Having a look at Table 4 above, we can see that nearly 75% of the participants expressed
positive thoughts regarding item. The culture course seems to have succeeded in
accomplishing a task with some humanizing effect.
Theme 4: Contribution to Prospective Teaching Profession
The last item of the questionnaire is the only open ended one. When asked if and how the
culture class would contribute to the participants’ prospective teaching career almost all of
them had to say something. The responses can be grouped in six points. Below, we will deal
with these points, citing some of the participants’ verbatim remarks at the introduction of each
point.
Point 1: Teaching language is also teaching culture
I will be able to teach not only the language but also the culture.
Could you think of any language without culture?
After the introduction of the Direct Method into the English Language teaching, cultural
elements began to be considered as an important aspect of learning the language, and in our
age, cultural background knowledge is accepted as a must in teaching language. As
Thanasoulas (2001) points, it should be reiterated that language teaching is culture teaching,
and someone involved in teaching language is also involved in teaching culture at the same
time. Language does not exist in a vacuum, so language learners should be aware of the
context in which the target language is used i.e., they should also learn about the target
culture. In this respect, Crystal (1997) well supports this statement: “Language has no
independent existence: it exists only in the brains and mouths and ears and hands and eyes of
its user.” The participants in this study, aware of the inevitability of teaching culture in a
language course, believe that they would be well equipped to teach a language course due to
the culture class they attended.
Point 2: Familiarization with the target society
I will be able to answer the questions of my prospective students about
English/American societies.
I will be able to answer the questions of my prospective students about cultural topics.
As a second benefit of the culture class, we also mentioned that however course books
provide real life situations, learners, lacking insights about the target culture, have difficulty
in associating these situations with real people (Kitao, 2000). Therefore, learners may think
that they are studying the language of some fictive people. However, learners learn concrete
facts more easily than abstract ones; if they know that they are dealing with a genuine and not
virtual reality, that they are studying a language spoken by real people, then studying the
language will become much easier. ELT students attending culture classes will easily provide
background information for their prospective students thereby rendering the grammar or other
language related classes more enjoyable, interesting, and attractive. Moreover, when learners’
needs and curiosity in their field are satisfied by the teacher, learners will thus respect the
authority and the competence of the teacher, which can be viewed as rather conducive to their
language learning.
Point 3: Assistance in teaching grammar
I will be able to teach grammar more efficiently.
While teaching grammar I will be able to provide genuine examples from the lives of
English and American people.
Some participants believe that besides other benefits, a culture class would help them in
teaching grammar. That while teaching grammatical structures and other grammatical items
they would provide their prospective students with examples taken from real life. Teaching
grammar, as well known, may sometimes become problematic because one can not make a
one-to-one translation of one language into another. Furthermore, Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
implies that there are certain thoughts of an individual in one language that cannot be
understood by those who use another language (Chandler, 1994). Therefore, dealing with
grammar problems, teachers’ ability to explain the new grammatical items referring to life of
the target language society will help them have students overcome comprehension problems
regarding grammatical structures.
Point 4: Enhancing communicative competence in L2
My communicative competence has improved.
I had the opportunity to use the L2 a lot; thus I feel more confident in speaking
English.
While discussing the language proficiency, linguists often make a distinction between
linguistic competence and linguistic performance. Chomsky (1965) defines linguistic
competence as what one knows about the language while linguistic performance is one’s
actual language use. Communicative competence, on the other hand, is a concept introduced
by Hymes (1972), and discussed widely in the field of language learning and teaching.
According Hymes (1972) the speakers of a language need more than grammatical competence
in order to be able to communicate effectively in a language. They also need to know how
language is used by members of a speech community to accomplish their purposes.
Communicative competence has mainly two aspects: linguistic and pragmatic. Cultural
competence falls in the category of pragmatic aspect of communicative competence. It could
be described as the ability to understand behavior from the perspective of the members of a
culture, and thus behave in a way that would be understood by members of the culture in the
intended way. It, therefore, involves understanding of all aspects of a culture, but particularly
the social structure, the values and beliefs of the people, and the way things are assumed to be
done. Lado (1957) argued that lack of cultural competence in the target language would surely
lead to transfer from the native language to the target language. Consequently, L2 students 80
would express idiosyncratic utterances leading to inappropriate utterances even though the
grammatical structures may be appropriate.1
The participants here were well aware of the fact
that by attending culture classes their communicative competence would be improved and that
they would become not only efficient readers and listeners but also efficient speakers and
writers.
Point 5: Expanding vocabulary
Cultural knowledge will play a facilitator role in my teaching and learning new
lexical items.
My vocabulary was expanded significantly due to the culture class.
Vocabulary learning has often been one of the major issues in the study of L2. No matter how
well learners learn grammar, no matter how successfully sounds of L2 are mastered, without
words, expressing a wide range of meanings during communication in an L2 cannot take
place in any meaningful way. Therefore, L2 learners need to know as much vocabulary as
possible and be able to use it appropriately. Culture classes do not only help learners enrich
vocabulary repertoire but also aid them in using the newly acquired words. Studying culture, a
learner becomes familiarized with specific words used in a given context. Without paying due
attention to English politics, for instance, comprehending terms such as The House of
Commons, The House of Lords, The Civil Service, and The Ombudsman may be rather
difficult. Furthermore, one of the techniques in teaching and learning is to make use of the
mnemonics. Most of the cultural issues being concrete in nature will be the pegs with which
the new vocabulary is associated. Using the peg technique (Thompson, 2003), learners
associate a newly encountered word with an already acquired one leading to minimization of
fossilization of potential misusage of such a new word.
Point 6: Providing information prior to a visit to the UK or the USA
In case I visit Britain or the USA, I will not have a culture shock.
If I take some of the courses from a university in the UK attending the
Socrates/Erasmus program, I will adapt to the differences in Britain or the USA more
easily.
One of the motives for studying an L2 is that people sometimes have to go abroad, especially
due to business, and meet people from different nationalities. It is not practical and
economical to communicate with others through a simultaneous translator.
With the introduction of the SOCRATES/ERASMUS Student Exchange Program2
it has
become much easier for a student to visit an EU country. If students did not know what a DIY
(Do-it-Yourself) shop sells they would be left to their devices to discover what DIY shops are
for. Providing information about such stores may greatly ease the life of such students. If they
did not know what leisure the English have, they may feel perplexed to observe people
engaged in activities quite different to theirs. We believe that such students have the right to
access information about the target society prior to such visits, and one major way of
acquiring such information is through the language.
มีตา 4 ตารางข้างต้น เราจะเห็นว่า เกือบ 75% ของผู้เข้าร่วมแสดงความคิดที่เป็นบวกเกี่ยวกับสินค้า ประเพณีวัฒนธรรมน่าจะ ประสบความสำเร็จในทำงานกับบางผล humanizingรูปที่ 4: มีส่วนทำให้ผู้สนใจสอนอาชีพรายการสุดท้ายของแบบสอบถามจะเปิดเฉพาะสิ้นสุดหนึ่ง เมื่อถามถ้า และวิธีการวัฒนธรรมชั้นจะช่วยให้ผู้เข้าร่วมคาดหวังสอนอาชีพเกือบทั้งหมดพวกเขาก็จะบอกอะไร สามารถจัดกลุ่มการตอบสนองใน 6 จุด ด้านล่าง เราจะแจกจุดเหล่านี้ อ้างถึงหมายเหตุระเบียบวาระการประชุมผู้เข้าร่วมที่แนะนำแต่ละแห่งจุดจุดที่ 1: การสอนภาษาจะสอนวัฒนธรรมฉันจะสอนไม่เพียงแต่ภาษา แต่ยังวัฒนธรรมคุณสามารถคิดใด ๆ ภาษาไม่มีวัฒนธรรมหลังจากแนะนำวิธีการโดยตรงเป็นภาษาอังกฤษที่สอน วัฒนธรรมองค์ประกอบเริ่มต้นถือว่าเป็นลักษณะสำคัญ ของการเรียนรู้ภาษา และในของเราอายุ พื้นหลังทางวัฒนธรรมความรู้เป็นที่ยอมรับเป็นในการสอนภาษา เป็นThanasoulas (2001) จุด ควรจะย้ำว่า การสอนภาษาที่สอนวัฒนธรรมและผู้เกี่ยวข้องในการสอนภาษาในการสอนวัฒนธรรมที่เหมือนกันเวลา ภาษาไม่มีอยู่ในสุญญากาศ เพื่อเรียนภาษาควรตระหนักถึงการบริบทในภาษาเป้าหมายที่ใช้เช่น พวกเขายังควรเรียนรู้เกี่ยวกับเป้าหมายวัฒนธรรม ประการนี้ คริสตัล (1997) ดีสนับสนุนงบนี้: "ภาษาไม่มีมีชีวิตอิสระ: มันอยู่ในสมอง และปาก และหู และมือ และสายตาเท่านั้นผู้ใช้" ผู้เข้าร่วมในการศึกษานี้ มายโดยกล่าวสอนวัฒนธรรมในการภาษาหลักสูตร เชื่อว่า พวกเขาจะดีพร้อมที่จะสอนหลักสูตรภาษาเนื่องชั้นวัฒนธรรมร่วมจุดที่ 2: ปฐมนิเทศกับสังคมเป้าหมายฉันจะสามารถตอบคำถามของนักเรียนของฉันคาดหวังเกี่ยวกับสังคมอังกฤษ/อเมริกันฉันจะตอบคำถามของนักเรียนของฉันมีแนวโน้มเกี่ยวกับหัวข้อวัฒนธรรมเป็นสวัสดิการที่สองชั้นวัฒนธรรม เรายังกล่าวว่า อย่างไรก็ตาม หลักสูตรหนังสือให้ชีวิต เรียน ขาดความเข้าใจเกี่ยวกับวัฒนธรรมเป้าหมาย มีปัญหาในการเชื่อมโยงกรณีนี้กับคนจริง (Kitao, 2000) ดังนั้น ผู้เรียนอาจคิดว่าว่า พวกเขากำลังเรียนภาษาบางคน fictive อย่างไรก็ตาม ผู้เรียนเรียนรู้คอนกรีตข้อเท็จจริงได้ง่ายกว่าคน บทคัดย่อ ถ้าพวกเขารู้ว่า พวกเขากำลังเผชิญกับความแท้ และไม่ความเป็นจริงเสมือน ว่า พวกเขาเรียนภาษาที่พูด โดยคนจริง แล้ว การศึกษาภาษาจะง่ายมาก จะให้นักเรียน ELT เข้าคลาวัฒนธรรมข้อมูลเบื้องหลังของนักศึกษามีแนวโน้มที่แสดงไวยากรณ์หรืออื่น ๆภาษาที่เกี่ยวข้องกับการเรียนสนุกมากขึ้น น่าสนใจ และน่าสนใจ นอกจากนี้ เมื่อผู้เรียนneeds and curiosity in their field are satisfied by the teacher, learners will thus respect theauthority and the competence of the teacher, which can be viewed as rather conducive to theirlanguage learning.Point 3: Assistance in teaching grammar I will be able to teach grammar more efficiently. While teaching grammar I will be able to provide genuine examples from the lives ofEnglish and American people.Some participants believe that besides other benefits, a culture class would help them inteaching grammar. That while teaching grammatical structures and other grammatical itemsthey would provide their prospective students with examples taken from real life. Teachinggrammar, as well known, may sometimes become problematic because one can not make aone-to-one translation of one language into another. Furthermore, Sapir-Whorf hypothesisimplies that there are certain thoughts of an individual in one language that cannot beunderstood by those who use another language (Chandler, 1994). Therefore, dealing withgrammar problems, teachers’ ability to explain the new grammatical items referring to life ofthe target language society will help them have students overcome comprehension problemsregarding grammatical structures.Point 4: Enhancing communicative competence in L2 My communicative competence has improved. I had the opportunity to use the L2 a lot; thus I feel more confident in speakingEnglish.While discussing the language proficiency, linguists often make a distinction betweenlinguistic competence and linguistic performance. Chomsky (1965) defines linguisticcompetence as what one knows about the language while linguistic performance is one’sactual language use. Communicative competence, on the other hand, is a concept introducedby Hymes (1972), and discussed widely in the field of language learning and teaching.According Hymes (1972) the speakers of a language need more than grammatical competencein order to be able to communicate effectively in a language. They also need to know howlanguage is used by members of a speech community to accomplish their purposes.Communicative competence has mainly two aspects: linguistic and pragmatic. Culturalcompetence falls in the category of pragmatic aspect of communicative competence. It couldbe described as the ability to understand behavior from the perspective of the members of aculture, and thus behave in a way that would be understood by members of the culture in theintended way. It, therefore, involves understanding of all aspects of a culture, but particularlythe social structure, the values and beliefs of the people, and the way things are assumed to bedone. Lado (1957) argued that lack of cultural competence in the target language would surelylead to transfer from the native language to the target language. Consequently, L2 students 80would express idiosyncratic utterances leading to inappropriate utterances even though thegrammatical structures may be appropriate.1 The participants here were well aware of the factthat by attending culture classes their communicative competence would be improved and thatthey would become not only efficient readers and listeners but also efficient speakers andwriters.Point 5: Expanding vocabulary Cultural knowledge will play a facilitator role in my teaching and learning newlexical items. My vocabulary was expanded significantly due to the culture class.Vocabulary learning has often been one of the major issues in the study of L2. No matter howwell learners learn grammar, no matter how successfully sounds of L2 are mastered, withoutwords, expressing a wide range of meanings during communication in an L2 cannot takeplace in any meaningful way. Therefore, L2 learners need to know as much vocabulary aspossible and be able to use it appropriately. Culture classes do not only help learners enrichvocabulary repertoire but also aid them in using the newly acquired words. Studying culture, alearner becomes familiarized with specific words used in a given context. Without paying dueattention to English politics, for instance, comprehending terms such as The House ofCommons, The House of Lords, The Civil Service, and The Ombudsman may be ratherdifficult. Furthermore, one of the techniques in teaching and learning is to make use of themnemonics. Most of the cultural issues being concrete in nature will be the pegs with which
the new vocabulary is associated. Using the peg technique (Thompson, 2003), learners
associate a newly encountered word with an already acquired one leading to minimization of
fossilization of potential misusage of such a new word.
Point 6: Providing information prior to a visit to the UK or the USA
In case I visit Britain or the USA, I will not have a culture shock.
If I take some of the courses from a university in the UK attending the
Socrates/Erasmus program, I will adapt to the differences in Britain or the USA more
easily.
One of the motives for studying an L2 is that people sometimes have to go abroad, especially
due to business, and meet people from different nationalities. It is not practical and
economical to communicate with others through a simultaneous translator.
With the introduction of the SOCRATES/ERASMUS Student Exchange Program2
it has
become much easier for a student to visit an EU country. If students did not know what a DIY
(Do-it-Yourself) shop sells they would be left to their devices to discover what DIY shops are
for. Providing information about such stores may greatly ease the life of such students. If they
did not know what leisure the English have, they may feel perplexed to observe people
engaged in activities quite different to theirs. We believe that such students have the right to
access information about the target society prior to such visits, and one major way of
acquiring such information is through the language.
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