A Survey On Culture Infiltration In The Teaching Of Reading In Senior English

In the process of integration of the global economy, the economic and cultural contacts between different countries are increasing. Cultures from different countries integrate and collide with each other, facilitating the trend of cultural globalization which sets a higher standard for English teaching. In 2003,the Ministry of Education issued National English Curriculum Standards for Senior High School. setting"cultural awareness" as one of the teaching objectives for the first time. Culture infiltration has been attached great importance to. Culture infiltration in the teaching of English reading is the prerequisite for consolidating language knowledge and improving comprehensive ability of language use. Culture teaching is an integral part of language teaching. Students need to learn English culture in the process of language learning in order to improve their intercultural communication ability. Only by combining language teaching and culture infiltration can teachers help cultivate students’ cultural awareness and intercultural communication ability.On the basis of schema theory and intercultural communication theory, the author tries to analyze current situation of culture infiltration in reading class. The respondents are English teachers and students from senior one, Nanjing No. 29 High School. The aims of the research are to study the following questions:1) What is students’ attitude and how do they perceive cultural knowledge of English-speaking countries?2) How do high school English teachers practice culture infiltration in reading class?3) What are the possible solutions to improve the efficiency of culture infiltration in the teaching of reading?The major findings are first,students hold a positive attitude towards culture learning. The majority of students believe cultural knowledge is important in English language learning and they are interested in learning English culture. Besides, the results of students intercultural understanding of English culture and intercultural communicative skills are satisfactory as students get other accesses to western cultural knowledge. Second, the practice of culture infiltration in reading class is not satisfactory. The method of culture infiltration is very limited, with teachers’ oral explanation and language points being the main form. Third, teachers, students and textbook should take measures together to solve the problem of culture infiltration.Teachers should change their role as instructors and motivate students’ initiatives;students should combine in-class learning with out-class learning and develop the habit of autonomous learning; more cultural knowledge should be covered in textbooks.