Most teachers agree that teaching the culture of native-speaking countries is valuable, but how MUCH should this be done? Do you have a percentage in mind or other ways of saying how much of the course should be about culture?
And how does this fit in with the multi-cultural or meta-cultural perspective and rationale for learning the other language?
Has your perspective changed over time?
Dear Mike,
I used to teach 20% of my English teaching time about culture and I am happy with it. The reason being that, most cultural elements can also be highlighted based on lesson per se, be it listening, speaking or others.
This 20% is directly about culture and historical aspects that are associated with language items concerned. If I would go by overall percentage, I would say that it is nearly 40%-50% of it!
In a multi-cultural classroom in Malaysia, this is not a major challenge as exposure to culture and lifestyle of English speaking communities can also be enhanced from television, the internet, printed materials and etc.
But now, I think it is about time that we teach cross-cultural communication across border as a stand-alone subject.
In the intercultural approach of language teaching, not only teaching the culture of native-speaking countries is valuable but the local culture as well.
I think its depend. I think that English itself contain and about the culture. Hence teaching English is a foreign language the local people and Government can decide exactly that what are their needs and requirements, further the teacher also consider it that how much is required.
I have taught English as a Foreign Language in Ukraine and English as a Second language on the State side. In both situations, I have found that the knowledge of culture has always assisted students in understanding why a certain phrase may be used as it is.
An example could be "on their wedding day" - for some cultures (i.e. Eurasian) this is not a single day event. This is just a tiny example and does not apply to all, but it is one that comes to mind. These type of phrases kept "emerging" as I taught, then I realized what I was omitting in the process of the teaching of English. So, I would go with the 20% - 25%. I also made sure that the cultural aspect was interweaved so that the upcoming language lesson could integrate what they learned about the culture. Additionally, I ask them to share their culture information which gains respect - and as a teacher, that never hurts - Plus, I'm curious to learn.... so it is sincere when I open the floor for them to share.
The culture and language are strongly interconnected. Therefore, the knowledge of culture helps students better understand language and vice versa. As for the percentage, I believe it depends on the topic of the lesson. The curriculum permitting, several lessons can be dedicated to cultural differences and similarities.
In my view, it depends on the level of the students and the eventual aim of the curriculum concerning the issue of culture. It needs to be taught in a way not to be considered as a separate topic. I mean it should be interwoven with the content of the lesson. Also, the textbook that the teacher chooses for this purpose is also important as it should be the one which raises students's cultural understanding.
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