| The present study was an investigation to examine the current situation in the field of teaching foreign cultures in China's language education. The study concentrated on answering the question of whether there were any differences between the Chinese subjects from the state and provincial normal universities and those from the district teachers colleges concerning their acquisition of social and cultural knowledge and information about the United States.;The data collected from the performance of 171 subjects on the culture quiz and from their responses to the survey revealed that some significant differences existed between the two groups of subjects. The first group of subjects (those from the state and provincial normal universities) scored much higher on the culture quiz than the second group of subjects (those from the district teachers colleges). Moreover, the first group of subjects also held a more positive attitude toward the learning of foreign cultures.;The study also showed that the first group of subjects were less satisfied with the instruction of culture in their schools and were less content with their mastery of knowledge and information of foreign cultures, than the second group of subjects.;No evidence was found to establish a significant difference between the two groups of subjects with respect to their ways of obtaining sociocultural knowledge. Media, other than classroom instruction, was their main source of acquiring information of other cultures. The study revealed that the two groups of subjects had better knowledge of such cultural aspects as literature, history, and the like than knowledge of behavioral patterns and lifestyles.;The study also reported the subjects' expectations of improvement in the teaching of culture; most of them cared more about importation of video and audio materials though only a small number of them expected much change in classroom instruction. |
