Teaching Culture

The importance of culture as an inseparable aspect of language learning is understood for most language teachers nowadays. However when talking about how to implement the integration of culture in the classroom there is no perfect method or recipe. Because culture is complex, dynamic, and includes so many aspects of life, it is important to include a variety of resources and activities when teaching culture.

Probably the main resource for English teachers is the textbook. Textbooks can focus on the culture of the students, the target culture, or many different cultures. It is better to use those textbooks that focus on either the target culture or different cultures, because it gives the students the opportunity to know others’ points of view as well as understand better their own culture when comparing it to other cultures. So, if the teacher has the opportunity to choose the textbook it is important to pay attention to the cultural aspect (Byram, Gribkova, & Starkey, 2002; Cortazzi, & Jin, 2009). Nevertheless, the textbook should not be the only source of information and should not be seen as the final authority. Teachers must have and encourage a critical attitude when reviewing the readings and activities. There are many other resources and activities that can be used to integrate culture in the English lessons: TV programs (Scollon, 2009; Byrd, Hlas, Watzke, & Montes Valencia, 2011), films (Bao-he, 2010; Byrd et al., 2011), contact with native speakers (Bao-he, 2010; Byrd et al., 2011), authentic texts, audio recordings, visual aids such as maps, photograhs, diagrams, cartoons (Byram et at., 2002), slides (Byrd et al., 2011), simulation games (Brown, 2000), songs, role playing, research on countries and people (Genc, & Bada, 2005), discussions, collecting data (Grossi, 2009), writing activities (Turkan, & Celik, 2007), cultural materials from Internet, realia (objetcs, tools, and artifacts), radio, newspapers, magazines, traveling abroad, and visiting museums or other cultural attractions (Byrd et al., 2011).

It is important to remember that culture is not another skill that must be taught like reading, writing, listening or speaking; culture is part of the language itself and should be naturally integrated in every lesson and activity, along with the four skills of language. Teachers are not expected to cover a culture curriculum but to develop in their students a discovery attitude. To include a variety of resources and approaches is good because it gives a more real perspective and also covers different learning styles. Nevertheless, the materials and activities have to be presented in a way to encourage critical thinking. It is important not to present the content as a fact. It is better to give opportunity to discuss and share different opinions about what has been presented. Therefore, critical and objective consideration is desirable and should be encouraged, because our goal as teachers is not to present facts and tips about culture, but to help students to develop an open, respectful, and even curious attitude towards other cultures.

References

Bao-he, Z. (2010). How to enhance cross-cultural awareness in TEFL. Cross-cultural communication, 6(2), 100-104.

Brown, D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching (4^th ed.). White Plains, NY: Pearson.

Byram, M., Gribkova, B., & Starkey, H. (2002). Developing the intercultural dimension in language teaching: A practical introduction for teachers. Strasbourg, France: Council of Europe.

Byrd, D. R., Hlas, A. C., Watzke, J., & Montes Valencia, M. F. (2011). An examination of culture knowledge: A study of L2 teachers’ and teacher educators’ beliefs and practices. Foreign Language Annals, 44(1), 4-39.

Cortazzi, M., & Jin, L. (2009). Cultural mirrors: Materials and methods in the EFL classroom. In E. Hinkel (Ed), Culture in second language teaching and learning (pp. 196-219). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University.

Genc, B., & Bada, E. (2005). Culture in language learning and teaching. The Reading Matrix, 5(1), 73-84.

Grossi, V. (2009). Teaching pragmatic competence: Compliments and compliment responses in the ESL Classroom. Prospect, 24(2), 53-62.

Scollon, R. (2009). Cultural codes for calls. In E. Hinkel (Ed), Culture in second language teaching and learning (pp. 181-195). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University.

Turkan, S., & Celik, S. (2007). Integrating culture into EFL textbooks and classrooms: Suggested lesson plans. Novitas-ROYAL, 1(1), 18-33.