International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
Culture and Foreign Language Teaching
Işıl Açıkalın a
ª Anadolu University, Faculty of Education, Department of Foreign Language Education
Abstract
Why is it that communication with persons from other cultures so often is frustating with misunderstanding?The
answer to this question lies on the fact that people simply expect that being human,having common
requirements of food,shelter,security etc. makes everyone alike.However they neglect the idea that
values,beliefs ,customs and attitudes are different from one culture to another. Foreign language learning is
foreign culture learning.That is to say, learning a language invoves not only learning the alphabet,the meaning
of words,the rules of grammer,but also the culture of it in order to avoid misunderstanding in intercultural
communication.Therefore , while designing foreign language curriculum and syllabus, the textbooks have
important fuctions.Textbook writers should have a comparative look at foreign and native cultures.In this way
learners unconsciously internalize and distinguish the cultural elements in the text. Foreign language learners
should interculturally be aware of both their own culture and more importantly,that of others.Otherwise they
will interprete the foreign language messages based on their own culture which may result in misunderstanding.
Keywords. Communicative competence; Foreign language learning and culture; Textbooks in foreign language culture learning
Introduction
Why is it that communication with persons from other cultures so often is frustrating with misunderstanding?
It is often thought that the group to which a person belongs is ‘different’. People simply expect that being
human and having common requirements of food, shelter, security an so on makes everyone alike. However,
they neglect the idea or fact that the values, beliefs and attitudes surrounding them are different from culture to
culture. Therefore, if someone acts or looks different from them, they evaluate the fact as ‘wrong’.
Of course language plays an important role in this fact: Vocabulary, syntax, idioms, slang, dialects and so on
cause difficulty in the target language. Mostly new language learners cling to just one meaning of a word or
phrase in the new language, regardless of context. Language is a way of marking cultural identity. The meanings
of a particular language point to the culture of a particular social group, and the analysis of those meanings, their
comprehension by learners and other speakers involves the analysis and comprehension of that culture (Fenging
Gao, 2006). As a matter of fact language learning is culture learning and consequently language teaching is
culture teaching. So, when we come to the question about culture how can we evaluate it? We can say that
culture is manifested at different layers of debth, ranging from inner core (family) basic assumptions and values
through outer core attitudes, believes and social conventions and to surface –level behavioral manifestations.
As Oatey (2000) proposes culture is a fuzzy set of attitudes, beliefs, behavioral conventions, and basic
assumptions and values that are shared by a group of people and that influence each member’s interpretations of
the meaning of other people’s behavior.
Therefore, culture learning is a key factor in being able to use and master a foreign linguistic system.
How do we teach the culture of the target language?
First of all we have to draw a distinction between grammatical competence and communicative competence.
Learning a language involves not only learning the alphabet, the meaning and arrangement of words, the rules of
grammar but also learning the new languages of body, behavior and cultural custom (Gao, 2006 p.61).
Different culture may have different conventions as to what is appropriate behavior, in what contexts. Lack of
relevant knowledge may cause intercultural misunderstanding (Hinde,1997). In order to avoid misunderstanding
in intercultural communication, good communication competence is indispensable.
On the other hand, foreign language learners should intercultural be aware of both their own culture and more
importantly, that of others. Otherwise they will interpret the foreign language messages based on their own
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