Research On The Acquisition Of The English Culture-loaded Words Based On Cultural Differences

Language and culture are closely related.Language is the carrier of culture,but also influenced and restricted by culture.Lexical system carries cultural information and reflects the cultural customs and life of human society.Many vocabularies carry specific cultural connotations,which are called “culture-loaded vocabularies”.English culture-loaded vocabulary reflects the cultural background knowledge and unique cultural activities of English-speaking countries.It is extensive in used,flexible in application,and has a large information loads,occupying a large proportion in vocabulary acquisition.The errors in the understanding and acquisition of English culture-loaded vocabulary are mainly caused by cultural differences.Differences on cultural connotation,cultural context and cultural dimensions exert great influences on English learning.For a long time,Chinese college English textbooks and teaching have not paid enough attention to the acquisition of culture-loaded words,theoretical exploration and relevant empirical research.English culture-loaded vocabulary acquisition still stays at the surface level of literal interpretation and understanding,without revealing its profound cultural connotation,which has led to deviations in the understanding and use of culture-loaded vocabulary by many students,as well as barriers to intercultural communication.The study of English culture-loaded words and their acquisition is conducive to the improvement of the English teaching quality and enable students make full of strengths and avoid weaknesses in English learning.Within the theoretical framework of the cultural connotation,high/low-context culture and cultural dimensions,this thesis studies the acquisition of English culture-loaded vocabulary under the perspective of cultural differences.Literature analysis,case analysis,questionnaire were adopted as research instruments.A self-made questionnaire was used as research tool and SPSS 26.0 was used in data statistical analysis.This thesis verifies that the differences of cultural connotation,cultural context and cultural dimensions are the main factors that lead to the acquisition barriers and misunderstanding of English culture-loaded words through cases study and investigation.It is found that:(1)The influences of cultural connotation difference on culture-loaded words acquisition are mainly reflected in the following aspects:the association and metaphorical meanings of culture-loaded words in different cultures;cultural idioms and allusions of different nationalities and the nonequivalent cultural meaning of words in different cultures.(2)The differences between high and low cultural contexts can lead to acquisition obstacles of culture-loaded words about natural regions,religious beliefs and time views.(3)Differences between individualism and collectivism,low and high power distance,masculinity and femininity lead to acquisition obstacles of communicative culture-loaded words.(4)In view of the culture-loaded words acquisition under the above three differences,this thesis selected 25culture-loaded words in three categories and conducted an investigation on650 undergraduate students of non-English majors and English majors in Guangxi University and Xingjian College of Arts and Sciences.The results show that: a)In figurative culture-loaded words,English majors of Xingjian College of Arts and Sciences showed the lowest error,with the 69.17%accuracy rate.That of non-English majors in Xingjian College of Arts and Sciences presented the highest,with only 43.23% accuracy rate.The associative error caused by cultural connotation difference is the main reason for the acquisition error.b)In knowledge culture-loaded words,English majors of Guangxi University showed the lowest error,with the accuracy rate of 77.88%.Non-English majors of Xingjian College of Arts and Sciences presented the highest,with only 50.00% accuracy rate.The blindness in cultural context knowledge caused by high/low-context difference is the main reason for the acquisition error.c)In communicative culture-loaded words,English majors of Guangxi University presented the lowest error,with55.33% accuracy rate.Non-English majors of Xingjian College of Arts and Sciences showed the highest error,with 42.71% accuracy rate.The main reason for the acquisition bias is fossilization in used,which is caused by communicative characteristics differences.To sum up,the key to improve the acquisition effect and quality of English culture-loaded words is to recognize and eliminate the influence of cultural connotation difference,cultural knowledge difference and cultural dimensions difference.A corpus of culture-loaded vocabulary and its translation and a practice database of it should be established.Teachers should consciously guide students to study and compare the differences between Chinese and English culture-loaded vocabulary;students should carry out analysis of cultural difference factors,and effectively improve the acquisition ability.Classes and the second classes should be fully utilized;input methods of culture-loaded words should be valued and innovated;students should be encouraged to learn independently about Chinese and Western cultural background knowledge.Blended model of online and offline teaching and experiential teaching model should be adopted to increase the frequency of students’ application and acquisition of culture-loaded words.