A Study On Cultural Components Input In College English (New Version)

College English Curriculum Requirements (2007) stipulates that the objective of College English is to "develop the students' ability to use English in an all-round way", and at the same time they will be able to "improve their general cultural awareness so as to meet the needs of social development and international exchanges". Cultural components input has become one of the most important issues in the process of College English reform.The present research, using a combination of both qualitative and quantitative approaches, intends to investigate how cultural components are applied in College English (New Version) in Dalian Maritime University, and then provide constructive pedagogical suggestions on how to improve the status quo. The data were mainly collected through textbook analysis, classroom observations, teacher and student questionnaire survey and interviews. The investigation involved 114 non-English major sophomores and 15 teachers at Dalian Maritime University. The major findings of this study are briefly summarized as follows: Firstly, the textbook of College English (New Version) is over-concerned with the learner's linguistic knowledge and skills, and limited consideration is given to student's cultural competence. Secondly, although both of the student and teacher participants recognized the necessity of cultural component input in College English Education, it was revealed that College English did not meet the students' cultural needs from aspects of the textbook design, teaching in class, teacher's qualification and testing.Based on the results reported in the investigation, the researcher puts forward some pedagogical recommendations, such as stipulating specific cultural components in syllabus design, increasing the proportion of practical culture in textbooks, improving teacher's qualification and involving culture in testing.