A Study of Culture Teaching in Businss English 商务英语文化教学浅识.docxVIP

A Study of Culture Teaching in Business English Abstract: The application of cross-cultural communication theories to the teaching of business English in the context of Chinese universities should be conducted in such a way that students are able to learn that Chinese and Western cultures exist as different systems, and to understand the fundamental ideas governing the respective cultural entities. By comparison and analysis, business cultural differences are studied at the higher level of cultural thinking. Following the principle of equality, cross-cultural communication will function as a bridge in the exchange of Chinese and Western cultures. One of the major functions of the English language is to convey the culture of its speech community. Hence, the awareness of its business cultural characters will facilitate business English teaching against the Chinese cultural background.Key words: business English; culture teaching; suggestions1 IntroductionEnglish is the dominant language in international business activities and is becoming a very useful tool that every businessperson needs to obtain. The most important function of business English is to communicate. Effective communication will help people to achieve business goals. As we all know, English is the accepted medium for international business communication in business setting which concerns the aspect of cross-culture factors among business people from different cultural backgrounds. The underlying business culture is a “Western European or North American one” (John, 1996: 9) while there are various cultures worldwide. In addition, Trompenaar (1993) comments on cultural diversity in business and discusses seven dimensions of culture which he has found to be significant. Therefore, sensitivity to cultural issues and a better understanding of cultural differences are important when dealing with business English communication. However many business English courses focus on the language skills rather than the