1、1The Application of Intercultural Communication in the Middle SchoolAbstract:In the 21-century, English has become an international language, and it plays an important role in the modern society. With the development of economy, in China, there are more and more activities such as on economy and tra
2、de, politics and diplomacy, education and academic exchanges with other foreign countries, these activities make China walk to the world and world to China, but many Chinese are confused that sometimes they are unhappy to communicate with Westerners. The cultural conflicts and misunderstanding appea
3、r, in traditional English teaching, much attention is paid to language knowledge such as vocabulary, phrases, grammatical rules and so on, whereas the cultural background of the language is ignored. As a result, students who have learned English for many years still dont know the differences between
4、 Western culture and Chinese culture, so, in English teaching, teachers should put emphasis on intercultural communication, and cultivate students ability of communication. 2Key words:cultural conflicts English teaching ability of communication 1. Introduction Culture is an extremely huge and comple
5、x system, it covers every part of a people. Culture including arts, literature, music, education, religion, social custom, style of life, pattern of beliefs and so on. Language is a part of culture and play an important role ,it is a carrier of culture. Without language, culture would not be possibl
6、e. On the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture and it reflects culture. With the development of society and Chinese open-door policy, there are more and more activities such as on economy and trade, politics and diplomacy, education and academic exchanges with other foreign count
7、ries, especially, information technology, because of Internet, English , as an international language, is becoming more and more important in the modern time. “Internet Culture”has formed, and it involves intercultural communication. Intercultural communication refers to the communication between na
8、tive speakers and non-native speakers; as well as among people in different languages and cultural backgrounds. 3In communication, people always like using their own ways to understand others words, maybe it can make a wrong judgment so that misunderstanding and conflicts follow. There is current si
9、gnificance to English teaching, because language learning means not only to master the pronunciation, grammar, words, but also to learn the ways in which their language reflects the ideas, customs and behavior of their society. In English teaching, teachers should put special emphasis on students ab
10、ility of communication, and cultivate the ability of communication in English so that students can learn and use language correctly in intercultural communication. Chinese students often make mistakes about both culture and communication because of lacking understanding of different cultures, so mis
11、understanding and conflicts appear. 2. The conflicts in communication 2.1 The conflicts on privacy. 2.1.1 Greetings Every day, people usually meet their daily communication with friends, families, colleagues, and even strangers. But the ways of greeting among people are different in different countr
12、ies, different cultures. In English-speaking countries, people greet each other simply, like the following：Good 4morning./ Good afternoon./ Good evening./ Hello./ Hi./ especially for English, talking about weather is very common when people greet each other, such as, Its sunny, isnt it?/ It is going
13、 to rain ,isnt it? However, for Chinese, the way to greet people is different from them. Chinese often show their concern to others, so the following questions are mentioned, 吃饭了吗？你上哪儿呀？上班去啦、上学去啦？Having heard these questions, Western people would feel very unhappy or confused. Why? Because Chinese d
14、ont understand western cultural background. 吃饭了吗? For Westerners, it is an invitation. 你上哪儿呀？After hearing this greeting, most Westerners would think, “Its none of your business”,or it might make them feel their privacy being invaded, they would be unhappy about it. 上班去啦、上学去啦？For Westerners, it is m
15、eaningless and waste of time to ask such clearly seen questions. On these occasions, many Westerners just say “Hello/Hi”, or smile at people to greet. 2.1.2 Having conversations It is very important to know their culture and custom to have a conversation with foreigners. Chinese should pay more atte
16、ntion to the appropriate topics which we talk about with 5Westerners so that we can communicate with each other happily, and learn much more from them. However, Chinese often dont choose appropriate topics, therefore, they are refused by Westerners. Avoid personal questions about marriage, age, reli
17、gion belief, race and ethnic income, politics, family and children and so on. To Chinese, it is very common to ask these questions, but to foreigners, these questions are about privacy and they dont want others to involve into their personal affairs, because Western society emphasizes the individual
18、, each person expects his own rights to be recognized, he respects others rights , too. They dont like to ask about personal matters, it is their own business, which doesnt need concern of others, so, the conversations cant go on well, and Westerners feel embarrassed and unhappy. 2.2 The conflicts o
19、n traditional cultures 2.2.1 Expressing Thanks “Thank you” is a beautiful sentence when communicating with others, it is used to express gratefulness for help, for an invitation , for praise etc. “Thank you” is used to strangers, friends and even family members, in Western countries, especially, in
20、a family, parents often say “Thank you” to their children, but in China, in some situations, 6Chinese dont think it necessary to express gratefulness, even someone takes others help or offers for granted. When someone say “Thank you”, Westerners always give replies to it to deliver the messages of p
21、oliteness, the replies are the following ones：Youre welcome./ Thats all right./ Not at all./ Its my pleasure./ Its a pleasure. Dont mention it. However, Chinese are courteous, some ways to express thanks may make Westerners embarrassed and unhappy, for example, after getting others help, Chinese oft
22、en say：对不起，打扰你了对不起，耽误您的时间了。Hearing this, Westerners may consider that “if you know you are disturbing me, why are you still doing it?”This is the difference between western culture and Chinese culture, in these situations, it is better to say “Thank you for your help/ Thank you. I really appreciate
23、your time.” 2.2.2 Modest There is significant difference between Westerners and Chinese about praise and compliments. For Westerners, it is perfectly normal to express compliments and to accept compliments happily, for example, -Oh, you speak English very well! -Thank you! In Chinese traditional cul
24、ture, modest is a virtue, when being praised, Chinese are always modest , even look down upon themselves, for instance, -Oh, you speak 7English very well! -Where, where, my English is bad, so, Westerners often doubt whether their judgment is wrong so that their intercultural communication ends in fa
25、ilure. 2.3 The conflicts on literature In English studying, students often make serious mistakes in different cultures using the same word, such as words of animals, colors, plants. Misunderstanding or misusing these words will bring embarrassment and even great troubles. Some examples are following
26、： Dog Both Westerners and Chinese take dog as loyalty, dependability, but in Chinese, dog are associated with unpleasantness, there are some name-calling and phrases which are not good about dog, 狗东西，走狗，狗改不了吃屎，狗眼看人低，狗仗人势.Even though in English, there are swear words,“Son of a bitch!”,“You dog!”, it
27、does not change the dogs status. For English-speaking people, dog is still mans good company and best friends. Here are some good sayings about dog ：Love me, love my dog; a lucky dog; every dog has his day. Dragon Dragon is a kind of creature in the mythology, in China, dragon is regarded as the sym
28、bol of power, strength and 8auspiciousness, in ancient times, dragon was the traditional symbol of royalty, it stood for the king or emperor. Today, it is still an auspicious creature to the Chinese which brings good luck and happiness, there are many good sayings about dragon, such as 龙腾虎跃，龙凤呈祥，望子成
29、龙，龙飞凤舞，耍龙灯，many boys are named dragon, because their parents hope they are happy and talented. To Westerners, dragon is a symbol of evil, a fierce monster, with fire in its mouth and wings on its body, several stories is about struggling against the monster. Color- white Many people like white, it m
30、eans purity, innocence. But it is opposite in Western and Chinese culture, white dress is the traditional color for brides at Western weddings but a traditional color at funerals for Chinese. At Western funerals, people have black dress. Nowadays, being affected by Western culture, Chinese brides we
31、ar white dress at their wedding. According to above, we know that the difference between two cultures, if we dont understand Western culture better, we can face many troubles in communicating with Westerners. 3. The approaches to improve the ability of intercultural communication in English teaching
32、 9We have talked about some cultural conflicts in intercultural communication, they affect our daily life directly or indirectly. Therefore it is necessary to improve the students ability of intercultural communication to change this situation. 3.1 Transforming the teaching concept of the teachers T
33、he teacher acts an important role in English teaching. If the teacher only puts the emphasis on the teaching of grammar and vocabulary, the student can not learn to use language correctly in real situation and improve the ability of intercultural communication. So, the teacher must transfer their te
34、aching concept, they should realize that cultivating students ability of communication is the final purpose in the modern English Teaching, and it is a duty for the teachers to deepen students consciousness of intercultural communication, so that students not only learn the knowledge of language but
35、 also learn about culture, social background, customs and style of life about foreign countries. At the same time, the teacher should strengthen their own study and improve their own cultural comprehensive quality, and only in this way can the teacher take hold of the quality and quantity of the Eng
36、lish teaching of cultural knowledge. 103.2. Improving the present available teaching methods In traditional English teaching, teachers put the emphasis on the teaching of grammar and vocabulary, and the training of intercultural communicative ability is neglected. To change this situation, we must i
37、mprove the teaching methods, and pay special attention to the quality of the cultural teaching in the classroom. We should make full use of modernized teaching instruments to improve the students study activity, such as watching English movies or TV plays, even asking foreign teachers to teach in th
38、e school, encouraging students to talk with native speakers face to face, asking foreign teachers to tell students the embarrassment they meet when communicating with Chinese themselves. 3.3 The training of nonverbal communicative ability Nonverbal communication is also a very important kind of comm
39、unication. It refers to the course that people use non-language to communicate and understand the information on particular occasion. Nonverbal communication can have different connotations in various cultures because the different social traditions, customs, concepts on life and value. To communicate effectively in a foreign language, one should know also the gestures, body movements. It should be emphasized in
