Integrating Culture in Language Classrooms

Language and culture go hand in hand. Naturally, they are intertwined and inseparable from one another. Therefore, language teachers who are teaching the language itself also need to recognize the importance of integrating culture in their teaching practices and raise the awareness of the learners about the culture that the target language belongs to. In light of these observations, the present chapter aims to find out whether technology is an effective tool to integrate culture in language classrooms as well as identify the perceptions of teachers and students about learning and teaching the target language through culture. The participants were 153 students and 26 teachers enrolled in a language preparatory program at a public university in Turkey. While the quantitative data were collected through the Target Culture Knowledge Test, the qualitative data were collected by means of in-depth interviews in semi-structured design. The results of the study revealed that technology (i.e., videos) is an effective tool to provide students with background information about the target culture. The findings also reported positive perceptions towards learning and teaching the target language through culture. Based on the findings, this study can contribute to the program developers and teacher educators for the development of quality in teaching and learning in language preparatory programs.

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Target Language, Target Culture

Multicultural Instructional Design ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-9279-2.ch050 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1064-1081

Author(s):

José Carlos Escobar

Keyword(s):

Intercultural Competence ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Social Background ◽

Linguistic Competence ◽

Target Language ◽

General Description ◽

Full Understanding ◽

Language And Culture ◽

Language Classrooms ◽

Target Culture

Learning a language must result in becoming competent in a new culture because accessing the culture language stands for and being able to share its cultural content requires learning not just the meaning but also the historical and social background of its vocabulary. Words reveal the linguistic and social behavior of native speakers and give students a full understanding of the target language. This chapter deals with different concerns present in foreign language classrooms, a space where language and intercultural competence must be developed. It describes some linguistic competence-related concerns (Section 1), then it deals with specific intercultural related aspects of grammar and perception which are part of the linguistic competence to be developed in class (Section 2) and it finishes with a general description of three basic ways used in the Spanish-as-second-language (SSL) classroom in order to teach language and culture so as to help students to develop intercultural competence (Section 3).

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Teachers and Students’ Attitudes towards the Integration of the Target Culture in the English as a Foreign Language Class: A Case Study

International Journal of Linguistics Literature & Translation ◽

10.32996/ijllt.2021.4.4.28 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 253-266

Author(s):

Simon Pierre DABOU ◽

Abdelhak HAMMOUDI ◽

Romaissa CHIBANI

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

English Language ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Language And Culture ◽

Language Class ◽

Positive Attitudes ◽

Teachers And Students ◽

Students Attitudes ◽

Target Culture

Language and culture are like two sides of the same coin, the music on a radio or the soul in a body. The two are so interrelated that separating them is almost impossible. Therefore, teaching a foreign language implies integrating the target culture. In this context, this study aimed to investigate teachers and students’ attitudes towards the integration of the English culture in the EFL curriculum at the University of Sétif 2. A Semi-structured interview with six English language teachers and a questionnaire to 53 third-year English students were the tools used to collect the necessary data. The analysis of the data showed that all the teachers were for the integration of the target culture in the EFL classes. The study also revealed that students who had positive attitudes towards the target culture represented only 28% of the sample. Therefore, the researchers suggested that the concept of target culture be properly defined within the EFL class and appropriately approached to sustain interest. Moreover, teachers are encouraged to integrate certain aspects of the target culture, such as language, norms, and values, to avoid misunderstanding, and respect each other’s cultural rights.

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How far have we gone? Integration of intercultural language learning principles in Philippine ESL classrooms

Journal of Education and Learning (EduLearn) ◽

10.11591/edulearn.v15i1.20056 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 144-152

Author(s):

Chirbet Cariño Ayunon ◽

Lysel Ildefonso Haloc

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Educational Institution ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Language And Culture ◽

High Extent ◽

Classroom Activities ◽

Language Classrooms ◽

Learning Principles ◽

Target Culture ◽

Very High

Intercultural education is firmly rooted on the notion that language and culture are intrinsically linked. Several studies have looked into the importance of understanding different languages and cultures in language teaching; however, studies on the integration of principles intercultural language learning (IcLL) in Philippine ESL classrooms seem to be lacking. This is what the article addresses as it looked into the extent of integration of IcLL principles in two higher educational institution in Region 2, Cagayan Valley, Northern Philippines. Anchored on the principles of IcLL and through the employment of survey to elicit responses of the language teachers as to the integration of IcLL principles in language classrooms, results revealed that teachers perceive IcLL to be integrated in their classrooms to a great extent. Specifically, the principles of active construction and social interaction are integrated to a very high extent while the principles making connections, reflection, and responsibility were perceived to be integrated to a high extent. As regards classroom activities, the teachers favored the employment of discussions, lectures, writing tasks, oral reports, role plays, small group tasks, simulations or skits and collaborative learning activities in transmitting the target culture.

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Target Language, Target Culture

Promoting Intercultural Communication Competencies in Higher Education - Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-1732-0.ch010 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 257-280

Author(s):

José Carlos Escobar

Keyword(s):

Intercultural Competence ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Social Background ◽

Linguistic Competence ◽

Target Language ◽

General Description ◽

Full Understanding ◽

Language And Culture ◽

Language Classrooms ◽

Target Culture

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The authenticity continuum: Towards a definition incorporating international voices

English Today ◽

10.1017/s0266078414000364 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 22-27 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Richard Pinner

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Language Use ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Native Speaker ◽

Target Language ◽

Authentic Materials ◽

Language And Culture ◽

Teachers And Students ◽

Language Classrooms ◽

Authentic Language

The choice of what materials to use in the language classroom is perhaps one of the most fundamentally important and difficult decisions teachers and those responsible for choosing textbooks are faced with. Authenticity is often seen as a desirable component in the content we select and adapt for our language learners, and it has been shown that authentic materials are more motivating, even for low-level learners (Peacock, 1997). The term authentic is often used to describe materials which were not originally designed for the purpose of language learning, but that were designed to have some purpose within the target language culture, such as a newspaper or novel. An unfortunate consequence of this is that authenticity is still often defined in reference to the target language's ‘native speakers’ or L1 community, particularly in EFL contexts, or what Kachru (1985) would label the Outer Circle communities. In other words, where English is taught as a foreign language, both teachers and students often regard ‘native-speakers’ as being the ideal model and therefore an example of authenticity. For example, Tan (2005) criticises corpora investigations of learner English for holding the view that authentic language use is equivalent to ‘native-speaker’ usages. She goes on to criticise not only corpus research but also textbook publishers for still not taking into account ‘the inextricable link between language and culture’ (2005: 127). In the academic world, culturally embedded notions of authenticity relating to ‘native-speakers’ have been challenged for decades (Smith, 1976). And yet I would argue that in mainstream textbooks and in most EFL language classrooms the native speaker still retains a ‘privileged position’ (Clark & Paran, 2007: 407). As Widdowson (1996: 68) puts it:Authenticity concerns the reality of native-speaker language use: in our case, the communication in English which is realized by an English-speaking community. But the language which is real for native speakers is not likely to be real for learners […] They belong to another community and do not have the necessary knowledge of the contextual conditions which would enable them to authenticate English in native-speaker terms. Their reality is quite different.

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Teaching Critical Vocabulary to Filipino Heritage Language Learners

Education Sciences ◽

10.3390/educsci11060260 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 260

Author(s):

Jayson Parba

Keyword(s):

Language Development ◽

Social Issues ◽

Language Teaching ◽

Language Teachers ◽

World Language ◽

Wide Range ◽

Teachers And Students ◽

The Status ◽

Language Classrooms ◽

L1 And L2

Engaging in critical dialogues in language classrooms that draw on critical pedagogical perspectives can be challenging for learners because of gaps in communicative resources in their L1 and L2. Since critically oriented classrooms involve discussing social issues, students are expected to deploy “literate talk” to engage in critiquing society and a wide range of texts. Although recent studies have explored teachers’ and students’ engagement with critical materials and critical dialogues, research that explores language development in critical language teaching remains a concern for language teachers. In this paper, I share my experience of fostering language development, specifically the overt teaching of critical vocabulary to students of (Tagalog-based) Filipino language at a university in Hawai’i. Through a discussion of racist stereotypes targeting Filipinos and the impacts of these discourses on students’ lived experiences, the notion of “critical vocabulary” emerges as an important tool for students to articulate the presence of and to dismantle oppressive structures of power, including everyday discourses supporting the status quo. This paper defines critical vocabulary and advances its theoretical and practical contribution to critical language teaching. It also includes students’ perspectives of their language development and ends with pedagogical implications for heritage/world language teachers around the world.

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Case Study of the Commercially Published ELT materials in Foundation of English Course Books 1 & 2

IIUC Studies ◽

10.3329/iiucs.v10i0.27434 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 173-182

Author(s):

Md Yousuf Uddin Khaled Chowdhury

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Language Learners ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Global Markets ◽

Local Market ◽

Learning And Teaching ◽

Language Classrooms ◽

The Right

Brumfit (1979) has suggested that many commercially published ELT materials are little more than masses of rubbish, skilfully marketed. He perhaps rejects most of the published materials. However, in reality, it is observed that these ELT resources are the only available alternatives in the contexts where infra-structural limitations of language classrooms and the inefficiency of the language-teachers make the goal of language learning and teaching unreachable or unattainable for many of the learners. This paper, through a case study, aims at justifying the use of commercially published ELT coursebooks that are designed and used, considering the limitations and problems of the personally produced materials by untrained teachers. Nevertheless, these materials must consider the local market rather than the global markets so that they meet the needs of the local language learners and instructors. The case study implies that it is the selection or adaptation of the right materials for the specific learners that makes them effective or ineffective. It also suggests that the personally designed or locally produced materials too may make teaching and learning difficult and impossible sometimes.IIUC Studies Vol.10 & 11 December 2014: 173-182

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Teaching For Justice: Introducing Translanguaging in an Undergraduate TESOL Course

Journal of language and Education ◽

10.17323/2411-7390-2018-4-3-77-87 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 77-87 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Elizabeth Robinson ◽

Zhongfeng Tian ◽

Tiffany Martínez ◽

Aybahar Qarqeen

Keyword(s):

Language Education ◽

The United States ◽

Language And Culture ◽

Learning And Teaching ◽

Sheltered English Immersion ◽

Qualitative Approaches ◽

Teachers And Students ◽

The Impact ◽

Sheltered English ◽

Unique Individual

This study investigates how introducing translanguaging as a way to affirm language and culture impacted students’ understandings of learning and teaching in a TESOL certificate course offered at a university in the northeast of the United States. As researchers, teachers, and students committed to justice, we explored the impact of introducing translanguaging in a course that was originally designed as a Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) course through collaborative, qualitative approaches of thematic analysis and macro- and micro-level analyses of power based on our unique individual experiences in the classroom. We found across our analysis that introducing translanguaging provided opportunities to shift assumptions and that, overall, students demonstrated critical sociocultural understandings of language that are foundational in teaching for justice. Ultimately, while we recognize the need for more explicit discussion about the purpose and pedagogy of translanguaging, the shifts towards teaching and embracing multilingual and multicultural realities through translanguaging which the study identified can contribute to the field of language education by demonstrating how teachers might open up possibilities in teaching for justice.

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USING LITERARY TEXTS IN NORWEGIAN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Journal of Teaching English for Specific and Academic Purposes ◽

10.22190/jtesap2103505p ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 505

Author(s):

Danica Piršl ◽

Tea Piršl

Keyword(s):

Cultural Awareness ◽

Language Skills ◽

Target Language ◽

Literary Texts ◽

Cultural Patterns ◽

Authentic Material ◽

Language And Culture ◽

Teaching Language ◽

Language Classroom ◽

Target Culture

The use of literary texts in teaching language has varied from the strict focus on translation and essential grammar and vocabulary lists derived from the text to the more creative uses like acting, writing and debating. Nowadays, communicative language approach prevails in most classrooms and insists on immersing students into both the target language and culture. In this paper, the author argues that to accomplish this, one can use literary texts in a number of ways and help the students learn, practice and master various language skills, while at the same time relating the texts to the students' interests, goals and lived experiences and help them relate to the society whose language they are learning. Literature is presented as a great source of authentic material that can contribute to students' language enrichment and cultural awareness. According to the data obtained from the research conducted for the purpose of this paper, students learning the Norwegian language by extensive use of literature reported better understanding of the target culture, raised awareness of the different cultural patterns and improved language skills. The pedagogical implications of the research are that more authentic literary texts should be used in language classroom to boost successful language acquisition.

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Teaching intercultural communicative competence through the four skills

Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses ◽

10.14198/raei.2008.21.09 ◽

2008 ◽

pp. 157 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Esther Usó Juan ◽

Alicia Martínez Flor

Keyword(s):

Communicative Competence ◽

Language Teaching ◽

Theoretical Concept ◽

Communicative Language Teaching ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Target Language ◽

Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽

Language And Culture ◽

Linguistic System ◽

Point Of Departure

Nowadays, the most accepted instructional framework in second or foreign language (L2) programs is Communicative Language Teaching, whose main goal is to increase learners’ communicative competence. This theoretical term means being able to use the linguistic system effectively and appropriately in the target language and culture. However, the implementation of a communicative methodology is not an easy task since it requires an understanding of the integrated nature of the theoretical concept of communicative competence (Celce-Murcia and Olshtain, 2005). Therefore, it is the main goal of this paper to help language teachers better understand such a theoretical concept for improving their classroom practices. In so doing, we first provide an explanation of the theoretical concept of communicative competence. Then, a current framework of communicative competence, which aims at highlighting the function of the four macro-skills to build discourse competence for communicative purposes and reflects our conceptualization of language teaching is briefly discussed (Usó-Juan and Martínez-Flor, 2006a). Finally, on the basis of this framework, and taking the intercultural component as the point of departure, a variety of activities in the four language skills are presented for teaching learners intercultural communicative competence.

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