The Importance of Cultural Background Knowledge in College English Teaching

In recent years,with the development of reform and open policy as well as the frequent foreign exchange,especially the enhancement of social informalization and the widespread of Internet,more and more people are involved in Intercultural communication.Change and requirement of the new age make more and more English teachers,especially the college English teachers,come to realize the important role of culture in English teaching.College English teaching should not merely limit in the language teaching and cultivating students' intercultural communication competence is more important.To know the cultural background knowledge is a significant aspect of cross-cultural communication and also an important aim of college English teaching.It requires college English teachers put cultural education on a significant position and combine the language teaching and culture teaching together,so as to cultivate students' language competence in intercultural communication.

A RESEARCH INTO THE EFFECT OF BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE ON BUSINESS ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION

With the arrival of the new millennium,the demand fortalented people with both professional knowledge and excellentlanguage abilities is getting stronger and stronger.For business major students,reading is paramount inBusiness English teaching and learning.And their reading abilityis often assessed by a text of reading comprehension.However,from my experience as a college teacher ofBusiness English,I have noticed some problems among studentswho have little knowledge of business.They seem to readBusiness English materials at a slower rate and with lessunderstanding than general English materials.Then there is the question:is Business English reading"simply"a problem of language competence? Or are there anyother more important factors?This article is an investigation into the effect of backgroundknowledge on Business English reading comprehension.Thestudy attempts to assess to what extent L2 readers might beaffected because of their lack of a background schematapresupposed by the author by comparing the test results of twopassages comparable in language lightness or heaviness.Morecomparable passages like these can be used in investigating intothe rival effects of background knowledge and linguisticcompetence.The implications of comprehension theory for L2pedagogy are discussed and suggestions for Business Englishteaching is put forward.

Cultural Background Knowledge and English Teaching

Culture background knowledge in English teaching arose in eighties of the twentieth century. It has been closely linked with the reformation and open in China. With the increase of exchange between China and English speaking countries resulting from the reform and opening policy to the outside world, people have come to find that due to the lack of profound knowledge of the culture of the English speaking, "cultural shock"or "cultural conflict" often arises when Chinese people communicate with Westerners, which leads to the realization that the pure-linguistic centered English teaching form cannot meet the demands of the social development any longer. Culture teaching must be introduced into English teaching in order to learn English language well and communicate well.This essay explains the importance of the cultural background knowledge teaching through analyzing the relationship of the language and culture as well as communicating barrier caused by the cultural differences, and it also submits falsifiable suggestions about how to introduce background knowledge into English teaching.

The Correlation between Explicit Grammatical Knowledge,Implicit Grammatical Knowledge and Reading Comprehension Ability of Senior High School Students

The role of grammar in language teaching has always been the question that researchers debate.In recent years,grammar knowledge has been distinguished in the foreign language acquisition research,namely the implicit knowledge and the explicit knowledge(Dai Manchun 2005;Gu Qiyi 2005).As to the reaserch of implicit and explicit grammar knowledge as well as their measurement,it is easy to find that many scholars have studied the role of two different kinds of grammar knowledge in second language development.But the research on the role of implicit and explicit grammar knowledge in second language reading comprehension is too few,not to mention the research on the role of implicit and explicit grammar knowledge in English reading comprehension in the senior high school.The purpose of this study is to find the relationship between implicit and explicit grammatical knowledge and English reading comprehension ability of senior high school students.In addition,since the vocabulary is important to reading comprehension,this factor will also be considered in the study.

The Relationship between the ESL Students' Prior Knowledge and Their Reading Comprehension

This article will firstly review literature about the readers' prior knowledge and its roles in reading comprehension.Secondly,it will explore the kind of prior knowledge which should ESL tertiary students have in their English reading comprehension.Thirdly,the essay will describe a research among the ESL tertiary students from China about their views on the relationship between prior knowledge and reading comprehension.

An Empirical Study on Teaching Non-English Major Adult Students Reading with Allusions and Their Stories

Effective English reading requires readers not only possess good English grammar, flexible reading skills and plentiful vocabulary but also master rich cultural background knowledge.However, for the adult students educated in the Continuing Education College, it is rather obvious that they have troubles learning English The author of this thesis pro-posed a new idea of English reading teaching-teaching with allusions and their stories in English reading class.The author tries to apply the relationship between schema theory and reading in the process of teaching adult students so that they can get a deeper understanding of English allusions and their stories.The author of this thesis did an empirical research and made a quantitative analysis for pretest and posttest.The result of this research indicates that to improve English reading proficiency, either teachers or students should attach equal importance both to language structures and to cultural background knowledge.

The Application of Cultural Schema Theory in College English Teaching

Schema theory is a very important theory in L2 acquisition and plays a very crucial role in English teaching.Today,many college students feel confused in college English learning.One of the main reasons is that they lack cultural background knowledge.This article gives a brief introduction of cultural schema theory and it mainly studies how to apply cultural schema theory into college English teaching to improve college students' English skills and levels.

浅析英语阅读中的语块界定以及词汇知识的重要性——基于对“Effect of Frequency and Idiomaticity on Second Language Reading Comprehension”一文的讨论

近年来围绕语块的研究层出不穷，而语块对于英语阅读的影响更是受到英语教师和研究者的关注。由于语料库语言学的发展，研究者认为应将最常见的单词，或高频词汇作为词汇学习的重点。然而Martinez和Murphv（2011）通过实证研究发现，即使阅读中的词汇都是由一些简单词汇构成，但是由于这些词汇可以构成无法通过字面意义进行解构的语块，因此阅读效果会因缺乏语块知识而大打折扣。遗憾的是，Martinez和Murphy（2011）在文中并未对“语块”这一概念定义清楚。本文基于对该文的讨论，重新界定了语块的定义以及语块知识对于词汇研究和英语教学的重要性，希望引起国内英语教师和研究者对于语块知识的兴趣和关注。

Improve Results of English Teaching Through Fostering Students' Cultural Competence

This paper, based on recent overseas and home research findings and the author’s teaching experiences, discusses the close relationship between culture background knowledge and English teaching,analysesthe possible reasons for students’ deficiency of culture background Knowledge,especiallyproposes several practical approaches ofEnglish teachingto helpEnglish teachers developstudents’culture background knowledge so astofoster students’cultural competence and then improve the results of English teaching.

On the Problems and Countermeasures of English Reading Teaching in High School

The English curriculum standard of ordinary high school(experiment)(the"standard"for short)has maken a hierarchical description of the reading skills,which has put forward higher requirements for the reading teaching.There are many drawbacks in the current English reading teaching,such as:the outdated teaching philosophy and methods,the changeless teaching models and the old reading materials,the disregardful of students’non-linguistic factors and so on.Therefore,some measures have to be taken to improve high school reading teaching,for example,interdisciplinaring and cultivating students’cultural awareness,broadening students’horizons,focusing on discourse teaching,enhancing students’ability in English thought and expression,reinforcing the training of reading skills,enriching students’means to analyze and solve problems and so on.

The Effects of Dramatization on English Literature Comprehension

The article discusses the role that the dramatization of English literature plays in addressing two major difficulties in English literary work comprehension for intermediate English learners in China,namely the linguistic difficulty and the cultural misunderstanding. By taking the dramatization of British writer Jane Austin's masterpiece Pride and Prejudice as a case study,the first part of the essay examines the role of dramatization in tackling linguistic difficulties based on the interactive reading model developed by David E. Rumelhart(1977) while the second part analyzes how an integral framework for understanding target culture is constructed through the process of dramatization with a reference to Galloway's(1992) four-stage approach to a cultural reading of authentic materials.

浅析影响日语听力理解的因素

本文从语言知识、文化背景、心理因素3个方面,探究影响日语听力理解的主要因素,并结合例句分析这些因素是如何影响听力理解的,从而提出听力教学中应注意的问题,以便为日语教学提供有益的参考与借鉴。

不同文化语境与难度下第二语言阅读的眼动追踪研究

用眼动追踪仪对第二语言为英语的20名视力正常大学生阅读不同文化语境与难度英语材料的眼动过程进行了记录。结果发现:1.不同文化语境与难度下大学生英语阅读的理解成绩、阅读速度与阅读效率是有差异的;2.阅读材料的文化语境对大学生英语阅读的眼动模式构成影响,分别影响学生的注视次数、眼跳距离和回视次数;3.英语阅读材料的难度也影响到学生阅读的眼动模式。

标准英语之争及其对英语教学的启示

在英语作为外语教学的理论与实践中 ,文化背景知识所起的作用已经得到较为一致的公认。但是 ,英语在其发展过程中衍生出了许多地域变体 ,从而造成了所谓内圈、外圈及扩展圈英语。由此而来的问题是 :英语教学应该以哪一种变体为标准 ?设立一种标准英语有无必要 ?标准英语又该如何确定 ?英语作为外语教学中文化背景知识的学习应以哪一种英语变体为标准 ?本文在检索大量文献的基础上就国外学术界在上述诸多问题上的争论作了一番综述 ,提供了相关学术背景同时试图唤起我国英语教学研究领域重视英语的变化和发展对英语教学可能产生的影响。

不同文章难度条件下文化特征类型熟悉度对阅读理解的影响

该研究考察了非英语专业具有不同英语语言水平学习者在不同难度条件下两种文化特征熟悉度对阅读理解的影响。研究发现:(1)语言水平高,或对材料背景熟悉的学习者可通过调用熟悉的文化背景知识帮助阅读理解,其得分均高于低水平,或对材料不熟悉的学习者;(2)在熟悉的文化背景条件下,当材料难度与学习者语言水平基本一致时,语言水平低的学习者也可较好地运用熟悉的文化背景知识帮助阅读理解。实验结果表明:文化特征的内容熟悉度和英语语言水平(或文章难度)对阅读理解起着重要作用,语言水平越高,作用越大。

先前背景知识、兴趣与阅读理解之关系研究

以204名大一、大二学生为研究对象,采用相关、偏相关、回归及路径分析等研究方法,研究了先前背景知识(领域知识与主题知识)、兴趣(话题兴趣、情境兴趣及阅读兴趣)与阅读理解间的关系。结果表明:(1)主题知识及阅读兴趣对阅读理解总成绩具有显著的正向促进作用,它们主要影响总成绩中的记忆成绩。(2)情境兴趣、话题兴趣对阅读理解总成绩也具有正向促进作用,话题兴趣在促进知识迁移与推理中具有重要作用。(3)话题兴趣、阅读兴趣对阅读理解总成绩具有直接效应,而情境兴趣对阅读理解总成绩的影响则主要通过阅读兴趣这一中介变量来实现。

多模态文本与大学生英语阅读理解效果研究

基于多模态符号学,依托视觉语法和知识可视化表征,通过实验研究和问卷调查发现多模态文本的阅读效果要好于纯文字语篇,更有助于学生阅读水平的提高。图像、色彩、印刷版式及可视化表征等模态与文字交互的多模态文本不仅能有效激发阅读兴趣、强化多模态识读意识,而且在预测文本内容、辨析重点信息、理解及推断细节信息和词义、训练逻辑思维等方面有明显优势。今后应尝试使用多模态教材进行大学英语阅读教学并强化学生的多模态识读意识。

文化背景知识对英语阅读理解的制约

制约英语阅读理解的非语言因素中，文化背景知识占有很大的比重。试从背景知识和文化差异对两个方面论述文化背景知识对英语阅读理解的重要性。