On English Teaching and Culture Knowledge

1. On English Teaching and Culture Knowledge Jianhua Fan Taizhou Teachers College Jiangsu Province Welcome!

2. 1. The necessity of cultural knowledge in aural comprehension 4. Necessity of cultural knowledge in writing Importance 3. Necessity of cultural knowledge in speaking I. The Importance of cultural knowledge in language teaching 2. Necessity of cultural knowledge in speaking Taizhou Teachers College

3. 1. The necessity of cultural knowledge in aural comprehension Maybe we have this experience: when we are  listening to something familiar to us, no matter what is concerned, usually we are easy to  understand. Even if there are some new words in the material, we are able to guess their meanings according to its context. However, when we  encounter some unfamiliar material or something closely related to cultural background, we may  feel rather difficult. Even if the material is easy,  we only know the literal meaning, but can’t  understand the connotation, because we lack  knowledge of cultural background. Taizhou Teachers College

4. 1. The necessity of cultural knowledge in aural comprehension Here is a sentence from a report: “The path to  November is uphill all the way.” “November”  literally means “the eleventh month of year”.  But here refers to “ the Presidential election to be held in November”. Another example is  “red–letter days”, which is a simple phrase and is easy to hear, meaning holidays such as Christmas and  other special days. But students are often  unable to understand them without teacher’s explanation. Taizhou Teachers College

5. 1. The necessity of cultural knowledge in aural comprehension Below are two jokes often talked about  by Americans: • 1. A: Where are you from? • 2. B: I’ll ask her. (Alaska) • 3. A: Why do you ask her? • 4. A: Where are you from? • 5. B: How are you? (Hawaii) Taizhou Teachers College

6. 1. The necessity of cultural knowledge in aural comprehension A may think B has given an irrelevant  answer. But if A knew something about geographical knowledge of the USA,  and the names of two states of the USA Alaska and Hawaii, he would not regard  “Alaska” as “I’ll ask her”, or “Hawaii” as “How are you". In view of this, the introduction of  cultural background is necessary in the  teaching of English listening. Taizhou Teachers College

7. 2. Necessity of cultural knowledge in speaking Likewise,speakingisnotmerelyconcernedwith pronunciationandintonation.Studentscanonly improvetheiroralEnglishandreachtheaimof communicationbymeansofenormousreading, masteringrichlanguagematerialandacquaintanceof westernculture.Therefore,inoraltraining,teachers shouldlaystressonfactualityoflanguageandadopt somematerialapproachingtodailylife,suchasdaily dialogueswithtape,magazines,newspapersandreport etc.,becausethematerialisfromreallife,andithelps studentstobewellacquaintedwithstandard pronunciationandintonation,tospeakEnglish appropriatetotheoccasion,tounderstandwesternway oflifeandcustomsetc.Otherwise,misunderstanding anddispleasureareinevitablyaroused. Taizhou Teachers College

8. 2. Necessity of cultural knowledge in speaking InEnglish,therearesomanyeuphemisms thatsometimesit’shardtoknowtheotherone’s actualmood.Soweshouldpayattentiontoour answer.Forexample,whenoneask: “Howdo youlikethefilm?” andtheotheranswer: “I thinkit’sveryinteresting”,itshowshedoesn’t likeitverymuchinsteadoftheliteralmeaning “veryinteresting”.Whenoneasks: “Whatdoyou thinkofmynewcoat?” andtheotheranswers: “Ithinkthepocketisverynice”,italsoshows hisdislike. Taizhou Teachers College

9. 2. Necessity of cultural knowledge in speaking InAmericaandEngland,usuallypeopledon’t sayunpleasantwordstoone’sface,theyalways saypleasantwordstothefullorevadedirect answering,saying “Idon’tknow.” Forexample, whenoneasks, “Doyoulikeourteacher”,you mayanswer: “Well,Idon’tknowhimverywell.” Sometimesoutofhispoliteness,whenmeeting unfamiliarpeople,hemayconcealhistrue feelings.Forexample,AaskedB: “Howareyou?” AlthoughBhadgotabadcold,hisanswerwas “Fine,thankyou”,butnot “Notverywell,I’m afraid”,orothersimilaranswers. Taizhou Teachers College

10. 2. Necessity of cultural knowledge in speaking Duringoralcommunication,speakers needstandardpronunciationand intonation,aswellasthesuitableuse oflanguagefortheoccasion.Thereare numerousexamplesthatwecouldcite ofexpressionsthatarecorrect accordingtogrammaticalrules,but unsuitablefortheoccasion. Taizhou Teachers College

11. 2. Necessity of cultural knowledge in speaking Once,afterastudentgavealecture,heaskeda foreignvisitorforhisadvice.Hesaidlikethis, “Iamdesirousofexploringyourfeelingonthe lecture” whichcausedtheforeignvisitor’s surprise.Hesaid: “YouEnglishistoobeautiful tobetrue.” Butthestudentrefusedtoaccept thecomment.Hesaidthesentencewas extractedfromthebook.Thevisitorexplained thatphraseslike “desirousofexploringyour feelings” werenotfitforspokenlanguage,which shouldbereplacedby “I’dliketohearyour viewsonthelecture” or “MayIhaveyourviews onthelecture?” Taizhou Teachers College

12. 2. Necessity of cultural knowledge in speaking Aspeoplesarediverse,customsarediverse.Itisonly naturalthenthatwithdifferencesincustoms,differences oftenariseinusingoflanguage.Forexample,when someonepraiseyourEnglishisverygood,Americanand Chineserepliestocomplimentsaredifferent.Accordingto Chinesecustoms,theygenerallymurmursomereply aboutnotbeingworthyofthepraise,whileaccordingto Americancustoms,theytendtoacceptthecompliment withthepleasure.Thereplylike “No,Idon’tspeakgood English”. Americansthinkwhichseemstocriticizethe otherside,isimpolite. ReadingEnglisharticlesrequires acertainlanguagebasis,butthecompetenceofreading comprehensionisnotentirelyrelatedtoone’slanguage level. Taizhou Teachers College

13. 3. Necessity of cultural knowledge in reading Knowledgeofculturalbackgroundisalso important.Readingisaprocessaffectedby integrationofone’slanguageknowledge, culturalbackgroundknowledgeandother professionalknowledge,andaprocessof continuousguessesandcorrectionsaccording toavailablelanguagematerial,cultural backgroundandlogicalreasoning.Generally speaking,ChinesepeoplestudyChinese withoutthedifficultiesarousedbycultural background. WhenwereadEnglisharticles, differencesbetweenChineseandwestern culturesoftenbringusmanydifficulties. Taizhou Teachers College

14. 3. Necessity of cultural knowledge in reading Idiomisanimportantpartofthe languageandcultureofasociety.They areoftenhardtounderstandandhardto usecorrectly.Theyarealmostimpossible tounderstandfromthemeaningsofthe individualwords.AndwithEnglish idioms,eventhesamewordsmayhave differentmeaningsasintheexamples blow: Taizhou Teachers College

15. 3. Necessity of cultural knowledge in reading So,firstofall,astudentshouldlearnnotto lookdownonsuchidiomsjustbecausethey’re madeupofsuchsimpleandeasywords.He shouldlookoutforidenticalphraseswith differentmeaningsandlookthemupina dictionaryifhe’snotsure.He’sboundtorun intoalotoftroublewhenhefirstusesthem, butheshouldn’tgivein,muchlessgiveup.If hekeepstryingandkeepsatitlongenoughhe’ll makeoutandthingswillturnoutwellinthe end. Taizhou Teachers College

16. 3. Necessity of cultural knowledge in reading Thoughthepassageisshort,itincludesten idioms:lookdown,madeupof,lookoutfor, lookup,runinto,givein,giveup,keepatit, makeoutandturnout(well). Itisthusclear thatdifficultiesinreadingcannotbecompletely solvedbyone’slanguageknowledge,because worksofapeoplecannotbeseparatedfromthe people’sculturaltradition.So,inteaching reading,ateachershouldexplaingrammatical difficultiesaswellasexpoundcultural background. Taizhou Teachers College

17. 4. Necessity of cultural knowledge in writing Inwriting,culturalbackgroundknowledgeis alsoimportant.WhyisitthattheEnglish writingofChinesestudentsreadsomuchlike translationsofChinese?Whyisitthatonecan fairlyeasilytellwhetheranarticlewaswritten byaChineseorbyanativespeakerofEnglish? Ontheonehand,itisprobablybecausemost Chinesestudentshavenotyetmasteredthe language;Ontheotherhand,itisprobably becauseofdifferencesinChineseandEnglish writingstylesthatreflectculturaldifferences. NarrationanddescriptioninChineseseemtobe abitmoreornate,or “flowery”,thaninEnglish. Taizhou Teachers College

18. 4. Necessity of cultural knowledge in writing Oneofthecommonfaultsinthis matteristhetendencyofChinese studentstousetoomanyadjectives. Adjectives,ofcourse,arenecessaryin goodwriting.Butifnotusedwithcare, theycanhavetheoppositeeffect quicklykillinterestandproduce boredom. Taizhou Teachers College

19. 4. Necessity of cultural knowledge in writing ChineseandEnglish-speakingpeopleseemto lookdifferentlyontheuseofsetphrasesand expressions.GoodEnglishwritingdiscourages whatarecalled “clichés” or “triteexpressions”. Chinesewriting,ontheotherhand,givesits approvaltowell-chosen “four-character expressions.” ToanativeEnglish-speaker,the followingsentencewouldbefrownedonasan exampleofpoorwriting:Hesleptlikealogand wokeupatthecrackofdawn,freshasadaisy. Taizhou Teachers College

20. 4. Necessity of cultural knowledge in writing Triteexpressionsandclichésoriginally caughtpeople’sattentionprecisely becausetheywereandaresocolorful andexpressanideasowell.But overusecausedthemtolosetheir charmandfreshness. Taizhou Teachers College

21. 4. Necessity of cultural knowledge in writing Inpersuasivewritingsuchassocialorpolitical essaysandeditorials,English-speakingwriters tendtobelessmilitantintoneandlanguage thanmostChinese.Theideaistoletthefacts speakforthemselves.Inotherwords,thefacts themselvesshouldbeabletoconvincethe reader.Thusinsuchtypesofwriting,onefinds rathersparinguseofsuchphrasesaswemust, weshouldnot,itiswrongto,itisabsurd, cannotbedenied,resolutelydemand.Thetone isusuallyrestrained;thelanguageidgenerally moderate. Taizhou Teachers College

22. 4. Necessity of cultural knowledge in writing Inpresent dayChinesesocialandpolitical writings,factsareofprimaryimportance,of course,butconsiderablestressisalsolaidon militancy,onmakingone’sstandclear.This differenceinattitudesisanimportantone. Experiencehasshownthatahard-hittingessay oreditorialinChinesedoesnotalwayshavethe effectintendedwhentranslatedintoEnglish. Insteadofconvincingpeople,theblunttoneand languageoftenantagonizepeopleorarouse suspicionthatthewriterdoesnothaveastrong caseandmustresorttofierylanguage,rather thanrelyonfactsandreasoning. Taizhou Teachers College

23. 4. Necessity of cultural knowledge in writing Besidesthethreepointsofdifferences mentionedabove,thereareothers.Ifwe couldn’tbeacquaintedwiththesedifferences, wewouldnotwriteastandardEnglish composition. Fromwhathadbeensaid,itisclearthat culturalbackgroundknowledgeisnecessaryin languageteaching.Teachersshouldhelp studentstosolvethedifficultiesinlanguageas wellasinculture.Thus,furtherimproveour qualityofteaching. Taizhou Teachers College

24. 4. Necessity of cultural knowledge in writing Itisnoteasytoteachculturalbackground knowledge.Firstly,teachersmustbe acquaintedwiththedifferencesbetween thetwolinguisticcultures.Teacherscan provideculturalinformation,aswellas makestudentsexpressthemselves correctlyindifferentoccasions,andthe latterismoreimportant. Taizhou Teachers College

25. 1 II. How to carry out the teaching of cultural background knowledge Selecting proper teaching material 2 Encouraging wide reading 3 Paying attention to proper wording in the classroom 4 Using native English video tapes and films 5 Encouraging communication with native speakers 6 Holding lectures about culture Taizhou Teachers College

26. II. How to carry out the teaching of cultural background knowledgeII. How to carry out the teaching of cultural background knowledge Firstlyteachingmaterialisimportant. Aproportionofforeignmaterialand authenticmaterialshouldbeused, especiallydialogues,becauseit’smore authenticandreflectsculturalbehavior followedbyspeakers.Authenticmaterial referstomaterialselectedfromauthentic activitiesconcerningsocialfactors.Next, teachersshouldexplainculturalfactors involvedinthematerialwithpurpose. 1. Selecting proper teaching material Taizhou Teachers College

27. II. How to carry out the teaching of cultural background knowledgeII. How to carry out the teaching of cultural background knowledge Secondly,encouragestudentstoreadextensively, includingnovels,magazines,andnewspapersetc. TomostChineselearners,acquisitionofknowledge ofwesternculture,mainlydependonreading material,whileliteralworksisthemostrichmaterial throughwhichwecanknowsomethingabouta people’spsychology,culturalcharacters,customs andhabits,socialrelationsetc.Teachersshould guidestudentstoaccumulaterelativecultural backgroundknowledgewhenreadingmaterial. Throughenormousreading,students’  understandingofculturewillbecomeripeand complete. 2. Encouraging wide reading Taizhou Teachers College

28. II. How to carry out the teaching of cultural background knowledgeII. How to carry out the teaching of cultural background knowledge Thirdly,intheclassroom,teachershouldpay attentiontoproperlanguageformsaswellas suitableuseoflanguage.Onewayofclassroom teachingistoaskstudentstomakesimilar dialoguestothetext.Astudentinevitablyneedsto playaroleandcarryonaconversationaccording toacertainrole.Teachershouldattractthe student’sattentiontohisroleandpointouthis expressionswhichareimproperforhischaracter ortheoccasion.Furthermore,remindstudentsto payattentiontodetailssuchaspronunciation, intonation,countenancewording,gestureetc. 3. Paying attention to proper wording in the classroom Taizhou Teachers College

29. II. How to carry out the teaching of cultural background knowledgeII. How to carry out the teaching of cultural background knowledge Fourthly,usegoodnativeEnglish videotapesandfilmsinteaching,andthen organizediscussions.Whenwatching videotapesorseeingafilm,studentsand teachersshouldpaymuchattentiontothe sceneofdailylife,suchasconversations betweenshopkeepersandclients, dialoguesonthetelephone,chatinthe street,etc.Afterthat,teachersand studentsmayexchangeviewsand replenisheachother. 4. Using native English video tapes and films Taizhou Teachers College

30. II. How to carry out the teaching of cultural background knowledgeII. How to carry out the teaching of cultural background knowledge Fifthly,encouragestudentsto communicatewithnativeEnglishspeakers. Butsofar,wehaven’tcarriedoutsuch activitiesenough.Incontactwithnative speakers,studentscanbedeeplyimpressed bythedifferencesbetweentwoculturesat firsthand.Moreover,insuchrelaxed conversations,studentscanlearnmuch knowledge,whichcannotbelearnedinthe classroom. 5. Encouraging communication with native speakers of English Taizhou Teachers College

31. II. How to carry out the teaching of cultural background knowledgeII. How to carry out the teaching of cultural background knowledge Sixthly,holdsomelecturesaboutcultures andcustoms,comparingChineseculture withwesternculture. Inteaching,teachers shouldattachimportancetocultural differencesandstudythesedifferences.As Englishteachers,weshouldnotonlyhelp studentstolearnaforeignlanguage,but alsotolearnsocialandculturalbackground knowledge.Onlyso,studentscanwiden theirknowledgeandthusfurtherlearn Englishwell. 6. Holding lectures about culture Taizhou Teachers College

32. Jianhua Fan Taizhou Teachers College Thank You!