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Teaching culture in the foreign language classroom

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 APORTACIONES
PARA UNA EDUCACIÓN LINGÜÍSTICA Y LITERARIA
EN EL SIGLO XXI

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Teaching culture in the foreign language classroom
Isabel Negro
Universidad Complutense

Palabras clave: La competencia cultural es una de las competencias básicas

Cultura, enseñanza, establecidas en la legislación española en materia educativa. En este
competencia cultural sentido, el currículum de Lenguas Extranjeras en la Educación
Secundaria Obligatoria (ESO) incluye un bloque de contenidos
socioculturales. Sin embargo, se presta escasa atención a la enseñanza
de la cultura en la clase de lengua extranjera, donde los contenidos
culturales se introducen a través de actividades diseñadas para el
aprendizaje lingüístico y el desarrollo de las cuatro destrezas. A partir
del análisis de los elementos culturales presentes en los libros de texto
utilizados en la enseñanza del inglés en la ESO, esbozamos una
propuesta didáctica para 4º curso consistente en una serie de
actividades centradas en un aspecto cultural concreto.

Key words: The cultural competence is one of the basic competences defined in

Capítulo 27: Teaching cultura in the foreign language classroom

Culture, learning, the Spanish educational legislation. In line with this, the Foreign
cultural competence Languages curriculum for Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO)
includes a block of sociocultural contents. However, the teaching of
culture is neglected in the foreign language classroom, where cultural
contents are introduced through activities designed for language
instruction and skill practice. Starting from the analysis of the cultural
elements in textbooks used in English teaching in Secondary
Education, we shall outline a proposal for cultural instruction in the
fourth year consisting of a set of activities on a topic.

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1. Introduction

According to Monde (2005: 90), “culture is composed of traditional ideas and related
values; it is learned, shared, and transmitted from one generation to the next and it
organizes and helps interpret life.”

Traditionally, the word ‘culture’ has been associated with fine arts, like painting,
sculpture, architecture, dance, theatre or music, that is, “achievement culture” (Tomalin
1993) or culture with “big C”. But ‘culture’ also refers to ideas and behaviours which
are typical of a community, that is to say, “behaviour culture” (Tomalin 1993) or culture
with “little c”. Thus, culture consists of three components (Fantini & Fantini 1997: 59):

- Artifacts (that which is made, created, produced)

- Sociofacts (the ways in which people organise their society and relate to one
another

- Mentifacts (the ideas, beliefs and values that people hold)

Language is an integral part of culture (Nida 2007). From this perspective cultural
teaching is an essential ingredient of language teaching. The view of cultural learning as
integral to language learning pervades FL learning literature (e.g. Kramsch 1993;
Méndez 2003; Guillén 2005; Holme 1999).

The relevance of cultural learning is acknowledged in the Spanish education laws.

When describing the contribution that a second language should make to the acquisition
of the basic competences, the Spanish official curriculum for Compulsory Secondary
Education (hence ESO) highlights the linguistic, social, digital and cultural
competences. The curriculum points out that cultural contents play a significant role in

Capítulo 27: Teaching cultura in the foreign language classroom

foreign language teaching inasmuch as their acquisition entails the development of the
sociocultural competence, which involves knowing the most relevant aspects of the
social and cultural context of the target language.

Regarding the social competence, the official curriculum states that second language
learning should foster the respect for, interest in and acceptance of cultural and
behavioural differences.

The Real Decreto 1631/2006 of 29 December, and the Decreto 23/2007 of 10 May
include objectives, contents and evaluation criteria of a cultural type in the foreign
languages curriculum for ESO.

8. To reflect upon how the foreign language works and to value it as a tool to
access information and as a tool to learn different contents.

9. To judge positively the foreign language and languages in general, as a means

of communication and understanding between people from different places, with
different languages and cultures, avoiding any kind of discrimination.

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Contents

The curriculum for English in the fourth year of ESO suggests the following
contents within the fourth block ‘Socio-cultural aspects and intercultural
awareness’:

- Acknowledging the importance of the foreign language in international

relations.

- Knowing and assessing the habits, conventions, attitudes and values of the
society whose language is studied, and respecting other cultural rules.

- Broadening knowledge of the most relevant cultural aspects of the countries

where the foreign language is spoken, getting information by different means.

- Showing interest in communicative exchanges with foreign language speakers

or learners using printed or digital media.

- Using the correct formulae according to the communicative situation.

- Considering the relationship with people from other cultures as an enriching

experience.

- Respecting different opinions about interesting topics and understanding

different socio-cultural views.

Evaluation criteria

8. To identify and describe the most relevant cultural aspects of the countries where

Capítulo 27: Teaching cultura in the foreign language classroom

the foreign language is spoken and find some connection between the main features
of the habits, attitudes and values of the culture associated with the foreign language
and one’s own culture, showing respect for them.

2. The teaching of culture in the FL classroom

The presence of a cultural dimension in the lessons should:

- use the cultural diversity of SS to advantage

- foster students’ interest in and understanding of the target culture

- foster students’ respect for cultural diversity

- compare and contrast target and native culture.

In our analysis of cultural instruction in the FL classroom, we need to look at five

elements: objectives, contents, activities and assessment.

2.1. Objectives

Stern (1992: 212-214) arranges cultural objectives into 3 groups:

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1. Cognitive

- Knowledge about the foreign culture, including information relative to “culture with
big C” and “Culture with small C”, as well as knowledge about intracultural differences
and knowledge about English-speaking communities. Such knowledge should be real,
realistic and closely related to the knowledge learners have about their own culture.

- Awareness of the target culture features.

- Awareness of the social and attitudinal differences between the foreign culture and the
source culture.

- Research interests: willingness to describe, analyse, summarise and generalise.

2. Affective

- Interest

- Intellectual curiosity

- Empathy

3. Behavioural

- Receptive: interpretation of culturally-relevant behaviour.

- Productive: ability to behave in a culturally appropriate way.

2.2. Contents

Since the 1960s, when the role of the cultural component in FL teaching was

Capítulo 27: Teaching cultura in the foreign language classroom

highlighted, cultural learning has been deeply influenced by the traditional view of the
term ‘culture’, i.e. ‘Culture with capital C’ – encyclopaedic knowledge. However, in the
next decades cultural information was based on everyday life, thus representing ‘culture
with small c’. Such change in the view of the cultural content that must be part of the
FL syllabus has resulted in the inclusion of topics connected with the daily life of the
target community.

Fernández (2002: 69-70) suggests the following cultural contents:

- Social groups (social class, regional identity, jobs, ethnic minorities).

-Social interaction patterns (verbal/non-verbal) with differing levels of

formality.

- Daily routines.

- Social and political institutions.

- Historical periods and events seen as markers of national identity.

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- National geography (geographic factors seen as being significant for

members).

- Socialization and the life cycle (families, schools, employment, rites of

passage).

- Characters, literary works, events seen as markers of culture.

- Stereotypes and symbols of national identity.

Sociocultural contents fulfill two functions in FL teaching/learning (Guillén 2005: 28).

- an ontological function inasmuch as knowledge about the target culture encourages the
development of one’s identity and awareness of others’ identities.

- a pragmatic function: they help learners to adapt to new complex environments.

2.3. Activities

Stern (1992:224-232) divides the activities into four groups on the basis of the
knowledge (concepts), skills (procedures) or behaviour (attitudes) that the activities help
to acquire or develop.

Block Technique

Creating a real environment in the class

Providing cultural information Cultural aside

Cultural capsule

Capítulo 27: Teaching cultura in the foreign language classroom

Cultural clusters

Solving cultural problems Cultural assimilator

Behavioural and affective aspects Audio-motor unit

Dramatization

Mini-drama

Role-play and simulation

Cognitive approaches

The role of literature and arts

Real-life exposure to the target culture Pen-pals and tape-pals

Visits to the language class by native speakers

Visits to other countries and regions

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Making use of cultural community resources

The cultural aside involves the teacher’s brief presentation of a target culture element.

The cultural capsule is a brief presentation of a target culture element which

differentiates the source culture and the target culture, followed by a discussion leading
to the explanation of the cultural element concerned.

A cultural cluster consists of 2-3 capsules. After the study of each capsule these are
integrated into a single sequence through activities like drama.

The cultural assimilator consists of providing the students with a number of episodes
related to a behavioural aspect involving a conflict within the target culture context. The
presentation of the problem is followed by four likely explanations, one of which is
correct. This is followed by a debate in which the correct option is justified.

In the audio-motor unit the student follows the teacher’s instructions to carry out several
actions which represent a relevant scene in the target community, e.g. how to behave
during a meal.

2.4. Evaluation

Byram et al. (1994: 135) highlight the need to assess cultural learning not only to gather
information about the learning process, but also as a way to equip its relevance with that
of the linguistic component. Of all elements of the target culture, assessment is the one
which has received the least attention.

Capítulo 27: Teaching cultura in the foreign language classroom

There is a wide range of techniques to assess cultural learning. The following have been
drawn from Singerman (1996:74-81), Parmenter (1993:64-69), Seelye (1993: 207-231),
Daen (1987:292-293), Byram et al. (1994:140-275), and Valette (1986:179-196).

Blocks Techniques

Knowledge Techniques used in linguistic assessment

Cultural questions

Cultural assimilator

Cultural meaning of words or phrases

Attitudes

Attitudes towards oneself Statements about the learner

Attitudes towards the foreign culture Cultural statements

Empathy Mediation exercises

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EN EL SIGLO XXI

Interview to native speakers

Questionnaire

Sociolinguistic and/or behavioural skills Situational exercises

Role-play and simulation

Global assessment techniques

Observation techniques Systematic/Non-systematic observation

Techniques based on oral and written Guided/Free interviews

production
File

Statements about the learner: Students are asked whether they agree or disagree with a
number of statements such as “I like speaking English”.

Cultural statements: Students say whether they agree or disagree with statements about
the target culture.

Mediation exercises allow assessing both attitudes and knowledge. A conflict between
two people – one belonging to the source culture and the other to the target culture is
presented, and the students have to act as an intercultural mediator.

In situational tasks students have to prepare or end a text related to a given situation.

3. Cultural aspects in English textbooks for secondary education

Capítulo 27: Teaching cultura in the foreign language classroom

We will focus on the role of cultural elements in the most common English textbooks
for the fourth year of ESO, since for many teachers the textbook remains the major
source of cultural content in the FL classroom. The textbooks are English Alive! 4 and
Macmillan Secondary Course 4.

As it is generally expected, FL textbooks include elements of the target culture.

However, no cultural objectives are present in the table of contents. As a matter of fact,
the course objectives are formulated in terms of the skills practised or the contents
presented in the unit.

As regards cultural contents, the cultural topics are only shown in the outlines of the
contents of English Alive 4, where there is a section at the end of each unit called
Practical English, which includes a Song or Culture subsection.

Although it is true that there is quite a great variety of cultural coverage in the two
textbooks consulted, the contents are not dealt with in detail. More topics are discussed
in Macmillan Secondary Course 4 (mass media, technology, art, work, relationships and
information about some English-speaking countries), either in the vocabulary section or
in the English in the World section. In contrast, cultural aspects in English Alive 4 are

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restricted to music and specific topics (e.g. multicultural Britain, driving rule sin Britain
and the USA).

In addition, the cultural scope of Macmillan Secondary Course 4 is wider, since there is
reference to the Spanish culture, the culture of western countries and that of English-
speaking countries, whereas in English Alive 4 the focus is on the target culture. The
contrast between the source culture and the target culture is only promoted in English
Alive 4 through discussion activities within a section called Comparing cultures.

Most activities are not especially designed for cultural instruction. Cultural elements are
very often developed through readings or introduced through listening activities and
grammar and vocabulary exercises. Of the activities for cultural learning mentioned in
section 2.3., the textbooks under study only include activities from groups 2 and 5:

- Providing cultural information in the form of cultural capsules

- Cognitive approaches (through readings and exploitation of texts)

Thus, the major drawback of the approach to the target culture in these textbooks is that
culture usually serves as background for language learning.

Finally, there are no guidelines to assess cultural learning. The assessment tests do not
pay attention to the sociocultural knowledge acquired by the students, since what
matters is basically grammar and vocabulary.

4. A didactic proposal for cultural learning

Below we present a set of activities designed for a week to work on British cultural
symbols and icons in the 4th year of ESO.

Capítulo 27: Teaching cultura in the foreign language classroom

1. Brainstorming: Show a map of Great Britain and elicit names of countries and
nationalities.

2. Cultural aside: Explain the main geographical features of Great Britain, including
countries, capital cities and other cities and big towns.

3. Video watching (In Britain): Introduction to Britain.

- Before you watch

a) Work in pairs. Discuss these questions.

What do you know about British culture?

What people and things do you associate with Britain?

b) Bring photographs of people, things and places connected with Britain

(e.g. bowler hats, fish and chips, Harrods, Shakespeare, bed and breakfast,
bobbies, etc.) and elicit their names.

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- While you watch: Tick the things that you see.

- Follow-up:

a) Work in groups.

Compare the facts you have learned about Britain with your own country.

Think of ten contemporary images you would choose to represent your country
and explain your reasons.

4. Reading comprehension (adapted from A foreigner in Britain): SS read these extracts

and answer the questions.

a) “Well, Pablo,” I said. “Tomorrow I’ll take you for what I think is Briatin’s
most distinctive tradition – afternoon tea.”

The next afternoon, I took Pablo to a good hotel in the centre of London. Many
of the people in the tearoom were eating small cucumber sandwiches, cake and
scones. Scones are a type of sweet bread that you eat with jam and cream.

b) “What’s a guest house?” I asked.

“It’s a type of hotel. Sometimes it’s called a B & B – Bed and Breakfast.

c) One of London’s greatest traditions is producing some of the best theatre in

the world. There are 52 theatres in the West End, London’s theatre district.

d) Oxford University is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the
world. Twenty-five British prime ministers have been educated here as well as

Capítulo 27: Teaching cultura in the foreign language classroom

many other famous people like the poet and writer Oscar Wilde, and Bill
Clinton, the former president of the USA.

e) I went to the Royal National Eisteddfod. It’s the largest popular festival of
competitive music-making and poetry-writing in Europe and it takes place every
August for eight days. Everything was in Welsh.

f) Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Dominated by a

medieval castle, it’s the home of one of the best summer festivals in the world,
the Edinburgh Festival.

g) The competitors were wearing kilts. The kilt is a symbol of Scottish

nationalism, the same as tartan, which is the special pattern in the material that
kilts are made from – the material with the different coloured squares.
Nowadays, there are more than 2,000 patterns.

h) “You’ve got to try some haggis before we leave. It’s a typical Scottish food.
It’s a sheep’s stomach. There’s lamb inside it, onion, the heart and the liver.

a) Match the texts with the topic: Food, Accommodation, Clothes, Entertainment.

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b) ¿Which British country are the following things or places associated with?

• haggis • Eisteddfod • the West End • the Edinburgh Festival •kilt

5. Writing task: A penfriend who is coming to Spain for a few weeks or a month has
written to ask you different things about your country. Write an informal e-mail/letter
answering his/her questions including the following points: regions, typical food, the
weather, main sites…

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BYRAM, M., MORGAN, C. et al. (1994): Teaching-and-Learning Language-and-

Culture. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

DAMEN, L. (1987): Culture Learning: The Fifth Dimension in the Language

Classroom. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.

FANTINI, B.C. y FANTINI, A. (1997): “Artifacts, sociofacts, mentifacts”. In Fantini,

A.E. (Ed.). New Ways in Teaching Culture. Alexandria: TESOL, pp. 57-61.

FERNÁNDEZ, M. (2002): “Manifestaciones culturales y la enseñanza de un idioma”.

In Colwell, V.A. (Coord.). La voz del profesor. Sobre la enseñanza de lenguas
extranjeras. Universidad de León: Servicio de Publicaciones, pp. 61-74.

GUILLÉN, C. (2005): “Los aspectos socioculturales y el Marco Europeo Común de

Referencia para las Lenguas”. In Domínguez, L.M. (Coord.). La enseñanza de
las lenguas extranjeras desde una perspectiva Europea . Madrid: MEC, pp. 9-
31.

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HOLME, R. (2003): “Carrying a baby in the back: Teaching with an awareness of the
cultural construction of the language”. In Byram, M. and Grundy, P. (Eds.).
Context and Culture in Language Teaching and Learning . London: Multilingual
Matters, pp. 18-31

KRAMSCH, C.J. (1993): Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.

MÉNDEZ, C. (2003): Los aspectos socioculturales en los libros de inglés de

Bachillerato. Jaén: Universidad de Jaén.

MONDE, J. (2005): Cultural Competence. A Primer for Educators. Second edition.

Wadsworth: Cengage learning.

NIDA, E. (2007): “Translation and culture”. In Fuertes, P.A. (Coord.). Problemas

lingüísticos en la traducción especializada. Valladolid: Universidad de
Valladolid, pp. 193- 199.

PARMENTER, L.K. (1993): An Evaluation of Cultural Studies in Foreign Language

Teaching (M.A. thesis). Durham: University of Durham, School of Education.

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SEELYE, H. N. (1993): Teaching Culture: Strategies for Intercultural Communication.

Lincolnwood (Illinois USA): National Textbook Company Publishing Group.

SINGERMAN, A. J. (1996): Acquiring Cross-Cultural Competence: Four Stages for

American Students of French. Lincolnwood, III: National Textbook Company.

SPENCER, D. (2006): Macmillan Secondary Course 4. London: Macmillan.

STERN, H.H. (1992): Issues and Options in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.

TOMALIN, B. y STEMPLESKY, S. (1993): Cultural Awareness. Oxford: Oxford

University Press.

VALETTE, R. B. (1986): “The culture test”. In Valdes, J.M. (Ed.). Culture Bound.
Bridging the Cultural Gap in Language Teaching (pp.179-197). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 179-197

WETZ, B. (2007): English Alive 4. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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