A Survey On The Status Quo Of Cultural Introduction In English Teaching In Junior High Schools

Language is one of the carriers of culture as well as an important part of culture.The close relationship between language and culture determines that culture must be infiltrated into English teaching.Meanwhile,the English Curriculum Standards(2011)also explicitly requires to cultivate the students’ cultural awareness,so as to enhance their cross-cultural communicative competence.There is no doubt about the necessity and importance of cultural infiltration in junior high school English teaching.However,in the context of exam-oriented education,there is still a phenomenon that the teaching of language knowledge is more important than the teaching of culture.Only by having a full understanding of the current situation of cultural infiltration can we find out the existing problems and causes,then put forward targeted suggestions and strategies for the effective development of culture teaching.This study,based on relevant research findings in this field from home and abroad and guided by “Intercultural Communication Theory” and “Language and Culture Theory”,has conducted a survey among 922 middle school students and 163 English teachers in 6 junior high schools of Linyi,Shandong Province,by using the following three methods: questionnaire,classroom observation and interview.Meanwhile,6 classes in Grade 8 as well as 6 teachers were randomly selected as the objects of classroom observation and interview,trying to answer the following questions:1.What is the perception on culture infiltration of both teachers and students?2.What are the problems of culture infiltration in current junior high school English teaching?3.What are the reasons for the problems?The results of this research are as follows:(1)the current situation of English culture teaching in junior high schools is not optimistic.Although cultural infiltration has become a focus for English teachers and students in junior high schools,but the view on culture and cultural infiltration is not comprehensive.(2)Main existing problems are as follows: Firstly,the current English classroom teaching in junior high schools is still centered on language knowledge teaching,and cultural infiltration is not often paid enough attention.Besides,the main source of cultural content is from the textbook,but the cultural content is not often updated.In addition,the method of cultural infiltration in classroom teaching is mainly lecture-oriented.(3)The main reasons for the problems mentioned above are as follows.Cultural teaching is largely ignored;The examination ignores the content of cultural teaching;Teachers themselves lack cultural capacity;Class hours are insufficient;The cultural content of textbooks is not updated in a timely manner,and it is difficult to obtain extracurricular cultural resources.In view of these results above,the author puts forward specific suggestions from the following four aspects,teachers’ teaching,students’ learning,examination evaluation and courses offering.This study reveals the current situation and existing problems of culture infiltration in junior high schools,and analyzes the causes,which can provide useful enlightenment for improving English culture infiltration in junior high schools,and at the same time,make a certain supplement for the study of culture infiltration in junior high schools.