英语论文网

1. Introduction

1.1 The Background of the thesis
With the development of the economic globalization and the information, thecultivation of the outstanding person with comprehensive quality and cross-culturalcommunicative competence has been extremely important. Cultural awareness is a part ofcomprehensive language application ability, and the cultivation of cultural awareness plays ahuge role in improving students’ intercultural communicative competence and humanisticquality. Foreign language teaching can help students to understand the background of culture,cultivate students’ awareness and improve their comprehensive quality.In the early language teaching, culture teaching especially the cultural awareness didnot get any attention, and the language teaching was separated with culture teaching. Until to1970s, some systematic theories of culture teaching were gradually developed. From the1980s, people began to pay attention to the combination of culture teaching and languageteaching. In 1990s, people realized that the just cultural knowledge teaching couldn’t meetthe demands of times and claimed that the vital aim of the cultural understanding was thecultivation of students’ awareness.The National English Curriculum Standards of Senior High Schools (2003) putsforward five curriculum objectives: language knowledge, language skills, learning strategy,emotional attitude and cultural awareness. This is the first time that cultural awarenessappears in the English curriculum standard. In the new curriculum standard, culturalawareness contains cultural knowledge, the comprehension of culture, communicativeawareness of different cultures and culture communicative skills. It also makes specific anddetailed classification for content standards and the teaching suggestions. English has beenwidely used as an important tool for people to communicate with foreigners. In order to learnEnglish well, we would better to learn cultural knowledge and have cultural awareness.English culture teaching in class can improve cultural awareness and develop thinking habitof students in English. English curriculum standard also acquires to improve students’cultural awareness and cross-cultural communicative ability, so it is essential for Englishteachers to improve their culture teaching abilities and awareness.
.......

1.2 The Significance of the Thesis
With the development of the curriculum reform, the role of English teacher ischanging from the knowledge imparter to the students’ learning organizer and the teachingfacilitator. Teachers’ culture teaching awareness will directly affect students’ Englishculture learning.On the basis of relevant theories, this research investigates the present situation ofsenior high English teachers’ culture teaching awareness, finds out some problems, andprovides the guidance for English teachers to improve their culture teaching awarenessand help them teaching efficiently.It is useful to improve teachers’ personal cultural quality. From the perspective ofthe English teachers, teachers can think questions from their own positions. They can havea deep understanding about the relationship between language and culture. Language andculture have complex and close relationship, and both of them cannot be separated. In theprocess of culture teaching, teachers’ orientation plays a vital role in students’ culturalknowledge learning. Therefore, teachers must be equipped with plentiful cultura