The Function of Western Background Information in English Teaching

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As is known to all ,the English teaching material for Chinese students conclude many parts, such as the western history ,culture ,geography ,customs, even something about politics .Therefore,it is very important for the teachers to know about the background information of english .then ,we can introduce them to the students so that then can make a better understanding for English study .

I. learning and understanding much more English background information will do good to students' reading ability.

The reading ability is a kind of overall ability of students .the English reading material conclude much information ,including the background information .maybe the students know all the words in the reading materials, but they can not understand what they mean. That's because they lack the background information. Here is an example in senior English for China ,students' book 1A,Unit 2 “English around the world”.the dialogue goes in this way:

Nancy :you must be tired. Did you sleep at all on the plane?

Joe: No, not really. Could I use your bathroom?

Nancy: why, of course. You don't need to ask. Just make yourself at home. Let me give you a towel?

Joe: a towel?

Nancy: yes , here you are . The bathroom is upstairs.

(After a while)

Nancy: Have you found it ?

Joe: Well, oh yes, I mean no .I found the bathroom , but I didn't find what I was looking for?

Now, you can see there must be some misunderstanding between the two. Because Joe is an American , while Nancy is a British. They both speak English, but there are still some differences. As for the word 'bathroom', it has different meaning in American English (AE)and British English (BE).It means a place where you can take a shower in BE, while in AE ,it means toilet. That is the reason why the misunderstanding occurs. We can see how important a teacher introduces the background to the students.

II. learning and knowing the social culture and customs can improve the students' communicating ability .

Culture and customs vary from countries to countries .There is a large difference between west and east cultures .Only we get a good knowledge of the background information can we make a proper communication with the foreigners .for instance ,the west people respect others' personality secrets .they don't ask anything about others' age, income, house ,marriage and so on. When they don't greet as the Chinese do: Are you reading now? have you eaten? They just say 'hello'' 'how do you do?' or simply talkabout the weather .They always show their thanks to the people if they get a praise and appreciation ,and also ,in Unit 21 'BODY LANGUANGE', eye contact is a way to show interest ,but it's rude or disrespectful in some countries.Thumbs-upmeans 'well done' 'good job', in Nigeria it means rude ,in Germany it means 'number one'. in some countries ,shaking head means 'yes' nodding means 'no'. What's more, we should know how often we touch others, how we close we stand when greeting others.

Meanwhile, the students should make a knowledge about the table manners in the west party, knowing their differences. Chinese drink to others many times at table, but the westerners just once .never drink up when 'cheers' in west , just a slip .as to how to use the knife and fork ,how to talk ,how to behave in the west dinner party ,we should pay more attention to them.

III. Introducing the background information can raise the students' interest.

In the teaching process, how to raise the students' ability is quite important .In unit 1;chuck' friend', I made much introduction about the film 'cast away', talked about Tom Hanks-the leading actor. And in Unit 5'the silver screen', I talked much about the director Steven Spelberg. In unit 11 'the Olympic Games' ,I talked aboutthe sports and the sport stars :Yaoming ,Beckham,liuxiang,stc.

I also introduce the Queen Elizabeth and Prince and Princess in some west countries. In this way, they can know the western history and culture .they can learn from the spirit of the successful persons. They can be much harder in English study .Their interest seem to be raised .

IV. Knowing about the westerners logic-habits can help the students express correct and proper English .

In English, we 'make tea' or 'draw tea', unlike Chinese 'cook tea', green tea means 'lv cha', 'black tea' means 'hong cha', what we think of 'dragon' is also different in west and east .In China ,we regard it as the symbol of power, the king, richness. While in west it means 'people who are bad' or 'power which does harm to society. Also ,'love me love my dog' 'you are a luck dog' ,these sentences are not rude to others .Letting the students know the western logic -habits is important and they can reduce the mistakes and avoid chinglish , so they can improve English .

In a word , language is deeply related to culture and customs. There are many differences in west and in east countries. It has a deep influence on English study . Teachers ought to be get a good knowledge of the background information and try to introduce them to the students .Thus , we can enrich their language ,improve their reading and communicating ability .The students can use English properly and freely .However ,that's the goal of English teaching and learning .