Raising Cultural Awareness through Teaching English

International Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 2021

The need to address culture in the language learning process has been emphasized as a means to promote both intercultural awareness and communicative language curricula. In countries such as Turkey, this has been an ongoing concern in the context of English as a foreign language (EFL) education. Thus, attempts have been made to enhance the cultural aspect of EFL learning in Turkey with the current English language curricula for elementary and high schools. To determine whether these curricula truly address culture in ways that support intercultural awareness, the researcher conducted a content analysis of the learning outcomes and objectives for each grade level, focusing on the curricula developed in 2013 and 2014 respectively for elementary and high school, as well as the program updates introduced in 2017 and 2018. The culture-related objectives and outcomes including products, practices, perspectives and persons relating to native Englishspeaking and international cultures were identified, and the total numbers of culture-oriented outcomes and objectives were recorded and analyzed. The findings indicate that culture-related outcomes and objectives were highly limited in number; and they mainly addressed superficial aspects of culture such as names of countries/languages, foods and traditional costumes. Abstract and complex topics such as pragmatics, beliefs, and worldviews were largely ignored. Moreover, while the updated programs of 2017 and 2018 were intended to improve on the 2013 and 2014 versions, little was accomplished in this regard. As such, the findings suggest that current EFL curricula are unlikely to support the development of intercultural awareness in language learners. Some recommendations for addressing this issue are offered.

This paper maintains that foreign language teaching does not only involve linguistic competence/performance and verbal communication but also it is much to do with intercultural awareness and intercultural skills: understanding how an identity and a culture are socially constructed and the abilities of discovery of ‘the other’ (Pędich, Draghicescu, Issaiass and Šabec, 2003, p. 7). Also the goals behind learning a foreign language are not only a matter of acquiring that language but also helping learners acquire knowledge, culture, values and education that can be utilized in their life beyond the classroom , link them to their lives and take them back into their community ; it aims at developing learners as intercultural speakers or mediators who are equipped with cultural background so that they can use the language efficiently in socially and culturally appropriate ways and who are able to “engage with complexity and multiple identities and to avoid the stereotyping which accompanies perceiving someone through a single identity” (Byram, Gribkova and Starkey, 2002, p. 5). Language education should also aim at "producing men who possess both culture and expert knowledge“(Whitehead, 1929, p. 1). In addition, learning and using languages is about citizenship and democracy (Guilherme, 2002); it is about “people coping with contexts of diversity and with mutable needs and aims” (Ara´ujo e S´a and S´ılvia Melo, 2007, p. 7). The aim of this paper is to shed light on how Language Awareness (LA), Intercultural Awareness (IA) and Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) can help learners transfer culture, knowledge, values and education beyond the classroom to influence their way of thinking and consequently their view of life on the basis that a language educational system should inspire a student to understand, explore and think about the world around him/her through and besides learning that language. This paper also calls for a significant attention to intercultural communication in Foreign Language Teaching (FLT) and it stresses its increasingly important role in FLT in order to develop students’ intercultural communicative awareness and competence. Keywords: applied linguistics; culture and language teaching; communicative language teaching; intercultural awareness; intercultural communicative competence. Introduction

2006

Regardless of different points of view, culture has taken an important place in foreign language teaching and learning studies. It has been widely recognized that culture and language is used as a main medium through which culture is expressed. However, "pure information" is useful but does not necessarily lead learners' insight; whereas the development of people's cultural awareness leads them to more critical thinking. Most frequently confronted that students to a great extend know the rules of language, but are not always able to use the language adequately as it requires since they are not knowledgeable enough about the target culture. Bearing all this in mind, the aim of this article has been to provide necessary information for the foreign language teachers and learners so that they can establish a good connection with the target language and its culture.

There is close relationship between language and culture. Language reflects culture and it is influenced and shaped by culture at the same time.

2013

In the field of language education four basic skills are essential in the process of teaching and learning. These are: reading, writing, listening and speaking. In many teaching methodology publications, these skills are integrated in one particular learning context. However, in the curriculum of many newly-formed countries in the Balkan Peninsula there is multicultural element that overshadows every learning/teaching material. Treating culture as a fifth skill widens the horizon of teaching. Introducing cultural contexts in educational curriculums might be interesting and thorny at the same time. Besides the literature review and research work conducted in Macedonia this paper provides a list of some well known teaching techniques and practices from the western world educational practices. In the field of language education there are 4 basic skills that are essential in the process of teaching and learning. These are: reading, writing, listening and speaking. In many foreign languages teaching methodology publications, all these skills are integrated into one particular learning context. However, in many curriculums of the Balkan Peninsula although the reality is multicultural there is an element that shadows almost every learning/ teaching material and that is the cultural aspect. Kramsch (1993) was among the first to argue that culture is the fifth skill in teaching. This skill is evident in every step of the process not only in language teaching but also in other fields of study/research. According to Omaggion (1993) teaching culture is considered important by most teachers but it has remained "insubstantial and sporadic in most language classrooms". This study aims to reflect on cultural and language aspect usage when teaching English with the intention of promoting and raising awareness on the cultural element in the educational curriculums that is evident and necessary in the teaching and learning process. How is this context perceived in cultural studies? Culture is an essential element in the formation of identity. It reflects a set of rules or behaviors that are common for a particular ethnic group or region. The importance of this element is also reflected in many societies as a competence that is necessary in