How to Bring Target Culture into Foreign Language Teaching
The most common ones are “OK”, “Good luck”, “I don’t know”, “Come here”, “Hello”, etc. The pictures of these gestures are very easy to be found. Through these pictures, the students may familiar with the gestures quickly. Different countries have different gestures, so the focal point which must be paid attention is the difference among different countries.
Maybe from then on, the students would notice such kinds of gestures. So this part of target culture had been brought to those students by the teacher.
All of these will develop students' skills of communicating.
6. Different values and attitudes in different cultures
Different cultures have different values, different beliefs and different attitudes. All of these are based on what we have discussed in this thesis. In the class, teachers should show values, beliefs and attitudes of different cultures from different points.
Commercials in TV can reflect some of the cultural values in Britain/America. Teachers could choose some British /America TV commercials which provide enough relevant information and discussion points for the students. Then play the video prepared well in classroom. After finishing it, students could discuss about what they watched just now. After the discussion, the teacher would ask them to describe these TV commercials, using some simple words to show the values, beliefs and attitudes expressed in the TV commercials. Such as optimism, competition, planning for the future, youth, vigour, good health, etc.
Then the teacher could ask the students what subjects of TV commercials they like best. So we can know the values or beliefs of themselves. And they can know themselves further more. Through this way, the students would have a prelimilary touch with the values from different cultures.
Another effective way for the students to understand different cultures' values is leading them to read “Lost and found” in newspapers. In the foreign newspapers, there are many “Lost and found” advertisements everyday. We all know only when the lost thing is precious will the owner try to find it. So through those “Lost and found” advertisements, the students would know what are precious to foreign people. For example:
DOG small golden brown, collie-type, female, found on river barge, Park End Street. Ring 243087 daytime.
This advertisement, published in a piece of English newspaper, is about a lost dog. The students may know that English people like dogs very much from this advertisement.
Besides dogs, there are many other things advertised in newspapers. Such as cat, book, name bracelet, diamond ring, etc.
Almost any type of newspaper advertisements can be used to deduce facts about daily life and to gather information about the values of the target culture.
Conclusion
In our own teaching, we have found that when students gain interesting of learning foreign language through our target culture teaching, both students and teachers will be successful. To bring target culture into our foreign language teaching can let our students achieve cross-cultural understanding-awareness of their own culture, as well as that of the target language. It also can let them recognize that some of one's own and others' behaviors may be effected by the cultural influences. And they should tolerate that.
The most important function of target culture teaching is that it is helpful to develop students' language ability. They can not only get high marks in examinations but also communicate with the native speakers effectively. I hope we can redouble our efforts to get more achievements on this subject. I believe we can make a new and substantial step on the subject in near future.
Bibliography:
1. Barry Tomalin , Susan Stempleski, Cultural Awareness , Oxford University Press, 1991.
2. Adams, T.W., Body English: A Study of Gestures, Oxford University Press, 1987.
3. Walsh, J.E., Humanistic Cultural Learning: An Introduction, The University Press of Hawaii, 1979.
4. 马寅初、黄金岩, 《实用英语教学论》, 湖南师范大学出版社,1992。
5. 欧阳文萍,提高课堂教学质量的几点体会, 长沙民政职业技术学院学报,第2期 (总第16期), 2002。





