On the leading-in of Elementary School English Cultural Knowledge

【Abstract】language and culture are inseparable， English learning must involve the cultural knowledge of english-speaking countries. In primary school， we should not only learn English language knowledge well， but also the cultural knowledge behind English. Therefore， teachers should cultivate students cultural awareness through explicit teaching activities and implicit language edification in teaching activities， so as to improve students intercultural communication ability.

【key words】language communication; cultural knowledge; leading-in

【作者簡介】李冰青，青島大學政治與公共管理學院，研究生。

Language and culture are inseparable， and language teaching and cultural teaching are also closely linked. Teachers should not only carry out language teaching， but also pay more attention to the teaching of English culture so as to remove the contextual barriers in communication. Primary school is an important stage for laying the foundation. To enable students to learn English that can communicate in different contexts at the very beginning， teachers should put the leading-in of cultural knowledge in a prominent position.

1.The importance of penetrating cultural knowledge through English teaching

Language has rich cultural connotations and there is an inseparable relationship between language and culture. As a foreign language， the main purpose of learning English is communication， since communication naturally involves cross-cultural communication. In order to conduct cross-cultural communication， not only language knowledge and language skills， but also language appropriateness is also very important. Whether to use real and authentic English for proper and decent communication is not a problem that can be solved by language knowledge and skills alone. On the premise of having certain language foundation and skills， only with a wealth of cultural knowledge can communication proceed smoothly and guarantee successful communication. Therefore， in the teaching must pay attention to the cultural penetration.

2. the current primary school English teaching problems

（1） Teachers pay too much attention to word grammar. It is a common problem in English teaching that students attach too much importance to the mastery of basic English knowledge， but tend to neglect the importance of the culture behind the language. All in order to test high scores， the neglect of communication and use， is not conducive to the improvement of students comprehensive language ability.

（2） It is difficult to get rid of the influence of the mother tongue—Chinese. For example， we have very different understandings of “old” and “young” than English speakers. In our cultural consciousness， “old” is a symbol of experience and ability， which is respectable. However， in the culture of english-speaking countries， “old” is always associated with “old”， “useless” and other words. People in english-speaking countries are sensitive to and reject “old”. “Young” is associated in our culture with words like “green，” “inexperienced，” “sloppy，” and “naive.” In english-speaking countries， “young” is associated with positive words such as “flexible”， “dynamic” and “creative”. If our students communicate with native English speakers in Chinese， obviously there will be problems.

3.In a word， teachers should make full use of all kinds of resources and grasp the opportunity of cultural leading-in in teaching， so that students can understand the culture of english-speaking countries while learning and mastering the language， and can use English correctly and fluently， so as to improve their ability of cross-cultural communication， so as to truly master English.

References：

[1]Curtain， Helena， Dahlberg， Carol Ann. 語言與兒童[M].北京：外語教學與研究出版社，2011.

[2][美]薩培爾（Sapir， E.）著.楊信彰導讀.Language： An Introduction to the Studyof Speech[M].北京：外語教學與研究出版社，2002，3.