In the past, teaching about native speaker culture was challenging for teachers who had never lived in that culture. Today we know that learning English is not only about interacting with native speakers, but also interacting with anyone who does not share your mother tongue.
How important is learning about culture? Which culture(s)? For example, in English, you could say that Americans, British, and Australians all have differences in their cultures, not just in their pronunciation of words.
I am not a language teacher, but just a reflection. I think that stimulating / provoking /developing students tolerance and broadmindedness is very important, and this is not only the language teacher's mission. Culture and cultural differences takes lifetimes to learn to understand, and some never get it. I think it is little use to teach a student from Sweden special tips and tricks to appear as an Australian fror example - he is a Swede and recognised and tolerated as such, and if he is broadminded and constantly re-evaluating and learning when coming into new situations, that helps a lot.
Crucial. Having no sets of cultural referents for one's foreign language skills means that you master some fake language, a platonic idea hanging in nothingness - or just a mechanical skill that you can use to understand some fridge user's guides.
Indeed, culture has a bearing on the manner in which students learn a second/foreign language. For instance, in Malaysia, we comprise of Malays, Chinese and Indians. These diverse composition of students are vital to be taken into consideration when pedagogy/learning outcomes are planned. Effective learning is established when diversity of students are observed in the teaching and learning process.
I think the teaching culture should embrace cultural diversity by allowing students to explore and share their cultural backgrounds. Sometimes, when students understand their cultural heritage they become even more stimulated to learn the foreign langauge that their great grandparents spoke. However, when the teaching culture does not have balance in equitable representing the cultural diversity of today's classrooms, the teaching of a foreign language can be treated as second class and not as important as the one of the dominant culture existing in the teaching culture. The following article can shed light on the latter point:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297909560_Workforce_Education_and_Development_WED_Graduate_Students%27_Perceptions_of_Cultural_Insensitivity_in_Classroom_Teaching_-_A_Mixed_Methods_Study_C%27bean_Educational_Research_Journal_31_27-43?ev=prf_pub
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263045894_Generation_I_International_and_invisible_in_a_workforce_education_and_development_graduate_programme_content_Caribbean_Teaching_Scholar_Vol_4_No_1_April_2014?ev=prf_pub
Best regards,
Debra
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I don't think that you can teach a foreign language without teaching its culture. The culture is represented in the language: vocabulary, language structures. it's a way of seeing the world. I teach languages and I am still fascinated by how much cutural information is embedded in each word or the amazing idioms of each language!
I had a filosofy's teacher that one day said on class about Kant, " if Enmanuel were seated in this classroom I wouldn't say anything here so easy". I share this because I believe it shows the respect for the non-well-known culture, and even be able to incarnate it, as much as teacher can. That could be the role, otherwise we were teaching just words and grammar structures
I believe that teaching the English language doesn’t need the English culture neither the American nor the Brazilian.
Culture teaching hinders the learning process of the language itself. Once Eng. Language teaching was traumatic especially for pupils who are far away from the target culture i.e. English/ American/ Australian because culture makes the identity and it is the major component of the identity. Alienating the native culture traumatizes the identity and this weakens the pupil’s confidence of himself and hinders the teaching process.
The teacher needs to put extra effort on teaching aspects for none sense while it might be more fluent to teach the same aspect of language while using the pupil’s culture not the target culture. The boundary of the culture will be deleted here and this strategy empowers teaching the language efficiently. I always try to give the example of teaching directions and prepositions. It’s easier for the pupil to speak about his environment and the places he knows and likes. We can teach the directions about the pupil’s city center not London’s center. This strategy lessens the difficulty of knowing the places’ names while the language aspect is taught thoroughly and the pupil feels proud not only for using the vocabulary item correctly but for speaking about his local environment. Moreover his culture is not alienated in the teaching process.
Another interdisciplinary method might be used, a school-involved program; the geography teacher teaches about the target culture sites and the history teacher teaches the history of that country/language, or the English teacher himself teaches those subjects by using the native language whenever needed to explain cultural aspects.
This is an interesting aspect of teaching ESL, important as culture might be in leaning a second/foreign language but the question is what culture are we talking about here? English language is widely spoken across the globe; and learners are more likely to use English with other non native speakers than native speakers. knowledge of other cultures is important, but need not be attached to learning, it can be done as an independent studies. What need to be focused as far as language is concerning, in my view is developing learners competencies about language registers so that learners are able to use language appropriately as is demanded by situations.
This is how any language learner will strive to do, and once this is achieved then cultural differences may not play a role in communication barriers. This is because, a Chinese, will use the language in the same way a Mexican will, and so will Moroccan, Vietnamese, you name it.
I agree with learning something about the culture is crucial for anyone wanting to become educated. The ability " ..to use language appropriately as is demanded by situations" is informed by cultural knowledge. For example, different English words are used based on regional culture throughout the US; the use of "Sir", "Ma'am" and "Mr./Mrs." is often used and/or expected in the Southern states (but not limited to) when speaking to someone older than oneself but is not so common in other parts of the country.
Hi there
I agree with every word you've said, BUT when the cultural aspects burdens on the shoulder of the learner espacially when he is a week user of it and is not exposed to the language efficiently, it makes the learning prossess impossible. we must be ware of many types of learners, they are not always brilliant as the theory wants, there are plenty of them who are hindered even with wierd spellings of people's or cities' names. let's be real and don't speak up always about theories.
So, I really believe that it is very important to know about the culture and all the cultures but on the learners pace, not the theory's. Giving him the opportunity to study cultural issues alone at home in his native language is the ideal way for starting teaching the issue in a very simplified English language.
The learner neads a real ground to rely on, when he is not aware of the word function, he will be misled and distracted.
My thoughts of culture and language. It is virtually impossible to know the language of a given group of people without also knowing about their culture, including how people self-identify and their multiple cultural identities. One can learn a language but one also must understand the cultural context in which the language evolved and is still evolving.
Culture and language are integrally linked. Culture is encoded in language through forms of expression, communication preferences and the way words are used. Values, beliefs, and attitudes and a broad array of nuances are enmeshed in words and symbols, forming the base of knowledge and a system for communicating within every culture.
The ability to use words to represent ideas, concepts, etc. allows people to build world knowledge and an effective system to communicate. Using language, one can express thoughts, feelings and preferences and comprehend others.
Language is socially constructed. Shared patterns and codes of behavior form a group culture; a way of being. However, culture is porous and socially constructed – learned from others, shaped by events and shared experiences, conventions for social interaction and the environment.
To have culture is indeed human nature, but no specific culture is human nature. Different words for concepts such as “water” or “chair” are easily translatable across cultures because there are objects to reference; concepts such as “mother love,” “death,” and “sickness” are another thing entirely, because each of these is packed with cultural connotations that are unique, abstract, and difficult to translate. Much of culture, in fact the most important part, exists in people’s minds and is invisible!
The relationship between culture and language is dynamic. Culture influences one’s worldview and the interpretation of the realities one experiences. New words are created from new realities. Similarly, existing words and expressions acquire new meanings: five years ago “9/11” was just a way of writing a date. Today this term has significant, different connotations for people, both in the United States and throughout the world. Because culture and experience are not static, language is not static; it is constantly evolving.
The above statements are excerpts from:
Gilbert, M.J., Partida, Y., Goode, T., & Dunne, C. (2005) Process of Inquiry— Communicating in a Multicultural Environment. From the Curricula Enhancement Module Series. Washington, DC: National Center for Cultural Competence, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development.
Access the module by clicking this link and registering.
http://nccc.georgetown.edu/curricula/index.html
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