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Teaching English as anIn t e rnational Language:Implications for Cu l t u r a lMa t e rials in the Classro o mSandra Lee McKay

MANY TEACHERS USE cultural contentin their classrooms, believing that such afocus will motivate their students. However,as English assumes the role of an interna-tional language, the question of which cul-ture to teach and how to teach it raisesseveral important issues. To explore the linkbetween culture and an international lan-guage, this article begins with an examina-tion of what is meant by an internationallanguage. This is followed by a considerationof the role of culture in language learningand a description of the various levels of cul-ture that can be included in teaching materi-als. The article concludes by consideringwhose culture to include in language materi-als, suggesting that there are many benefitsto including a variety of cultures, not justWestern cultures, in classroom materials.

English as anInternational Language

Crystal (1997) argues that English israpidly assuming the role of a world lan-guage. He maintains that in inner-circle coun-tries, where English is spoken as a nativelanguage, there are approximately 320–380million native speakers of English. In outer-circle countries, where English has an officialrole, as in India and Singapore, for example,there are roughly 150–300 million secondlanguage (L2) speakers of English. And inexpanding-circle countries, where English isused as a foreign language, there are perhaps

as many as 100 to 1,000 million learners ofEnglish. Hence, as a conservative estimate,there are approximately 570 million people inthe world today who have a native or native-like command of English. As Crystal pointsout, no other language has spread around theglobe so extensively, making English a trulyinternational language.

C l e a rly, in the EIL cl a s s room, inwh i ch the language belongs to itsu s e rs, interc u l t u ralism rather thanb i c u l t u ralism should be the go a l .

What exactly is an international language?Smith (1976) was perhaps one of the first todefine the term, noting that an “i n t e r n a t i o n a llanguage is one which is used by people ofdifferent nations to communicate with oneanother” (p. 17). Elaborating on this defini-tion, Smith makes several assertions regard-ing the relationship between an internationallanguage and culture, namely, that

• learners of an international language do not need to internalize the cultural norms of native speakers of that language

• the ownership of an international language becomes de-nationalized

• the educational goal of learning an international language is to enable learners to communicate their ideas and culture to o t h e r s

More recently, Widdowson (1994) dis-cussed the question of the ownership of aninternational language. As he put it,

The very fact that English is an inter-national language means that nonation can have custody over it. Togrant such custody of the language, isnecessarily to arrest its developmentand so undermine its international sta-tus. It is a matter of considerable prideand satisfaction for native speakers ofEnglish that their language is an inter-national means of communication. Butthe point is that it is only internationalto the extent that it is not their lan-guage. It is not a possession whichthey lease out to others, while stillretaining the freehold. Other peopleactually own it. (p. 385)

If an international language, by defini-tion, means that such a language belongs tono single culture, then it would seem that itis not necessary for language learners toacquire knowledge about the culture of thosewho speak it as a native language. There aresome, however, who argue that a languagecannot be taught without knowledge of a target culture. Whether or not target culturecontent should be included in language class-rooms is highly dependent on what one seesas the role of culture in language learning.

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Culture in Language LearningIn her discussion of language teaching

and culture, Kramsch (1993) emphasizes thenotion that culture is “a social construct, theproduct of self and others’ perceptions” (p.205). Informed by a view of culture as asocial construct, she outlines several newlines of thought regarding the teaching oflanguage and culture.

• Establishing a sphere of interculturality—This line of thought promotes the idea that the learning of culture is more than just the transfer of information between cultures. Rather, learning about a culture requires that one consider his/her own culture in relation to another. Hence, the process of learning about another culture entails a reflection on one’s own culture as well as the target culture.

• Teaching culture as an interpersonal process—This area emphasizes that learning about a culture does not entail merely a presentation of facts but, rather, a process of trying to understand foreignness or otherness.

• Teaching culture as difference—This notion of culture highlights the fact that national identities are not monolithic. Within each culture there exists a variety ofnational characteristics that are related to age, gender, regional origin, ethnic back-ground, and social class.

As I see it, these areas of emphasis arecritical to the teaching of culture, especiallyin relation to an international language. Oneof the features that Smith argues is centralto the concept of an international languageis that one learns the language to be able tocommunicate aspects of one’s own cultureto others. Hence, it is important in theteaching of English as an international lan-guage (EIL) for learners to be asked toreflect on their own culture in relation toother cultures or, as Kramsch puts it, toestablish a sphere of interculturality. Thissuggests that the teaching of culture shouldnot involve a mere presentation of facts but,rather, a critical and social process of tryingto understand other cultures in relation toone’s own. Teaching culture as difference isalso central to the teaching of EIL. Thevarieties of English that exist today withinmany countries are just one indication ofthe diversity that is present within manynational borders.

Perhaps one of the most valuable aspectsof Kramsch’s approach to culture in lan-guage teaching is her emphasis on the needto understand a particular culture from theperspective of members of that culture. Sheargues that such an examination will neces-sarily entail dialogue. As she puts it,

Through dialogue and the search foreach other’s understanding, each per-son tries to see the world through theother’s eyes without losing sight ofhim or herself. The goal is not a bal-ance of opposites, or a moderate plu-ralism of opinions, but a paradoxical,irreducible confrontation that maychange one in the process. (p. 231)

In relation to the learning of an interna-tional language, it is important to empha-size that learning about another culturedoes not mean that one must accept thatculture. Kramsch (1993), for example,argues that knowing about a culture (i.e.,gaining cultural competence) does notmean that one has an obligation to behavein accordance with the conventions of thatculture. Byram (1998) makes a similar dis-tinction between knowing about anotherculture and accepting another culture whenhe distinguishes what he terms b i c u l t u r a l-i s m and i n t e r c u l t u r a l i s m. For Byram, bicul-turalism assumes that an individualidentifies with and accepts the beliefs, val-ues, and practices of a particular culture.Interculturalism, on the other hand,assumes a knowledge of, rather than accep-tance of, another culture. Clearly, in theEIL classroom, in which the languagebelongs to its users, interculturalism ratherthan biculturalism should be the goal.

Whether or not target cultural contentshould be included in language cl a s s-rooms is highly dependent on wh at onesees as the role of culture in languagel e a rn i n g.

In reference to the relationship betweenbiculturalism and bilingualism, Paulston(1992) maintains that becoming biculturaldiffers from becoming bilingual. She arguesthat “becoming bicultural is not just a cog-nitive process which can be carried outapart from the members of the culture” (p.120). She continues that it is “possible tobecome bilingual without becoming bicul-tural, while the reverse is not true” (p. 120). Hence, for Paulston, in learning alanguage, it is possible to become bilingualwithout identifying with a particular cul-ture. This distinction is important in consid-ering the goals of language learners notonly in English as a foreign language (EFL)contexts but also in English as a second lan-guage (ESL) contexts, such as in the UnitedStates. It may well be that for some stu-dents, their language learning goal is toacquire EIL in order to explain their cultureto others and, hence, to become bilingualand not bicultural. Thus, if the role of cul-

ture in language teaching, particularly inrelation to an international language, is toestablish a sphere of interculturality and notto require that learners accept the values ofanother culture, how might this be done?

Levels of CultureIn examining the issue of culture and

language learning, Adaskou, Britten, andFahsi (1990) describe four dimensions ofculture:

1. aesthetic sense, in which a language is associated with the literature, film, and music of a particular country

2. sociological sense, in which a language islinked to the customs and institutions of a country

3. semantic sense, in which a culture’s conceptual system is expressed in the language

4. pragmatic sense, in which cultural norms influence what language is appropriate for what contexts

In dealing with culture in the aestheticsense, particularly in relation to literature, aswell as in the sociological sense, one of thefirst steps that needs to be taken is to examinewhat kind of cultural information is in thetext and in what ways the content mightappear unusual to members of another cul-ture. Let us take, for example, a rather routinelesson on garage sales that is presented in thecontext of asking for and giving advice(Hynes & Baichman, 1989). The chapteropens with the following instructions:

A garage sale is a sale of items you nolonger want or need. People havethese sales in their home, yards, orgarages. It is a way for sellers to makemoney in their homes, yards orgarages. It is a way for sellers to makemoney by getting rid of old items. It isalso a way for buyers to get second-hand items, or used items, cheaply.

Look at the list below. With a partnerdecide which items you would want tobuy new and which items you wouldn’tmind buying secondhand. Write N or S.Then discuss your answers with yourclassmates. (p. 47)

Students are then asked to check thefollowing items: a cassette recorder, shoes,pots and pans, a mattress, children’s toys,a rocking chair, sheets, blankets and pil-lows, a clock radio, babies’ clothes, oldrecords, picture with frames, a tablecloth,jewelry, a toaster, a rug, underwear, a win-ter coat and tools. The chapter then contin-

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ues with a character named Janina askingRoberto whether or not he thinks sheshould have the sale on Saturday orSunday, put an ad in the paper or put signsin the neighborhood, and put signs in thefront yard or backyard. The unit ends byasking students to think of some advicethey need, ask a partner for this advice,and then decide whether or not they wouldtake this advice.

The varieties of English that existtoday within many countries are justone indication of the diversity that ispresent within many national borders.

For those from cultures that have garagesales, the cultural information appearsrather innocuous, although it is important topoint out that personal reactions to thevalue of garage sales would vary tremen-dously among members of cultures thathave garage sales. For those from other cul-tures, however, there may be a good dealthat is puzzling. If, for example, this partic-ular text were to be used in Iran, manythings would be quite unfamiliar to the s t u d e n t s .1 For instance, when householditems are sold in Iran, they are generallysold indoors in the seller’s home, and buy-ers often call and make an appointment togo look at the items for sale. Iranian stu-dents would be surprised and perhapsoffended by the idea of buying used mat-tresses, sheets, blankets, and underwear.Also, Iranian students might be puzzled bythe selling of pictures with frames because,in Iran, pictures are private items and pic-tures of family members particularly wouldnever be displayed in a sale. In terms of theexercise on giving advice, this would appearunusual to Iranian students because it is notcustomary to put signs in Iranian neighbor-hoods. Finally, Iranian students might bevery surprised by the exercise in which theyare to ask other students for advice, writedown the reason given for this advice, andthen decide whether or not to take theadvice. In Iran, one seeks advice from some-one who is trusted; hence, it would beextremely unusual not to accept this advice.

How might the cultural elements in thetext on garage sales then be dealt withexplicitly so as to establish a sphere of inter-culturality and develop cross-cultural aware-ness? Obviously, this depends to a largeextent on the dynamics of the particularclassroom. If the teacher were from a culturethat had garage sales, the teacher mightexplain the meaning that garage sales havefor various people in the culture, highlight-ing the point made earlier that national iden-tities are not monolithic. Hence, for some

people, garage sales are a way to savemoney, for some they are a social activity,for some a diversion, and for others anunpleasant and avoided event. However,since such an event may be largely irrelevantfor many Iranian students, what is the valueof dealing with the topic? This, again,depends on how the topic is dealt with. Oneproductive approach would be to encouragestudents to consider their own culture in lightof this event. Why do they think garage salesare not common in Iran and that the house-hold sales that do occur differ significantlyin what is sold and how the items are sold?Under what circumstances do Iranians seekadvice and whom do they consult? In otherwords, the text could provide a context forstudents to compare elements of their ownculture with another culture, helping them toarrive at a better understanding of their ownculture.

The semantic dimension of culture is rele-vant in the teaching of lexical items. Culturalinformation on this level is often embeddedin common phrases that are introduced intexts with no historical, cultural, or sociolog-ical explanation provided. For example, inthe United States, readers might come acrossterms such as the Big Three, Big StickDiplomacy, or yellow journalism, all termsthat have developed from the historical andpolitical development of the country. Inteaching an international language, teachersare faced with the question of which terms tointroduce. Should terms that are highly coun-try specific, such as yellow journalism, beintroduced, or are there terms that havedeveloped from more general Western tradi-tions, such as Pandora’s box, the Midastouch, or the good Samaritan, that are moreapplicable to the use of an international lan-guage? Clearly, an answer to this questionrests largely on the language learning goalsof the students. Students who plan to live inthe United States may find it useful to knowphrases embedded in U.S. culture, whereasstudents in other contexts may have littleneed for such vocabulary.

In relation to the learning of an inter-national language, it is important toemphasize that learning about anotherculture does not mean that one mustaccept that culture.

The pragmatic sense of culture is gener-ally introduced in the teaching of speechacts, such as giving and receiving compli-ments, asking for information, or makingand refusing invitations. One danger that canarise in approaching this level of culture isthat materials can assume that learners wantto acquire rather than learn about how partic-

ular speech acts are enacted in specific coun-tries. Hence, in teaching about giving andreceiving compliments, many textbookspoint out that, in the United States, it is verytypical to accept a compliment with phrasessuch as thank you. In this instance, studentsare essentially presented with informationabout a particular cultural element. If, how-ever, students are encouraged to receivecompliments in this way, then the teachinggoal becomes one of acquiring rather thanlearning about culturally bound ways ofbehaving. Such an approach can present aproblem to language learners who, in theirown culture, are more likely to scale down ordisagree with a compliment. Again, if educa-tors are teaching an international language,then, as Smith points out, learners do notneed to internalize the cultural norms ofanother culture.

Cultural Materials inthe Classroom

Another important element teachers needto consider with respect to the teaching of aninternational language is whose culture toteach. Cortazzi and Jin (1999) distinguishthree types of cultural information that canbe used in language textbooks and materials:

1. target culture materials that use the culture of a country where English is spoken as a first language

2. source culture materials that draw on the learners’ own culture as content

3. international target culture materials that use a great variety of cultures in English- and non-English-speaking countries around the world

How does the choice of which types of cul-tural information to use relate to the teachingof EIL? As with all language teaching mate-rials, what to include as content depends onthe background and goals of the students andteacher. Let us then examine how the choiceof cultural content is affected by the contextswhere English is taught.

Target Culture MaterialsToday, with the tremendous interest in

learning English, one very common class-room context is when the teacher and stu-dents come from the same culturalbackground, but the materials used in theclassroom draw heavily on a target culture.This would be the case, for example, in aclassroom in Thailand where a Thai teacheris using materials written in the UnitedStates or Great Britain. What are someadvantages and disadvantages of such anapproach to teaching culture? On the plusside, it may be that some students in the

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class, perhaps due to the popularity ofWestern films and music, may be interestedin learning more about English-speaking cul-tures.2 Or, it may be that some of the stu-dents are preparing to visit or study inEnglish-speaking countries.

On the other hand, it may be that some ofthe materials are largely irrelevant or uninter-esting to some of the students or present cul-tural conflicts for the students. For example,as was noted above, a discussion of garagesales may be irrelevant to students who donot have such sales in their own country. In asimilar situation, a Korean graduate studentdescribed his experience using a U.S.-pub-lished book with his class in Korea. An exer-cise in the book instructed students to look atphotographs of various scenes depicting dif-ferent periods of U.S. history and decide inwhich decade the picture was taken. As onemight imagine, students found the taskextremely difficult. Furthermore, he, as theteacher, had few resources to draw on to helphis students. The presentation of such materi-als may place teachers from the source culturein a troubling position because they may nothave the answers to their students’ questionsabout unfamiliar cultural information in thetext. This could be especially problematic in aculture where the teacher is considered to bethe main source of information. The importantquestion is whether target culture informationis useful for teaching an international languagein which, as Smith contends, the languagebecomes de-nationalized and the educationalgoal is to enable learners to communicate toothers their own ideas and culture.

A second situation that can arise in usingtarget culture materials is when the studentsare from the source culture and the teacher isfrom the target culture, as might happenwhen a U.S. teacher is working in China.Obviously, many of the advantages and dis-advantages mentioned above would apply.However, in this situation, if the teacherwere from the target culture dealt with in thetext, he or she could explain unknown cul-tural information. However, this may resultin the teacher talking more about his/her cul-ture rather than in allowing the students touse English to tell others about their culture.This is a situation that can also occur inEnglish-speaking countries where theteacher is the provider of cultural informa-tion and the students are learning about thetarget culture. In such a case, there can be agreat deal of teacher talk in the classroom, asteachers tell students about their culture.Once again, teachers need to decide thevalue of such an experience if the students’primary goal is to use EIL to explain theirculture to others.

Source Culture MaterialsTextbook materials can also use the

source culture as cultural content. For exam-ple, one Japanese English textbook approvedby the Ministry of Education asks students todescribe annual Japanese events, such as theChildren’s Day Festival and the Moon-Viewing Festival, and traditional arts, suchas Haiku poetry, Noh drama, and Bunrakupuppet shows. These materials could be usedwith either a Japanese English teacher or anative-English-speaking teacher. What arethe implications of such an approach to cul-ture teaching? It is possible that because thestudents are already familiar with such top-ics, the textbooks do not motivate them. Itmay be, however, that students are not wellinformed about aspects of their own cultureand, hence, the textbooks could providethem the opportunity to learn more aboutthese topics. Or, if students are familiar withthese topics, they may not have the Englishvocabulary to discuss them. Furthermore, if,as Smith points out, one purpose of an inter-national language is to explain one’s ownculture to another, then a source culturefocus in materials helps students acquire theEnglish needed to do this. Finally, in situa-tions where the teachers are from the sourceculture, they likely have the backgroundknowledge to provide students with addi-tional information, or at least have access tosuch information.

The important question is whether tar-get culture information is useful forteaching an international language inwhich, as Smith contends, the lan-guage becomes de-nationalized andthe educational goal is to enablelearners to communicate to otherstheir own ideas and culture.

It is also possible that source culture textscould be used in contexts where the studentscome from the source culture but the teacheris from another culture. In such a situation,the teacher, if not familiar with some of thecultural topics, can become an interested lis-tener, creating a real context in which stu-dents can tell others about their culture inEnglish. This would seem to be an ideal con-text for using EIL. What is surprising is thatin many non-English-speaking countrieswhere I have worked, teachers and adminis-trators prefer to use a target rather than asource culture in their English textbooks.This, perhaps, is due to the belief that lan-guage and culture are inseparable and thatEnglish, by definition, still belongs to thecountries where English is spoken as anative language.

International Target CultureMaterials

A final basis for cultural materials can bean international target culture in which agreat variety of cultural information is pre-sented, representing many English- and non-English-speaking countries. When thestudents and teachers come from a culturenot represented in the text, many of the sameproblems discussed in reference to the use ofa target culture could occur. Students may beuninterested in, or puzzled by, the informa-tion in the text, and teachers may not haveaccess to additional information needed toexplain some of the cultural information inthe materials.

Ultimately, a recognition that Englishis an international language highlightsthe fact that, as more and more indi-viduals learn English, the languagebelongs to no one culture but, rather,provides the basis for promoting cross-cultural understanding in an increas-ingly global village.

Are there then any benefits that mightarise from using content from an interna-tional target culture in the teaching of EIL?This, it seems, depends on what culturalinformation is included and how it is pre-sented. Imagine a text in which L2 speak-ers of English interact with native andnonnative speakers of English (NNS) incross-cultural encounters for trade,tourism, and information gathering pur-poses, including sharing aspects of theirculture with others. Such materials couldhave several benefits. They could illustratecross-cultural pragmatics in which NNSs,while using English, nevertheless draw ontheir own rules of appropriateness in inter-personal communication. They could alsoexemplify the manner in which English isbeing used effectively by NNSs to commu-nicate with others for internationalexchange. Finally, they would demonstratethat English today is being used globallyby bilingual speakers, who have chosen notto internalize the norms of native-English-speaking countries.

ConclusionIn summary, the teaching of EIL has sev-

eral important implications for the role ofculture in language teaching. First, becauseindividuals who learn an international lan-guage do not need to accept the norms ofnative-English-speaking countries, the teach-ing of culture needs to focus on giving stu-dents knowledge about, rather than

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suggesting they accept, particular culturalvalues and beliefs. Such an approach neednot be limited to EFL teaching; ESL teachersalso need to recognize that there are studentswho would prefer to become bilingual butnot necessarily bicultural, even if they planon living in an English-speaking country.Second, in both ESL and EFL contexts, thereis a need to acknowledge the value of includ-ing information about the students’ own cul-ture. This emphasis on cultural contentprovides students with the opportunity tolearn more about their own culture and toacquire the English to explain their own cul-ture to others, especially to their teacher, ifthe teacher is from another culture.Ultimately, a recognition that English is aninternational language highlights the factthat, as more and more individuals learnEnglish, the language belongs to no one cul-ture but, rather, provides the basis for pro-moting cross-cultural understanding in anincreasingly global village.

Notes1I am grateful to Fay Purser, one of my

graduate students, for her insights into the

cultural conflicts that can arise in using thistext in Iran.

2See, however, Prodromou’s (1992) sur-vey of 300 Greek students who expressed lit-tle interest in learning about U.S. life and institutions.

ReferencesAdaskou, K., Britten, D., & Fahsi, B.

(1990). Design decisions on the cultural con-tent of a secondary English course forMorocco. ELT Journal, 44(1), 3–10.

Byram, M. (1998). Cultural identities inmultilingual classrooms. In J. Cenoz & F.Genesee (Eds.), Beyond bilingualism (pp.96–116). Clevedon, England: MultilingualMatters.

Cortazzi, M., & Jin, L. (1999). Culturalmirrors: Materials and methods in the EFLclassroom. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Culture insecond language teaching (pp. 196–219).Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Crystal, D. (1997). English as a globallanguage. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.

Hynes, M., & Baichman, M. (1989).Breaking the ice. New York: Longman.

Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and culturein language teaching. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.

Paulston, C. B. (1992). Sociolinguisticperspectives on bilingual education.Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.

Prodromou, L. (1992). What culture?Which culture? Cross-cultural factors in lan-guage learning. ELT Journal, 46(2), 39–50.

Smith, L. (1976). English as an interna-tional auxiliary language. RELC Journal,7(2), 38–42.

Widdowson, H. G. (1994). The ownershipof English. TESOL Quarterly, 28, 377–388.

AuthorSandra Lee McKay teaches in the graduateprogram in ESL/EFL at San Francisco StateUniversity, in the United States. She hasbeen involved in second language teachereducation programs in a variety of coun-tries, including Japan, Chile, Singapore, andMorocco.

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