A Study Of Teaching English Culture In Senior High Schools

The globalization leads to an increasing demand for more qualified personnel capable of intercultural communication, thus resulting in the requirement that foreign culture should be included in the foreign language teaching. The development of language theories and the requirements of new English Curriculum Standards have made it explicit that the aim of foreign language teaching is to develop students' competence for intercultural communication. Consequently, culture teaching should be treated as an indispensable component, not a trivial and supplementary teaching method, in the area of China's foreign language teaching.Discussing the necessity and significance of culture teaching and proposing a possible teaching mode, this thesis consists of seven chapters. Chapter 1 gives a general introduction to the status quo of culture teaching both at home and abroad and presents the objectives and significance of culture teaching research. The definition and features of culture and the relationships between language and culture will be investigated in detail in Chapter 2, with an attempt to reach a conclusion that culture teaching should be an indispensable part of English language teaching in China. Theories and modes of intercultural communication are introduced in Chapter 3 where the significance of culture is emphasized. Chapter 4 explores the relationship between language acquisition and culture acquisition, as well as the difference between second culture acquisition and ethnical culture acquisition, to be followed by an introduction of Moran's culture learning mode. The development of culture teaching, the aims and requirements of new English Curriculum Standards, a survey for the revelation of the current situation of culture teaching in senior high schools, together with problems students encounter in their English study, are examined closely in Chapter 5. Based on the analyses made previously and the findings from the survey, a possible culture teaching mode is proposed, with the detailed information about the objectives, contents, principles, strategies and assessments. Chapter 6 describes an experiment with its theoretical basis, aims, contents, procedure, subjects, variables, strategies. An analysis based on the statistics of the experiment is produced, followed by a summary on the experiment. The last chapter, which is the conclusive part of the dissertation, reiterates the significance of culture teaching and lists some unresolved problems of culture teaching in senior high schools to attract further study.