On Intercultural Education In Middle School English Teaching

Rising in the 1980's,intercultural communication is a new disciplinary field of study which incorporates culture in language communication under different cultural backgrounds.Some of the most important areas of research addressed by intercultural scholars are how the foreign cultures can be understood,how the foreign cultures are valued in communication, and how the stereotyping* can be minimized when people communicate with others from different cultures.With constant deepening of opening up and reform,China has enhanced its influences on the world stage. More and more frequent and broad exchanges have been conducted between China and other countries in the world.As Chinese people's understandings of intercultural communication have deepened and much stress laid on intercultural education,many universities and colleges in China have offered intercommunication course for English majors' undergraduates or evenfor postgraduates, which has attracted great attentions from the students as well as the society and has produced positive influence on them.However,there are much less sufficient attentions attached to intercultural education in the middle school English teaching.Few intercultural contents can be observed in the textbooks of middle schools.When offering intercultural education, English teachers tend to remain at the level of only imparting knowledge to the students, which has far behind the demands of the reality and fails to reach the target of language learning,i.e.communication. This thesis analyzes the important influences of intercultural education over our life by beginning with the original meaning of culture and with the intercultural contents. Aimed at attracting people's more cares and support,this thesis also deals with the significance,contents and approaches of intercultural education in middle school English teaching from the perspective of globalization,in the hope of offering some help for intercultural education in China's middle school English teaching and in the hope of taking a new road when English teaching encounters the greatly intercultural challenges.This thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter begins with Introduction. The second chapter deals with the significance and goal of intercultural education in middle school English teaching. The contents of intercultural education in middle school English teaching are discussed in the third chapter.The fourth chapter talks about the approaches,strategies and tentative practices of intercultural education in middle school English teaching.The chapter ends with Conclusion.