How to Infiltrate Cross-culture into English Teaching in Primary Schools

1. 1 the relationship between language and culture

American linguist Sapir pointed out in his book Language: "There is something behind language. Without culture, language cannot exist." Behind language is culture. Culture is one of the most important attributes of language, and language is one of the most important carriers of culture, and the two have an intersection.

Language is an important part of culture, and the two are inseparable. Language is the crystallization of human history and culture, and it is also the carrier of culture, bearing all aspects of culture, from customs to history and religion, from material civilization to social system, from values to aesthetic taste and so on. Human knowledge and experience are recorded in language, as are customs and behaviors. Social system, value system, belief and world outlook also need to be expressed in language. Language can record all levels of culture, just like a mirror of culture. Culture also affects the development of language, and the two influence each other and are inseparable. Language is basically the product of culture and society, so it must be understood from the perspective of culture and society. In other words, language changes reflect cultural changes, and cultural development also affects language changes. The two are interrelated and inseparable, so language teaching is inseparable from cultural teaching.

1.2 the purpose of learning a language

"English Curriculum Standards" points out: "The overall goal of English curriculum in basic education stage is to cultivate students' comprehensive language use ability. The formation of comprehensive language use ability is based on the all-round development of students' language skills, language knowledge, emotional attitudes, learning strategies and cultural awareness. " Some teachers think that the content of English teaching in primary schools is extremely limited, and the range of cultural differences between China and the West is so wide that there is no need to spend efforts on cultivating students' intercultural communication ability. In fact, this view is extremely one-sided. The purpose of learning a language is to use it as a tool for interpersonal communication, and we communicate in English as a foreign language, which naturally involves cross-cultural communication. Cross-cultural communication requires not only language knowledge and skills, but also a prerequisite for communication, and the appropriateness of language is also a very important aspect. In order to communicate properly in authentic English, it is not enough to rely solely on language knowledge and skills. With rich cultural knowledge, communication can go smoothly and ensure the success of communication. Therefore, we must pay attention to the infiltration of culture in teaching.

1.3 Language knowledge and language skills

Both language knowledge and language skills are inseparable from the cultural level, and words, phrases, idioms, sentences and texts have rich cultural connotations. For example, when teaching people how to love animals 1 Unit 4, we usually use the following sentence: I like … a student said, "I like pigs." Many students laughed, so I asked some students, "What do you like?" Many students, especially girls, told me, "I like cats." So I explained it to them. Although pigs generally mean "being lazy" in China, which is derogatory, they are a symbol of wealth in the west. On the contrary, a cat in the west refers to the incarnation of the devil, such as "she is a cat." I don't mean that she is as cute and gentle as a cat, what I really mean is that she is vicious inside. After this explanation, the students suddenly realized. When communicating with people in English-speaking countries, if we apply our culture, it will inevitably lead to the failure of communication.

1.4 The purpose of learning and the enhancement of cultural awareness will promote primary school students' understanding of their own culture.

As China people, we should always remember our motherland. Only by learning one's own language well and understanding one's own culture can we better understand foreign cultures and use foreign languages better. Therefore, in the study of foreign language culture, we should consciously compare our own culture with that of English-speaking countries, understand the similarities and differences between the two cultures, deepen our understanding of Chinese and foreign cultures, cultivate cultural awareness, and gradually let students form cross-cultural awareness.

In the open information society, it is imperative to cultivate students' cross-cultural awareness.

With the rapid development of network information and frequent economic and cultural exchanges around the world, it is imperative to cultivate students' cross-cultural awareness in order to cultivate new talents suitable for the 2 1 century.

2. Once the "English culture" classroom misunderstanding

2. 1 attend to one thing and lose another, and forget the whole.

In previous teaching, I once only paid attention to language learning and teaching, but ignored the culture behind the language. When reading, students often only look at the back and forget the front, lacking overall grasp and only paying attention to the understanding of isolated sentences. Even if the paper is full of Chinese and English notes, they still don't quite understand the overall meaning of the article. Therefore, for English teachers, the biggest challenge is not the explanation of language and culture knowledge, but how to integrate language and culture in teaching.

2.2 violation of the law, mechanical operation

Culture permeates every aspect of life, and the living environment of human beings is the Wang Yang sea of culture. English culture mainly refers to the historical geography, customs, traditional customs, lifestyle, literature and art, code of conduct, values and ways of thinking of English-speaking countries. Lack of English cultural knowledge will lead to poor understanding of English phenomena and even misunderstanding; In cross-cultural communication, people often get used to the thinking of China culture, choose inappropriate or inappropriate words, and even make pragmatic mistakes, thus hindering communication and affecting communication and cooperation. I once asked students to mechanically divide initial reading into: initial reading, drawing new words, and reading correctly with the help of phonetic symbols; Read the second time, draw words and sentences that you don't understand, and understand or discuss them in context; Read it for the third time, thinking while reading: What do you know after reading the text? Reading should be a comprehensive psychological process. American scholar W.S. Gray divides the psychological process of reading into four steps: perception, understanding, reaction and synthesis. These four steps exist in every reading activity, but the emphasis is different. In order to read the text smoothly, it is understandable for students to read it several times, but it is against the cognitive law to divide the psychological process of reading into several specific learning goals and disperse them in each reading activity, which will hinder students' overall grasp of the article.

2.3 Split the article and focus only on the key points.

Sometimes I just emphasize the language symbol system from the perspective of linguistics, that is, the teaching of pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary; Some students think that learning English means memorizing new words, learning grammar and reading texts. In fact, this only sees the appearance of language, which will lead to the situation of attaching importance to knowledge and neglecting ability. As a teacher, we should pay attention to the infiltration of students' cultural awareness and ability training, pay attention to practical activities and skills mastery, and gradually improve students' practical English application ability; We not only pay attention to the teaching of language points and knowledge points, but also consciously let students feel, experience, understand and accept cultures from different regions, so as to realize the integration of different cultures in teaching and learning.

3. Measures to infiltrate cultural awareness

In primary school English teaching, how to cultivate students' awareness of cultural communication so that they can communicate with people from different backgrounds and cultures in daily life? How can we increase students' understanding of foreign cultures? Combined with the English textbook published by People's Education Press, I gradually infiltrated cultural awareness through factors closely related to students' learning content and daily life on the premise of grasping applicability, appropriateness and stages. Mainly from the following six aspects:

3. 1 Create an environment and create a cultural atmosphere

The biggest problem for children in non-English-speaking countries to learn English is the lack of English language environment, so it is difficult for students to form the habit of thinking in English, which hinders English learning. As teachers, we should carefully set up the English classroom environment, even form an open classroom environment, take students out of the classroom, and let students feel multicultural imperceptibly. In this environment, everyone is forced to exchange information in English, and this "environmental climate" is indispensable to help students form the habit of thinking in English.

Pupils like hands-on and games, so games are used to attract them, thus arousing students' interest in English, stimulating their enthusiasm for learning, allowing them to learn and master the basic knowledge of language and cultural background in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, thus initially improving their ability to communicate in English and deepening their memory. Teachers can make full use of all available teaching methods to create a cultural and linguistic environment so that students can consciously or unconsciously experience foreign cultural atmosphere. Students can gain more direct cultural knowledge by collecting and using some articles and pictures about English-speaking countries.

3.2 Activate the content of teaching materials and compare cultural differences.

There are many contents about the culture of English-speaking countries in English textbooks for primary schools. We must combine teaching with texts and ask students to compare the similarities and differences between British and American cultures and China cultures, so as to learn to communicate accurately in English. I try to start from the following aspects:

3.2. 1 Infiltrate cultural awareness through vocabulary

Vocabulary is the most active and important part of a language. It can best reflect the changes of society and times. English vocabulary has accumulated rich cultural connotations in long-term use. In teaching, attention should be paid to the introduction of cultural meanings of English vocabulary to prevent students from making subjective judgments only from the vocabulary itself.

For example, the word "dragon" is a symbol of "evil" in most western countries; However, in Chinese, "dragon" is the symbol of ancient emperors. When teaching words, I also listed some words that are both surnames and colors in western countries, such as white, white, black, black, green, green and so on. Finally, an interesting idiom is added: black tea, white house, black and blue. By comparing and supplementing this knowledge, students can understand some meanings of colors in western culture and reduce misunderstandings caused by their mother tongue.

3.2.2 Penetrating cultural awareness through texts

The main content of primary school English texts is centered on English communication activities, which can reflect the differences between Chinese and western cultures. In teaching, teachers can create conditions according to textbooks and students' physiological and psychological characteristics, such as curiosity, activeness, imitation, etc., set up corresponding language environment for students, provide them with a "stage", let them perform roles and let students use language in a "real" environment.

If there is a student's birthday, I design a scene for the students to buy a birthday present. Draw lots to decide who is the salesman and who is the customer. "Can I help you?" "I want to buy a teddy bear for my friend. Today is his birthday. " "Do you like this?" "Oh. That's great. How much is it? " Please pay ten yuan. After buying the gift, I went to the birthday party of the birthday boy "Home" and played a song "Happy Birthday" on the spot. There are many role-playing tasks in the textbook, such as congratulations, medical care, holidays, travel, etc., which can be completed through students' participation, performance and experience. Teachers can let students listen to tapes and watch short films to imitate the original pronunciation and intonation. Students can also observe auxiliary languages in CDs or videos, so that they can chew cultural knowledge and establish cultural awareness.

Teach "how nice!" Infiltrate students: in English-speaking countries, when others use "how nice!" When praising your things, you should answer, "Thank you! I am very happy to hear that. " Another example is teaching "How old are you?" At that time, we should tell students that China people don't have too many taboos about age, but we should try to avoid asking people in English-speaking countries about their age, because they are very sensitive to this question. In their eyes, youth represents vitality and hope, while old age represents uselessness and encumbrance. Questions such as "income", "whereabouts" and "marital status" are also questions they don't want to be asked casually, because they think these are personal privacy and should not be discussed as topics. Therefore, we should let students know the cultural differences carried by the two languages in time in classroom teaching and help students improve their sensitivity to culture.

3.2.3 Penetrating cultural awareness through songs

There are many songs with beautiful tunes and humorous language in English. According to the age characteristics of the children, I carefully selected several songs for students to listen, sing, move and perform, and feel the western culture while learning to sing and learn the language. When I sang the song "Old McDonald's", I asked the students to sing in groups, singing and shouting, croaking here, barking there, cock crowing, Cleisthenes the old cow, grunting the pig, tongue twisters, and the rhythm became faster and faster, and the students were breathless when they sang and laughed. When teaching the song "Once upon a time there was an old lady", I first told the students that an old lady swallowed a fly and asked the students what would happen to the old lady. Some students said that she would probably die. Sure enough, there are such lyrics in the song. Later, I asked the students to find a way to save her, and the students were full of discussion. Some people suggested that the old lady eat spiders. It turns out that the lyrics below are to swallow birds to catch spiders, cats to catch birds, dogs to catch cats, goats to catch puppies and old cows to catch goats. The old lady died after swallowing the old cow. Of course, this is an absurd song, but it embodies the unique sense of humor of westerners and unconsciously teaches the knowledge of biological chain. Some children's songs reflect the pronunciation and intonation of English and the cultural characteristics of English-speaking countries. If integrated into English teaching, students can learn the language in a relaxed and happy process and feel the cultural connotation of the language.

3.3 Through cultural comparison, penetrate cultural awareness.

If you can learn and use English through comparison, you will often get twice the result with half the effort. Just saying hello. People in China like to use "Have you eaten?" Say hello to each other, and if you say this to people in Britain and America, they may mistakenly think that you want to invite them to dinner, which needs to be explained in teaching.

For example, there is a saying "Goodbye, Miss White!" In PEP Book 1 Unit 1. At this time, I told the students that the young lady here refers to a female teacher. In Britain and America, it is customary to address teachers as Mr., Mr. or Ms., while teachers refer to occupations, which are generally not used as titles. Another example is learning "How old are you?" At that time, I told my students that it is common to ask their age in China, but when they ask their age abroad, especially when they ask women's age, they often say, "I'm sorry, this is a secret." Because in the west, people think that age, income and so on. It's all personal privacy, so it's impolite to ask at will. These differences between eastern and western cultures are also cultural factors that affect communication in a specific context. By comparing the two cultures and understanding the taboos of British and American cultures, we will not fall into the embarrassing situation of "being able to pronounce but not speak". It is not difficult to teach students to speak, but it is not easy to teach students to speak appropriately. The key to speaking properly is to help students increase their cultural background and enhance their awareness of cultural exchange.

3.4 Introduction of background knowledge through holiday culture.

Festivals are children's favorite days, and both eastern and western countries have their own festivals. We carry out exchange activities with the theme of festival culture, so that students can feel the western culture while learning the language. We often hold New Year's parties, birthday parties, Christmas parties, mother's day celebrations, father's day celebrations and other activities, so that students can feel the festival culture in real theme activities.

At the New Year's party, sing "Happy New Year" and make greeting cards to bless each other. In the activities of Christmas Eve, let students listen to the song Silent Night to experience the tranquility and peace of Christmas, and then make mutual wishes, give gifts and feel friendship and affection. There is a Valentine's Day in the west. Usually we think it is a special day between lovers, and we dare not mention it to our children. But I told my students that in many western countries, such as Britain, everyone can celebrate this festival. And let the students make their own love cards and give them to friends, teachers, parents or anyone they like. At the same time, we should seize the opportunity to teach and sing Valentine's Day, so that students can care for people and animals around them, cherish life and cherish life. At this moment, the meaning of Valentine's Day has been extended in real life. Speaking of ghosts, our first impression is gloomy, sad and creepy, but Halloween (1 65438+1October1) in western countries is deeply loved by children. 65438+1October 3 1 is the legendary day when the dead go home. On that day, every family put lanterns made of pumpkins in front of their doors to guide ghosts. It looked terrible. The children dressed up as monsters and knocked on the door to beg. They said to their host, "Trick or treat?" The host gave the children the candy and cakes that had been prepared already. It is incredible that ghost energy saving is so interesting, but the students are very interested after listening to it.

3.5 With the help of intuitive teaching methods, experience foreign cultural atmosphere.

Using audio-visual education, a modern mathematical means, can break through the limitation of time and space, overcome the shortcomings of abstract and monotonous words, convey vivid and interesting teaching information to students, broaden their horizons, enrich their perceptual knowledge, effectively mobilize their senses, participate in learning activities, enhance their emotional experience and stimulate their interest in learning. Multimedia technology provides massive resources and flexible teaching methods for the teaching of English cultural background knowledge. Language is an important carrier of culture. Being familiar with and mastering the cultural background knowledge of English-speaking countries is helpful to understand the language and improve English communication ability. Therefore, how to provide students with a lot of cultural background knowledge and understand the customs and habits of people in English-speaking countries is a difficult problem for teachers in English teaching. There is a lot of knowledge and information on the educational websites of the Internet, which makes this problem solved. I searched online and selected the cultural background knowledge suitable for students to read, downloaded it into my own folder, and displayed the webpage directly in front of students by using multimedia in class. For example, when I chose the course content for English interest groups, I downloaded the following background knowledge from China Primary and Secondary Education and Teaching Network and showed it directly to the students: British people like to talk about the weather when they meet, which is probably related to the changeable weather in this country. Students accept English knowledge acquired through the Internet quickly and easily. The mastery of cultural knowledge in English-speaking countries greatly improves the efficiency of language learning and helps students communicate in authentic English, thus improving their English communication ability.

3.6 Develop the second classroom and broaden the cultural horizon.

In addition to classroom teaching, organizing some extra-curricular activities with strong cultural colors can effectively stimulate students' interest in English culture and make them want to know about foreign cultures.

This semester, I served as an English team counselor in our school, and I positioned our team activities as a "cultural lecture hall". In the activities every Wednesday afternoon, I will introduce some western etiquette to my team members, including conversation etiquette, dining etiquette, visiting etiquette, etiquette "taboo" and so on. This activity can not only promote students' understanding of the target language culture, but also enhance their further understanding and understanding of the national culture. And I encourage the team members to boldly imagine and create, and perform a series of etiquette knowledge in the form of sketches, so that students can learn from each other while playing in school, which not only gains cultural knowledge, but also increases the opportunities for practice, and has a good effect of applying what they have learned. In addition, I also provide some books and materials for students to find out the origins of some important festivals, understand how people in different countries spend these festivals, and give students more opportunities to understand western culture.

The language of a society is an aspect of social culture, and the relationship between language and culture is part and whole. A scholar once said that a language must be deeply rooted in the national culture, and it is a mirror reflecting the national culture. The historical tradition, cultural mentality and way of thinking of any nation are reflected in its language. In order to adapt to the world and communicate better, we must master foreign languages and related cultural knowledge in order to give full play to our communicative functions. The development, generation and utilization of cultural resources in teaching enable students to form unique sensitivity and insight into culture and give children time and space to learn languages. Let students not simply communicate with others in language, but reveal a certain cultural atmosphere in a simple way, so that children can become messengers of language and communicate with each other with confidence.