Raising Cultural Awareness and Promoting Cultural Literacy

[[abstract]]在語言教學的領域中，長久以來文化雖然重要，但卻被視為次要的構成要素。過去五十年以來，大部分的文獻著眼於要選擇教什麼以及如何教授。所謂文化認知能力，就是不需要口頭和書面解釋而一個言語社群或社會裡的人所共同具有的背景知識。想要徹底了解目標語的文化的外語學習者必須習得文化認知能力。當外語學習者接觸以目標語為主的電影、歌曲、時尚、流行、教科書以及母語是目標語的人士，他們會不經意的學習到絕大部分的文化認知能力。此外，文化課程也試著有系統的提供目標語的文化內容，例如其流行文化和普遍價值，而課程的基本理論是，外語學習者要徹底了解目標語的語言、文學和人士，光是藉由語言知能是不夠的。在這篇研究，我們討論文化和文化認知的內涵並且仔細檢查當紅的情境喜劇－六人行的其中六集，找出能增進學生文化認知能力的文化主題和意象。由於劇中幽默的情節，學生發覺六人行這部喜劇十分的有趣。當他們享受於幽默的情節中，甚至未意識到他們正在學習美國文化。由於ＤＶＤ具有中文和英文字幕，教師可以依照學生程度和教學目標，來設計如何呈現影集。而且善用由網路可以獲得的劇本來增加文化意識。令學生感興趣的影片是其有價值被使用於教學中，來促使學生習得文化知識。當學生覺識到跨文化差異以及發展出對於文化主題和意象高度的敏銳度，他們的文化認知能力會因此提升。學生對於美國文學、電影和真正美國文化的了解也會緊跟著增加。[[abstract]]Culture has long been recognized as an important, though secondary, component in language teaching. Choosing what to teach and how to teach it has been the focus in much of the literature for much of the past 50 years. Cultural literacy—the background knowledge shared by speakers of a speech community or society and referred to without explanation in speaking and writing—must be acquired by L2 learners who want to understand the target culture thoroughly. Much of it may be acquired incidentally as foreign language students come in contact with movies, songs, magazines, books, fashion, fads, their textbooks, and native speakers of the target language. Alternatively, culture courses or culture lessons attempt to more or less systematically present aspects of the target culture, be it pop culture or enduring values embraced by the target group, the rationale for which being that understanding of the language, literature, and people depends on more than linguistic competence. In this article we discuss the notions of culture and cultural literacy and examine six episodes of the popular situation comedy Friends to identify selected cultural items that can contribute to students’ cultural literacy. As engaging as such high-interest videos may be, it is the way that they are used in teaching that make them valuable for acquiring cultural knowledge. As students become aware of intercultural differences and develop a greater sensitivity for noticing cultural themes and images they can enhance their cultural literacy, which will in turn increase their understanding and enjoyment of other American literature, movies, and encounters with authentic American culture