华北理工大学河北唐山063000
【Abstract】Sociolinguisticsisabranchoflinguisticsthatstudieslanguagemainlythroughfocusingonthesocialfactors.ThisstudymethodgreatlyaffectstheteachingofEnglish,especiallytheteachingofculturalknowledgeandthecultivationofstudents’communicativeability,whichindicatesthatEnglishteachingandstudymustbeconnectedwithsocialfactors.
【KeyWords】sociolinguistics；culture；Englishteaching；relationship
1.TheoreticalFoundation
1.1DefinitionofSociolinguisticsandItsStudyObject
Therearetwoaspectsinthestudyofsociolinguistics:oneexplainsthelanguagefromsociety,andtheotherexplainsthesocietyfromlanguage.Thestudyobjectofsociolinguisticsisnotmerelythelanguagebutthespeech.
1.2SecondLanguageAcquisition
Comparedwithnativelanguage,thesecondlanguageacquisitionreferstolearningandmasteringaforeignlanguagebasedonmothertongueeducation.Foreignlanguagelearningnotmerelyneedstolearnvariousstructuresandexpressions,butlearnhowtousecorrespondingformsandstylesunderdifferentcircumstancesofrealsocialintercourse.
Theform,meaninganddistributionoftheirmothertongueandculturetothesecondlanguageareoftentransplantedbythesecondlanguagelearners,therefore,toteachandlearnthesecondlanguagewell,itisnecessarytocompareandstudythetwodifferentcultures.
Theanalysisfromtheperspectiveofsocietynotonlyplaysthedueroleinthesecondlanguageacquisition,butalsoisofgreatimportancetothetheoryconstructionofsociolinguistics.
2.TheRelationshipbetweenSociolinguisticsandEnglishTeaching
IthasbeenalongtimetoexplorethecloserelationshipbetweenEnglishteachingandsociolinguistics,forexample,in2017,YangYonglinindicatedthatfromtheperspectiveoftheory,thevarianttheoryfirstlycreatedbyLabovfromtheperspectiveofsociolinguisticsprovidesaneffectivereferenceforEnglishteaching.Furthermore,thestudyscopeispronouncedlyenlargedfromtheusagestudyoflanguagetotheinfluenceofculturalenvironmentonthelanguage,whichissimilartothestudyscopeofEnglishteaching.Finally,accordingtoworkspublished,thepublicationofSociolinguisticsandSecondLanguageAcquisitionwrittenbyPrestonandMultidimensionalView:SociolinguisticsandEnglishTeachingwrittenbyWolfsonandotherworksrelatedtoEnglishteachingandsociolinguisticsstronglyindicatethatthecontactbetweenEnglishteachingandsociolinguisticsisincreasinglyclose.Therefore,theexplorationontheimpactofsociolinguisticsisveryimportanttoimprovetheEnglishteachingquality,broadenthechannelsofEnglishteachingandacquirethehigh-qualityteachingefficiency.
3.TheInfluenceofSociolinguisticsonEnglishTeaching
Englishteachinghasacloserelationshipwithlinguisticswhichisabasictheoryoflinguistics.Amongmanybranchesoflinguistics,theapplicationsoflinguistics,sociolinguistics,pragmaticsandsoonhavegreatinfluenceonlanguageteaching(XieBangxiu,2003).
Sociolinguistictheoryemphasizestheapplicationoflanguage,highlightsthecommunicativeabilityandobjectsthestudyonthelanguageseparatedfromsocialculturebecauseeverykindoflanguagereflectsacertaincultureandhasprofoundculturalconnotation.Ifthelanguageiscomparedtothetrees,thecultureistheforest.Ifthelanguageisonlyfocusedonandtheculturethatthelearnedlanguagelivesonisnotunderstood,itisjustliketheconditionthatthetreesonlycanbeseenratherthantheforest,so,itisdifficulttofullyunderstandandcorrectlyusethelanguage(XieBangxiu,2003).Richknowledgeofsocietyandculturecanreinforcetheabilitytounderstandandusethelanguage;thetwoareinseparablyinterconnected.Therefore,itisnecessarythatthesocialandculturalelementsshouldbeintroducedintoEnglishteaching.
SocioculturalfactorsgreatlyaffectstheteachingofEnglishlistening,speaking,vocabulary,readingandtranslation.Richculturalbackgroundknowledgeisanecessaryconditiontoimprovelistening,teachersencouragestudentstodomorepracticesandlistentoEnglishmore,andintroducetheculturalbackgroundknowledgetostudentsintheclass.InoralEnglishteaching,exceptfromteachingstudentstocorrectlyapplytheformoflanguage,teachersshouldheptocultivatetheabilityofstudentstousetherightlanguageintherightoccasion.Vocabularyisalsoassociatedwithculture;justastherearemanyculturally-loadedwordswithnationalcolorsinChinese(suchas“MountTai”,“ZhugeLiang”,andsoon.),therearealsomanywordsandphraseswithrichculturalmeaningsinEnglish(suchas“adultbooks”and“suburbaninhabitants”andsoon).Teacherscanletstudentsunderstandtheculturalmeaningsofthewordsandphrases.Readingisacomplexprocessofthinkingthatthelanguage,culturalbackgroundandotherprofessionalknowledgetakeeffect,andtheprocessofapplyingtheknowledgetoconstantlycarryoutthespeculationandcorrection.Culturalbackgroundknowledgenotmerelyreinforcestheknowledgeteaching,butencouragesstudentstodeepenandstrengthentheunderstandingofthecultureofEnglish-speakingcountryinreadingaswell.Translationisnotonlyaproblemaboutlanguageandtranslationskills,butalsoiscloselylinkedwith,greatlyinfluencedandrestrictedbyculturalbackgroundknowledge.Tomakethetranslationsmooth,firstly,athoroughunderstandingoftheoriginalworkmustbedonebythetranslator,thenheorsheexpressesthethingsunderstoodbyhimorherinanotherlanguage.So,theunderstandingofthesocio-culturalbackgroundisanindispensablecondition.
Asanemerginginterdisciplinarysubject,sociolinguisticsdoesnotdevelopforalongtime,butithasagreateffectonthecontentsandmethodsofEnglishteaching,andEnglishteachingalsodrawsinspirationfromit;somemodernteachingmethodsaregenerated(GaoZhengheng,2006).
4.Conclusion
Astheresultofsocialprogress,everlanguagefullyreflectsthemeaningofrealculture,andeverylinkinlanguageisofgreatimportancetolife.Languagelearningcanbeviewedasanadvancedactivity,andwhenwecombinelanguagewithculture,itisthebeststatusforustolearnlanguage.
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