. Contents Abstract 2I. Introduction 2II. main body 21. Problems aroused by different cultural backgrounds22. Importance of cultural background knowledge in language teaching 43. How to carry out the teaching of cultural background knowledge10III. Conclusion 12Cultural Background Knowledge and English Teaching汤红玲Abstract:I.The relationship between language and culture is very important .The different cultural backgrounds can arouse problems in English t eaching:A.Somedifficultiesincommunicationcausedbydifferentculturalbackgrounds B.Briefillustrationofrelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture C.ProblemsinEnglishteachingandteachingmaterialcausedbyneglectofculturalbackgroundknowledge II.Culturalbackgroundknowledgeinlanguaget eaching is very important :ANecessityofculturalbackgroundknowledgeinauralcomprehension B.NecessityofculturalbackgroundknowledgeinoralEnglish C.Necessityofculturalbackgroundknowledgeinreading 1. Fromtherespectofallusionsasillustration2.Fromtherespectofidiomsasillustration D.Necessityofculturalbackgroundknowledgeinwritingandtranslation III.Howtocarryouttheteachingofculturalbackgroundknowledge : Selectingproperteachingmaterial ;Encouragingwidereading ;Payingattentiontoproperwordingintheclassroom;UsingnativeEnglishvideotapesandfilms;EncouragingcommunicationwithnativespeakersofEnglish ;Holdinglecturesaboutculture Key words : relationship ; cultural ; background ; English; t eachingI. Introduction The relationship between language and culture is very important。In English teaching ,because of the different cultural backgrounds and the teachers ignore the cultural backgrounds, so many problems can be aroused. so we only teach both language and cultural backgrounds, we can improve the students performance better. II. main body 1. Problems aroused by different cultural backgrounds1.1.OnceanAmericanwasvisitingthehomeofaChinese.Asthevisitorsawthehostswife,hesaid,“Yourwifeisverybeautiful.”Thehostsmiledandsaid:“Where?Where?”which causedtheAmericanssurprise,butstillheanswered:“Eyes,hair,nose”ananswerthatthehostfoundabitpuzzling.Thesurprisingwascausedbydifferentcultures.“Where?Where?”meaning“哪里！哪里！”in Chinese is a kind of humble saying .But the American understood it as Which parts of the body are beautiful? So, the reason for both sides misunderstandings was differences in customs and habits. Each was expressing and understanding what the other said according to his or her culture .Events like these are fairly common when people use different languagesandculturescommunicate.Becauseofculturaldifferences,misunderstandingsmayarise,althoughthelanguageusedincommunicationmaybefaultless.Thesamewordsorexpressionsmaynotmeanthesamethingtodifferentpeoples.Becauseofculturaldifferences,aseriousquestionmaycauseamusementorlaughter,aharmlessstatementmaycausedispleasureoranger.Becauseofculturaldifferences,jokesbyaforeignspeakermaybereceivedwithblankfacesandstonysilence.Yetthesamestoriesinthespeakersowncountrywouldleaveaudienceholdingtheirsideswithlaughter.1.2.Languageisapartofcultureandplaysaveryimportantroleinit.Ontheonehand,withoutlanguage,culturewouldnotbepossible.Ontheotherhand,languageisinfluencedandshapedbyculture;itreflectsculture.Inthebroadestsense,languageisthesymbolicrepresentation ofapeople,anditcomprisestheirhistoricalandculturalbackgroundsaswellastheirapproach tolifeandtheirwaysoflivingandthinking.Languageandcultureinteractandunderstandingofonerequiresunderstandingoftheother.Culturesdifferfromoneanother.Eachcultureisunique.Learningaforeignlanguagewellmeansmorethanmerelymasteringthepronunciation,grammar,wordsandidioms.Itmeanslearningalsotoseetheworldasnativespeakersofthatlanguageseeit,learningthewaysinwhichtheirlanguagereflectstheideas,customs,andbehavioroftheirsociety,learningtounderstandtheir“languageofthemind”.Learningalanguage,infact,isinseparablefromlearningitsculture. However, ithasnot beengivenenoughcaretoinourteachingforalongtime.1.3.Manystudentshaveacquiredfourskillslistening,speaking,readingandwritingaccordingtothedemandofourtraditionalsyllabus,theyoftenmakemistakesinapplicationoflanguagetoreallife,becauseourteachingandteachingmaterialsattachimportancetolanguageformsbutignore