What do you think about the role of culture in EFL learning?
In today's world, EFL learners may need to speak English with people who speak many other native languages. When we talk about cultural knowledge that students need to acquire, it seems impossible to understand every other possible culture that may have English speakers.
So I wonder whether we should speak in terms of appreciating other cultures, rather than understanding them.
Mainz, Germany
Dear Marek,
I write as a one-time EFL teacher and as a student of foreign languages and cultures; and I would say that understanding is primary in teaching EFL, though this can hardly be the completely story, since understanding conveys not only language for descriptive purposes but also something of the values associated with elements of language. Without some understanding of the valuational character of language, we wouldn't understand it.
"Accepting" is a somewhat ambiguous word, of course. It might either mean understanding and accepting that some particular group has some particular cultural values--not disputing them merely as different; it might also mean something stronger --buying into those values. Much the same goes for the word "appreciating." If we "appreciate" the values of others, does that mean that we identify with those values and accept them as our own? Or does it mean something like having some understanding or sympathy with the roles of particular values in the lives of some particular group? These strike as very different kinds of questions and attitudes.
I don't see how the EFL teacher can possibly understand or convey the values of every possible speaker of English --insofar as they differ from place to place. But not teaching the valuational meanings of words at all would seem equally impossible. Of course, some variation on values is expected among speakers, whatever their cultural commonalities.
It strikes me you need some examples. How about "leviathan"--which is borrowed from ancient Hebrew, I expect. Could the meaning of this word be adequately taught with no attention to values typically or historically expressed by the use of it? But teaching the valuational meaning need not be a matter of either indoctrinating it or disputing it.
H.G. Callaway
A valuable question to ask, especially against the tumultuous backdrop of the English language.
In a nutshell, appreciating other cultures is probably a more viable alternative for the simple reason that it is possible. Understanding other cultures, on the other hand, is a beautiful ideal that is not necessarily attainable. In fact, even when one thinks cultural understanding has been attained, the potential for misunderstanding remains. (This is, of course true, even withing one's own culture thanks to the variability human nature!)
Yes, indeed, appreciating other cultures, with a sense of wonder at the unfathomable mysteries between cultures (and individuals), is perhaps the more satisfying route on which to travel.
I have a 20-year-plus L2 exerience in English. You konw what, the more I learn English, the more I cherish my mother tongue. As for the question brought up, my personal view is that to communicate smoothly with native speakers of an L2, you definitely have to understand their culture, otherwise you may run into troubles of various sorts in communcation, this seems to be a truism. However, to understand a culture does not entail to accept a culture, I mean in an all-embracing, total fashion. If you accept an L2 culture indiscriminately, you risk losing your very idendity, and that is the last thing an L2 learner wants to become, at least for me. So in a word, understand an L2 culture to affect successful communication, and accept what you believe to be true or acceptable of that culture and maintain your own autonomy.
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