Culture in teaching English as an international language in CLT curriculum

Xiaochen+HAN

Abstract：This thesis explored the role of culture in EIL teaching on the basis of CLT contexts by reviewing plentiful previous studies. Generally speaking， this thesis emphasized the relationship between language and culture， the necessity and importance of culture teaching in language teaching， what kind of culture should be included in cultural content for culture teaching and challenges of culture teaching in EIL teaching as well. In a word， Culture is correlated with language. Culture teaching plays a significant role in EIL teaching. In culture teaching， not only the target culture， but also various cultures related to EIL learners daily life should be included.

Key words：Culture and language； Culture teaching in EIL teaching

1. Introduction

This study aims to explore culture in teaching English as an international language in CLT curriculum. In the literature review， I will review previous studies related to this topic from following aspects： English as an international language （EIL）， the relationship between language and culture， culture teaching in language teaching， what kind of culture should be taught as well as challenges of culture teaching in EIL teaching. After reviewing adequate studies， I will provide some pedagogical implications in terms of teaching culture especially in CLT curriculum. Last， a conclusion will be made.

2. Literature review

The frequent use of the term EIL has made contributions to the increasing interest in learning English. Nowadays， there have been more and more people speak English. The number of EIL speakers has exceeded that of English native speakers （Llurda， 2004）. As for international language， it indicates that there are four main features based on the study of McKay （2004）. The first feature is that the quick development of global economic systems has contributed a lot to the development of international language. The second feature is that international language can be enriched by other languages in multilingual contexts while the third feature is that an international language can be learned by people who are in different levels in society， and it belongs to everyone in the world. Last， it spreads by individuals who acquire the language. In view of this， the English language has possessed and exemplified all of the features mentioned above， and it has been regarded as the international language for people from various countries to communicate with each other （McKay， 2004）. Honna （2005） mentioned that English today is quite different from other languages. It has been an indispensable language， and an official language for international communication. Moreover， the position of English in Asia can not be replaced. English provides a vital vehicle for people to communicate not merely with American or British people， but with people from Asian countries as well （Honna， 2005）. In regard of this， EIL is significant and has extensive influence around the world. In addition， the transformation of English from a pervasive language to an international language or lingua franca has brought changes in language teaching. Llurda （2004） found that adjustments in English teaching have been made to adapt to the EIL environment and the demands of EIL learners. Whats more， more emphasis has been put on EIL speakers rather than merely focusing on native speakers. Besides， to regard native speakers as the model in English teaching has been changed （Llurda， 2004）.

Language can reflect culture while culture can be conveyed through language. In view of this， there is a close relationship between culture and language. Qu （2010） has analyzed the importance of culture. On the one hand， culture reflects all the aspects of the community. On the other hand， our human beings are all culture-bound （Qu， 2010）. Wang （2011） considered that language is a significant part of culture. Meanwhile， culture plays a vital role in the development of language. In detail， culture has shaped language， and the evolution of culture would bring benefits in developing language. Whats more， Sun （2013） has also emphasized the relationship between language and culture. She mentioned that language belongs to culture， and it is an important part of culture. Meanwhile， beliefs， values， customs and other aspects which are included in culture can be conveyed through language. Language provides an effective vehicle for people to learn about the corresponding culture. In other words， culture will not be learned about without language. Moreover， culture affects language from various aspects. Culture provides basis to language， and would enrich language. In a word， culture to language is source to water （Sun， 2013）. Mikhaleva and Regnier （2014） stated that language is the most significant representation of culture. Acquiring the target language is a way for learners to comprehend its culture in terms of beliefs， values， customs and other aspects. Xue （2014） mentioned that language and culture are correlated with each other. Moreover， a second language or a foreign language can not be learned or acquired without exploring the culture of the target language. Besides， language and culture can supplement each other. On the one hand， language is a part of culture and can reflect culture. On the other hand， culture established the structure of language and would affect language （Xue， 2014）.

The affinity of language and culture indicates that learning a language can not be separated from learning its culture. In other words， teaching culture is indispensable in teaching language. Sun （2013） mentioned that teaching cultural knowledge of the target culture would help learners acquire a better understanding of the linguistic knowledge. Han （2012） considered that culture teaching has become a main section in English teaching. Genc and Bada （2005） deemed that teaching culture would bring benefits to language teaching. In detail， teaching culture would help learners establish a better comprehension of the target language and the reason of learning the target language. Moreover， without the introduction of cultural knowledge， learners may get confused with some terms in the language. In addition， teaching culture would guide learners to build relationship between abstract knowledge and real people or contexts. Furthermore， teaching culture would enhance learners motivation to actively learn the language （Genc & Bada， 2005）. McKay （2003） also explored some benefits of culture teaching in language teaching. Specifically， teaching culture can help language learners to build awareness of both similarities and differences among different cultures. Whats more， teaching culture would help facilitate learners communication of their ideas. Besides， McKay （2003） mentioned that the influence of culture on language teaching can be reflected from two perspectives， and they are linguistic and pedagogical respectively. In terms of linguistic influence， culture would influence language teaching in semantics， pragmatics， discourse and etc. As for pedagogical influence， culture would influence the choice of teaching materials and teaching methodology as well.

Many previous studies have explored the indispensable role of culture teaching in language teaching. However， what kind of culture should be taught still remains a question. Shin， Eslami and Chen （2011） found that although the majority of English speakers are from EIL contexts， cultures of the inner circle countries are more highlighted than those of the outer circle and the expanding circle countries. Han （2012） considered that not only the target culture， but also the native culture should be contained in culture teaching. Usually， language teachers or learners only regard that including the target culture is important in language teaching or learning. However， they often ignore the significance of ones own culture. In the study of Han （2012） in China， she has found that culture teaching in English class in Chinese universities is one-sided to a large extent. Teachers only introduce the target culture when teach the language instead of highlighting the importance of the native culture and students own identity. Moreover， Sun （2013） mentioned that it is important to develop learners intercultural communication competence in EIL settings. Meanwhile， not only the culture of the target language， but other different cultures of EIL learners as well should be included and introduced in class to help EIL learners establish a better recognition of similarities and differences among various cultures. Furthermore， Mikhaleva and Regnier （2014） considered that teaching the target culture and the native culture are all important and necessary in terms of facilitating learners language acquisition. In addition， a parallel study which includes both the target culture and the native culture should be implemented in class. Xue （2014） considered that a balance of teaching the target culture and the native culture should be kept in teaching a foreign language. Whats more， Pierson-smith， Chik and Miller （2014） conducted a study in teaching popular culture in an EIL context. They mentioned that both locally and internationally popular culture should be included in teaching EIL to develop EIL learners ability to analyze similarities and differences among different cultures. Besides， in the study of McKay （2003）， several questions of which culture should be included in the cultural content in culture teaching had been asked to some Chilean language teachers. Generally， there are three main types of culture， and they are the target culture， the native culture as well as the culture of various countries in the world. The majority of them considered that the culture of various countries around the world should be contained in the cultural content. In view of this， teaching culture particularly the culture of various countries should be highly recommended in multilingual classroom settings. In doing this， it would help EIL learners develop the ability to analyze both similarities and differences among various cultures， which would benefit their development of intercultural communication competence and sociolinguistic competence.endprint

In terms of teaching culture in teaching EIL， previous studies have explored the challenges of it. Broady （2007） found that some professional terms contained in the target culture would mislead language learners who are from different cultures and not equipped with the corresponding knowledge. In regard of this， it would be better for language teachers to introduce the professional terms which are included in the target culture at the very beginning rather directly teaching the target culture to students. Qu （2010） mentioned that culture is complex and can be reflected from various aspects. There are large amount of aspects in culture， therefore， it is relatively difficult to include all of them in culture teaching. Besides， Wang （2011） found that culture differences may cause problems in English teaching while Stroupe （2012） finding that cultural conflicts may cause misunderstanding in English teaching.

3. Implication

After reviewing previous studies， I will provide some pedagogical implications of teaching culture in teaching EIL in CLT curriculum. First， teachers should introduce cultural information and cultural background of the target language before teaching the target language. In EIL classrooms， teachers should introduce not only the target culture， but also various cultures related to EIL learners daily life to help them learn about different cultures and develop their ability to make comparisons among different cultures. Second， culture teaching should not be separated from language teaching， but should be combined with language teaching. Teachers should guide students to experience culture through communicating with the target language. Third， in terms of the essence of CLT， language teachers should always maintain the goal of helping learners develop their communicative competence. In regard of this， teachers can ask learners to conduct meaningful activities which include cultural content by applying the target language in communicative contexts. In addition， in multilingual classrooms， the communicative contexts in the activities should involve in various cultures rather than only the target culture. In terms of the activities， role-play is a beneficial method for teachers to implement in language class. Through role-play， learners language proficiency would be developed. Moreover， their communicative competence would be improved. Besides， their comprehension of the cultural knowledge would also be strengthened. Next， teachers should introduce popular cultures to EIL learners by providing opportunities to them to get in touch with popular movies， TV plays， and news in English. On the one hand， the use of English in popular cultures is in actually communicative contexts， which would benefit learners development of communicative competence. On the other hand， their language proficiency would be improved through learning about popular cultures. Last， it is important for teachers to make comparisons and contrasts among various cultures in English teaching. In addition， teachers can demonstrate different use of English to EIL learners based on different educational contexts.

4. Conclusion

To sum up， in this thesis， I have explored culture in EIL teaching. In the literature review， I have reviewed previous studies in terms of features and significance of EIL， the relationship between language and culture， the necessity and importance of culture teaching in language teaching， what kind of culture should be included and challenges of culture teaching. In short， English is an important vehicle for international communication. Culture is correlated with language. Culture teaching plays a vital role in EIL teaching. When teaching culture， not only the target culture， but also various cultures related to EIL learners daily life should be included.

【Bibliography】

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【作者簡介】

韓笑晨（1990—），女，陜西西安人，碩士研究生學(xué)歷，長安大學(xué)外國語學(xué)院助理工程師，主要研究方向：應(yīng)用語言學(xué)。

【About the Author】

Name： Xiaochen HAN； Date of Birth： October， 1990； Gender： Female； Native Place： Xian， Shaanxi Province； Official Academic Background： Master of Applied Linguistics； Professional Title： Assistant Engineer； Research Orientation： Applied Linguistics； Work place： Changan University.