The Mediation of Local Cultures with Global Perspective in Foreign Language Learning (original) (raw)
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CULTURAL VALUES AS CATALYSTS IN LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
The 62nd TEFLIN International Conference, 14-16 September 2015
A culture if it is to maintain its existence must have values by which its people identify themselves, how they should act and what the people think is important. It is very often mentioned that the success of foreign language learning must be an integrative one since language and culture are two intertwining aspects, the missing of one would cripple its speaker. While it is true that in intercultural communication one needs to understand the culture whose language he is learning, immersing the learner just in the foreign culture could, at best, devalue his own cultural identity. Learning a foreign language and culture may also be viewed as a reflection to how well we are consciously aware of our own. The one component aspect a foreign language learner often suffers from is his inability to recognize or say what values he adheres. The writer's point here is that in order for the learner to be equally balanced in his understanding of the target language and maintain his own cultural values, it is necessary for the teacher of English to juxtapose values from both cultures in the materials that he is using. One way this could be done is by introducing value concepts of both cultures through reading materials. A true cross-cultural understanding is when the foreign language learner is consciously aware of values from both cultures; then, a growth toward a mature individual could be expected as he constantly masters both values and has choices as to which or what values he feels fit to identify himself with. INTRODUCTION In the area of English language teaching it is often cited that the best way of mastering it is to learn it where that language is being spoken as native language, such as in America, England, or Australia. This is, no doubt, giving the opportunity for the learners to get immersed with the native speakers both inside and outside of the classroom situation. The question is what strategy or strategies one should apply when the learning takes place in the learners' own native country, like in Bali, Indonesia, where English is not used in daily conversational communication. In spite of the fact that English is taught starting from junior high school up to the university, and for the last decade even many elementary schools have included English in their curricula, the teaching of English is far from being communicatively engaged. In so far as English is concerned it is still considered as a foreign language, the teaching of which has been focused mainly on grammar and reading comprehension rather than on communicative skills.
Canadian Journal of Language and Literature Studies, 2021
Considering that cultures are rapidly undergoing evolution and that they have become more fluid than before, teaching culture in foreign language classes has become more challenging than before. First, this development challenges the traditional methods of teaching culture which have emphasized on imparting what is understood as a homogeneous target language culture to the learner without considering how this knowledge is transferred and how it benefits the learner community. Secondly, the multiplicity of cultures within the target language communities and their ever-changing nature in relation to the global world questions the very notion of what we call the "target language culture". With this in mind, it may be better to teach culture in foreign language classes from a cross cultural perspective and using the learner's cultural and local environment as a platform. This method is introduced in this article as localisation. This method of teaching culture can be considered most appropriate for a localised education system such as the tertiary education system in Zimbabwe, which is championed by the education 5.0 initiative, where every academic area including foreign language learning is expected to contribute to the development of local communities.
The thesis is concerned with the contribution and incorporation of the teaching of culture into the foreign language classroom. More specifically, some consideration will be given to the why and how of teaching culture. It will be demonstrated that teaching a foreign language is not tantamount to giving a homily on syntactic structures or learning new vocabulary and expressions, but mainly incorporates, or should incorporate, some cultural elements, which are intertwined with language itself. Furthermore, an attempt will be made to incorporate culture into the classroom by means of considering some techniques and methods currently used. The main premise of the paper is that effective communication is more than a matter of language proficiency and that, apart from enhancing and enriching communicative competence, cultural competence can also lead to empathy and respect toward different cultures as well as promote objectivity and cultural perspicacity.
The Study of Culture on Foreign Language Teaching
International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, 2013
Foreign language is included of several components, including grammar, communicative, language proficiency, for learners, the knowledge of the conventions, customs, beliefs, is indisputably an integral part of foreign language learning. Teaching a foreign language is not only learning structure or learning new vocabulary and expressions but mainly incorporates, cultural elements, which are not integrated with language itself. This paper shows that effective communication is more important than language proficiency .Culture promotes objectivity and cultural perception. In fact, most teachers and students lose sight of the fact that knowledge of grammatical system of a language has to be complemented by understanding of culture specific meanings.
local culture and foreign language teaching
Learning takes place in an environment, and environment includes the local culture which is extremely important while learning in general. The question remains critical if the local or foreign culture is crucial in the learning process of a foreign language. There isn't much difference of opinion on the relevance of British culture in an English class, however the usefulness of the local culture (the Saudi culture in this context) is questioned. The present study is a modest attempt towards answering some such questions formulating the basis and the hypotheses for this research.
Culture in foreign language teaching
In foreign language education, the teaching of culture remains a hotly debated issue. What is culture? What is its relation to language? Which and whose culture should be taught? What role should the learners' culture play in the acquisition of knowledge of the target culture? How can we avoid essentializing cultures and teaching stereotypes? And how can we develop in the learners an intercultural competence that would shortchange neither their own culture nor the target culture, but would make them into cultural mediators in a globalized world? This paper explores these issues from the perspective of the large body of research done in Australia, Europe and the U.S. in the last twenty years. It links the study of culture to the study of discourse (see, e.g., and to the concept of translingual and transcultural competence proposed by the Modern Language Association (e.g., . Special attention will be given to the unique role that the age-old Persian culture can play in fostering the cultural mediators of tomorrow.
The Importance Of Teaching Culture In The Foreign
The thesis is concerned with the contribution and incorporation of the teaching of culture into the foreign language classroom. More specifically, some consideration will be given to the why and how of teaching culture. It will be demonstrated that teaching a foreign language is not tantamount to giving a homily on syntactic structures or learning new vocabulary and expressions, but mainly incorporates, or should incorporate, some cultural elements, which are intertwined with language itself. Furthermore, an attempt will be made to incorporate culture into the classroom by means of considering some techniques and methods currently used. The main premise of the paper is that effective communication is more than a matter of language proficiency and that, apart from enhancing and enriching communicative competence, cultural competence can also lead to empathy and respect toward different cultures as well as promote objectivity and cultural perspicacity.
The Importance of Cross-Cultural Understanding in Foreign Language Teaching in the Asian Context
Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya, 2019
Foreign language learning is not only about grammar or vocabulary but also life skill to be able to communicate. Furthermore, mastering culture along with learning language is essential. Language learners must have knowledge of cultural understanding because every language reflects many kinds of cultures. The same thing can happen between Indonesian and German. If the communication is not good, it could lead to something negative, especially when the communications are related to business cooperation as well as other important partnerships. So, in foreign language learning, teachers must teach the cultures of both the native and foreign language too, so that learners can understand differences between German and Indonesian culture. This research is a kind of literature review research. The literatures were based on the result of previous studies on cultural differences in verbal communication between German and Indonesian culture. It is also supported by observing and studying reference system to generate appropriate learning strategies. The study reveals that there are various strategies that can be implemented to enable students to understand cultural differences. There is some cultural knowledge in communications which can be given by providing information, while some others need to be practiced in the classroom and also to be applied in the real communication practices. In learning and understanding cultural differences, we can focus on the empowerment of student centered learning, by asking students to explore these differences, select which should be practiced and applied, as well as decide which activities that should always be supervised by the teacher, so misunderstanding would not occur.
CULTURE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING: A REVIEW
Adelante- Ahead 2018, 2018
Abstract: Language plays a crucial role not only in the construction of culture but also in the emergence of cultural changes. The possibility of changing the attitudes of people by giving them a new vocabulary to build social realities whether national, gender or racial realities that allow them to access to opportunities to develop and use language to communicate and create relationships. This article presents a literature review about the role of culture in teaching a foreign language taking into account some pedagogical and didactic aspects involved in the teaching process. As the main result, it is concluded that it is impossible to teach a language without teaching the culture; the teacher becomes a mediator between foreign languages and culture, that is why certain aspects of teaching can influence the inclusion or exclusion of that elements in a foreign language classroom. Keywords: culture, foreign language teaching, intercultural teaching resources
The importance of cultural component in foreign language teaching process
2018
The 21 century is the era demanding people to know two and more languages, which provide them with more opportunities in any sphere such as business, banking, diplomacy, medicine, etc. Thus, mastering a language, in any case, means being able to communicate effectively and interact with individuals representing other cultures and speaking other languages. Actually, this implies that the learner not only acquires language skills, but also becomes the carrier of the target-language culture. Consequently, foreign language teaching needs to introduce a more sophisticated approach towards the element of culture in the educational process. It is high time to recognize the importance of intercultural learning or interculturality in foreign language teaching as culture is an integral part of any language course and should be taught in parallel with the language from the very first steps. The cultural component has always been one of the most essential dimensions of intercultural language te...