Cultivating Middle School Students' Cultural Awareness:from The Perspective Of English Teachers' Perceptions

Cultural awareness is one of the key competences that middle school students are expected to develop.Given the close relationship between language and culture,scholars at home and abroad have conducted ever increasing researches mainly investigating the approaches,influential factors and strategies of fostering high school students' and undergraduates' cultural awareness.However,there are relatively few studies focusing on middle school English teachers' perceptions on the cultivation of students' cultural awareness.Therefore,middle school English teachers' perceptions on the cultivation of their students' cultural awareness should be explored further.This research integrates the quantitative method and qualitative method to answer the following research questions: 1.What is the status quo of middle school English teachers' perceptions on the cultivation of students' cultural awareness? 2.How do middle school English teachers cultivate their students' cultural awareness? 3.Are there any disparities between English teachers' perceptions and teaching practice in the cultivation of their students' cultural awareness? If so,what are the influential factors and how to overcome the obstacles? Teachers' questionnaires with 247 respondents are designed,in which the differences in their perceptions on the cultivation of their students' cultural awareness are unpacked in terms of their genders,ages,education backgrounds,majors and the areas where the schools are located.In an effort to further investigate the respondents' perceptions on the cultivation of their students' cultural awareness and the barriers in practice,7 of them have been interviewed.In order to inquire into the mismatches between the respondents' teaching practice and perceptions on the cultivation of their students' cultural awareness,and to explore the factors and effective ways to foster their students' cultural awareness,6 of them have been observed in their classrooms.The questionnaire results show that there are no conspicuous differences in the respondents' perceptions on the cultivation of their students' cultural awareness in genders and majors,but there are significant differences in ages,education backgroundsand the areas where the schools are located.Although most of them state that their students lack cultural awareness,they assure that they are capable of cultivating their students' cultural awareness.According to the interview results,it is found out that the main factors affecting the cultivation of students' cultural awareness include: heavy tasks in English teaching,academic burden and few relevant trainings on education and teaching.The results of the classroom observations suggest that the proportion of cultural questions in the tests is quite limited,and there are disparities between English teachers' teaching practice and their perceptions on the cultivation of their students' cultural awareness,which are mainly affected by the already limited time in class,the selection and utilization of teaching resources and the pressure for entering high schools.Therefore,the author has summarized the measures as follows.Middle school English teachers should attach great importance to the layouts of classrooms and corridors so as to play the role of a hidden culture;more opportunities should be provided for them to exchange teaching ideas and teaching methods in the cultivation of their students' cultural awareness;the proportion of cultural questions in the tests and examinations should be increased.This study analyzes the respondents' perceptions on the cultivation of their students' cultural awareness,provides authentic samples of middle school English teaching and has implications for cultural teaching.