Effects Of Cultural Instruction Methods In Vocabulary Teaching On Cultivating Students' Intercultural Communicative Competence

The thesis reports an empirical comparative study concerning the current college English vocabulary teaching methods from the perspective of discrepancies in connotative meanings of words between English and Chinese. It aims at exploring the effects of cultural instruction methods in vocabulary teaching on cultivating students'intercultural communicative competence by means of introducing cultural connotation of lexis in vocabulary teaching.In light of the theories of the relationship between language, culture and thought, the relationship between vocabulary teaching and culture, and the relationship between intercultural communicative competence and culture, the author presents four hypotheses in this thesis, ie:1. The traditional vocabulary teaching methods hinder students from improving cultural awareness, cultural competence and linguistic competence for lack of cultural instruction.2. If teachers consciously input the connotative meanings of words in vocabulary teaching, it is efficacious for students to raise cultural awareness.3. With the enhancement of students'cultural awareness, their cultural competence will be higher correspondingly.4. With the improvement of students'cultural competence, their linguistic competence can be improved accordingly.Then an empirical study was carried out in the author's two classes, ie the experimental class and the control class.The empirical research findings show that the cultural instruction methods in vocabulary teaching really have great effects on cultivating students'intercultural communicative competence. If teachers consciously input the connotative meanings of words in vocabulary teaching, it is efficacious for students to raise cultural awareness. With the enhancement of students'cultural awareness, their cultural competence will be higher correspondingly. And with the improvement of students'cultural competence, their linguistic competence can be improved accordingly.The results and findings of this empirical study call for special attention to integrating the cultural connotations of words with vocabulary teaching and bring many implications for culture and vocabulary teaching in FLT. They also provide some reference for the reform of college English vocabulary teaching in future. Thus, it is of practical value.