Culture-Teaching-in-the-Foreign-Language-Classroom

CultureTeachingintheForeignLanguageClassroom：Intheeraofglobalization，masteringaforeignlanguagehasbecomeanecessaryskillforstudents.Sincecultureandlanguageareinterwoven，successfulforeignlanguagelearningdependsonone’sknowledgeofthetargetculturetoalargeextent.Thepresentpaperproposeswaysforpromotinglanguagelearners’culturalcompetencefromperspectivesofthelearner，teacherandteachingmethodologies.1IntroductionIntheageofglobalization，aforeignlanguagehasbecomeanecessaryskillforstudentsallovertheworld.Therearemanyaspectsinlanguagelearning，suchasknowledgeoflexisandgrammar，butcultureshouldnotgounnoticedforitisintrinsicallyconnectedwiththesuccessfullearningofthelanguage.Numerousresearchersandlanguageteachers，therefore，holdthatcultureisacrucialpartoflanguagelearning.Forexample，Bennett[1]callsanindividualwholearnsalanguagewithoutculturea“fluentfool”，whichreferstoonewhospeaksaforeignlanguagewellbuthasnounderstandingofthesocialandphilosophicalcontentofthelanguage.AccordingtoBrown[2]，acultureandlanguagearecloselyrelatedwitheachotherandbothareofgreatsignificancetoourlife.Inthissense，teachingcultureinforeignlanguageclassroomsshouldbeestablishedasanorminthesyllabus.Ithastobe，nonetheless，notedthatthecurriculumshouldnotbedesignedfor“enculturation”whichmeans“theassimilationoflearnersintothehostculture”butfor“acculturation”whichmeans“theprocessbywhichlearnersareencouragedtofunctionwithinthenewculturewhilemaintainingtheirownculture.”[3]2CultureandCommunicativeCompetenceDefinitionsfor“culture”varyinrespecttodifferentperspectives.AccordingtoDavis，itis“animportantsurvivalstrategythatispasseddownfromonegenerationtoanotherthroughtheprocessofenculturationandsocialization，atypeofroadmapthatservesassensemakingdevicethatguidesandshapesbehavior”.[4]AccordingtoKeandChavez，“Acommondefinitionofculturecharacterizesitasthesumofrulesorwaysofdoingandthinkingwithinasocialgroup”.[5]Despitethediversityofdefinitionsof“culture”，thereisanindisputablefactthatcultureiscomposedofavariouselementssuchassocialvalues，norms，customs，myths，traditions，religions，legends，history，andsoon.Anditiscloselyrelatedtopeople’sunderstandingoftheworldandtheircommunicativecompetence.AsKramschhasnoticed：Cultureinlanguagelearningisnotanexpendablefifthskill，tackedon，sotospeak，totheteachingofspeaking，listening，reading，andwriting.Itisalwaysinthebackground，rightfromdayone，readytounsettlethegoodlanguagelearnerswhentheyexpectitleast，makingevidentthelimitationsoftheirhard-woncommunicativecompetence，challengingtheirabilitytomakesenseoftheworldaroundthem.[6]Cultureisnotonlyanindispensablepartoftheverbalcommunicationbutalsoofnon-verbalcommunication.Inverbalcommunication，pronunciation，lexis，phonology，waysofaddress，routinesofgreetings，formulasandwaystoaskquestionsandsoonrepresentone’sculturalknowledge.Innon-verbalinteraction，culturalknowledgereferstoproxemics，kinesics，hapticsandparalanguage.[7]Languageisnotan“autonomousconstruct”butsocialpracticebothcreatingandcreatedby“thestructuresandforcesof[the]socialinstitutionswithinwhichweliveandfunction”.[8]Therefore，inordertofosterone’scommunicativecompetence，itdoesnotsufficetodeveloplanguageproficiency，butalsoculturalknowledge.3CultureTeachinginForeignLanguageClassroomInEFLclassrooms，theculturebehindthelanguagehasalsotobethefocusofattention.Howtopromotelanguagelearners’culturalcompetencehasbeen，inthepastdecadeorso，ahotissueeitherinthesphereofteachingpracticeoracademicresearch.Inthepresentpaper，theissueissuggestedtobeapproachedfromthefollowingthreeperspectives.3.1CultivatingtheCulturalAwarenessofLearnersThefirststepforpromotinglanguagelearners’culturalcompetenceistocultivatetheirautomaticculturalawarenessduringtheprocessoflearning.Onemajorobjectiveofthelanguageclassroomistomakestudentsawareoftheculturaldifferencesamonglanguages.InStraub’s[9]idea，whenteachingculture，teachersshouldalwaysraisethestudents’awarenessoftheircultureandgivethemsomesortofmeta-languageinordertohelpthemabletotalkaboutculture[ibid.：5].Culturalawarenesscouldhelpthelearnersestablishapsychologicalschematodrawthesimilaritiesanddistinctionsofcultures，whichcanprovideaninsider’sviewtowardthetargetculturewhichenablesthemlearnthelanguageinamorenativeway.3.2DevelopingCulturalCompetenceofTeachersThelanguageteachershouldbetheonewhoguidesculturelearningintheclassroom.He/sheshouldbeculturallycompetenttodirecttheclass，andbesensitivetostudents’needs，interestsandpreferences.Gay[10]summarizesthatateacherwillneedthefollowingthreeaspectsofcompetenceinordertobeculturallyresponsive：（a）academicachievement；（b）culturalcompetence；and（c）sociopoliticalconsciousness.3.3AdoptingMethodologiesandTechniquesforCultureTeachingIntheEFLclassroomswhereauthenticlanguagecontextsisnotavailable，moderntechniquesandteachingmethodologiesarepreferredwaysfordevelopingstudents’culturalcompetence.Forexample，role-playsintheclasscouldhelpstudentsovercomecultural“fatigue”anditpromotestheprocessofcross-culturaldialogueswhileatthesametimeitprovidesopportunitiesfororalcommunication.Othertechniquessuchasreadings，films，simulation，games，cu