Paper Keywords English teaching differences between Chinese and Western cultures, Western cultural awareness

Abstract: Cultivating students' communicative competence in English is the ultimate goal of English teaching. In the process of communication, students will encounter obstacles in vocabulary and grammar, as well as communication obstacles caused by cultural conflicts. However, in English teaching in China, teachers usually pay attention to explaining words, sentence patterns and grammar knowledge, while ignoring the explanation and introduction of western culture. Language is always attached to culture, and language learning should also be carried out under a certain cultural background. Starting with analyzing the differences between Chinese and western cultures in daily communication, this paper puts forward several methods to cultivate students' awareness of western culture in the teaching process.

English, as a foreign language, should be taught and learned through language knowledge learning and skill training in listening, speaking, reading and writing, and penetrate western cultural knowledge about politics, culture, local customs, customs and habits, so as to cultivate students' cultural communication ability.

Cultural differences between China and the West.

1. address format

China people's kinship terms tend to be generalized, not only between relatives, but also among non-relatives. Young people say to their elders? Uncle? 、? Aunt? ; Weigh your peers? Big brother? 、? Sister? . But in English, kinship terms are not widely used in social activities. What if we call each other in communication? Uncle Green? 、? Aunt Brown? The other party will feel very uncomfortable. In englishization, such kinship terms are only used when the relationship is very close, and there is no surname behind them, only a first name, such as? Uncle Tom? . For example,? Teacher? This word. On the campus of China, we naturally address teachers? Teacher Wang? 、? Teacher Zhang? 、? Miss Li? . We not only put? Teacher? This word is regarded as a title and a way of respect. In western countries, what about teachers? This is just a profession, not a title, so if your name is Mr. Green? Mr. Green? , obviously not correct. The other party will feel very uncomfortable after listening. In English, you can address each other? Miss. ? 、? Ma' am 、? Sir? Wait a minute. What needs to be emphasized here is that if a woman is married or unmarried, it is best to call her? Lady? .

send/give one's regards to

People in China like to ask each other's name, age, company and income when they meet. Westerners hate being asked personal questions such as age and income. People in China and acquaintances in Lu Yu always greet each other. Have you eaten? Where are you going? Go to work? ? Wait a minute. In our opinion, this is a polite greeting. But what if you greet westerners like this? Have you eaten? Where are you going? ? They will think that you will invite him to dinner or interfere in his private affairs, which will cause misunderstanding. Westerners usually greet each other when they meet. Hello! Hello! The weather is good. Isn't it? Isn't it? ?

polite

China people pay attention to modesty. Are you particular when dealing with people? Humble yourself and respect others? Taking this as a virtue is a polite phenomenon with China cultural characteristics. When others praise us, we often belittle ourselves to show modesty and courtesy. Western countries do not have such cultural habits. Always say cheerfully when praised? Thank you? Express acceptance. Due to the cultural differences between China and the West, we think that Westerners are overconfident and have no modesty. When westerners hear that China people deny others' praise, or deny their own achievements, or even belittle themselves, they will be very surprised and think that China people are dishonest.

4. Privacy

China people's concept of privacy is relatively weak, and they think that individuals should belong to the collective, and together they should pay attention to unity, friendship and mutual care. Therefore, China people are often willing to know the ups and downs of others, and the other party is willing to tell them frankly. Westerners, on the other hand, attach great importance to personal privacy and space, and are unwilling to mention their own affairs to others too much, let alone let others interfere. Therefore, China and the West often have conflicts on privacy issues. For example, when people meet for the first time in China, in order to get closer to each other, there are always some personal issues, such as age, marriage, income and so on. English-speaking countries, on the other hand, resent this and think that these problems are an invasion of personal privacy. In western countries, age is a sensitive topic. People in English-speaking countries want to look energetic and youthful in each other's eyes and keep their actual age secret, especially women. Similarly, for China people's common greetings:? Where are you going? ? In the eyes of foreigners, it is also a kind of privacy snooping, which should be avoided in the process of communicating with foreigners.

5. Thanks and thanks

China people seldom use it among family members? Thank you? . If you use it, you will alienate each other. And in English-speaking countries? Thank you. ? It is used in almost all occasions, among all people, even between parents and children, brothers and sisters. Send a bottle of drink and prepare a delicious meal, and the other party will say? Thank you. ? No matter what others do for you in business, you should say hello. Thank you. ? This is the minimum etiquette. When others offer them help, services or food, even if China people really want to accept it, the answer is usually: thank you. No, don't bother. ? This shows the implication and euphemism of China people. And foreigners will say it directly if they accept it? Yes, please. ? When you refuse, you will directly say:? No, thanks. ? This reflects the directness and frankness of foreigners.

There are many differences between China and western cultures. In English teaching, we should not only attach importance to language teaching, but also strengthen the cultural introduction of language and attach importance to the influence of language and cultural differences on language. Only in this way can we use language correctly in practice.

Second, ways to cultivate students' cultural awareness

1. Pay attention to introduce the cultural meaning of English words and cultivate students' cultural awareness.

English words have accumulated rich cultural meanings in long-term use, so in teaching, teachers should pay attention to the introduction of cultural meanings of English words to prevent students from making subjective evaluations simply from the words themselves. When we see English. He is a wolf. ? This sentence, I thought? This man is very powerful? , is it? He's a lecherous? . For words with cultural background significance, we should not only clarify their conceptual meaning, but also introduce the cultural background knowledge they contain, sometimes expand the knowledge content appropriately, and talk about some related foreign customs and habits by the way. For example, in The Habit of Rats, English and Chinese have very different cultural meanings. Do you have one in Chinese? Thieves and mice? 、? Short-sighted Idioms, such as, are used to describe furtiveness and shortsightedness. In English slang, mice can refer to women and shy people. In the process of English teaching in middle schools, it is inevitable to encounter some words with cultural background significance. Therefore, we should be conscientious and introduce them at any time so that students can really master English.

2. Create English-using situations and cultivate students' English thinking mode.

Our students' level is limited, so it is impossible to use English thinking completely, but as teachers, we must guide them from easy to difficult and gradually cultivate this kind of thinking ability. Reciting is a very effective method. Teachers should choose some short essays about foreign cultures and let students recite them within a limited time. Then the teacher asked questions about the content of the article. At this time, students don't need to translate questions and answers into Chinese before answering. For students with a good foundation, more complex training activities can be carried out, such as arranging music and telling stories. These methods can not only enable students to understand the attitudes and methods of westerners, as well as their lifestyles and customs, but also effectively train their English thinking and communicate in English, so as to truly achieve the purpose of learning English.

3. Carry out research study to cultivate students' cultural sensitivity.

The new English curriculum standard points out:? Design inquiry learning activities. Promote the development of students' practical ability and innovative thinking. ? Teachers can consciously discuss some aspects of British and American cultural background knowledge, and make a comparative analysis with the corresponding cultural background knowledge in Chinese, so that students can collect materials through various channels, including school life, diet, entertainment activities, education population, social issues and so on. Then the contents of the materials are introduced and discussed in an expanded way, and then compared with the corresponding cultural contents in Chinese, and finally a summary report is written. Through this conscious activity, we can cultivate students' sensitivity to the target language and make them good at discovering the cultural characteristics of the target language in English learning.

In a word, only by making language and culture learning truly situational and contextualized can students improve their ability to recognize and appreciate foreign cultures, deepen their understanding and knowledge of their own cultures, more accurately and profoundly understand the similarities and differences between their own cultures and foreign cultures, and establish their own world awareness and cross-cultural communication skills.

refer to

[1] Baishumei. Modern foreign language education [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2005.

[2] Liu Juxing et al. Teachers' interpretation of English curriculum standards [M]. Wuhan Huazhong Normal University Press, 2003

[3] Li Zhenxi. Get into the head [M]. Chengdu: Sichuan Children's Publishing House, 2003

Lin li, Yang Chuanwei. English pedagogy [M]. Beijing: Capital Normal University Press, 200 1. 1.

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