To Understand Another Culture, Study Your Own

Ye Ningqing describes how he has put into practice what he learned at recent IATEFL events in Manchester and London

I discovered that I had to think about, even prepare for, the simplest daily activities, such as using a telephone, taking a school bus and paying bills

Since the textbooks Junior and Senior English for China started to be used, the aim of teaching English as a foreign language in Chinese schools has shifted from teaching grammar and vocabulary to developing the students' communicative competence. The underlying assumption in the textbooks is that successful cross-cultural communication demands cultural as well as linguistic fluency. At present, teachers of English are paying more attention to helping school students develop cultural awareness. Although there are many ways to teach culture, here I'd like to share with my colleagues one of my perspectives.

I spent a whole school year (1998-99) in Westport, CT, USA, teaching Chinese culture to the high school students. During that school year, I stayed with a host family and was invited to many parties by the local people. Before going to the USA I was excited about the prospect of a new way of life. And I was delighted about discovering obvious differences: the shapes of buildings, the malls and the products in them, and the way people dressed.

However, as I began my job and used the transportation system, I began to actually feel the impact of the culture on my life. I discovered that I had to think about, even prepare for, the simplest daily activities, such as using a telephone, taking a school bus and paying bills. The

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