Cultivating Intercultural Communicative Competence In TEFL

Language and culture is closely related to each other. Language is a part of culture and is shaped by culture; it is also the carrier of culture and it reflects cultural features of a community in which the language is spoken. From the angle of language teaching and learning, to teach a language is to teach another culture; to learn a language is also to learn another culture. Therefore, language teaching and culture teaching are inseparable. The essential purpose of language teaching is not only to teach linguistic knowledge but also to teach how to use the language appropriately in the intercultural communication. However, there are few researches on culture teaching and how to improve intercultural communicative competence among foreign language learners. The cultivation of Chinese learners’intercultural communicative competence in English language teaching is only in the threshold, where there is still a long way to go.The first textbook on intercultural communication:An Introduction to Intercultural Communication by Condon and Yousef was published in1975. From then on, the research on culture teaching has developed quickly. The development of language and culture teaching in the West shows that nowadays not only cultural knowledge is emphasized, but also communicative behavior is stressed. The traditional teaching methods that focus on knowledge assimilation and behavioral imitation have been surpassed, and the development of learner’s ability has been given high priority in language teaching. In addition, content and process have been considered to be of equal importance. But in China it does not have a long history. In1980s, with the adaptation of the "Open Policy" in economy and other areas in China, language educators became aware that one cannot communicate smoothly and adroitly with native speakers unless he is well informed of the target culture. Thenceforth, more and more scholars and language teachers have come to realize the important role of culture teaching in foreign language teaching. During the development of the culture teaching in China, it can be divided into three periods:from early1980s to late1980s, from late1980s to1990s and from1990s up to now.The author makes an investigation among125students who are either Economics majors or Chemical Engineering majors in Harbin University of Science and Technology. According to questionnaire among110answers, the author draws a conclusion:after carrying out cultural teaching, students’intercultural communicative competence is obviously improved. And there is question:How to cultivate intercultural communicative competence in college English teaching?At the end of this thesis, the author discusses the ways of cultivating intercultural communicative competence in college English teaching, such as changing teachers’ roles, selecting culture-orientated teaching materials, arousing students’ cultural awareness and enriching in-class and out-of-class activities of presenting culture.