Impact Of Intercultural Communication On Teaching English As A Foreign Language English

The development of new science and technology, especially the innovation of mass communication media brings of all nations closer. The appearance of the interner and the extensive use of email shorten the distance between people. As M.McLuhan says,the whole earth is like a global village(Mcluhan,1964). People begin to realize more their needs to communicate with each other. But the shortening of space cannot automatically reduce cultural and psychological distances. Differences in cultural orientation, social standards, ways of thinking will undoubtedly cause misunderstanding and cultural shocks(Seelye,1997). It is inevitable that people of different ethnic groups have to re-understand themselves. They have to re-examine their own cultures by comparison with other cultures in order to be more adaptable in their intercultural communications. But for a long time, Chinese English teaching puts emphasis on teaching students the knowledge of the grammar and training the skill of languages mainly, and has iqnorde the introduction of the intercultural difference. Many students have studied English for many years and have had a mastery of the linguistic knowledge of English, such as grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure, etc. but they cannot make themselves understood well in communication with foreigners, it is the less knowledge of communication culture of the other side that cause communication to fail, and can't reach the anticipated purpose. The purpose of English teaching is to train students to abtain the ability of communication with the language. We can imagine that if one does not possess the culture background knowledge of the purpose language and find out about this national tradition and values; it is very difficult to say the appropriate, proper words while communicating. Today, with China's entry into WTO , and its successful bids for the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing and the World Exposition 2010 in Shanghai, the study of intercultural communication has proven to be particularly important in China. For this reason, new course regards"cultural awareness"as the independent content to include in the course standard, regard it as an important component of comprehensive language useability.The Organization of theThesisThe relationship between language, culture and communication together with the effect of cultural differences on teaching English as a foreign language has drawn our increasing attention. For this reason, the study on cultures is worth exploring. The thesis attempts to explore the differences between Chinese and English cultures in order to account for cultural effects on English teaching and learning in China and some pragmatic failures made by Chinese students of English in their communication. The present paper consists of five chapters.Chapter One gives introductory remarks which are concerned with intercultural communication research abroad and in China and English education in China today.Chapter Two gives the relationship between language and culture. There is a direct and reciprocal relationship between language and culture. Language influences culture and is influenced by culture. It is part of culture and plays a very important role in culture. Since the two are closely related, in foreign (English) language teaching and learning, two languages and, indeed, two cultures, come into contact.Then gives some materials about communication. Includes verbal and non-verbal communication, here we concentrate our attention on verbal communication. Then gives some materials about intercultural, intercultural differences and often constitute a depressing hurdle to both teachers and learners.Chapter Three, a model of intercultural communication is given in relation to the context of culture. This model is applied to the comparison of Chinese and English cultures, Only understanding the intercultural differences and increasing our intercultural awareness, can we reduce communicative problems in our interaction with native English speakers. This comparison of cultures with the foreign language being taught will open great vistas for our current foreign language (English) teaching and learning. .Chapter Four Do some researches and concern the need for teachers to help language learners develop a better understanding of intercultural distinctions in communication and then increase their cultural awareness in order to make our foreign language teaching and learning more successful.Chapter Five is the conclusion of the paper and proposes the importance and impact this intercultural study on foreign language (English) teaching and learning in China.