The Importance Of Teaching Culture In The Foreign Language Classroom.docx

The Importance Of Teaching Culture In The Foreign Language Classroom.docx

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TheImportanceOfTeachingCultureInTheForeignLanguageClassroom

TheImportanceOfTeachingCultureInTheForeignLanguageClassroom

DimitriosThanasoulas

MemberofTESOLGreeceandtheAILAScientificCommissiononLearnerAutonomy

akasa74@

Iwouldliketoexpressmygratitudetomysupervisor,Dr.DoreenDuBoulayforherassistanceandinsightfulideas,andrecordmythankstomyfriendsJoshuaJacksonandEleniVassilakis,whowereunstintingintheirsupport,readingdraftsofthepaperandmakingthought-provokingsuggestions.

Nevertheless,anyshortcomingsorproblemsregardingthepresentthesisremainmyresponsibility.Finally,Iwouldliketothankmyfamily,TheodorosandEugeniaThanasoulas,fortheiremotionalandfinancialsupport,andmysisterPenny,who,thoughshedoesnotknowit,hashelpedmeinmanyways.“She’sTheOne.”

Abstract

Thethesisisconcernedwiththecontributionandincorporationoftheteachingofcultureintotheforeignlanguageclassroom.Morespecifically,someconsiderationwillbegiventothewhyandhowofteachingculture.Itwillbedemonstratedthatteachingaforeignlanguageisnottantamounttogivingahomilyonsyntacticstructuresorlearningnewvocabularyandexpressions,butmainlyincorporates,orshouldincorporate,someculturalelements,whichareintertwinedwithlanguageitself.Furthermore,anattemptwillbemadetoincorporatecultureintotheclassroombymeansofconsideringsometechniquesandmethodscurrentlyused.Themainpremiseofthepaperisthateffectivecommunicationismorethanamatteroflanguageproficiencyandthat,apartfromenhancingandenrichingcommunicativecompetence,culturalcompetencecanalsoleadtoempathyandrespecttowarddifferentculturesaswellaspromoteobjectivityandculturalperspicacity.

Introduction

Foreignlanguagelearningiscomprisedofseveralcomponents,includinggrammaticalcompetence,communicativecompetence,languageproficiency,aswellasachangeinattitudestowardsone’sownoranotherculture.Forscholarsandlaymenalike,culturalcompetence,i.e.,theknowledgeoftheconventions,customs,beliefs,andsystemsofmeaningofanothercountry,isindisputablyanintegralpartofforeignlanguagelearning,andmanyteachershaveseenitastheirgoaltoincorporatetheteachingofcultureintotheforeignlanguagecurriculum.Itcouldbemaintainedthatthenotionofcommunicativecompetence,which,inthepastdecadeorso,hasblazedatrail,sotospeak,inforeignlanguageteaching,emphasisingtheroleofcontextandthecircumstancesunderwhichlanguagecanbeusedaccuratelyandappropriately,‘fall[s]shortofthemarkwhenitcomestoactuallyequippingstudentswiththecognitiveskillstheyneedinasecond-cultureenvironment’（Straub,1999:

2）.Inotherwords,sincethewidercontextoflanguage,thatis,societyandculture,hasbeenreducedtoavariableelusiveofanydefinition—asmanyteachersandstudentsincessantlytalkaboutitwithoutknowingwhatitsexactmeaningis—itstandstoreasonthatthetermcommunicativecompetenceshouldbecomenothingmorethananemptyandmeretriciousword,resortedtoiffornootherreasonthantomakean“educationalpoint.”Inreality,whatmostteachersandstudentsseemtolosesightofisthefactthat‘knowledgeofthegrammaticalsystemofalanguage[grammaticalcompetence]hastobecomplementedbyunderstanding（sic）ofculture-specificmeanings[communicativeorratherculturalcompetence]’（Byram,Morganetal.,1994:

4）.

Ofcourse,wearelongpastanerawhenfirstlanguageacquisitionandsecondorforeignlanguagelearningwerecastina“behaviouristicmould,”beingtheproductsofimitationandlanguage“drills,”andlanguagewasthoughtofasacompendiumofrulesandstringsofwordsandsentencesusedtoformpropositionsaboutastateofaffairs.Inthelasttwodecades,therehasbeenaresurgenceofinterestinthestudyoflanguageinrelationtosociety,whichhasledtoashiftoffocusfrombehaviourismandpositivismtoconstructivismtocriticaltheory（seeBenson&Voller,1997:

19-25）.Yet,therearestillsomedeeplyingrainedbeliefsastothenatureoflanguagelearningandteaching—beliefsthatdeterminemethodologyaswellasthecontentoftheforeignlanguagecurriculum—whichhave,graduallyandinsidiously,contrivedtounderminetheteachingofculture.

Oneofthemisconceptionsthathavepermeatedforeignlanguageteachingistheconvictionthatlanguageismerelyacodeand,oncemastered—mainlybydintofsteepingoneselfintogrammaticalrulesandsomeaspectsofthesocialcontextinwhichitisembedded—‘onelanguageisessentially（albeitnoteasily）translatableintoanother’（Kramsch,1993:

1）.Toacertainextent,thisbeliefhasbeeninstrumentalinpromotingvariousapproachestoforeignlanguageteaching—pragmatic,sociolinguistic,andcommunicative—whichhavecertainlyendowedthestudyoflanguagewithasocial“hue”;nevertheless,payinglipservicetothesocialdynamicsthatundergirdlanguagewithouttryingtoidentifyandgaininsightsintotheveryfabricofsocietyandculturethathavecometochargelanguageinmanyandvariedwayscanonlycausemisunderstandingandleadtocross-culturalmiscommunication.

Atanyrate,foreignlanguagelearningisforeignculturelearning,and,inoneformoranother,culturehas,evenimplicitly,beentaughtintheforeignlanguageclassroom—iffordifferentreasons.Whatisdebatable,though,iswhatismeantbytheterm“culture”andhowthelatterisintegratedintolanguagelearningandteaching.Kramsch’skeenobservationshouldnotgounnoticed:

Cultureinlanguagelearningisnotanexpendablefifthskill,tackedon,sotospeak,totheteachingofspeaking,listening,reading,andwriting.Itisalwaysinthebackground,rightfromdayone,readytounsettlethegoodlanguagelearnerswhentheyexpectitleast,makingevidentthelimitationsoftheirhard-woncommunicativecompetence,challengingtheirabilitytomakesenseoftheworldaroundthem.（Kramsch,1993:

1）

Theteachingofcultureisnotakintothetransmissionofinformationregardingthepeopleofthetargetcommunityorcountry—eventhoughknowledgeabout（letaloneexperienceof）the“targetgroup”isanimportantingredient（seeNostrand,1967:

118）.Itwouldbenothingshortofludicroustoassertthatcultureismerelyarepositoryoffactsandexperiencestowhichonecanhaverecourse,ifneedbe.Furthermore,whatKramschherselfseemstoinsinuateisthattolearnaforeignlanguageisnotmerelytolearnhowtocommunicatebutalsotodiscoverhowmuchleewaythetargetlanguageallowslearnerstomanipulategrammaticalforms,sounds,andmeanings,andtoreflectupon,orevenflout,sociallyacceptednormsatworkbothintheirownorthetargetculture.

Thereisdefinitelymorethanmeetstheeye,andthepresentpaperhastheaimofunravellingthe“mystery,”sheddingsomelightontheroleofteachingcultureinfosteringcross-culturalunderstandingwhichtranscendstheboundariesoflinguisticforms—whileenrichingandgivingfardeepermeaningtowhatisdubbed“communicativecompetence”—andrunscountertoasolipsisticworldview.Iwouldliketoshowthattheteachingofculturehasenjoyedfarless“adulation”thanitmerits,andconsiderwaysofincorporatingitnotonlyintotheforeignlanguagecurriculumbutalsointolearners’repertoireandoutlookonlife.Themainpremiseofthispaperisthatwecannotgoaboutteachingaforeignlanguagewithoutatleastofferingsomeinsightsintoitsspeakers’culture.Bythesametoken,wecannotgoaboutfostering“communicativecompetence”withouttakingintoaccountthedifferentviewsandperspectivesofpeopleindifferentcultureswhichmayenhanceoreveninhibitcommunication.Afterall,communicationrequiresunderstanding,andunderstandingrequiressteppingintotheshoesoftheforeignerandsiftingherculturalbaggage,whilealways‘putting[thetarget]cultureinrelationwithone’sown’（Kramsch,1993:

205）.Moreover,weshouldbecognisantofthefactthat‘[i]fweteachlanguagewithoutteachingatthesametimethecultureinwhichitoperates,weareteachingmeaninglesssymbolsorsymbolstowhichthestudentattachesthewrongmeaning…’（Politzer,1959:

100-101）.

TheHistoryOFCultureTeaching

Aswillbecomeevident,theroleofculturallearningintheforeignlanguageclassroomhasbeentheconcernofmanyteachersandscholarsandhassparkedconsiderablecontroversy,yetitsvalidityasanequalcomplementtolanguagelearninghasoftenbeenoverlookedorevenimpugned.Uptonow,twomainperspectiveshaveinfluencedtheteachingofculture.Onepertainstothetransmissionoffactual,culturalinformation,whichconsistsinstatisticalinformation,thatis,institutionalstructuresandotheraspectsofthetargetcivilisation,highbrowinformation,i.e.,immersioninliteratureandthearts,andlowbrowinformation,whichmayfocusonthecustoms,habits,andfolkloreofeverydaylife（seeKramsch,1993:

24）.Thispreoccupationwithfactsratherthanmeanings,though,leavesmuchtobedesiredasfarasanunderstandingofforeignattitudesandvaluesisconcerned,andvirtuallyblindfoldslearnerstotheminutealbeitsignificantaspectsoftheirownaswellasthetargetgroup’sidentitythatarenoteasilydivinedandappropriated（ibid.）Allthatitoffersis‘merebookknowledgelearnedbyrote’（Huebener,1959:

177）.Theotherperspective,drawinguponcross-culturalpsychologyoranthropology,hasbeentoembedculturewithinaninterpretiveframeworkandestablishconnections,namely,pointsofreferenceordeparture,betweenone’sownandthetargetcountry.Thisapproach,however,hascertainlimitations,