A Study On The Cultural Connotation Differences Between Some English And Chinese Words And Culturally-loaded Words Teaching Of College English

Vocabulary is the most essential element of language, so vocabulary teaching is of vital importance to Second Language Acquisition. Because of different geographical surroundings, customs, religions and value systems, some words have different associative meanings and cultural connotations besides their original denotations. As a result, English learners are required to grasp pronunciation, meanings, spelling, collocations, and register as well as connotations when they acquire vocabulary. In China, where the Grammar-translation Method has prevailed for a long time, foreign language teaching focuses on linguistic knowledge, such as lexis, syntax and grammar, while little attention has been paid to the cultural background and students'intercultural communicative competence. As"culture fever"sprang up in the early 1980s and China entered the WTO, more and more scholars and teachers realized the significance of permeating cultural background knowledge in college English teaching, although the question of how to incorporate the teaching of culture with the teaching of vocabulary and how to improve college students'cultural awareness remains unanswered.At the theoretical level, this thesis analyzes the cultural connotation differences between some English and Chinese words and the factors that cause these differences. At the practical level, a survey study was conducted among the third-year Non-English Majors and college English teachers in the College of Chemical Defense, which consists of two questionnaires, an interview, class observation and a test on cultural connotations of culturally-loaded words. This thesis aims at investigating the Non-English Majors'acquisition of the cultural connotations of culturally-loaded words, the need to permeate cultural background knowledge in college English teaching and the difficulties related to the teaching of culturally-loaded words. Based on the findings in the research, the author gives some pedagogical suggestions on teaching culturally-loaded words in college English. In a word, the objective of this thesis is to promote the permeation of culture in college English vocabulary teaching, thereby enhance college students'cultural awareness and improve their intercultural communicative competence.