Developing Cross-cultural Communicative Competence Through Teaching English

The recent economic development in China has brought forth an increasing demand for talents who can use English for some real communication. However, after six years' study, most of high school students under the current training system do not have the required English competence. The unsatisfactory learning outcomes seem to result from two reasons. One is the still prevalent grammar-translation teaching methodology and the other is the discouraging evaluation system—English Matriculation Test. These two practices lead students to believing that English is only a compulsory course and the major purpose of the learning is to pass the various kinds of tests. They seldom take the initiative to learn to manage their own cognitive and affective strategies. Instead, they use many traditional strategies, such as repetition and memorization, with emphasis on accuracy of structure and grammar. They rarely try those strategies that help improve their communicative competence, such as extensive reading and meaning negotiation, with emphasis on fluency.This dissertation is concerned with the cultural content of FLT, which is approached in such an interdisciplinary that is involves linguistics, pragmatics, applied linguistics, anthropology, social psychology and communication theories. All these disciplines contribute to the study of culture teaching from different perspectives, so an interdisciplinarily integrated study may, the author hopes, pay off more handsomely. On the basis of an examination ofvarious demands upon FLT and an analysis of the current situation of FLT and cultural teaching in China, an intercultural approach to FLT is suggested.The author holds that FLT should fulfill at least two major aims: linguistic, communicative aim and social intercultural aim. To implement the recommended approach, two models are designed for FLT and culture teaching to demonstrate the elements of FLT and the equal status of language learning and culture learning in FLT, while the cultural teaching model is aimed at showing the process of culture learning and the relationship between language learning and culture learning. Rough as they are, these two models provide a number of implications for FLT reform.This thesis is composed of four chapters. The first chapter is the rationale for culture, intercultural communication and cross-culture awareness. Chapter two begins with the necessity and significance of developing EFL learner's cross-cultural communicative competence and describes the present situation of culture teaching in the teaching of English language in china. Chapter three concerns the pragmatic failures which Chinese students of English are prone to invite in cross-cultural communication. The benefits of overcoming linguistic and cultural barriers are discussed at the end of this chapter. Chapter four is about the implications for the teaching of English language in China.