The Role Of Chinese Culture In Teaching English In China

This dissertation attempts to study the role of Chinese culture in the context of teaching English as an International language. It aims to evoke the awareness of the role of Chinese culture in English classrooms among Chinese educators of English. At the same time, this research tries to reveal Chinese college students'incompetence in conveying Chinese culture, and as a result encourages the teachers of English to increase English input of Chinese culture in English classrooms. This dissertation is divided into five chapters.Chapter One is the introduction of the dissertation. It generally surveys the need for this study and the relevant theories. At the same time, it introduces the structure of this dissertation.Capter Two reviews the concepts of"culture"and"communicative competence", discusses the relationship between culture and language and the role of culture in language learning and teaching. It also analyzes the cultural basis of English classrooms and passes on to a discussion of the role of Chinese culture in English classrooms in China.Based on the theoretical analysis in the previous chapter, Chapter Three presents two hypotheses: first, Chinese college students are lack of competence in conveying Chinese culture in English; second, the major cause for such a situation is the lack of English input of Chinese culture. This chapter mainly describes the researches for testing these two hypotheses,which include tests for students, interviews with teachers of English and their students and a survey on textbooks.Chapter Four presents and analyzes the findings from the researches described in Chapter Three. The findings have proved the two hypotheses. The implication of the findings in English teaching is also discussed.Chapter Five summarizes the theoretical studies and research findings in this dissertation, analyzes the limitations of this study and offers suggestions for further studies in this field.