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Nguy ễn Hà Trúc Anh TESOL 9 Writing Task 1 - Version 2

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Paragraph

The Role of Target-language Culturein

Teaching English

Achieving communicative competence in English has been claimed the universal target of

students in any EFL classroom. As a result, it is teachers‟ responsibilities to not only provide

students with knowledge of structure and vocabulary but also prepare them for appropriate uses

of utterances. Many studies have indicated that cultural learning is one of the most efficient

approaches to address appropriacy in terms of these two major functions: culture facilitates in

contextualizing language and motivates students to actively produce natural language.

First of all, culture establishes contexts in which utterances are performed naturally and

appropriately. Cultural components of a society such as beliefs, values and practices determine

the communication process occurred in its language: who the interlocutors are, what information

is discussing, how they transmit messages, how they perceive meanings and how they respond.

Therefore, in order to successfully decode one‟s message, it is recommended that considerations be given to the bounding culture; otherwise, meaning may be difficult to be understood. As

different cultures affect languages differently, Politzer, (cited in Purba 2011) states that teaching

language does not occur simultaneously with the teaching of the culture in which it operates,

students may attach wrong meaning to symbols or find them meaningless. There are considerable

differences in the way English and Vietnamese attach meaning to the same image, taking the

„kennel‟ for example. On hearing two Americans‟ conversation „A: Where did you put the dog

while you were on holiday?  –  B: In the kennels‟, a Vietnamese lacking knowledge of Western

culture may refer “kennels” to small shelters for dogs to sleep in. However, „kennels‟ in this

context is actually used to mention a good place for leaving dogs when people are away, where

their pets are well-cared. These mismatched implications result from different perceptions of the

animal dog of the two cultures. While dogs are considered as „man‟s best friend‟ in America, they

do not earn similar position in Vietnamese culture. Similarly, native speakers of English interpret

received information within their cultural experience and may find one single utterance given by

a person from another cultural background inappropriate. This divergence of thought pattern may

lead to misunderstanding and, in some circumstances, do harm to the relationship among people.

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Nguy ễn Hà Trúc Anh TESOL 9 Writing Task 1 - Version 2

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For the fact that each language is affected by numerous cultural factors, it is essential that

language and culture are taught concurrently so that students can acquire language in its natural

context and be able to manipulate language in an appropriate manner.

Secondly, besides contextualizing language, cultural learning also substantially facilitates

teachers in motivating the engagement of students in terms of personalizing natural language.

Considering a culture-based lesson following the PPP model (Presentation  –   Practice  –  

Production), students‟ cognition of appropriacy has been inductively formed and enhanced in the

first and second stage. On reaching the last stage, students continue developing their appropriacy

awareness by producing their own language in a given natural context with interest. Purba

(2011)agrees that cultural elements play a crucial role in raising learners‟  motivation because

most of them enjoy culturally based activities such as singing, dancing, role playing, or doing

research on other countries and peoples. Thanks to cultural exercises, students are provided with

opportunities to be exposed to real language and real life situations which may receive little

concerns from grammar-oriented material developers. Generally speaking, appropriacy of

language use, as a crucial part of communicative competence, is effectively introduced to EFL

classroom by means of culture-based instruction.

In conclusion, the ability to efficiently communicate using English depends on one‟s

 both linguistic competence and appropriate language use. As culture defines aspects of

communication such as context, underneath values and beliefs, it is fundamental that culture of

the target language is included in the syllabus of EFL classroom to raise students‟ awareness of

language appropriacy.

References

Purba, H. (2011). The importance of including culture in EFL teaching. Journal of English Teaching, 1(1),

44-56.