Why to teach L2 culture in the classroom?

Diego Flrez Matas Leonardo Varela February 09, 2010

Why to teach L2 culture in the classroom?

Teachers had to be ambassadors of the English culture in the classroom; () they had to teach the language and () introduce the social conventions, ideologies, and cultural expectations of the English-speaking community.(Llurda, 2004) There is no doubt that the former is an important statement, but it does not explain the advantages or, if there are problems while teaching culture at the moment of teaching a L2. That is what we are going to try to address in this text.

We must be aware that, as Genc and Bada (2005) said, Language does not exist in a vacuum. It means that we, as L2 learners, have to be conscious of the background where the target language is used, the reasons why some things are said in that way and in that moment. It could make easier the comprehension of some aspects that are not present within our own language (e.g. proverbs) where there is not possible a one-to-one translation; although sometimes exists an analogous expression in the L1. It would be helpful to apply some examples of target language life at the time of teaching some aspects of grammar. Through examples, the apprentice could associate book examples with the target language life, eliminating the idea that what is on the books are virtual representations from a virtual language.

It is very important to identify the environment where some actions take place. Here we have another benefit that is to know the appropriate social forms of communication, as requests. Hey you, come here may be a linguistically correct request, but it is not a

culturally appropriate way for a student to address a teacher. (Peterson and Coltrane, 2003) After this, the learner is going to take into account the right way of expressing his/her ideas according to the moment. By understanding the culture, the students motivation would be possibly affected by increasing it in a substantial way. Likewise, the learners contextualization could drive them into obtaining information about history, geography, costumes, traditions, etc. from the L2.

On the other hand, there are some authors who claim that the purpose of teaching an international language is to facilitate the communication of learners ideas and culture in an English medium (Smith, 1976), neglecting the idea that language and culture are linked. For them, it is possible to create a standardized language that could be adapted to circumstances of different natures. Another drawback is the probability that the ambassador transmits his/her perception of the explained culture, what would create some prejudices into the learners minds.

After those ideas, it is clear that even if there are some points of view where teaching culture through the language can cause some troubles to the learners, the positive

values overweight at the moment of teaching culture within a target language. It is a double-way process in which the learner can improve his/her skills at the moment of facing a new environment (culture). With double-way process I mean that the learner acquires the culture, immersed within the second language, and the language with the same process.

REFERENCES

Genc , B. and Bada, E. (2005) culture in language learning and teaching. The reading Matrix. Retrieved on February 7, 2009.

Llurda,E. (2004) Non-native speaker teachers and English as an international language.International Journal of Applied Linguistics. Vol. 14. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Peterson, E and Coltrane, B. (2003) Culture in second language teaching. ERIC digest. Retrieved on February 8, 2009. EDO-FL-03-09