An Analysis Of Words' Cultural Meaning And Reflections On College English Vocabulary Teaching

This thesis intends to probe into the definition, the characteristics, and the application of words'cultural meaning based on the close relationship between culture and language in general, and that between culture and word meaning in particular, so as to show the necessity of implementing words'cultural meaning into college English vocabulary teaching. Then, it explores the treatment of words'cultural meaning teaching with many possible factors considered, in order to prove the feasibility of teaching words'cultural meaning in college English vocabulary teaching.It first traces the previous studies about words'cultural meaning, which have contributed a lot to and serve as a starting point of words'cultural meaning study in this thesis. According to different perspectives of study, there are three existing classifications about culture-loaded words: the first one depends on the equivalence of cultural meaning between English and Chinese words; the second one depends on the origins of cultural meaning; the third one depends on the categories of culture. Besides, other related research done by some linguists both at home and abroad is also presented. By commenting on their strong and weak points objectively, this thesis points out that there are still problems in the field of words'cultural meaning study. To be specific, there is not a perfect and satisfactory definition of words'cultural meaning so far. The characteristics of words'cultural meaning are not profoundly explored, and the application of words'cultural meaning is, to some extend, neglected.Then, it gives the theoretical background of the study in words'cultural meaning. It is universally known that culture and language are inseparable as well as Siamese twins when they came into existence. Language is a part of culture and is the primary means by which a culture transmits its beliefs, values and norm and so on; on the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture. Words, as the core of language, are also influenced by culture and endowed with cultural meaning. Since culture and language are inseparable, culture and word meaning are also inseparable.Based on weak points of the previous studies about words'cultural meaning, this thesis attempts to explore the definition, the characteristics, and the application of words'cultural meaning. There would be many definitions given by different linguists or scholars. However, words'cultural meaning consists of connotation, cultural association and culture-specific words'denotative meanings in this thesis. Influenced by culture, words'cultural meaning has five characteristics: nationality, universality, dynamics, concealment and learnability. Besides such characteristics, its application should also be discussed, which proves that the study of words'cultural meaning is worthwhile. In the study of words we find that English has the largest vocabulary and the most synonyms of any language in the world (Lin, 1997: 67). And the antonyms are a special kind of synonyms (Zhang, 1997: 23). Therefore, it is very significant to study synonyms and antonyms. From a traditional point of view, synonyms and antonyms are determined by denotative meaning. This thesis introduces a different type of synonyms and antonyms determined by cultural meaning, which are respectively called cultural connotative synonyms and cultural connotative antonyms.In China, some college English teachers have recognized the importance of cultural meaning in vocabulary teaching. However, due to few detailed syllabus, lack of appropriate teaching methods and lack of teaching referent books, they think it difficult to carry it on. This thesis provides its own view of how to solve the above problems. It adds a catalogue of cultural meaning to CET vocabulary syllabus. Further it introduces some major methods in and out of class with concrete examples. What is more, it gives some suggestions for college English teachers, compilers of college English textbooks, and compilers of English dictionary.The present thesis consists of seven chapters. Chapter one is the introduction which discusses background of the research, the purpose of writing the thesis and the layout of the thesis. Chapter two is devoted to the literature review relevant to the present thesis. Chapter three discusses the relationship between culture and language, and that between culture and word meaning in order to provide a theoretical support for this thesis. Chapter four is the understanding of words'cultural meaning which includes the definition, the characteristics of words'cultural meaning. Chapter five focuses on the application of words'cultural meaning to classification of synonyms and antonyms. Chapter six explores the treatment of teaching words'cultural meaning in college English vocabulary teaching. Conclusion is drawn in chapter seven, which summarizes the whole thesis.