Research on the Dilemmas and Optimization Paths of Integrating Traditional Culture into Junior High School English Teaching from the Perspective of Cultural Confidence

Abstract

From the perspective of cultural confidence, integrating China's fine traditional culture into junior high school English teaching is
the key to solving the "Chinese cultural aphasia." However, empirical research in this area remains limited. This study explored the existing
problems and improving suggestion of the integration through the sight of cultural confidence. This study has three research questions: (1)
What is the existing situation? (2) What are students' interests and difficulties? (3) What challenges do students and teachers face with? This
study adopted a mixed approach to conduct a questionnaire survey in Wufeng county, Yichang City, and carried out semi-structured interviews. The results show that the features of integration are low frequency, narrow themes and few activities. Students have a high willingness
to learn English, a strong interest in learning, but a relatively low learning ability. The content of the teaching materials is insufficient, and
teachers are restricted by time, resources and systematic activities. Research suggests that the main challenges faced by students include insufficient vocabulary, weak expression ability and lack of teaching support. It theoretically enriches the research on cultural confidence in English teaching. In practice, it offers feasible strategies to bridge students' high willingness and low ability, and cultivate cultural confidence and
intercultural competence.