Using Multimedia to Teach English and American Culture to Chinese EFL Students

Li Xiaoxue

Abstract：Nowadays，the use of multimedia in teaching is widespread. When teaching English to Chinese EFL students，American culture is an important part. Combining introducing American culture in English classes with multimedia is helpful for both arousing the students’ interests and acquiring the language.

Key words：multimedia；American culture；EFL students；language

How do EFL students learn English? In China，students learn English by doing grammar，vocabulary，reading and writing exercises，which can be a good way of learning a new language. However，there are always better ways. Learning a new language is not only about learning the rules of language itself but also learning about culture（Kramsch，1998. p. 15）. EFL students in China seldom have the chance of coming in contact with American popular culture，which is one the reasons of why students in China only know about English language itself.

However，learning culture is essential in learning a new language. Culture is a crucial part of language and cannot be separated from language. According to Mughan，“In order for language learners to apply skills fruitfully and effectively，knowledge of the culture environment is essential”（as cited by Badger & MacDonald，2007，p.215）. On one hand，culture does not only involve music，literature，people’s attitudes but also language. Therefore，language is one of the embodiments of culture. On the other hand，language is “a system of signs that is seen as having itself a culture value”（Kramsch，1998. p. 3）. In fact，language is not only a system of signs but also a set of cultural value.

Multimedia has become a powerful tool in the past several decades because it is widespread and has a great influence on people’s everyday life. Books，movies，music，literature are all included in multimedia. Utilizing multimedia in teaching American popular culture to EFL students can be very effective. Teachers can make full use of different kinds of multimedia in the classroom，and students can also utilize the convenience of multimedia to learn American popular culture outside of the classroom.

Language researchers have reached a consensus that communication ability includes five factors：listening，speaking，reading，writing and the social ability to communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds. However，in language teaching process，teachers put more attention on grammar and structure and neglect the social environment of language，especially the cultural differences between languages. They ignore the connotation of culture by teaching the language itself（Duff，2001，p. 114）.

When start to talk about teaching American popular culture to Chinese EFL students through media，the first question comes up to people’s mind might be why cultural teaching is necessary in EFL classrooms. Therefore，it is important to discuss the relationship between language and culture，which is the most basic area of the project. Language is an instrument that carries the function of reflection and communication. It plays an indispensable role in people’s cognitive competence，way of thinking，social skills and way of expression. Each language has generated and developed in a particular and specific social history environment. Likewise，culture is an outcome social development. Therefore，language is a carrier of culture and a way of showing the existence of culture.

The next question is，why is it necessary to teach culture to Chinese students? This question refers to the current situation in Chinese EFL classrooms. First of all，learning American culture can arouse students’ interests in learning English. To pass the English examinations in China，most students focus more on grammar，reading and writing，which results in the polarization of language learning interest in Chinese EFL students. The introduction of culture in English classes can help the students know about more interesting things when learning English. Second，learning culture is also helpful for enhancing the students’ application ability of English grammar. Knowing the background of an language can help Chinese EFL students master the language itself（Guo，2015，p. 81）.

References

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[2]Duff，P. A.（2001）. Language，literacy，content，and（Pop）culture：Challenge for ESL students in mainstream courses. Canadian Modern Language Review，58. 103-132.

[3]Guo，L.J.（2015）. “The importance of teaching cultural background information in college English teaching”. Changchun Educational College Newspaper，31（23）. 81-83.

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[5]Kramsch，C.（1998）. “Language and culture”. Oxford：Oxford University Press.

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