Cultural Differences and Language Teaching

2002 年11 月陕西师范大学学报( 哲学社会科学版) Nov. , 2002
第31 卷专辑Journal of Shaanxi Normal University ( Social Science) Vo1. 31 Sup.
收稿日期: 2002- 09- 17
作者简介: 高延玲( 1975 ) ) , 女, 陕西宝鸡市人, 陕西师范大学外国语学院讲师。
Cultural Differences and Language Teaching
高延玲
( 陕西师范大学外国语学院, 陕西西安710062)
Abstr act: Mistakes occur here and there when Chinese learners of English apply the foreign language in
practice. This paper analyzes some commonmistakes derived from cultural differences and tries to illustrate that
language, as a part of culture should be taught and learnt as an integral part of learning about the target culture
so that learners can gain a full understanding and good command of the foreign language.
Key wor ds: language; culture; cultural differences; language teaching
CLC Number: H319 Documber Code: A Ar ticle ID: 1000- 5293( 2002) Sup. - 0160- 06
It is quite a common phenomenon that Chinese students who have studied English for years cannot
communicate properlywith native speakers. Students can make sentences grammatically correct, yet once
they begin to talk, their English audience may be greatly puzzled and shocked at the information conveyed
by their sentences. For example, while students are quite familiarwith the expression / Excuse me0, they
don. t necessarily know that they can also use it when they ask the way from a stranger, when they want
to interrupt other. s speech, when theywant to be away from the meeting, when they can. t help coughing
or sneezing in public or when they make mistakes while making a speech or reading aloud.
Why can. t students apply language appropriately in context since they don. t have much language
difficulty? Because they don. t have enough cultural background knowledge, and therefore, despite the
fact that they can understand the meaning of a sentence they don. t have much confidence whether it is
suitable or not to use it in context.
With the development of sociology, psycholinguistics and anthropology, more andmore people come
to realize the importance of cultural factor in language communication. It is pointed out that language
teachers should, in their teaching, not only teach language knowledge such as grammar and vocabulary,
but also draw students. attention to the target culture, thus enable students to both fully understand the
language they learn and put it to use freely.
Language, according to linguistics, is / a system of symbols designed for the purpose of human
communication0[ 1] (P7) ,while culture means / the total way of life of a people0[ 1] ( P156) ,which include the
patterns of customs traditions, social habits, values, beliefs and language of a society. As culture is so
inclusive, it influences almost every aspect of human lift and it conditions and determines all of man. s
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behavior, including linguistic be

havior. Language, as a part of culture, is also the product of culture,
which serves as the mirror of social life, and which, of course, cannot be separated from culture.
Since culture is so closely related to language, students who are learning a foreign language, if not
given necessary cultural knowledge, are likely to interpret what they come cross under the influence of
their home culture, As a result, they misunderstand, upset and sometimes even embarrass their foreign
friends. Therefore, language teachers should always keep it in mind that it is not at all enough merely to
ask students to master language points, and that the education of culture is not only necessary but also
critical.
One of the mistakes Chinese students oftenmake caused by cultural factor is to greet native speakers
of English by saying / Hello, what. s your name? How old are you? Where are you going?0 In Chinese
culture, such questions indicate friendliness and concern of one person to another. So Chinese students
take it for granted that the foreigners will have the same reactions to these questions, Yet what they don.
t know is that in American culture questions like those are an invasion of one. s privacy.
Traditionally, in a Chinese family parents, children and grandparents lived together. Family
members could hardly keep anything secret. It is considered quite normal that neighbors interrupt a
quarreling couple. Yet for Americans theywould prefer to call the police instead of breaking into the door
of their neighbors, because they wouldn. t run the risk of being accused of invading others. privacy.
Cultural difference also can be found in the way people address their relatives. Chinese students may not
understand why there are no English equivalents to the different forms of Chinese address like / t.ng d.0,
/ biao ji.0, / b.f.0, / j.u jiu0. What they learn in English is only / cousin0 and / uncle0. The difference
of relative address shown by Chinese and English languages reflects different customs in the two cultures.
For Chinese people, the paternal relatives are closer than the maternal ones, thus it is greatly important to
distinguish who is who. However, in American culture, it does not matter much whether a person is a
relative from the father. s family or from the mother. s family. / Uncle 0 stands for all the males of the
same generation of father and / aunt0 for all the females of the same generation of mother.
In China, when acquaintancesmeet unexpectedly on the street, most often theywill ask, / Have you
eaten?0 on the surface the question is to inquire whether people have had their meal or not, but every
Chinese knows that it is of no importance at all whether the answer is / yes0 or / no0. It. s just like / how
are you? 0 in English, which is only a greeting. Historically China was a broad country with a large
population. For a long time food supply remained a serious problem, especially in the th

ree years of
natural disasters when piles of people died of lack of food. Food became Chinese people. s great concern
and gradually people greeted one another with this topic. Though the problem of food has long been
solved, people still keep the greeting habit. However, American people do not have the same experience,
sowhen they are asked the same question, they would misunderstand that the Chinese friend intends to
treat him to dinner.
Some students may ask their teacher of English a question, / why should the pronoun - I. always be
capitalized in English ?0 Because in China, when a person mentions himself in formal situations,
particularly in writings of old style, he would use / b.r.n0, / z.ixi.0 and words like that to show his
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respect for others. Students should be told that Chinese culture is family2centred, also because of the
tradition that familymembers, including three or four generations, lived together. In such a large family,
it was the old who commanded and the young who obeyed. So it. s quite natural for a person brought up
in such surroundings and traditions to have the habit of undergrading himself. In contrast, America is a
country emphasizing individualism a lot. Individualism, according to Longman English_Chinese
Dictionary, means / the idea that the rights and freedom of the individual are the most important rights in
a society0. While in China, due to their tradition and customs, people believe in collectivism, which
according to Longman Dictionary means / the system under which the means of production are owned and
controlled by the state or the people as a whole0. That. s why individualism, if put into Chinese,
frequently means selfishness, just the opposite of collectivism. The very capitalized pronoun / I0 and the
fact that Chinese students are unable to understand this shows the conflicting values of the two nations.
When students are told to avoid such words as / old0 and / eldly 0 when communicating with native
speakers, they are also puzzled. For in Chinese culture, eldly people liked to be called / L.o L.0, / Zh.o
L.o0, fromwhich they feel they are much respected and therefore greatly satisfied. In China the older a
person is, the more respectable he is. Yet Chinese students may not quite know that Americans believe in
independence. They seldom rely on others to give help. Whether a family is poor or rich, children are
told to earn their pocket money by taking odd jobs. College students take part2time jobs to pay for tuition.
Even old people prefer living alone and taking care of themselves to stayingwith their sons and daughters.
They hate to be called the old because being old means they can no longer be independent.
Reactions to anything shocking again show difference in Chinese and English cultures. When such
things happen we Chinese peoplewould cry out, / Oh, my mother!0 while Americans would say, / Oh, my
God! 0 The reason probably lies in th

at most Chinese people do not believe in any religion and at times of
emergency the one theywould fall back on is naturally their mother who has always given them timely help
in all their lives. But Americans are devautly religious people, and they pray to God for help. That. s
why American. s make different utterance in the similiar situation.
Cultural differences are shown in festivals and their celebrations. In recent years Chinese people,
especially the young, celebrating Christmas by sending cards and presents to family members, and
friends. For them Christmas offers an opportunity to show their love to others, so when they read English
reading materials saying that on Christmas Eve Santa Claus will come down the chimney and leave present
on the bed of sleeping children, they may not quite understand it. In China, the most important festival
is Spring Festival, during which Chinese people reunite together, eating dumplings, giving money to
small children as new year present, and firing strings of small firecrackers. Nevertheless, in the Christian
world, it is Christmas Day, December 25, that is the most important, which originallywas a religious day
celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Long before it people begin to go shopping and decorate their houses
and Christmas trees. It is said that on Christmas Eve Santa Claus, also called Father Christmas brings
presents but only to good children. He knows just what every child wants, and he brings it all in a great
sack. On Christmas Eve, when the children are asleep, he comes silently down the chimney and leaves
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the presents in the large stocking hung up near their beds. Chinese students who have grown up in their
own customs if not providedwith this background knowledge, would not know the important role of Father
Christmas and would wonder why he should come down the chimney. It is noted that a striking difference
resulted from the two cultures is the different responses to gratitude and compliments. When a native
speaker of English expresses his gratitude, we Chinese people feel upset and sometimes say / No, it. s
nothing0 to turn down his thanks. However, English speakers in a similar situation would say / I amglad
that, I can help you0 or / it. s my pleasure 0to accept the thanks.
Similarly, many Chinese people will feel embarrassed when they hear compliments like / Your
handwriting is beautiful0 or / You speak beautiful English0. To show that they are modest and do not
deserve such a compliment, theywould say / No, not at all 0, But for English speaking people they think
it almost dishonest to deny an expression of sentiment they agree with. So unlike Chinese, the English
natives will accept compliments by giving a positive answer like / Thank you 0.
Cultural differences are also evident in different implications associated with the same color, The
color / red0 in Chinese indicates happy events, joyous occasions and delightf

ul things. For example, in a
traditional Chinese wedding ceremony the bride wears red dress from head to toe, her head particularly
covered with a red cloth to express goodwishes of her new life. Besides that, in Spring Festival one of the
decorations Chinese people make to celebrate the new year is to put red couplet out on each side of their
door. What. s more, red is frequently associated with successes and victories and words like / kai m.n
h.ng0, / m.n t.ng h.ng0are good cases in point.
In addition to the same good associations with red in Chinese, the color red in English also implies
things of terror, fight and blood, and is frequently connected with anger and crimes, hence the phrases
/ a red battle0( a fierce, cruel struggle) , / red rag0( something that excites violent anger) , and / red light0
( signal of danger or warning) .
Take white for another example. White in Chinese is connected with sorrow, misfortune and death.
Folks taking part in a funeral wear in white, withwhite flower on the breast tomourn for the dead. What
is different in English is that white indicates nobility, justice and purity. In an American wedding bride
purposely wears in white, symbolizing the pure and perpetual loyalty and love between husband and wife.
In English there are phrases like / white man0, / white lie0, / white war0 which respectivelymean a just
man, a lie without evil intention and a war duringwhich no man bleeds.
In English study, Chinese students may extremely confused about some sentences like / I. mfeeling
rather blue0 ( I. m feeling depressed) and / He was born in the purple0 (He was born in the royal
family) . Students know the meaning of each word, but they have much difficulty in putting the whole
sentence into Chinese, for the familiar words / blue0 and / purple0 here indicate more than their surface
meaning. At the moment, teachers are expected to explain cultural factors hidden behind the language,
other wise, their teaching will be a failure.
Cultural differences sometimes cause trouble to Chinese students in their translation course. They
somehow wonder why the English equivalent to the Chinese phrase / c.ng n.n d.o b.i0 is / from north to
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south0. They don. t understand why in English / north0 comes before / south0 while in Chinese / n.n0 is
prior to / b.i0. Similar questions are why / x.b.i0 is equivalent to / northwest0 while / d.ngn.n0 is to
/ southeast0. Actually that shows the different ways of expressing directions derived from different
regionalism in two cultures. Due to regions, natural conditions and geographical surroundings in which
they live, people of different nations form their own special habit according to their different perceptions
towards the same thing as far as directions are concerned. In common sense, there are four directions in
both Chinese and English languages: d.ng( east) , x.(west) , n.n( south) and b.i( north) . In Chinese
history, em

perors would always take up the seat facing the southin the palace while officials had to stand
facing the north, because it was believed that the south indicated being honorable while the north implied
being humble. Not only emperors liked the south but also common people preferred to build their houses
with a southern exposure. Therefore, in Chinese language, n.n ( south) is given priority to b.i( north) .
However, people of English speaking countries get used to putting north first and south second.
Words of climate also show different ways of living of people in different areas. For example, while
the Chinese word for / east wind0 is / d.ng f.ng0, the two words indicate quite differently. In Chinese
culture, / d.ng f.ng0stands for/ ch.n f.ng0 (wind indicating the coming of spring) , symbolizing spring
andwarmth, which Chinese people like very much and usually compare it to revolutionary spirit and
power in their poems. However, for people in Great Britain, east wind means the freezingly cold wind
from the north of European continent, which is rather disgusting. That. s why there are phrases like/ a
keen east wind0, / biting east wind0 and / a piercing east wind0.
Animals and their different associations are another aspect of cultural differences. For example,
Chinese students will be somewhat annoyed if they hear / You. re really a lucky dog0. They clearly know
that in China, / the implied meaning of a dog is usually pejorative, as in - g.u zh.ng r.n sh.. ( be a bully
under the protection of a powerful person) , - g.u t.u j.n sh.. ( a person who offers bad advice)0. [ 1] (P162)
But what they don. t know is that in western culture small animals like cats and dogs are considered as
man. s pets, companions and friends. A lucky dog therefore, instead of an impolite phrase, means a
lucky fellow.
On the other hand, dragon / being aways considered a deity with in conceivable power in China,
brings people good luck, people born in the year of Dragon feel very proud. But in western culture,
dragon is a crocodile2like monster which cangush smoke and fire from its mouth. 0[ 1] ( P162) Therefore, if a
Chinese student who does not have this cultural knowledge in mind translate the Chinese idiom / w.ng z.
ch.ng l.ng0 into / to hope that one. s son will become a dragon0, the English natives will be wondering
what kind of persons parents expect their children to be.
There are so many examples of cultural differences reflected in languages that they can hardly be
listed all in the paper. What should be noted is that since somanymisunderstandings between people of
different languages are caused by the shortage of cultural knowledge, language must be learnt as an
integral part of learning about the target culture in order to gain a deeper insight into the target language.
What language teachers should have in mind is that full understanding and good command of any foreign
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language come only wit

h a fully understanding of the culture in which the language functions.
[ 参 考 文 献]
[ 1] Dai Weidong, He Zhaoxiong and Hua Jun. A Concise Course on Linguistics for Students of English [M] . Shanghai:
Shanghai Foreign Languages Education Publishing House, 1998.
[ 责任编辑 何菊玲]
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