A Study On English Culture Instruction In Primary School

Culture is closely related to language,and cultural factors are also indispensable in English teaching.The English Curriculum for Chinese Compulsory Education(Experimental Version)that issued in 2001 has explicitly proposed the goal of cultural awareness.Thus there is no doubt on the necessity and feasibility of culture teaching in primary school.English culture teaching is not only beneficial to students on their study of English language,but also helpful for the cultivation of their English cultural awareness.Several methods including documentary study,case study and analysis,interviewing,as well as on-the-spot investigation are adopted in order to have a detailed understanding of English culture teaching in primary school.The research consists of four parts.The first part is an introduction,in which the research object is proposed and the concepts of language and culture are defined.In this part,related literature review is stated,and the research approach,purpose and significance is specified.The content in the introduction lays a groundwork for the smooth study of thesis research.The second part is an interpretation of English culture teaching in primary school.It is illustrated from three aspects,which are respectively the relation between language and culture,the cultural goal and teaching methods in primary school,and the content analysis of English culture teaching.The third part states the existing problems and their causes of English culture teaching in primary school.It is found that there are three major problems existing in the culture teaching in primary school.They are the loss and fuzziness of culture teaching target in teaching design,the limitation to form in culture teaching implementation,and the incomplete culture teaching evaluation system.It is also found through analysis that the reason lies in teachers’ lacking of deep understanding of English culture,the weakness of cultural content in English teaching materials,and the restriction of teaching conditions.The fourth part proposes an idea of improving English culture teaching in primary school.Firstly,teachers’ ability of culture teaching needs to beimproved.Secondly,schools should organize various cultural immersion.Thirdly,the teaching and research department should improve and perfect the culture teaching evaluation methods.