Teaching Culture

This week we discussed about teaching culture. While looking for a definition of culture one will find many descriptions for it. Culture seems to be very complex. A good classification is the subdivision of culture into Culture and culture: Culture including art architecture, theatre, dance, music and literature and culture including morals, beliefs, values, norms and customs (Kumaravadilu, 2008, p. 10).

When it comes to teaching another language, culture can not be ignored. I believe that one’s culture gains importance when it collides with another culture. When students learn a new language, they automatically get in contact with a new culture. De Capua and Wintergerst (2004) point out that one always sees other people and things through the glasses shaped by one’s past and surrounding culture. When learning a new language, one will communicate with people that think, feel and act differently. Applying that to the Germany culture, however, includes much less possible conflicts and problems than apllying it to other cultures, as the English and German culture are both Western cultures and do not have many major differences.

However, it is normal to think about one’s own values, attitudes and beliefs as being right, but interacting with other cultures or learning about other cultures requires looking above personal convictions and being open for others’ beliefs and ways of living.

A study conducted during the fall term of the academic year 2003-2004 showed that 100 percent of the students, who took a “culture course”, confirmed that the class contributed to any of their language skills as well as changed their attitudes towards the target culture (Genc & Bada, 2005). This study emphasises that educators have the responsibility to introduce their students to other cultures and develop a sensitivity and openness for different cultures. It supports the importance of discussing the topic about teaching culture in our TESOL class. Understanding the importance and effects of teaching culture is one of the main goals of this course "Pragmatic Implications of Culture and History for TESOL". Even if nowadays teaching of culture inside the English classroom still receives a lot of critique (De Capua & Wintergerst, 2004), teachers seem to put more focus on this important aspect of language learning, which helps students to understand people from other cultures as well as improves their language skills.

DeCapua, A. & Wintergerst, A. (2004). Crossing cultures in the language classroom. Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan University.

Genc, B., & Bada, E. (2005). Culture in language learning and teaching. The Reading Matrix, 5(1), 73-84. Retrieved from http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/genc_bada/article.pdf