高中英语阅读中文化背景知识的传授
On Teaching Cultural Background Knowledge in English
Reading at Senior Middle Schools
Abstract
People like to use the \village\to describe the present world. Because of frequent cross-economy, cross-culture communication, the world has become smaller and smaller. In view of frequent international communication and the international status of English, Chinese must learn English well so as to catch up with the world.
Broadly speaking, learning a foreign language is learning that nation's culture .When we study English，we should study cultures related to English speaking countries. English reading is a very important aspect in English learning, and it is deeply influenced by cultural background knowledge. In the process of teaching English reading, teachers should teach students cultural background knowledge which is very important for students to improve their reading ability. The English teaching reform has been implemented for many years, and the syllabus also puts more and more attention to cultural background knowledge teaching. But the current situation of reading teaching in senior middle schools is not satisfactory. In China, reading has long been viewed as a passive process. Most teaching methods adopted in reading class are simply to read the text quickly, retell the text, answer questions, do multiple choices and so on. The result of such teaching methods is that students lose their interest in learning and neglect the acquisition of cultural background knowledge. Students always misunderstand text even if they know the meanings of every word because of lacking cultural background knowledge. There is a long way to go to change the situation.
The main causes of misunderstanding in English learning are multiple. However the fundamental reasons are the fact that Chinese and westerners are different in thinking pattern, ethical standard and value system, religion, custom and so on. To solve these problems, we need to recognize the importance of teaching cultural background knowledge in senior middle schools and familiarize the principles used to teach cultural background knowledge in English reading. As an English teacher, he or she should have a good command of some roads and ways to teaching cultural background knowledge, and put them into the teaching of English reading flexibly, such as enhancing teacher?s own
cultural background knowledge, changing teacher?s role and improving students?autonomy, assigning extensive reading task to students, selecting appropriate reading materials, properly using multi-media and adopting initiative teaching approach. Only by this way can we greatly improve students? reading ability.
Key words: culture background knowledge; English reading; senior middle school
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内容摘要
人们常常用地球村来描绘当今社会，由于频繁的国际经济、文化交流，世界变得越来越小了。基于英语的国际交流中的频繁应用及国际语言的角色，中国人们必须学好英语与世界接轨。
学习一门外语，广义上来说，就是学习那个国家的文化，我们学习英语也就是要学习英美国家的文化。英语阅读是英语学习中的一个重要方面，也受一定的文化背景知识的影响。英语阅读教学中，文化背景知识的传授对提高学生的理解能力具有很大的帮助。英语教育改革在我国已施行多年，教学大纲也越来越重视文化背景知识的传授。但是高中阅读传授的现状还是不容乐观。在中国，有相当长的时间里阅读被看成一个被动过程。老师在课堂上采用的阅读教学方法都是简单的快速读课文、复述课文、回答问题、做选择题等。这样导致学生失去了学习英语的兴趣，忽略文化背景助手的获得。学生在阅读过程中由于文化背景知识的缺少，即使知道每个词的意思都很可能理解错误。要改变高中英语阅读教学的现状，我们还有很多需要改进。
导致英语阅读学习中这些问题的因素很多，基本因素上中西方拥有不同的思维模式、不同的道德准则和价值体系、不同的地理特征及不同的宗教习惯。解决这一难题必须认识到高中传授文化背景知识的重要性和了解文化背景知识传授的原则。作为一名英语教师还必须掌握并能灵活运用一些文化背景知识的传授方法，如：扩展教师自身的文化背景知识、变换老师角色提高学生的学习自主性、设计学生的泛读任务、合理选材、合理利用多媒体及运用主动性教学法等。只有这样才能大大提高学生的阅读能力。
关键词：文化背景知识；英语阅读；高中
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 0 1 Some Remarks about Teaching Cultural Background Knowledge in English Reading at Senior Middle Schools ..... 2
1.1 A Brief Survey of Culture ............................................................................................................ 1.2 Importance of Teaching Cultural Background Knowledge in English Reading at Senior Middle Schools ............................................................................................................................................... 4
1.2.1 Requirements of Current Teaching Condition in English Reading ................................... 5 1.2.2 Requirements of Reading Process ..................................................................................... 8
2 Causes of Misunderstanding in English Reading at Senior Middle Schools ........................................ 12
2.1 Different in Thinking Patterns ...................................................................................................
2.1.1 Integrative Thinking Vs Analytical Thinking ................................................................. 2.1.2 Concrete Thinking Vs Abstract Thinking .......................................................................
12 12 13 2
2.1.3 Subjective Consciousness Vs Objective Consciousness ................................................. 14 2.2 Different in Ethical Standards and Value Systems ............................................................ 14 2.3 Different in Geographical Features ............................................................................................ 15 2.4 Different in Religions and Customs ........................................................................................... 16 3.1 Principals of Teaching Cultural Background Knowledge .......................................................... 18
3.1.1 Immerse students into original material .......................................................................... 18 3.1.2 Encourage students to respond to the content of a reading text ...................................... 18 3.1.3 Match the task to the topic .............................................................................................. 19 3.2 Possible Ways of Teaching Cultural Background Knowledge in Senior Middle School ..........
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3.2.1 Enhancing Teacher?s Cultural Background Knowledge................................................. 20 3.2.2 Changing Teacher?s Role and Improving Student?s Autonomy ..................................... 22 3.2.3 Assigning Extensive Reading Task to Students .............................................................. 24 3.2.4 Selecting Appropriate Reading Materials ....................................................................... 28 3.2.5 Properly Using Multimedia ............................................................................................. 29 3.2.6 Adopting Initiative Teaching Approach .......................................................................... 30
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 33 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................ Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. 错误！未定义书签。
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Introduction
Learning a foreign language is learning the nation?s culture that contains two aspects. One aspect is to learn their cultural knowledge; the other is to learn the language which is considered as the carrier of culture. English
reading is an importance aspect of English learning, and it is influenced by cultural background knowledge. Reading is a principal part of English learning. In English learning, elements which influence reading are multiple such as linguistic knowledge, cultural background knowledge, language skills, and intelligent factors, so on and so forth. Mastering linguistic knowledge of phonetics, vocabulary, grammar is helpful to decode word symbols. However in the process of reading, many Chinese students have already acquired the above knowledge, but they still cannot comprehend texts comprehensively and thoroughly, so understanding the cultural contents of what one reads is very crucial to reading comprehension.
Language is the carrier of culture, people?s wordsand deeds reflect certain cultural background knowledge consciously or unconsciously. Every social community possesses its own certain thinking patterns, values, customs, and ways of life. For “the influence of background knowledge to comprehension is larger than language knowledge., many studies indicate ”that without sufficient background knowledge of social culture, the readers cannot comprehend the deep meanings of texts. The importance of teaching cultural background knowledge is widely recognized and accepted. In China, some linguistic scholars and English teachers have been dealing with cultural interference in intercultural communication and reading. Even though, some problems still remain and deserve further study. Far less attention is attached to culture features in reading practice. Courses and materials of target culture
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最新高中英语阅读中文化背景知识的传授
