跨文化交際論文范文
時間:2023-03-24 11:55:29
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篇1
不同的文化背景孕育出不同的語言形式,而不同語言又具有不同的文化特點,語言和文化之間相輔相成,相互影響。而跨文化交際就是在不同文化背景下的雙方進行交際的過程,也可以看作是人類信息的相互交換中不同國家語言間相互傳遞的過程,反映著社會習俗、評判標準、審美觀念、、價值觀念、文化藝術等,其形式也具有多種多樣性,如留學、移民、觀光旅游、貿易、翻譯、外交、跨文化技能的培訓、商務會晤、外事接待、工作洽談、科技文化交流等,而言語交際是最重要的一種。在言語交際中,如出現意見或觀點不同時,中國人喜歡含蓄委婉的表達方式,以保全對方的“面子”,而西方人較坦率,喜歡直接明了,即使爭論得面紅耳赤,往往也要堅持自己的看法;如與對方發生矛盾時,中國人不喜歡與人爭論,甚至是爭吵,以維系彼此之間的團結與和諧關系,而西方人卻必須要把事情分個誰對誰錯,爭個水落石出;如對于某件事情的看法上,中國人常認為:“知者不言,言者不知”,要先思考,只有經過深思熟慮,才能發表自己的看法,否則就會被貶稱為“一瓶子不滿,半瓶子咣蕩”,而西方人認為真正有能力的人不需要思考,就是說要把思考過程言語化,要善于將自己的想法有效地表達出來。因此,在跨文化交際中,如果對語言文化沖突不能相互全面了解,或是跨文化交際中的語言文化沖突研究對其知之甚少,就沒有辦法進行有效的跨文化交際,導致障礙重重,誤解沖突不斷,因此,我們要對跨文化交際中的語言文化沖突進行詳細、全面的認知。正如王佐良教授所說:要想學好語言,就要知曉語言當中的社會文化,如果對其不了解或一知半解,就不能完全學會語言,無法進行有效的跨文化交際。
二、語言文化沖突
在跨文化交際中的體現跨文化交際中出現的語言文化沖突對交流會造成巨大的影響,阻礙交流的順利進行,甚至導致交際的失敗,因此,為了揭開跨文化交際失敗的神秘面紗,就要對跨文化交際中的語言文化沖突的體現加以了解、學習和認知,這些具體的體現是理解中西方人語言文化沖突的鑰匙,能夠使跨文化交際順利的進行,并最終達成共識,同時,這是跨文化交際所要研究的方向,也是最終所要達到的目的。
1.稱呼語
中國一直秉承尊老、愛老和敬老的傳統美德,認為“老”即為德高望重、有經驗、閱歷深、有資格,常用“姜是老的辣”“、老馬識途”、“老成持重”等形容“老”者,以示尊敬和敬意,所以稱呼比自己年長的人為“老首長”“、老前輩”、“老張”、“張老”“您老人家“”老教授”等,表示敬重之情。西方人對“老”的看法卻和中國人相反,西方人認為“老”既是衰朽殘年、老矣無能,是別人的負擔、拖累等,因此,對“老”字充滿了反感之情,特別是女性,對“老”尤其敏感,不愿意對方用“老”來形容自己,更不喜歡聽到對方用“老”稱呼自己,喜歡對方稱贊其年輕、美麗,充滿活力。所以在交際之初要避免“老”字稱呼語的使用,以防在對方心里蒙上陰影,造成溝通的失敗。
2.寒暄語
在日常的交往中,人們見面首先做的就是用一系列反映本民族獨特文化習慣的套話進行寒暄,也就是我們所說的打招呼,以表示友好和禮貌。但由于所處的文化背景不同,使用的方式也不盡相同。中國人見面時常常會問對方:“你吃了嗎?”表示問候,而在西方人看來,這是對自己是否吃飯的詢問或是一種委婉地邀請自己吃飯的表示。實際上,這種詢問方式只是代表一種問候、寒暄,表示“你好”,相當于英語中的“Hi,Howareyou?”之所以這樣問是受中國傳統文化“民以食為天”的影響。亦或是見面詢問“:你干什么呢?“”你要去哪兒?”“最近怎么樣?”等,也是表示一種單純地問候,原因在于中國人喜歡用談家常的方式了解對方的近況,用以表示關心,但在西方人文化中,一見面就如此“寒暄起來”,那可要被看成是NosyParker,也就是“好事者,包打聽”,帶有打探私人隱私的色彩,是令人反感和氣惱的質問,是對個人生活的無端干涉,因而產生反感,造成交流的窘境。簡而言之,由于中西雙方語言文化的沖突,中國人的好心問候會被西方人誤解為存心不良的刺探,而西方人見面時常討論天氣:“It’saniceday,isn’tit?”,也會使中國人不解、茫然,不知應如何繼續交談。
3.詞匯的文化涵義
在跨文化交際中,由于詞匯的文化涵義沖突而導致語言文化的沖突也比比皆是,容易引起誤解,甚至導致跨文化交際的破裂。如果西方人形容一個女人像貓似的,就暗含著這個女人脾氣不好,愛罵人,而在中國,貓象征著高貴、優雅、溫順,因此在此話的理解上就和西方人恰恰相反,認為是對該女人的稱贊,這就是因為文化不同導致對“貓”的理解上相差甚遠;在中國窮苦人(poorper-son)、勞動者(laborer)多含有正面的積極涵義,而地主(landlord)、資本家(capitalist)則有反面的消極的意義,但西方的情況正好相反;紅色在中國是褒義詞,寓意一切美好的事物,代表熱情、富貴、喜慶、喜事、活力、幸福、美滿,運用在生活中各個環節,如:結婚時,新娘會穿著紅色的婚紗或禮服;逢年過節時,長輩會用紅包裝著錢發給晚輩;當有喜事要宣布時,會在墻上或公告欄張貼紅榜;形容生活過得富裕、幸福時,會說過著紅紅火火的日子。而在西方國家,紅色是禁止、危險、憤怒的象征,如:seered(生氣)、redalert(緊急警報)、redflag(禁止);“藍天”(bluesky)在中文中是純潔的意思,而在英語中有不切實際的意思。
4.思維方式
思維方式對語言形式的選擇會產生重要的影響,中國人喜歡委婉含蓄的表達方式,常常通過慢條斯理和捉摸不透的兜圈子方式提出自己的看法或觀點,思維方式傾向于“只可意會不可言傳”,而西方人則不喜歡拐彎抹角的闡述個人的想法,喜歡直來直去、開門見山,思維方式較直接。例如:在西方,當受到別人的稱贊時,人們會欣然接受,認為稱贊是對成績和事實的承認,是實事求是的表現,用“Thankyou”表示感謝,而在中國,則會回答“哪里”,“慚愧、慚愧”或“過獎了”等等,表現他較謙虛,但這時的謙遜對于西方人看來是極其無禮的,因為西方人認為他在真心實意的贊揚你,卻被對方否定了贊揚,有種當頭淋了一盆冷水,糟了白眼的感覺;在西方,對他人的請求若不能答應時,會直接拒絕,而在中國,則多婉言拒絕?!安弧币辉~很少使用,認為“不”會傷害別人的感情,會造成對方的不愉快,而這種委婉會使西方人誤解,認為不夠坦誠,造成跨文化交際的語言文化沖突,致使彼此的尷尬。
三、結束語
篇2
“移情”本是美學術語,指審美主體把情感滲透到審美對象中。后來該概念被應用到修辭學和跨文化交際領域。美國學者B.DRuben提出跨文化交際中進行有效交際的七個要素,這其實就是移情下的交際過程。在國內外語界,何自然于1991年在《外語教學與研究》發表了“言語交際中的語用移情”,提出了跨文化交際中“移情”的概念,即文化移情。“文化移情”是指在跨文化交際中,交際主體自覺地轉換文化立場,有意識地超越本民族文化的框架模式,擺脫自身原有文化的傳統積淀和約束,將自己置身于對方的文化模式中,在主動對話和平等欣賞中達到如實地感受、領悟和理解其文化的目的。人們在一定的文化環境成長,形成自己獨特的語言表達、思維模式和價值觀念,在跨文化交際中,由于受自身文化固有的思維定勢影響,往往不自覺地以自己的文化價值標準判斷別的文化中的事物,有時難免懷有民族文化優越性的傾向,將本民族文化凌駕于其他民族文化之上,而且希望得到來自客體文化的人們的尊重,因此在跨文化交際中常有因文化差異而導致的文化誤解或沖突的事例。影響跨文化交際能力和效果的因素有多種:交際的能力,理解他人的能力,合作態度,良好的語言習慣,移情能力等,其中最重要的是移情能力,通過移情可以克服面對陌生人和環境的焦慮、恐懼與偏見等心理障礙,提高跨文化交際效果,因此移情能力是成功地進行交際的重要條件。文化移情可以克服因文化差異而導致的交際障礙,有效避免跨文化交際中的文化沖突。文化移情的前提是熟悉自己和他人的文化,而且了解彼此的文化差異,并愿意進行換位思考。在交際過程中,交際雙方既要表現自己的文化,也要適度地順應對方的文化,為文化移情創造條件,以達到,促進跨文化交流的成功??梢院敛豢鋸埖卣f,每一個跨文化交流成功的事例中都含有文化移情的成分。隨著交通通訊科技的發展,全球一體化發展形勢不斷加快,國際間的交往日益頻繁,作為文化組成部分的影視劇進行跨文化傳播的機會也日益增多,而影視劇跨文化傳播同樣需要跨越交際障礙,因此研究影視劇的跨文化傳播很有必要。
二、影視劇跨文化傳播與文化移情
影視劇是文化傳播的載體,也是文化的組成部分,它展現特定民族人們的生活方式、人際關系和價值觀念,使觀眾感觸到直觀的文化;作為文化傳媒形式,它集藝術性、文化性、娛樂性和商業性于一身,可以雅俗共賞,影響廣泛。影視產品跨文化傳播時,由于受不同文化中的價值觀念、思維方式以及審美認知等方面差異因素的影響,異域受眾會對作品中的人物言行、思想主題或藝術表達形式產生理解上的障礙,影響傳播效果。在2013年11月北京第十七屆“中國電影如何與海外市場對接”論壇上,專家學者指出中國電影在對外傳播中遭遇文化壁壘,有些在本土大獲全勝的電影,在海外的表現卻差強人意。由于自娛自樂、晦澀難懂、價值觀模糊以及不善講故事等原因導致中國電影在海外市場屢屢受挫。因此需要研究國產影視如何穿越文化障礙,達到東西方文化與審美認知的融合,實現與海外市場的對接。從接受心理上看,人們往往傾向于接受與自己情感相通、觀念相似和符合自己心理預期的信息,因此,要讓中國影視具有吸引力,我們需要了解目標觀眾的審美認知心理和藝術欣賞習慣,創造文化認同,以全球化視野觀照中西文化差異,用國際視角闡釋中華文化精神,拍攝融合目標市場文化需求的影視劇,克服跨文化傳播的屏障,也就是適當進行文化移情,探索與國際接軌的路子,尋找與世界電影的文化共性,減少文化折扣,有利于影視作品被海外觀眾認同接受。在影視藝術的文化移情方面,好萊塢電影的思路和做法或許值得我們借鑒。好萊塢電影經常借用外國文化題材,在國外取景拍攝,表現美國文化價值觀。電影既滿足了自己國內觀眾對異域文化的好奇心,又讓場景拍攝地的觀眾倍感親切,從而消除了異域傳播的文化障礙,為電影走向海外奠定了基礎。好萊塢這種文化移情策略提高了電影的國際影響力,擴大了銷售市場。華語電影成功使用文化移情策略的當屬李安導演,他執導的《推手》、《喜宴》、《飲食男女》、《理智與情感》、《冰風暴》、《臥虎藏龍》、《斷背山》等影片在國際市場大獲成功。他熟悉西方文化與觀眾的欣賞習慣,能以國際視角詮釋中華文化精神,他在處理東方題材影片時考慮到西方觀眾的欣賞眼光,他在處理西方題材時,又以東方的視角加以適度的改造,使之既為東方人所接受,又讓西方觀眾覺得新鮮,李安運用文化移情策略把東西方文化融合一起的電影文化,可以說是其電影在國際市場取得成功的關鍵因素。
三、影視劇跨文化傳播的文化移情策略
就像陌生人進入到一個他者群體需要收斂他固有的個性一樣,中國影視走進異域文化,也要適當采用文化移情策略,順應當地的文化環境,選取能夠激發國外觀眾對我國文化產生共鳴的視角,消除跨文化傳播障礙,才能得到理解和認同,達到傳播中華文化的目的。正如在論壇上中國電影資料館副館長饒曙光所說:“中國電影要講全世界都聽得懂的中國故事,傳播正確的中國文化價值觀,尋找人類精神價值的中國表達。”那么,中國影視劇跨文化傳播如何進行文化移情呢?筆者認為文化移情應從影視劇的文化題材選取,思想主題表達和藝術審美三方面進行,精心選擇體現中華文化精髓的影視題材,在主題表達和審美認知方面適應目標觀眾的欣賞習慣,達到藝術與思想的共鳴,從而突破跨文化傳播的屏障。
(一)題材的文化移情
題材的文化移情指選擇能夠吸引海外觀眾的獨特的中國文化題材,用中華文化符號詮釋人類共同關心的思想主題。西方人偏愛觀看反映動物、自然和生命題材的藝術作品。在制作影視作品時,為了保證跨文化傳播的成功,重點選擇能夠體現自然美、人性美的題材,反映世界面臨的共同問題,如人口問題、戰爭問題、種族問題、生態環境問題、社會治安問題、老人問題、青年問題、婦女兒童問題、人際道德關系、婚姻家庭倫理等等。目前我國影視作品亟須進行題材創新,擺脫拘泥于歷史題材,或者因跟風拍攝導致題材相似的現象。中國擁有豐富的自然、歷史和民俗文化,有許多物質及非物質文化遺產,有無數的民族英雄、科技文化精英,也有眾多普通百姓的題材可以表現,甚至可以借鑒好萊塢電影做法,融合中外文化題材,詮釋中華文化內涵。與我國相對集中的拍攝題材相比,好萊塢電影較少表現雷同題材,因為跟風模仿不符合美國文化所推崇的創新精神。
(二)思想主題的文化移情
中外藝術精品無一不是成功歌頌真善美、表現懲惡揚善這一思想主題的作品。雖然中外文化存在很大差異,由于人類喜怒哀樂的情感相近,具有追求幸福的相似愿望,中外文化可以找到共通元素,能夠共享公平、正義、誠信、善良的思想價值觀。在對外文化傳播中,影視作品的藝術風格百花齊放,思想主題可以,易于引起觀眾共鳴。中西文化具有思想上的交集,如西方文化信奉勤奮盡職、遵守契約、個性解放以及開拓創新等價值觀,認同公平、正義、勇敢、智慧的美德,這與我們傳統文化中的仁、禮、智、信、勇等價值觀具有共核部分??v觀好萊塢的電影,不論何種題材,它們折射出愛、正義和人性的思想光芒,往往集觀賞性、娛樂性和思想性于一體。目前我國很多歷史題材的影視作品沒能反映博大精深的中華文化,而是過多地表現勾心斗角的權謀和陰暗殘酷的斗爭,導致跨文化傳播難以被海外觀眾接受的現象,《甄嬛傳》在美國播放時刪去大量的此類內容,也就不足為怪了。我國影視劇在思想主題的表達上不妨學安的成功經驗,適當進行文化移情,融合中西文化精髓,表現中華文化的哲學思想與價值觀,如兼容并包、親和力強的和合思想和中庸之道,反映中華民族的悲憫情懷和憂患意識,表現中國人民追求公平、正義、勇敢、智慧的美德。以優秀文化為依托的影視作品,能夠反映人的精神風貌與生存狀態,進入海外市場后才能贏得文化認同,得到海外觀眾喜愛。
(三)審美的文化移情
按照德國學者姚斯(HansRobertJauss)和伊塞爾(WolfgangIser)的接受美學理論,受眾的接受能力取決于受眾所處的歷史背景、文化傳統和個人性格等因素,它們會對受眾的接受過程產生作用,也可以說,影視作品的題材與主題表現以及拍攝策略要由話語環境、觀眾等因素決定,因而影視作品制作時需要考慮受眾的欣賞水平和他們的期待視野。一般來說,西方觀眾“傾向于喜歡與自身審美期待一致、自然人性單純直觀、沉淀了自身情感體驗、易于誘發和滿足自然人性和欲望”的藝術。鑒于東西方審美認知及思維方式的差異,我國影視劇在藝術風格上應進行文化移情,選擇受眾容易接受的審美心理模式,減少中西文化差異對影視劇跨文化傳播的不利影響,比如中國電影善于創造意境,有如中國的詩歌和水墨畫,含義豐富,節奏舒緩,而好萊塢電影擅長敘述故事,節奏較快,風格明晰。我國影視作品可以融合二者風格,故事情節的設計不必太過復雜,但故事要建立在現實生活事實的基礎上。在拍攝歷史故事片時,應尊重史實,不戲說,不穿越,否則影響海外觀眾的理解,甚至可能誤導他們,對我國文化產生質疑,影響中國影視作品的跨文化傳播效果。
四、結語
篇3
目前,高校英語教學時數多為每周4小時,這對英語語言學習來說是遠遠不夠的。在這種情況下,如何將課堂學習有效地延伸至課外,就是一個值得探討的問題。運用英語影視資料,可以讓學生在課堂上大展拳腳,還可以對傳統課堂教學形成有效補充,將英語教學有效地延伸至課外。更為重要的是,影視作品還給學生提供了一種真實而生動的語境和大學生們喜聞樂見的各種時尚文化的要素。在日常教學中,一些教師均有這樣的發現,即許多學生,盡管他們對于英語詞匯及語法知識的掌握也比較好,但由于他們是處在一種非英語語言環境中的,所以他們對英語國家的文化仍知之甚少,這對他們形成用英語進行跨文化交際的能力無疑是一個巨大的障礙。豐富的課外英語活動是彌補這一缺失的最佳途經。對于大學生來說,他們經過多年的學習,再加上其心智已進一步成熟,已具備在課外進行自主學習的能力。這樣,若對之能施以恰當的引導,比如引導他們能善用“任務型學習法”和“合作學習法”等,就可以使他們在觀賞英語影視作品的同時進行跟讀和發音練習,或者是搞配音游戲和角色扮演練習,或者是對相關影視作品中的文化背景作介紹及寫出其主題或自己的觀后感等。顯然,進行此類練習,學生的聽說讀寫能力均會得到進一步的提升和強化。更為重要的是,學生在做此類練習的時候,他們通過對相應的英語影視作品的揣摩及對相關資料的查找,對作品中所體現的文化內涵會有一個進一步的認識。長期而單純的影視欣賞往往會導致學生審美疲勞,但因其中有文化的導入,則可以因為能引發學生的共鳴和深入的思考而引起學生的興趣。在這個過程中,英語經典影視作品反映出的英語國家的各種人文話題,或者是關于愛情、關于家庭,或者是關于某事業領域的,或者本身就是探討由于中西兩種文化間的差異而引起的各種矛盾和糾紛的。再加上其中的戲劇性的情節和逼真的影像及音樂效果,往往就能打動學生的心,就會引起學生在情感上的共鳴。如此,不僅能激發起他們學習的興趣,促使他們較快地形成英語語言能力,同時也能使他們更加廣泛和深入地了解英語國家的文化,從而為他們更好地運用英語進行跨文化的交際打下基礎。
二、英語影視文化導入有助于學生跨文化交際能力的提高
在英語教學中,英語影視文化的導入,可以給學生提供一種較為直觀的文化背景,可以在激發出學生學習興趣的同時,有效提高學生跨文化交際的能力。學生對英語學習有無興趣,與社會對他們的要求密切相關。在英語教學中運用影視資料恰好能為學生提供一種較為真實的英語社會生活環境和人與人之間交往的氛圍,從而使學生有機會了解陌生的文化,從而學習用英語與人展開有效的跨文化交際的活動。語言是文化的載體,所以語言的學習說到底也是文化的學習。但在,傳統上,我們的英語教學往往只重視學生對英語語言本身的學習,而忽視對其中所涉及的文化因素的學習。運用英語影視文化導入法來進行英語教學,能使學生將語言的學習與文化的學習結合起來。在日常學習或者與人進行交往的過程中,如果我們對目標語國家的文化缺乏了解,那么我們就免不了會“以己度人”,即想當然地認為對方也和我們是一樣的。但事實上,文化之間是存在差異的,不了解這種差異,就很容易在跨文化交際中遇到障礙,甚至會導致誤解和交際失敗。運用用英語影視資料導入法進行教學,學生在觀賞影視作品,接受一定程度上的藝術熏陶的過程中,自然也更容易從中了解英語國家人們的風俗習慣、思維方式及其歷史。例如,中國人以自己是“龍的傳人”為傲,“龍”在中國是吉祥、幸運、高貴和權勢的象征,但在英語國家,龍卻是邪惡的象征,是噴著火的惡魔。再如,在文化導入的最佳選擇之一———美國的經典電影《阿甘正傳》中,學生可以從中了解到美國在二戰后的歷史演變———越南戰爭、反戰熱潮、種族歧視、水門事件和中美之間的乒乓球外交等,甚至還有“蘋果”公司的影子。這一切在引起學生學習興趣的同時,還勢必會使學生對其中所展現出的歷史事件有所了解。在教學過程中,教師還可以以阿甘的母親與阿甘的小學校長之間的對話為例提起學生注意:當校長以一句“IsthereaMr.Gump”含蓄地詢問阿甘的家庭狀況時,這位母親的回答為什么是“Heisonvaca-tion”。然后告訴學生:母親的回答暗示出的是,她不愿意談論自己家庭的狀況。阿甘的母親與阿甘的小學校長之間的這兩句簡短的對話,體現出的就是中西文化間的差異。在我們中國,雙方在談論中相互詢問對方的家庭狀況在某種程度上是一種表示友好和親近的話題,但在一些西方國家則不然。所以那位校長在詢問時就顯得小心翼翼;而阿甘的父親是不可能一個人去度假的,因此阿甘的母親的回答也是婉轉地告訴那位校長,她不想談論自己的丈夫。這些都是典型的英語國家人們的習俗,即年齡、收入和婚姻狀況等均屬個人隱私,交談中通常是一個受禁忌的話題。學生在對這些有了了解以后,在與英語國家的人士進行交往的過程中就不會觸犯此類禁忌。另外,運用英語影視資料導入方式進行教學,還會給學生創造出一種輕松愉快的學習氛圍,不僅增強其學習趣味,還可以使學生從中學到豐富的知識和英語國家的文化,從而增強學生跨文化交際的能力。影視作品如同一面鏡子,它能十分生動而直觀地反映出一個特定國家或民族的社會文化及人們的生活狀況。教師在教學中運用英語影視作品作文化因素的導入,再加上有意識地對學生進行引導,學生就能從中了解到其語言現象背后的文化內涵,就能對學生的語言及文化的學習產生事半功倍的效果。
三、結語
篇4
語言與文化之間相互關聯,密不可分。文化是對一個國家或民族的歷史、地理、民族風情、鄉俗習慣、價值理念等的傳承與繼續,是人類之間進行交流的普遍認可的意識形態。語言作為一種交際工具,是人類進行溝通交流的表達符號,是一個國家或民族的重要象征。語言作為一種載體,是文化的表達方式和傳播工具,文化對于語言這種交際模式及構造起著決定性的作用。文化知識包括語言知識,因此,文化和語言是密不可分的,同時,倆者又是相互補充的。語言的結構和使用方式受文化的影響和制約,文化的傳播又是以語言作為工具;文化影響語言,語言反映文化。因此,在對高職學生英語的教育過程中,通過了解不同文化之間的相互差異,突破歷史文化的局限性,巧妙結合文化與語言的相關性,利用英語這門語言,解決文化差異下的跨文化交流,提高學生的跨文化交際能力。
2.培養學生跨文化交際能力的必要性
如今,經濟的全球化、國際化,使得英語在國際交流中的運用越來越廣泛。而在對高職學生的英語教育中,越來越多的老師只是授予語法、寫作、閱讀等專業技能,通過考試的形式考核學生的英語水平。另一方面,越來越多的高職學生因為英語四級或者六級的需求學習英語,卻對英語失去了濃厚的興趣。同時,中西方文化的差異,使得我們的交流更加困難。比如,在中國,人們之間表達親切的方式會說“吃飯了嗎”“去哪兒”等,而在西方國家,這種打招呼的方式則會讓人感到尷尬,會被誤解為打聽他人的隱私,相反,他們表示親密通常會以“今天天氣不錯”或者“hello”作為朋友之間的問候。所以,當我們不了解這些文化差異時,我們的舉動或許會讓他人感到尷尬甚至厭惡;但是,當我們了解了這些文化差異時,我們就可以通過語言的溝通與交流,讓大家的相處更加和諧融洽。因此,對于高職英語教育模式的培養方式,應更加注重對學生的跨文化交際能力的提升。一方面,高職英語教育通過培養學生的跨文化交際能力,不僅可以提高學生的外語語言的專業知識的學習技能,而且還可以為學生實際運用英語這門語言提供途徑和方向,進而提高學生對文化與語言的綜合理解和對語言學科的綜合運用;另一方面,高職英語教育培養學生的跨文化交際能力,符合國家新編英語教材的教學目的,適應國際主流,可以提高高校學生的修養素質。所以,在高職英語教育的培育體系中,培養學生的跨文化交際能力不僅是國家對英語教學的要求,同時也是新時代背景下,國際環境對每一位高職學生的迫切要求。
3.采取有效途徑加強培養高職學生的跨文化交際能力
3.1整合學習資源,培養學生的跨文化交際意識在對高職英語教材書的編撰過程中,編者都凸顯了濃厚的語言文化氛圍,使老師在教學過程中以及學生在學習中產生興趣。老師如果在課堂教學過程中,更加注重和傾向對學生進行語言文化知識的傳授,可以在短時間內使得學生對語言運用的靈活性和敏銳性得到很大提高。首先,老師在對課本教材知識的講授過程中,注重對文化差異、歷史背景的講解,使得學生可以通過對語言知識的理解,自主學習,合作探究,運用已有的英語知識技能,對文章整體概述與理解;其次,語言是文化的載體和傳播工具。為加強高職學生對各國各地區文化差異的深度理解,老師可以通過多媒體播放視頻、電影片段等方式解釋教材中的某個詞組、段落的含義,幫助學生更好地理解語言環境,加強學生自主運用語言知識,提高學生跨文化交際的意識。
篇5
【論文摘要】本文分析了我國外語跨文化教育中所存在的問題,指出跨文化交際中容易出現的文化失誤,跨文化交際意識及能力培養的必要性,指出外語教學應轉向語言教育和語言文化教育,以培養學生的跨文化交際能力。
1 跨文化交際意識及能力培養的必要性
近年來,對外交往日益頻繁,許多語言教師對跨文化交際表現出濃厚的興趣。 研究這些跨文化交際中的故障問題,
對于英語教學確實有著重大的實際意義。這是因為英語教學不僅是傳授語言知識,更重要的是培養學生的交際能力,培養他們應用英語進行跨文化交際的能力。僅僅學會一門外語的語音、語法規則和掌握一定量的詞匯并不意味著學會了這門外語能順利地進行交際。在跨文化交際中,交際的雙方若不能進入同一文化背景之中,就容易產生不解或誤解,從而使交際失敗。正如托馬斯(Thomas)指出:“語法錯誤從表層上就能看出,受話者很容易發現這種錯誤。這種錯誤一旦發現,受話者便會認為說話者缺乏足夠的語言知識,因此可以諒解。語用失誤卻不會被象語法失誤一樣看待。如果一個能說一口流利外語的人出現語用失誤, 他很可能會被認為缺乏禮貌或不友好。他在交際中的失誤便不會被歸咎于語言能力的缺乏,而會被歸咎于他的粗魯或敵意?!?/p>
“跨文化交際”的英語名稱是“inter-cultural communication”或“cross-cultural communication”。它指本族語者與非本族語者之間的交際,也指任何在語言和文化背景方面有差異的人們之間的交際。由于不同的民族所處的生態、物質、社會及宗教等環境不同,因而各自的語言環境產生了不同的語言習慣、社會文化、風土人情等等諸語境因素。不同文化背景造成人們說話方式或習慣不盡相同。因此,在交流中,人們總喜歡用自己的說話方式來解釋對方的話語,這就可能對對方的話語做出不準確的推論,從而產生沖突和障礙。這就要求廣大英語教師要把跨文化教育列入英語教學一個重要環節。
2 跨文化交際中出現的文化錯誤
目前,經濟文化的發展需要越來越多的具有扎實的專業功底并能直接與講英語的外國專家、投資者和管理人員等進行交際的大學畢業生。有些畢業生即使會說一些,也往往會在對外交往中使用不得體,犯上了“文化錯誤”。
北外語系的博導胡文仲(1994)調查指出,中國學生常犯的與語言有關的文化錯誤有四類:1)從社會語言學的角度看是不適當的。如路遇外國人時,開始談話卻用“Excuse me, Where are you from?”;拒絕外國朋友的提議時卻用“I’ll think it over.”等等。2)在文化習俗上不可接受。如邀請外國朋友參加社交活動時不邀請其配偶,用沉默來回答外國老師的提問,在表達感激之情時要千恩萬謝地說上許多許多等等。3)不同價值體系的沖突。如與外國朋友久別重逢時說“You’ve got no change at all.”未經允許翻看外籍老師的影集等等。4)過于簡單化或過于籠統化。如認為所有的美國人都愛吃麥當勞,所有的英國人都寡言少語等等。通過這項調查,胡文仲認為文化錯誤比語言錯誤更嚴重,因為它容易造成外國人與中國人之間感情上的不愉快。因此,如何地道而得體地運用語言不但與如何正確地使用語言同等重要,而且也是跨文化交際能力的一個組成部分。
3 跨文化英語教學中出現的弊端
現代畢業生的跨文化交際能力之所以比較薄弱,部分原因是對語言運用能力、對目的語文化教學和學習的重要性沒有充分的認識。從教學角度看,大多數的大專院校沒給非英語專業的學生開設英語文化類的課程,即使英語專業的學生,開設了英語文化課,也涉及面不廣或沒得到足夠重視;教學中使用的大部分教材資料只重視語言形式而忽視了這種語言形式的意義,忽視語言在實際場合及語境中的運用;課堂上,大多數教師只重視語言形式的正確性,很少會涉及到如何得體地運用語言形式,英語文化知識的介紹更是少之又少,即使涉及到也是隨心所欲,缺乏系統性;測試中更是沒有涉及到語用能力及文化知識。從學生的角度看,非英語專業學生過于依賴英語教師,缺乏學習的自主性和目的性,只是學習基本的語言規則,不學習語用知識,更談不上運用語用知識了,這樣便認識不到語言和文化知識的密切關系了,因而也不能在正式的外交場合用得體地道的英語進行交際了。 轉貼于
4 如何培養跨文化交際意識和能力
外語教學中,語言文化傳授的必要性已成為人們的共識,因為交際能力的培養包括兩個方面的內容:掌握語言規則和語言使用規則,即語言能力和語用能力。這里的語言能力指的是語音、詞匯和語法幾部分,即英語中的聽、說、讀、寫、譯五項基本技能。這里的語言使用規則指的就是所用語言是否得體的文化因素方面的規則。文化和語言有著密切的聯系,一定的語言文化背景知識有助于促進語言應用能力的提高。教學大綱對語言能力的三要素(語音、語法和詞匯)的教學已經有了相當完善的體系,然而對于跨文化教學應該包含哪些要素還沒有明確的體系。下面就從教和學的視角及認知來談談如何培養跨文化交際意識和能力。
4.1 要從價值觀取向的視角來認知漢英兩種文化。中國自古以來都是崇尚天人合一的觀念,即整體觀念比較強,集體重于個體。而西方則更重視個體,講究個性,講究獨立奮斗。
4.2 在課堂教學上,教師和學??梢詮亩鄠€方面來建構一種合理的跨文化教學體系,比如說,課堂教學畢竟是培養學生跨文化意識的重要陣地,因此最為重要的還是要在課堂上培養學生的跨文化意識和能力;把文化列為教學目標與內容,制定出分階段目標,這樣目標明確,教師也便于操作;加強文化背景知識介紹,讓學生學習語言的同時從多個視角了解其文化;利用直觀電教手段體驗異國文化,教師可以多方面地尋找資料利用多媒體讓學生不僅了解西方文化更可以通過實際的語境(context)學會如何進行這種語言的社會運用;注重文化差異,加強文化對比,提高文化意識,做好知識文化介紹,提高學生對文化差異的敏感性;教師自修及教材、試題的再研究。要培養跨文化交際意識和能力也是對教師的一種較高的要求和革命,教師必須花較多的時間來搜集合適的資料。而且在教學時還得根據情況對教材進行適當刪減,在對學生進行考核成績時還需將語言文化的考核考慮進去。
5 結語
語言和文化是個統一體,語言的社會功能之一是傳播文化,且文化因素成為跨文化交際中的主要障礙之一。在英語教學中不能只單純注意語言教學,而必須加強語言的文化導入,重視語言文化差異及對語言的影響。只有這樣,才能在實際中正確運用語言。因此,我們應當在教學中自覺、系統、更好地完善文化背景知識的介紹,并正確處理和擺正文化知識和其他訓練項目的關系,在教學的各個階段和層次上利用各種方法培養學生的文化意識,從而提高其跨文化交際能力。
參考文獻
[1] 胡文仲.文化與交際.外語教學與研究出版社,1994.
[2] 潘曉慧.試析跨文化交際能力.外語學刊,1996(2).
[3] 王勇.在語言教學中培養跨文化交際能力.國外外語教學,1998(4).
[4] 劉愛真.文化認識與言語得體.外語界,2000(2).
篇6
論文關鍵詞:跨文化交際 高職英語 途徑
1引言
美國語言學家sapir說過“語言有一個環境,它不能脫離文化而存在”。當代美國語言學家克拉姆斯也曾說“語言教學就是文化教學”。高職英語教學的目的是培養學生的實際交際能力,因而傳統的教學模式顯然阻礙了這一目標的實現,要想成功地交際就必須了解英語國家的社會文化背景知識,因此,在高職英語教學中必須滲透文化教學,增強學生對東西文化差異的了解,拓展學生的知識面,提高學生的跨文化交際能力,以滿足2l世紀全球化社會經濟發展對高職人才的需求。
2跨文化交際的含義及必要性
“跨文化交際”這個概念是從英文的“intercultural communica--tion”翻譯過來的,指的是不同文化背景的個人之間的交際,也就是不同文化背景的人之間所發生的相互作用。通常我們認為跨文化是一種文化的社會成員和另一種文化的社會成員之間的信息傳遞,更確切地說,跨文化交際指不同的文化觀念和符號系統的人們之間的溝通。
以前,這主要是文化人類學、民族學所關心研究的問題,近年來,它正在引起一般人的關注。在中國,語言教師對之表現出來的濃厚興趣,反映了時代的變化和要求,也引起人們從跨文化教育的角度對外語教學進行深入思考。長期以來,外語教學的發展在很大程度上受到理論語言學發展的制約,外語教學領域中語言和文化的密切關系及社會文化因素,一直未得到足夠的重視。部分教師在課文講授中受傳統外語教育觀的影響,過分強調語言規則,忽視了對學生交際能力的培養,致使學生在學習和利用英語交際中頻繁出現歧義誤解,無法正常與外國人交流。這是因為語言不是一個獨立體,其背后滲透了大量的文化因素。
英語教師應充分認識到文化對語言學習的重要性,在教學中重視培養學生的跨文化交際意識和能力。只有這樣,才能使學生真正學好英語,享受到英語學習的樂趣,并在交際中正確使用英語。
3跨文化交際與英語教學的關系
外語教學中,跨文化交際能力的培養是其基本特征之一。交際法理論指出:在外語教學中不僅要讓學生正確掌握語言形式,還要考慮語言形式的功能,讓他們能夠在不同的場合,根據不同的對象,按照不同的需要,用合適的語言形式進行跨文化交際活動。語言是一個信息的載體,也是一種表達文化的工具,英語語言教學必須有文化內涵和文化因素,教授語言若不觸及到文化,教學任務根本無法完成,傳統的英語教學常把重點放在“純語言能力”的培養上,注重語言本身的教授,忽視語言在實際場合中的應用,使語言教學與文化教學嚴重脫節。
我們學一種語言,交際是目的,語言是方法,文化是背景。在英語教學實踐中,教學者應綜合考慮語言,文化和交際這三個因素,這三者是彼此相關聯并不能分割的,只有當我們把三者有機結合起來才能達到比較理想的效果,才能順利地完成英語教學工作。
4高職英語文化教學的現狀
高職院校學制較短,所學的課程涉及面較廣,與跨文化交際相關的課程通常只能被列為選修課,這樣,跨文化交際課程的普及面及實際教學效果通常被打了折扣。高職院校開設的英語課,雖然在教材編寫上已經將語言基礎能力的培養與實際涉外交際能力的訓練有機的結合了起來,但其重視程度還遠遠不夠。
首先,文化知識的傳輸方式大多是講授法,這種忽視語言社會環境,完全采用講授式,灌輸式的文化導入方式,使得學生在交際中用書本上的那些條條綱綱來生搬硬套,勢必遭遇交際的挫折或失敗。
其次,文化知識的信息量太少,只是籠統地、零星地散見于教材中,并沒有形成一套文化知識體系。這樣就很難讓學生系統地,具體地學習,了解其文化知識,而且這些文化知識認識往往是對于目的語國家的人們一些總體概括的認識,課堂上教師只能簡單地介紹,沒有太多時間和精力來具體講解,使得學生吸收這些文化知識過于簡單化和片面性,在交際中難免要遭受挫折。
5培養學生跨文化意識及能力的途徑
5.1加強教育者自身的文化素養
作為教學的主要實施者,教師要不斷地努力完善自己的英語知識結構和提高英語文化水平,把各種文化差異運用到課堂教學和一切英語語言活動中,在講授課文,口語訓練,語法學習等中進行跨文化教育,使得學生從對不同的文化對比中不斷提高對文化差異的敏感性,提高交際意識和能力。
5.2豐富課堂內容。改良教學方法
首先,注重情景教學。在課堂內創設一些情景,靈活選擇和運用group discussion,pair—work,role--play等方法,鼓勵學生結合特定的語境大膽地進行雙邊或多邊交流聯系,給學生提供一個平臺。其次,要充分利用現代化的教學手段。如多媒體、幻燈片、音像等。目前,大部分高職院校都已配有先進的語言實驗室,要充分利用多媒體,比如放英文原聲電影,這是了解西方社會最直觀的手段之一,還有專門介紹社會風情的紀錄影片,這些對學生了解文化背景十分有益。
5.3創造文化豐富的學習環境
開展第二課堂,讓學生多渠道獲取文化知識。教師除了在課堂上要設法幫助學生增強文化意識外,還應鼓勵學生課外廣泛閱讀英文報刊和原版的文學作品。其次,還可以設立英語廣播電臺,開展英語角,英語沙龍等,讓學生有更多的渠道來提高自己的文化意識和能力。同時在教學過程中,教師應根據教材內容的安排舉辦講座,介紹英美文化背景知識、風俗習慣等,引導學生在不同的語境中使用的得體的語言,加強對文化差異的敏感性和適應性。
篇7
摘 要
近年來,隨著我國改革開放的發展和我國與國際間的經濟、科技、文化交流日益頻繁,人們越來越重視外國文化問題。同時,我們也逐漸認識到了了解外國文化在對外交往中的重要性。在教育領域中,外語教學也漸漸重視對學生交際能力的培養。然而,對許多老師而言,文化教學還是一個較新的概念,從跨文化角度對英語教學進行研究探討在目前還是個新領域。我們必須認識到交際能力的培養是外語教學的主要目標,培養學生跨文化交際的技能是中學外語教學要達到的一個目標。文化教學在中學英語教學中的重要性不可忽視,英語學習者不了解英語國家的文化,就無法獲得交際能力。因此在中學英語口語教學中應該目標明確地,循序漸進地,方法得當地導入文化教學,使英語學習者在學習語言和知識的同時受到文化的熏陶,在跨文化交際中游刃有余。
關鍵詞: 跨文化交際;文化教學;中學英語口語教學
ABSTRACT
Since last century, because of reforming and opening policy, many people, especially young people go abroad to get a better job or get further education and so on. Besides, many foreigners are curious about our country. Consequently, people come to realize that if we know little about cross-cultural communication, there will be many conflicts. Some experts suggest that today’s English teaching should emphasize intercultural communication. Learners ought to know not only grammar or words, but should learn cultural knowledge. If not, they will meet many difficulties while they communicate with foreigners. Therefore, it is important to introduce this kind of knowledge while teaching. We can’t neglect the importance of culture teaching in middle school foreign language teaching, English teachers should integrate culture into ELF teaching gradually and appropriately. Thus the students may have a better understanding of the target language, and they may communicate freely and effectively in cross-culture communication.
Keywords:Cross-cultural communication; Cultural teaching; middle school ELF oral teaching
Contents
1. Introduction 2
2. the concept of intercultural communication 3
2.1 Literature review 3
2.2 Definition of intercultural communication 4
3.A survey based on classroom observations 7
3.1 The analysis of interviews 7
3.2 The analysis of a questionnaire 7
3.2.1 Data analysis on the questionnaire (1) 9
3.2.2 Data analysis on the questionnaire (2) 10
3.2.3 Data analysis on culture curriculum 12
4. Ways of improving cross-cultural communication competence in middle school oral teaching 15
4.1 The necessity of develop cross-cultural communication competence 17
4.2 Some strategies for improving cross-cultural communication competence in the ELF oral learning in chinese middle school 17
4.2.1 Some strategies to learners 17
4.2.2 Some strategies to teachers 19
5. Conclusion 25
Acknowledgements 26
References 27
AppendixⅠ 28
1. Introduction
Language is just like a mirror that reflects its national culture. Sociologists and anthropologists believe that culture comprises all products of human activity, including fields of literature, art, music, architecture, and scientific as well as aspects of customs, life-style, code of conduct, worldly wisdom and social organization, etc. Languages are generally accepted words and rules drawn from speech. Language is the carrier of culture and culture is the content of language20.
Worldwide interest in intercultural communication grows out of two assumptions. First, we live in an age when changes in technology, travel, economy, and political systems, immigration patterns, especially the emergence of Internet, have created a world in which we increasingly interact with people from different cultures. And whether we like it or not, these interactions will continue to grow in both frequently and intensely. Second, people now know that the influence of culture affects communication in a subtle way. Our culture perceptions and experiences help determine how the world looks and how we interact in the world.
However, as we look back to see the situation in China’s high schools. We see that, for several decades, language teachers have not been able to pay attention to the role of culture knowledge in language oral teaching. Nowadays, in the ELF oral teaching, especially in middle school, teachers pay much attention to vocabulary.
As Chinese culture is not the same as that of English-speaking countries, the rules for using Chinese are, in some respects, different from those using English. There is especially good evidence that Chinese students may transfer their mother tongue references of language used to their English performance and fail to communicate effectively[1]24. Misunderstanding caused by cross-cultural communication should break down and much attention should be paid to them in English language t eaching.
So in middle school ELF oral teaching, teachers must not only improve students’ language level, but also pay attention to cultivating students’ abilities of intercultural communication.
2. The concept of intercultural communication
2.1 Literature review
More and more common practice of intercultural communication promotes the emergence of the concept of intercultural communicative competence. It is a challenging issue for language study and language teaching.
In 1965, Chomsky put forward the concept of linguistic competence and linguistic performance. Later, it was challenged by Campbell and Wales (1970) and Hymes (1972). Hymes (1972) argues that the appropriateness of language is the core of communicative competence, and he sees communicative competence as part of cultural competence. Canale and Swain (1980) put forward a more complex framework, and Canale (1983) summarized communicative competence in the way that it includes four component parts --- grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic. Canale’s conclusion in fact suggests that all aspects of language using are determined by culture. The continuous theoretical research of communicative competence has paved the way for the development of language teaching in which cultural factors are considered more and more important.
In 1975, the first textbook on intercultural communication “An Introduction to Intercultural Communication” (Conden & Yousef ) was published, and many other books followed it. The research on intercultural communication has developed quickly, and has exerted incredible influence on language and cultural teaching.
Traditional language teaching divides language techniques into listening, speaking, reading and writing. Deman (1987) applied the theories of intercultural communication to language and cultural teaching, and viewed cultural teaching as the fifth dimension of language teaching. Seelye published a book named “Teaching Culture: Strategies for Foreign Language Education” in 1984. Gumperz (1982) conducted investigations on the “discourse strategy” of the communicators who had a non-English cultural background and who spoke English as the second language. He revealed that those communicators’ assumptions of the world that had been formed in their native cultural context would exert great influence on intercultural communication. This, in turn, has stimulated a trend in language teaching that sees culture as discourse (Widdowson, 1984; Mclarthy, 1991; Kramsch, 1993; Candlin,1994; Hanks,1996). So since 1990, process-centered and task-oriented teaching mode has been widely adopted in the west.
Besides, American applied linguist G. Robinson (1985) put forward an important concept that through language and cultural teaching learners would gain “Cultural Versatility”. That is to say, through learning culture, learners would change internally. This viewpoint is quite significant.
Prof. Michael Bryam’s research is also strikingly notable. He holds that foreign language education includes four parts: language learning, language understanding, cultural understanding, and cultural experience.
2.2 Definition of intercultural communication
“Intercultural Communication” can hence be defined as the interpersonal interaction between members of different groups, which differ form each other in respect of the knowledge shared by their members and in respect of their linguistic forms of symbolic behavior. In this Concepts of intercultural and Combines the Concepts of intercultural and communication, It also describes the problems and pitfalls of misunderstanding and the skills and competence required for successfully understanding member of other culture.
Thanks to Edward T. Hall who is regarded as the founder of intercultural communication, a new brink knowledge, intercultural communication, has been becoming more and more widespread in the whole world ever since the publication of his great work The Silence Language. Intercultural communication is a symbolic, interpretive, transactional, contextual processing tool with which people from different cultures create shared meaning[2]115. Intercultural communication occurs whenever a message produced in one culture must be processed in another culture. It can best be understood as cultural variance in the perception of social objects and events. The barriers to communication caused by this perceptual variance can best be lowered by a knowledge and understanding of cultural factors that are subject to variance, coupled with an honest and sincere desire to communicate successfully across cultural boundaries.
Intercultural communication refers to communication between persons who have d ifferent cultural beliefs, values, or ways of behaving.
2.2.1 Cultural and cross-cultural communication
Cultural awareness in language learning is the ability to be aware of cultural relativity following reading, writing, listening and speaking. As Claire kramsch points out…[12]
If…language is seen as social practice, culture becomes the very core of language teaching, cultural awareness must then be viewed as enabling language proficiency…
Language itself is defined by culture. Language competent cannot be achieved without a good understanding of culture that shapes it, especially in foreign language learning. It is not only therefore essential to have cultural awareness, but also have cross-cultural communication awareness, such as the understanding of the relationship between target culture and native culture.
2.2.2 Culture teaching and ELF oral teaching in middle school
The interrelationship between culture teaching and language teaching has been explored in depth by Michael Byram. The basis of Byram’s position is that it views language as a cultural phenomenon, embodying the values and meanings particular to a specific society, referring to the traditions and artifacts of that society and signaling its people’s sense of themselves—their cultural identity: “to teach foreign culture is to introduce learners to new competences and to allow them to reflect upon their own culture and cultural competence[2].” It is assumed by others that language could somehow stand alone and be taught as a value-free symbolic system. But the social nature of language works oppositely when separating it from its original culture, especially when appearing in overseas contexts, where the learners’ contact with the culture is largely confined to the foreign language classroom.
Traditional foreign language teaching does not pay much attention to cultural factor. It focuses mainly on the vocabulary and structure of the language. But plenty of facts prove that language is not only a symbol, a system, which put forward by pure linguistic theory scholar, but also a social practice. Therefore successful foreign language teaching must help the student master the knowledge of culture rules, in addition to use them in particular situation. Every nation has its unique culture pattern and language is the carrier of culture. For instance, Asians emphasize the importance of orderly society whereas Americans emphasize the importance of personal freedom and individual rights. For effective and appropriate communication, learners in middle school must be familiar with the differences in the foreign culture which they are learning and take according language behaviors.
3. A survey based on classroom observations
Survey date: 25/02/2009
Survey instrument: interview and questionnaire.
Subjects: students of Ning Bo Chai Qiao middle school. 30 students are interviewed, 98 students (30 interviewed students and another 68 students) participate in questionnaire. All the 98 copies of questionnaire are valid.
The objective of this survey is to investigate:
1) Students’ attitudes towards cross-cultural communication in the ELF oral learning
2) Current situation of students’ information input.
3.1 The analysis of interviews
Thirty English learners are interviewed and are invited to answer only one question: what is a competent language learner like in your eyes? The responses tend to fall into three categories:
(1) Twenty five interviewees think that he or she is good at English listening, speaking, reading and writing abilities, especially at speaking and listening;
(2) Ten of them think he or she is familiar with foreign culture and is a successful cross-cultural communicator.
(3) Five of them think a good command of native language is necessary.
In order to describe more directly, the results of interviews are put into a table (Table.1).
Table1. Results of the Interview
Positive attitudes Percentage
Language proficiency learning(reading, writing, speaking and listening) 83.33% (25/30)
Accumulation of culture 33.33% (10/30)
Mother tongue proficiency 16.67% ( 5/30)
These students’ responses reveal the following information:
Firstly, these students still see the four basic skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) as their main study objective. Secondly, cross-cultural communication competence has already been realized by language learners, but this group is small compared to the whole. Thirdly, the importance of mother tongue competence has only been seen by a few interviewees.
According to this interview, most interviewees have realized the importance of language proficiency in language learning, but the point is why only one third of the interviewees have realized the importance and necessity of cross-cultural communicative competence since which are discussed so warmly in present language teachin g world? Do they hold a negative view on it or do they just have not yet obtained the awareness consciously?
3.2 The analysis of a questionnaire
The English learning questionnaire consists of nine closed-ended questions (see Appendix), For instance, “you have the interest and passion in English and language learning”, and the answers falls into four types:
1. Strongly Agree (SA) 2. Agree (A) 3. Disagree (D) 4. Strongly Disagree (SD)
According to the research content, the analysis of questionnaire is divided into two parts. The first five are put in Table 2 and the rest four questions are put in Table 4.
3.2.1 Data analysis on the questionnaire (1)
This part of analysis involves data analysis on questions 1-5 in the questionnaire and a comparison between the responds of the interviews and the questionnaire.
3.2.1.1 Data analysis on the questionnaire (1)
Table2. Results of Questions 1-5 in Questionnaire
SA A D SD
1) The cultivation of English skills(reading, writing, speaking and listening) is the foundation of the language learning 60.29% 31.65% 2.04% 6.02%
2) Reading English novels everyday is necessary 17.35% 69.39% 13.26% 0.00%
3) It is important to acquire a good knowledge of native language in the ELF oral learning 44.90% 53.06% 2.04% 0.00%
4) The accumulation of language and cross-cultural communication competence are of equal importance 50.00% 48.98% 1.02% 0.00%
5) It is necessary to read materials regularly about politics, economy, culture, and so on 39.80% 60.20% 0.00% 0.00%
Questions 1-5 (see appendix) indicate a clear picture of students’ attitudes towards language proficiency learning, native language learning, and accumulation on cross-cultural communication competence, literature, and politics and so on. On the importance of the cultivation of reading, speaking, listening and writing in language learning, 91.94% (60.29% SA+31.65% A) of English majors agree and of which 64.29% strongly agree. On daily English novels reading, a total of 86.74% (17.35% SA+69.39% A) consider it necessary. On the necessity a good command of native language, 97.96% (44.90% SA+53.06% A) of English learners agree. On the relation of native language learning and foreign language learning, 98.98% (50.0% SA+48.98% A) believe that these two are of equal importance. Finally, on a regularly reading of politics, economy, and culture, all (39.80% SA+60.20% A) the students hold a supportive attitude.
3.2.1.2 Comparison between the interviews and the questionnaire
With regards to the similarities of the contents examined, it seems necessary to
have a comparison between the responds of the interviews and the questionnaire.
Table3. Comparison between the Interviews and the Questionnaire
Positive attitudes (SA+A) Interview
(open-ended) Questionnaire
(close-ended)
Foreign Language proficiency learning(reading, writing, speaking and listening) 83.88% 91.94%
Accumulation of intercultural communication competence 33.33% 98.98%
Mother tongue proficiency 16.67% 97.96%
From the table above, the comparison is very clear that, towards the same research content, interviewees’ responds vary when they are faced with different types of questions. The gap is especially seen on the accumulation of cross-cultural communication competence and native language proficiency. Compared with open-ended question in the interview, interviewees tend to hold a more supportive view on closed-ended questions in the questionnaire. In other word, most English learners subjectively admit the importance of the accumulation of cross-cultural communication competence and native language proficiency, but the point is, not all of them have already obtained the awareness. However, two questions have been proposed from the comparison: (1) Why English learners have not obtained the cross-cultural awareness which should be tied up with the ELF oral learning? (2) Is that because they subjectively lack learning motivation or objectively, they lack timely and efficiently teachers’ cultural guidance?
3.2.2 Data analysis on the questionnaire (2)
This part of questionnaire (table4 in next page) mainly focuses on students’ attitudes towards learning motivation as well as classroom learning. Before the analysis is taken, a brief introduction on motivation can help to have a better understanding on the analysis.
1) Integrative motivation
Motivation has been identified as the learners’ orientation with regards to the goal of learning foreign language69. This form of motivation is known as integrative motivation.
.2) Instrumental Motivation
In contrast to integrative motivation is the form of motivation which is known as in strumental motivation. This is generally characterized by the desire to obtain something practical from the study of foreign language[9]125. With instrumental motivation, the purpose of study is more practical, such as meeting the requirements for college graduation, applying for a job and achieving higher social status.
Table4. Results of Questions 6-9 in Questionnaire
SA A D SD
6) Your have the interest and passion in the ELF oral learning 14.29% 61.22% 21.43% 3.06%
7) You would prefer to get an English-related job after the graduation 21.43% 66.33% 11.22% 1.02%
8) The present classroom teaching can cultivate your learning abilities and improve your cross-cultural skills 2.04% 7.14% 71.43% 19.39%
9) You hope to have English class in various forms such as discussion, presentation, debate, performance and so on. 25.51% 63.27% 9.18% 2.04%
As is shown in the table (results of questions 6 and 7), 75.51% (14.29%SA+61.22%A) of English learners have the interest and passion in language learning, and 87.76% (21.43%SA+66.33%A) of them would like to get an English related job in the future. According to the introduction of motivation, the answers to those two questions (questions 6 and 7) can be taken as the representation of integrative and instrumental motivation respectively. Therefore, a conclusion can be made that, most students subjectively want to make a living by using their language competence.
In order to check the condition of students’ cultural information input, questions 8 and 9 are designed and analyzed. 89.82% (71.43%D+19.39SD) of English learners do not think that the present classroom teaching can cultivate their learning abilities and improve their cross-cultural communication competence, whereas a total of 88.78% (25.51%SA+63.27%A) hope to have English class in various forms such as discussion, presentation, debate, performance and so on. It can be found that most English majors are not satisfied with the current classroom teaching. They hope to enjoy a more interactive and communicative teaching style. The traditional text-based grammatical and linguistic teaching could not meet the needs of the cultivation of communicative competence to some extent. What’s more important is that students are supposed to have a consciously as well as unconsciously cultural awareness promote by language teachers.
3.2.3 Data analysis on culture curriculum
It is shown from the result of question 8 in the table above (table 4) that present foreign language teaching has not provided a satisfactory fruit on cultural awareness cultivation. A question should be taken into consideration, that is, how can cross-culture awareness be expressed in the foreign language curriculum, with the purpose to cultivate language learners’ cultural awareness and communication insight into the target civilization? For a long time, this has been attempted by introducing the geographical environment and historical or political development of the foreign culture, its institutions and customs, its literary achievements, and even everyday life of its people. Take English learners in Ning Bo Chai Qiao middle school as an example, their cultural input has largely come from courses such as Extensive Reading, Communication between Cultures, American Literature, and An Outline Introduction to Britain and America, and so on. Following is a basic analysis on the four courses.
Table5. Courses Information
Course Duration Teacherˊs background
Extensive Reading first 4 terms Chinese
Communication between cultures the 7th term New Zealander
American literature the 7th term Chinese
An Outline Introduction to Britain and America the 7th term Canadian
Extensive Reading was taught by a Chinese teacher during the first four terms, and the teaching contents mainly focus on western culture, economy, politic, education and so on. After two years study, it helps students build up a general view on western civilization. Communication between Cultures is taught by a English-speaking teacher from New Zealand, the teaching content seems “boring and meaningless” said the majority of students, the teacher read the chapters from the book to the class instead of giving practical cross-cultural communication analysis. So for most students, they did not learn as much as they expected from this course. American literature was taught by a Chinese teacher, and the teaching contents include background information introduction and literacy reading. An Outline Introduction to Britain and America was taught by a Canadian teacher who has a good experience on both British and American cultures. In this course, students are introduced to a comparison of the British and American culture.
From what have been introduced above, it can be seen that although there are four courses and an 28-month course duration, most of what students have taken is an education of “cultural background knowledge” on Chinese or English rather t han practical cross-cultural communication stimulation such as comparisons or contradictions between the target and native culture. To some extent, it revels why most English students have not got a conscious awareness in cultural or cross-cultural communication competence.
Through comparisons between the interview and the questionnaire, it can be seen that students hold positive attitudes on develop the competence of intercultural communication, but for some reasons, not so many have already obtained conscious cross-cultural awareness. Through further analysis of curriculum on cultural teaching, it reveals that present cultural teaching in ELF oral teaching shows the weakness in practical, sufficient and conscious cultural input to help build up language learner’s cross-cultural awareness. Moreover, the current teaching is also expected to be more communicative and interactive. Thus, following on are the possible ways to promote the competence of intercultural communication,
4.1 The necessity of develop cross-cultural communication competence
Firstly, it is vital for language teachers to help language learners develop their cross-cultural communication competence. If the final purpose of intercultural communication competence cultivation is to help students to acquire cross-cultural communication competence, then what cross-cultural communication competence is? According to Kramsch’s opinion, cross-cultural awareness is not really a skill, but a collection of skills and attitudes known as a competence[12].
Secondly, it is necessary to make clear what cross-cultural awareness skills students are supposed to acquire. It has been suggested that cross-cultural awareness consists of having four different perspectives on communication with a different culture. Cross-cultural competent students should be able to:
----look at their own culture from the point of view of their own culture (for example, having a good understanding and awareness of their own culture)
----Be aware of how their culture is seen from outside, by other countries or cultures
----understand or see the target culture from its own perspective (for example, understanding and being aware of what other people think of their own culture)
----Be aware of how they see the target culture
4.1.1 The request of the development of Internationalization
Lin Dajin in the “cross-cultural communication study, ” pointed out that culture can be defined as “ the integrated feature that a nation is distinct from another nation. ” Cultural differences are the barriers of cross-cultural communication. The modernization process accelerated the circulation of spiritual and material products, and brought all nationalities into a common “global village”, cross-cultural communication became an integral part of national life. If people do not understand the cultural convention in the USA or Britain, and use the way of China to treat foreigners, then it will create a lot of jokes, and even hurt each other's feelings, self-esteem and cause misunderstanding. Thus, to overcome the cultural differences caused by communication barriers has become a common problem faced by the entire world.
4.1.2 It is imperative to understand the cultural background knowledge
Understanding cultural knowledge is the key to language learning. “One can not really learn the language, and teach language well unless one knows the patterns and norms of culture and cultural background[14]224. ” Without a specific cultural background, language is non-existent. If we don’t know the culture of target language, we would find it is difficult to understand the meaning of certain words. For example, “Thanksgiving”, “Sandwich” has been brought about in a specific social and historical circumstance, it is not enough merely to know the meaning of the surface of these words. Another example is: “You are, indeed, a lucky dog”, the literal translation is “you are a lucky dog. ” This is a satiric sentence in China, because, in Chinese views, “dog” is an expression when people used to refer generally to dislike someone. While in English, it can mean, “You are a lucky man. ” In Western society, “dog” is a family member, and they are harmonious coexisting with people “Dog” here refers to people instead of satirizing others, but a very intimate expression.
4.1.3 Cultural knowledge teaching is the objective of language teaching
The main objective of language teaching is to train and develop students’ interpersonal skills. And cultural knowledge teaching can increase the ability of cross-cultural communication, which is the important content to achieve goals of language teaching. For example, in American society, praise and compliments language that flatter mainly a personal appearance, new things, personal property, and individuals in a ce rtain area are commonly used as the introduction to a conversation. This is different from Chinese. Thus, different nations have different cultural environments, different living habits and different languages behavior expressions. And as a language learner, if not ideologically “physically entering their social linguistic environment” will be difficult to achieve the goal of language learning,not to say that language teaching objectives will be accomplished.
4.2 Some strategies for improving cross-cultural communication competence in the ELF oral learning in Chinese middle school
After the survey research and data analysis, now we have a clear idea of the common reasons that triggered the weakness of the cross-cultural communication in middle school ELF oral teaching. However, we do not have a clarity solution about this situations. Therefore, some strategies were listed here to help learners with their language learning.
4.2.1 Some strategies to learners
4.2.1.1Raising culture awareness
Culture awareness is the term we have used to describe sensitivity to the impact of culturally---induced behavior on language use and communication. It including two qualities: one is awareness of one’s own culture, the other is awareness of the culture[7]15.
Unfortunately, in China, cross-cultural communication errors can be found from time to time. In the ELF oral learning, culture factor needs to be taken seriously. To cultivate students’ intercultural communication we need first to arouse their cultural awareness. Because of different cultural background, life experience, profession, sex, education, even age, character, people may have different modes of interaction. People learn to think, feel, behave and strive for what their culture considers proper. These means there might not be the same as what is intended by the speaker. If we are aware of this, we can avoid ethnocentricity, and can have better communication with people all over the world.
Speakers of a foreign language often have the experience of making careless mistakes which may cause get angry, may be embarrassing and may arouse hostility from native speaker. Often such mistakes occur even though the application of the linguistic rules of grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation is correct. These mistakes are culture errors but occur because of not knowing or choosing the appropriate style, and manner to use for effective communication.
4.2.1.2 The development of sensitiveness to culture differences
There are four stages in the development of the sensitiveness to culture differences. The first, one can make out the obvious, superficial culture characteristics. In other word, he will find them interesting and exotic. The second, one can judge the delicate meaningful cultural characteristics that are quite different from his own. Usually he will feel them incredible or hard to accept .The third, one can accept the cultural characteristics after rational analysis. The fourth, one can be in the other peoples’ shoes and appreciate the cultural characteristics. In other words, the first three stage can be understood, and the fourth empathy.
4.2.1.3 The development of empathy
In order to communication effectively, you need a deep degree of empathy, that is to be able to understand the other person’s affective and cognitive states. Empathy differs from sympathy in that it does not include pity or approval. And focuses on the feelings of others, not our own[12]114. Empathy involves relativism and flexibility, which knowledge alone cannot consist. Teachers can create good classroom environment where students tolerate and appreciate different norms by bringing up students’ empathy. In China, we always emphasize collectivism instead of individualism. But in English class, we advocate differences, to encourage students to understand each other.
To facilitate empathy, we can take these measures:
(1) Subjects like history, anthropology, and sociology should be introduced into
the curriculum. Through these subjects, the students can not only acquaint themselves with the examples of foreign culture, but also master some concepts and principles concerning with culture.
(2) The students should be encouraged to read broadly in Chinese middle
school, both fiction non-fiction, literal or philosophical. Including proverbs, broad reading can be a student better understand and communicate with other cultures. Only through broad reading can he know the taboos, values, beliefs and religion of another culture, only through broad reading can be truly come to realize why privacy is so important and that individualism is so cherished.
(3) The students should he sent abroad for further study if possible. Thus they
can live with the natives for some time, no chance is better than the close contact. They can enjoy the new culture. By enhancing ICC, the intercultural communication of the learners can be carried out tactfully, acco rding to different context.
4.2.2 Some strategies to teachers
Language teachers are supposed to exert instructional strategies to help language learners promote their cross-cultural communication competence, that is, provide language learners with some useful ideals for presenting culture from its own perspective, for example, understanding and being aware of what people in target culture think of their own culture.Chinese teachers should take advantage of foreign teachers. Foreign teachers are rich in knowledge, idiomatic English, strong teaching culture context, full of wit and humor, longing to understand much more about Chinese culture. This attitude can have a great influence on students, and increased their desire of learning English well and knowing about the culture of English-speaking countries. Teachers can make full use of such rare chances and consult foreign teachers that they are according to the calendar, then all of the teachers and students can try their best to create all kinds of conditions to speak them imitatively —Action speak louder than words. Just as what we mentioned above, we have been aware of the importance of learning some cultural knowledge about the target language. It seems impossible and unnecessary for us to have a systematic study of target culture, which covers almost everything, in one’s whole lifetime. The difficulty shows that culture is ubiquitous, multidimensional and complex. A good solution to this problem might be to learn selectively those cultural factors that have great influence on intercultural communication, and that are closely related to the language. So on culture teaching we should follow these principles :( 1) interrelated. that is culture teaching must be interrelated with the content of the text. (2) Appropriate, that is culture teaching must be subjected to language teaching. (3) Practical, that is culture teaching must try to be “useful” for students in their communication. (4) Scientific, that is culture knowledge must be taught correctly, completely and objectively. (5) Flexible, that is culture teaching must be flexible according to the change of the world.
We must obey these five principles if we want to cultivate students’ abilities of cross-cultural communication. What we should teach in ELF classes is simply a foreign way of life related to the target language and teachers should avoid bringing their own cultural prejudice into class. The world is changing, so are the traditions and customs. The constant changes require us to improve our skills of intercultural communication by doing two things: understanding the cultural differences, especially the differences in the deep structure of different cultures, and becoming flexible in intercultural communication. There is a great tendency that one culture adopts the elements from another that are compatible with its own values and beliefs or that can be changed without causing major disruption.
4.2.2.1 Make full use of developing the interest of the competence of intercultural communication in the ELF oral learning in Chinese middle school
Intercultural communication is a big issue, which is not easy for both teachers and students to understand and realize. For successful cultural teaching, we suggest doing the following:
(1) Teach culture differences. Teachers should directly address the similarities and peculiarities between the source culture and the target culture. This can be done through the comparison of the two cultures.
(2) Provide opportunities for students to use the language in situational conversations. While introducing the students play a real-life role and practice their everyday language use according to the varied situation.
(3) Induce students to read literal works, which are vivid and abundant material to understand the character, the psychological state, culture characteristics, convention, and social relationships. Reading newspaper is also the direct path.
(4) Be aware of your students development level, when selecting themes or concepts to present. At first, learning activities should be clear and specific in lower levels, gradually, becoming more complex than the level of the student increases. There are a variety of children’s fiction which presents concepts like similarities, differences and prejudice which can be used at lower levels. At upper levels fiction and biographies can be used to present the more complicated ideas. Try to connect the unfamiliar with the familiar, the known with the unknown.
(5) Use plenty of ways in both general learning tasks and in language learning tasks.
(6) Use varied methods to check the understanding level of the students.
(7) Be enthusiastic. As a teacher you need to be aware of the value of learning a second language in terms of its contribution to developing cultural aware and a range of other cognitive and vocational benefits. Your attitude will influence the attitudes of the child ren in the class and their parents.
Beside, Chinese teachers should take advantage of foreign teachers. Foreign teachers are rich in knowledge, idiomatic English, strong teaching culture context, full of wit and humor, longing to understand much more about Chinese culture. This attitude can have a great influence on students, and increased their desire of learning English well and knowing about the culture of English-speaking countries. Teachers can make full use of such rare chances and consult foreign teachers that they are according to the calendar, then all of the teachers and students can try their best to create all kinds of conditions to speak them imitatively —Action speak louder than words.
For example, we once tried to spend Christmas and Hallowmas with all foreign teachers together in our school .The students were very interested and active in the activities, and such experiences can have impressed them strongly and forever.
Teachers should encourage students to communicate with foreign teachers and some other foreigners in and out of school. Students and foreign teachers can have classes, play games and take part in many kinds of activities together. Communicating with foreigners can provide students with the real cultural context in which English is used actually and stimulate students to learn English well including knowing about foreign culture.
As the success of many activities depends on good organization and on the students knowing exactly what they are to do. A teacher is thus mainly an organizer, whose work is different from administrator of a school system. But the teacher, like any other organizer, works primarily with people, and his task and responsibility are to create situations in which people can do their best and achieve their best.
Since teachers are key roles during culture teaching, they must play a positive role in helping the students to develop intercultural communicative competence and increase the students’ chances to succeeding in both language learning. It is not an expendable skill tacked on to the teaching of speaking, listening, writing and reading. It is always in some background. Lack of intercultural competence will limit the students’ ability to make sense of the world around them, and lead to failure in using English for communication across-culture.
4.2.2.2 Make full use of pictures, films, TV, computers and other audio-visual aids to make the teaching lively and interesting. Explore to the full the opportunities for students with the target culture information.
(1) Plays in and out of class
It is proved that plays in and out of class are probably the most efficient ways of language teaching.
The role of plays and dramas manifests itself when learners perform by themselves. Mini-dramas acted by students expose them to a “process of self-confrontation” with the target cultural communicates. The learners can act out mini-dramas written by them, which show misinterpretation of something that happens in the target cultural context. The cause of the problem is usually clarified in the final scene. Cultural similarities and differences will be analyzed by way of follow-up discussion.
In the listening book of Senior English book3 unit24, the material involves “finding a job”, English teachers can extract one or two advertisements from the magazine for students. Teachers can ask the students to divide into two groups, one group act as recruiters, and the other group act as applicants. By looking at the advertisements, appointing to interview, using some simple props, students can exchange views on working conditions, wages and other issues. Thus, students can understand the practical knowledge of Foreign Service work; the actors also can improve their abilities of practical language.
A short play can be broken down into sections. As learners learn (not memorize) one section, they move on to the next. By combining the sections, they have learned the play. The use of this technique enables different groups of learners to work on several short plays at the same time and leads to the creation of several shirt plays simultaneously.
Drama is a useful tool in cultural learning. A full semester’s work can be built around a drama project, or it can fill five or ten minutes at the beginning or end of a lesson. It encourages the learners to view the linguistic and cultural knowledge as a tool for communication rather than as an academic subject. It can bring life and vitality to the classroom.
(2) Classroom presentation
At the beginning of each lesson, teachers can hold a “cultural corner” sessions, with 5-10 minutes. Teachers or students can introduce one aspect of Western culture, such as famous events of foreign country in history, a prominent figure in the world, or some literary works. To accumulate the cultural knowledge for a long time, students’ cultural knowledge will naturally become broad and rich.
(3) Photo display
Use maps, photographs, and illustrations of the text to introduce relative cultural elements vividly. For instance, when we teach the States of Liberty which appears in the lesson 10 of junior English book3, at first we can display a wall chart of the Statue of Liberty in the United States in front of the classroom, then ask the students to identify it and then observe the Statue of Liberty carefully in the facial expressions, posture language, the hold-high arm and torch. And then teachers can introduce the following cultural background briefly: Batuoerdi, a French sculptor, builds U.S. Statue of Liberty. He takes his mother's face and his wife's body as models to manufacture it. The Goddess of Liberty not only has swallowed vicissitudes face, but also perseverance. The torch in her hand is a symbol of freedom shining all over the world. Then teachers can guide the students to make analysis of the understanding of American national spirit through the Statue of Liberty. Teachers also can allow the students to list their deepest impression in other countries or ethnic representation construction.
(4) Song appreciation
The important function of the songs is to express one’s wishes. Many lyrics and melody of songs are also full of rich cultural content. Students generally are interested in songs. If time is enough in the class, teachers can choose one or two representative English songs for students to appreciate or learn to sing. It is an effective method in the teaching of English cultural knowledge to analyze the content of the lyrics and music rhythm feelings. And then the students can accept the cultural baptism. For example, a song has a lyric like “Love is blue.”(Blue love). Then what representation is “blue” in English? It often expressed "frustration and anxiety". Teachers cited examples to analyze, and then asked students to appreciate this song, try to see if there are any new experiences.
(5) Foreign festivals on the campus
This activity is of great interest to young students. The celebration could take place in a class, a grade or the whole school with the help of the branch of the Youth League. All kinds of activities can be held in festivals, such as performance of foreign songs, dancing and dramas, holding costume parties, watching foreign films, attending lectures given by foreign experts and enjoying foreign food. By celebrating foreign festivals, learners will immerse in the target cultural context. Teachers are to give introduction on the origin and the conventional activities of the festival. A comparison of the similarities and differences between the foreign festivals and Chinese festivals can develop the learners’ cultural awareness.
(6) Using authentic materials
Obviously, the best way to learn foreign cultural background knowledge is to go to that country to stay there for a period of time. But we know that it is almost impossible to have such an opportunity, especially for our students. Therefore, it is practically necessary for the teachers to use authentic materials to teach culture.
Mass media, such as, film, novels and especially newspapers and magazines, is also considered as an insightful means for teaching culture, for they reflect people’s way of life in terms of variety contemporaneity and authenticity. Students in an ELF setting will spontaneously ask questions about puzzling aspects of society and life as reflected in the film or magazine. This material is by no means easy to interpret because there is so much central inference and it requires deep familiarity with and comprehensive exegeses of the culture in question. Therefore “all such material should be selected with an eye to the subculture diversity of the target community”.
5. Conclusion
Today, international cultural exchange is going on directly and indirectly, with its new scope, content, form and method unheard of before. To confine oneself to one’s own culture is to go against the times. Now, in our country, the open policy towards the rest of the world has become a fundamental policy. This policy has brought about much broader prospects for international cultural exchange. Therefore, overcoming cultural barriers has become more and more important. Only by surmounting the barriers can we get a high degree of cultural exchange, make use of good things from other cultures and build up our cultural and material wealth. This exchange will contribute to understanding and friendship among nations as well as development in science and culture.
In the practical teaching, the culture teaching should be presented as many detailed as possible in the teaching syllabus. The teaching materials should not be located only in the source culture and should be a constructive attempt to be explicit about intercultural behavior and communication, especially, in view of the limited language available at this level. Besides, in the classroom ELF oral teaching, teachers are expected to use a variety of teaching methods that are suitable to students’ level. In intercultural communication settings, Chinese learners in culture instruction should keep an open mind: we should try to avoid the prejudiced culture stereotypes over the other cultures and our own. Especially, we should put higher focus on the learning of our own Chinese culture. Another key point is becoming awareness of our own culture bottom lines. We must learn what our own culture line is ― the values where we are can negotiate, but we cannot compromise. We can allow others to be different, and respect their differences as they respect ours.
Though the culture teaching is a very complicated and difficult part to deal with, the educators and teachers involved in language education should make great efforts to carry out this part thoroughly. This determines much whether the effective cross-cultural communication can be preceded smoothly between China and the world.
Acknowledgements
My initial thanks go to my supervisor Meng Dong, who patiently supervised my dissertation and was at times very willing to offer me illuminating advice or suggestions. Without her help, I could not have finished this dissertation.
I am also indebted to other teachers and my classmates who have not only offered me their warm encouragements but also shared with me their ideas and books. They are Han Xiaoya, Shen Yin and many others.
And I also appreciate Li Neng, who offer me great help during the time I was in the practice in Ning Bo Chai Qiao middle school. Without her help, I could not finish my survey in this paper.
The remaining weakness and possible errors of the dissertation are entirely my own.
References
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[2] Byram, M. & Morgan, C. Teaching-and-Learning Language-and-Culture[M]. Clevedon,England:Multilingual Matters (1994)
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[4] Crookes, G. & Schmidt, R. Motivation: Reopening the Research Agenda[A]. Language learning (1991)
[5] Falk, J. Linguistics and Language: A survey of Basic Concepts and Implications (2nd Ed.) [M] John Wiley and Sons (1978)
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[7] Herron, C., Cole, S. P., Corrie, C., & Dubreil, S. The Effectiveness of Video-based Curriculum in Teaching Culture[J]. The Modern Language Journal, (1999)
[8] Kramsch, C. Context and Culture in Language Teaching[N]. Oxford University Press (1933)
[9] Stephens, J.L. Teaching Culture and Improving Language Skills Through A Cinematic Lens. A Course On Spanish Film in The Undergraduate Spanish Curriculum[J]. ADFL Bulletin, (2001)
[10] Tylor, E.B. Primitive Culture[N]. Gordon Press (1981)
[11] Samover,larryA.2000. Communication between, cultures. Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press
[12] Kramsch, Claire..Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2000.
[13] 胡文仲. 跨文化交際學概念[M]. 北京:外語教學與出版社,1999
[14] 胡文仲. 文化與交際[M]. 外語教學與研究出版社,1997
[15] 胡文仲. 跨文化交際面面觀[M]. 外語教學與研究出版社, 1999
[16] 陳申. 跨文化交際導論[M]. 北京: 大學出版社
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[18] 吳麗芳. 新形式下的英語教育與培養跨文化交際能力[J]. 河北青年管理干部學院學報 2005,3 P111
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AppendixⅠ
*Questionnaire:
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
1) The cultivation of English skills(reading, writing, speaking and listening) is the foundation of the language learning
2) Reading English novels everyday is necessary
3) It is important to acquire a good knowledge of native language in foreign language learning
4) The accumulation of language and cross-cultural competence are of equal importance
5) It is necessary to read materials regularly about politics, economy, culture, and so on
6) You have the interest and passion in the ELF oral learning
7) You would prefer to get an English-related job after graduation
8) The present classroom teaching can cultivate your learning ability and improve your cross-cultural skills
9) You hope to have English class in various forms such as discussion, presentation, debate, performance and so on.
誠 信 承 諾
我謹在此承諾:本人所寫的畢業論文《論中學英語口語教學中跨文化交際能力的培養》均系本人獨立完成,沒有抄襲行為,凡涉及其他作者的觀點和材料,均作了注釋,若有不實,后果由本人承擔。
承諾人(簽名):
篇8
關鍵詞 言語行為理論 跨文化交際 醫護專業學生
中圖分類號:G712 文獻標識碼:A DOI:10.16400/ki.kjdkz.2015.03.016
On the Speech Act Theory and Cultivation of Intercultural Communication Competence of the Higher Vocational Medical Students
ZHU Liping, HOU Xiaojing
(Basic Department of Taizhou Polytechnic College, Taizhou, Jiangsu 225300)
Abstract Speech act theory is an important research field in pragmatics, and has a positive significance in cross culture communication. This paper attempts to study the relationship between speech act theory and the training of medical students' ability of intercultural communication, and discuss how to improve intercultural communicative competence of Vocational College Students from the three aspects of cultivating intercultural communicative awareness, medical professional students' pragmatic competence and the application of speech act theory.
Key words speech act theory; cross-culture communication; medical students
隨著我國社會、經濟、文化及醫學事業的發展,世界范圍內的醫學跨文化交際活動日益頻繁,醫患之間的跨文化溝通也日漸增多。良好的醫學環境下的跨文化交際活動有利于建立我國醫學衛生事業的良好國際形象。言語行為理論是跨文化言語交際的重要哲學基礎,對跨文化交際活動有著積極的指導作用。本文將簡單論述言語行為理論的產生及發展軌跡,研究言語行為理論及跨文化交際之間的重大影響,并從培養醫護專業學生的跨文化交際意識、語用能力及對言語行為理論的應用三方面討論言語行為理論對高職醫護專業學生跨文化交際能力培養的啟發。
1 言語行為理論綜述
言語行為是語用學的重要課題,它為語言研究提供了重要的哲學理論基礎。當人們在使用語言進行交際時,交際雙方能正確理解說話者言語行為的深層含義對確保交際活動的順利進行具有關鍵意義,在跨文化交際中,由于交際雙方的文化差異,更能正確地掌握言語行為尤為重要。
言語行為理論的形成是一個逐步發展的過程,先后經歷了從1923年英國人類學家馬林諾夫斯基(M.Malinowsk)提出“言語行為”(verbal behavior),到1957年英國哲學家奧斯?。↗.L.Austin)明確提出言語行為理論,認為人們在“以言行事”,后來又提出“言語行為三分說”,即言內行為(the locutionary act)、言外行為(the illocutionary act)和言后行為(the perlocutionary act)。在這三個行為中,言外行為一直是學者們長期以來研究的重點,在這個研究焦點中有一個重要的概念,就是“言外之力”。奧斯丁認為,在特定的語境中,人們的交際話語具有一定的言外之力,如承諾、命令等。后又把言外行為分為判定、裁定、承諾、闡述、行為這五類。在20世紀60年代后期奧斯丁的門生美國哲學家塞爾批判繼承又發展了言語行為理論,也認為實施言語行為的同時就是做出陳述,發出命令,提出問題,做出承諾等,后又進一步提出“間接言語行為理論”,可以理解為“通過施行了一個言外行為間接地施行了另一個言外行為”。此理論研究的是聽話者如何從說話者的言語“字面意思”推斷出其間接表達的“言外之力”。
2 言語行為理論對跨文化交際的影響
不同文化背景下人們的交際行為受制于不同的社會規范,語言使用規則亦不同。同樣的一句話對于不同文化背景的人可推測出不同的言外之力,因此難免會導致許多語用失誤現象。所以我們在進行跨文化交際中,應在言語行為理論的指導下,結合對方文化背景下語言規約來理解對方語言的正確意圖。最典型的例子比如“你吃飯了嗎?”(Haven you eaten yet?)在中國人理解為寒暄語,功能正如英語中的“Hello”,可西方人卻很有可能理解為“你想請我吃飯嗎?”再如中國人說的“去哪兒呀?”亦是熟人之間打招呼,而西方人則認為是你在打探他的隱私。這樣的話,交際就會陷入尷尬境地。
將言語行為理論運用于跨文化交際有利于促進交際雙方對言外之力的理解和把握,從而掌握對方交際意圖,實現交際目的,也可以通過了解言語行為理論去選擇恰當的符合語用規則的言語形式,從而避免上例中“你去哪兒?”這樣的交際僵局。
言語行為理論可以說是貫穿于跨文化言語交際的全過程,不僅具有言語本體意義,還具有交際意義,可以在交際雙方之間建立起特定的人際關系。所以,正確認識言語行為理論和跨文化交際之間的緊密關聯具有積極的指導意義。
3 言語行為理論對高職醫護專業學生跨文化交際能力培養的啟發
言語行為理論指導我們言語交際的語境同時受言內行為、言外行為和言后行為的制約。在教學過程中,要將培養學生理解和表達話語的真實意義作為教學的重點,培養學生把握在不同情境下的說話人的言外之意。要切實做到這一點,我們應該注意以下幾點:
3.1 培養高職醫護專業學生的跨文化意識
交際的發生離不開特定的語境。醫護交際的特定語境就是醫學環境,交際雙方可以是醫護人員之間,也可以是醫患之間,它包括了不同的社會文化背景、醫學倫理背景、交際雙方身份背景、語言發生的情景背景等多方面因素。在跨文化交際中,只有交際雙方對對方的文化背景有一定的了解,交際雙方才能夠正確地把握言語的言內之意和言外之意,交際活動才能順利進行。因此,在教學過程中,教師因利用課內課外多種教學方式,多種教學途徑來向學生灌輸交際雙方不同的醫學倫理知識,社會文化知識,引導學生重視語言交際的背景和情境。
3.2 培養高職醫護學生的語用能力
由于受我國外語多年的傳統教學模式的影響,以教師為中心,學生將外語作為一種知識來學,課堂教學偏重詞匯和語法,學生只是機械化操練,這樣造成的后果就是學生雖然學習外語多年,但耳不能聽,口不能說,交際頻頻失誤,常受母語的負遷移影響。這主要是因為除了學生欠缺跨文化意識外,學生不熟悉外語的語用功能,在平時學習中也缺乏在真實語境中的聽說訓練。因此,在對醫護學生的跨文化交際能力進行培養的過程中應盡可能提供給學生真實或仿真的跨文化醫學交際語境,讓學生在這樣的語境中多聽多說,教師不斷對學生予以指導糾正,從而提高學生的交際能力。同時,教師還應該重視語音語調教學,注意不同的語音語調表達出的不同感情、情緒、態度和言外之意。
3.3 言語行為理論的應用
在學生對外語的聽、說、讀、寫、譯各能力的培養訓練中,教師應滲透言語行為理論對其的影響。比如在對學生進行表達能力訓練時,教師可設計一個交際任務,如用言語行為達到讓患者脫去外套做體檢的目的時,學生可能會給出各種說法, 如“Take off your coat!”“Take off your coat, please!”“Would you like to take off your coat?”等句式。教師應對“請求”的言語行為進行對比分析,指出影響說話人對請求策略進行選擇時,受社會權力(social power)、社會距離(social distance)和行為的難易程度(rank of imposition)的影響。
4 結語
在跨文化交際中,由于交際雙方來自不同的文化背景,對交際對方的社會文化背景以及交際中所使用語言的社會文化規約是否了解是正確理解言語行為的關鍵。交際雙方只有具備充足的語境知識,才可以對言語背后所隱藏的“言外之力”進行正確的推理。所以本文首先在理論上簡單陳述了言語行為理論從提出到發展成熟的過程,進而進一步分析言語行為理論和跨文化交際之間的緊密聯系,以及言語行為理論對跨文化交際的指導意義,最后結合高職醫護專業學生的跨文化交際能力培養的特點,總結出對醫護專業學生跨文化交際教學的啟示,希望廣大師生能重視言語行為理論對醫護學生跨文化交際學習的重大影響,并在課堂上結合理論學習和實踐,從而提高學生的語用能力。
江蘇省教育廳2013年度 哲學社會科學基金指導項目《社會語言學視域下的醫患會話及醫類學生職業語言能力的培養》,項目編號:2013SDJ740033
泰州職業技術學院2014年度職業教育課題《高職高專院校醫護專業學生跨文化交際能力的培養》階段論文
參考文獻
[1] 何自然.語用學與英語學習[M].上海:上海外語教育出版社,1997:81.
[2] 賈玉新.跨文化交際學[M].上海:上海外語教育出版社,1997.
[3] 奧斯丁.如何以言行事[M].北京:外語教學與研究出版社,哈佛大學出版社,1962.
篇9
關鍵詞:跨文化交際;英語教學;英語教學現狀;文化;培養策略
1.跨文化交際的發展及現狀
跨文化交際活動自古有之,比如我國唐朝的鑒真東渡、明朝的鄭和下西洋等都是典型的跨文化交際活動。長期以來,人們都僅僅視其為一種日?,F象,并沒有對其進行深刻的理論研究與考察。真正的跨文化交際研究是在美國興起的。20世紀中葉,隨著世界形勢的急劇變化,美國人在本土或在國外的跨文化交際活動愈加頻繁。但是由于缺乏對文化差異的全面認識,交際失誤的現象比比皆是。這使得美國國內及國外的發展嚴重受挫。美國的有識之士意識到為了讓美國的多元化社會和諧地發展,必須有意識地對跨文化交際活動進行研究。
改革開放以來,我國開始引進外資,這使得經濟得到了快速的發展,中國迅速站到了世界舞臺的前列,參與跨文化交流的人也越來越多。為了適應形勢,減少語用失誤,促進我國的發展,大批跨文化交際研究者開始涌現,胡文仲、賈玉新、高一虹等都對跨文化交際做出了卓越的貢獻。同時,越來越多的高校開設跨文化交際這門學科??梢?,我國對跨文化交際研究愈加重視。
2.英語教學的發展及現狀
我國已有700多年的外語教育的歷史。有證可查,1289年元朝設立的“回回國子學”是中國最早的外國語學校。之后,明朝有“四夷館”,清朝有“俄羅斯文館”。由此可見,自古以來,我國就重視外語的學習。英語作為一門外語列于學校必修課程在全國盛行起來是在1903年。
在近代中國教育上,一直有一個不能忽視的現象,那就是持續的“外語熱”。英語學習受到國家、國家教育工作者、學習者的高度重視。這體現了我國空前的開放意識以及想與世界接軌的迫切心態。過去,我國英語教學的重點是語音語法,哪個學生準確掌握單詞的發音、拼寫、語法,那么他就是成功的英語學習者。英語教師也以這個標準教授學生、評價學生。然而事實上這僅僅是英語學習非常淺薄的層面。在這種教學模式下,學生不可能自如地運用英語,交流起來必定困難重重。隨著我國對外開放程度的加深,和不同文化的人們交流越來越頻繁。這就要求我們改變教學模式,在語音語法的基礎上植入文化教學,逐漸培養學生的文化意識,減少文化隔閡,最大限度地降低交際失誤。
3.英語教學中培養學生的跨文化交際能力的必要性
以往,學習外語的目的主要是作為“橋梁”“紐帶”并從事“溝通”“傳達”等工作。然而進入21世紀以來,我們學習語言,初衷是為了和不同語言、不同文化背景的人交流。也就是說,英語教學的最終目的是通過培養學生掌握并運用所學英語知識,進行書面的或者口頭的交流。交流不僅僅是語言的交流,更是不同文化之間的交流。而我們的教育并不注重在英語課堂上植入文化教育。胡文仲 (1995) 教授指出:“只學習語言材料,不了解文化背景,猶如只抓住了外殼而不領悟其精神。實際上,語言是文化的一部分, 同時又是文化的載體, 語言和文化密不可分。”因此,要想學好一門語言,必須了解其文化。在英語教學中教師不僅要培養學生外語的語法、詞匯、語音能力,更要培養學生跨文化交際的意識和正確使用語音進行交流的能力。所以,高度重視文化交際必將成為今后英語教育的重要方向。
4.提高跨文化交際能力的策略
激發學生跨文化交際能力的意識,提高學生的語言運用能力,是當今時代對英語教學的要求。同樣的,這也要求英語教師改變教學方法,把語言教學和文化傳播有機地結合起來,使學生能夠在一定的場合使用合適的語言,從而達到跨文化交際的目的。總的來說,提高跨文化交際能力需要教師和學生的共同努力。為達到這個目的,應該注意以下策略:
(1)教師應該提高自身專業素質,轉變教學觀念,改變傳統的教學方法。
教師一直都是知識文化的傳播者。在一定程度上,教師掌握著學生的學習方向,所以必須提高對英語教師素質的要求。我們處在全球經濟一體化的時代,各個國家生活在“地球村”中進行頻繁的交流,外語是一個不可或缺的交流工具。所以想要培養出合格的、具有跨文化交際能力的外語人才,外語教師應具備較高的專業素質。
另外,要改變學生不會運用英語語言進行交流這一現狀,教師必須轉變教學觀念,改變傳統的教學方法。在英語教學中,教師不僅需要具備較高的外語教學理論,更重要的是也應具備較強的外語實際運用意識和能力。在平時的教學中除了要傳授英語語音知識,還應該有意識地引導學生學習必要的背景知識,比如英美國家的歷史文化、風俗習慣等,以使學生在學習英語之初就能意識到學習英美文化是英語學習不可缺少的一部分。這樣,在未來的英語學習中,學生才能主動地學習文化,增強學生對文化差異的敏感性,并使語言和文化互為補充。只有這樣,才能培養出滿足社會需要的高素質英語人才。
(2)學生應該主動學習西方文化。
中國有句古話:“老師領進門,修行在個人?!币簿驼f雖然老師的引導很重要,但是取得成就的大小最終還要取決于個人是否努力。由于受中國傳統文化的影響,中國學生的價值觀、思維模式完全不同于西方。因此為了減少交際失誤,學生們應該主動地了解西方文化。作為學生,我們應該在選擇練習聽力、口語的題材上有所側重。在練習聽力時,不妨側重一些具有英語國家背景的聽力材料。這樣不僅能夠漸漸提高我們的聽力能力,培養我們的跨文化交際能力,更重要的是它能使我們了解西方思維。當我們不再用自己固有的思維期望判斷聽力內容,而是在聽英語材料時能快速轉換思維時,就標志著我們在慢慢提高跨文化交際的能力。另外,英語作為交流的工具,口語無疑是很重要的。在和外國人交流時我們同樣要注意雙方文化差異,以免造成交際失誤。比如我們應該認識到,外國人打招呼只用簡單的一句“How are you?”,所以在和他們打招呼時切忌用漢式的“你去哪”“吃過了嗎”之類的。不論是聽力也好,口語也好,我們都應該注意觀察和學習雙方的文化差異,要用正確的語言,在適合的場合,說適合的話。
5.結語
時代的進步和發展對跨文化交際能力的要求越來越高。改革傳統教育模式勢在必行。我們應該清醒地認識到語言學習和文化學習同等重要。只學習語言不學習文化,必定使學生成為“啞巴英語”,造成交際失誤。因此在學習英語聽、說、讀、寫能力的同時,應更加重視語言中的文化因素。這就要求教師在課堂上植入文化教育,有意識培養學生的跨文化交際意識。學生也應該主動地通過書籍、電影或者出國留學等方式學習英美文化,把語言和文化有機地結合起來。只有這樣,我們才能受得住挑戰,把交際失誤降低到最小。
參考文獻:
[1]Guo-Ming Chen, William J. Starosta.跨文化交際學基礎[M].上海:上海外語教育出版社,2007.
[2]陳俊森,樊葳葳,鐘華編著.跨文化交際與外語教育[M].武漢:華中科技大學出版社, 2006.
篇10
關鍵詞:語言、文化、跨文化意識、跨文化交際
中圖分類號:H319 文獻標識碼:A 文章編號:1006-026X(2013)10-0000-02
每個民族都有自己的發展史,語言是歷史發展的產物。該民族的價值觀,審美觀,風俗習慣,風土人情等都可以從語言中找出痕跡。它是歷史的體現者。語言教學必須結合文化。該論點早在上世紀的四五十年代就由西方語言學界提出,到了八十年代,我國語言學家對這個問題也已進行了深入的討論和研究。
筆者認為,就第二語言教學中的文化而言,可分為兩個層面:一是文化因素,二是文化知識。前者為語言教學的內容,后者為文化教學的內容。所謂文化因素,是從共時的角度出發,指出那些跟語言理解和語言表達密切相關的文化因素。在傳授語言知識和訓練語言技能時,只有把語言的文化因素有機的結合起來,才能有效的生成與提高學生的語言交際能力。其中,是否應該有專門的第二語言教學的文化課程,文化與語言教學的比重應該是怎么樣,以及第二語言教學如何才能達到最好的教學效果和目的,這些都是始終非常熱門的話題。但總體而言,第二語言教學離不開跨文化交際,兩者相輔相成、密不可分,這是達成的一個核心主旨。如何來認識這兩者的關系,筆者認為應該從以下進行認識:
一、語言與文化的關系
何謂語言,何謂文化,這似乎是學習語言的人都應該能夠了解和意識到的問題,每一種語言都有其相應的文化作為其存在的依托和條件。美國語言學家薩丕爾說過,“語言的背后是有東西的,而且語言不能離開文化而存在。所謂文化就是社會遺留下來的習慣和信仰的總和,由它可以決定我們的生活組織?!泵總€民族都有自己的發展史,語言是歷史發展的產物。該民族的價值觀,審美觀,風俗習慣,風土人情等都可以從語言中找出痕跡。它是歷史的體現者。
我們的母語與我們所生活的環境是互為襯托的,他們的關系以及習得第一語言時,文化的影響是長期的潛移默化的,在學習第二語言之前,語言學習者所生活的社會文化背景對其母語習得的影響,是難以被主體所察覺的。我們常常都知道語言與文化是有聯系的,但它們的聯系的特點體現在哪里,也是很難意識到的。直到我們在嘗試學習第二語言的時候,不自覺的便受到了文化的沖突,在每一次的錯誤與究其原因之后,學習者以及教學者也都會意識到文化與語言的微妙而重要的關系,同樣也是在這樣的時候,才讓我們不得不正視這個問題。這也是我們所意識到的,只有在充分了解語言背景后的文化,我們才能真正的運用好第二語言。也只有了解文化,才能在目的語的環境下,進行正常的溝通交流。也就是我們所說的進行成功的“跨文化交際”。
二、第二語言教學的重要目標之一是培養學生的跨文化交際能力
跨文化交際指的是來自不同文化背景的人們之間所發生的相互作用。從心理學角度來講,信息的編碼、譯碼是來自不同文化背景的人所進行的交際就是跨文化交際?!爱斠环N文化信息必須被另一種文化加以解釋時,跨文化交際就發生了。
第二語言教師除了要教給學生完整的第二語言發音、詞匯、語法等,更重要的是要培養學生的良好的運用第二語言進行溝通的能力。第二語言教師實際上也是扮演著溝通中外交際的“橋梁”這樣的角色,他們在教學工作中應該不斷的進行兩種語言和文化的轉化工作。教師需要在教第二語言本身的同時,要融匯該語言的背景文化知識,以各種形式對學生進行有效地灌輸,給學生以正確的途徑培養其跨文化交際的能力。
在跨文化交際中,人們在使用第二語言時必須注意語言規則,從語音、詞匯,語法等諸方面都要盡量符合第二語言,否則只能是“洋涇兵”似的第二語言。這是最直觀的表現形式,語用正確與否,別的人一聽就可以做出判斷;另一方面,交際規則的轉化也應當引起足夠的重視。交際規則的正確而又得體的轉化更為重要。這是因為在跨文化交際中,第二語言說的不好,該語言為母語的人們還容易接受,因為他知道,對你來說做到語音詞匯語法完全正確又地道是很不容易的,但是,如果你說的第二語言既正確又流利,卻違背了該語言文化的交際規則,該語言為母語的人們就會產生本能的方案,這就產生了文化誤解或者也叫做文化沖突。
由于在不夠了解第二語言為母語的人的使用語言的習慣,那么即使在第二語言語言本身水平較高的基礎上,造成各種各樣的溝通障礙也是很常見的。比如說,筆者所遇到的一位美國大學生,已學習漢語三年,基本的語法學習已經差不多,并且詞匯量也算可以,但當來到中國后,每天與筆者白天見面,晚上也會聯系,但到第二天清早,他就會問“你今天怎么樣?”這樣的問題,前兩次筆者覺得非常奇怪,因為不知道該學生是想問什么,以為是有口誤或者有別的想了解的。直到后面才知道,學生只是認為這是一種打招呼、表示關心的方式。無疑,這在中國人看來,其實是非常奇怪的問法。筆者后來有了解到,有很多別的美國人也會有同樣的用法。他們有一部分人是覺得也許這跟“How do you do”所表達的是相同的。那么這也是跨文化交際的問題。因為第二語言學習者并不了解中國人在一些場合正常的對朋友表示關心或者打招呼的用法,他們則會以英語的思維方式創造性的,或者通過非專業官方途徑的模仿,來進行試探性對話。這是跨文化溝通失敗的表現之一。而筆者認為,造成這種問題的,主要是由于教師的教學沒有涉及這一塊,讓學習者有一部分的語言空白區。
三、跨文化交際教育進入第二語言課堂教學
筆者認為,在第二語言教學的時候,文化的介紹是非常必要的,但是對于第二語言文化的介紹或者教育職能是為輔的,我們教授第二語言背后的文化知識,目的并不在于讓學生真正實在的掌握文化內容,而在于培養學生的跨文化意識,將其所學的文化知識感知在語言交流與表達上,內化于其對第二語言的更深層理解,以助于第二語言學習者能有效地進行跨文化交際,能熟練地并且不產生文化沖突的進行順暢交流。
首先,何謂“跨文化意識”,這是Hanvey提出的概念,值得是理解和成人人類具有各自創造其獨特文化的基本能力,社會不同,人們的觀念和行為各異。他認為,獲取跨文化意識并非易事,關鍵在于能否做到尊重第二語言者的文化和樂于深入該文化。能否做到尊重、參與、移情餅愿意做出必要的自我改變,是獲取跨文化意識成敗的關鍵。不了解第二語言文化,不愿意提高跨文化意識,要想學好第二語言,是絕對不可能的。幫助學生不斷提高跨文化意識,是語言教師的重要任務。
筆者認為,跨文化交際教育應該是貫穿在整個教學的,而并非獨立出來的一塊。比如,我們在教授英美國家學生詞匯的時候,應該在有文化差異的詞匯之處進行比較和闡釋,如果教師不在課堂說清楚,學生則會在課后進行自己的錯誤試探練習,筆者認為這一類的錯誤是可以規避的。有一個非常常見的例子,“龍”在中華語境中是一種圖騰形象。在我國古代傳說中,龍是能行云降雨的神奇動物。在封建時代,龍作為皇帝的象征。漢民族素以“龍的傳人”自稱。在漢語中,“龍”總是機箱的意思,如龍飛鳳舞、龍鳳呈祥等。而在西方神話傳說中,dragon是一直巨大的蜥蜴,長著翅膀,身上有麟,拖著一條長長的蛇尾,通常代表罪惡、邪惡,令人感到恐怖,所以很早就被用來作為戰爭的旗幟。實際上,詞匯與文化的關系最為密切,不同民族由于生存境遇的不同對詞匯的理解也不盡相同。就語言要素與文化的關系而言,語音與文化的關系最不密切,語法次之,而關系最密切反映最直接的是詞匯。在從事跨文化交際中不僅要注意詞的概念,更重要的是需要隨時隨地注意詞的內涵意義。這一部分是教師可以在普通的課上講解的一部分文化內容,我們可以簡單提到文化的這個特點,讓學生知道它們明晰的區別就可以,點到即止。
筆者有去旁聽過獨立出來的關于中國文化的課,主要是講一些簡單的古代名句,然后穿插著介紹一些中國文化知識,教學對象為中文學習四年左右水平的美國大學生和研究生。老師的備課和講解都是可圈可點的,這也是一類選修課,但其實兩周之后,學生人數銳減,他們最開始聽課大部分是由于好奇,但兩周之后都認為對他們學習中文沒有太大幫助,并且古代文化以及古文的這一部分內容他們也覺得非常乏味和難記,即使在課堂上當堂記住了,課后也不會再用到,很快就忘記了。筆者認為這類課堂只能是針對對中國文化非常有興趣的學生,以及專業學生,對于大部分學習漢語的學習者來說,這類課堂是不需要的,而且講授這類知識容易造成學生的混淆,不知道什么時候該用什么,而在當代,很多慣用語或者俗語或者古文,當用的時候,會讓普通的中國青年覺得非常奇怪。此外,這本來就是作為很多中國人都不能用得很好的一部分文化知識。因此,筆者認為,專門的文化課是不需要的,作為對外漢語教師,需要考慮的是怎樣將文化之間的差異與語言教學聯系起來,進行深刻而不刻板的教學。這主要是需要教師的專業語文知識素養以及營造良好的學習氛圍和環境。
總的來說,筆者認為,跨文化交際因素是內嵌于對外漢語教學之中的。在某種意義上,它甚至決定著對外漢語語音、詞匯、語法以及句子的內在結構與構成原則。因此,既作為語言文化知識外部體現的、又作為掌握這些知識前提的跨文化能力,就是他們所應具備的最基本和最核心的能力。在對外漢語教學中,應當培養學生樹立起文化習慣的意識,站在目的語國家人們文化背景的角度去進行語言學習和交際,積極利用母語文化的正遷移作用,克服其負遷移作用。對外漢語應該自始至終把文化知識的教育貫穿于整個語言教學的過程之中??缥幕浑H與第二語言教學密切相關,在對外漢語教學中必須重視跨文化的語言交流,將文化因素滲透到語言教學的每一個環節中去。
參考文獻
[1]劉,《對外漢語教學引論》,北京語言大學出版社,2000
[2]周小兵,《對外漢語教學中的跨文化交際》,中山大學學報
[3]杜道明,《漢語作為第二語言教學文化概說》,北京大學出版社,2008
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