CULTURE
AND FOERGIN LANGUAGE LEARNING: ESTABLISHING BRIDGES
"But
you have no idea how frightfully interesting it is to take a human
being and change her into a quite different human being by creating
a new speech for her. It's filling up the deepest gulf that
separates class from class and soul from soul." George
Bernard Shaw "Pygmalion"
There
are many definitions of culture, some are wider than others and some
include more elements than others but they all agree that language
and culture are inseparable, and that language is the vehicle by
which culture is transmitted and reproduced. In this sense, it
follows that when someone learns a foreign language they are,
inevitably learning another culture.
I
have always been fascinated by language probably because I am a
bilingual person that had the opportunity to learn English at a very
young age in an environment that was extraordinarily rich and
diverse when i began to study English in a Spanish – speaking
environment noticed that I took for granted certain elements of the
language that were difficult for others, for example the use of
modal verbs (later on I came to understand that this is due to the
fact that they express highly nuanced degrees of certainty and
relations of power that ,in Spanish, aren’t clearly embedded into
the verbal form). Eventually, I became an English teacher and I
confronted these kinds of issues on a daily basis.
An
old English teacher of mine once told me that language is the lens
through which we view the world, Our mother tongue is so familiar to
us that we just aren't aware of the cultural assumptions and biases
that are present in it. Thus, the process of learning a FL involves
bringing forward those cultural aspects of language that appear
transparent to the native speaker. I believe this is the main
reason culture must be an integral part of FL teaching.
On
some level, every FL teacher recognizes clearly that,:"learning
a language in isolation of its cultural roots prevents one from
becoming socialized into its contextual use. Knowledge of linguistic
structure alone does not carry with it any special insight into the
political, social, religious, or economic system" Ned
Seeyle (1976). This is the reason so much emphasis placed on the
fact that beginners learn how to greet or say goodbye to someone,
how to introduce themselves and others or how to understand and give
directions. Since all communication is a cultural phenomenon the
language functions that on which the communicative approach is based
are cultural
Barry Tomalin in his article for the series "Teaching English" posted on the British Council website calls cultural awareness the fifth language skill when he states that: :"I assumed that if you learned the language, you learned the culture but actually it isn’t true. You can learn a lot of cultural features but it doesn’t teach you sensitivity and awareness or even how to behave in certain situations. What the fifth language skill teaches you is the mindset and techniques to adapt your use of English to learn about, understand and appreciate the values, ways of doing things and unique qualities of other cultures. It involves understanding how to use language to accept difference, to be flexible and tolerant of ways of doing things which might be different to yours. It is an attitudinal change that is expressed through the use of language”.
So
far, everyone agrees that culture is important. However, the real
problem arises when an FL program is being designed and the issue of
what aspects of culture should be included and how to do so has to
be decided.
At
this point a discussion of what constitutes culture becomes
indispensable, a good starting point is to remember the difference
between Culture (with a big C) and culture (with a little c).
Culture is defined as "high minded" aspects of
human creations such as fine arts, literature and music as opposed
to culture that includes everyday aspects of life such as
food, dress, celebrations and social/political institutions.
In
my experience, when ESL teachers talk about incorporating cultural
aspects into their lessons they are speaking of culture. Of
course, this kind of knowledge is necessary and (when appropriately
used) making it a part of FL classes can help get students involved
and motivated; the risk is that by focusing only on these items,
other key aspects of culture that are implicit in the language tend
to be ignored i.e. the concepts of time and space or certainly that
stand at the heart of certain grammatical structures.
This
is especially significant in the case of English because it has
become a ”Global Language” embraced by people of different
communities and, for this reason, the language of intercultural
dialogue. For this kind of exchange to take place, all participants
must understand that they are dealing with a language that expresses
certain assumptions and values and they are using it to communicate
with people that have a different set of assumptions and values,
teachers can’t ignore this reality and must adjust their teaching accordingly.
Something
else that teachers should consider when they are thinking about
culture and language teaching / learning has to do specifically with
reading and writing skills: genre analysis. An effective reader and,
consequently, an effective writer has to be conscious of genres but
it is impossible to approach this topic without a cultural
perspective since: “We use language in the form of complete
texts within specific situational contexts instantiated within
encompassing cultural contexts” Meurier (2002) and, later on,
language becomes “structured as a gamut of genres of texts
which are characterized by recognizable purposes and schematic
structures, and which are almost as numerous as the social practices
which people get involved in” (Ibid) This is another reason to
reflect on the way culture is included in the FL classroom.
In
conclusion, I believe that exploring why and how culture is
incorporated into the teaching and learning of a FL (particularly
ESL) and the evolution of this idea within the ESL community is
relevant for both ESL students and teachers. In the end, the best
and most effective ESL speakers are not only the most culturally
literate but, also, the most culturally sensitive and flexible.
References
1.
Quoted in Foreign Language Teaching Methods / Culture on the
University of Texas website
http://coerll.utexas.edu/methods/modules/culture/01/definitions.php
consulted
on 22/09/2012 1:30 P.M.
2
The British Council/Articles/Teaching English: Culture - the fifth
language skill.
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/culture-fifth-language-skill
consulted
on 22/09/2012 2:30 P.M.
3. Meurer, José Luis " Genre as Diversity, and Rhetorical Mode as Unity in Language Use" . Ilha do Desterro. Florianapólis. No. 43. July - December 2002 . Pag. 61 - 82.
3. Meurer, José Luis " Genre as Diversity, and Rhetorical Mode as Unity in Language Use" . Ilha do Desterro. Florianapólis. No. 43. July - December 2002 . Pag. 61 - 82.
Resources
University of Texas Website:
http://coerll.utexas.edu/methods/modules/culture/01/definitions.php
British Council Website:
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/culture-fifth-language-skill
Peck, Deborah . "Teaching Culture: Beyond Language"
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1984/3/84.03.06.x.html
Hong,
Sungok."The
Role of Heritage Students in incorporating Culture into Language
Teaching"
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