Introduction Of Biblical Culture To High School English Teaching

Since an essay about language and culture was published in Modern Foreign Language, the experts in foreign language teaching in China have realized that leaning a foreign language is not only a process of mastering a language but also one of contacting and comprehending another culture. Here the introduction of biblical culture to the Chinese foreign language teaching is aimed to teach the social culture of the target country by combining the language teaching on one hand, especially the religion culture of the target country, that is, the biblical culture in the English-speaking countries in this thesis, with the purpose of strengthening the students' sensitivity of culture. This agrees with the aim to cultivate the students' cultural awareness illustrated in the New Curriculum Standard issued by Ministry of Education—to have a basic knowledge of the main religious tradition in the English-speaking countries, to have a basic understanding of the origins of some important historical events and to comprehend some common idioms and their cultural connotations.The close relationship between culture and language determines the essence of introducing Biblical culture to English teaching;the close relationship between biblical culture and the English language is unavoidable;the spreading of Christianity culture in western countries especially in English-speaking countries deepens the influence of the culture on the language. With the increasing of international communication, understanding the religious culture of the target country and honouring their religious belief is the basis of communication. Chinese traditional culture distinguishes much from Christianity culture. As for the students who learn English so as to make cross-culture communication, it is essential for them to know the origin of western culture -Christianity culture.The six years in secondary school is a critical period of time for cultivating cultural awareness. The English curriculum covers quite a lot about biblical culture, for instance, many festivals originated in Bible, idioms originated in Bible, all of which are presented in the students' textbook in various forms of language materials. Therefore, it is vital to introduce some biblical culture to English teaching. Actually, no one has tried doing this and few students try to get information about biblical culture through. Thus, the religiousculture is lacking in language teaching.Introducing the biblical culture can help to arouse the students' interests in learning English.This thesis explores the origin of biblical culture in the English language and its influence on the language in the following aspects: the everyday life of English-speaking people, the vocabulary, allusions and proverbs in English, the English literature and the values of English-speaking people. The thesis studies the status of biblical culture in English teaching from the perspective of the students' textbooks and the finds some practical methods of introducing biblical culture into English teaching.The methods are illustrated in the thesis as follows. By biblical stories, the students know about the Bible and learn relevant phrases and allusions;After being exposed to the practical uses in English, the students seek back their origin in the Bible resulting in deeper understanding.By reading some literature works, the students realize the influence of the Bible on the writers;By appreciating the western painting and the building of churches and cathedrals, the students understand the help of the Bible to pictorial art and architecture.Through kinds of lectures, the students are interested to know the history of the Bible, its influence on western laws and on the individual moral values.The experiment illustrates that the students enjoy learning what is closely related to culture but that they expect the biblical culture teaching can be combined with the existent English examinations.