While there is no definitive conclusion to exactly how language and culture are related, it is evident through the linguistic choices that people employ that a relationship exists. There is a need for language learners to understand why people think and speak the way they do, and to understand possible agreements that may be in place between a culture and its language. Integrated studies of language and culture are needed if language learners are to become competent language users.
If language policy reflects the need for learners to become socially competent language users, learners will be able to better understand their own language and culture as well as any other they may choose to study. For language learners and instructors alike, an acknowledgement that there is more to any language (i.e. ‘the ways of…’) than the sum of its parts is imperative if any level of real competency is to be achieved. Creating language policy that reflects the importance of the relationship(s) between language and
culture will force teachers to educate learners on the authenticity of language (i.e. the how and why behind
its use in real life). Such policy would not only offer language learners insight into their own language and cultural competency, but also provide them with an educated base for how to view other languages and cultures as well. With the unfortunate realities of time and budgetary constraints at the forefront of language education, judgments inevitably have to be made concerning the role of cultural education in the second language classroom. And, as strong evidence ties together culture and language, creating a program refl ective of this relationship should be nothing short of top priority.