A Study On The Chinese Culture Aphasia In EFL In Senior High School

The cultivation of students' intercultural communicative awareness and competence is an essential objective in English education,but there are problems in the implementation.In fact,Professor Cong put forward that Chinese students have the phenomenon of “Chinese culture aphasia” — although students have basic ability of English literacy and expression,they are unable to introduce and spread Chinese culture in English.This phenomenon hinders students' intercultural communicative awareness and competence,and ultimately affects two-way intercultural communication.Therefore,this study aims to identify senior high school students' ability to express Chinese culture in English now,to explore the causes of Chinese culture aphasia,and to put forward relevant suggestions.To be more specific,the study employs both quantitative and qualitative methods to answer the following two research questions: 1)Does Chinese culture aphasia exist in senior high school students? If so,to what extent? 2)What are the reasons that cause the Chinese culture aphasia?Based on the requirements of NEC(2017)and the culture theory(Byram & Morgan),the study identified one framework which served as the rationale to design the test and analyze the Chinese culture content in the coursebook.Moreover,in order to fully understand the causes of Chinese culture aphasia among senior high school students,questionnaire surveys were conducted among 119 senior high school students and 132 English teachers in senior high schools.Through the analysis of test papers,the study ascertained that 1)senior high school students' ability to express Chinese culture is weak,2)none of the eight categories is well-mastered,and 3)the mastery of abstract culture is weaker than the material culture.After the analysis of Chinese culture in the coursebook NSEC and two questionnaires,the study discovered that 1)in terms of the NSEC,Chinese culture in NSEC is less than the proportion required;Chinese culture in NSEC does not form a complete system,and the proportion of Chinese culture in the eight categories is unbalanced;2)as for students,they evaluate themselves that they have an insufficient understanding of Chinese culture;students have the misconception that learning Chinese culture is not conducive to English learning;no emphasis on the examination and hefty schoolwork also cause the neglection of Chinese culture;3)as to classroom teaching,although teachers know the importance of culture teaching,Chinese culture accounts for a small proportion in English classes.Finally,based on the reasons above,corresponding suggestions are given to change the phenomenon of Chinese culture aphasia among senior high school students.