Study on Culture Input in EFL Classroom-2019年文档

Study on Culture Input in EFL Classroom

：As it is commonly agreed that language shoule be taught in the context of culture, what kind of culture to be chosen, how to provide relevant culture input in EFL classroom deserve teachers’ attention. This essay tries to put forward some useful implications for teaching language along with culture in EFL classroom based on the review of the language-culture relationship and the nature of English as an international language.

1 Introduction

Crystal (1997) points out that English gains a special position as either an official language or a school subject to study as a global language in over seventy countries. With the spread of English, there arises a question of teaching culture with language in English class. In this respect, English Language Teaching (ELT) materials emphasize on teaching English in a cultural context (Byram and Fleming, 1998; Byram and Risager, 1999; Lange and Paige, 2003 as cited in Nault, 2006). These textbooks usually approach native English-speaking cultures with the notion that learning English involves gaining knowledge of native

English-speaking cultures. Given the fact that more and more people speak and write English in the world regardless of national borders, a learning of native English-speaking culture has begun to be questioned. We can surmise that students may study British culture to gain better grade in the British-based Cambridge exam.

This paper deals with the teaching of English with culture, as an International language, and this topic is mainly explored by considering three aspects: the relationship between culture and language, the spread of English, and the teaching of culture alongside English in an EFL classroom.

2 Relationship between Culture and Language

2.1 Definition of Culture

To understand the relationship between culture and language, it is first necessary to define what culture is. Hofstede (1984) as cited in Nault (2006) regards culture as the total mental concepts which make it possible to tell social groups apart from each other. Culture is defined more broadly by Marsella (1994) as cited in Samovar and Porter (2004: 32) as follows:‘Culture is shared learned behavior which is transmitted from one generation to

another for purpose of promoting individual and social survival, adaptation, and growth and development. Culture has both external (e.g., artifacts, roles, institutions) and internal representations(e.g., values,

attitudes,beliefs,cognitive/ affective/ sensory styles, co nsciousness patterns, and epistemologies)’ (Marsella, 1994: 166-167). Based on this definition, culture is passed on from ancestors to descendants for encouraging social subsistence through communication between people who share the common culture. At the same time, culture includes not only practical actions but also mental factors which affect the thoughts and beliefs of members of society. 2.2 Language and Culture

Kramsch (1998: 3) points out three roles of language in relation to culture. At first, he refers to ‘language expressing cultural reality,’ which means that people use words to share their common knowledge, viewpoints and thoughts. Second, ‘language embodies cultural reality,’ which means that members of society appropriate meanings by using various kinds of communication mediums such as mass media or direct dialogue, writing and reading. Finally, he states that ‘language symbolizes cultural identity’,

therefore regarding language as a symbol, which represents social identity and cultural value. Language makes it possible for people in common culture to express themselves, and accumulate and consider realities within their cultural boundaries.

3 English in the world

3.1 Different Role of English

According to Kachru (1989) as cited in Crystal (1997: 53-54), there are three different circles of classification, depending on the role of English: (a) the ‘Inner Circle’, in which English is a native language (ENL) such as in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom;

(b) the ‘Outer Circle’, in which English is a second language(ESL) such as in Singapore, India and the Philippines;(c) the ‘Expanding Circle’, in which English is taught as a foreign language (EFL) such as in China, Japan and Korea. However, Graddol (1997) as cited in McKay (2002) points out that today the position of English is changing in many Outer Circle and Expanding Circle countries because more and more people use English for a wider international communication. Thus, it is hard to classify clearly between those for whom English is their

mother tongue or their second language.

In an EFL situation, there is already at least one other language as a first language thus English is not used in daily life. There are two kinds of situation in which English is learned in EFL. First, English is taught as a school subject and learning English in the classroom has a little to do with English in the real world (Tomlinson, 2005 as cited in Hinkel, 2005). Second, students learn English for specific purposes. In this case, English is used for trading, traveling abroad, reporting scientific and technological researches and academic studies (Widdowson, 1997).

3.2 English as an International Language (EIL)

The necessity for a global language is considered with increasing international trade, forum for political communication, academic and business meeting and conversation over the Internet. The language of people who are influential in economy, technology and culture can be a medium of international communication. Crystal (2003) notes that today we have more non-native English speakers than native speakers and suggests the need to newly define English, as World English, as appropriate to the current

world situation. 4 EIL with Culture

It is readily accepted that we must take the American and British culture as the target culture to learn English language (Sardi, 2003 as cited in Nault, 2006). However, English is not the first language in only America and Britain. There are other countries which use English as their mother tongue such as Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Ireland. Even though they may have common values, thoughts and beliefs, humans are different depending on the individual(e.g., gender, age, religion) and social situations (e.g., customs, cultural pattern, way of living).

4.1 Teaching English with Culture

Mckay (2002) notes two assumptions for which kind of culture to be taught in an English classroom. First, if English no longer belongs to just Inner Circle countries, teaching internationally common culture may be implicated. Second, if it is possible to communicate in English between different cultures, learners should consider the influence of each cultural value in their interaction. Kramsch (1998) states that even though the same sentences are spoken, responses can be different depending on cultural context.

For example, when you say to your American friend, ‘Your bag is so great!’ she can reply, ‘Thank you very much!’ because Americans get used to responding with thanks for the praise. However, when you say same sentence to your French friend, she may answer, ‘My bag is good? But I think it is too old’, because the French regard the compliment to be an intrusion of privacy.

4. 2 Teaching Culture in EFL Classroom

Learning a foreign language is a difficult process for learners. Considering that learners in EFL have few chances to experience various cultural inputs, it is harder to understand a difference between cultures. What needs to be considered in the EFL classroom is the different teaching and learning culture (Tomlinson, 2005 as cited in Hinkel, 2005). Before students enter a classroom, they are ready for learning depending on their local culture and teaching and learning culture in classroom. For example, if teachers ask a question, a group of Arab students in a classroom are shouting to answer simultaneously, while a class of Chinese students may not give any response resulting in a silence. Both language teaching curriculum and methodology should be determined after considering the local teaching and

learning conditions. Schools help students to take part in actively different international cultures and develop cross-cultural competence by comparing their own viewpoints in various cultural contexts. With this activity, students may realize gradually that there are many cultural puzzles to comprise a perfect globe. Prabhu (1990: 172) emphasizes the importance of teachers’ ‘sense of plausibility’, as a more influential factor in teaching, which means that teachers choose how and what to teach based on their interpretation. Students learn not only culture and language but also the teachers’ way of understanding cultures. According to Cunningsworth (1995) as cited in Nault (2006), implicitly, teachers’ selection of teaching materials and methods may influence on the students’ understanding of culture. Considering that the culture is directly and indirectly taught by teachers with planned or hidden curriculum in the classroom, the kind of culture teachers represent is influential.

According to Nault (2006), there are no ELT course books involving neutral and unbiased cross-cultural and multicultural contexts. Alptekin (1993) points out that there are Western images and point of views in textbooks

implicitly or explicitly because most textbook writers in ELT are American and British. The emphasizing learning Western culture can devalue and stigmatize non-English speaking cultures. For example, Muslim people’s negative feelings for eager English learners can decrease learners’ enthusiasm for learning Englis h. However, the British and American culture should not be ignored completely because of the necessity of teaching English as a global language. Unless there is proper understanding of the origins of English, Britain and America, learning English will not be perfect.

5 Conclusion

Even though English has a different role as a first, second or foreign language, it has been a communicative language internationally and intranationally. In other words, English has been used a common language between different countries and different areas in a country due to social, political and economical reasons such as colonization, globalization, emigration and trading. EIL focuses on the instrumental function of English as the language for international communication in various global contexts without considering each language’s

socio-cultural functions in order to express local voice and establish self-identity.

However, it seems to be very difficult to translate from one language to another without losing the finer nuances of meaning. It can be seen that every language has its own vocabulary and style of speech and literature to present its users’ culture. Learning language means learning culture to communicate each other without misunderstanding. Therefore, participants should understand others’ various cultural values based on considering their own cultures. In each EFL classroom, there are various potent influences such as language policies, philosophy of learning and teaching and the students’ backgrounds. This means that it is the local educators who ought to find the most suitable teaching methods and contexts. The teacher is a crucial factor in the students’ motivation to learn English and to meet unfamiliar aspects of culture. Most importantly, teaching English should not only be for a wide variety of

cross-cultural communication but also for an understanding English in the local contexts. In closing, despite the fact that there is correlation between language and culture,

there is still a lack of materials which includes the teaching of culture with English language in EFL. With the necessity of using English as an international language, it is important for each local government and

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educator to strive to develop its own English course books based on local culture as well as global culture.

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