The Importance of Culture in Second and Foreign Language Learning

2024

This research paper aims to investigate students' diverse cultural backgrounds that can create communication barriers and issues when teaching English. Language and cultural differences may influence students' comprehension and production of English, affecting their ability to engage in the learning process fully. Teachers should be aware of the many differences and make use of strategies that foster understanding and inclusivity. This research for this paper was conducted in quantitative method research. Teaching English in a cultural context depends on an approach that integrates language learning with a better understanding and appreciation of the cultural aspects which is connected with the English language. This research tries to find out the significance and benefits of teaching English in a cultural context, looking at the impact on language acquisition and intercultural competence. In a few decades, there has been an increasing recognition of the importance of cultural awareness in language education. Language is not only a system of learning something but is also closely interrelated with the beliefs, values, and practices of an individual culture. Teaching English in a cultural context acknowledges this connection that aims to provide learners with a holistic language learning experience.

This paper describes the importance of studying intercultural communication as it relates to the teaching of English as a second language. It demonstrates that teaching a second language is not only about teaching syntactic structures or learning vocabulary and expressions, but needs to incorporate cultural elements because learning a language means learning a culture. Effective communication is more than a matter of language proficiency. Apart from enhancing and enriching communicative competence, intercultural competence can also lead to empathy and respect toward different cultures as well as promote objectivity and cultural harmony. If the goal of teaching a second language is to enhance effective communication with people from all walks of life, the underlying culture should not be ignored for it is the root of one's communicative behavior.

Learning a foreign language means more than just mastering its grammar, vocabulary and phonology. 21 st century society crosses borders confidently, each new day exploring the most hidden parts of our planet and bringing changes even into the class. Successful cross-cultural communication requires culturally aware communicators, those who respond appropriately in a given social context, show empathy, tolerance and openness towards other communicators.

Nowadays in the epoch of international, economic, diplomatic, cultural ties, the intercultural communication being considered as the communication of the representatives of different ethnolingvo cultural communities has its own peculiarities both in lingvo cultural and sociocultural aspects. Moreover the role of intercultural communication in teaching a foreign language at the initial stage of training becomes one of the most important and promising directions in methods of teaching, because it makes a significant contribution to the development of the individual worldview theory. As it is generally known mastering a foreign language at the initial stage is more effective in the process of comparing both the foreign language (English) and the native (Tatar) ones. Our experience in teaching English for the Tatar audience shows that the acquisition of the target language is more resulting if the teacher systematically and regularly compares verbal means of speech etiquette of the studied language and the mother tongue.

This paper presents a critical review of literature on major values directing communication across Western-Anglo cultures and Asian-Confucian cultures, and hence influential to communication between people of different cultures even when the same language (e.g., English) is in operation. Given that these values exist in all cultures and among all individuals at various levels of prevalence, an effort is made to present these values in a bipolar dichotomy. From the insightful understanding of the operation and influence of the difference in cultural values on intercultural communication, the paper suggests implications practical to the teaching and learning English as a foreign language.

Science and Education, 2020

The article provides information about cultural iceberg, intercultural communication competence and ways of forming it in teaching English. It is known that in teaching a foreign language it is important to develop not only the language skills of students, but also their intercultural communication competence. Intercultural communication, international cultural competence, differences between cultures play an important role in language learning and teaching, and extra-linguistic aspects of intercultural communication (worldview, rituals, customs, human language, taboos, stereotypes, the role of society in multiculturalism, image, symbols) it is important to use culturally appropriate features in communication (greetings, ways of expressing politeness, ways of addressing, idioms, etc.) as well as to explore aspects of another language culture.

Intercultural Horizons Volume III Intercultural Competence—Key to the New Multicultural Societies of the Globalized World , 2015

In response to the realization of the need to develop cultural awareness and intercultural communication competence, recent trends in education policy and pedagogy in the U.S. and the EU have sought to integrate more culture into foreign language curricula. While the theoretical foundations of this trend are accepted as indisputable, the paper takes issue with the continued separate treatment of language and culture in the classroom and, especially, any preferential treatment of culture over language. Rather than culture being at the core of foreign language education, the paper argues that language should be at the core of intercultural education (IE). After outlining the basic tenets and insights of the culture movement in foreign language pedagogy and second language acquisition, the paper builds upon watershed scholarship (e.g. Claire Kramsch, Michael Byram and Milton and Janet Bennett) to introduce an over-arching framework for developing cultural awareness and intercultural communication competence, while maintaining the centrality of language and therefore the need to develop both linguistic and communicative competence in the foreign language. The model is intended solely as an example for what might be developed from the bottom-up in various educational contexts, and not as a universal prescription for teaching language and culture concurrently. Keywords: Communicative Competence, Cultural Awareness, Intercultural (Communication) Competence, Interactive-Communicative Approach, Foreign Language Pedagogy

The Language Learning Journal, 2013

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the cultural dimension of foreign language education, and teachers today are expected to promote the acquisition of intercultural competence in their learners. This study presents an analysis of viewpoints in the development of intercultural competence in the English as foreign language teaching classroom in Iran. Intercultural competence, as acknowledged as the key component of foreign language studies, increases the need to adapt teaching methods and materials to raise learners' intercultural awareness. The following research problem is formulated: do English as foreign language learners' attitudes become more positive due to the impact of intercultural learning and how they benefit from the impact of intercultural learning in their attitude and overall language proficiency. Based on the study carried out in two intact classes at Iran Language Institute with 48 intermediate language learners, the results indicated that practices in intercultural competence develop their positive attitudes about their culture and target language culture and it motivates them to develop their overall language competence.

Journal for Research Scholars and Professionals of English Language Teaching, 2020

This paper explores the techniques of developing intercultural communicative competence (ICC) of English language learners through different literary texts like stories, essays, poems, dramas, novels etc. as well as the texts from the learners' local cultures within the theoretical framework of intercultural communicative competence and literary texts as a means of developing ICC. It further explores that integrating language and literature in the classroom not only constitutes communicative and interactive reading and writing practices but also provides an opportunity to construct cultural knowledge through social interactions. The study reveals that the English language textbooks undervalue the socio-cultural, local contexts of our Nepalese society and give the main priority to the grammatical and linguistic features of the English language.

The abstract should In the era of the fourth industrial revolution today, the interaction between countries and cultures are no longer confined to overt geographical barriers due to technological advancement. However, these advances have created a countervailing effect on cultural identity, with a tendency to its loss; as well as cultural hegemony of one culture upon another culture. This phenomenon could be seen as well among foreign language learners. This critical literature study aims to examine the urgency of intercultural communication competence in foreign language learning to secure national cultural identity. This study has been commenced with the analysis of the development of intercultural interaction; determinant factors in intercultural competency integration of a language learning process; as well as the utilization of technology to enhance intercultural communication competency in the foreign language learning process. The result shows that information & communication technology (ICT) is beneficial in the materials development for foreign language learning. It carries the role of a media in learning, also as a means of communication to integrate intercultural communication competency into the foreign language learning process in today's era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

2019

This research aims to improve the students‟ Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) through cultural text-based intercultural teaching. It tried to answer the questions: (a) what cultural texts are used in this intercultural teaching, (b) how can the teaching of English with an intercultural perspective be created using cultural texts?, and (c) to what extent does intercultural teaching improve students‟ ICC? It was three-cycle classroom action research. The participants were 22 first semester students of Class K in Metallurgy Engineering and me as the English lecturer in that class. The data collected during the research were in the form of qualitative and quantitative data. I obtained the qualitative data through classroom observations and interviews, while the quantitative data through written tests and spoken tests. The qualitative data were analyzed by condensing the data, displaying them, drawing and verifying conclusions. Meanwhile, the quantitative data were analyzed us...

The development of intercultural communication has received renewed attention in the professional literature in the past decade. In response to changes brought about by a globalizing world and educational industry, our understanding of culture – and its role in language teaching - has changed. This is clearly indicated by the emerging 21st century educational frameworks that put inter- and cross-cultural skills as one of the core competencies for students to be successful in a rapidly changing world. Research on language teaching materials has found that there has been a shift in cultural representations, moving from mono-cultural portrays to more dynamic, inter-cultural, even hybrid cultural depictions. Yet, two areas need further consideration: a) While the above might be true for materials developed for international markets, how is culture represented in locally produced English language textbooks? b) What tasks are used in the materials to develop the skills, attitudes, and knowledge needed for successful intercultural communication? This paper set out to examine a widely used and locally published English language textbook series by using Byram’s (1997a) framework and found that although the material has a potential to develop intercultural competence, it does not provide tasks that would engage students in such learning.

2016

The current study examines the literature linked wi th the significance of culture in learning a second language .In the last few decades th re has been considerable research on the role culture plays in language education. It is not p ssible to divorce cultural phenomenon from language instruction in modern times. The basic the sis of the study is that successful communication is not just about language ability bu t about cultural understanding as well. Thus, Language teaching has to focus not just on improvin g a d enhancing communicative competence but cultural competence also has to be inculcated a mong the learners. The teaching of culture has the potential to create compassion and reverenc among the learners toward diverse customs of the world. The integration of culture in la guage learning can promote cultural insightfulness and a broader outlook.

International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research

This research analyzed the model of cultural literacy in learning and understanding English as a foreign language in higher education. Cultural literacy is closely related to applying English as the main foreign language in higher education. The lecturer became a role model and a central point in introducing and guiding students to understand cultural literacy and English as a foreign language. Moroever, this study portrayed a qualitative descriptive method. Five lecturers from private higher education in Malang city were recruited as informants in gathering information. Furthermore, the study unraveled that cultural literacy and learning English as a foreign language had interconnections to explore each other's culture from any aspect, thus, creating adjacent dialogic and informative spaces as intercultural communications.

Journal of Language and Literature Studies, 2021

In intercultural and transcultural communication contexts within multilingual education, English learners should be able to communicate and interact with other people who have a different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. For this reason, intercultural content should be incorporated in EFL textbooks to promote learners' intercultural competencies and communication skills. The contents are designed to contain Anglo-American and British cultural dimensions and learners' home and foreign cultures. It is to prepare learners to become global citizens. The principal aim of this study is to investigate how teachers apply English textbooks to promote learners' intercultural competencies and intercultural communicative skills within multilingual education. It is a qualitative study consisting of three main data gathering methods: semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and group discussions. Given the research data focusing on teachers' English textbook practices, researchers play a role within multiple realities. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and group discussion to gather the research data. This article showed that intercultural representations incorporated in EFL textbooks are used as useful resources for helping learners develop their intercultural competences and communication skills. Also, the ways teachers carry out their teaching in the classes are measured. This study shows that the teachers employ EFL textbooks effectively with utilizing potential teaching materials containing cultural values to promote learners' intercultural competences and communicative skills within multilingual education. This study also suggests that English teachers need reinforcement in multilingual education.