On English Allusions In FLT From A Cultural Perspective

From the middle of 1960s, linguists and educators around the world have come to realize the importance of culture in the language and paid an increasing attention to the research concerning language and culture. As the quintessence of language, allusions are well known for their succinctness, profoundness and cultural implication, therefore, allusion learning plays a vital role in helping the learners understand culture of the target language and further enhance foreign language learning. As a result, the thesis makes research on English allusion teaching within the framework of SLA theories from a cultural perspective.The thesis initially illustrates that the purpose of the present study is to investigate the role of English allusion teaching in foreign language teaching (henceforth FLT) and subsequently proposes the concerned hypotheses, the ending draws a conclusion with the fruits and limitations of the experiment.Chapter One reviews allusions from the aspects of definition, source and function, which testifies the abundant cultural implication included in English allusions. The author, hence, points out the significance of English allusion learning.Chapter Two states the relative theoretical considerations and the research issues. The thesis is mainly concerned with three fundamental theories, namely, the Acculturation Model, the Affective Filter Hypothesis and the Classical Motivation Model. Then the author intends to make affective analysis and motivational analysis through studying learning English allusions.Chapter Three makes a detailed description of the whole experiment which is the focal point of the thesis. This experiment aims at testifying affective hypothesis and motivation hypothesis which are the expected innovations in this thesis. The author adopts a mixed approach involving both qualitative and quantitative research methods, and selects six second-year English majors as testees from Wuhan International Trade College divided into the experimental group and the control group. Through a seriesof procedure, the author categorizes data from questionnaires, language tests and interviews.Chapter Four analyzes the experimental data and makes a discussion of experimental results. The research-based findings demonstrate that the differences between two groups are string. Therefore, group differences are compared and analyzed. In addition, the correctness of the hypotheses is illustrated.Chapter Five ends with the whole study. The author draws two major conclusions from the experiment: 1) allusion learning deepens the learners' understanding to culture;2) allusion learning increases the learners' motivation and interest in learning English. Additionally, the author puts forward the limitations of the study and its implications for English language teaching.