The purpose of this paper was to explore the topic of teaching culture in a Korean university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom, and determine its impact in enhancing students language skills. A selfreport questionnaire was administered to two groups of EFL students to assess the effect on their language skill and any change in awareness of their own or English culture. Various pedagogical techniques for teaching culture are presented such as role play, culture capsules, games, drama, and use of authentic materials. The researcher provides some observations on teaching two classes of Korean EFL university students, concentrating on the skill of reading. One class used a textbook, and the other class of more proficient students were assigned to read English literature, including Hemingway short stories. During a survey, both of these classes expressed generally positive responses about learning culture. The study concluded with some implications for the classroom.
문화예술교육연구 Korean Journal of Culture and Arts Education Studies 제11권 제3호 (2016 06), pp 81 ~ 94 http://dx.doi.org/10.15815/kjcaes.2016.11.3 Teaching Culture in the Foreign Language Classroom* 1) Bokyung Murray** The purpose of this paper was to explore the topic of teaching culture in a Korean university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom, and determine its impact in enhancing students' language skills A self-report questionnaire was administered to two groups of EFL students to assess the effect on their language skill and any change in awareness of their own or English culture Various pedagogical techniques for teaching culture are presented such as role play, culture capsules, games, drama, and use of authentic materials The researcher provides some observations on teaching two classes of Korean EFL university students, concentrating on the skill of reading One class used a textbook, and the other class of more proficient students were assigned to read English literature, including Hemingway short stories During a survey, both of these classes expressed generally positive responses about learning culture The study concluded with some implications for the classroom Key words: Foreign Language and Culture, Learning Culture in an EFL Classroom, Korean University Students, Techniques for Teaching Culture, Culture Defined I Introduction In recent years, there have been many studies by scholars interested in the process of learning culture in the foreign language classroom (Doganay, et al., 2013; Kuang, 2007; Lavrentera, 2015; Lopez- Roche, 2016; Shemshadsara, 2012; Trang, 2010) However, this recent emphasis on including the teaching of culture in the foreign language learning curriculum was, for many decades, largely ignored (Lopez-Roche, 2016) During the first decades of the 20th century, researchers started to test the 투고일: 2016년 5월6일, 심사일: 2016년 5월25일 ~ 6월20일, 게재확정일: 2016년 6월30일 * This research is supported by Sangmyung University 2016 academic research fund ** Assistant Professor of Sangmyung University, bokim@smu.ac.kr 81 문화예술교육연구 (제 11권 제 3호 ) possibilities of including cultural studies into the foreign language classroom (Bada, 2005) But it was not until after the mid-1980's that this concept for cultural inclusion in the language classroom became more universally accepted, with studies by scholars such as Byram (1989), Damien (1987) and Kramsch (1996, 2001) Byram (1989) referred to culture as the "hidden curriculum", and Damien (1987) suggested that culture learning could be considered as the fifth skill, together with reading, writing, listening and conversation, which needed to be learned by foreign language students It was at this time that writers came to acknowledge that learning a language required both language competence and cultural competence As Bada (2000) stated, it came to be recognised that the need for culture learning in foreign language teaching was essential This was because it was evident that most language learners who did not have the opportunity to be exposed to the cultural elements of the target language, seemed to have the most difficulty in making progress in learning how to communicate with native speakers Lee (2012) considered cultural knowledge to be necessary to enhance students' overall core competency in this globalized world The purpose of this paper was to explore the concept of teaching culture in a Korean university EFL classroom and to determine its effect on these students' language learning Two groups of students engaged in learning the skill of reading in English participated in this study One group of students was assigned to use a textbook, and the other group used authentic materials such as Hemingway short stories This study sought to answer the following research questions: Did the inclusion of learning culture in the course make any contribution toward improving your reading skills in English? Did the inclusion of learning culture in this course raise your awareness about your own culture and the target language culture? Did your attitude towards the target culture change because of this course? 82 Teaching Culture in the Foreign Language Classroom II What is culture as it applies to foreign language teaching? Despite this general agreement among researchers as to the importance and necessity to include culture in language teaching, there has been limited agreement on a precise definition of the concept of culture This definitional problem is not unusual in the field of foreign or second language teaching For example, the concept of motivation in language teaching also has strong support among scholars as to its critical importance in enhancing foreign language learning However, finding agreement for its precise nature and how it is operationalized is hard to discover As with the concept of motivation, many scholars have attempted to define culture as it applies to language teaching In a study done back in 1952, anthropologists examined approximately 154 definitions of the term culture, but despite these many attempts to explain the concept, a common denominator among them was not found (Kroeber & Kluckhohn, 1952) Since that time, researchers have continued to search for a more precise explanation, including how it applies to foreign language teaching, especially in the work by Professor Kramsch of the University of California Hofstede (1994), outlined in a diagrammatic form some fundamental components of culture in the human condition: specific to individual specific to group or category universal Personality inherited and learned Culture Human Nature learned inherited [Figure 1] Fundamental Components of Culture (Hofstede, 1994) 83 문화예술교육연구 (제 11권 제 3호 ) Figure 1, makes clear which human characteristics are learned and which are inherited Culture is applicable to a specific group and is learned by members of the group A part of this learning process should include gaining knowledge about various aspects of a target culture in a foreign language classroom setting In simple terms, Tang (2006) states that "culture is none other than a set of values, beliefs, or worldviews shared by a given people in a given cultural community”(p 89) Tang also asserts that several models of the components of culture have been proposed, such as the Hammerlian model of achievement culture, informational culture, and behavioral culture Another attempt to describe culture in theoretical terms is the framework of the "Three Ps”, perspectives, products and practices However, these attempts to categorize culture into definitive components or identifiable parts are not suitable for use for teaching culture in a foreign language classroom These attempts have achieved no consensus as to whether they are appropriate, all inclusive, or definitive (Tang, 2006) Tang also concludes that language is culture and culture is language, and the two are inextricably intertwined and language cannot be separated completely from its culture Stern (1992) provides us with a seemingly more conclusive and understandable approach to understanding culture, as it applies to the foreign language classroom Stern suggests that culture teaching includes three primary components First is a cognitive component which relates to various types of knowledge about the target culture, such as its contribution to civilization and an understanding of the values and attitudes of the target language community Second is an affective component which involves a learner's curiosity and empathy for a target language Third is a behavioral component which enhances a learner's ability to correctly interpret culturally related behavior and to conduct themselves in culturally appropriate ways If a learner is provided an opportunity to acquire each of these three components which define cultural learning, it should make a positive contribution to learners' overall achievement in the foreign language classroom 84 Teaching Culture in the Foreign Language Classroom III The process of teaching culture in the foreign language classroom There are many textbooks which provide teachers with instructions on how to teach a foreign or second language However, very few of these resources give any explicit direction on how to include the cultural discourse and behaviors associated with the target language, and the values, beliefs and worldviews of the people who speak that language Doganay et al (2013), assert that culture content or culture-based activities have not been designed and included in language course textbooks effectively enough to allow students to put target language (TL) communication into practice outside of the classroom Krasner (1999), claims that the important factors to be considered relating to teaching culture in the foreign language (FL) classroom consist of the following questions: Why teach culture in the FL classroom? What elements of culture should be taught in a FL course? How could culture be incorporated in a FL curriculum? What are the techniques and methods of teaching culture in the FL classroom? (Krasner, 1999, p 79) Agar (1984), proposes that there are essentially three steps in teaching culture in a language course, Mistake, Awareness and Repair: Step - Mistake Learners, especially at a beginning level, will make mistakes in cultural communication with target language speakers Step - Awareness The learners need to be able to have an awareness of when these mistakes and errors are made, and to think about alternatives Step - Repair Learners at this step seek to repair and correct cultural interaction with newly-learned frames of reference Agar goes on to suggest, that with this three-step framework in mind, the main goal of including culture in a language course is to raise a student's awareness from the level of a tourist to the level of a person who is completely familiar with the target culture This is done by helping the learner be aware of his/her cultural mistakes and take effective action to correct these errors The question then is what kind of 85 문화예술교육연구 (제 11권 제 3호 ) pedagogical techniques can the teacher use to effect this outcome Chastain (1988) suggested that the following pedagogical techniques could be useful in conveying cultural values to foreign language learners - role play, readings, films, simulation, games, culture capsules, and cultograms For the purpose of this study, I will discuss the use of readings and literature in the target language, as an effective method of conveying cultural understanding to students engaged in learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Galloway (1984) recommends that teachers use Convention Clusters to incorporate culture in the classroom A list of these clusters includes: Street greeting, excusing self, leave taking, forms of address, greeting according to hours of the day, asking or giving direction, expressing respect, thanking, politely inquiring, well wishing, giving or receiving compliments Galloway also suggests that culture teaching should include the use of physical or facial gestures, and when it is appropriate to touch another person or make eye contact Rules of etiquette are also necessary to be discussed Some other often used methods for teaching culture are: The Mini-Drama - where students are exposed to cultural miscommunications in the form of drama Students must analyse and reveal the cause of the miscommunication Culture Capsules - where discussion of foreign customs can take place Use of authentic materials - especially TL newspapers and everyday television news shows can be especially effective Television news can be used as a basis for discussion or even a presentation by a student This type of authentic material can have considerable importance for understanding TL culture, as it covers a broad range of topics such as way of life, domestic and international politics, economic issues and sports (Galloway, 1984) Kasner (1999) also suggested that it may also be useful to have students visit ethnic sections and restaurants of a city and interact with and observe cultural behavior of the local residents However, as Kim (2004) indicates Korean students studying English as a Foreign Language and trying to understand target language culture at the same time, experience certain unique obstacles which apply to studying English This is due to the 86 Teaching Culture in the Foreign Language Classroom dichotomy existing between collectivist and individualistic cultures, which makes it more difficult for these Korean students to understand and assimilate cultural differences into their language learning While no culture or group are entirely collectivist or individualistic, many Asian countries, such as Korea, Japan and China, are primarily collectivist, and most western countries are much more individualistic Kim (2004) outlines these differences in the following table: Salient Features of Collectivism and Individualism Individualism Representative of U S culture Collectivism Representative of Asian Culture Fostering independence and individual achievement Fostering interdependence and group success Promoting self-expression, individual thinking Promoting adherence to norms, respect for authority Associated with egalitarian flexibility in roles Associated with stable hierarchical roles, (gender, family) Students will speak in class in response to a Students only speak in class when called general invitation upon personally by teacher Face-consciousness Neither the teacher nor any student should ever be made to lose face Associated with private property, individual Associated with shared property, group ownership ownership The actual impact of these cultural values on student learning in the foreign language classroom should not be overstated, but it is important to remember that they definitely can play a role when trying to impart target language culture Kim (2004) makes clear that "these fundamental values help form notions of people's right and responsibilities, what roles they may take in societies, norms of communication, and ideas of how to rear and educate their children”(p 4) IV A Look at My Own EFL Classes My current teaching schedule includes two EFL classes with an emphasis in the skill of reading For both classes, I have tried to include culture along with teaching the 87 문화예술교육연구 (제 11권 제 3호 ) language I used two different learning materials for these classes One class used a textbook entitled Skills for Success, Series #3 For the second class, the assigned reading was from three short stories by Ernest Hemingway, Indian Camp, The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife, The End of Something Both of these groups of students were asked to complete a survey consisting of three questions: Did this course make any particular contribution to your reading skill? Did this course help you raise your awareness about your own and the target culture? Did your attitude towards the target culture change because of what you learned in this course? First group of students The first group consisted of 38 students, 16 males and 22 females These students were in their first year of university and were not English majors, and their ages ranged from 18-20 The reason I chose to use a textbook with these learners was I felt their English proficiency was not high enough that they would benefit from reading English literature itself The chapters in this textbook were primarily oriented to teaching language and not concerned with the expression or teaching of cultural values In this respect, the textbook was fairly typical of most books used by teachers in the FL classroom However, the book did present certain common situations in the form of culture capsules in some of the lessons Two of these capsules will be discussed here The first capsule presented information on how to conduct oneself during a job interview in the TC In other words, what Koreans applying for a job in the U.S or a U.S company in Korea may need to know during a job interview Many actions are similar with the two cultures, such as showing up on time, wearing appropriate clothing, and being polite But in some instances, interaction can be quite different, such as the appropriate eye contact, the need to promote yourself even to the extent of bragging about your accomplishments, to feel free to ask the interviewers questions or even make small talk It is important to know these distinctions as it might help to get a job in this globalized era Student discussions and practice interviews were conducted to reflect some of these differences in participating in job interviews 88 Teaching Culture in the Foreign Language Classroom Another area of comparison was food culture Generally speaking, Americans are not so concerned about finding balance in food, and many prefer to just eat fast food at any time However, the French and the Asian countries, including Korea, are more interested in achieving food balance For France, this is in the form of eating food from various regions in France consisting of several courses, eaten and enjoyed at a slow pace For Korea and China, food balance is achieved by eating cool and warm dishes together, such as a warm dish like fried rice might be eaten with a cool fruit like watermelon (Ward & Gramer, 2015) I also led discussion as to differences they might find in TC restaurant behavior For example, tipping procedure, methods of getting attention from waiters, pouring of drinks, decisions about who will make payment Korean students may have learned well the appropriate language and linguistic turns to use in a TC restaurant setting But also knowing about these cultural tips would no doubt enhance their experience and make them feel more comfortable in such a TC setting Therefore, learning about just these two cultural differences, along with the appropriate linguistic values including syntax and vocabulary, might make it easier for Koreans to get a job and appreciate the dining habits of the target culture This could reduce the chance for cultural shock and help in target culture assimilation This first group answered positively to the survey questions, in the range of 80 to 90%, except for question 3, where answers to the question as to whether these limited classroom exposures to TC culture changed their attitude towards the TC, were less positive at 63% The second group of students Participants in the second EFL reading class consisted of 30 Korean university students, 18 females and 12 males All of these students were English majors also engaged in an EFL class in reading The ages of these students ranged from 18 to 27 Some of the assigned reading material for this class consisted of three short stories by Ernest Hemingway These stories contained many elements of cultural discourse and types of communication which, at first glance, could be difficult to understand for a non-native English speaker At first, students had some difficulty not only with the 89 문화예술교육연구 (제 11권 제 3호 ) linguistic syntax, vocabulary and dialog contained in the pieces, but also with some of the behavioral relationships and interactions between the characters, as the stories went on The story titled "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife” contained an element of possible gun violence between two of the characters For Korean students, this was unusual as gun culture in Korea is very different from the U.S., and such a scene would be very unusual This led to a discussion about the two cultures regarding guns and how strongly Americans believe that they had a right to possess guns This belief for Americans came from historical development factors This right to possess guns came as a defense against the British colonizers, and the need for protection against native Indians This gun ownership right was even established in law as the second amendment to the U.S Constitution This insight on gun culture in the U.S was new for most of the students who have a hard time understanding the high level of gun violence in the U.S This story also presented new vocabulary associated with guns, such "shells”, "shotgun”, and "magazines” Students read each of the stories and made presentations in groups in the class, explaining the meaning, and discussing any problems they had culturally This second group answered the survey questions at almost 100% positive that the course had improved reading skills About 60% agreed that the class did raise their cultural awareness, and 50% said their attitude toward TC did change V Conclusion During the course of researching for this paper it became readily apparent that teaching culture in a FL classroom was neglected for many decades Lopez-Roche (2016) indicates that this became a significant problem because teachers focused extensively on language as communication Also, the context in which that communication occurs was often relegated to second place in the curriculum This resulted in language learners not being given the opportunity to be exposed to cultural elements In addition, students were having considerable difficulty to make themselves understood to native speakers 90 Teaching Culture in the Foreign Language Classroom Recently we have seen an improvement in culture learning as an integral part of FL learning New approaches and techniques have been introduced to help teachers incorporate cultural components into the FL curriculum These efforts have seemed to have benefitted FL learners, as evidenced by my own students surveys As reported in this paper, these students felt they had gained a positive benefit from discussion of culture This new emphasis on the importance of culture has also been supported by the Republic of Korea government, and the 21st century has been declared as the Century of Culture The government has further stated that the goal of cultural education should be to enhance citizens' and students' cultural competence and sensitivity, by increasing their awareness of empathy, creativity, and ability to imagine (Lee, 2012) These factors would also serve to enhance their quality of life, through an appreciation of art, music and literature In the area of FL learning this would also improve their language learning ability and give them an appreciation of other cultures This paper was a small example of how this transfer of cultural knowledge could be accomplished in the classroom by studying literature of the target culture Implications for classroom practice would seem to indicate that the teaching of culture as a necessary fifth skill in language learning is beneficial Including elements of the target culture in a language course can enhance student understanding of the appropriate use of the target language It can also raise student awareness of their own and the target culture, and effect a positive change in their attitude towards the target culture Teachers should try to include cultural components when teaching each of the other four language skills 91 문화예술교육연구 (제 11권 제 3호 ) References Agar, M (1984) Language shock Understanding the culture of conversation New York: William Morrow Bada, E (2000) Culture in ELT Cukurova University Journal of Social Sciences, 6, 100-110 Bada, E (2005) Culture in language learning and teaching The Reading Matrix 5(1), 73-85 Byram, M (1989) Cultural studies in foreign language education Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters Chastain, K (1988) Developing second language skills: Theory and practice San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Damien, L (1987) Culture learning: The fifth dimension in the language classroom Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Doganay, Y., Ashimibetova, M., & Davis, B (2013) Making culture happen in the English language classroom English Language Teaching, 6(10), 11-16 Galloway, V (1984) Communication in a cultural context Monterey, CA: ACTF Masters Lecture Series Hofstede, G (1994) Cultures and organizations: Software of the Mind London: Harper Collins Kuang, J (2007) Developing students' cultural awareness through foreign language teaching Sino-US English Teaching, 4(12), 74-81 Kramsch, C., Cain, A., & Murphy-Lejeune, M (1996) Why should language teachers teach culture? Language, Culture and Curriculum, 9(1), 99-107 Kramsch, C (2001) Language and culture Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press Krasner, I (1999) The role of culture in language teaching Dialog on Language Instruction, 13(1&2), 79-88 Kroeber, A., & Kluckhohn, C (Eds.), (1952) Culture: A critical review of concepts and definitions New York: Vintage Books Lavrentera, E (2015) The treatment of culture in the foreign language classroom Journal of Curriculum Studies, 47(5), 653-684 Lee, BJ., & Wee, MN (2012) 핵심역량으로서의 문화역량: 독일에서의 문화역량에 대한 92 Teaching Culture in the Foreign Language Classroom 담론 In Lee BJ (Ed.) 문화역량과 문화예술교육 경기도; 교육과학사 pp 11-13 Lopez-Roche, A (2016) Intercultural communication competence: Creating awareness and promoting skills in the language classroom In C, Goria, O Speicher, & S Stolhaus (Eds.), Innovative language teaching at university: Enhancing participation and collaboration (pp 105-111) Dublin: Research-Publication.net Shemshadara, Z (2012) Developing cultural awareness in foreign language teaching English Language Teaching, 5(3), 95-99 Stern, J (1992) Issues and options in language teaching Oxford: Oxford University Press Tang, Y (2006) Beyond behavior: Goals of cultural learning in the second language classroom The Modern Language Journal, 90(1), 86-99 Trang, T (2010) Teaching culture in the EFL/ESL classroom ERIC Document ED511819 Ward, C & Gramer, M (2015) Skills for success: Reading and writing New York: Oxford University Press 93 문화예술교육연구 (제 11권 제 3호 ) 【요약】 외국어 교실에서의 문화교육 김보경 (상명대학교) 본 연구의 목적은 한국 대학에서 영어를 외국어(EFL)로 가르치는 수업에서의 문화교 육이라는 주제를 탐구하여, 학생들의 언어기술 향상에 문화교육이 미치는 효과를 알아 보고자하였다 문화교육이 학생들의 언어기술을 향상시킬 뿐 아니라 자국의 문화 또는 미국문화를 인식하는데 과연 효과적인지 알아보기 위하여 다음과 같은 연구 방법을 사 용하였다 한국 대학의 읽기중심의 두 그룹의 EFL 학생들에게 셀프리포트 설문조사를 실시하였으며, 이들 두 그룹의 수업환경을 문화교육관점에서 관찰한 결과를 제시하였다 한 수업은 이미 학교에서 정한 교재를 사용하였고, 또 한 수업에서는 영어가 좀 더 자 유로운 학생들을 위해 헤밍웨이의 단편이야기를 활용하는 수업을 진행하였다 설문조사 를 통해 위 두 수업을 듣는 학생들이 전반적으로 문화학습에 대하여 매우 긍정적이라는 사실을 알게 되었다 또한, 문화교육을 위하여 여러 가지 교육학적 기법들을 소개하였으 며, 이 기법들에는 역할극, 문화 캡슐, 게임, 드라마 그리고 진정성 있는 자료의 활용 등 이 포함된다 끝으로 교실에서 가능한 몇 가지 수업활용방안 등을 제시하였다 주제어: 외국어와 문화, EFL 교실 문화 교육, 한국 대학생, 문화교육기법, 문화정의 94 ... course? 82 Teaching Culture in the Foreign Language Classroom II What is culture as it applies to foreign language teaching? Despite this general agreement among researchers as to the importance... necessity to include culture in language teaching, there has been limited agreement on a precise definition of the concept of culture This definitional problem is not unusual in the field of foreign. .. of these three components which define cultural learning, it should make a positive contribution to learners' overall achievement in the foreign language classroom 84 Teaching Culture in the Foreign