Different literature may reflect different cultures， and different cultures also influence different literature. Culture teaching in English teaching is optimal for intermediate and advanced stage of English learning， especially for the English major. People from different cultural background have different life styles， customs， think ways and value views. There are many cultural differences in many aspects between Chinese and west countries， for instance， greeting， valediction， dinner proprieties and so on. So， we should firstly learn about their cultural background before we communicate with them. Knowing the importance of culture teaching， we should learn how to teach culture in English teaching. We should leading in some culture in classroom teaching. In reading literary texts， Students have also to cope with language intended for native speakers and thus they gain familiarity with many different linguistic uses， forms and conventions. The thesis is concerned with the situation and method of the teaching of culture into the classroom. More specifically， some consideration will be given to the why and how of teaching culture.

１．Culture teaching plays an important role in English teaching

Language is a part of culture and plays a very important role in it. Some social scientists consider it the keystone of culture. Without language， they maintain， culture would not be possible. On the other hand， language is influence and shaped by culture; it reflects culture. In the broadest sense， language is the symbolic representation of a people， and it comprised their historical and cultural backgrounds as well as their approach to life and their ways of living and thinking. Learning a language is inseparable from learning its culture. And if you want to master the language， literature is another important role. Both language and literature， they can not take off the culture. That is to say， learn the ways in which the foreign language reflects the ideas， customs and behavior of that society. Learning to understand their “l(fā)anguage of the mind”. We need to learn enough about the language and literature’s culture so that we can communicate in the target language properly to achieve not only the linguistic competence as well. In that case as English major we can learn English literature well. This is of great significance in learning a foreign language. Otherwise the ignorance of cultural difference as seen in the previous sections can create barriers in learning the target language and in communication， thus causing some unnecessary misunderstandings and confusions sometimes.

２．The significance of culture teaching for English major

Literature offers an outstanding way of promoting multicultural understandings. Selected novels present people of different cultures experiencing emotions and solving the problems they face. Student readers can respond to the ideas presented by each author as they gradually develop empathetic feelings fir people and their needs though vicarious sharing. For us English major， we master some basic skills， such as listening， speaking， reading and writing but ignore the culture factures. English major has learned language several years and Language is closely related to culture. Language expresses and embodies cultural reality. If we are in different countries， we must know their cultures， thus， we can use the language freely. On the other hand， language， as a product of culture， helps perpetuate the culture， and the changes in language uses reflect the culture changes in return. People who learn language mostly aim at communication. If we only learn some basic language technology and ignore the background and connotation of the language we have learned， we can not communicate with native English speakers accurately and inerrant. So we English major should pay attention to the culture teaching through English literature.

３．How to make culture teaching though English teaching

Culture teaching is a good way to help students to study English. We cannot truly master the language until we have also mastered the cultural contexts. That is to say， we should truly master the English culture when we are learning English. And how to increase students’ cultural awareness becomes more and more important in culture teaching in English teaching.

In fact， the narrow sense meaning is more apt to culture teaching. According to the narrow sense meaning， culture is a kind of social heritage which people have created for a long time. Language and culture have intimate relations， that is， every kind of language has its own deep cultural connotation and every language is the image of a certain kind of culture.|f People who learn language mostly aim at communication. If we only learn some basic language technology and ignore the background and connotation of the language we have learned， we can not communicate with native English speakers accurately and inerrant.We should leading in some culture in literature classroom teaching.we should study the cultural connotation of the vocabulary which we learned. We should also take some practice to learn culture in English teaching.

作者簡介：

薛菲（1982-），女，本科，煙臺(tái)南山學(xué)院教師，助教，研究方向：英語教育。