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A Study On Cultivating Non-English Majors' Cultural Awareness In College English Reading Teaching

Posted on:2017-02-02Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:M YinFull Text:PDF
GTID:2335330488470280Subject:Curriculum and pedagogy
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With the rapid development of globalization and internationalization, English, as an international language, is playing a more and more important role in the international communication. Therefore, if you want to learn English well, you should learn about the culture in English speaking countries. What is known to us is that language is the carrier of culture, and culture is the foundation of language. Only if learners master the language knowledge and the related cultural knowledge simultaneously can they use the language appropriately. However, in China's current college English reading teaching, foreign language teachers focus on the language knowledge teaching. And the students also spend much time learning the vocabulary, grammar and sentence structures. This teaching method neglects the cultivation of the students' cultural awareness, students can't master enough cultural knowledge and finally it becomes an obstacle in students' language learning.According to the constructive learning theory, Schema theory, and the relationship between language and culture, this thesis mainly discussed three questions: What is the current situation of the college students' cultural awareness? Can the college students' cultural awareness be improved by integrating cultural knowledge in English reading teaching? Can the college students' reading achievements be improved by cultivating students' cultural awareness in English reading teaching? In this study, the author choose 40 freshmen in Northwest Normal University as the experimental class, another 40 students from the parallel class as the control class. Through using the tests and interview, a 18-week teaching experiment was conducted. Finally, the data from this teaching experiment was collected and analyzed, the results are as follows:1) Non- English majors' cultural awareness is weak.2) Integrating cultural knowledge in College English reading teaching can cultivate students' cultural awareness.3) Cultivating students' cultural awareness in college English reading teaching can improve students' English reading achievements.Finally, some pedagogical suggestions are proposed for further foreign language teaching. Foreign language teachers should have a clear awareness of cultivating students' cultural awareness and promote students' cognition of the target language culture; Students should learn about the related cultural knowledge in reading passage actively and understand reading passage meaningfully. In conclusion, this study suggests that cultural knowledge should be taught in college English reading teaching. Integrating cultural knowledge in English reading teaching can cultivate students' cultural awareness, and finally improve their reading achievements.
Keywords/Search Tags:College English reading teaching, Cultural awareness, Target language culture, Reading achievements
PDF Full Text Request
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