The Cultivation of Cross—Cultural Awareness in English Teaching

【摘 要】By putting certain ideas about communication， culture， society， education and human psychology together， a different way of facing with and learning about interaction among cultures has emerged. So a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of inter-culture contact and interaction has widened and deepened the research in this field. Furthermore， it is necessary to help students to build up a certain 'cultural awareness' during the teacher's English Teaching. This article will first explain inter-culture communication and how to develop cross-culture awareness in details. Meanwhile， the thesis puts forwards a series of strategies for cultivating students' cultural awareness， and systematically designs different cultural activities to make the study of culture an integral part of each lesson. Finally， several practical suggestions are proposed for the foreign language teachers to fulfill this project.

【關(guān)鍵詞】intercultural communication cultural awareness cultivation strategies foreign language teaching

1.Introduction

Inter-cultural communication has been promoted since late 1970s mainly in the United States. As we have known， language diversity has become a prominent issue in the United States. People living within the same geographical boundaries can also use language in ways that differ from the dominant culture. Studies of cultural communities in the United States were considered 'intra-cultural'， just as America was thought to represent one culture. Another point is that beginning in the 1960s， and continuing well into the 1980s， the mission of intercultural studies was largely to prepare students for travel abroad， which usually meant Europe. (陳申， 1998:120)

While， the inter-cultural communication studies in China is a short one with its beginning dated to the early eighties. If we compare intercultural communication studies in China with such studies in the United States， we will find some important differences.

First， much of the research in intercultural communication so far is language oriented or language related. This is because teachers and professors of foreign languages were the first to embrace inter-cultural communication as a discipline. Since their chief goal in inter-cultural studies is to improve the communicative competence of the learners， they naturally focus their attention on such aspects of language as the cultural connation of certain words and phrases， difference in pragmatic rules and discourse pattern and problems of equivalence in translation. While the American model wields the greatest influence among Chinese intercultural communication scholars， European intercultural studies have their impact too.

Second， most of the intercultural communication researchers in China are engaged in comparative of national cultures. While， because of the new technology and information systems， the large number of immigration， this field has become a global and representative subject in America.

2. The Present Situation in China's English Teaching

In a questionnaire made by professor Li Yanfu ( 胡文仲1997:185)， in order to find out the views of both teachers and students on questions related to awareness of cultural traits， He sent questionnaires to 36 native English speakers who were teaching at seven institutions in four cities. The seven institutions are Xi'an Institute of Foreign Languages， Suzhou University， Shanghai International Studies University， East China Normal University of Industrial Technology， Beijing Second Institute of Foreign Languages and Beijing Foreign Studies University. He also sent questionnaires to two groups of students at his own institution. Fifty of the students were trained as UN interpreters and translators and 14 specialized in cultural exchange. Of the 28 teachers' respondents， 26 (92%) admitted that there was a cultural gap between their students and themselves and all of them held that awareness of cultural differences should be made a goal in teaching. Fifteen (53%) of them said that 'cultural mistakes' made them more uncomfortable and eight (28%) said that linguistic mistakes made them more uncomfortable. The rest (19%) either said that they expected mistakes from students or that they had taught Chinese students for so long those mistakes did not make them uncomfortable any more. Most 'cultural mistakes' occur in socializing (60%) and only a quarter in written work. Of the students' respondents， 62 (97%) admitted that there was a cultural gap between native English speakers and themselves. 61 (95%) held that cultural awareness should be made one of the goals on teaching. To the question “What helps you most in terms of cultural awareness?” personal contact comes first (53%)， followed by films and video shows and lectures on society and culture.

From this survey，it is natural to arrive at the following conclusion .

Developing the cross-culture awareness is accomplished by learning a new language， being exposed to a new culture， which has similarities and differences from one's home culture. We share the similarities and appreciate the differences by overcoming cultural shocks， which is a kind of surprise and discomfort and inconvenience brought by the differences of an alien culture such as food， the way of communication and behaviors. We learn to approach the differences and discomfort culturally instead of emotionally. Cross-cultural awareness is the ability to understand cultures of one's own and the others' by means of projective， non-judgmental comparison and pre-judgment and free from personal prejudice.

However， if the message sender shares or understands the same culture with the receivers， the message will encode his ideas the same way as that the receiver decodes the message and accordingly the receiver's response will be exposed， which will make an effective communication without causing misunderstanding. Therefore， in order to get rid of the barriers of intercultural communication， both the message sender and receiver shall not only understand and share the same code but also the same culture. As an old saying goes， “Knowing yourself as much as knowing your rivals makes you win in one hundred battles”， it explains the importance of familiarizing the mindset or thinking pattern of the parties involved. Thus， cultivating this awareness firstly is necessary in English teaching.

3. Strategies and Suggestions

Developing a cross-cultural awareness is accomplished by learning a new language and being exposed to a new culture that has similarities and differences from one's home culture. We share the similarities and appreciate the differences by overcoming cultural shocks namely a kind of surprise and discomfort and inconvenience brought by the differences of an alien culture， such as the food， the way of communication and behaviors， etc. We learn to approach the differences and discomfort culturally instead of emotionally. Cross-cultural awareness is the ability to understand cultures-your own and others' by means of objective， non-judgmental comparison and pre-judgment and free from personal prejudice.

Following are some strategies and suggestions for the cultivation of the cross-culture awareness

A. From the aspect of teaching material.

As we know， English textbooks contain a considerable amount of literature works (though often simplified and abridged) and courses in English and American literature are offered at most universities and colleges. It is necessary for the teacher to select more and more cultural information in order to pass on useful knowledge in the class. In fact， there is a wide range of materials， which is available for the study of culturally influenced behaviors. These include course textbooks， audio-cassettes， radio broadcasts， and videos， all kinds of pictures cut from newspapers and magazines， such as Statue of Liberty or Big Ben and so on. However， effective use of such materials requires careful planning by the teacher. And students need to be trained to extract appropriate information from the material.

B. From the aspect of classroom instruction.

The procedure of classroom teaching is the most difficult part whatever for the teacher or the students. There are many diverse contents for us to choose in the class.

a. To increase the awareness of the subject matter of British and American cartoons; to compare British and American cartoons in students' own culture. The reason why these cartoon categories would be chosen is that most teenagers even adults are fond of cartoons. In this way we also can inspire their interests of studying English. We can select 15-20 cartoons from British and American newspapers or magazines and divide the class into groups of three or four， and give each group a set of cartoons. The students' task is to work together and draw up a list of the different types of subject matter used. Then discuss the similarities and differences using correct phrases， special sentences and diverse words as possible as they can. And another point that should be mentioned is about topics. We can choose many topics from cartoons such as houses (rooms， furniture)， leisure (fishing， watching TV)， traveling (traffic， road signs)， holidays， clothes， fashion and famous persons etc.

b. To increase awareness of the cultural images and references used in pop songs and music videos.

We can choose songs that tell stories， the words of which are distinguishable. The process can be arranged like this: to listen the song， to explain some words， to enlighten students to think about more similar words， to discuss the overall meaning of the song (such as friendship， independence， loyalty， etc.) and the singer's attitude， etc.

c. To explain some special words or phrases in details. Because words and phrases are also be helpful for to identify a culture. In 'word chase'， students use dictionaries to find key word fields， such as words connected with dwellings. At the same time， they learn where have come from and how they are used in another culture. It is useful for them to use words correctly whatever in writing or reading. For example， when studying the word 'thanksgiving'， the teacher should explain its background and origin. We should not only teach students how to read and write 'Thanksgiving Day' but also inspire them with the deep meaning of this word.

d. To explore the cultural background of a poem.

We can choose a short poem (10-20 lines)， containing recognizable everyday language which sums up an attitude or feeling about life in the target culture. Poems by Roger McGough， Adrian Henri in Britain and Ted Joan in the US are very suitable. If possible， the teacher can find a recording of the poem and let each group translate one line and then help them to resolve any discrepancies in interpretation. Then the class discusses the overall meaning of the poem and tries to answer the question “what is the poet trying to say?” Finally， the teacher asks the students to say in what way the poem reflects the target culture and the poet's attitude.

C. From the aspect of the extracurricular activities.

It is impossible for the students to depend only on the class hours if they expect to master a foreign language well. So they must make use of extracurricular time fully in order to enlarge their knowledge of target language. As a teacher， he or she should guide students to read some novels， newspapers and magazines in English and cultivate them to accumulate some knowledge about foreign customs and cultural backgrounds etc.

In addition， we should encourage and introduce some suitable foreign films to them. Watching films is imperative because films are like mirrors that can not only reflect social culture but also can lead learners to imitate the native speakers' pronunciation， pure expression and some non-verbal ways such as body language. Moreover， some other activities such as discussion， competition can also be organized.

D. From the aspect of updating curriculum.

With the rapid development of economy and society， we should renew our curriculums in some certain ways. Our courses should keep pace with current times. Furthermore we should offer some courses about social linguistics， cross-cultural communication， etc in universities.

4. Conclusion

Teaching target culture in foreign language education is a perplexing issue in many countries. Yet it is a matter that cannot be avoided. A language is taught in a one-sided manner if its associated culture is neglected or left to accidental association. Foreign language education makes a relatively minor contribution to the general curriculum unless it is culturally illuminating. In China， the question of how to teach foreign culture in the classroom is far more than a pedagogical issue. At the political level， the answer to this question depends upon the manner in which China enters into productive relations with other countries and what China needs to learn from foreign culture. At the educational level， it depends upon the interpretation of the notion of culture， its relationship with language and the role foreign language education.

Needless to say， the cultivation of cross-cultural awareness plays a very important role in this process. In order to achieve the aim of cultivating cross-cultural awareness， we shall sum up some measures such as providing information about culture and helping learners to turn external knowledge into their own internal knowledge and helping learners to understand foreign culture and their home culture on the basis of previous experience and new knowledge and encouraging learners to develop an independent ability to analyze and accept diverse cultures. Studying a foreign language cannot depart from its culture. As the career of teacher， we must try to keep a balance between cross-cultural communication and language studies.

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