浅谈文化背景在外语教学中的作用.docVIP

浅谈文化背景在外语教学中的作用 　　已经进入信息时代的地球变得“越来越小”，全球化的趋势在二十一世纪更为明显。奥运会、世博会的召开让中国正大步走向世界，世界也张开双臂迎接中国。人类彼此间的交往越来越方便、越来越频繁。各个国家、各个民族之间的文化交流、科技交流和信息交流已成为人类生活的一个必不可少的环节。而英语理所当然的成为“地球村”的共同语言。由此，外语学习及教学特别是英语教学越来越受到人们的普遍重视。 　　如何学好英语一直都是为许多学生和老师共同关注的问题，但我们把学习的重点都放在了单词和句子上，而忽略了语言所承载的文化。著名的语言学家拉多在他的《语言教学的科学的方法》（Language Teaching：A Scientific Approach）书中指出：“我们不掌握文化背景就不可能教好语言。语言是文化的一部分。因此，不懂得文化的模式和准则，就不可能真正学到语言。”由此我们可以看到文化背景对语言教学的重要影响，同样，文化背景也可以促进英语教学。 　　当今时代，外国文化对中国的影响也日益明显。当看到过“圣诞节”“情人节”、“愚人节”等洋节的人多越来越多了，这说明“洋节”在中国已有了相当的群众基础，尤其是青年学生。那我们能不能用这些人们熟悉的文化来引导学生的英语学习呢？答案当然是肯定的。 　　首先，在教学中我们可以利用文化背景来吸引学生的注意力，培养学生学习英语的兴趣。以“Christmas Day”为例，到圣诞节或讲与其相关的能容时，老师可以穿上圣诞老人的衣服、戴上一顶圣诞冒或是准备一个圣诞袜，这样一定可以引起学生的兴趣，增加课堂课活跃成分，从而使学生轻松的乃至兴奋的上完印象深刻的一节课。 　　其次，适当的文化背景知识可以扩大学生的知识面，培养学生的语言素质。在教学中涉及到Thanksgiving的相关知识时，我们可以扩展出它的由来。下面的这篇短文是美国感恩节的背景知识： 　　The American Thanksgiving Day celebration goes back to 1621. In that year, a special dinner was prepared in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The people who had settled there had left England because they were forbidden to keep their religious belief. They came to the new land and faced difficulties in sailing across the ocean. The ship which carried them was called“the May flower” The North Atlantic was hard to travel. There were bad storms and huge waves. With the help of the Indians, they learned to live in the new land. These Puritans, as they were called, had much to be thankful for. They could enjoy religious freedom. They learned how to grow their crops in accordance with the climate and soil. Now when they selected the 4th Thursday of November for their Thanksgiving celebration, they invited their neighbors, the Indians, to join them in dinner. They also wanted to pray God for the new life. They recalled the group of 102 men, women and children who left England. They remembered those who did not live to see the shores of Massachusetts. They thought of the 65 days journey which tested their strength. 　　其中涉及到的不仅仅是一个感恩节日问题。它还涉及到历史（美国的最早移民史）、地理（欧美大陆、北大西洋）、气候（英国与新大陆的气候反差）、