Culture Teaching in the Foreign Language Classroom

Abstract：In the era of globalization， mastering a foreign language has become a necessary skill for students. Since culture and language are interwoven， successful foreign language learning depends on ones knowledge of the target culture to a large extent. The present paper proposes ways for promoting language learners cultural competence from perspectives of the learner， teacher and teaching methodologies.

Key words：EFL； culture teaching； classroom

中圖分類號：H319 文獻標識碼：A 文章編號：1672-1578（2018）01-0003-02

1 Introduction

In the age of globalization， a foreign language has become a necessary skill for students all over the world. There are many aspects in language learning， such as knowledge of lexis and grammar， but culture should not go unnoticed for it is intrinsically connected with the successful learning of the language. Numerousresearchers and language teachers， therefore， hold that culture is a crucial part of language learning. For example， Bennett[1] calls an individual who learns a language without culture a “fluent fool”， which refers to one who speaks a foreign language well but has no understanding of the social and philosophical content of the language. According to Brown[2]， a culture and language are closely related with each other and both are of great significance to our life.

In this sense， teaching culture in foreign language classrooms should be established as a norm in the syllabus. It has to be， nonetheless， noted that the curriculum should not be designed for“enculturation”which means “the assimilation of learners into the host culture” but for “acculturation” which means“the process by which learners are encouraged to function within the new culture while maintaining their own culture.”[3]

2 Culture and Communicative Competence

Definitions for “culture” vary in respect to different perspectives. According to Davis， it is “an important survival strategy that is passed down from one generation to another through the process of enculturation and socialization， a type of road map that serves as sense making device that guides and shapes behavior”.[4]According to Ke and Chavez，“A common definition of culture characterizes it as the sum

of rules or ways of doing and thinking within a social group”.[5]

Despite the diversity of definitions of “culture”， there is an indisputable fact that culture is composed of a various elements such as social values， norms， customs， myths， traditions， religions， legends， history， and so on. And it is closely related to peoples understanding of the world and their communicative competence. As Kramsch has noticed：endprint

Culture in language learning is not an expendable fifth skill， tacked on， so to speak， to the teaching of speaking， listening， reading， and writing.It is always in the background， right from day one， ready to unsettle the good language learners when they expect it least， making evident the limitations of their hard-won communicative competence， challenging their ability to make sense of the world around them.[6]

Culture is not only an indispensable part of the verbal communication but also of non-verbal communication. In verbal communication， pronunciation， lexis， phonology， ways of address， routines of greetings， formulas and ways to ask questions and so on represent ones cultural knowledge. In non-verbal interaction， cultural knowledge refers to proxemics， kinesics， haptics and paralanguage.[7]

Language is not an “autonomous construct”but social practice both creating and created by “the structures and forces of [the] social institutions within which we live and function”.[8] Therefore， in order to foster ones communicative competence， it does not suffice to develop language proficiency， but also cultural knowledge.

3 Culture Teaching in Foreign Language Classroom

In EFL classrooms， the culture behind the language has also to be the focus of attention. How to promote language learners cultural competence has been， in the past decade or so， a hot issue either in the sphere of teaching practice or academic research. In the present paper， the issue is suggested to be approached from the following three perspectives.

3.1 Cultivating the Cultural Awareness of Learners

The first step for promoting language learners cultural competence is to cultivate their automatic cultural awareness during the process of learning. One major objective of the language classroom is to make students aware of the cultural differences among languages. In Straubs[9] idea，when teaching culture， teachers should always raise the students awareness of their culture and give them some sort of meta-language in order to help themable to talk about culture[ibid.： 5].Cultural awareness could help the learners establish a psychological schema to draw the similarities and distinctions of cultures， which can provide an insiders view toward the target culture which enables them learn the language in a more native way.

3.2 Developing Cultural Competence of Teachers

The language teacher should be the one who guides culture learning in the classroom. He/she should be culturally competent to direct the class， and be sensitive to students needs， interests and preferences. Gay[10] summarizes that a teacher will need the following three aspects of competence in order to be culturally responsive：（a） academic achievement；endprint

（b） cultural competence； and （c） sociopolitical consciousness.

3.3 Adopting Methodologies and Techniques for Culture

Teaching

In the EFL classrooms where authentic language contexts is not available，modern techniques and teaching methodologies are preferred ways for developing students cultural competence. For example， role-plays in the class could help students overcome cultural “fatigue” and it promotes the process of cross-cultural dialogues while at the same time it provides opportunities for oral communication.Other techniques such as readings， films， simulation， games，culture assimilators， culture capsules and culturgrams can be used for language teacher to assist them in the process of acculturation in the classroom.[11] In computer-based modern language classrooms， cultural knowledge could be taught in an audio-visual way. Digital tools， such as Power Point presentations， Microsoft Movie Maker and video clips and so on could provide impressive and vivid stimuli for the students. In this case， teachers could encourage constructivist learning in class by applying the digital tools in group-work tasks.

4 Conclusion

Culture and language are interwoven， and the successful language learning depends on ones cultural knowledge to a large extent. The present paper proposes three ways for promoting students cultural competence. Firstly， through raising the cultural awareness， students are able to see the similarities and differences among different cultures. Then， by promoting cultural competence， teachers can handle the classroom with better responsiveness. Finally， with the help of modern technologies， language classrooms could become computer-based， and audio-visual methods could be fully incorporated in class activities.

References：

[1] Bennett， J. M. Cultural marginality： Identity issues in intercultural training. In R. M. Paige （Ed.）， Education for the Intercultural Experience[M].Yarmouth， ME： Intercultural Press.1993：109-135.

[2] Brown，D.H.Principles of Language Learning and Teaching[J].Englewood Cliffs： New Jersey.1994.

[3] Corbett， J.An Intercultural Approach to English Language Teaching[M]. Clevedon： Multilingual Matters Ltd.2003.

[4] Davis， S. M.Managing Corporate Culture[J].Cambridge， MA： Ballinger Press.1984.

[5] Ke， F. F. and Chavez， A. F. Web-Based Teaching and Learning Across Culture and Age[J]. New York：Springer Science and Business Media.2013.

[6] Kramsch， C. Context and Culture in Language Teaching[J]. Oxford： OxfordUniversity Press.1993.

[7] Hesar， M.P， Konca， M.Y， and Zarfsaz， E.Why and how to apply culture in an EFL classroom[M].IPEDR， 2012，33：68-72.

[8] Fairclough， N.Language and Power[M].London： Longman.1989.

[9] Straub， H. Designing a Cross-Cultural Course[M].English Forum， vol.1999，37：3.

[10] Gay， G. Preparing for culturally responsive teaching[J]. Journal of Teacher Education， 2002，53（2）：106-116.

[11] Chastain， K. Developing Second Language Skills： Theory to Practice（3rd Edition）[M].San Diego： Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.1988.

作者簡介：高維，外國語言學及應用語言學專業(yè)博士，研究方向：第二語言習得。endprint