A Study Of English Culture Teaching In Chinese Universities-from The Perspective Of Cultural Ecology

It is known that English has been spreading to almost every corner of the world and it hasbecome an international language. There is no doubt that English has provided convenience forinternational communication and trade and it has made a great contribution to the developmentand progress of the world. However, language and culture are inseparable. With the wide spreadof the English language, English culture has also flooded into non-English-speaking countries.Western values and life styles with the help of technology and media exert influence on thelanguage and culture of other nations from different perspectives. This phenomenon has beentermed as“cultural imperialism”by some experts. Some scholars show great concern about thetrend: with the spreading of English and its culture, languages and cultures ofnon-English-speaking countries may be assimilated and gradually die out just as some species innature. Thus, they put forward the theory of cultural ecology which advocates protection ofcultural diversity.Ecology is a term of biology, which shows the harmonious relationship between organismand the organic or inorganic environment around it. Some experts have endowed it withlinguistic meaning and put forward the concept of cultural ecology. Cultural ecology is a newfield of linguistic research, which dates back to the 1960s and 1970s. Cultural ecology remindspeople of the importance of cultural diversity and requires people to treat different culturesequally and endeavor to eliminate cultural imperialism and maintain the harmonious coexistenceof various cultures.English as an international language almost dominates the global market of foreignlanguage education. It is also true in China. Most English teachers focus on the teaching ofEnglish culture while they seldom mention traditional Chinese culture. The different attitudestowards English culture and other cultures have misguided the students. They believe Englishculture is better and more important than national culture, so they pay less attention to Chineseculture and even follow the foreign traditions in their daily life. This paper makes use ofquestionnaire and interview to conduct an empirical study to verify the actual condition ofculture teaching in college. Through the investigation, it can be concluded that concern about the extinction of Chinese culture is reasonable and it is necessary to protect national culture in theprocess of English teaching.The author believes English teaching that is responsible for the introduction of Englishlanguage and culture plays an important role in upholding and protecting national culture.English teachers should realize the importance of protection of national culture and guide thestudents to love and respect their own culture. And teachers should help the students establishcorrect learning objectives and let them know that the aim of learning English and its culture isto absorb and make use of the excellent things abroad and promote our national culture. Englishteaching is bidirectional, and protecting national culture and absorbing foreign cultural treasuresare equally important. English teachers should assume the responsibility to develop the students’comprehensive cross-cultural awareness.