A Study Of Cultural Introduction In English Class In Senior High School

The development of economic globalization and internet has established the status of English as a lingua franca.Meanwhile,cultural issues also have aroused a wide concern because of the proposal of the “Belt and Road” Initiative.Since language is the carrier of culture,the relevance of cultural introduction to language teaching has been recognized by plenty of scholars.Hence,this study aims at investigating the current situation and influencing factors of cultural introduction in senior high schools as well as putting forward some corresponding suggestions for its implementation.Based on acculturation and intercultural communication theory,questionnaire,classroom observation and interview serve as instruments to investigate 286 students and37 teachers from two senior high schools in Maoming,Guangdong province.The study explores four aspects from the perspective of students,including attitudes towards cultural introduction,channels of learning culture,evaluation of the implementation of cultural introduction and their expectations of cultural introduction.Besides,it also explores six dimensions from the perspective of teachers,namely attitudes towards cultural introduction,teachers’ cultural literacy,teaching contents,teaching methods,sources of teaching materials and difficulties of cultural introduction.The followings are the research questions in present study: 1)What is the current situation of cultural introduction in English class in senior high school? 2)What are the factors influencing cultural introduction in English class in senior high school?By utilizing SPSS 23.0 to analyze the quantitative data from questionnaires and classroom observation as well as by analyzing qualitative data from interview,findings of the study are presented as follows.In total,both teachers and students hold a positive attitude towards cultural introduction in English class in senior high schools.Besides,though students have high expectations for cultural introduction,few channels are provided for them to acquire cultural knowledge.Additionally,as for teachers,less attention is paid to cultural introduction in English class.To be specific,teaching contents are not abundant,and the teaching methods are not diverse enough in conducting cultural introduction.In addition,it is still a challenge for teachers to acquire appropriate teaching materials and conduct cultural introduction.Further,teachers’ cultural literacy needs to be improved.In short,the current situation of cultural introduction is unsatisfactory in senior high schools.Moreover,four factors influencing the implementation of cultural introduction are summarized,namely,teachers’ perception of cultural introduction,training in cultural teaching,access to appropriate teaching materials of cultural introduction and level of teachers’ cultural literacy.Based on the above findings,some relevant implications are put forward to enhance the current situation of cultural introduction.As for teachers,they are supposed to change their perception of cultural introduction.Besides,the cultural teaching training for teachers should be strengthened.In addition,more sources to obtain appropriate materials can not be ignored.And some corresponding measures should be taken to cultivate teachers’ cultural literacy.Further,to meet students’ high expectation to learn culture,more extracurricular cultural activities ought to be provided.