Misunderstandings have continually been made when we communicate with English speakers, owing to our lack of knowledge of Western country。 Middle school is on the thredhold of students learning English, so the importance of English teaching is self-evident。 The purpose of English teaching is to enable students to communicate in English fluently。 Due to the Exam-oriented system, English culture teaching just stays on the surface。 文献综述

II。 An Overview of Culture Teaching

2。1 The Relationship Between Language and Culture

Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication。 So language has features of arbitrariness, duality, creativity, displacement, cultural transmission,(Hu Zhuanglin, 30)。 Language distinguishes human from animals, so it plays very important role in human society。 We can use language to express our identity and show who we are and where wo belong。 Language is a mirror reaction of social reality。 We can know all kinds of culture forms of human society through language。 Language also is a measure of cultural level。 Language can be pided into elegant language and tacky language。 This kind of differences under the same cultural background of diffrent classes is especially apparent。

Culture is a very sophisticated word that every aspects of our life is full of it。 Tylor once gave the definition of culture as the following: Culture or civilization 。。。 is that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, normal, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habites acquaired by man as a member of society。(Tylor, 1)。 Morden cultural anthropologists believed that culture including the material aspect, mental aspect and behaviour aspect。 Culture refers to those visible and invisible elements which have direct effect on expressing opinnions when people from differrent countries。 Culture has the following essential characteristics: 1。 Culture is through the social aquisition rather than inherited; 2。 Culture is shared by members of a community, not by one person alone; 3。 Culture have characteristic of symbolism and language is the most important cultural symbol system; 4。 Culture is a unified whole。 Culture always belongs to different countries。 Each culture has its own unique characteristic and every country has its special norms, thoughts and values that are different from other countrys’ culture。 It naturally influences humans psychology, sense, taste, ideology and behaviour。 What fits in one culture web doesn’t fit in another。

From the above views, we can draw a conclusion that language is a reflection of culture, and culture is a reflection of language。 So it is clealy that language plays a significant role in culture。

2。2 The Necessity of Culture Teaching

Nida (1998:11) holds a view that “Language and culture are two symbolic systems。 Everything we say in language has meanings, designative, or associative, denotative or connotative。 Every language form we use has meanings, carries meanings that are not in the same sense because it is associated with culture and culture is more extensive than language。” Learning a foreign language well means having a strong understanding of culture of other country。来:自[优E尔L论W文W网www.youerw.com +QQ752018766-

In the 21st century, human beings have entered the age of knowledge economy and information。 The connection between the countries are become more and more wide and social relation between people who are from different cultural backgroundes are narrowing。 In order to adapt to the era of international communication needs, one of the mission of English teaching is to promote the friendly cooperation between countries。 The purpose of English teaching is not only to enable students to do some translation, but also to prepare for their survival and development in the multicultural global village。 China’s English teaching, expecially in middle school, has always been focused on the teaching of English language structure。 Untill the last century, communicative teaching method appeared in language teaching and people began to realize the importance of cultural backgrounds in English teaching。 To learn a foreign language well, it is not enough for students to learn the language merely, they should also pay more attention to the target language culture backgrounds that may affect students understanding about the target language culture。 Different countries are different in their development。 Therefore, humanbeings need to learn from each other in every aspects。 Culture exchange has become one of the crucial elements for the mordernization of China now。 Apart from an understanding of humans’ indegenous culture, they must have a enough understanding of other country’s culture。