General and Specific Culture Learning in EFL Textbooks Aimed at Adult Learners in Spain
| Autor: | Ángela Larrea Espinar, Antonio R. Raigón Rodríguez |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2015 |
| Předmět: |
Communicative competence
Linguistics and Language Literature and Literary Theory culture learning Comprehension approach efl big “c” culture small “c” culture PE1-3729 Communicative language teaching Language and Linguistics Linguistics Cultural learning English language Language transfer Sociology of language Pedagogy Language education Sociology textbook Language industry |
| Zdroj: | Studia Anglica Posnaniensia, Vol 50, Iss 1, Pp 5-25 (2015) |
| ISSN: | 2082-5102 0081-6272 |
| Popis: | 1. Introduction Cultural knowledge has always been an integral part of language learning (Howatt & Widdowson 2004). However, the development of behaviours, skills, and abilities did not gain the importance they deserve until the twenty-first century. Globalization and technology have made intercultural encounters more frequent than ever, which has led to a new focus on language teaching. The goal of communicative competence of the 1980s has largely been replaced by the goal of intercultural communicative competence; thus the aim of language teaching is to enable students to negotiate cultural meanings and communicate effectively when it comes to interacting with speakers from other cultures. In Europe, the teaching of English as a foreign language is organised in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Despite the fact that the Framework recognises and endorses the acquisition of a cultural component, it does not establish specific descriptors for how this is to be achieved. Therefore, the first stage of the present study consists of designing a cultural learning model based on previous research by Paige, Jorstad, Paulson, Klein & Colby (1999) and Lee (2009). Once created, this model is used to analyse the cultural content of six English language textbooks for B1 and B2-level adults. The authors' intention is to identify examples of cultural content and determine which type of cultural teaching is being carried out. The ultimate aim is to establish whether the cultural learning taking place is appropriate and conducive to the development of intercultural communicative competence, as set out in the CEFR. 2. The intercultural focus in language teaching Ever since the emergence of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (Whorf 1956), countless studies have highlighted the interrelationship between culture and language, (Kramsch 1998; Brown 2000; Mitchell & Myles 2004; Liddicoat, Papademetre, Scarino & Kohler 2003). The conviction that language and culture are two inseparable sides of the same coin has a direct bearing on language teaching: "Language and culture are not separate, but are acquired together, with each providing support for the development of the other" (Mitchell & Myles 2004: 235). Despite this interrelationship, cultural teaching was a neglected component of language teaching in the 20thcentury until the advent of the communicative approach in the 1980s, which renewed and reinforced the link between language and culture. Resting on pragmatic and socio-linguistic foundations, the communicative teaching of language focuses on the use of language in a social context in a way that is culturally appropriate and competent. The incorporation of the cultural component into language teaching thus reflects a shift in emphasis that gives primacy to the communicative over the linguistic component. Byram notes the link between language and culture when he states that "when learners learn about language, they learn about culture and as they learn to use a new language they learn to communicate with other individuals from a new culture" (1989: 22). The cultural diversity implicit in globalisation, however, means that communicative competence proves insufficient for our desire to interact with people with different origins (Larzen-Ostermark 2009). As Sercu (2005) rightly points out, all communication in a foreign language is, by definition, intercultural. Full comprehension requires more than the mere transmission and reception of linguistic signs, because perceived reality arrives filtered, as we have seen, by our cultural values and beliefs. So intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is the ability "to ensure a shared understanding by people of different social identities, and [the] ability to interact with people as complex human beings with multiple identities and their own individuality" (Byram, Gribkova & Starkey 2002: 10). … |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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