How to introduce Chinese culture in English Teaching

李解人

【Abstract】Chinese traditional culture is the root and soul of our nation， in the process of English learning， teachers and students should try to do something for the spread of Chinese culture. If we can realize the importance of introducing native culture in English teaching， revise syllabus， reform the examination system， improve the quality of teachers and teaching methods， we can combine Chinese traditional culture with university English teaching better.

【Keywords】Traditional Chinese Culture； University English； Teaching

In December 14， 2013 ，the College English Test （CET） Bands 4 and 6 were held in China. In the examination ，the biggest challenge for students was the translation part. In this part the sentences translation has been changed into paragraph translation， this paragraph translation involved China history， culture， economy， social development and so on. Some phrases ，such as "four great inventions"， "Chinese garden"， "silk Road" let the examinees distraught. Lots of examinees said they had to give up. In the survey of which one is the most difficult ， "the silk road" won the first place. After the examination ，some students in the message said， "I really don't know how to write the word compass ，so I write GPS"， "I translated the powder directly into TNT"， some students even translated "the four great inventions" into "star farming". In fact， these are not very difficult task. The students can't translate these famous Chinese phrases shows the sorrow of our English education， students know foreign things but don't know how to introduce Chinese things to the foreign people. Nowadays college students in China spend lots of time in learning English ，but in the process of learning English， they should also establish intercultural learning consciousness and try to do something to spread Chinese culture. This is not a simple teaching method problem， but also a big problem relates to the reform of teaching concept and teaching content.

1.the current situation of Chinese traditional culture in English Teaching in University

A few years ago， such kind of speech was reported in the newspaper： "Nowadays some students don't know King Yu combating the flood story， but know American president the cherry tree story； don't know Chinese nine chapter arithmetic， but know the renaissance". These remarks reflect that English is eroding the enthusiasm of Chinese students to learn Chinese culture seriously and call for English learning return to its original position. Indeed， the internationalization of English brings some problems. On the one hand ，English make it easier for people all over the world to communicate and exchange ideas ， on the other hand it also become a threat and challenge to the other nation's language and culture. The process of English learning should be two-way communication between native language and English， both input and output are indispensable. However， the current English teaching situation of our country's University is giving some cause for concern. In English learning there are so many approaches and resources for the English learner， but resources of traditional Chinese culture in English are rare to see. The result is that it's quite easy for students to accept all aspects of western culture such as words， ideas， customs； but when they talked about our native culture， they know very little. Students' lack of cultural knowledge leads to a serious shortage of output. Most of our college students have been learning English for more than ten years， but they don't know how to express their own national cultural phenomenon in English. Some students don't know how to say "Confucius". In Bands 4 and 6 held in December 14， 2013 ， many students did not know how to translate the Chinese Traditional Festival "Mid Autumn Festival". At present ，the teaching materials used by most universities introduce lots of American and English cultural knowledge， but few of them have the material related to our own culture .In the process of English teaching， teachers tend to emphasize the culture of English， while ignoring the explanation of our native culture. This teaching mode is the ubiquitous problems in university English teaching. It caused psychological obstacles in intercultural communication， and may even cause the nation inferiority complex.

2.the importance of combine Chinese traditional culture into the university English teaching

Chinese traditional culture is the root and the soul of our nation. Chinese culture has its own national character， this national character is formed through long-term accumulation and relatively stable， but it is also in the process of development and innovation . The growth and continuity of every country' culture is on the basis of reform and innovation of the cultural heritage of the traditional culture. With the economic globalization and the world multi polarization deepening， various ideologies and cultures act and react upon one another .We should pay attention to maintaining and developing the nationality of Chinese culture， respecting our own culture， combining Chinese traditional culture into the university English teaching， utilizing the resource of Chinese traditional culture rationally， so we can prevent our traditional culture from being westernized. Only when foreign language learners realize the importance of learning Chinese traditional culture， they can initiatively combine Chinese traditional culture into English learning. In this way ，we can keep our national identity and maintain national cultural tradition organically .We can really make foreign things serve China.

3.the methods of combine Chinese traditional culture into the university English teaching

3.1 pay attention to the active role of native culture in English teaching.

As English teachers， we should not only help students to learn and master a foreign language in teaching， but also need to teach students how to show the Chinese traditional culture in foreign languages， in this way we can also understand and make use of the English better. In foreign language teaching， teachers should pay attention to comparing the similarities and differences between East and West cultural knowledge， helping students to across the border between the different cultures. The commonness of language determines that the mother tongue can be used as good resources in English learning. At the joint opening session of the first round of the China-US strategic and economic dialogues held in Washington ， Obama quoted Mencius' famous saying in his remark： "A trail through the mountains， if used， becomes a path in a short time， but， if unused， becomes blocked by grass in an equally short time." He used this to illustrate the importance of the interaction with each other. At the opening ceremony， Hilary quoted a Chinese proverb " People united can move mountains" to stress the importance of strengthening the U.S. - China cooperation. These USA senior figures used Chinese classical sayings to show the United States' willing to cooperate with China， at the same time their speeches showed the charm of China culture to the world. Therefore， we can use the native cultural knowledge to promote the English language and cultural understanding through the comparison of Chinese and Western cultures. Combined with the textbooks， teachers can ask students to find relevant information about teaching， tell them to summarize the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western culture. This kind of teaching method can make students study enthusiastically and actively. Because on one hand the students are familiar with the culture of our country， it is easy for them to find the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western culture， so as to mobilize the enthusiasm of students'； on the other hand， through the comparison the students can understand these differences deeply， the teaching effect is improved.

3.2 Revise syllabus and reform examination system

Teaching syllabus plays an important role in English teaching. If you want to achieve a good combination of English teaching and China culture， "Intercultural Communication" content should be clearly defined in the "university English teaching requirements". In addition to the ability to use language correctly， the intercultural communicative competence should also be developed. Teacher should guide students to absorb the essence of foreign culture critically and carry forward the excellent traditional Chinese culture to the world. Define requirements must be made for the learners to express Chinese culture in English correctly. Chinese culture should become an integral part in English teaching plan， some vocabularies with quite high frequency appears， such as Kungfu， tofu， yamen ， ramen， coolie etc， should be brought into the vocabulary syllabus. When students meet these English words which have strange pronunciation but familiar spelling， they can deeply feel the mixture and sharing between Chinese and Western culture. Thus teachers should increase the part of Chinese culture in English teaching， so as to improve the status of Chinese culture in English teaching. As a result ，students can get more guidance and know more about relevant component of Chinese culture.

3.3 improve the quality of teachers and teaching methods

In English teaching， teachers are leaders in the process of China culture learning. Teachers undertake the tasks of language teaching and culture transmission at the same time. They play an important role in transmission. "One should an open mind to learn！" College English teachers should have the consciousness of "open mind"， and to be the one who are full of scholars demeanor reflects profound cultural foundation. Teachers should cultivate the students' ability of cross-cultural communication. In the classroom ， English teachers should add native cultural knowledge consciously， keep the balance of input and output between native culture and the culture of the foreign language. Teachers may begin their class from explaining the differences between Chinese and foreign terms， then transfer to give an account of many other different aspects the differences between Chinese and western culture and social customs， then show Chinese and Western culture in the values， ways of thinking and the national psychology and so on. These teaching approaches can help the students to have a comprehensive understanding of the native culture and foreign culture.

In foreign language teaching， we must fully realize that language and culture， society are a unity. The teachers should be fully aware of the necessity and importance of cultural teaching， introduce all aspects of culture in foreign language teaching， improve students' ability of sensitivity and empathy to cultural differences， reduce cultural misunderstanding， so as to reduce language mistakes. Only in this way， the quality of foreign language teaching can be efficiently improved and the students can use appropriate words to say what they want to say in cross-cultural communication. The students can truly become the intercultural communicative talents. That's a goal of the university English teaching. In addition， the English teachers should have a clear picture in their mind it's their mission to spread the Chinese civilization and make it consciously become a beacon of students. Through the training of learning， enhance the awareness of intercultural communication and native culture awareness， consolidate Chinese and cultural skills， expand their cultural studies field， English teachers can help students improve the ability of cross-culture communication towards an even higher level.

4.conclusion

In summary， it is imperative for us to introduce Chinese culture in English Teaching. This helps students to deepen the understanding of Chinese culture and knowledge while learning English ， which can improve the students' ability of cross-cultural communication， and at the same time make the students truly become Chinese cultural heritors； it can not only help students become skilled English users， but also make it possible for students to use English to spread Chinese to the whole world . So， if we can kill two birds with one stone， why not ？