On The Theoretical Basis And Feasibility Of Offering Cross-cultural Courses In Senior High Schools In China

Language is an important carrier of culture. The language of a nation reflects all the social experiences and characteristics of this nation. Therefore, the learning of a foreign language necessarily involves the learning of the culture of the community that uses that language.This paper discusses the theoretical basis and feasibility of offering cross-cultural courses in senior high schools in China It consists of six chapters. Chapter One introduces the background of the topic, the range of discussion and the main research methods. Chapter Two is a literature review. It discusses the notion of cross-cultural consciousness and cross-cultural communication. Cross-cultural consciousness was found in socio-cultural field by speculative philosophy, which has an enormous impact on language teaching. Chapter Three examines the necessities of teaching socio-cultural knowledge. It further analyzes pragmatic failures for the lack of cross-cultural consciousness and examines their reasons from the point of view of bio-linguistics. Chapter Four analyzes the feasibility of setting cross-cultural courses in senior high schools with the support of development in different countries. Chapter Five is the experimental part, whose result lends support to the hypothesis that cross cultural courses can help improve students' cross-cultural competence by introducing socio-cultural knowledge about the source language culture. Chapter Six is the Conclusion, which summarizes the significance of offering cross cultural courses in hgh schools in China as well as some effective teaching strategies.