Search

Cultivating Cultural Awareness: Teaching Strategies for Junior High School English Reading Teaching

Author(s)

Kaixuan Lan

Affiliation(s)

School of Foreign Languages, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, Shandong, China

Abstract

Against the backdrop of globalization and booming cross-cultural communication, cultivating students’ cultural awareness has become a core task in junior high school English teaching. The Compulsory Education English Curriculum Standards (2022 Edition) has also listed cultural awareness as one of the key competencies of the English subject. Even so, current English reading classes in junior high schools have obvious drawbacks: formalized cultural teaching goals, monotonous teaching methods and inadequate integration of traditional Chinese culture. This study selects the reading text Food across Borders from Unit 3 of Grade 7 Volume 2, published by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, as a research case. It discusses how to improve students’ cultural awareness through English reading classes, and illustrates the educational significance of such cultivation work. Three core guidelines are summarized in this paper, namely appropriateness, gradual progression and interest integration. Combined with real classroom practice, the author also designs a full range of teaching methods for pre-class preparation, in-class reading and after-class expansion. These methods focus on textbook interpretation, background knowledge activation, in-depth text reading and diverse cultural extension activities. The findings of this research can offer practical guidance for junior high school English teachers, and also contribute to improving students’ intercultural skills and overall academic literacy.

Keywords

Junior High School English; Reading Teaching; Cultural Awareness; Core Competencies; Teaching Strategies; Case Analysis

References

[1] X. Fang, F. Wu. Practical Exploration of Cultivating Students’ Cultural Awareness by Using Textbook Contents. Foreign Language Teaching in Schools (Primary), 2024, 47(12):7-12. [2] Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. Compulsory Education English Curriculum Standards (2022 Edition). People’s Education Press, 2022. [3] X. Y. Mu. Exploring Cultural Knowledge in Textbooks to Cultivate Students Cultural Awareness. Foreign Language Teaching in Schools (Middle School), 2022, 45(8):55-60. [4] Q. Wang. Strategies for Cultivating Students Cultural Awareness in Junior High School English Reading Teaching. Foreign Language Teaching in Schools (Middle School), 2022, 5(5):1-6. [5] R. X. Zhu. Teaching Design of Junior High School English Reading Based on Cultural Awareness Cultivation. Basic Foreign Language Education, 2022, 2(2):67-73. [6] X. L. Chen, C. L. He, H. Zhang. Theoretical Perspectives and Paths of Exploring Cultural Contents in Compulsory Education English Textbooks. Basic Foreign Language Education, 2024, 26(5):12-23+109. [7] Z. Z. Zhou. How to Implement Cultural Teaching in Junior High School English Reading Classes. Foreign Language Teaching in Schools (Middle School), 2015, 38(11):1-7. [8] Y. X. Jiang. Integrating Traditional Chinese Cultural Elements into Junior High School English Teaching — A Case Study of Reading Passage Two Cities in China in Unit 1, Grade 9 Volume 2 (Yilin Oxford English Edition). English Pictorial, 2023, 1(1):70-72. [9] K. M. Sun. Analysis on Cultivation Strategies of Cultural Awareness in Junior High School English Reading Teaching — Taking Yilin Press English Textbooks as an Example. Middle School Students English, 2021, 40(40):56-57. [10] X. H. Shi. Practical Exploration on Cultivating Students Cultural Awareness from the Perspective of Unit Teaching. Foreign Language Teaching in Schools (Middle School), 2023, 46(8):1-7.