The Role of Target Culture in English Language Education: EFL Teachers’ Perspectives
(1) Sultan Qaboos University
(2) University of Tehran
(*) Corresponding Author
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26858/eltww.v10i2.50517
Abstract
This research inquired into the ways in which EFL teachers think of the role of target culture in English language education. Of special interest in this research was the issue of whether teaching the target culture is seen as important when it comes to English language learning and teaching in EFL contexts or not. Equally important was the question of whose target culture is taught. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with ten EFL teachers at different language institutes: five were from Khartoum, Sudan and five from Tehran, Iran. The interview questions, which were formulated after extensive reading of germane literature, explored themes related to culture and its role in English language education. The main and most important finding of the research indicates that EFL teachers think that it is necessary to teach elements of the target culture that are not at odds with their local cultures. Another related finding is that the target culture is conceptualized in monolithic terms and is equated with American and British cultures.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Adaskou, K., Britten D., & Fahsi, B. (1990). Design Decisions on the Cultural Content of a Secondary English Course for Morocco. ELT Journal 44(1), 3-10.
Adorno, T. (1993). The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture. Routledge.
Alptekin, C. (1993). Target-language culture in EFL materials. ELT Journal 47/2: 136-3.
Bapuji, B. (1993). Society, state and education: Essays in the political sociology of language education. Chennai: T.R. publications. Pvt. LTD.
Bennett, M.J. (1993). How not to be a fluent fool: understanding the Cultural Dimensions of Language. The Language Teacher 27 (9).
Birch,G & Liyanage, I. (2004). TESOL: Trojan horse of globalization, in Bartlett,B, Bryer,F & Roebuck,D (eds) 2004: Educating: Weaving Research into Practice. Proceedings of the 2nd Annual International Conference on Cognition, Language and Special Education Research held at Crowne Plaza Surfers Paradise Dec. 2004.
Brown, H. D. Principles of language learning and teaching, 1994, 165.
Canagarajah, A. S. (1999). Resisting linguistic imperialism in English teaching. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Chomsky, N. (1968). Language and Mind. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Coskun, A. (2010). Whose English should we teach? Reflections from Turkey. ESP World, Issue 1 (27), Volume 9, 2010.
Crystal, D. (1997). English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Crystal, D. (2003). English as a global language. (2n d ed. First ed., 1997), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Damar, E. A. (2013). Culture: Is it an Avoidable or Adorable Concept in EFL Settings? Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.09.275
Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and Power. London: Longman.
Foucault, Michel. (1994). The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences. London: Vintage Books.
Giroux, H. (1992). Border crossing: Cultural workers and the politics of education. New York: Routledge.
Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the Prison Notebooks of Antonio Gramsci. Ed. and trans. Quintin Hoare and Geoffrey Nowell Smith. New York: International Publishers.
Kachru, B. B. (1992). World Englishes: approaches, Issues, and Resources. Language teaching 25 (1): 1-14.
Marx, K. (1845). The German Ideology, http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845- gi/part_a.htm (6 of 12) [23/08/2000 6:33:55].
Marx, K. (1848). The Communist Manifesto in K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works, Volume 1, Moscow, Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1962.
Marx, K. (1859). A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1859/critique-pol-economy/preface.htm
Merryfield, M. (2000). Why aren’t teachers being prepared to teach for diversity, 134 equity, and global interconnectedness? A study of lived experiences in the making of multicultural and global educators. Teaching and Teacher Education, 16(4), 429-443.
Naylor, L. (1998). American Culture: Myth and Reality of a Culture of Diversity. Westport, Conn.: Bergin & Garvey, 1998.
Onalan, O. (2005). EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of the Place of Culture in ELT: A Survey Study at Four Universities in Ankara/Turkey. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 1(2), 215-234.
Patton, M. (2001). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Peck, D. 1998. Teaching Culture: Beyond Language. Yale: New Haven Teachers Institute Press.
Pennycook, A. (1994). The Cultural Politics of English as an International Language. London: Longman.
Pennycook, A. (1998). English and the discourses of colonialism. London: Routledge.
Phillips, A. (2006). Phillips on the cultural cringe. Carlton, Vic: Melbourne University Publishing.
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Ritzer, G. (1993). The Mcdonlization of society. Thousand, Oaks: CA, Pine Forge.
Purba, H. (2011). The Importance of Including Culture in EFL Teaching. Journal of English Teaching, 1(1), 44. https://doi.org/10.33541/jet.v1i1.51
Rohmani, L. A., & Andriyanti, E. (2022). Culture teaching in EFL classes: Teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, and classroom practices. Studies in English Language and Education, 9(1), 237–257. https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v9i1.21834
Article Metrics
Abstract view : 752 times | PDF view : 345 timesRefbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Published by:
Pascasarjana, Universitas Negeri Makassar
Jalan Bonto Langkasa, Banta-Bantaeng, Rappocini, Banta-Bantaeng, Kec. Rappocini, Kota Makassar, Sulawesi Selatan 90222
elt.worldwide@unm.ac.id
E-ISSN: 2503-2291
P-ISSN: 2303-3037
ELT Worldwide: Journal of English Language Teaching is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- 4.0 International License.