文化背景知识对英语阅读理解的影响及教学对策.doc

分类号
密 级
编 号

本科生毕业论文

题 目 文化背景知识对英语阅读
理解的影响及教学对策
学 院 外国语学院
专 业 英 语
作者姓名 高 春 艳
班 级 05级六班
学 号 254010617
指导教师 毛 红 梅
提交日期 2009 . 5 . 20

The Influence of Cultural Background Knowledge on English Reading Comprehension and the Relevant Teaching Strategies
Gao Chunyan

A thesis
submitted to the School of Foreign Languages and Literature Tianshui Normal University in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree

of
BACHELOR OF ARTS
in
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Tianshui, Gansu

May, 2009

The Influence of Cultural Background Knowledge on English Reading Comprehension and the Relevant Teaching Strategies
Gao Chunyan
Abstract: Lack of the background knowledge is frequently the major cause of many Chinese EFL students’ poor reading comprehension. Therefore, it is of great importance to learn some background knowledge before something is read. In reading class, it is very important to make students know the history, culture conventions and customs of English countries, which can widen students’ knowledge and change the knowledge into the ability of communication. Teachers should introduce the background knowledge in reading class. This paper, based on recent research findings and examples, discusses the close relationship between background knowledge and reading comprehension, illustrates the influencing factors of background, such as idiom, literature and social customs, on students’ comprehension, and proposes ways, such as class discussion, comparison between native and foreign background and video and slide show, to help students develop background knowledge.
Key words: reading comprehension; background knowledge; influence; strategies

文化背景知识对英语阅读理解的影响及教学对策
高 春 艳
【摘要】对文化背景知识的匮乏是造成中国英语学习者阅读困难的主要原因，因此，在阅读之前了解必要的文化背景知识是十分重要的，阅读教学中，使学生熟悉所学语言国家的历史、文化传统和风俗习惯等对拓宽教学内容，开阔学生眼界，使所学知识转化为交际能力，有着不可估量的作用。教师应注重向学生介绍文化背景知识，探索如何在外语课堂上有效地融入文化教学。基于近年来前人的研究成果，本文将讨论背景知识和阅读理解之间的密切关系,阐述背景知识对学生阅读的影响，比如习语、文学知识、社会生活等方面的文化知识对阅读理解的影响旨在提出一些教学对策,比如,课堂讨论、对比中西文化、利用多媒体等帮助学生提高文化背景知识,以提高学生的英语阅读能力。
【关键词】阅读理解；背景知识；影响；对策

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CONTENTS
I. Introduction 1
II. Influencing Factors of Cultural Background Knowledge on English Reading Comprehension 2
2.1 Idiom 2
2.2 Literature 3
2.3 Social Customs 3
2.4 Social Lives 4
2.5 Allusions and History 5
2.5.1 Allusions 5
2.5.2 History 6
2.6 Geography Environment 6
III. Suggested Teaching Strategies of Improving Reading Teaching through Background Knowledge 7
3.1 Teaching Strategies 8
3.1.1Class Discussion 8
3.1.2 Writing and Presenting Personal Experiences 8
3.1.3 Comparison between Native and Foreign Background 9
3.1.4 Video and Slide Show 9
3.1.5 Use of True-or-False or Multiple-Choice Exercises 9
3.1.6 Guessing and Inferring 9
3.1.7 Widely Reading 10
3.2 Models of Classroom Practices 10
IV. Conclusion 11
References 12
Acknowledgements 13

I. Introduction
As the international communication and cooperation increasing, English is becoming more and more important in modern society. It becomes a main way to acquire advanced culture and scientific technology. Learning English has never been of more importance in our society than today. However, reading is often considered the most difficult in terms of literacy, accuracy, and efficiency. Generally speaking, improving reading skills requires more time of training than improving listening or speaking. What factors affect the reading comprehension of EFL learners? The ability to read is acknowledged by the most stable and durable of the second language modalities (Bernhardt, 1991). In other words, reading plays a vital role in second language acquisition. For a long time, reading was traditionally viewed as a bottom-up process in a word -sentence-passage sequence, in which readers decode the text and rebuilt what the writer wants to convey. Accordingly, reading teaching becomes teaching of points known as grammar and vocabulary. When students have problems in comprehending the text, they are told that they fail because of their poor grammar or limited vocabulary. Consequently, people are misled to believe that the only approach of an effective reading is enlarging vocabulary and mastering grammatical rules. Actually it is not so.
During the latest forty years, researchers of foreign language reading show their doubt towards traditional view on reading and reading teaching. Goady (1997) thinks that the process between language and thinking referred to three elements: Conceptual ability, background knowledge and process strategies. Some other researchers such as Adams (1982), Hudson (1982) and Wilson (1986) also did researches on the importance of background knowledge in reading process. In China, Tan (1997) thinks that reading comprehension is a complicated psycholinguistic process. A nation’s language is infiltrating its native culture. The shortage of understanding of the native English culture is the key difficulty in English reading comprehension. Qiu (2004) points out that the more the learners know the background knowledge of foreign language countries, the easier they communicate with foreigners. Yang (1995), Lai (1998), Hu (1999) have undergone the same exploration and study to aid their L2 teaching practice.
Based on these studies, this paper discusses the relationship between reading comprehension and background knowledge and then discusses how background knowledge affects reading comprehension. Finally it provides some effective methods to introduce background knowledge in reading teaching, with its aim at improving reading in an anti-traditional way.

II. Influencing Factors of Cultural Background Knowledge on English Reading Comprehension
Transformational Generative Theory (Chomsky) asserts that reading comprehension begins at the smallest and simplest language units and each single word, sentence and passage carries its own meaning independently which has no direct link with the reader. As have been noted in the introduction of this thesis, reading is simply decoding. When decoding ends, reading comprehension is realized. In that case, if comprehension does not go on successfully, it is the reading material that causes the problem grammatically or lexically. This theory highlights the influence caused by language structure more than the reader's own influence. The recent researches indicate that reading comprehension is neither simply a unidirectional information-receiving activity nor a comprehension of words, sentences, and texts. Readers construct a certain mode in the reading process, a comprehension-aimed and interactive process that requires consistent inferring and guessing. An interactive process means that a text affects readers through its words, content, and structure whereas readers apply their background knowledge to act on the text. Background contains many aspects (Zhang, 2005).
2.1 Idiom
Idiom is an important part of the language and culture of a society. It is often hard to understand and hard to use idioms correctly. It is almost impossible to understand idioms from the meanings of the individual words. And with English idioms, even the same words may have different meanings. For example:
“So, first of all, a student should learn not to look down on such idioms just because they’re made up of such simple and easy words. He should look out for identical phrases with different meanings and look them up in a dictionary if he’s not sure. He’s bound to run into a lot of trouble when he first uses them, but he shouldn’t give in, much less give up. If he keeps trying and keeps at it long enough he'll make out and things will turn out well in the end” (Zhang and Cui, 2001).
Though the passage is short, it includes ten idioms: look down, made up of, look out for, look up, run into, give in, give up, keep at it, make out and turn out (well).
2.2 Literature
Many writers usually quoted literature such as famous experts and their writings, folk literature and allegory etc..
Example: In Jane Eyre, when Jane Eyre helped firstly Mr. Rochester put out the fire of his house, he revealed his love to her unintentionally. He said to Jane Eyre:
“I thought sometimes I saw beyond its wild waters a shore, sweet as the hills of Bealah; and now and then a freshening gale, wakened by hope, bore my spirit triumphantly towards the bourne ”(Charlotte, 2002).
Bealah is a place, in which pilgrim will go before getting into paradise. In John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, Bealah is a very peaceful, happy and quiet heaven. When Jane Eyre felt his love, she thought happiness was near by her. “Bealah” was quoted, which drew vividly her emotion of perusing happiness and longing for love.
2.3 Social Customs
Different country has different social customs. Therefore, readers should avoid using their own customs to explain the meaning of the passage.
Example1: There are such several speeches in a material: “Why don't you go to church?” asked the minister. The non church goers said, “Well, I'll tell you. The first time I went to church they threw water in my face, and the second time they tied me to a woman I've had to keep ever since.” “Yes,” said the minister, “and the next time you go they'll throw dirt on you” (Qi, 2006).
For understanding of this reading material, the student must know: 1) “The first time I went to church they threw water in my face” means when parents hug the newborn baby to the church for baptism, pastor threw water in the child’s face; 2) “the second time they tied me to a woman I've had to keep ever since.” means they held the wedding ceremony in the church. This article refers to the situation when a westerner dies; pastor finally prays and pulls up the earth to the coffin to carry on burying again. If the reader is not familiar with the religion cultural knowledge in the British and American country, he or she can cause the understanding of being blocked, let alone appreciates humor.
Example2: “As soon as the wedding ceremony was over, we rushed to the bride and struggled with each other for her pockets. I was the first to put my hand into her right pockets. I felt the coins and banknotes. A sudden feeling of happiness ran over me” (Wang, 2008).
In Chinese countryside, children will rush to the bride and struggle with each other for the coins of her pockets, which is very auspicious. If students do not know the custom, they will not know that “we” refers to “whom”—adults or children and why “we” struggle with each other for her pockets. If they know the custom, they will understand easily why “I” was happy when “I” felt the coins and banknotes.
2.4 Social Lives
In reading material, there are many vivid examples about social lives.
Example 1: “By voting against mass transportation, voters have chosen to continue on a road to ruin. Our interstate highways, those much-praised golden avenues built to whisk suburban travelers in and out of downtown have turned into the world’s most expensive parking lots. That expense is economic. These highways have created great walls separating neighborhood from neighborhood, disrupting the complex social connections that help make a city livable” (Hua, 2001).
Neither the structures nor the vocabularies in the text are very complicated. But some EFL learners find it very difficult to comprehend the meaning of the text. The reason is that, in trying to understand this paragraph, learners must have a sufficient knowledge of the specific social cultural background of the text. Otherwise, they will never get the author’s point in the literal sense of words.
When reading this passage, many EFL learners may fail to perceive the connection between “mass transportation” and “interstate highways”. The hidden information carried by the passage is that many people in the United States own cars. The individual ownership of cars results in an overburdens of highways and a reduced need for mass transportation. Since so many people drive themselves to work and travel around, the interstate highways in the city causes the semantic associations of congestion and rush hour traffic. The meaning of the phrase “the world's most expensive parking lots” is associated with this specific urban highway situation. The sentence “These highways have created great walls separating neighborhood from neighborhood, disrupting the complex social connections that help make a city livable,” can be understood that the highways keep people from communication as few people nowadays take buses or trains, on which they could talk to each other. This example implies that covert cultural background is an important factor in reading performance.
Example 2: There is such a dialogue in Senior Student Book II Unit 22(SEFC,1999):
“--- Would you like another piece of bean curd ?
---Yes, please. It's delicious. Did you cook it yourself?
---Yes, of course. It's very easy. I'll teach you if you like.
---How about some more beef? There's plenty more.
---Well, just a little, please.
---Let me give you some more chicken. And have another pancake.
---They're better when they are hot.
---No, thanks. I'd had enough.
---What about you, Bob? A bowl of soup?
---I'm full, thank you.
---What a delicious supper! Next time you must come to us.”
Here requests student should have a cultural background about the polite expression in dinner time. China and the western cultures have differences in treating meal. The Chinese take pride in “modesty”, while the Americans in “straight forwardness”. An American hostess, who is complimented for her cooking skills, is likely to say, “Oh, I am so glad that you liked it. I cooked it especially for you.” Not so a Chinese host or hostess, who will apologize for forgiving you “nothing” even slightly edible instead. The Chinese always ask the visitors to have a toast and the honored dishes, again and again, for fearing that the visitors have not had enough. The westerners, especially the American, are different. The host or hostess usually offers the dishes for the visitors one time. He or she hopes the visitors help themselves not only cautiously. The visitors should understand the different dinner culture; otherwise, they might be hungry or be very embarrassing (Yu and Liu, 1996).
2.5 Allusions and History
2.5.1 Allusions
Many allusions drawn from history, religion, literature etc., often appear in English works and have become common household terms. But without the knowledge of western culture and history, such allusions are not always easy to understand, and without understanding there can be little appreciation .For example:
David and Goliath (from Bible)—David was a shepherd boy; he killed the Philistine giant Goliath with a shot from his sling and later became king of the Hebrews; in meta