Professor Deng Yanchang once said “…In fact, the learning of a language is inseparable from the learning of its culture.” However, after several years of English study, even college students still find it hard to communicate with English native speakers. It’s not that they don’t have the command of the language forms, but that they lack the knowledge of the target culture. So English teachers should help students acknowledge the culture background in teaching. teaching should focus on culture study and learn the skills of communication.
2. Relationship between language and culture
What is the relationship between language and culture? What role does culture play with language? In any culture or region, language is much more than semantics, much more than what the written page or the spoken word can contain. This especially becomes clear when studying a foreign language and learning the ways of a particular culture. For example, the use of introductions, salutations, everyday sayings, etc. This area in particular gives more weight to culture then to the words themselves. Anyone studying a foreign language has to be bicultural as well as bilingual to speak the new language in a way that it is not disparaging to the culture and its origin. Language does not end at the meaning or the use of words associated to a culture" words represent beliefs, history, and the culture of their origin and they must be used accordingly.
As we all know, language is closely related to culture and can be said as a part of culture. From a dynamic view, language and culture interact with each other and shape each other. Language is the carrier of culture which in turn is the content of language. We can dig out cultural features from language and explain language phenomena with culture.
Idioms as a special form of language exist in both of them and carry a large amount of cultural information such as history, geography, religion, custom, nationality psychology, thought pattern and etc, and therefore are closely related to culture. They are the heritage of history and product of cultural evolvement. Consequently, we can know much about culture through studying idioms and in turn get better understanding of idioms by learning the cultural background behind them.
Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbol
是的，创造性的，双结构多变。它是言语交流的一种方式，人类和动物区分开来。
Culture, one of most widely accepted definition, is the total accumulation of beliefs, customs, values, behaviors, institutions and communication patterns that are shared, learned and passed down through the generations in an identifiable group of people.
文化，一种最广泛接受的定义，是信念，总积累的习俗，价值观，行为，机构和沟通模式，共享，学习和通过在一可识别的一群人的后代。
According to the definitions above, language is a part of culture and plays a very important role in it. Some social scientists consider “Language is the keystone of culture. Without language, culture would not possible”. One the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture. It reflects cultures and is the symbolic representation of a nation. It comprises their historical and cultural backgrounds as well as their approach to life and their ways of living and thinking. J.C. Catford once said, “Meaning is property of a language.” To a certain extent, “meaning” stands for culture. Different society has different culture, and it changes with the change of the society. As cultures are diverse, languages are diverse. Therefore, language should be taught in culture, or culture should be taken into consideration in English language teaching.
根据上述定义，语言是文化的一部分，它起着非常重要的作用。一些社会科学家认为“语言是文化的基石。没有语言，就没有文化的可能”。另一方面，语言又受文化的影响。它反映了文化是一个民族的象征。它包括他们的历史和文化背景以及他们的生活方式以及他们的生活方式和思维。J.C.福德曾经说过，“意义是语言的属性。”在一定程度上，“意义”代表文化。不同的社会有着不同的文化，它的变化与社会的变化。作为文化是多样的，语言是不同的。因此，语言教学和文化，文化在英语教学中应考虑。
3。在英语文化与英语教学的关系。
The Chinese language is part of the Chinese culture and English is part of the English culture. There is no culture that has no language as its part. Language and culture are not separable.They are closely related,each influencing and shaping the other. Human knowledge and experience are described and stored in language. Customs, habits and behavioral patterns can be described and analyzed in language. Social institutions, value systems, beliefs, world views can be described, analyzed and evaluated in language. In short, language can represent every aspect of culture. Language is the mirror of culture.
汉语是中国文化和英语部分是对英国文化的一部分。没有文化，没有语言作为其组成部分。语言与文化是不可分离的。它们是密切相关的，相互影响和塑造其他。人类的知识和经验进行了描述和存储在语言。风俗，习惯和行为模式进行了描述和分析语言。社会制度，价值体系，信仰，世界观可以描述，分析和评价语言。总之，语言反映文化的各个方面。语言是文化的一面镜子。
The close relationship between language and culture is readily shown by the fact that culture is transmitted from one generation to the next through language for the coming generation to learn. While children learn their native language, they also learn their native culture and are eventually accepted as members of their culture. Language learning and culture learning are not separable
语言与文化的密切关系是通过文化传递给下一代人通过语言为即将到来的新一代学习容易证明。当孩子们学习他们的母语，他们也学习自己的母语文化最终被接受作为他们文化的成员。语言学习和文化学习是不可分割的
To teach a foreign language implies to teach the culture of English. English can never be taught in a cultural vacuum in English. Based on the research achievements home and abroad, people came to a common ground that foreign language teaching should focus on cultivating the students’ abilities of cross-cultural communication and their aware本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。
教一门语言意味着教英语的文化。英语永远不会在英国文化的真空教。基于国内外研究成果，人们来到一个共同点，外语教学应注重培养学生的跨文化交际能力和意识的ood-bye, Bye-bye.
4.1.2Ways of addressing
It is easy for us to find that our Chinese addressing are much more complicated than that of westerners. For westerners, it is quite common for them to call each other by given name without worrying about the generation differences. But in China, we rarely come across those situations. So English teachers should inform his or her students of the right way of addressing in front of the foreigners.
In English, we have grandparents, grandfather, grandmother, while in Chinese, we have 祖父，爷爷，奶奶，外婆，外公.
In English, we have ‘uncle’ and ‘aunt’ for those people who are the peers of our parents, while in Chinese, we have 伯伯，叔叔，舅舅等，姑妈，姨妈，婶子等.
Furthermore, in English the lower generation like ‘nephew’ and ‘niece’ have no clear distinction of which part he or she belongs to, the same is true with the word ‘cousin’
Our Chinese people attach great importance to family, and think that the blood is thicker than water. In order to show politeness, we should call those strangers in the way of addressing families. For example, 大爷，大娘，大叔，大婶，大哥，大姐，等等。
The Chinese language has many precise terms for describing family and other relationships. People in China address relatives or close neighbors as二哥，三姐，四婶，周大伯, which should not be carried over into English. English-speaking people address others by using the first name—Tom, Michael, Linda, Jane, etc.—rather than calling the person Mr. Summers, Mrs. Howard or Miss Jones. This applies not only to people of roughly the same age, but also of different ages. It is not a sign of disrespect. It is command to hear a child calling a much older person—Joe, Ben, May, Helen, etc.
Another common Chinese form of address is the use of a person’s title, office, or occupation, such as 黄局长，林经理，马校长. But English native speakers seldom address others in this way.
4.1.3 Ways of praise
Chinese people like to be modest about their own achievement, possessions and so on. This is considered a sign of modesty, but it may seem dishonest to Westerners. Here is a example. A young Chinese lady in the USA was complimented for her beautiful dress, “That’s a lovely dress you have on.” She was quite happy but replied in negative way as most Chinese people do, “No, no, it just a very ordinary dress.” The American felt somewhat embarrassed. This implies that the American’s taste in clothing was questionable. Such situation may cause misunderstanding. Westerners may think it impolite. There is anther example, A foreigner at his Chinese friend’s wedding, he said, “Your wife is very beautiful.” But his friend replied, “No, no, she is ugly.” At hearing this, the foreigner felt angry and left. The Chinese wanted to show this modesty, but in such a situation, native speakers would like to say “Thank you”.
4.2 Cultural differences in colours
People use different colours to express their different moods. Some colours have similar connotations in both cultures, but some are different.
In China, the color Red is often associated with celebrations and joyfu
l days. This is the same in English. For example, Christmas and other special days are printed in red on calendars. These are called red-letter days. In order to give a lavish welcome to distinguished guests, hosts will roll out the red carpet for them.
White has different connotations. White in English represents purity and innocent. So westerners call the wedding day White day. And the bride is always in white wedding clothes. But white in Chinese has another meaning. People in China have white at funerals.
Black in both Chinese and English is associated with negative meanings: blacklist(黑名单), black market(黑市)，black money(黑钱)，a black sheep(害群之马) and a number of others.
Blue has no special association with feelings in Chinese. But in English it represents sadness. In a blue mood means a sad or depressed mood. Similar in meaning are a blue Monday, blue song, blue music.
Blue is also associated with high social position or being aristocratic family. He’s a real blue blood means he’s from a noble family.
Green is often referred to envy by westerners. Green-eyed monster or just green-eyed both have the meaning jealous, envious. Sometimes green is also used to indicate lacking in experience or train, as in The new typist is green at her job.
Yellow appears in English phrased as yellow journalism. But it is not 黄色期刊in Chinese. It is a kind of journalism distorting the fact to create a sensational effect. Yellow Pages in American is a book with the telephone numbers arranged according to different categories.
Other colors also have certain connotations. Teachers should help students understand the colorful words usages.
4.3 Cultural differences in social contact
Anyone who learns a little English knows that the equivalent of Chinese words “谢谢” is “Thank you” in English, but it’s a big knowledge to make use of “Thank you” appropriately in different social circumstances. “Thank you” is widely-used in response to congratulations in English, while such polite formula as “过奖过奖”, “惭愧惭愧” are commonly applied in Chinese. In these cases of communication in English, if we respond literally saying “you flatter me”, or “I feel ashamed” instesd of saying“thank you”, it would rather be indecent. Take another example, a visiting scholar in the U.S. replies in accordance with Chinese customs by saying “No, no, it’s just a very ordinary dress” when somebody comments favorably on the dress she wears with “That’s a lovely dress you have on”. That leads to a pragmatic error. The hearer will believe that such a reply indicates she is unable to tell good from bad. (Deng Yanchang, 1981)
4.4 Cultural differences between China and Western society represent differences of folk custom.
A Chinese saying “Selling dog meat by hanging a sheep head” (挂羊头卖狗肉) rather than “Selling mutton by hanging a dog head” (挂狗头卖羊肉) embodies Chinese tradition that people comment favorably on sheep while unfavorably on dog. Dogs have impressed China mainland so badly that most words and phrases made of “狗” (dog ) are almost derogatory. Chinese words as “走狗，恶狗，看门狗，丧家狗，哈巴狗，狗汉奸” are examples of this kind. “A lost dog”, which
can be associated with “丧家狗”, is doomed to be beaten fiercely by Chinese people, while “a lost dog” would be much more cherished by an American or a British. In American or British culture, “dog” is the substitute of loyalty, is a friend of human beings so that a large number of sayings or proverbs in English concerning with dog are absolutely opposite to those in Chinese with commendatory or at least neutral meanings. For example, “as sick as a dog” is used for a serious patient; “to die a dog’s death” refers to those who die from poverty or other disaster; mercy and sympathy are evident when a dog is used to describe human beings，a person in high rank – a top dog; a lucky person –a lucky dog. “I’m too old a dog to learn any new tricks” is said by senior citizens who assume that it’s too late for them to learn; and “凡人皆有出头之日” is “Every dog has its day”; “爱屋及乌” for lovers is “Love me, love my dog.” We can conclude from the above mentioned examples that “dog and 狗” mean the same animal in Chinese and English, the absolutely identical signified, but their cultural connotations are considerably different
4.5 Cultural differences in allusions
Allusions can not only make the language richer, but also make communication more vivid. Allusions derive from history, legends, literature, religion. Most English allusions involve events or characters from Shakespeare. Many lines from his play are used in daily English: forgive and forget, that’s all Greek to me, all’s well that ends well, all is not gold that glitters.
A large number of characters or names from English and American literature have come to stand for any person with similar traits:
a shylock — a cruel, greedy, money-grabbing person, one who will go to no ends to acquire wealth; from the Merchant of Venice, a play by Shakespeare.
A Sherlock – a detective or shrewd person who has the uncanny ability to track down and quarry or solve any mystery through careful observation, scientific analysis, and logical reasoning; from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s well-known detective stories.
An Uncle Tom – a meek person, especially a black, who submits to indignities and sufferings without any thought or act of rebelling; the main character in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Another source of allusion can be tracked back ancient Greek and Roman civilization. It is natural that the classical Greek and Roman mythic stories are the common and important source of allusions in English.
A Pandora’s box -- a plentiful source of troubles or disaster. It derived from the Greek mythology. The story is that Pandora, the first woman who was punished and sent to the earth by the gods as a form of punishment, was forbidden to open the box sent by the gods. When she opened it at last out of curiosity, all the evils in the box flew out to trouble the earth with endless disaster, and only hope left inside when the box was closed. So the phrase often indicates something which may seem good, but which brings troubles at last.
Trojan horse -- the hidden danger. It originated from the story of huge wooden horse which were towed into Troy, without knowing that it was left by Ulysses. The armed
soldiers inside the horse later opened the city gates for the invading army, which enabled the Greeks to occupy troy.
A Damocles sword -- the danger which will happen in the near future. Damocles is a courtier of ancient Syracuse and served under Dionysius, a tyrant who ruled over Syracuse. Damocles was vainglorious and envied Dionysius greatly. Later Dionysius realized Damocles’ psychology and invited him to a feast; but hanging over Damocles’ head was a sword suspended by a single hair. Damocles sat through the banquet in constant fear.
4.6 Cultural differences in value
Since the Chinese cultural value is different from western countries, therefore we have to deal with such kind of problems as a translator. According to K S Sitaram’s study, Chinese people and westerners have different response to other people’s praise, the different response originate from the different cultural value. In china, modesty is one kind of virtue, it descends from ancient times, we can see a lot of such kind of words which express the speaker’s modesty. For example,“鄙人”(Bi ren)、“拙著”(zhuo zhu)、“寒舍”(han she)、“犬子”(quan zi)……Such kind of expressions are baffled to the western people, because in their social life, self-confidence is one kind of virtue.
Age is also one important aspect of cultural value; the entire nation’s culture has different stress. In China, aged people symbolize wisdom, power and authority, so we often add 老before the appellation. For example,“老师傅”、“老干部”、“老王”……But according to western cultural value, young is very important which means vigorous and promising. So in western people’s mind, it is great important to be young and go on to study. The connotation of“老人”and old man or old lady are quite different, therefore we can not just translate expressions by such way. We have to concern the cultural value of different nations.
In China, the individual benefit is subordinated to the collective profit. Everyone should carry out his own responsibility and prepare to sacrifice the personal interest. The personal fame and success is associated with the collective closely. Here are some Chinese phrases, we can see the cultural reflection from them, such as “光宗耀祖”、为国争光、“给……争光……”
In English-speaking world, the cultural value is quite different from Chinese, individualism is their most important cultural value, the individual potentiality and hobby is in dominant position. The children develop the independent character. Since they are very young, they never attribute their success to their family. So it is totally different from Chinese cultural value. As a translator, we must overcome such kind of elements to provide a better communicative way.
In China, it is acceptable to ask other’s age or salary, but westerners consider these as their privacy. English-speaking people set a high value on privacy. There is a saying: “A man’s home is his castle”. In the USA, every one has his/her own room, no one could come in without permission. So parents can not enter their children’s bedrooms until they are allowed. Once there is a program called Oprah, one of the most popular talk shows in America, giving a topic about a 12-year-old girl accusing her parents of spending her money. It is a shock to Chine
se. Chinese people have a strong feeling of the family. Family members are dependent on and support each other. Most Chinese family members live together and the young are supposed to show filial piety to their parents. If the young work in another place which is far from their parents, they will manage to visit their parents and send some money to them.
Another difference is that Chinese usually advocate collectivism, while in English speaking countries, they focus on Individualism. Individualism is the core of western culture. To westerners, self-reliance and independence are important, and it is considered weak to be dependent on others. Here is a story: Once Mr. Huang, a famous film director in China, visited abroad. He saw a disabled person turning his wheel-chair upwards with all his effort. Mr. Wang went to help him, but the man stared at him angrily instead of saying “thank you”. Why? It is a terrible loss that he is dependent on others, in his opinion.
4.7 Cultural differences in religious beliefs
The traditional Western belief about human nature is that humans are basically evil. According to the Bible, all humans have been born with original sin. The western world believes in is take God as central Christianity. When they use the word God, the image in their mind are likely to One God who is all powerful. They believe that humans must be saved and accept God to become good.
In China, people have accepted the teachings of Confucius and Taoism. Chinese believe that humans are basically good. Children are pure and innocent but may become bad as they grow up. They also believe in Buddhism which was spread in from ancient India thousands of years ago. When they say the word god, their images are many gods but with limited power.
The religious difference leads to aesthetics difference. The word dragon can be found in both Chinese and English. In China, the dragon is not only beautiful, but also the symbol of Chinese. It represents power, strength and good luck. Chinese people call themselves the descendants of the dragon. However, the dragon is a monster to westerners. It is the symbol of evil. That is why “亚洲四小龙” is translated as “the four tigers of Asia” in English.
4.8 Cultural differences in body language
When people converse with others, they communicate by much more than words. In the social interaction，body language is believed to comprise up to 90% of our communication. By our expressions, gestures and other body movements, we send messages to the other people. Like verbal language, body language is also a part of our culture. It is important to understand that one culture set of acceptable body language gestures or movements may not be translated with the same meaning in another culture. So in order to communicate effectively in English, one should know the gestures, body movements, etc. that accompany a particular language.
It is a sign of friendship in China that two men walk hand in hand or with an arm around another's shoulder. However, it is regarded as homosexual in America.
Eye contact is an important part of body language. In the United States, it is respectful to use eye cont
act with the person whom is talked to. It implies that the listener is listening to the speaker. In China, Chinese women would regard direct eye contact as rudeness.
When meeting others, Chinese usually shake hands or nod to show respect or friendliness. In America, people often hug or kiss to show friendliness, which is quite embarrassing and awkward for Chinese, especially between the opposite sex. In China, kissing is only for lovers or parents to children.
The OK hand gesture in America and England, is quite popular and considered a general gesture that denotes an agreement of sentiment. But this is merely used in China. Chinese prefer thumb up to express an agreement. It is also used in both Britain and America and equivalent to the OK gesture.
When some Chinese people drink hot soup, they often blow(吹) the surface of the soup first. Moreover, they may make some sound when they eat it. Americans regard this as impolite, because in their culture, making a sound when eating is bad manners. On the other hand, Chinese view Americans’ eating with their hands as dirty.
There are many other differences in body language. It takes time to appreciate the difference in body languages. Only in this way, one can understand it and avoid offending anyone.
The above are lots of differences between Chinese and western cultures. If you don’t know these differences, you may not communicate with westerners effectively. Native speakers will forgive grammar mistakes you make, but can not tolerate culture mistakes. So when teaching English, English teachers should help students be familiar with English culture as much as possible.
5. Difficulties in teaching English culture
5.1 The direction of examination-oriented education system and its requirement
At present, the aim of English education is not to help students learn how to communicate with foreigners, but to gain commercial profits. To judge the quality of a teacher, the education bureau only care about grades his students make in exams, especially in middle schools. In order to make students to get high marks, English teachers let students do a large number of practices. Most students can get good marks in English exams. However, they are weak in listening and speaking and cannot communicate with foreigners directly.
5.2 The circumstance of English language learning for students
English teachers in China, especially in middle schools, are Chinese. Their mother tongue is Chinese. They share the same culture background with their students. So their communication is not cross-cultural communication. English is one of the several subjects they have to study at school. They are busy reciting words, phrases and doing exercises.
6. Steps of teaching English language in culture
6.1 Changing English teachers’ teaching opinions
In China, teachers still play the lead role in class. If tea
chers only emphasis English grammar and phrases, students can not gain the ability of cross-cultural communication. We should change our mind on teaching, and realize the risk of cultural conflicts. As English teachers, we must keep on studying, improve our own ability and explore new skills of teaching. In the process of teaching, we can accumulate the data of western culture.
6.2 Optimizing the circumstance of English learning for students
Circumstance is very important in influencing people’s life and personality. And also, it is important in learning language. As a compulsory course for junior and primary students in China, English is becoming more and more important. But the problem is how to learn English efficiently. Learners at home usually have little time to listen to or speak English. Except that they can speak English in their English classes for 40 or 45 minutes only, they have no chance to speak English, no chance to listen to English, even no chance to feel the existence of English. So, as teachers, the most impotent thing to do is to solve the problem, by creating a language circumstance, stimulating their initiative in learning English
The aim of learning a language is to communicate with others. In middle schools, the most difficult problem to learn English language is the lack of English circumstance. We should organize various activities and introduce students to read some short English stories. We can also arrange them to watch English cartoons, such as The Lion King and Shrek. We should do what we can to arouse the students to study English.
7. Conclusion
语言不能脱离文化。这是不可能学好一门语言，没有学习文化。同时，它有助于传播和传承文化。每个人都有自己的文化。因此，一个英语老师不仅仅教英语，也教文化。由于传统教学理论的影响，我国英语教学仍有很长的距离要走。我们应该尽力帮助培养学生的跨文化意识，使他们可以知道说什么或做什么不能说或做的。然而，这可能需要数年时间来实现这一目标，正如老话说罗马不是一天建成的。如果我们继续努力，永不放弃，我们会成功的一天。