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In foreign countries, the study has been given special attention, especially in the cross-culture communication area, so does in home.
In 1988, Zhuang zhixiang(Zhuang,1988) translated into Chinese one article entitled Culture and Reading Comprehension, which was written by a Pakistan writer named Syed Muhammad Abdur Rauf and published in English Teaching Forum. This article illustrates the effects of culture on reading comprehension from the perspective of language and culture and introduces some methods to teach culture in classroom. Later, some other teachers, such as Lijie, Dong hongchuan, on the basis of their own teaching practice, that cultural differences have a great impact on students’EFL reading comprehension. Dong hongchuan(Dong,1993:82-87) considers the cultural factors in British and American literature as the major obstacles hindering students’ comprehension and appreciation.
II. The Cultural Difference Languages
2.1 The Relationship Between Language and Culture
A survey of language and culture will also provide some insights into the teaching of EFL reading comprehension. Language is the principal means whereby we conduct our social lives. When it is used in contexts of communication, it is bound up with culture in multiple and complex ways.
According to Claire Karsh (2001), language expresses, embodies and symbolizes cultural realities. Some social scientists consider it the keystone of culture. Without language, they maintain, culture would not be possible. On the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture; it reflects culture. Therefore, language can help people express their understanding of the world and attitudes towards the world; language can record the development of a nation and a society. People can learn culture left behind by their ancestors through the acquisition of languages, so language becomes the embodiment of culture.
The meaning of a word is not absolute in any language; it is conditioned by social conventions. Language is a “perfect symbolism of experience.” The psychologist Osgood maintains that the full meaning of a word for an inpidual is the result of experience that he has with that word in the cultural milieu in which he has grown up. Because of this interrelationship between language and culture, it is difficult to establish exact equivalence between words and expressions in two languages. Even if the, words sometimes correspond in denotation, and they may vary in connotation, or emotional associations they arouse. The very meaning that words have depends greatly on its corresponding culture.
In conclusion, Language is the product of a society. It is the carrier and mirror of the culture of the society. Culture and language are inseparably intertwined. Different languages represent different cultural details. On the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture. Language itself is a part of spiritual culture, just like the habits and customs.