Characteristics Of English Proverbs And Their Application In College English Teaching

Proverbs are set sayings with profound meanings.They are the outcome of people's production experience and social life,and the crystallization of collective wisdom of people from all walks.Many proverbs are concise and philosophical.English proverbs,like those of other countries,are colorful germs of the treasure-house of the Anglo-American literature and art and are of great significance to English learning and teaching.This thesis analyzes the sources,cultural features,rhetorical devices,and enlightening functions of English proverbs.English proverbs generally originate from folk life,Bible and mythologies,literary works and other languages.As an ambassador of national culture, English proverbs reflect almost every aspect of a nation's culture.At the same time,English proverbs are abundant in rhetorical devices.Many of them make ingenious use of rhetorical devices at lexical,syntactical,and phonetic levels.Besides,the rich connotations of proverbs and the deep philosophy in English proverbs provide them with the functions of enlightening life and giving moral lessons.Based on the detailed analysis of its cultural and linguistic features,the author demonstrates the implications of English proverbs for English teaching from five aspects:1.The beautiful rhythms of the English proverbs make them sound pleasant.By reading or reciting English proverbs,students can practise their pronunciation without being bored by reading phonetic transcriptions.2.English proverbs have various sentence structures.English teachers can explain many dull grammatical points clearly with proverbs.At the same time,the students' learning interest can be aroused.3.English proverbs,with their abundant cultural connotations and wide-range of sources, can be used in teaching English reading to introduce some background knowledge so as to enhance students' reading comprehension.4.By introducing various rhetorical devices of English proverbs,English teachers can promote the students' awareness about figurative language.Meanwhile,the students' writing ability can be promoted by quoting English proverbs directly,or making use of the variations of proverbs.5.English proverbs have powerful enlightening functions.Proper use of proverbs in teaching can help students correct their attitudes towards life,mould their good characters and develop their cooperative and innovative spirit.In conclusion,English proverbs have abundant connotations,beautiful rhythms and various sentence structures.They can be helpful tools in teaching college English.