A Case Study Of Cultural Teaching Among Junior High School Teachers Under The New Curriculum Standard

With the deepening of the reform of English curriculum, the idea to “strengthenthe applied and communicative use of language rather than grammar” is becomingmore and more popular. Just as the author of Language and Culture (1988) DengYanchang and Liu Runqing said, language, at least, has two rules: one is structuralrule, the other one is application rule. The structural rule of language mainly refers towords, sentence structures, grammar and so on, that is, understanding of the basicstructures of language. Application rule of language, on the other hand, aims for afluent and natural communication in authentic cross-cultural communicativesituations by using the language properly and efficiently. Both the structural rule andapplication rule are indispensable in language learning. Without any of the rules, it ishard to guarantee the realization of the essential attribution of language as acommunicative tool.Judging from our country’s examination of English subject at present, we canfind that the structural rule of language has already become the focus in our country’sEnglish teaching. Then, is due attention also given to the application rule of languagein our country’s English teaching? How to ensure the application rule of language?From these questions comes the necessity of this study. This study is to investigate theproportion of that cultural teaching takes in junior high schools’ English teaching, assufficient and meaningful cultural teaching can ensure that application rule keeps itsplace. As a result, it can promote the proper use of the language, that is, thecommunicative as well as applied use of language. After the investigation, there willbe some suggestions to promote English cultural teaching according to the results ofthe investigation.By means of interview, classroom observation and questionnaire survey, andwith8English teachers and220students involved, the study obtains the currentsituation of English cultural teaching in Jinan No.12Middle School and proposessome targeted advices. Through the case study of this school’s English teachers, it iseasy to see that English cultural teaching is not attached due attention in current English teaching. English teachers are constricted by the pressure of tests as well astheir own limits in English cultural knowledge and accomplishment. As a result, it isdifficult to put the English cultural teaching into real English teaching practice. Inresponse to this phenomenon, this thesis proposed some suggestions to theeducational authorities, junior high schools as well as English teachers, with the hopeof drawing people’s attention to English cultural teaching and to carry on culturalteaching effectively in the daily teaching. At the same time, it is also hoped that thisthesis could give some inspiration to other English teachers in other schools. The mostessential purpose is to promote English teaching to get closer to the final aims set bythe new English Curriculum Standard, which is to cultivate students’ comprehensiveability of using the language.This thesis is composed of seven chapters. The first chapter is an introduction,which states the proposal of the research question and the significance of the study.The second one is literature review, including the close relationship between languageand culture as well as the current situation in this area, home and abroad. The thirdchapter is a review of today’s English cultural teaching, in which the aims set by thenew English Curriculum Standard such as the contents, principles and methods ofEnglish cultural teaching are exhibited. The research is carried out in the fourthchapter by means of interview, classroom observation and questionnaire survey.Authentic data and results are obtained, which, with qualitative and quantitativeresearch methods, are analyzed and discussed in the fifth chapter. The sixth chaptergives a summary of nowadays’ cultural teaching in junior high school, including thecurrent situation of English teachers, students and the whole English cultural teaching.Besides, some suggestions about English cultural teaching are also given. The lastchapter is the conclusion of the thesis.