大学英语口语教育中的文化教学

第一篇：大学英语口语教育中的文化教学

届学士学位论文

Culture Teaching in College Oral English Course

系 别:

专

业: 英 语 学 号: 姓 名: 指 导 教 师: 指导教师职称:

年 5 月 19 日

Acknowledgements

To my supervisor, Miss Xu, who has been guiding my dissertation from start to finish, I extend my sincere gratitude.Without her able guidance, insightful advice, and kind encouragement.This dissertation would not have been accomplished.My cordial thanks are given to my classmates and roommates for their care and help.I also pay my heartiest thanks to my dear father and mother for their priceless care, encouragement and substantial support during my postgraduate study, without which I could achieve nothing.I

Culture Teaching in College Oral English Course Abstract：With the development of new technology, growth in the world's population, and shifts in the global economic arena, international contacts have become more and more significant and frequent.This makes possible and necessary the new interdisciplinary subject

intercultural

communication.During

intercultural communication, we meet from time to time culture shock, culture barriers and culture misunderstanding.Language is the vehicle of culture as well as a means of communication.It is a part of culture and plays a very important role in it.Without language, culture would not be possible.On the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture.It reflects culture.Therefore, the importance of culture teaching in foreign language teaching becomes more obvious.Since language and culture are inseparable, foreign language teaching and culture teaching are also inseparable.The essential purpose of language teaching is not only to teach linguistic knowledge but also to teach how to learn communicative competence and cultural competence.The purpose of this dissertation is to show the essence, importance, goals and principles of culture teaching in college English classes and also to provide some techniques and suggestions in culture teaching.Build a valid model for the culture teaching of English course.Key Words：Language;Culture;College English Teaching

II

大学英语口语教育中的文化教学

摘要：随着生产力的推动，科学技术的发展，全球经济一体化的形成，在日益增多的跨文化交际中，各种文化撞击时有发生。如何克服跨文化交际中的文化障碍，这对大学英语教学提出了新的要求。语言是一种社会现象。语言是文化的载体，而文化也影响着语言的各个层面。由语言和文化相互交融的关系中，我们可以得出语言教学即是文化教学。语言教学的根本目的不仅是传授语言知识，还教如何学习交际能力和文化能力。本文作者就文化教学的本质，文化教学的重要性，文化教学的原则，文化教学的策略和技巧以及文化教学是如何通过语言教学的各个层面而得以体现等问题进行了探讨，力图为英语教学中的文化教学构建一个有效的模式。关键词：语言;文化;大学英语教育

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Contents 1.Introduction………………………………………………………………………….1 1.1.Culture and Language…………………………………………………………...1 1.2.What is Culture?..................................................................................................1 1.3.The Importance of Culture Teaching in College English Classes……………….2 2.The Importance of Culture Teaching……………………………...…………………4 2.1 The Relationship Between Language and Culture………………………………4 2.2 The Aims of Language Teaching………………………………………………...5 3.Principles of Culture Teaching in College English Classes………………………….6 3.1 Cognitive Principle………………………………………………………………6 3.2 Assimilative Principle……………………………………………………………7 3.3 Comparative Principle…………………………………………...………………8 3.4 Tolerant Principle………………………………………………………………...9 4.Culture Teaching in College Oral English Classes……………………………….10 4.1 Addressing………………………………………………………………………10 4.2 Greeting and Parting……………………………………………………………11 4.3 Apologies and Responses……………………………………………………….13 4.4 Thanks and Responses………………………………………………………….13 4.5 Summary………………………………………………………………………..14 5.Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….14 References………………………………………………………………..…………...17

IV

Culture Teaching in College Oral English Course

1.Introduction

1.1 Culture and Language

Culture exists everywhere in human society.Even when a baby is born, his thought and behavior are influenced by culture subconsciously.Due to such an all-pervasive nature, it is hard to reach an agreement on a single definition of culture.The linguist Sapir suggests that culture may be defined as what a society does and thinks.Language and culture are closely related.1.2 What is Culture?

Culture is a way of life.It guides the behavior of people in a community and helps them to know how far they can go as individuals.Even when they have left that community, its members may retain, wherever they are, a common system of standards for perceiving, believing, evaluating and acting.The term “culture” is widely employed in social sciences.Although many scholars have tried to define culture, there is really very little agreement on what people mean by the idea of culture since cohere has different shades of meanings in different scientific disciplines and contexts.Culture„is that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs，arts, morals, law, customs, and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.(Wang Foxing & Wu Haying, 1994: 79)

Another definition with detailed descriptions is advanced by Daniel Bates and Fred Plug:

Culture is a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behavior, and artifacts that the members of a society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning This definition includes not only patterns of behavior but also patterns of thought(shared meanings

blurt the members of a society attach to various phenomena, natural and intellectual, including religion and ideologies), artifacts(tools, pottery, houses, machines, worlds of art), and the culturally transmitted skills and techniques used to make the artifacts.(Quoted from Larry A.Samovar & Richard E.Porter, 1995: 47)

That is to say that culture is any of the ideas, customs, skills, arts and tools, which characterize a given group of people.This definition includes most of the major territory of culture the total way of life of particular groups of people, including everything that a group of people think about, say, do and make.Therefore, no society exists without a culture which influences the way people think and behave.“Such thought and behavior patterns have universal characteristics:(1)they originate in the human mind;(2)they facilitate human and environmental interactions;(3)they satisfy basic human needs;(4)they are cumulative and adjust to changes in external and internal conditions;(5)they tend to form a consistent structure;(6)they are learned and shared by all the members of a society;and(7)they are transmitted to new generations”.As a result, culture establishes for each person a context of affective thought and behavior.He tends to perceive the world within the context of his own culture and act on this perception, which may usually lead to misunderstandings between members of different cultures.On the whole, no unanimous conclusion on the definition of culture has been drawn till now.However as time hoes, new will be added and each interpretation will convey some perspective of the concept and provides insight into its nature components and characteristics.1.3 The Importance of Culture Teaching in College English Classes

The world is getting smaller and smaller.Improvement in transportation technology, developments in communication technology and globalization of the economy have made intercultural communication more necessary than ever.Although non-verbal communication sometimes works, its efficacy is limited.Language learning is therefore an important element for intercultural communication.At the same time, culture teaching is also an important element in language teaching.The purpose of this dissertation is to show the essence, importance, goals and principles of culture teaching in college English classes and also to provide some techniques and suggestions in culture teaching.Language is the vehicle of culture as well as a means of communication.A deep study of the relationship between language and culture is not only necessary but also urgent in language learning and teaching.In order to have a better understanding of the relationship between language and culture, we had better find out what language is and what culture is.Any language is a part of a culture and any culture is a part of a language;the two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate the two without losing the significance of either language or culture.Why language and culture are inseparably connected? The reasons are as follows:

1.Language acquisition does not follow a universal sequence, but differs across cultures;

2.The process of becoming a competent member of society is realized through exchanges of language in particular social situations;

3.Every society orchestrates the ways in which children participate in particular situations, and this, in turn, affects the form, the function and the content of children's utterances;

In order that students acquire cultural competence, culture teaching in foreign language classes must have definite objectives and teaching principles through which the objectives are realized.Therefore, in this dissertation, the author puts forward and illustrates the four culture teaching principles in foreign language classes: Cognitive Principle, Assimilative Principle, Comparative Principle and Tolerant Principle.When we say cognitive principle, we mean, in the first place, it could refer to knowledge about the target culture and society;second, it might further involve the development of certain skills: observing, discriminating, examining socio-cultural phenomena or relating the target culture to the source culture.To put it in simpler words, cognitive principle in culture teaching is that the students are required to know，to understand and to learn the target culture.In terms of the cognitive principle emphasis is placed on knowing and understanding, rather than behaving.When we stress the assimilative principle in culture teaching, we must pay attention to the mechanical absorption of foreign things.Comments on it accurately when he talks about two different attitudes toward learning from foreign things.In a word, by assimilating alien cultures, our culture flourishes;on the other hand, only by keeping the independence and national characteristics of our culture can we make the cultures pluralistic and universal.2.The Importance of Culture Teaching

2.1 The Relationship Between Language and Culture

Language is the vehicle of culture as well as a means of communication.A deep study of the relationship between language and culture is not only necessary but also urgent in language teaching and learning.In order to have a better understanding of the relationship between language and culture, we had better find out what language is and what culture is.A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which the members of a speech community communicate, interact, and transmit their culture.This definition given by Albert B.Cook III emphasizes not the function of language is not only a tool of communication but also an important vehicle of culture.Since the nature of culture is multifaceted, different scholars define culture in different ways and each is dissatisfied with the other's definition.Generally speaking, the traditional concept of culture as great achievements, refinement and artistic endeavor, is widely referred to as “Culture with a capital ”.This contrasts with way-of-life culture, which is referred to as “culture with a small c”.The following definition advanced by(Daniel Bates and Fred Plug(1990: 53)is generally regarded as the most complete one: Culture is system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors and artifacts the

members of a society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning.The outstanding feature of this definition is that culture is transmissible only through some form of language.After gaining a clear idea of the definition of language and culture respectively, let's go further into the relationship between language and culture.As is known, language is a human activity and a social activity as well.So language system cannot exist in vacuum.On the contrary, it is always determined by society.When we say language is a system and culture is a bigger system, we don't mean that language is less important than culture.2.2 The Aims of Language Teaching

What is the aim of language teaching? This is a question of the first importance for the teaching of language.The basic reason why some language teachers in China have achieved so little is either their failure to have a correct objective in language teaching or their failure to point out the difference in emphasis between the approach to language and the approach to culture.Quite a number of language teachers take it for granted that language teaching is just to teach the linguistic knowledge only.Some think differently.They hold that the goal of language teaching is to teach the language, not about the linguistic skills.We hold that in language teaching we must teach language and culture at the same time.Those who hold the first view have been focusing their attention on the linguistic skill.In their eyes all one has to do in language teaching is to show and to help students to learn the rules of pronunciation and intonation, the rules of grammar, and the rules of word-formation, giving instructions, guiding in the study of something, providing knowledge, causing to know and understand.All this, in their view, is what teaching is all about.Therefore it has been commonly supposed that once these linguistic skills are acquired in reasonable measure, the purpose of language teaching and learning will be accomplished as a more or less automatic consequence.There is no question in our mind that to teach culture as well as language is the

unique and correct choice in language teaching.The reason is obvious.As is known, language has at least two rule systems: one is the structural system that consists of phonology, morphology and syntax;the other is the use system which is closely bound up with social behavior and social situation and determines whether language is used appropriately or inappropriately.Therefore a language course demands that the teacher should not only give the student knowledge about the language but also extend beyond linguistic knowledge such as pronunciation, grammar, and even as extensive knowledge of vocabulary.In other words, a language course should help the learner come as close as possible to the “background studies”-the study of the history, geography, and institutions of the country-to the people who use the language, the way they live, what they do, think, and dream.3.Principles of Culture Teaching in College Oral English Classes

In recent years, culture teaching as well as foreign language teaching has attracted more attention than ever before, for more and more foreign language teachers have become aware that second language learning is often second culture learning and that foreign language learners are required to have not only the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing but also cultural competence-an integral part of communicative competence.3.1 Cognitive Principle In specifying the objectives of culture teaching, many social culturists hold that the overall goals are cross-cultural understanding, and cross-cultural communication.The first of these is a highly cognitive goal.When we say cognitive principle, we mean, in the first place, it could refer to knowledge about the target culture and society;second, it might further involve the development of certain skills: observing, discriminating, examining social cultural phenomena or relating the target culture to the source culture.To put it in simpler words, cognitive principle in culture teaching is that the

students are required to know, to understand and to learn the target culture.In terms of the cognitive principle emphasis is placed on knowing and understanding, rather than behaving.The cognitive principle suits the actual conditions in culture teaching.Since the great majority of the foreign language learners have few opportunities to study or work or live in the target culture community, they can only learn the target culture in classrooms, or from books, or through mass media.What is more, many teachers themselves haven't been to any foreign country.Their teaching contents about the target culture are merely indirect knowledge.The cognitive principle tallies with the goals of cultivating the students.In culture teaching, different students should have different requirements.Only those whose major is foreign affairs or business or those who are going to get jobs concerning foreign affairs or business are necessary to experience the target culture directly through contact with the native speakers and through developing some sort of personal relationship with the target culture community.Most learners are only required to know, understand and learn the general knowledge of the target culture.The cognitive principle is suitable to culture teaching course.The culture teaching course is different from courses such as history, geography and folklore etc.In a strict sense, culture teaching is not an independent course.On the contrary, it is only an integral component of language teaching, for the objective of foreign language teaching is to enable the students to have communicative competence, which also implies knowledge of many aspects of society and culture.That is to say, cultural competence merges into communicative competence.Therefore, except a small number of students whose major are foreign languages or foreign affairs, most foreign language learners are unnecessary to take the culture teaching course either as a main course or as an elective course.While they are taught foreign languages, they are also taught some basic knowledge about the target culture.3.2 Assimilative Principle

In culture teaching classes it is not enough to help the students understand the

target culture and thus being able to explain it.The most important problem lies in making the useful parts of the target culture serve us.This is what is called assimilative principle.First of all, every culture is national and belongs to its own nation and bears its own national characteristics;on the other hand, every culture links up with other cultures and they are related in such a way that they can absorb something from each other and help each other to develop, together forming a new world culture.Secondly, to nourish its own culture, every culture needs to assimilate a good deal of foreign progressive culture.In essence, assimilation is for the sake of better developing and better enriching one's own culture.Thirdly, every culture has its strong and weak points.To make its own culture prosper, every culture must overcome its own weak points by learning from each other's strong points.Therefore, absorption of foreign culture is extremely important and necessary in developing each national culture.Finally, with the development of the information revolution, the earth is becoming smaller and smaller while the international cultural exchange is getting more and more frequent.On a whole, cultures are developing in the direction of diverse ones.Every culture is a component of the world culture.In such a multicultural pattern, cultures merge into each other.Whichever dissociates itself from the developmental tide of the world culture is bound to lose.3.3 Comparative Principle

Indeed, most of what is thought of as culture shows as many differences as similarities.Comparative principle is an attempt to make a comparison between the learners' own culture and the target culture so as to find out their similarities and differences.Nevertheless, to seek the similarities and differences is not our purpose but only means.So it is not enough to know cultural differences.What is more, it is better for us to accept them as a way of establishing an intercultural ethic.By accepting and appreciating both the similarities and differences, we can better asses the potential consequences of our acts and be tolerant of those of others.Comparison can enable us to get a deeper understanding of the target culture, of different cultural judgment and help us explain different cultural behavior so as to avoid explaining other culture's behavior according to our own standards or bringing our culture into other cultural situations.Only by comparison can one distinguish the differences and improve the abilities of distinguishing acceptable culture and unacceptable culture, thus preventing us from accepting the target culture uncritically.As is mentioned above, cultural competence is a component of communicative competence.By comparing we can improve our communicative competence.The reason why many foreign language learners often make pragmatic errors is that they fail to handle correctly the relationship between language and culture and they lack the understanding of the differences between their own culture and the target culture.While paying attention to the similarities, they often neglect the differences.When they communicate with foreigners in their target language, they often meet up with failure, for they are used to considering according to their train of thought, replacing the target cultural pattern with their own cultural pattern.3.4 Tolerant Principle

Besides the three principles mentioned above, tolerant principle is also important in culture teaching.When we say tolerant principle, we mean we must get rid of cultural discrimination.In today's situation of economic and scientific globalization, every culture without exception faces the problem of perfecting and developing itself.Only by respecting each other, learning from each other and making progress together can the world culture become multicolored and prosperous.Both cultural hegemonies and cultural isolationism are dangerous and must be opposed, because the former regards its own cultural pattern as the center of all while the latter rejects all alien cultures.Since different cultures have many in common, so the promotion of tolerance and mutual understanding between cultures is of advantage to constructing the diversity of human cultures, to improving human cultural ecology and to avoiding cultural shock or even armed conflicts..Culture Teaching in College Oral English Course

Cultural differences between English and Chinese can be found in many aspects of daily communication, including addressing, greeting and parting, compliments, apologies, thanks, etc.Attention will be given to different value systems, different cultural norms and different patterns of thought.Only taking the culture factors into the teaching syllabus, can the College Oral English Course be improve.4.1 Addressing

Both English and Chinese people have two kinds of personal names a surname and a given name.But the order and the use of these names in the two languages are somewhat different.In Chinese, the surname comes first and then the given name, while in English, the surname follows the given names

Another difference is about the form of addressing.From the viewpoint of socio-linguistics, forms of addressing can serve as an indication of the relationship of power and solidarity in the society.Brown and Gilman hold that addressing can fall into two categories: nonreciprocal or asymmetrical and reciprocal or symmetrical addressing(Jiao, 1998: 332).In calling their superiors or elders, the Chinese are accustomed to the nonreciprocal or asymmetrical addressing, in other words, they use “title surname” to address their superior or elders rather than call them their names, while the superior or elders call the addressers their names.The Chinese tend to abide by the polite principle of depreciating oneself and respecting others to show appropriate respects towards the persons being addressed, otherwise, the addresser may be considered as ill mannered, ill educated or rude.But in the English speaking countries, people have a tendency to follow the reciprocal or symmetrical addressing.Although they are different in age and status, they can call the other directly, namely, their names, even first names except when they call the doctors, not arousing offence between them, but demonstrating the sense of intimacy and the conception of “Everyone is created equal”.Chinese people feel unnatural addressing a Westerner by his given name, feeling that it indicates too close a relationship, and Westerners, on the other hand, may feel that if a Chinese insists on using his surname, it indicates an unwillingness to be friendly and maintains a gap between them.So the use of forms like Miss Mary or Smith.may be a Chinese form of compromise.With Miss Mary, the use of the given name indicates friendliness, but the addition of the title indicates the respect they feel they ought to show.And with Smith, the lack of a title indicates friendliness, but the use of the surname prevents it sounding too intimate.However, both addressing used by the Chinese sound very strange and uncomfortable to the Westerner.4.2 Greeting and Parting

When people meet acquaintances or friends, people usually greet each other.The purpose of greeting is to establish or maintain social contact.So formulaic expressions are often used, but such formulaic expressions often cause conflict because of the great cultural differences between Chinese and native English speakers.In English, people often employ the following expressions to greet each other: “Good morning /evening /afternoon”, “Fine day, isn't it?”, “How is everything going?” etc.But Chinese people would greet each other like the following: “Where are you going?”, “Have you eaten yet?”, “What are you going to do?”, “Where have you been?” etc.In fact, these questions are nothing more than a Chinese way of saying “Hello” or “Hi”, but English people would treat them as real question.They are quite unpleasant for the Chinese so curious to ask such taboo questions which invade their privacy.Parting may be divided into two steps.Before the final parting, there is usual a leave-taking.English and Chinese cultures have diverse ways to deal with leave-takings.Firstly, in English society, during the closing phase of an encounter, from “I” perspective reasons for terminating the encounter are presented in litigator comments.Typical comments are associated with expressions of apology, such as “I'm afraid I must be off, I have to relieve the baby-sitter”, etc.English people believe that to be willing to visit and converse with someone is to have respect for him;to terminate.The visiting is not of one's own free will, but because of some other

arrangements, therefore they always try to make their leaving.Sound reluctant by finding some reasons and apologize for it to make the leaving acceptable for both parties.English speakers often signal several times before leaving: “Well, it's been nice to see you again.I do enjoy our talk and the lovely dinner, but I must be going soon.Thank you very much for asking me over.I hope we'll be able to get-together again before long...”.Consolidation in a wider range of common acquaintances also occurs, in expressions such as “Say hello to Jack for me” or “Remember me to John”.In Chinese society, during the closing phase of an encounter, usually, from a “you” perspective, reasons for ending the encounter are set forth in litigator expressions.Such expressions include“你挺忙的，我就不多打扰}' o ”(You are so busy.I won't disturb you any more.), or“你一定很累了，早点休息吧，我要告辞了“(You must be very tired.Take a rest soon.I'm leaving.), etc.With these words, they may stand up from their seats.Chinese leave-taking is very short and quick.English people think it so abrupt that they have not prepared for it.While moving to the door, Chinese employ expressions of apology like“对不起，打扰T。”(I am sorry to have disturbed you.)or“对不起，占用了你不少时间.”(I'm sorry to have taken up so much of your time.).It should be noted that these expressions employed by Chinese guests to show concern for their hosts can only be appropriate for business visits in the English environment.When the final parting is coming, people usually say Good-bye or Bye.The English people often see the visitor to the door or gateway.Partings for the Chinese involve a certain amount of ritual.The Chinese feel they must see a guest off to the farthest feasible point-down a flight of stairs to the street below or perhaps all the way to the nearest bus stop.Chinese use expressions of politeness and protest accompanying a leave-taking.It is customary for the guest to say to his hosts ”There's no need to see me off.Don't walk any further with me, please.(Pushing the host lightly back towards his home).To the Chinese, such “see-sawing” is a manifestation of courtesy.and sincerity.The host usually insists on seeing his guest off.But the guest tries to decline, sometimes even helping out matters by pushing lightly.The final 12

words of the hosts are usually“慢走，走好。”To the Chinese it means “Take care” or “Watch your step” or some other, such caution, but translated literally it means “go slowly”.4.3 Apologies and Responses

If wrong things are done, there must be apologies.As to how to offer apologies, both English and Chinese people may say“I'm sorry.„，，“I apologize for.„，，etc.But Chinese would like to apologize for the crowed state of their dwellings and for small numbers of dishes, although the room is big enough and there are many dishes.(6)C: Sorry, the room is very small.F: Oh。。(at a loss, doesn't know how to respond)（7）C: Sorry, the dishes are not delicious and only very small number of dishes or nothing edible for you.F:(again, at a loss)

Chinese say these to express self-depreciation only out of courtesy, not having other implication.But the foreigners would wonder: since the room is so large and there are so many dishes, why do they say so.Maybe they do not welcome our visit;they do not like us to eat more.When Chinese contact with foreigners, if they do not know these differences, it will lead to misunderstanding.The ways to respond to apologies are different, too(8)A1: Oh, I'm sorry.I forgot it.B1: It doesn't matter.B2: 'That's all right.B2 is an English person.B1 is a Chinese person.”It doesn't matter“ is a translation of“没关系”from Chinese, which is a common pattern in Chinese to respond to apologies.If a Chinese uses this to respond to apologies, English native-speakers will think that he is a sharp person, who simply cannot forgive a very little wrong thing.4.4 Thanks and Responses

”Thank you“ is widely used in English to show gratitude in such cases as being

invited, helped, given a gift;etc.Cultural differences exist between Chinese and English in how to express thanks and responses.In fact, ”Thank you“ is uttered in English for more than acknowledging favor or gratitude, and it is often a means to show politeness.On;many occasions, the English use this utterance while the Chinese may say“有劳您'” or do not say a word at all but just smile or nod.As a matter of fact, “Thank you” is used more widely by Americans than Chinese use “谢谢”，for minor favors like borrowing a pencil, asking directions, requesting someone to pass on a message, receiving a telephone, etc.“Thank you” not only shows politeness but also carries a person's grateful feeling for those who offer help.Without using expressions of gratitude, misunderstandings may arise because the help seems to be taken for granted and is not appreciated.For Americans, each person is an equal individual, whether ha is a family member or not.In Chinese,“谢谢”is not frequently used between intimate friends and farely members because it may imply a certain distance between the addresser and the addressee.Native English speakers may respond to “Thank yon” by saying: You're welcome /It's a /my pleasure /Not at all don’t mention it /That's all right /That's OK, while the Chinese people may say: It's my duty /I ought to do this(这是我应该做的)，which ray convey to Americans the message that the Chinese did not really want to do it, or that, he/she did it only because it was his leer duty.The message is quite different from what the Chinese speaker intended to express.4.5 Summary

The above examples show how cultural differences affect communication between people with different cultural background.Through the above stage-processing and surface-to-deep analysis of the causes leading to cultural conflicts, it is very obvious to us that to reduce cultural mistakes, the only way out is to increase students' cross-cultural awareness.5.Conclusion

The overall goals of cultural teaching are cross-cultural understanding and cross-cultural communication cross-cultural understanding demands a detailed analysis of a culture and an attempt at subsequent synthesis through the discovery of the main themes of the culture.However, cross-cultural understanding by itself would not be enough if the student kept the foreign culture at arm's length.The teaching of culture should lead the student to experience the culture directly through contact with native speakers and through developing some sort of personal relationship with the target language community.In other words, cross-cultural understanding and cross-cultural communication are closely related, lacking one of them, the goals of cultural teaching are incomplete.The goals of culture teaching as cross-cultural understanding and cross-cultural communication has been basic to the more operationally expressed objectives.Valetta(1972)summarizes the goals of culture teaching in five categories(l)cultural awareness;(ii)command of etiquette;(iii)understanding of daily life;(iv)understanding of cultural values;and(v)analysis of the target culture(tad.from Allen& Harvey, 1992: 213)

Hamersley(1982), basing himself partly on his three fold analysis of culture into factual, behavioral, and achievement culture, comes up with the following list of ten goals on an approximate order of difficulty for second language learners: 1.Knowledge of the cultural commutations of words and phrases.2.Knowledge of how to behave in common situations.3.The development of interest and understanding toward the second culture.4.Understanding of cross-cultural differences.5.Understanding of intercultural institutions and differences.6.Research like projects.7.Development of an integrated view of the second culture.8.Ability to evaluate statements about the second culture.9.Development of empathy toward a second culture and its people.10.Academic research on second cultures.In short, the college oral English teaching should help students to have a good command of knowledge of the target culture and enhance the awareness of differences between the target culture and the learner's own culture, that is, the goals of culture teaching and learning are to increase awareness of intercultural communication.Teachers should keep the goals of cultural instruction in mind as they do the lesson planning and teaching.References Brown, H.D.1990.Cultural values: the interpretation of discourse［Ｊ］.ELT Journal, Vol.44, No.l.Chen, Shen.1999.The Teaching of Culture in Foreign Language Education［Ｍ］.Beijing: Beijing Language and Culture University Press.Chomsky, N.1965.Aspects of the Theory of Syntax［Ｍ］.Boston: MIT Press.毕继万，1999, 《跨文化语言交际》[M]。北京:外语教育研究出版社。顾嘉祖、陆升，1990,《语言与文化》[M]。上海:上海教育出版社。.何自然，1997,《语用学与英语学习》[M]。上海:外语教育出版社。胡文仲编，1990,《跨文化交际选读》[M]。长沙:湖南教育出版社。胡文仲，1992，试论跨文化研究，《语言文字应用》[J]。第3期.胡文仲、高一虹，1995,《外语教学与文化》［Ｍ］。长沙:湖南教育出版社。胡文仲主编，1994,《文化与交际》［Ｍ］。北京:外语教学与研究出版社。

第二篇：大学英语口语教学浅析

创先职称论文发表网

大学英语口语教学浅析

摘要：在英语教学中，由于多种因素的共同影响，学生的实际应用能力一直难以提高。本文分析了影响学生口语能力的因素．围绕诺言学家Littlewood将交际能力所概括的四个方面，提出培养学生交际能力的途径。

关键词：口语；输入；跨文化；教学途径

普通语言学认为语言是有声的，任何有声语言总是以口语为第一性，书面语是口语的文字记录，是第二性的，在语言的发展过程中口语始终处于首位。社会语言学认为，交际功能是语言的本质功能，语言是一种交际工具。交际能力不仅包括对一种语言的语言形式的理解和掌握，而且还包括对在何时何地、以什么方式对谁使用恰当语言形式进行交际的知识体系的理解和掌握。交际能力是一个复杂的概念，涉及语言、修辞、社会、文化、心理等多种因素，包括一个人运用语言手段(口头语或书面语)和副语言手段来达到某一特定交际目的的能力。语言学家Littlewood将交际能力概括成四点：①掌握语言知识，并能运用语言清楚地表达思想;②不仅掌握语言知识，还了解这些语言知识在交际中的作用；②学习者在使用语言时应考虑自己的社会地位及社会语境．并能从听者的反应中判断出所用语言是否恰当；④学习者必须了解语言的社会含义，能使用本族人普遍接受的语言。语言教学应该以教学生如何使用这种交际工具为主。语言知识的学习是为了更好地使用语言工具，发挥其交际功能服务的。英语口语教学应该围绕交际能力包含的内容，着重培养学生运用英语进行口头交际的能力。

一、影响学生口语能力的主要因素

以学生进入初中阶段开始学英语算起，进入大学之前，每个人接触英语的时间平均6—7年。初中3年加高中3年，英语学习往往花费上千学时，然而培养出来的学生只能背出一系列语法条条，却连最简单的常用语也听不借或说不出，英语听说能力严重不足。究其原因、我认为有以下几点。

(1)长期以来，英语教学一直走“语法翻译教学法”的路子。传统的英语课堂上教师采用“讲解一翻译一朗读—做题”的教学模式，语法知识被视为教学核心，教学以讲解词汇、语法和分析课文中的语言点为主，把语言作为理论知识来教，忽视了语言的交际功能。教学中以教师为中心，忽略了学生的主体因素。教师在课堂上就知识讲知识，学生被动机械地背诵模仿。久而久之，学生感到乏味。大多数学生语音不过关．他们付出了努力，所学得的却是“聋哑英语”，导致大部分学生知难而退，放弃英语学习。

(2)应试教育的观念根深蒂固，中考和高考乃至四级、六级考试试题都比较重视语法和书面知识。尽管这些年越来越多的教师认识到这一不足，将听力增设为考试内容。但内于实际操作难度较大，口语考试一直被排除在外，只有极少数四级、六级成绩优秀的学生才有机会参加。在这种情况下．教师不得不采用传统的模式，“肢解”课文．做句子的分析和翻译、词汇的讲解和练习，重视语言知识的学习，却忽视了学生运用语言能力的培养。

近年来，各种新兴的教学理论层出不穷，高校英语教师在这方圆也进行了积极的探索，但由于教学时数、教材使用、教学条件和设备及班级学小数量等因素的影响，成效并不显著。

二、口语教学中培养学生交际能力的途径

（一）加强阅读听力训练，增加语言输入与储备

众所周知，语言输入是语言输出和完成交际的必备条件。读与听是语言、知识、信息获取的重要手段．也是开口说话的第一步。大量的阅读与听力练习是学生获得语感以及学会正确表达自己思维的基本途径。读与听的过程不仅是一个接收的过程而且还是一个建立的过程。这个过程的第一阶段被称为感觉阶段。在这个阶段，学习者得到的仅仅是一个肤浅的印象，这基本上是一个被动和接收的阶段：第二阶段被称为识别阶段。这一阶段中学习者把所接收的信息加以识别，把已经识别的与正在识别的联系起来。这个识别过程是积极的、细致的。第三阶段为领悟和建立阶段。学习者通过认知系统重复一遍所接触到的材料，而且不时地把已经理解的东西与新学到的加以对照和修正，并以一种比较容易保留的形式被存入记亿里。这样，理解了的材料得到了改变，被保留下来的是语义信息。有了语义信息，人们再寻求表达形式*从这个过程，我们可以得出结论：学习者学说英语必须从听和读开始，开口说话，表达思想，进行语言交际便成了大量听和读的必然结果。学习者由于接触材料的深度与广度不同，口头交际能力差异很大。那些听得多、理解得多、读得广的学习者，口头交际能力就强；而那些听得少、读得不透彻的学习者，在表达时就会感到无话可说，或者不知如何说，口头交际能力自然就差。

(二)培养用英语思维的习惯，充实跨文化知识

用英语思维是指排除本族语的干扰，用英语直接理解、判断和表达。口语教学的日的在于培养学生的口头交际能力，学生应养成良好的口头交际的习惯，做到语言清晰、流畅、准确。培养学生用英语思维的习惯，加强英语思维能力训练是培养学生用英语表达思想能力的重要手段和途径。由于缺乏有效的语言输入，大多数学习者在表达前，把语义信息，即他想说的．在脑子里下意识地寻求母语的表达式，然后再把它译成英语。这种做法不可避免地会导致母语的干扰。这样借助于母语表达出来的东两多数是不地道的，运用这种方式与人交际经常会导致交际出现障碍甚至失败。在英语口语教学中应该让学生听地道的英语，培养他们边听边直接用英语把听到而且理解了的东西储存在记忆里的习惯，以及培养他们克服母语干扰直接用英语表达的良好习惯。学生通过一系列主动、积极的思维活动，理解和表达思想，接受和输出信息。正是在这种积极的思维和表达过程中，学生：才能获得真正的英语口头交际能力。

英语学习者在与英语本族人进行实际交往中，很容易将自己的母语使用习惯带人跨文化交际，从而引起误会，导致交流出现障碍甚至失败。由于母语文化因素的干扰，而说出不得体的英语的现象非常普遍。我们都知道，语言交流所涉及的不仅仅是一系列的语法规则及词条，而且还涉及语言使用的社会文化及风俗习惯。一句完全符合语法规则的话，用在不恰当的场合，说得不合说话人的身份，或者违反当地的社会风俗习惯，就达不到交际的日的。所以，在英语口语教学中，应该比较系统地将目的语的文化知识的传授融入教学中，使英语口语教学与文化教学相结合。在口语教学的初级阶段，教师应着重交际文化的导入，内容包括介绍日常生活交往方面英汉主流文化的差异，以及在语言形式和运用中的具体表现，打招呼和告别、各种称呼、祝贺和赞扬以及其他社交礼节等的差异介绍属于此类。介绍由于文化差异引起的英汉词语、成语、谚语和格言的意义及运用方面的差异，介绍英汉语言在比喻和联想运用上的差异以及英汉语言中典故、委婉语和禁忌语运用方面的差异等。学生通过这些差异的学习，就能理解各种英语表达法所涉及的文化内涵。在口语教学的高级阶段则着重导人知识文化，从中西文化差异的深层人手，介绍中西方思维方式、价值观念、认知行为、交际关系以及言语表达方式等方面的差异。学生通过中西文化此类差异的学习，就增强了文化差异意识，了解了西方的人际关系及交往的深层次模式，从而学会得体地进行交际。

（三）加强师生互动，趣化口语课堂

外语口语能力并非与生俱来，也很难在教学过程中立竿见影，它需要一系列的输入、模仿、分析等各方面的习得之后而取得。因此，口语课堂的每个环节、每个活动都必须有意义、有趣味，从而使学生集中于教学的内容而非形式上。教学内容必须难度适中。在具体的操作中，则宜遵循先模仿后应用、先机械后活用、先语言后交际的总原则来安排和开展，即呈现、机械性操练、有意义操练到交际性练习。

在教学的第一个阶段，教师可将与实际生活密切相关的语言资料或信息材料发给学生．并附上相关的词汇、句型及对话，让学生在对这些词汇和句型认知的基础上，先模仿其中的对话，再分组讨论，从中学习和掌握一些英语最基本的句型和习语、惯用语，要熟练到脱口而出的程度。掌握一些公式化的套语、记住许多现成的口头话语，对能编制出创造性的言语、弥补第二语言规则的不足以及摆脱交际困境都是必要的。由于这些交际性的内容难度适巾，又与学生的实际生活密切相关，为学生提供了很有价值的语言材料和语言信息，触发他们积极地投入学习的热情。

第二阶段的训练目标主要是培养学生连贯说话的能力。教学内容可包括爱情友谊、公共道德、人际关系、个性特点、生活习惯、趣味爱好、生活经历、体育运动、勤工俭学、学习方法、健康减肥等。在训练过程中，坚持采用“师生合作”、“小组合作”的教法和学法，充分体现教学民主，发挥“教与学”两个积极件，让学习主体更有发挥和展现才华的活动空间，具体做法是：让学生三至四人一小组进行分组讨论或说话演练，并以小组总体成绩作为评价和奖赏的依据；小组活动前，先指定“话题”，明确要求，让学生的讨论和“说话”能围绕“话题”，且有所侧重；在讨论中可以随时提问，问同学、问老师，随时把不懂的东西弄懂。这样，教师成为教学过程中的指导者、参与者和合作者，从中发挥主导作用，学生成为课堂学习的主人。计学习活动在教与学互动、学与练协调、资源共享、分工合作、互教互学、取长补短、教学相长的课堂氛围中体验学习的成功和语言实践活动的无限乐趣。这种“合作型”的教法和学法让每个学生以平等的身份互相切磋、合作学习、个体竞争，为互学互帮的合作学习活动。

第三阶段亦可称为创造性阶段。通过初级、中级阶段的学习，学生已有了用英语进行口头交际的强烈欲望，掌握了基本的英语口头交际的技巧，又具备了连贯说话的能力，这就为学生自由运用语言以及创造性使用语言打下了基础。高级阶段的教学内容可扩展到对各种问题及现象的讨论与辩论，比如孩子的教育、青年人的思想、妇女的社会地位、老年人问题、种族歧视、广告的优劣、电视中的暴力、代沟问题、浪费问题、人口问题、环境污染问题、住房问题、工作的意义等，教学方式主要采用辩论、演讲、小组讨论、总结发言等。通过这三个阶段的学习，学生就能逐渐地做到运用英语清楚地自由地表达自己的思想感情、意志以及观点，也就具备了比较强的英语口头交际能力。

三、结语

2l世纪，全球已经内产业经济时代步入到知识经济时代，具有创新意识和开拓能力的人才将具有特殊的价值。这种格局对我国的现行的人才培养模式和方向提出了重大的挑战，教育改革势在必行。外语专业人才的培养也要面向世界．重在交流和应用能力的培养。2004年教育部颁发的《大学英语课程教学要求(试行)》(教高字[2004]1号)中明确指出：“大学英语的教学目标是培养学生英语综合应用能力，特别是听说能力，使他们在今后工作和社会交

往中能用英语有效地进行口头和书面的信息交流，同时增强其自主学习能力、提高综合文化素养，以适应我同经济发展和国际交流的需要。”这就为我们明确了外语教学改革的方向。灵活运用现代化的教学方法，结合本地区、本校的教学实际，有效地提高学生的交际能力是摆在每位教师面前的重要任务。总之，提高英语口语是一项系统工程，如何兼收并蓄、博采众长、因地制宜地制定出灵活有效的教学策略仍然值得广泛的探索与研究。

参考文献

[1]Larry A Samovar.Communication between Cultures [M].Beijing,China:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2000.

第三篇：大学英语口语教学1

大学英语口语教学

内容摘要：口语作为外语学习的重要技能已得到了高校师生的高度重视。本文剖析了当今大学英语口语的教学现状以及存在的问题，就如何提高学生口语水平提出了建议：提高教师的整体素质、以学生为本，改变教学观念，调整教学目标，合理配置教学资源，创造浓厚的英语语言环境，不断创新教学模式和教学方法等。有效地做到消除学生的心理障碍，提高学习兴趣，掌握交际策略等，进而提高学生对语言的运用能力。

关键词： 大学英语口语；口语教学；教学方法 1.0 引言

语言学家Hymens认为，培养交际能力是语言教学的最终目的，学习者只有或得交际能力才能同时具备这门语言的基础知识和使用能力，并且仅仅掌握词汇和语法不一定等于掌握了英语语言。目前，随着社会和时代的进步发展，英语口语教学已经越来越受到大学英语教学的重视并成为其重要的组成部分。《大学英语课程教学要求》由教育部高教司制定的明确规定，其课程的教学目标是：培养和提高学生英语的综合应用能力，尤其是听说能力，这样以便他们在今后工作和社会交往中能用英语有效地进行口头和书面的信息交流。可是长期以来，英语教学面临的主要难题就是口语教学，因而怎样改善英语口语教学从而提高学生英语的口语表达能力就成为大学英语课程研究的一个重要课题。

2.0 大学英语口语的教学现状分析 2.1 学生方面

2.1．1.说英语的动机不强

学生从初中，高中直到大学，每次英语考试只考笔试，从来没有重视英语口语的表达，更没有进行这方面的严格考试。学不学口语不影响考试分数和升学。正是因为没有升学压力、考试、监督力度，很大程度上促使英语教学环节也不受重视和适度的安排措施。学生竟学成了“哑巴英语”，不开口讲，不进行沟通交流，缺乏灵活使用英语的口头交际能力。

2.1.2 对说英语有心理障碍 第一，很多学生对英语口语课有胆怯、害羞的心里。这些心里问题使学生一说英语就紧张，一紧张就更加不知道说些什么。时间久了，形成条件反射，产生了口语表达上的障碍，进而更加害怕发言。其次，还有一部分学生会因为发音不标准和基础较差的问题产生严重的自卑感。最后，有相当一部分学生对英语口语学习不积极主动，缺乏表现欲。这样一来大部分学生基本不开口说英语。

2.2教学观念狭隘，教学方法陈旧

我国大学对于英语课程一直是更多的强调书面表达，完全忽视口语的重要性。课堂教学延续中学英语教学的特点以“教师为中心”的“填鸭式”教学，严重影响了学生英语综合水平的提高，让学生不能很好地发挥自己的学习主动性和创造性。并且，因为大学的不断扩招，导致了英语课人数过多，课时和课量有限，这些都对学生英语口语交际能力的有效提高不利。另外，多媒体语音实验室，网络设备等硬件设施的滞后，也导致英语口语教学实践受限。

2.3 英语口语教材的滞后

虽然大学英语教学一直在不断的改革，教材也在不断的更新，但是针对大学英语口语的教学理论和实践的改革仍然是大学英语课程教研的盲区。大部分的英语口语教材都是针对英语专业的学生，对非英语专业的大学口语教材很难找到。在选用口语教材上，很多高校都犯难。这对与英语教学的不重视有很大关系。

2.4缺少有效的评估体系

长期的应试教学模式，使口语考试没有像笔试那样列入正规的考试范围中，造成了重视笔试而轻视口语的现象。目前的四、六级考试没有口语测试的要求，导致老师教英语以考试为目的，学生学英语以拿学位为目标，完全忽略英语口语的训练和培养。

3.0提高英语口语教学的对策 3.1 提高教师素质

针对对外语教学质量的五个因素，联合国教科文组织提出了一个公式:教学质量=[学生(1分)+教材(2分)+环境(4分)+教法(3分)]x教师素质。从这个公式可以看出，提高教学质量的关键因素是教师素质,想要提高学生的口语交际能力就必须提高教师素质。口语教学需要有整体优良性的教师素质的团队。口语教师不仅应该具备标准的语音语调、正确的语法规则、规范的英语、汉语口语表达能力，掌握以英语为母语国家的文化背景知识及相关学科知识以外,同时应具备教研、科研能力。只有教师整体素质提高了,方能“名师出高徒”。然而,很多本科院校存在着很多问题，如英语教师数量不足,教师的知识水平、教学能力不高, 并且学院往往对新教师只考核外语知识,对年轻教师的培训也只侧重语言知识的积累和语言技能的提高。忽视了对教师整体素质的培养。

3.2 改变教学观念，调整教学目标，合理配置教学资源

大学英语教学必须重视口语教学，教师应该不断探究口语教学理论和策略。教学要以培养学生的语言总和能力为目标，让学生能够用英语进行交流。因而，大学应该专门开设英语口语课程，四六级考试也应该加入对口语测试的要求。各大高校要充分利用先进、信息技术改造现有的教学模式，使之有利于口语教学的开展。

3.3以学生为本

保罗.弗莱(巴西著名的教育学家)曾说过:教育者要比以往更具有一种科学能力来让他们理解这样一个事实,就是对学生所处的现实世界,语言和言语被学生所使用的包括口音以及并非一定能被教师的个人世界轻易接受的某些习惯、爱好、信仰、恐惧和欲望所形成的文化环境的了解是多么的重要。作为教育对象的学生也是影响教学质量的一个重要因素。“以教师为中心”转变为“以学生为中心”就是现代教学理念的一个巨大变化。在口语教学中，我们应格外重视学生的情感状态，探索降低情感障碍的方法，从而促进学生更多地“开口” 来提高其交际能力。教师应该对学生的长处和局限性有充分的了解，采用多样化的教学活动，培养和扩展学习风格，从而实现语言的交际性。

3.4不断创新教学模式和教学方法

口语课堂教学的关键就是要营造和谐融洽的课堂气氛，调动学生的积极性。教学模式和方法应该灵活多样，鼓励采用教师、学生、多美丽课件和网络四者的有机结合的教学模式。相对传统的教学模式，这种教学模式有其优势，最大的优势就是能将听说有机结合有效提高课堂时间利用率。对于口语教学方法应该形式多样。（1）可以采用小组讨论的方式，由教师设定话题将学生分组进行自由讨论，选出代表进行汇总发言。（2）可以采用课堂辩论的方式，教师可以事先给出有争议性的并且贴合大学生的话题让学生课下充分准备，课堂上按学生准备的内容鼓励学生进行辩论。（3）还可以采用角色扮演的方式，老师可以让学生自主根据所学的精读课程的内容编对话，自编自演。（4）课外监督机制可以作为教师教学的一种方式要求学生在课外多听磁带,模仿其语音、语调,逐渐形成地道纯正的口语。

以上教学方法要很好地运用到大学英语口语教学中还有一定的难度，需要教师和学生的共同努力和配合。鉴于当前大学生基础较差，无法开口的现状，教师要有耐心，才去由浅入深、由易到难、循序渐进的方法开展口语教学。

为了调动学生的积极性和主动性，教师还应该重视英语第二课堂教学，鼓励并组织学生可与时间开展听力竞赛、口语竞赛、演讲比赛、戏剧表演等。而且可以开设英语角，增加学生主动说英语的积极性和外国朋友的沟通交流。这是提高英语教学质量的重要措施。英语课堂上的时间是有限的，语言的总和能力是需要一个从量变到质变的过程，这个过程只有通过大量的以学生认知为基础的语言实践才能实现。

4.0 总结

外语教学方法一直是被外语教学界所研究的一个重点.可是不同目的的培养, 决定了要用不同的方法。根据大学英语的口语教学的具体情况, 以学生为本，提高教师的整体素质, 改变教学观念，调整教学目标，合理配置教学资源，不断创新教学模式和教学方法，创造浓厚的英语语言环境,一定能提高口语教学质量,从而改变目前学生“难开口,开口难”的局面.参考文献

[1]吴旭东.外语课堂口语发展理论模式[J].现代外语,1996,2.[2]黄和斌.外语教学理论与实践[M].南京:译林出版社,2001,3.[3] 冯涟漪.大学英语口语教学初探[J].外语界,2005,02。

[4] 陆明、丁万江.口语教学过程中的情感因素另解 [J].外语界,2005,02。[5] 祝询.课外监督机制在大学英语口语教学中的应用研究 [J].外语界, 200

5,04 [6]桂诗梅.应用语言学.上海外语教育出版社，1995.

第四篇：大学英语口语

我认为理想的生活应该是快乐而且衣食无忧，每天都过得充实而且快乐，不用担心衣食住行，能够做自己想做的事和喜欢做的事，创造属于自己的人生价值。

I think the ideal life should be happy and comfortable, had a full and happy every day, don't have to worry about food and clothing live line, to do what you want to do and do, create their own value of life.例如，可以抽出时间看自己想看的书，见自己相见的人和去自己想去的地方。

For example, you can take time out to see oneself want to see of book, saw that they meet each other and to the places they want to go.工作对于一个人非常重要，因为工作是一个人实现价值和满足基本需求的需要。

Work is important for a person, because the work is a person value and meet the needs of the basic requirements.对于处理工作与休闲的关系，我认为工作时应该认真工作，提高工作效率，休闲时应该尽情享受，体验生活的乐趣。

To deal with the relationship between work and leisure, I think work should work in earnest, improve work efficiency, should enjoy leisure, experience the fun of life.白领应该是受过高等教育，工作能力强，衣食无忧的人，不喜欢，因为白领的生活方式不健康，比如：吃饭很快，不吃早餐，过度饮用咖啡

White-collar workers should be trained in higher education, work ability, desultory person, don't like it, because of the white-collar lifestyle is not healthy, such as: eat quickly, don't eat breakfast, excessive drinking coffee

第五篇：大学英语口语

1.What is addiction? What are the things people can easily get addicted to? An addiction is the condition of being dependent on a drug, or the crave 渴望，乞求

to do something because one cannot stop doing it.One can be addicted to cigarette smoking, drugs and the Internet.2.Why do you think some people, especially young people, take drugs? Some people take drugs to feel good.Others take drugs to temporarily forget their problems.And still some others take drugs to reduce stress.Young people may try drugs out of curiosity, or may be tempted to take drugs because of peer pressure.3.Why is drug abuse such a threat to our society?What can we do to prevent or reduce drug abuse? Drug abuse harms not just the abusers, but also their loved ones, their family and society at large.A drug addict will resort to crime and violence or any means to get money to buy drugs.The behavior will be a threat to our society.Punishment alone is not an effective way to help drug users quit drugs or stop drug users from committing crimes.In order to prevent drug abuse, we can launch drug education programs to teach young people about the risks involved, toughen laws to prevent drug offenses, and make greater efforts to crack down on drug trafficking 交通来往.毒品交易

1.What do you think are the causes of war? War breaks out because of religious conflicts,economic disputes.Throughout the history, most wars have been waged to protect the economic interests of superpower.2.Consequences(结果，推论)of War/What damage does war do to mankind? War is a human tragedy.Millions of people die and families fall apart as a result of war.For example, in peace-time sons bury fathers, but war violates the order of nature and fathers bury sons.On the other hand, war is costly in money, resources and human lives.What is worse, disputes often persist after wars.3.What is your favorite book or movie about war?How dose it affect you and your attitude toward war? My favorite movie about war is赤壁,from the movie I know that if a country is attacked,it has the right to fight.What’s more,to prepare for war is one of the best ways to preserve peace.1.What does aging mean?How old are people considered elderly? Aging is the natural process of growing old.It refers to a decline in all areas of a person’s mental and physical abilities.People over 65 years old are generally considered elderly or senior citizens.2.How should we treat old people? Old people are an asset of society.They are more experienced and responsible.But Old age is often accompanied by various kinds of illnesses such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.A typical sign of aging is forgetful-ness.So We should treat old people with respect, affection, patience, and kindness , take good care of them, especially when they are sick.3.What problems may people have as they grow old? Many elderly people suffer from varying degrees of memory loss.A typical sign of aging is forgetfulness, decline in vision and hearing and weakening of muscle strength.1.Why do some young people pick up smoking? Some young people may have picked up smoking out of curiosity.And some young people may have picked up smoking because they thought it was cool.2.How harmful is smoking to smokers? Smoking is harmful to one’s health.For example,smoking is known as a fatal cause of lung cancer.Smoking is also found to be related to other types of cancer.3.In what places has smoking already been banned? Are you in favor of this policy or not? Why? I think all public places should at least partially ban smoking.Besides,all public places should create a smoke-free area for non-smokers.4.What troubles can a smoker have if he works in a non-smoking environment? Once you become addicted to smoking, it will be hard to quit the habit.Whether a smoker can give up smoking or not depends on his will, his determination and the support of his friends and family.5.Is smoking also harmful to nonsmokers? In what way? Smoking is dangerous not only to the smokers themselves but also to the nonsmokers around them.Passive smoking can also cause lung cancer.1.What is the general attitude toward wealth in our society? Modern life is built around money.Money, whatever form it takes, is essential for buying goods and services.In a commercialized society, money ranks very high in people's value system.2.Do you think money can bring happiness? Why or why not? Money does not necessarily bring us happiness.It brings you medicine, but not health.Happiness does not depend on the amount of money you have.A happy man is one who is content, whether he is rich or poor.3.How is life different for the rich as compared with the not-so-rich? For the rich,good education,travel,luxury and security are all readily available.While the poor attain these with great difficulty,if at all.4.Do you think wealth is a source of happiness or a source of problem.For me,wealth is a source of happuness.As is known to all,modern life is built around money.Whatever form it takes, is essential for buying goods and services.1.What is memory? Memory can be defined as the capacity to keep information available for later use.2.What techniques do you use to help you remember things? Whether you can remember things well or not depends on the way you try to remember them.Don't try to memorize all the facts, but focus your attention on what you consider more important.It is impossible to concentrate if you are tense or nervous.Try to relax and you'll remember things.3.How can we improve our memory?

Memory is like a muscle---the more it is used, the better it gets.So if we want to improve our memory,try to use our memory to the utmost.Learning new skills could stimulate our brain.1.What is the purpose of an oral presentation?

Our performance in oral presentations will form an important part of the overall assessment of our work.We are often expected to give oral presentations to our classmates and teachers.2.How can we make our presentations more effective?

In giving an oral presentation, we should not only organize information and ideas coherently but also deliver the speech in a clear and vivid way.Using charts, photos and computer graphics can help us to get our message across.3.What is OHP and what are its functions?

The OHP is a device which projects enlarged images from transparencies onto a screen or a white wall.Using an overhead projector enables the audience to see the charts, diagrams and photos clearly.Using an overhead projector enables the audience to follow a presentation more easily.1)In what sense do you think we can regard the world we live in as One World? The world in which we live gives birth to the human race and nurtures the human race.Besides,Contacts between cultures promote understanding among peoples of the world.What’s more,With the rapid development of transportation means and the information technology the world is getting smaller and smaller.So we can say that........2)Do you think people in the world are largely similar? Why or why not? All human beings have the need to eat, to have shelter, and to work.They also need to love others and be loved.We, people of the world, are one big family, for together we exist, and together we try to make the world better for all.Although people in different countries have different traditions, they all seem to celebrate certain days such as New Year’s Day, Mother’s Day, Children’s Day, etc.3)What are the traditions of birthday celebrations in some Western countries? How do they differ from the Chinese ones? Cakes, lights, and candles are often associated with the celebration of a person’s birthday in many Western countries.In China, special noodles are served for lunch in honor of the birthday person.The noodles are extra long to symbolize longevity or a long life.1.What do cultural differences mean? People from different countries speak different languages, keep different value systems, and have different ways of looking at things.These differences are generally called cultural differences.3.What problems may be caused by our failure to recognize cultural differences? Failure to recognize cultural differences may cause many problems.On the one hand, those who are uninformed about cultural differences may have difficulty communicating with their business associates from other cultures.On the other hand, inability to recognize cultural differences can make mutual understanding difficult.A certain amount of small talk about the weather, family, and personal hobbies is expected before getting down to business with your foreign associates.4.How can we deal with cultural differences? There are many ways to deal with cultural differences.For example,we can avoid unintentionally offending others by learning the basic characteristics of other cultures.For instance, we may ask our foreign friends about their everyday customs or take time to explain certain common customs of our own culture to them.1.What kind of friends do you think are true/good friends? A good friend is a real friend, and a real friend is a friend for life.A friend is, as it were, a second self.First, a friend is one whom you can count on, trust and talk to.Second, a friend is someone who will listen to you when you talk about your problems or before whom you may think aloud.What is more, a friend is a person who will help you if you are in trouble.Just as the saying goes: A friend in need is a friend indeed.2.How do you make friends? We should make friends with those who are kind-hearted, compassionate, caring, honest and thoughtful, because they are sincere and reliable.So don’t try to win a friend with gifts only.The only way to have a friend is to be one.3.What is true friendship? Friendship involves affection and intimacy.Friendship is based on warmth, trust and shared experience.True friendship is a plant of slow growth, the value of which can stand the test of time.True friendship is like health, the value of which is seldom known until it is lost.4.How valuable is friendship in a person’s life? Life without friends is like life on a desert island, and life without friendship is not worth living.Sharing joy and sorrow is the way to show your deep friendship.If you tell your joy to your friend, your joy will double.And if you pour your sorrow to your friend, your sorrow will be reduced by half.5.How can we keep friendship alive? Sharing your joy and sorrow with your friends can nurture friendship and keep friendship alive;keeping your friends informed about yourself can improve friendship, and make friendship permanent;remembering important days in your friends’ lives can promote friendship and keep friendship fresh in our minds.