Problems of College English Cultural Teaching

孫志格

【Abstract】College English Teaching is directly responsible for providing qualified English talents for the country continuously and stably. However， the practice of College English Teaching in China has long been the traditional teaching model with the language knowledge system as the center， and has paid more attention to developing students language ability， not giving enough attention to culture teaching and cultural study.

In order to reproduce the present situation of College English culture teaching， to find out the specific problems of College English Teaching in cross culture and its roots， to take the strategy to study and reform of College English teaching， and to improve students intercultural communicative competence， this paper gives some practical suggestions for College English teaching based on the theory of Constructivism.

【Key words】College English Teaching； Cross-cultural Communication； Theory of Constructivism

I. Introduction

The Constructivist Learning Theory （CLT） was first put forward by a world-famous Swiss psychologist whose name is Piaget. And as an important branch of cognitive learning theory， CLT defines learning as a process of acquiring knowledge in certain situations with the help of others. Even though there have been many researches about CLT， they seldom combine this theory with non-English major's cultural learning， let alone their intercultural communicative competence （ICC）. Therefore， this paper mainly focuses on how to cultivate non-English majors intercultural communication competence （ICC） from the perspective of CLT.

II. Current Situation of Cultivating ICC for College Students

Despite the consensus viewpoint held by theorists and scholars at home and abroad， it is especially difficult to carry out the cultivation of college students' cultural competence due to the fact that there are still many problems， including examination systems， curriculum design， students' and teachers' culture awareness， traditional teaching method and limited English academic year， which are still stopping the implementation of the cultivation of university students' ICC. It is also a great challenge to cultivate non-English majors' ICC because of limited teaching time and subjects. Therefore， for most non English majors， the study of College English mainly stays in the construction of basic knowledge， such as listening， speaking， reading and writing， while there is no further development for their own communication skills， etc..

It is an undeniable fact that different people may understand the same information differently on different occasions because of their differences in backgrounds， cultures， or ways of thinking， which could cause troubles for everyday communication， business， and even political issues. Universities have also realized that the ultimate goal of students learning English should be connected with ICC. The use of learners and the development of learners have become one of the goals of the University， and even one of the final goals mentioned in the College English Curriculum Requirements.

III. Methodology

In this research， the author chooses 68 sophomores whose majors were nursing and 52 sophomores whose majors were computer science. The methodology used in this paper is open questionnaire.

Open questionnaires are designed for this study. Questions for students include： What is your purpose in learning English？ What methods do you think may be your major way of learning the cultures from other countries？ Is it necessary for you to learn the cultures from other countries in College English learning？

Students' final exam results are used to analyze the language proficiency and social and cultural level of students.

IV. Results

Among all the students who participate in this research， most of them agree that they should try to learn cultures from other countries from College English classes， 18% of all the participants hold that they can learn cultures from other countries by communicating with people from other countries， 11% students argue that watching videos and movies is also a good method to learn cultures from other countries， because they can learn what they are really interested in. However， things change greatly after one-semesters integrated language learning and culture learning， and fewer students hold that they can learn cultures from other countries by learning in English class， because their English teachers seldom teach them cultures from other countries. The results show that the purpose of most foreign language teachers in teaching and learning foreign languages is to enable learners to acquire more language， grammar knowledge and basic language skills， and often separate language teaching from culture teaching.

V. Problems in Intercultural Teaching of College English

Most teachers only pay attention to the knowledge of textbooks， and ignore the teaching and guidance for students to study western culture， and they seldom teach knowledge about cultures to their students， as a result， students know little about the culture of English speaking countries.（Li Zaoxia， 2012）.

In addition， students attitude towards foreign cultures is not reasonable enough. They may only pay attention to the acceptance of knowledge and ignore the use of knowledge.

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