Tianzhu Liang[1]
Abstract: The current issue of cultural identity is an inevitable manifestation of the contradictions and dilemmas of China’s economic and social development in the cultural field. Its root lies in modern China’s backward social development and the invasion of foreign culture, which is manifested by indifference to excellent traditional culture. English is a widely used international language, which is used worldwide. In recent years, with the popularity of English, college English teaching has also received more and more attention. Philosophy is highly theoretical, speculative and difficult to understand, which requires English teachers to be good at utilizing various beneficial resources to mobilize students’ subjectivity and creativity. English is one of the beneficial resources, and proper use of English in cultural identity can have unexpected teaching effects. Therefore, how to use college English education thoughts to enhance national cultural identity is of great significance for promoting the overall development of college English education and promoting national cultural construction. This article discusses how to cultivate national cultural awareness and cultivate national cultural one in the process of English teaching. On this basis, this paper puts forward new ideas to promote the overall development of English teaching in colleges and universities and build national culture. In addition, it emphasized that English knowledge must be integrated with the one learned in order to enable students to better understand different cultures, enhance students’ interest in various countries’ philosophy and culture, and enhance students’ own sense of cultural identity.
Keywords: English Educational Thought. Philosophical Culture. Cultural Identity. English Globalization.
Introduction
In English teaching, in addition to guiding students to acquire a comprehensive knowledge of English, it is also necessary to guide them to have a correct understanding of English culture. Combining the teaching of cultural knowledge with the explanation of basic English knowledge enables students to deepen their understanding of different cultures, enhance their recognition of national philosophy and culture, and promote their own development through efficient English reading.
In different cultural backgrounds, there are also differences in the learning and use of English. This difference will also affect the individuals’ social and cultural identity. Therefore, English learning and social and cultural identity are topics that have attracted more and more attention in recent years. There is a significant negative correlation between learners’ sociocultural identity and their English learning (Mohammadi; Siros, 2019, p. 53; Navickas, 2019, p. 1). Online text reading helps to form, maintain and transform the perspective of cultural identity. The educational significance of English education, in the context of electronic literature, has been proposed to promote students’ reading of online texts (Park, 2018, p. 385; Reese, 1988, p. 514).
The State of Qatar is a small country undergoing significant sociocultural changes. Qatar’s current sociolinguistic situation, English language policy initiatives and reforms in the educational context have impeded a subtle understanding of the broader cultural and linguistic processes currently taking place in Qatar and shaping identity (Hillman; Emilio, 2018, p. 228; Bulfin, 2020, p. 159). There are some links between the State of Qatar and Chinese culture. First of all, Qatar and China are both ancient civilizations with a long history, and both have rich cultural heritage and traditional culture. As a global language, English plays an important role in various countries’ cultural identity and dissemination. Many Western cultures, ideas, values, etc., were introduced to China through English as the medium, so English has also become an indispensable part of Chinese culture.
As English is being used by more and more people around the world, it is necessary to understand the various stakeholders’ views on cultural identity from the perspective of global English. Cultural identity is important for the sustainable development of languages (Liu; Xi; Fan, 2023, p. 283).
With the deepening of global integration and communication between countries, the role of English is also constantly changing, especially when English is still the most common language in the world, and the policies and thoughts related to English education need to be changed. Due to colonialism, the function of English is related to its linguistic thinking, so colonialism still exists in both its linguistic thinking and its educational activities (Haidar; Fan, 2019, p. 165).
Economic globalization is a state of survival for contemporary mankind. In the face of this trend, both developed and developing countries must actively participate in this change, or they lose their survival advantages. A specific culture is closely related to a specific level of economic development. The impact of economic globalization on world culture is inevitable, and it is an important component of various countries’ cultures in the world. Globalization has made the relationship between civilizations closer, and people can find more common ground in the fusion of diverse cultures. However, with the development of human culture becoming increasingly global, this inevitably poses serious challenges to various countries’ cultural concepts, behaviors and contexts.
Due to the economic development in China, there are inevitably contradictions and conflicts in values between Chinese and Western cultures. How to better guide the healthy development of cultural identity is a question worth considering.
Philosophical culture is an ancient and profound culture, which contains both profound history and a great national spirit. It inherits the Chinese people’s tenacious struggle spirit and guides them to continue their progress. This does not only exist in Chinese culture, but also in Western culture. In the long historical process, Chinese and Western cultures blend with each other. However, now a new generation of students is fonder of Western culture. Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter are popular with college students, while traditional festivals, such as the Double Ninth Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Tomb Sweeping Festival are rarely visited.
It is against the different backgrounds of cultural identity between China and the West that strengthening the understanding of cultural identity has made English education a very important task. It can not only broaden the scope of students’ knowledge, but also cultivate their national sentiment. It can also arouse their national emotions and improve their cultural identity (Shin, 2021, p. 80; Heirman, 2013, p. 137).
1 English education enhances national cultural identity
1.1 Cultural identity issues in university English education
Cultural identity refers to the individuals and groups’ recognition and sense of belonging to the same culture. The formation and expression of this cultural identity includes factors, such as geographical, historical background and kinship, as well as factors related to language use. The theory of cultural identity is an important cultural theory proposed by the famous American psychoanalyst Eriksson in the early 1950s. It refers to the affirmative recognition of the most meaningful things to the nation formed by a group’s members living together for a long time in the national community.
Identity and difference are opposites, and people often identify with one culture based on these two characteristics, and distinguish between other cultures based on identity and difference. From a personal perspective, cultural identity is an affirmation and destination of self-identity. A country’s cultural identity refers to the cultural elements and values that country’s people share. These cultural elements can include language, history, religion, traditions, values, customs, art, music, literature and other characteristics. Together, these elements constitute the country’s people’s identity and represent the country’s people’s cultural characteristics and national spirit. Cultural identity is a long-term process of formation and internalization, which is gradually formed under various historical, political, social, economic and other influences. A country’s cultural identity is also an important part of its international image and national one, and it plays an important role in cultural exchanges and international ones.
In the process of economic globalization, people have increasingly high requirements for cultural identity, and China’s awareness of cultural identity is also becoming stronger and stronger. English is the most powerful language in the world today, and the English culture and concepts it carries not only weaken learners’ understanding of their own culture and their identification with their own culture, but also have a significant impact on philosophical culture (Otabekovna; Gadoyeva, 2022, p. 171). For example, American hip-hop music and Hollywood movies have spread widely around the world, and many people are more familiar with these cultural elements than their own local culture.
In this case, people’s understanding and recognition of their own culture will gradually decrease. As another example, English is one of the main languages of modern scientific research, and many research results of modern philosophy and scientific theory are based on English as the main expression language. The spread and influence of these theories may also lead to other countries’ philosophy and culture being influenced by English culture.
For a long time, neither the syllabus of English courses nor the teaching methods of English teachers in universities have fully taken into account the importance of philosophy and culture in English teaching, resulting in a disconnect from people’s actual situation (Jahan; Hamid, 2019, p. 386). Students are a country’s mainstay, and their sense of identity with philosophical culture is inextricably linked to their country’s culture. Without a sense of philosophical and cultural identity, the inheritance of excellent national culture is affected, which is not in line with the purpose of English education. For example, in a country dominated by Confucianism, if you only teach the English language and ignore the important contribution of Confucianism to the country’s traditional culture, then students may lose interest in their traditional culture and have no deeper understanding of English learning. This also violates the purpose of English education.
English education must not only teach the English language, but also cultivate students’ cross-cultural awareness and international vision, and promote exchanges and understanding in different cultures. Therefore, it is very necessary to integrate cultural identity education into college English teaching. The primary mission of English teaching in China is to cultivate talents with cross-cultural communication skills, and English provides convenience for students to better accept foreign culture and promote China’s national culture. Therefore, in college English education, people can take the sense of cultural identity in China as an important task, that is, to enhance students’ cultural concepts and prevent them from being assimilated by Western culture. People should also incorporate philosophical and cultural factors into their classmates’ lives in English classes, enabling them to express their local culture and establish their worldviews and values.
1.2 Status quo and measures
Under the guidance of technology, English, as a new language form, has become the world language. The dominance of English in the world has caused great attention to its use, so a wave of learning English has inevitably arisen in China (Qodriani; Muhammad, 2018, p. 51). Culture and language are closely related, but also have significant differences. Language is a part of culture and a manifestation of it. Cultural progress can promote language progress, and the perfection and enrichment of language are a prerequisite for cultural progress. Especially with the deepening of China’s reform and opening up, the objective conditions for language learning have changed, and various types of language learners can obtain more languages and resources. Therefore, under the strong cultural influence, some students’ worldviews and values have changed, and their cultural positions have also been shaken. For example, many students prefer Christmas, Valentine’s Day, European and American movies, but they despise traditional Chinese festivals and culture. They value Western culture more than their native language. China’s culture is in an unprecedented crisis.
An objective reality that people are facing is that philosophy and culture are generally not paid attention from students, and English courses occupy an absolute advantage in universities. Within two years, all non-English majors in universities must take English courses. Many universities associate College English Test 4 and College English Test 6 with graduation certificates. Due to the unquestionable importance of English to universities and the fact that it cannot be completely separated from English education in China, it is necessary to maximize the advantages of English and adopt various teaching methods in the process of English teaching, with the introduction of philosophical culture to enhance students’ identification with their own culture. On this basis, establishing a cultural foothold to resist foreign cultural invasion has become English educators’ unshirkable responsibility in the new era.
(1) There is a bias in understanding the importance of philosophical culture and English culture
Both teachers and students have recognized the impact of philosophical culture on English learning. Therefore, in English teaching, both teachers and students intentionally combine foreign cultures, while ignoring the cultivation of native language culture. This indicates that both teachers and students have a certain bias in attaching importance to different cultures in the process of English teaching.
Teacher: Inadequate input of philosophical culture in English teaching
In the process of English teaching, teachers sometimes strengthen philosophical and cultural education for students. However, due to the low proportion of philosophical culture in English teaching, it is difficult to see Chinese in English, leading to the phenomenon of aphasia in Chinese language (Maeder-Qian, 2018, p. 576). In addition, under the call of diversified English education goals, it is necessary to focus on the education of mother tongue culture, not only to provide input talents for other countries’ culture, knowledge, technology, science, etc., but also to undertake the output of their own national culture and provide good language and cultural exchanges for the country’s politics, economy, trade, communication, etc. Due to the diversity of language learning objectives, teachers must not neglect the education of philosophical culture in English teaching, otherwise they would lose their recognition of philosophical culture.
Student: Indifference and confusion towards cultural identity in English learning
Nowadays, most students are studying English for their future studies and employment, so it is inevitable that students can develop a short-sighted utilitarian mentality in the process of English learning. With the popularization of international talents, Chinese universities have increasingly higher requirements for English. To thrive in college, one must master one’s own English proficiency and pass an English test, which is the key to further education and employment in the future. Therefore, students also spend a lot of time and energy learning English (Eslamdoost; Kendall; Zia, 2020, p. 327; Jones, 1967, p. 307). However, students have little understanding of traditional Chinese culture and pay attention to the learning of English culture in foreign language teaching. With the deepening of their understanding of Western culture in college English teaching, their understanding of philosophical culture gradually decreases. Chinese English students always find it difficult to express Chinese culture in English. Although their English proficiency is strong and they are familiar with Chinese culture, they do not demonstrate the cultural self-restraint and independent cultural personality that a cultural power should possess.
In the process of college English teaching, both teachers and students focus only on the teaching of English knowledge, ignoring the teaching of philosophical and cultural knowledge, resulting in a decrease in the degree of the country’s cultural identity (Islam; Selvajothi; Kazi, 2022, p. 129). This is manifested in the following aspects:
First, high school English courses mainly focus on the training of grammar and language skills, and rarely involve cultural and philosophical content. Students may study some masterpieces of English literature, but they do not know much about the philosophical significance and cultural background.
Second, university English education also lacks in-depth research and explanation of philosophy and culture. The course mainly focuses on the training of English listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, and less on cultural and philosophical content.
Third, English exams rarely involve philosophical and cultural issues. For example, in the TOEFL or IELTS test, although some cultural and social background knowledge is involved, this knowledge is only to help students better understand the article or dialogue, not to gain an in-depth understanding of these cultural and philosophical backgrounds.
Fourth, there is also a lack of introduction to philosophy and cultural knowledge in English textbooks and vocabulary books. Most English learning materials only focus on vocabulary and grammar training, ignoring philosophical and cultural knowledge.
College English education has gone through a period of development that focuses on language and English as the center. From the perspective of the relationship between language and culture, philosophical culture is very helpful for improving English proficiency and conducting cross-cultural communication correctly. However, due to the excessive emphasis on Western culture and the neglect of philosophical culture, many students with high English proficiency cannot accurately express phenomena related to philosophical culture in English when conducting cross-cultural communication (Dafouz, 2018, p. 540).
The globalization of higher education in China has made college students pay more attention to English learning. However, in the process of English teaching, there have been misunderstandings in the understanding of philosophy and culture as well as foreign languages and cultures. This article starts with enhancing cultural identity in English teaching, analyzes the underlying reasons for its emergence and provides corresponding countermeasures. It is hoped that more students can consciously and actively learn about philosophical culture, thereby deepening their understanding of philosophical culture and enhancing their sense of identity.
(2) There is a phenomenon of philosophical and cultural aphasia in current English teaching
It is difficult for Chinese students to express philosophical culture in English, which is currently a condition of aphasia in philosophical culture. Due to the limitations of their mother tongue and the lack of teacher guidance in the classroom, many students are afraid or unable to express philosophy and culture in English. Therefore, in the absence of teacher guidance, their expression level is difficult to significantly improve. The essence of cultural aphasia is a lack of cultural identity, which can be attributed to various reasons, of which social and educational environments are the two most important ones. English teaching focuses on learning Western culture while ignoring philosophical culture, resulting in an imbalance between the input and output of philosophical culture, exacerbating students’ aphasia. For example, in English textbooks, American festivals and traditional culture are often introduced, but Chinese traditional festivals and culture are rarely involved.
In addition, many Chinese students require to use English as much as possible to communicate in English classes, but there are few opportunities and requirements to use their native language. In English test questions and exams, students are often required to have a certain understanding and mastery of Western culture and history, while ignoring the understanding and mastery of Chinese history and culture.
In education, teachers’ understanding of philosophy and culture is not deep enough, and there are also deviations in educational concepts. When arranging courses, there is also a significant imbalance between English and Chinese culture. In order to better communicate and disseminate culture in a cross-cultural communication environment, foreign language learners must master the cultural backgrounds of different languages. This requires English teachers to become both an inheritor of language skills and a cultural communicator, guiding students to compare different cultures and promote philosophical culture.
1.3 Problems in the cultivation of philosophical and cultural identity
(1) Lack of relevant English education policy guidance
Before 2000, policy documents on cultural identity issues rarely involved English teaching. For a long time, China has been guided by foreign culture, ignoring China’s cultural input and planning for cultural identity. It was not until 2010 that the relevant policies of English education in China gradually attached importance to the construction of students’ cultural identity, and incorporated the relationship between philosophical culture and English culture into English teaching objectives. In English education, the positioning of cultural identity has become increasingly clear and has produced a certain driving force. Currently, the construction of cultural identity in China has not yet taken shape in the process of English education, and the importance of cultural identity in China, in the process of English education, needs to be improved.
In the globalized environment, contemporary young students feel confused in the contrast between traditional culture and modern one. Currently, there is a sense of confusion among college students about traditional culture, on the one hand, because of the weakening impact on traditional culture and, on the other hand, because of the proliferation of Western cultural products. Students’ understanding of culture is mainly conducted through movies, the Internet and other methods, but these methods cannot truly reflect the true meaning of culture. When facing the choice between traditional and modern cultures, contemporary young students still have many unclear misunderstandings about Chinese and Western culture, resulting in a growing sense of identity with Chinese national culture, often falling into a dilemma and a sense of cultural identity.
(2) Attaching importance to the instrumental nature of language while ignoring the cultural nature of language
The essence of English education is to put human development at the center, with English ability as the basic factor and cultural awareness as a value orientation. In the process of English teaching, students should gradually establish correct values in their learning (Richard; James, 2019, p. 2510). However, for a long time in the past, people only paid attention to the tools for learning English in English classes, overemphasized English knowledge and skills, but ignored the fact that language itself is a cultural input. No matter in English textbooks, English teachers, or learners themselves, they are not well aware of the language and culture they have mastered. In the process of English teaching, they only focus on foreign cultural input, while ignoring philosophical cultural input.
In recent years, most English textbooks and reading materials are based on British and American culture, introducing the Western world’s society and culture. The syllabus for English majors only requires listening for the purpose of understanding so that the input of philosophical culture and the introduction of philosophical culture English expression methods are ignored in the process of foreign language learning, resulting in the lack of students’ ability to express philosophical culture in English (Lee; Sung, 2021, p. 216). In the new English teaching syllabus, the introduction to philosophy and culture has been listed as a course of relevant professional knowledge, but it has not received the due attention in teaching. The lack of philosophical and cultural expression ability is a reflection of the problems existing in English teaching. Learning mainly focuses on mastering language skills, such as listening, speaking, reading and writing, with language acquisition as the primary goal. The English education system oriented to test-taking education tends to emphasize the practicality of English and the training of language skills, such as listening, speaking, reading and writing, while ignoring the cultural connotation contained in English.
Therefore, many students only speak fluent English, but they lack understanding of English culture and other countries’ cultures. Many textbooks only teach the basic grammar and vocabulary of English, but rarely involve English-speaking countries’ culture, history and traditions. This makes many students lack understanding English-speaking countries’ culture and values, and even lack interest in people and things in English-speaking countries. This single language education model may lead to an increase in students’ language proficiency in English communication, but they do not have sufficient cultural background knowledge in cross-cultural communication. In addition, due to lack of cultural awareness, students can easily fall into a single cognition and stereotype, unable to truly understand the English-speaking countries and people’s diversity and complexity.
2 Significance of enhancing cultural identity
(1) Stimulating students’ national emotions
It is of great significance to educate students about their sense of cultural identity and patriotism. National consciousness refers to the awareness and identity of one’s ancestors, blood and cultural traditions; patriotism refers to the love, loyalty and sense of responsibility for one’s motherland and nation. These two concepts are closely related and are important factors in strengthening national cohesion and national identity. The country’s traditional culture has a long history. In the long history of thousands of years, ink painting is not only the Chinese people’s spiritual sustenance, but also the source of their cultural life.
Chinese traditional culture is created by the Chinese people in the long process of development. The emergence and development of Chinese traditional culture has certain historical inevitability and internal laws. In the current process of cultural globalization, inheriting and promoting the excellent cultural traditions of one’s own country, while Western culture dominates, are a necessary and important method to effectively resist foreign cultural invasion, which plays an important role in many aspects in the process of national progress and historical development.
In China, traditional culture is inextricably linked to national cultural identity. Traditional Chinese culture is an important part of the Chinese national spirit, including poetry, books, paintings, music, dance, opera, etiquette, philosophy, etc. These cultural elements can inherit and promote the Chinese nation’s cultural traditions, enhance national cohesion and self-confidence, and cultivate patriotic emotions and consciousness. However, in the process of globalization and modernization, traditional Chinese culture is facing huge challenges.
Due to the influence of modernization and globalization, some traditional cultures are no longer adapted to the modern society’s needs, so they must be appropriately updated and improved. Secondly, due to historical and regional factors, there are different degrees of cultural exchanges and integration between different ethnic groups, which may lead to the loss and disappearance of some ethnic cultures. Third, some ethnic minority areas are facing economic, social and environmental challenges, which makes it more difficult to protect and inherit national culture.
Looking back on the Chinese nation’s history, one can clearly see that the Chinese nation’s traditional culture, especially the outstanding parts thereof, has always been the nation’s soul, the spiritual bond that sustains the Chinese nation’s vitality, and has always played a positive role in promoting the Chinese nation’s historical development and social progress. However, due to various reasons, there is still a tendency among students to downplay cultural identity.
The need to learn English makes students more qualified to accept foreign cultures. If they accept all cultures without thinking and analyzing them, blindly imitate them regardless of the situation, or negate their own culture, it is not the original intention of education. There is no good or bad distinction between Western culture and Eastern one, but China has its own cultural tradition and cultural essence. They nourish the Chinese civilization for more than 5000 years, which cannot be replaced and surpassed by any civilization. Therefore, people must emphasize cultural identity, enhance national consciousness and cultivate national spirit. The outstanding parts of traditional Chinese culture should be promoted and absorbed in combination with practical needs.
(2) Helping students understand and promote philosophical culture
A country’s culture has its unique characteristics. China is an ancient country with a history of thousands of years. Ancient Chinese philosophy, religion, poetry, drama, astronomy and geography are all the crystallization of human wisdom. The inheritance of Chinese civilization not only nourishes Chinese people’s generations, but also increasingly recognizes and approves the great functions of Chinese civilization. Philosophical culture plays an increasingly important role in this century. For example, the famous British writer Toynbee pointed out in his book Looking Forward to the Century that traditional Chinese culture, especially the Confucian and Mohist thoughts on benevolence, has a good therapeutic effect on modern civilized diseases (Ruotolo, 1994, p. 329). He believed that Confucius’ benevolence was needed in today’s society.
When discussing how philosophical culture had an impact on the contemporary world, Ji Xianlin also proposed the thought of spreading Eastern learning to the West. In today’s world, the globalization of culture has spread to the world’s all parts. With increasingly close contacts with Western countries, the use of language and the dissemination of philosophical culture require people to have more language skills. Developing their own national culture in a country has become an urgent task.
The potential benefits of cultural identity include the following points. First, strengthen the sense of national identity: by promoting Chinese culture, Chinese people can improve their sense of cultural identity and strengthen national cohesion, thereby enhancing the country’s stability. Second, enhance cultural self-confidence: by promoting Chinese culture, Chinese people can better understand and understand the culture itself, and the outside world can better understand and understand China, thereby enhancing cultural self-confidence. Third, expand international influence: China is a great ancient civilization with deep historical and cultural heritage.
By promoting Chinese culture, more countries can understand and accept Chinese culture, thereby expanding China’s international influence. However, cultural identity also has some disadvantages. First of all, excessive promotion of Chinese culture may ignore other cultures and lose the characteristics of multiculturalism. Cultural exchanges should be mutually beneficial. In addition, sometimes the promotion of Chinese culture may cause cultural conflicts, misunderstandings and dissatisfaction. Attention needs to be paid to respecting and accepting other cultures to avoid adverse consequences.
Finally, the dissemination of culture requires the support of time and space. Some cultures may not be able to span time and space, limiting the speed and scope of cultural dissemination.
As a foreign language, if English simply absorbs foreign culture and cannot promote its excellent traditional culture to the rest of the world, then such communication itself is unfair. People must make the whole world recognize and respect philosophical culture, so as to make the country stand up in the world. Therefore, students should strengthen their cultural heritage in the process of English learning. The topic bears the heavy responsibility of inheriting philosophical culture and sharing precious spiritual wealth with the world. Especially for English majors, they not only need to learn the language and culture of English, but also systematically strengthen their study of philosophy and culture so that they can proficiently and correctly express philosophy and culture in English. This can spread China’s excellent culture to the world and contribute to promoting human health and building a harmonious world.
3 Ways to implement cultural identity education in English teaching
3.1 Macro Reform
(1) Syllabus development
In the past, people often only learned about culture through sporadic articles without systematic learning. Therefore, when conducting philosophical and cultural education, it is necessary to integrate these cultural elements into English education, and all of these should be based on people’s cultural curriculum. The cultural outline has certain guiding significance for the teaching of philosophical and cultural knowledge to college English majors. To truly embody cultural identity in English teaching, it is necessary to formulate a cultural outline to organically integrate language and culture.
China has a wide variety of cultural courses. Therefore, when formulating curriculum content, it is necessary to take into account not only the multi-level, multi-dimensional and stage characteristics of the curriculum content, but also the practicality of it. Therefore, the syllabus should include philosophical culture, at every level of English teaching, and some related words in the syllabus vocabulary, in order to guide teachers to increase their recognition of philosophical culture in all aspects of English from a macro perspective, thereby enhancing the importance of philosophical culture in English.
(2) Teaching material reform
Currently, there is a lack of a systematic system of philosophical and cultural knowledge in both college English teaching and vocational English teaching. In response to the current international situation, where it is difficult to accurately express English language and find a corresponding English language, most of the research on this issue in China is at the theoretical stage, lacking teaching materials for systematic learning by teaching personnel and being unable to provide effective training in the teaching process. Therefore, there is an urgent need to incorporate philosophical culture and the comparison between Chinese and Western cultures into English textbooks.
Language and culture are inseparable, so attention must be paid to national culture in English teaching. This requires that in English teaching, based on both English and American languages, combining students’ cognitive level and language expression abilities, a teaching plan that conforms to the students’ actual situation should be developed. Both Chinese and English can be used, or pure English can be used, and attention should be paid to the organic combination of teaching content, such as listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation.
Emphasis should be placed on incorporating excellent English works or translations that reflect philosophical and cultural backgrounds into the reading material. When writing listening, speaking, and other content, it is necessary to design appropriate topics based on philosophical and cultural backgrounds so that students can see, listen and speak English reading materials with philosophical and cultural characteristics more often, and students can better use the target language to express their own country’s culture. As a means of transmitting philosophical culture, it can also provide a large amount of material to understand philosophical culture, achieve cultural exchange and provide corresponding electronic reading materials to enhance the image and vividness of textbooks, thereby providing an objective basis and reference for the education and practice of philosophical culture. Of course, the compilation of textbooks is a very important topic that requires a lot of research and argumentation.
(3) Curriculum
In English teaching, cultural knowledge from other countries, such as British and American culture, is generally provided, while English knowledge related to philosophy and culture is rarely offered in English majors. Currently, college English courses do not incorporate philosophy and culture into English education, and most universities do not provide English courses on philosophy and culture for non-English majors. Therefore, the inclusion of Chinese philosophy, history, religion, literature, art and social customs in English teaching has important practical significance for college English teaching.
In fact, for both English majors and non-English majors, a more practical approach is to incorporate philosophical and cultural teaching into the current teaching content, and to incorporate the culture of the native language and the differences between Chinese and Western cultures into the teaching. In the original teaching plan, people can consciously integrate philosophical culture into the teaching plan, listen to news in the English listening plan and introduce philosophical culture into the English reading plan, including the English translation of Chinese literary works and Chinese literary works written in English. Cultivating recognition of philosophical culture can guide students’ translation in the interpretation classroom based on philosophical culture. This can not only instill philosophical culture into students, but also enable them to better master English knowledge.
(4) Reform of the teaching system
In English teaching, it is first necessary to emphasize the self-confidence of Chinese culture to help students build cultural self-confidence. At the same time, it is necessary to educate students to cherish and inherit Chinese culture so that they can understand the historical origin, inheritance and development, cultural characteristics and value connotations of Chinese culture, and stimulate their love and recognition of it. The second is to strengthen the integration of Chinese cultural elements. In the English curriculum, we need to integrate Chinese cultural elements into it so that they can become an important part of English teaching. This can be achieved by writing Chinese texts suitable for all grades, introducing common sense of Chinese culture and historical background, etc. The third is to cultivate students’ cross-cultural communication skills. In English communication, especially in cross-cultural communication, students need to be able to understand, respect, appreciate and accept the differences between different cultures.
Therefore, in English teaching, we should cultivate students’ cross-cultural communication skills so that they can communicate and communicate with people from different countries and cultural backgrounds. The fourth is to build English learning resources with Chinese cultural characteristics. In order to strengthen Chinese cultural identity education, we can build English learning resources with Chinese cultural characteristics, such as related English TV shows, English picture books, English songs, etc. This can help students learn English at the same time, more in-depth understanding and experience of Chinese culture, thereby enhancing their sense of identity with Chinese culture.
3.2 Specific Teaching Strategies
(1) Comparative study of Chinese and Western cultures
In foreign language education for English majors, it is necessary to combine philosophical culture with other cultures, reasonably arrange the content of cultural courses, and discover the differences between Chinese and Western cultures to carry out comparative cultural teaching. By analyzing the existing problems in English teaching, a new teaching strategy is proposed. Combining Chinese and Western cultures, in the teaching process, and identifying similarities and differences between them, through comparison, are a very important and effective method, especially for deepening people’s understanding of Chinese and Western cultures and improving people’s cultural awareness.
Teachers can use appropriate ways to let students understand the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western values hidden behind each level of communicative behavior, thereby effectively strengthening their cross-cultural awareness and improving their cross-cultural communication skills. Students should strive to examine the target language from a native perspective, recognize the rationality of the target language psychologically, and achieve understanding of the target language culture by revising their own concepts. It can not only help learners better understand their own country’s culture, but also help them better exert their advantages in different cultural exchanges.
On this basis, using English to describe philosophical culture can not only enhance students’ ability to express philosophical culture in English, but also better communicate internationally. In classroom teaching, by telling the history and current situation of Chinese and Western cultures, students can help them understand the background and current situation of the two, such as the development process of Chinese and Western cultures, the characteristics of them, etc. In addition, it is possible to compare the core values of Chinese and Western cultures, such as the different views of interpersonal relationships, family, education, beliefs, etc., between China and the West, thereby revealing the way of thinking and behavioral characteristics of the two cultures. Through the comparison of the art forms of Chinese and Western culture, such as painting, architecture, music, dance, etc., the differences in the aesthetic standards and manifestations of Chinese and Western culture are revealed. It can also help students understand the cultural connotations and similarities and differences in celebration methods behind different festivals by comparing traditional festivals with Chinese and Western cultural celebrations, such as Chinese and Western Spring Festival, Christmas, Halloween, etc.
Through the characters’ comparison and the one of famous quotes, stories, etc., in Chinese and Western cultures, such as Confucius, Jesus, Shakespeare, etc., we can understand representative characters, classic works, famous quotes and stories in the field of Chinese and Western culture and their influence on national culture. It should be noted that when teachers explain the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western cultures, they should explain them in a neutral and objective manner, rather than evaluating them based on their own cultural background prejudices. At the same time, they should learn to appreciate, respect and tolerate different cultures.
(2) Translation method
Translation is a literary art. Only in translation can the reader of the translated text experience the feeling of the original work, which is the success of translation. Therefore, translators must master the essence, characteristics and changing laws of both Chinese and English languages. In the process of translation, the lack of cultural connotation restricts the quality of translation to a certain extent.
Therefore, it is necessary to have both bilingual proficiency and cross-cultural communication skills in translation. In the teaching process of English majors, it is necessary to strengthen the cultivation of students’ translation ability. In the teaching process, people not only need to use existing texts and translated texts to reflect Chinese culture, but also need to instill philosophical and cultural translation methods into students in the classroom. When students encounter things that cannot be expressed in English, they can try to express the charm and characteristics of philosophy and culture in English through free translation, transliteration and vague translation. In the process of translation teaching, as long as the relationship between philosophical culture and the translation is correctly grasped, the learning of the translation can achieve greater results. People should not only inherit their traditional culture, but also recognize their differences from the target language and culture.
First of all, in English translation teaching, you can carefully select some texts about Chinese culture, such as ancient Chinese poems, classical novels, etc., and then guide students to translate these texts. At the same time, the cultural connotations in these texts can be explained during the translation process, such as the background of ancient Chinese culture, the author’s evaluation and thoughts, etc. They are introduced so that students can better understand and understand Chinese culture. Second, in English translation teaching, various forms of cultural courses and activities can be carried out, such as organizing students to learn the history of Chinese culture, traditional customs, food culture, etc.
At the same time, students can also be organized to visit museums, art museums and other cultural places so that they can feel the diversity and uniqueness of Chinese culture, thereby enhancing their sense of identity with China. Third, people can explain the cultural background of translation.
In English translation teaching, cultural differences and language expressions in translation can be explained so that students can understand the background and cultural connotation of these translations. For example, when translating some Chinese idioms, you can explain the source and background of these idioms, so as to help students understand the connotation of these idioms and let them see the uniqueness of Chinese culture. Through the above methods, students can better understand the connotation and characteristics of Chinese culture so that they can have a sense of identity and respect for China.
(3) Comprehensive practical approach
The infiltration of philosophical culture into students, through various forms, rich and colorful, and comprehensive ways, is an effective way to enhance their cultural identity. Due to the limited time available for English teaching, it is necessary for students to acquire the required knowledge in various ways. In order to better integrate philosophical culture into English teaching, it is necessary to carry out various forms of teaching activities in their spare time to broaden students’ knowledge horizons and cultivate their nonverbal communication skills. Special classes can be held to invite accomplished experts and scholars to explain culture more systematically to students. In teaching, a step-by-step teaching method should be adopted, and a combination of English and Chinese should be used to broaden students’ horizons and enable them to better understand different cultures.
In addition to allowing students to read more English books, understand philosophy and culture, and watch more English channels after class, they can also participate in English corners, English speech competitions, drama performances, and so on, so that they can learn more about philosophy and culture. In addition to the specific educational methods mentioned above, the improvement of the intrinsic quality of English teachers also contributes greatly to enhancing national cultural identity.
For the individual learners’ needs or preferences, the individual learners’ background and cultural differences should be understood, and individualized education should be achieved. Teachers can carefully design the teaching content and form according to students’ interests, experiences, backgrounds, etc., so that learners can more easily understand and accept cultural knowledge. By guiding students to proactively understand and feel the English-speaking countries’ culture, teachers can organize students to carry out interesting cultural activities, such as English corners, cultural exchanges, watching English movies, etc., so that students can experience and feel the cultural charm of English-speaking countries firsthand.
Teachers shoulder the heavy responsibility of teaching language and transmitting culture. Teachers should not only have a good cultural foundation, but also have strong cultural cultivation and cross-cultural concepts. They can communicate philosophical culture in English and attach importance to the comparative analysis of Chinese and Western cultures in the teaching process, adding philosophical and cultural expressions to English, and so on. English emphasizes the education of philosophy and culture, which not only requires English teachers to have high professional literacy, but also needs to strengthen their professional and humanistic literacy.
Teachers need to have good listening skills, be able to clearly understand students’ spoken English, accurately identify phonetic, grammatical and lexical errors made by students, and correct them in a timely manner. Teachers also need to have fluent oral skills, be able to communicate with accurate speech, smooth intonation and natural language so that students can feel the charm of the English language.
In addition, teachers need to have strong writing skills, be able to write various teaching texts and simulate student composition, and help students improve their English writing level through demonstrations and guidance. Firstly, teachers should start from their own culture, guide students in a planned, systematic and targeted manner, especially books, newspapers and magazines in foreign languages related to philosophy and culture, so that they can continuously absorb and accumulate knowledge about their own cultural background, social customs and values in daily life.
On this basis, they are trained to be aware of their native language culture and their English expressions. English teachers are intermediaries and transmitters between Chinese and English cultures. They should not only have a solid language foundation, but also have a good target language and national cultural background, high ideological quality and high cross-cultural communication skills.
4 Analysis of multi-angle strategies for cultivating students’ cultural identity
4.1 Colleges and universities
Creating a cross-cultural context: colleges and universities should focus on creating an artistic conception that cultivates students’ sense of cultural identity in China, building a campus culture with a local cultural atmosphere and strengthening the importance of local culture while disseminating foreign language culture. By adding optional courses on traditional Chinese culture education, or increasing the supplement of Chinese cultural knowledge in foreign language classes, a cross-cultural context is created to help students balance the relationship between mother tongue culture and foreign language culture.
4.2 Teacher
Guiding to Chinese cultural identity: in the process of cultivating students’ sense of cultural identity, teachers should improve their cultural quality and balance the relationship between the two cultures. The attitude of teachers towards culture is bound to affect the cultivation of students’ cultural concepts, so teachers should not only disseminate foreign culture, but also do a good job of inheriting their own national culture. By optimizing teaching methods, collecting traditional Chinese culture and displaying it in the classroom, students are encouraged and guided to enhance their understanding of their own culture while learning English. Assigning extracurricular project tasks that integrate Chinese and Western culture to students to explore and complete also further stimulates students’ interest in local culture.
4.3 Student
Establishing a correct cultural outlook: students should understand that culture is a diverse and dynamic concept, and there are differences and interactions between different cultures. When learning and contacting different cultures, students should maintain an open attitude and respect and appreciate the characteristics and values of different cultures. At the same time, students should also critically think about the source and influence of cultural views, including social background, historical traditions, personal experience and other factors. They should learn to identify and analyze conflicts and contradictions between different cultural views, and seek solutions with an open mind.
In addition, students should learn to self-reflect and examine their own cultural outlook, recognize that personal experience and background have an important influence on the shaping of cultural outlook, and continuously improve their cultural outlook in continuous learning and communication. Students should establish a correct cultural perspective and rationally view the relationship between the two cultures. Whether by actively adopting the essence of foreign culture to belittle their own country’s traditional, or by resisting foreign culture because of nationalism, it is not conducive to the mutual promotion and integration of the two cultures. Students should properly handle the relationship between the two cultures, and establish correct cultural concepts to do a good job of inheriting their own national culture and appropriately accepting foreign cultures.
Conclusions
Due to the close connection between language and culture, philosophical culture has become increasingly prominent in English. In China, with the deepening of reform and opening up, cultural factors in English learning are increasingly important. Attaching importance to cultural identity is an important direction in current English education in China, and many scholars have conducted in-depth discussions on it from different perspectives. However, most of these achievements are aimed at the target culture in English, while the education of philosophical culture is ignored.
In English education, the role of national philosophy and culture from different backgrounds is very important. This is because the existence of different ethnic philosophies and cultures has made English education more diverse and attracted students from different cultural backgrounds to participate. It can help students understand the world more comprehensively and build a broader international perspective. Today, with the continuous improvement of social information technology and economic globalization, a country lacks its own cultural identity, resulting in an imbalance in cultural exchanges between different countries, which is very detrimental to China’s cultural internationalization.
Through an investigation and analysis of the current situation of cultural identity in college English teaching, this article hoped to provide colleges and universities with a focus on understanding their own language in the process of English teaching to actively promote philosophical culture, and establish a sense of cultural identity and cultural self-confidence. This is not only in line with the current needs of improving the soft power of national culture in China, but also in line with the basic thinking of China’s current college education reform.
This article aimed to provide some useful insights for college English learning and teaching. The purpose of this article is to provide some useful insights into English learning and teaching in universities. It described that philosophy and culture are generally not valued by students, and there is a lack of relevant English education policy guidance in philosophy and culture. English education is biased towards the instrumental nature of language, ignoring the cultural nature of language and other phenomena. The article points out that, in the process of English teaching, it is necessary to maximize the advantages of English, adopt various teaching methods, introduce philosophy and culture, and enhance students’ understanding of their own culture.
In order to enhance students’ cultural awareness and confidence, and stimulate their love for Chinese excellent traditions, it can be put into practice to strengthen their core cultural values, thereby enhancing their selectivity towards foreign cultures and deepening their cultural function in school interpersonal communication. By enabling students to understand the breadth and depth of Chinese culture, they can cultivate their interest and hobbies in Chinese culture, thereby driving more people to understand and love it. Through English teaching, students can also understand the diversity of global cultures, so as to cherish their own culture and traditions more, make English teaching a bridge for cultural inheritance and exchange, and make due contributions to cultivating more Chinese students with patriotic feelings and cultural self-confidence.
Resumen: La cuestión hoy en día de la identidad cultural es una manifestación inevitable del progreso económico y social de China en el ámbito de la cultura. Sus raíces se encuentran en el lento desarrollo social de la China moderna y en la invasión de la cultura extranjera, que se manifiesta en la apatía hacia la gran cultura tradicional. El inglés es una lengua internacional de uso común que se habla en todo el mundo. Con la creciente popularidad del inglés, la enseñanza universitaria de este idioma ha acaparado una mayor atención en los últimos años. La filosofía es muy teórica, hipotética y difícil de entender, por lo que los profesores de inglés deben ser hábiles a la hora de movilizar la subjetividad y la creatividad de los alumnos mediante el uso de numerosos y beneficiosos recursos. El inglés es un recurso valioso, y su uso correcto en la identificación cultural puede tener implicaciones educativas imprevistas. En consecuencia, la forma de emplear las ideas de la enseñanza universitaria del inglés para fortalecer la identidad cultural nacional es fundamental para avanzar en el crecimiento general de la enseñanza universitaria del inglés y la construcción de la cultura nacional.
Palabras clave: Pensamiento Educativo Inglés. Cultura Filosófica. Identidad Cultural. Globalización del Inglés.
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Received: 20/05/2023 - Approved: 23/06/2023 – Published: 25/01/2024
[1]Associate professor. School of Foreign Studies, Lingnan Normal University, Zhanjiang, 524048 – China. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7208-1268. E-mail: Ltz_2022@163.com.