International Journal of Arts and Sciences 3(11): 272 - 285 (2010)

CD-ROM. ISSN: 1944-6934 © InternationalJournal.org

Cultural Subjectivity in Intercultural Communication Mingxin Li, Henan Polytechnic University, P.R. China

Abstract: The phenomenon of intercultural communication has been the subject of a great deal of research in the field of ESL education; however, the research has been primarily focused on the incorporation of target culture in foreign language curriculum. Starting with the current situation of cultural awareness, this paper stresses the importance of establishing cultural subjectivity so as to adopt the proper attitude towards cultural diversity in intercultural communication. The main premise of the paper is that through subjectivity the learners can establish individual intercultural awareness and competence, develop a sense of cultural identity, gain an understanding of their target culture, and realize the diversity of cultures in the world. Yet many Chinese students who aim at enhancing cultural competence opt to receive the target culture at the expense of native culture, which turns out to be unsatisfied. An attempt needs to be made to incorporate native culture into the ESL classroom for the purpose of a balanced and effective cross-cultural communication. There is a focus on how to cultivate a sense of cultural subjectivity in this paper, which covers four aspects:(1)understanding the current situation of cultural awareness; (2)intercultural communication calls for cultural subjectivity; (3) conceptual patterns; (4) classroom pattern. The application of the study of multiculturalism will enhance the acquirer’s competence proceeding into an effective context immersed in the multilingual cultures. Keywords: Native culture, subjectivity, cultural competence, multiculturalism

Introduction Experienced teachers of adult English as a Second Language (ESL) know that learning about culture is part of learning English. Adult ESL learners themselves understand that language learning consists of more than the ability to understand new linguistic structures. Indeed, the coding and decoding of communicative acts requires an understanding and appreciation of the cultural context in which they occur. Regarding the teaching of culture should not be overlooked; Skutnabb- Kangas (2000) have criticized ELT professionals and materials alike for their hegemonic tendencies, particularly in their representations of the target culture. They claim many ESL pedagogical practices are hegemonic in that mainstream. American and British cultures are portrayed as dominant and superior to the culture of the second language (L2) student. English teaching in Chinese universities universally tends to be geared

towards cultural norms of the target language; when the students communicate with foreigners, they show inaccuracy and ambiguity in the expression of their native culture. Communication reaches barriers. The phenomena gives rise to more and more ESL Chinese experts concerns. The significance of cultural subjectivity is emphasized in this thesis, and some strategies and measures are put forward so as to promote the intercultural communication From a moderate angle, learners are affected in their language acquisition by the perception of the target culture. If a language learner perceives the target culture as well as his native culture in positive terms, the proficiency in the L2 is enhanced If L2 learners perceive the target culture as dominant or if the L2 learners perceive their own culture in competition with the target culture, then acquisition will be hindered (Brown, 2000). As we all know, communication is not only an exchange of information, but also a highly cognitive as well as affective and value-laden activity. Our world is changing, but in many ways our teaching is not. Cultural competence makes it possible for better understanding and communication between various cultures. In that case, teaching culture should help students to see their global responsibilities and must learn to more comfortably from native cultural environment to the next. The dilemma then of ESL teachers is to include and integrate culture into their language curriculum without a cultural subjectivity. How does an instructor discuss culture without imposing it? And In what way will the L2 students determine their cultural subjectivity deriving from their native culture in the process of intercultural communication rather than replace it with the target culture? The paper establishes a profile including: (1) The current situation of cultural awareness. It deals with the conception of subjectivity and cultural identity shared by western culture and oriental culture. (2) Intercultural communication calls for cultural subjectivity.. The relationship between culture and language is proposed, the emphasis is also placed upon how to enhance cultural competence which serves for language proficiency when L2 students encounter the problem of inter-culture. (3) Conceptual patterns covers the enhancement of cultural identity. The instructor helps students look at native culture and target culture critically. (4) Classroom pattern. On the grounds of theory and the conceptions, the pattern set up in the classroom serves as a simulation of intercultural communication by a students-centered model. In this case, it will be possible to give a positive play for the role of cultural subjectivity when L2 students learn in the real world. This study examines how one college ESL program addresses this question by presenting the pattern of classroom community. The article contains two purposes. One is to describe the current situation relating how one language-learning program for the university students approaches target culture covering her native culture in a critical way. The second purpose is an exploration of ways in which individual instructors in this program at times cross, and at other times, make it clear how to

interpret their native culture and respect the ethical boundary between cultural lessons. Students themselves yearn for cultural lessons that will assist them in their acquisition of English and sound cross-cultural communication. Thus students often see cultural lessons are more than a set of guidelines that help them use English in real-world and culturally imbued contexts, as they can also understand cultural identity forms their own means of learning--- It is their resources, not their burden.

1. The Current Situation of Cultural Awareness Culture is a complex, multidimensional subject. There is an old Chinese saying: “habits differ from those within 100 li, customs differ from those within 10 li”（MaDewu, 2004）. This shows that people create culture and people are, in turn, created by culture. In this sense, the history of people is the history of culture. To put it another way, culture is humanity’s social heritage; it is a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that the members of a society use to cope with their world and with one another. The most powerful elements of culture are those that lie beneath the surface of everyday interaction. Culture deals with the way people live. The concept of “the global village” makes nations look like families and continents look like neighborhoods. People are supposed to learn how to communicate across culture. That means residents of the global village need to learn to think, feel and behave in new ways when facing cultural diversity. The awareness of cultural diversity illustrates the fact that it is useful to have an appreciation of the value of a variety of cultural identities, and to seek to develop our own culture subjectivity for better communication. Multiculturalism makes it possible for the native culture and target culture to bring out the best in each other. In the process of productive orientation learning, ESL students are able to give a full play to their potential on the basis of a deep understanding of their native culture as well as foreign cultures ( Zhang Wei, 2009). Intercommunication is a two-way traffic for original culture and target culture. It is necessary in successful intercultural communication to have the following attitude and awareness: respect for culture diversity on the basis of understanding the belief system that forms the ground for the emerging global culture. As to Chinese students, however, what they are concerned with is how to gain a good command of English in order for it to serve as a powerful tool in a global context. Avoiding the negative-transferring from their mother tongue, most of them tend to show little interest in the native culture learning. Great attention is paid to language competence and communication skills rather than cultural competence. It should be taught as an interpersonal process rather than simply presenting cultural facts. It is more essential to understand how the native culture impacts on intercultural communication and how to develop a sense of cultural subjectivity.

2. Intercultural Communication Calls In this section, this author will briefly examine the reason why ESL students need to cognize cultural subjectivity and see why the comparison of cultures should constitute an integral part of the English language curriculum. First of all, under the pluralistic context, individual cultural identity is a must and indispensable for enhancing one’s linguistic and communicative competences. Subjective awareness of cultural difference, rather than hindering her from a better understanding and mastery of a target culture, will literally help improve her ability to adapt to a new culture. Globalization in economy, technology and culture are influencing and changing ways of thinking and the lifestyles of the people all over the world. As a result, global interdependence among different peoples and cultures has become the norm. The increasing frequency of interaction among the people with different cultural backgrounds demands that we develop a global mindset and an intercultural communicative competence. Under Going from the content to the form, from the concept to the method could be very different from each other In spite of this, there is a common goal to share for advancement by communication. Hence the establishment of a cultural identity is important. Another reason is the cultural factors influencing the Second Language Acquisition （SLA）come from the influences of both the first language and the native culture. The reasons that we explore these cultural factors are as follows: first, second language acquisition needs to undergo an amalgamation process of the first language and target language; from which comes the “inter-language”. Second, the development of inter-language is affected by enculturation and acculturation, and so appears the “inter-culture”; Since the process of SLA is a continual developmental process of the acquired language, the acquirer’s interlanguage, inter-culture, linguistic competence and communicative competence will undergo in the progressive changes, even though the learner may sometimes encounter some setbacks on a certain level related to the target language. The reason why a language possesses certain meanings is that it is acquired in the setting of society and culture. Moreover the meaning derived from certain culture is shaped and solidified by the language. “Acculturation” occurs in the process of the second language acquisition and it is based on the acquisition of the first language and culture so that the second culture is formed in accumulation. It is noted that, “Acculturation, broadly defined, is the extent to which ethnic group members participate in the cultural traditions, values and practices of the dominant society. As such, acculturation is often perceived as a powerful force in shaping the second language acquirers psychologically” (L.R.Snowden& A.M.Hines,1999). It reflects the extent to which individuals learn the values, behaviors, lifestyles and language of the target culture. in the SLA process, the native cultural system would naturally expand into an inter-cultural system. So we can conclude that “inter-culture” is the outcome of mixing “enculturation” and “acculturation” that is greatly influential in the process of SLA, referring to the interspaces between the native culture and target culture, where both cultures have

been partially or wholly preserved. It is common to see Chinese college students failing in communication even after a dozen years of English learning. This strange phenomenon has been perplexing and embarrassing English teachers in China for years. Some changes have taken place since the English educational reform. Even when fewer and fewer students have difficulty with English vocabulary and grammar, they are at a loss as to what to say or how to say it. The reason is that, on the one hand, they are not capable enough to talk about a new culture, while on the other hand, their lacking of a systematic knowledge and a critical attitude towards native culture, which leads to a suffering from a “culture deficiency”. It has been observed that the process of acceptance to a new culture depends more on the ability to preserve his native cultural transmission than on the “distance” between the original and the new culture (Jenny Crinion, 2006). The result is they cannot find more to talk about nor can they exchange their ideas with foreigners apart from simple greetings. In fact, this shows a loss of subjective identity in learning English. They fail to realize that lack of English culture will cause miscommunication, but lack of the heritage of Chinese culture will also result in communication barriers. The target culture and the original culture are both important and necessary in intercultural communication. The premise referring to cultural competence can expand to cover native culture much more than the knowledge only in relation to the foreign culture. In addition, what SLA students ignore the native culture learning make it important to build up cultural subjectivity. The notion of communicative competence, a concept developed by Dell Hymes, refers to the ability to use speech appropriately in varying social contexts. Competent speakers of a language should know what to say, to whom, and how to say it, because internalization of linguistic rules alone is not sufficient to guarantee the learner’s application of language. In this regard there are two challenges we should deal with (1) identifying for students, what the most important social and cultural differences are, and (2) creating opportunities for students to apprehend those differences experientially and not just to comprehend them theoretically. The inter-language and inter-culture make an SL learner’s language and communicative competences really influence the process of SLA. Therefore, it is reasonable for us to think of such linguistic and cultural forms as the developmental factors in the process of second language acquisition. Social experience is identified through means of expression that go beyond ordinary speaking and writing. They are unique record of diverse cultures and how these cultures have developed over time. Nevertheless, neither linguistic competence nor communicative competence can go well without cultural competence which includes cultural subjectivity that enable us to understand the social structure, values, customs and behavior of the members of a culture and the way things are assumed to be done. Lack of cultural competence will lead to a failure in communication even though their linguistic competence may be appropriate. Consequently, attention will be given on the concepts of cultural competence and cultural identity, to explore the patterns suggestive and instructive for

intercommunication.

3. Conceptual Patterns and Cultural Competence Before establishing cultural subjectivity, the foremost thing for an ESL teacher is to help the students to make clear concepts as follows: The word “subject” originates from the Latin word “subjectum”, which means something in front, or something constituting the foundations of other things. -- Confucius, who lived at roughly in the same time as Heraclitus, says “humanity means to love others”, and “what you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.” (Wang Tao, 2005). He clearly defines and intrinsically unifies the characters of the self and the other, establishing the doctrine of the subjectivity of human being. It lays stress on the wholeness of the subjectivity of the human beings and appears comparatively sound, comprehensive and moderate with the nature of mutual connection. “Subjectivity” is an essential attribute of human beings and a determinant of individual identity. “The individual identity is closely related to the community to which he belongs, so in our view subjectivity ---- which is similar to identity, personhood, standpoint, and figurations --- signifies the manner in which individuals are driven to make meaning and take action through the manipulation and negotiation of feeling or emotion.”(Haraway, 1997). Such processes are inherently cultural and therefore require an analysis of how these ‘inner states’ of individuals are shaped by cultural and social structures. The individual should have experience of cultural learning and strong sense of cultural identity. Just we all know, identity is “a subjective sense of an invigorating sameness and continuity”, and “a unity of personal and cultural identity” (Erikson, 1968),Here, the identity formation for the individual is the degree to which his own cultural identity is nurtured by members of his own culture and how it is validated by others in the community. It is a socio-cultural process involved in the construction of individual identity. Identity formation is shaped by the interplay between the socio-cultural context and individual choices with respect to culture, ideology and human action. In most cases, students’ failure to communicate with foreigners lies in the deficient cognition of their own identity even though they have accumulated knowledge on a large scale about the target culture. Therefore, the formation of cultural subjectivity means the proper awareness and attitude: being aware of the nature and significance of the culture, and realizing the impact of culture on communication. To realize the root of one’s native culture is fundamental to acknowledging the existence and validity of other ways of being, seeing and doing. “Self” and “the other” are interdependent. Little knowledge or lack of skills in one’s native culture also hinders the process of communication as much as ignorance of the target culture. It is necessary to determine which characteristics of a particular culture should be retained. Receptiveness to other cultures does not necessarily mean losing

one’s own identity. The acquisition of the native culture allows the individual to compare and contrast between cultures. Consequently, from the standpoint of a cultural insider, English learner will avoid having unintelligible output transferring her native tongue in the acquisition of a second language. What’s more, the students will attain this with an in-depth study of the original culture for clear expression and effective communication. ESL teacher should drive the implication of culture home to the students. Every human group needs to adapt to the natural world and every human group has to order relationships among members of the group. Each culture has done this and continues to do it in its’ own way. Theoretically we can analyze our own culture and figure out which of the values more often decide our behavior patterns. Basic values are often part of the cultural iceberg that lies hidden from our view. Once this is done, it becomes possible to realize the various cultures of the world, to raise the hidden part of the iceberg. The most important culture is that which is internal and hidden, but which governs the behavior they encounter. For example, the fundamental thing to be good for a person in Chinese tradition is to respect their elders and be filial in the family. As a result, the son or daughter can undertake the responsibility imposed on his or her parents. So Mulan-- a woman warrior in ancient China--joins the army for her father’s sake. And Xu Datong tells a white lie that he performed GuaSha (a kind of Traditional Chinese Medical treatment) to his son in order to protect his father in the court. Their behavior is just like the iceberg above the water, but the cultural code is the determinant that lies underneath the iceberg. Establishing a cultural identity is critical for students to realize the environment of multiculturalism which is an indispensable tool for combining the target culture and the original culture so as to achieve a balance between linguistic and cultural competency in communication. Focus on the target culture excessively while neglecting or disdaining the original culture will do harm to effective communication and exchange between China and the outside world. Therefore, the effective communication should be based on a clear awareness of his cultural identity to develop student’s intellectual curiosity about the target culture and to encourage empathy towards its people. At any rate, the aim of establish culture subjectivity is to increase students’ awareness and to promote an effective L2 learning. “It can develop their curiosity towards the target culture and their own, helping them to make comparisons among cultures”( Tavares &Cavalcanti, 1996:19). These comparisons, of course, are not meant to suggest that native culture outweighs foreign cultures, but to enrich students’ experience and to sensitize them to cultural diversity. As Chinese teachers and learners of English, we must not only work on English and its culture, but take on the responsibility to make Chinese culture understood. For instance, my student felt frustrated when interacting with some foreign friends. Her foreign friends hold that humans are the masters of nature, who are encouraged to control it and exploit it to figure out how it works, because they were given dominance over all of God’s creation. She goes along with them because she learned of the worldview of dualism that man should govern nature, one is the ruler, and the

other is the ruled. However, the fact she fails to set forth her idea stems from a lack of knowledge of the Oriental philosophy, even though the idea of monism enrooted in her soul. While for some other Chinese students who follow the way of the foreigners explain that they are expected to be fashionable when approaching modern west culture and the established traditional Chinese culture seems out of date, which in no want of acquiring. Another example is about silence in communication. When a Chinese student talks with an American girl, she keeps nodding rather than express her own ideas. When asked something in regard with love and Marriage, she keeps in silence which confused the American friend. To most Westerners silence is the absence of communication. If a conversational partner does not respond quickly to what the Westerner is saying, he is likely to continue talking himself. This is a problem for Chinese English speakers for two reasons. First, Chinese communicators consider silence a message. They may remain silent or allow a significant pause before responding to what a speaker has said to indicate that the question is sensitive or unwelcome. A Westerner may not receive the message the silence is meant to convey. The other problem is that because English is a second language, it often takes Chinese English speakers to form a reply. English speakers may not take this into consideration and may rush to fill up the silence with more words. Here, the Chinese student told me later, the chief reason is that she is not familiar with traditional Chinese culture more than put Chinese culture in English. As in so many issues of cross-cultural communication for some Chinese college students I have been teaching, it is necessary to learn their native culture systematically and critically as well as the other culture that is unfamiliar to them. In an effort to find a way out of this dilemma, students should be aware of the difference between Chinese cultural values and Western values including relationship to nature, social relationships, sense of time and so forth. What they learned from target culture is a helpful and respectful way for communication, but does not necessarily mean to change values in native culture. L2 students can transfer their behavior and expression in ways that are accessible to foreigners as well as keep their original cultural rules on the basis of cultural identity establishment. The point is in that the instructors help the L2 students realize how to distinguish cultural identity from the way they looked like in cross-cultural communication. “Culture not only dictates who talks to whom, about what, and how the communication proceeds, it also helps to determine how people encode messages, the meanings they have for messages, and the conditions and circumstances under which various messages may or may not be sent or interpreted”( Dimitrios Thanasoulas, 2001).This is what it means to be residents of the global village who need to learn to think, feel and behave in new ways. The reality of the global village challenges all its residents to develop a broader worldview, a more global psychology, and the cultural skills necessary for building relationships and solving problems across cultures. The following conceptual patterns make us believe that whoever is learning the foreign language is also learning the cultural knowledge and skill, required to be a

competent L2 speaker. Teaching cultures has the following goals are in themselves and accomplished by it.

Clarification: to help students to recognize culture competence which is not an expendable fifth skills, tacked on the teaching of speaking, listening, reading and writing.

The dynamics of culture: to help students to develop an understanding of critical awareness of culture. That is, culture never remains static but is constantly changing, for the purpose of interpreting L1 culture, L2 observers must first become aware of what it means to participate in their own culture and what the contents of cultures are.

Cultural identity: to help students to establish cultural identity, to attain “a shift of perspective or the recognition of cognitive dissonance” ( Byram Morgan et al, 1994).

Cultural competence: to help students to develop an ability to evaluate and refine generalizations about the native culture and target culture.

Here, cultural identity means the idea of a national character that describes what the members of the culture have in common above and beyond their individual differences. There are different language code systems in one’s brain, when she intends to achieve cultural communication, Firstly, she must know how to shift from one system to another on the basis of acquiring her native culture very well. Secondly she must acquire and acquaint herself with the target culture so that her communicative competence can be improved. Thirdly, she can manage acculturation with the establishment of cultural identity. ESL teachers will be obliged to attach much importance to the discrepancies between native and target languages not only on the language stratum, but also on the culture stratum. In this way communicative misunderstandings can be avoided.

4. Cultural Competences: Two-way Traffic It is evident that individual identity formation is shaped and restricted historically, socially, culturally and institutionally. It demonstrates a “transition from a social influence external to the individual to a social influence internal to the individual. This process forms the cognitive and cultural development of individual identity and stimulates subjective reflection on external influence--- a unity of internalization and externalization. ”(Vygotsky, 1978). The individual is first and foremost social, able to reconstitute, transform and reproduce the established systems of meanings and social relations rather than the creator of totally new meanings and values. Thus, the framework of the respective roles played by teachers and students forms the basic foundation of classroom social

norms which can be seen to delineate the classroom participation structure (Erickson, 1986). In socio-cultural classrooms, the relationship between teachers and students becomes intertwined and interdependent. In such situations, collaborative involvement in the norm, negotiation plays a role as a mutual adaptation that gives rise to shifts of meanings as teachers and students coordinate their individual activities in the construction of classroom community. As a case in point: the teacher shifts from the subject to a tutor. Students consequently act as the subject, who are active and extroverted, and make the interactive learning possible through the establishment of student- teacher community. According to the traditional classroom, what students focus on how much they get from the information and knowledge that the teacher passes on, therefore they receive it totally and lose their subjectivity unconsciously. However, the shift of subjectivity will awaken the students to contemplate their relationship from a new angle, thereby establishing an efficient balance between native culture and foreign culture. Then the subject in the classroom shifts from the teacher to the cooperation between teacher and students, from the teacher’s lecture alone, to the dialogue and discussion between them. One theme central to Confucianism is that of relationships, and the differing duties arising from the different status one held in relation to others. From the Confucian socio-cultural perspective, the classroom community serves as a co-construction of the self-collaborative system that provides a framework of learning styles under a certain classroom micro-culture that regulates and manifests individual identities. Teachers are typically portrayed as a representative of society who supports student’s reconstruction of culturally approved meanings, thus accomplishing a cycle of cultural activity, cultural experience and cultural identity in construction. It is universally accepted that language teaching is culture teaching. Since language does not exist in a vacuum, the language learner should be aware of the context in which the target language is used and acquire the target culture. How can we incorporate culture into the foreign language curriculum, with a view to fostering cultural awareness and community insight into the target civilisation?To create an effective learning environment in the SLA classroom, we need to lay much more emphasis on students’ backgrounds and existing knowledge. The daily experiences that students bring to the classroom will not only make an important contribution to the process of language acquisition but lay a productive and efficient foundation for the meaningful settings of cultural experiences when they compare the target culture with their original ones, thus strengthening their cultural identity and enhancing their sense of multi-cultural awareness. The Pattern of Classroom communication is a product of the interaction and renegotiation between teachers and students under a particular cultural context, and an integration of different individual identities. In the classroom, what the teacher does is not to replace the original culture identity with that of a target country, or a target culture, but to support the student in enhancing his or her sense of subjectivity. In this case, students will consciously lay stress on learning language by comparison, contrast and empathy instead of going so far as to forget or abandon their culture

system. All of this will help students deepen their understanding of a target language or culture when they review the importance of native culture. So subjective awareness helps, not hinders the cultural intercommunication. Only by a clear awareness of the relationship between self and other can cross-cultural communication become possible in the communal or collective classroom community. The model is shown as follows, reflecting cultural subjectivity, serves as the foundation for developing cultural competence (Leonardei, 2005).

Students open attitude Promote development of Facilitate the development of

(Subject) self and other culture Cultural diversity

awareness

Teacher

(instructor) Culture knowledge Native cultural identity Cross-cultural skills

Open attitude: develop receptiveness to cross-cultural learning Open to recognizing cultural differences Open to examining my own cultural orientations Open to receiving information about other cultures Able to empathize while still retain native culture Self and Other culture awareness: to recognize key differences and similarities between self and other and self-awareness What are my primary cultural orientations? Do I need to know the development of my culture? What is the essence of it? How do I differ from my mainstream culture? In what way I adapt myself ? Other-awareness What are their primary cultural orientations? What is their mainstream culture? In what way they adapt themselves? What common ground exists? Cultural knowledge: grounded in a solid base of cultural knowledge What do I need to know about other cultures? What resources will help me find the knowledge I need? How can I continue to build a practical knowledge base of cultural information that will serve me over the long term? Cross-Cultural Skills: develop behaviors that maximize cross-cultural effectiveness What skills will help me minimize cross-cultural conflict and maximize productivity and effectiveness? How can I continue to refine my skills and develop my level of cultural competence and adaptability? How can I use my cross-cultural skills to further enhance my openness to cross cultural learning?

For this part, measures as follows are taken in the classroom:

Comparison and Contrast: With a view to identifying common ground with in or difference between cultures. Learners must first become conversant with what is means to be part of a culture, their own culture. By exploring their own culture, such as by discussing the values, traditions, customs and rituals they unconsciously take part in, they are ready to reflect upon the values, expectations and traditions of others. Activities: as a guide, teacher instructs students to involve activities. i.e. having them draw up a list of characteristics and traits that distinguish the home and target culture from the items: music, race, arts and crafts, clothing, food and so forth. Thus they are assisted in taking an insider’s view of the connotations of those words and concepts. Literature: Teacher supply the Selected Reading of Chinese Classics, in which can be compiled and performed in English by means of lecture and play. Non-verbal Communication: students should familiarize themselves with various forms of non-verbal communication, such as gesture and facial expression, especially in target culture. Learners should be cognizant of the fact that “the seemingly universal signals as gestures and facial expressions are actually cultural phenomena” (Wierzbicka, 1999). Teacher can invite the students to answer questions: which gestures are different form those in the home culture? Which of the gestures shown or need to be avoided in different situations in the home culture?

Conclusion Language and culture are so intricately intertwined, we should concern ourselves with culture because learning the cultural knowledge and skills required being a competent L2 language learner. Intercultural awareness, knowledge and skills are the key components for an effective cross-cultural communication. As the Confucian saying goes: “Human beings draw close to one another by their common nature, but what they practice keeps them apart.” Intercultural communication is not only about developing cross-cultural understanding, but also has a great impact on the way we think, feel and above all, on the way we act. This kind of communication not only means increasing our awareness, developing curiosity towards the target culture and developing insight into the target civilization, but also calls for an equal dialogue. Therefore, what ESL educator should always have in mind is that culture teaching covers various aspects of origin culture and target culture. In that case, we should primarily keep to our own subjective identity and raise the students’ awareness of their own culture, to help them value the importance of native culture. Culture teaching should aim to foster “empathy with the cultural norms of the target language community” and “an increased awareness of one’s own cultural logic” in

relation to others (Byram, M., Morgan, et,al,1994). The cultural logic is achieved through a clear recognition of one’s cultural subjectivity and otherness. When it comes to culture learning, first of all it helps to build cultural identity for

Chinese students before learning to empathize with the cultural norms of the target language community. By doing that, we could adapt ourselves to the context of multiculturalism, draw on what is progressive from western culture, and equally inherit and transmit what is valuable from Chinese culture. Moreover, Language teachers ought to receive both experiential and academic training, with the aim of becoming ‘mediators in culture teaching’ (Singhal, 1998). It would be likely to establish the classroom social norms and lay more emphasis on Chinese culture and English culture by comparing and contrasting in similarities and differences in terms of the relation between language and culture. That is, how these manifest themselves in linguistic categories and forms. Paying no heed to Chinese culture in the L2 classroom is more than misleading, and the cultural competence shows no one-way process. Cross cultural communication bases on the interactive way which is dynamic and exchanging. Language educators should contribute to learners’ understanding that begins with awareness of self and leads to awareness to others (ibid). There is certainly room for improvement in order for things go well for the future. In addition, we should enhance our intercultural awareness and competence in the light of multiculturalism, from which differences and diversities coexist, what we can figure out how to make conscious efforts to overcome the aphasia to solve the conflicts that emerge from the different cultures.

References Brown, H.D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching, 4th ed. California:

San Francisco State University. Byram, M., Morgan, C. and Colleagues. (1994), Teaching and Learning Language and

Culture. Great Britain:WBC. Crinion Jenny, (2006), Language Control in the Bilingual Brain Science,New York:

312(5779):1537-40. Erikson, E.H. (1968).Identity: Youth and Crisis. New York: Norton. Feuerstein, R.(1991). Cultural Difference and Cultural Deprivation,Contemporary

Issues in Cross-cultural Psychology. Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger. Haraway,Donna(1997).Modest-witness @Second_ Millennium: Feminism and

Techno science, New York& London: Routiedge. Kramsch, C. (1988). The Cultural Discourse of Foreign Language Textbooks,

Towards a New Integration of Language and Culture, Middlebury, VT: Northeast Conference.

Kramshc, C. (1993). Context and Culture in Language Teaching.Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kurniawan, Leonardi.(2005). Towards Cultural Diversity: Threats or Opportunities, Proceedings of 3rd Asia TEFL,November,2005,Beijing, China.

Ma Dewu. (2004) The Analects of Confucian, Shanghai: World Book Publishing Co. Inc.Libben, G &Lindner, O.(1993). Becoming Bilingual and Bicultural: Some

Theoretical Considerations. Alberta Modern Language Journal, Vol30(1),5-11. Linell, Davis. (2007). Doing Culture: Cross-cultural Communication in Action.

Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. L. R. Snowden and A. M. Hines.(1999).A Scale to Assess African American

Acculturation.Journal of Black Psychology, February 1, 1999; 25(1): 36 - 47. Li Tong & Huang Renfeng. (2010).A Study of Cultural Factors Influencing SLA,

2005 Sampson, E.E. (1993). Identity Politics: Challenges to Psychology Understands,

American Psychologist, 48, 1219-1230. Schutz, Alfred. (1974). The Structures of the Life-world, Trans. London: Heinemann. Singhal,M.(1998). Teaching Culture in the Foreign Language Classroom. Thai

TESOL Bulletin, Vol.11 No.1. Snowden LR, Hines AM. (1999). A Scale to Assess African American Acculturation.

Journal of Black Psychology. 25:36-47 Sullivan, Kerry O’.(1994). Understanding Ways. Hale& Iremonger Pty ltd. Tavares, R.& Cavalcanti, I.(1996). Developing Cultural Awareness in EFL

Classrooms. English Forum, Vol34:3. Thanasoulas Dimitrios (2001) The Importance of Teaching Culture in The Foreign

Language Classroom. Radical Pedagogy. Vol 3:3. Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Mental Processes.

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Wang Tao. (2005). Intercultural Awareness and Competence through a Combination

of Cultural Subjectivity and Diversity. Proceedings of 3rd Asia TEFL,November, 2005, Beijing, China.

Wierzbicka, A (1999). Emotions across Languages and Cultures, Diversity and Universals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Williams, R. (1983). Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. London: Fontana.

Wrong, D,H,& Gracey, H.L.(1977). Readings in Introductory Sociology. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.

Zhang Wei,(2009) The “ Aphasia of Chinese Culture” in College English Teaching and the Countermeasures. Shengyang Agricutural University ( Social Sciences Edition).Vol 11(4),457-460.