold some lectures about cultures and customs of the Western countries， where possible， make comparisons between customs， beliefs and habits of Chinese culture and western culture.

IV.Conclusion

In short， the value of intercultural competence and the important position of culture in language teaching have been generally acknowledged.“The language teaching process should be also taken as culture teaching process， in which students can learn both linguistic and cultural knowledge， become competent communicators. (王 272)” In college English teaching， teachers should attach importance to cultural differences and study these differences. As English teachers， we should not only help students to learn a foreign language， but also to learn social and cultural background knowledge. Only so， students can widen their knowledge and thus further learn English well.

References:

[1]Adrian Doff. Teach English: A Training Course for Teachers. New York: Cambridge University Press， 1988.

[2]Dunnett， S.C.， Dubin， F. and A. Lezerg. Culture Bound-bridge the Cultural Gap in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press， 1986.

[3]Chen Xiaoxiang.Developing Related Cultural Awareness in TEFL [A].彭金定.大學英語教學與學習策略的科學研究 [C].北京:氣象出版社，1998. 272-281.

[4]王勇.Cultural Studies and Language Teaching [A].上海市大學英語協作組.上海市大學英語教學論文集 [C].上海:上海外語教育出版社，1998.255-274.