Abstract: With the development of globalization and technology, the communications between Chinese and foreigners become more and more common and the communicative competence of English attracts more and more attention. Besides language skills and language knowledge, cultural awareness also plays an important role in English communication. In 2003, the cultivation of cultural awareness has been written in The English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education for the first time. However, the traditional evaluation system and concepts of Chinese people stand in the way of cultural teaching. 

     The subjects of this research are teachers and students form Deyang Middle School , Tianjiabing Middle School of Chengdu, Chengdu Foreign Languages School and Yandaojie Experimental Middle School. 23 questionnaires of the teachers and 206 of the students are valid. 76 students are in junior three, 61 students are in junior two and 69 students are in junior one. Besides, classroom observation and interview are used to get information in Chengdu Foreign Languages School where the author undertakes practicum. The results suggest that the importance of cultural teaching has been widely recognized and most students are interested in cultural learning. However, the limitation of teachers and many other reasons hind the way of cultural teaching. The current situation is not satisfying and many aspects need improving such as teaching time, method and evaluation. The test-oriented education system causes too much pressure among teachers and students, which is one of the main obstacles of cultural teaching. 

     The following suggestions are given by the author: Improve teachers’ cultural literacy and their understanding of cultural teaching. Improve cultural teaching method, lengthen cultural teaching time and polish cultural evaluation system. 

Key words: cultural teaching, junior middle school English, current situation of cultural teaching

Content

摘要：

Abstract:

Introduction-5

1. Literature review-6

1. 1 Definition of culture-6

1. 2 Definition of cultural teaching-7

1. 3 Definition of intercultural communication-7

1. 4 Cultural teaching in foreign countries-7

1. 5 Cultural teaching in China-8

2. Research design-8

2. 1 Research questions-8

2. 2 Research subjects-9

2. 3 Research methods-9

2. 4 Research procedures-10

3. Research results and analysis-10

3. 1 Complex features of cultural teaching-10

3. 1. 1 Short teaching time spent on teaching culture-10

3. 1. 2 Limited teaching method used in teaching culture-11

3. 1. 3 Incomplete teaching assessment used in cultural teaching-12

3. 2 Current cultural teaching strategies-12

3. 3 Main obstacles of current cultural teaching-13

3. 3. 1 Lack of real situation-13

3. 3. 2 Time inadequacy-13

3. 3. 4 Lack of textbook-14

3. 4 Other findings-14

3. 4. 1 Widely recognized importance of cultural teaching-14

3. 4. 2 The limitation of teachers-15

3. 4. 3 Inadequate efforts made in cultural teaching-15

Conclusion-15

Bibliography-17

Acknowledgments-18

Appendix-19