Cultural Model Theory And Its Implications In Foreign Language Classroom

A lot has been said about the importance of teaching culture in EFL learning. But culture teaching in English classes in China has remained quite limited. This is one of the reasons for the low English proficiency of English learners in China. If language and cultural knowledge are integrated more closely and naturally with our classroom practice, English learners in China will be able to communicate far better in English with English-speaking people.In this paper, I have reviewed several papers about culture teaching and learning. My main concern is to find out how to teach culture in English-learning classrooms in China so that English learners in China can communicate in English with native English speakers more effectively. Firstly I approach the issue from the experiential view of cognitive linguistics and have the relationship between language, communication and culture clarified. Then I elaborate on the present situation of English teaching in China. I argue that cultural aspects of English have received far less attention than it should in practical teaching, and thus a lot of misunderstandings and consequently communication errors are just inevitable. After pointing out some of the difficult elements for embracing culture in English classes, including the vastness of the concept of culture, the lack of accessible information and so on, I propose ways to teach culture most beneficially, and this includes how to avoid pitfalls in culture teaching.