The Influence Of Background Knowledge On English Reading Comprehension And Teaching Strategies

English reading ability is the ability to use English knowledge comprehensively.It is not enough to rely solely on language knowledge to understand the surface meaning of discourse.From the perspective of language teaching,background knowledge refers to the sum of a person's existing overall knowledge and special knowledge about a certain topic.Cultural background knowledge is a very important factor in reading comprehension.Reading comprehension is an extremely complex and dynamic psychological activity and information processing process,and it is also a comprehensive and complex skill.It is not a one-way information receiving activity,nor a process of obtaining meaning by decoding words,sentences and texts,but a dynamic process of interaction between readers' existing language knowledge,background knowledge and reading texts.Language and culture are produced at the same time and are interdependent.In recent years,cultural background knowledge has been paid attention to in reading teaching.Practice has proved that the understanding of cultural background knowledge is helpful to improve reading comprehension.Therefore,it is very important for readers to know the cultural background knowledge.With a certain understanding of western cultural background knowledge,students can grasp the language essence and ideological connotation of English more quickly and accurately,so they can learn and use English more accurately,which is especially helpful for English reading and understanding.Reading comprehension is a complicated process of interaction between language and thinking.It is not enough to understand the surface meaning of a text only by language knowledge.We should broaden our knowledge in different ways and consciously overcome non-linguistic barriers,so as to improve our ability to understand the text content.English reading ability is a comprehensive ability,and English articles have various genres,sometimes containing rich cultural knowledge,and sometimes hiding specific background knowledge.Some articles,though they didn't come across a new word during reading.There is no grammatical barrier,but without certain cultural background knowledge,you don't know what you are talking about.Language learning is not an isolated process.Any language is used by people living in a certain language area through oral or written communication in a certain context.For Chinese high school students who learn English as a foreign language,the main factors affecting reading ability are not only language knowledge and reading skills,but also cultural background knowledge.Based on my own teaching practice,the author summarizes the feasible ways to spread cultural background knowledge,such as teachers' introduction and explanation,guiding students to read and organizing discussions,etc.In a word,it has become an inevitable trend to impart cultural background knowledge as well as language knowledge and reading skills in senior high school English reading teaching.Combined with reading teaching practice and related theories,the author thinks that there is a close relationship between cultural background knowledge and reading comprehension.In the process of cultivating and improving reading ability,learners should pay attention to the accumulation of cultural background knowledge and consciously expand their knowledge,which is of great help to cultivate students' comprehensive ability to use English.The purpose of this study is to apply cultural background knowledge to English reading teaching in senior high schools,to expand students' knowledge,stimulate students' thirst for knowledge,promote their understanding of reading materials,and cultivate and improve their reading ability and interest.Make students and teachers understand the characteristics and advantages of cultural background knowledge,and make better use of cultural background knowledge on the basis of analyzing the present situation of reading teaching in senior high schools,which will contribute to the long-term development of reading teaching in senior high schools.The fundamental purpose of English teaching is to achieve cross-cultural communication,is to communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.To improve the efficiency and quality of English teaching in a large area and in an all-round way,and to greatly improve the students' English application ability,is not only an urgent need for the development of China national economy,but also an urgent task for English teaching in middle schools across the century.In order to achieve this goal,we need to correctly realize that cross-cultural communication teaching is an important link in middle school English teaching,which should be paid attention to by the majority of middle school English teachers.Language learning is not an isolated process.Any language is used by people living in a certain language area in a certain context(context)through oral or written communication.A particular language is always closely related to the nation or country that uses it,as well as its historical,cultural and social background,and has its profound cultural connotation.The English curriculum standard(experiment)of ordinary high school clearly points out that language has rich cultural connotation.In English teaching,culture mainly refers to the history,geography,local customs,traditional customs,lifestyle,culture and art,norms of conduct and values of English-speaking countries.To contact and understand the culture of English-speaking countries is conducive to the understanding and use of English,and to the formation of cross-cultural(intercultural communication or cross-cultural communication)ability.In high school English teaching,teachers should emphasize the teaching of cultural background as an important aspect of reading teaching.It can not only expand students' knowledge,stimulate students' desire for knowledge,but also promote their understanding of reading materials,cultivate and improve their reading ability and interest.This paper intends to analyze the obstacles caused by cultural background differences to high school English reading from the following aspects in order to attract enough attention in English reading teaching.