Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS an investigation into culrural elements via linguistic means in new headway textbooks

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES *************** NGUYỄN THỊ THÚY HẰNG AN INVESTIGATION INTO CULTURAL ELEMENTS VIA LINGUISTIC MEANS IN NEW HEADWAY TEXTBOOKS (Nghiên cứu yếu tố văn hóa thơng qua phương tiện ngơn ngữ giáo trình New Headway) M.A Minor Programme Thesis FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS CODE: 60.22.15 HÀ NỘI – 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES *************** NGUYỄN THỊ THÚY HẰNG AN INVESTIGATION INTO CULTURAL ELEMENTS VIA LINGUISTIC MEANS IN NEW HEADWAY TEXTBOOKS (Nghiên cứu yếu tố văn hóa thơng qua phương tiện ngơn ngữ giáo trình New Headway) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS CODE: 60.22.15 SUPERVISOR: PHAN THỊ VÂN QUYÊN, M.A HÀ NỘI – NĂM 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of tables vi PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Research question Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Theoretical Background 1.1 Culture 1.2 Elements of Culture 1.2.1 British Culture 1.2.2 American Culture 10 1.3 Language 11 1.4 Interrelationship between Language and Culture………………………………….12 1.5 Cultural dimension of English language learning and teaching………………… 14 Chapter 2: Methodology 17 2.1 Materials under investigation…………………………………………………… 17 2.2 The context of the study………………………………………………………… 18 2.3 Research question………………………………………………………………….19 2.4 Research methods ……….……………………………………………………… 20 2.5 Data collection procedures……………………………………………………… 20 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com v Chapter 3: Findings and Discussions 21 3.1 Identifications of British cultural elements in New Headway textbooks .21 3.1.1 Norms……………………………………………………………………………21 3.1.2 Values 22 3.1.3 Attitudes 23 3.1.4 Communication styles 26 3.1.5 Discussion……………………………………………………………………… 28 3.2 Identifications of American cultural elements in New Headway textbooks………31 3.2.1 Norms 32 3.2.2 Values ……………………………………………………………………………32 3.2.3 Attitudes 33 3.2.4 Communication styles………………………………………………………… 34 3.2.5 Discussion 34 PART C: CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………….36 Conclusions 36 Implications for incorporating culture teaching into English language teaching……39 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study 40 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………… 42 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The frequency of occurrence of British cultural elements in New Headway textbooks Table 2: The frequency of occurrence of American cultural elements in New Headway textbooks Table 3: The comparison of frequency of occurrence between British and American cultural elements in New Headway Textbooks LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION This part consists of rationale, aims of the study, research question, scope of the study, methods of the study and design of the study Rationale As we know, language and culture are interdependent and interactional Culture affects the way language is used and language may reflect many factors of culture in turn In addition, what is right one culture may not be accepted in another culture As people from one country to another , cultural differences become apparent to them Bentahila, A and Davies, E (1998:99-111) when discussing culture and language use have come to the conclusion that if learners not acquire some familiarity with the cultural norms of native speakers of their target language, they will meet difficulties in communicating these ones Thus, cultural knowledge is obviously a vital key for Vietnamese students for success in learning English because second language learning is second culture learning Without the study of culture, foreign language instruction is inaccurate and incomplete Clearly, if you not understand about culture of a community, you cannot understand and express fully meanings in the context of that communication; therefore you will not be able to gain a successful communication English – the popular language in international communication, has played a crucial role in many fields It has been taught in Vietnam for decades Nowadays, English has become a compulsory subject in schools, colleges and universities in Vietnam Therefore, different kinds of English teaching and learning materials are available now in Vietnam However, the main emphasis on structural rules and forms often serves as the principal method of teaching English Most Vietnamese teachers tend to focus on teaching grammar, vocabulary, language skills without paying much attention to cultural background knowledge The students may get difficulties in achieving contextual, situational and cultural appropriateness in communication For foreign language students, language study seems meaningless if they know nothing about the people who speak that language or the country in which that language is spoken Foreign language learning is also foreign culture learning So, language learners need to be aware, for example, of the culturally appropriate ways to address people, make requests or invitations, suggestions or express gratitude to someone, etc To communicate successfully, language LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com learners need to understand that language use must be associated with other culturally appropriate behavior Understanding a language involves not only knowledge of grammar, phonology and lexis but also of certain features and characteristics of the culture For the aforementioned reasons, the author has decided to choose “Cultural Elements via Linguistic Means in New Headway Textbooks” as the topic for this thesis Aims of the study This research was carried out to serve the following purposes: - To identify British and American cultural elements revealed in the New Headway Textbooks ( at Elementary, pre-intermediate, and Intermediate levels ) - To raise the teachers‟ and students‟ awareness of the importance of cultural knowledge in cross-cultural communication as well as in mastering English language - To give suggestions for incorporating culture teaching into language teaching so that English learning and teaching become more interesting and effective Research question This research is carried out to find the answer to the research question: What are the cultural elements that can be found in New Headway Textbooks? Scope of the study - Pointing out British and American cultural elements revealed in the New Headway Textbooks such as norms, values, attitudes and communication styles - New Headway Textbooks at Elementary, Pre-intermediate, and Intermediate levels are under investigation Methods of the study - This study used quantitative method in order to quantify British and American cultural elements such as norms, values, attitudes and communication styles in New headway Textbooks - Data was collected by means of descriptive analysis and statistic LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Designs of the study This research consists of parts: INTRODUCTION, DEVELOPMENT, AND CONCLUSION Part A: INTRODUCTION This part discusses rationale, aims of the study, research questions, scope of the study, methods of the study, and designs of the study Part B: DEVELOPMENT This is the focus of the study which is divided into chapters Chapter 1: Theoretical Background This part discusses the culture, elements of culture, British and American culture, language, interrelationship between language and culture, and cultural dimension of English language learning and teaching Chapter 2: Methodology It consists of materials under investigation, the context of the study, research question, research methods, and data collection procedures Chapter 3: Findings and discussions This part focuses on analyzing cultural elements such as norms, values, attitudes and communication styles revealed in the New Headway Textbooks Then, give discussions Part C: CONCLUSION To sum up the major findings, give implications for incorporating culture teaching into English language teaching and then, give suggestions for further research LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND This chapter consists of theoretical background such as culture, elements of culture, British culture, American culture, language, interrelationship between language and culture, cultural dimension of English language learning and teaching 1.1 Culture When referring to culture, we often relate to art, music, history, geography , literature, architect, religions, customs and traditions and social relationship… Up to now, the term “Culture” has been understood and defined in many ways Each author gives different ideas There are many particular definitions and conceptualizations of culture “ Culture , in its broadest sense , is what make you a stranger when you are away from home It includes all beliefs and expectations about how people should speak and act which have become a kind of second nature to you as a result of social learning When you are with members of a group who share your culture , we or you not have to think about it, for you are all viewing the world in pretty much the same way and you all know , in general terms, what to expect of one another” ( Phillip K Bock, 1970: ix) Levine and Adelman ( 1993) asserted that “Culture is a shared background ( for example, national, ethnic, religious) resulting from common language and communication style , customs, beliefs, art, music and all the other products of human thought made by a particular group of people at a particular time It also refers to the informal and often hidden patterns of human interactions, expressions and view points that people in one culture shared” Levine and Adelman compared culture with an “iceberg” The visible part of an iceberg or culture consists of appearance, food, language, tradition and customs… and the invisible part includes values, beliefs, attitudes and communicative styles, perceptions, etc the visible part of culture is a small part of a much bigger whole Therefore, people cannot see the significant influence of culture on an individual behavior and interaction with others Culture makes people bind together Culture is all the accepted and patterned ways of behavior of a given people It consists of a group‟s way of thinking ,feeling, and acting and patterns for doing certain things in certain ways… All in all, “ Culture is everything that people have, think and as a member of a society” LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ( Ferrando, 1996:18, cited in Nguyen Quang, 2006:16) The concept of culture, therefore, involves the way people from a particular cultural background think, feel, act ,make friends, worship and behave in a community Culture distinguishes one human group from others It also distinguishes human being from animals Culture is shared, learned symbolic system of values, beliefs and attitudes that shapes and affects people‟s behaviors, norms, values, attitudes, customs, lifestyle, perceptions, taboos and communicative styles, art, history , geography, economics and political systems… 1.2 Elements of culture There are many ways of understanding and defining about the culture So each author gives different definitions of cultural elements Some authors define and classify elements clearly, but others have not classified them clearly, only give some suggestions about them or only list some of typical elements of culture In this part, I only list some classifications of cultural elements from some famous authors such as Stephen Moore, Stephen Dahl, Saville-Troike, Tomalin and Stempleski, Gail Robinson, Nelson Brooks and UNESCO organization According to Stephen Moore (1985:4 as cited by Do Mai Thanh & Dao Thu Trang , 2006: 5-6) culture consists of the following elements: Beliefs, values, norms, roles, role conflict, and status  Beliefs: are general, vague opinions held about the world and about the nature of society They vary by society and sometimes by subcultures, eg God created the earth in seven days, or that Jesus was the son of God  Values: are vague beliefs about what is right and correct in the world They imply that there are certain appropriate forms of action which ought to be taken, eg Life is precious therefore, it is wrong to kill anybody  Norms: are socially expected patterns of behavior (Actions that are regarded as normal) eg Not talking out loud during a play, wearing black clothes to a funeral  Roles: social roles are patterns of behavior expected of certain people according to the occupation or position they hold in society Eg The role of clergyman is to be sympathetic, well-mannered, well-spoken, religious, and charitable A swering, heavy-drinking, perty-going clergyman would be regarded with astonishment by most people LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 31 Communication styles are revealed the most prominently in the set of textbooks They occur in 28/40 units in the three textbooks (70%) The British are very well-known for their politeness in any place and situation This is expressed in 15 units, (37.5%) There are units mentioning friendliness and stiff upper lip, (20%) There are units mentioning indirectness, (12.5%) Communication styles such as formality and informality, humour, understatement also occur but less frequently, from 2.5% to 10% in the set of textbooks There are units expressing formality and informality, (10%); units mention humour, (7.5%); only one unit mentions understatement, (2.5%) Attitudes are secondly ranked, after communication styles There are 22/40 units which express British attitudes, (55%) While there are 10 units mentioning the attitude of British entertainment, 25% After the attitude towards entertainment is the love of nature and the animals, including units, (15%) There are units mentioning the attitudes towards both meals and drink, 10% The attitudes towards dresses and food are revealed less than other attitudes, at 5% of dresses and 7.5% of food Next to attitudes, values occur in 16/40 units, comprising of 40% in the set of textbooks While hard work is revealed the greatest percentage, 22.5% (in units) Individualism is one of the second greatest values, after hard work There are units mentioning individualism, 17.5% There are units expressing freedom, 12.5% The values mentioned the least is self-reliance & independence and equality There are only or units mentioning them Lastly, British cultural norms are mentioned the least in the set of textbooks There are units relating to norms, (22.5 %) While the highest percentage of norms is nonverbal behaviour and punctuality, 7.5% (in units) There are only units expressing the gift giving etiquette, driving and table manners, (5%) Queuing is in only one unit (2.5%) Obviously, these textbooks not focus on cultural contents but more or less include cultural knowledge In fact, while we learn English language, we have to face with its culture In each activity or text of the course books contains British cultural content which is vital to English learners If we understand its culture, we can master English language better Through lessons, English learners can gain certain target cultural background knowledge 3.2 Identification of American cultural elements in New Headway textbooks LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 32 3.2.1 Norms * Table manners: - The fork is held in the left hand and the knife in the right while eating ( Unit – p71 – Elementary) - Many foods are eaten by hand Only use your hands/fingers to eat when the type of food served allows it ( Ex: Cookies, bread, hamburger, corn on the cob, chips, sandwiches, small fruits and berries,etc.) ( Unit – p41 – Intermediate) * Invitations - Most formally, invitations are hand-written, but for large numbers, such as for weddings, engraved or printed invitations are acceptable, though less formal Printing is considered less appropriate than "frank and honest" handwriting ( Unit – p130 (Tapescript) – Intermediate) - When a guest receives an invitation to someone's home, it is common but not necessary for the guest to ask, "Could I bring anything?” It is not necessary but permissible to bring a gift, such as sweets, a toy for the children, a beverage to be shared, flowers, etc ( Unit – p130 (Tapescript) – Intermediate) *Punctuality Americans ascribe personality characteristics and values based on how people use time For example, people who are on-time are considered to be good people, reliable people who others can count on However, in a meeting or other occasions, they‟ll probably be 15 minutes early In America, time is a very important commodity People 'save' time and 'spend' time as if it were money in the bank ( Unit – p40- Intermediate) 3.2.2 Values *Freedom: Freedom is the most prominent value of American Americans commonly regard their society as the freest and best in the world Americans‟ understanding of freedom is shaped by the Founding Fathers‟ belief that all people are equal and that the role of government is to protect each person‟s basic inalienable rights, including provisions for freedom of speech and religion American life is marked by change and those who thrive are self-sufficient, quick jumpers, who can exist, if need be, far from family LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 33 ( Pre-intermediate: Unit – p19; Unit – p42; Unit 10 – p83) *Individualism Individualism, understood not only as self-reliance but also as economic self-sufficiency, has been a central theme in American history In the early days, most Americans were farmers whose success depended not on cooperation with others but on their ability to confront the hardships of land and climate on their own Both success and virtue were measured by individual resourcefulness For example, the family unit is generally considered the nuclear family, and is typically small (with exceptions among certain ethnic groups) Extended family relatives live in their own homes, often at great distances from their children Individualism is prized, and this is reflected in the family unit People are proud of their individual accomplishments, initiative and success, and may, or may not, share those sources of pride with their elders ( Pre-intermediate: unit – p19; unit – p51; unit 10 – p82) * Hard work: Hard work has been both necessary and rewarding for most Americans throughout their history Americans believe that people should hold jobs and not live off welfare payments from the government (Elementary: unit –p49 ; unit –p57) (Pre-intermediate: unit – p19) ( Intermediate: unit 3- p31; unit –p133( Tapescript)) * Materialism Materialism has always been an integral part of life for most Americans They consider it almost a right to be materially well off and physically comfortable ( Unit 5- P52- Intermediate) 3.2.3 Attitudes: * Food The food is from every country in the world Americans generally eat their largest meal of the day in the evening - dinner These meals seem to revolve around some form of meat (mostly red meats or chicken) served with a starch (potatoes are most common, rice is readily and vegetables) (unit – p19 - Pre-intermediate) LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 34 3.2.4 Communication styles *Friendliness Americans are well-known for their friendliness They tend to not wait to be introduced, will begin to talk to the strangers as they stand in a queue, sit next to each other at an event, etc ( Unit – p19 – Pre-intermediate; Unit –p133 (Tapescript) – Intermediate) 3.2.5 Discussion The frequency of occurrence of American cultural elements including norms, values, attitudes and communication styles in New Headway textbooks at levels of Elementary, Pre-intermediate, Intermediate is summarized in the following table American Cultural Elements The frequency of cultural elements in New Headway textbooks Elementary Pre-intermediate Intermediate 14 units 14 units 12 units 40 units Norms unit unit unit 2/40 5% - - Table manner Unit Unit 2/40 5% - - Invitations Unit 1/40 2.5% - - Puctuality Unit 1/40 2.5% units 9/40 22.5% Values units units Total: % - - Freedom Unit 2,5,10 3/40 7.5% - - Individualism Unit 2,6,10 3/40 7.5% - - Hard work Unit 3,6 5/40 12.5% - - Materialism Unit 1/40 2.5% Unit 6,7 Unit Attitudes unit 1/40 2.5% - - Food Unit 1/40 2.5% - Communication unit unit 2/40 5% Unit Unit 2/40 5% styles - - Friendliness Table 2: The frequency of occurrence of American cultural elements in New Headway textbooks LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 35 From the table above, we can see that the values are revealed the most frequently There are units which mention values, comprising of 22.5% in the set of textbooks While there are units mentioning hard work which is one of the highest values, 12.5% Next values are freedom and individualism They are revealed with the same percentage, 7.5% (in units) In fact, the values of freedom, individualism and hard work are the prominent, basic features of American culture So they are also revealed more than other values The value of materialism occur but at least Only one unit mentions it, (2.5%) After values, it is the norms and communication styles which are revealed at the same percentage, 5% There are 2/40 units describing American norms while table manners are also expressed in units, (5%); the norms of invitations and punctuality are expressed the same in only one unit, (2.5%) Communication styles of American are wellknown for their friendliness but we can only see units revealed, (only 5%) The least frequency is the attitudes of American We can only identify the attitude towards food There is only one unit representing American attitude towards food in the three textbooks, (2.5%) Obviously, these textbooks are published by Oxford University Press (2000) Their sources are mainly from Britain Therefore, contents which are transmitted mostly deal with the British culture All in all, via linguistic means, the target cultural knowledge are transmitted to the learners of English language frequently English language reflects the cultures of English speaking countries, especially British and American cultures The problem is that whether teachers and students realize the existence of those cultural elements or not? And how they apply those cultural elements in mastering English language LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 36 PART C: CONCLUSION This part gives conclusions, implications for incorporating culture teaching intoEnglish language teaching, limitations of the study and suggestions for further study Conclusions The author‟s study aims at pointing out cultural elements in New Headway textbooks and being aware of the important role of the culture in teaching and learning English language The author investigates British and American cultural elements and examines their frequency of occurrence in the set of textbooks “ New Headway” It is the fact that cultural elements of Britain, America are revealed frequently through texts, conversations and activities of the lessons We can observe the table below: The comparison of frequency of occurrence between Cultural Elements British and American cultural elements in New Headway Textbooks British culture American culture Norms units 22.5% units 5% - - Non-verbal behaviour units 7.5% unit 0% - - Gift giving Etiquette units 5% unit 0% - - Queuing unit 2.5% unit 0% - - Driving units 5% unit 0% - - Table manners units 5% units 5% - Punctuality units 7.5% unit 2.5% - Invitations unit 0% uint 2.5% 16 units 40% units 22.5% units 17.5% units 7.5% Values - - Individualism & privacy - - Freedom units 12.5% units 7.5% - - Equality units 5% unit 0% - - Self-reliance & independence uunits 7.5% unit 0% - Hard work units 22.5% units 12.5% LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 37 - Materialism Attitudes unit 0% unit 2.5% 22 units 55% unit 2.5% - - The love of nature units 15% unit 0% - -The love of animals units 15% unit 0% - - Dresses units 5% unit 0% - - Food units 7.5% unit 2.5% - - Drink units 10% unit 0% - - Entertainment 10 units 25% unit 0% - Meals units 10% unit 0% Communication styles 28 units 70% units 5% - Politeness 15 units 37.5% unit 0% - Indirectness units 12.5% unit 0% - - Formality & informality units 10% unit 0% - - Humour units 7.5% unit 0% - - Understatement unit 2.5% unit 0% - Friendliness & stiff upper lip units 20% units 5% - Table 3: The comparison of frequency of occurrence between British and American cultural elements in New Headway Textbooks From the table, we can give a comparison between British cultural elements and American cultural elements In general, British cultural elements are revealed more frequently and prominently than American cultural elements The textbooks always place the greatest emphasis on communication styles of British, 70% ( in 28 units) while there are only units mentioning communication styles of American British prominent communication styles are politeness and friendliness & stiff upper lip There are 15 units expressing politeness, (37.5%) and there are units expressing friendliness & stiff upper lip, (20%) while the American prominent communication style is friendliness, (5%) There are units mentioning American friendliness There are units describing indirectness of British, 12.5% but we can not identify this communication style of American in three textbooks Similarly, British communication styles such as understatement, humour and formality & informality are LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 38 revealed from to units (2.5% of understatement, 7.5% of humour and 10% of formality & informality) but there is no unit mentioning these communication styles of American British attitudes are expressed more prominently than American attitudes Attitudes of British are revealed the second highest percentage, after communication styles, (55%) There are 22/40 units mentioning attitudes of British while there is only one unit describing attitudes of American, 2.5% The British prominent attitudes are entertainment (25%), the love of nature (15%) and the love of animals (15%) meanwhile American prominent attitude is the food (2.5%) Other attitudes of British such as meals (10%), drink (10%), food (7.5%) and dresses (5%) occur in the textbooks but those attitudes of American are not expressed, except food The British values which are revealed in 16 units, (40%) while there are only units expressing American values, (22.5%) According to the statistic from identifying British and American cultural elements in three textbooks, British values are thirdly ranked, after communication styles and attitudes whereas American values are firstly ranked of four cultural elements Both British and American, the most prominent values are hard work, individualism & privacy and freedom There are units describing British values of self-reliance & independence (7.5%) and units expressing British equality (5%) while those values of American are not found in the textbooks The American value of materialism is also expressed in one unit but no unit mentions this value of British British norms occur more frequently than American norms There are units mentioning British norms but there are only units expressing American norms British norms are revealed such as non-verbal behaviour, gift giving etiquettes, queuing, driving, table mannesr and punctuality while American norms revealed are table manners, punctuality and invitations There are units describing non-verbal behaviour and punctuality of British, units for gift giving etiquettes, driving, table mannesr of British and one unit for queuing of British British cultural norms are lastly ranked whereas American cultural norms is secondly ranked, after values There are units expressing table manners of American; unit for punctuality and norm of invitation of American All cultural elements spread in the New Headway textbooks from Elementary, Preintermediate level to intermediate level regularly However, not all cultural characteristics are mentioned in these textbooks The author can only points out cultural elements revealed in these textbooks It is obvious that these course books are not cultural material LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 39 sources but we can recognize that every text, conversation or activity contains cultural contents which is very vital to master English language the best With the large cultural knowledge, the learners of English foreign language will know how to behave or communicate better and may gain English language more easily and effectively In short, culture is really vital in teaching and learning English foreign language, especially with the communicative textbooks “New Headway” So, both the teachers and students must have certain knowledge about the English speaking cultures in general and British, American cultures in particular With the popular cultural knowledge, the students can understand more deeply about their native culture and avoid the potential misunderstanding Then, enriching cultural knowledge by integrating cultures into language learning and teaching is quite vital It would be hopeful that with the author‟s study, the students of Nghe an tourism and trading vocational college could learn English through the New Headway textbooks efficiently and become good cross-cultural communicators Implications for incorporating culture teaching into English language teaching As mentioned above, teaching and learning a second language is teaching and learning second culture It is essential to learn it right when we start to learn a language Hence, good methods for integrating culture teaching into English language teaching need to be focused and discussed, especially when teaching the communicative course books “New Headway” for students of Nghe an tourism and trading vocational college It is the foreign language teachers‟ responsibility to find practical solutions to this problem to integrate culture teaching into their language teaching in one way or another First of all, the teachers should provide the students with the knowledge of English speaking cultures which are considered the effective means of mastering English language and gaining good communication In other words, the teachers should raise the students‟ awareness and attitudes of the importance of culture in learning English and make sure that the knowledge of culture which students are exposed to is most benefit to them For examples, teachers should first invoke interest and curiosity about the target culture Then, they should enhance their students to recognize the fact that social factors like age, gender, social class, and ethnicity influence how people use the language Teachers also need LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 40 help their students understand why people of the target culture choose to behave in certain ways in certain situations Secondly, the teachers ought to help the students understand more about the cultural values and be aware of cultural differences It means the students may be pointed out whether certain behaviors, attitudes, lifestyles, etc are appropriate in English, American or Vietnamese cultures in certain situations From that, students may relate to the native culture and give a comparison between English speaking cultures and the native culture For example, after giving instructions about norm of driving of British, the teacher asks students to relate to Vietnamese‟s Or what will you take when you are invited to someone‟s home if you are in Britain, in America or in Vietnam? Subsequently, the teachers need to plan the cultural lessons and activities as carefully as language activities and integrated into lesson plans If the cultural lessons are prepared carefully, they will transfer fully cultural knowledge to their students Lastly, when teaching New Headway textbooks, the teachers are advised to create chances of social interactions for students because one of the best ways to teach social English is by social situations Through the texts or activities, the teachers may help students recognize which behaviors are accepted in British and American For example, the teachers ask students to imagine some situations and give solutions such as: - Which topics you talk about when chatting with the strangers? Obviously, the British often talk much about the weather, but American often talk much about geography - What time should you expect your foreign business colleagues to arrive when you have arranged a meeting at seven o‟clock? If they are American, they‟ll probably be 15 minutes early If they‟re British, they‟ll be 15 minutes late All in all, teaching English can not be separated from teaching its culture In order to help the students in general and the students of Nghe an tourism and trading vocational college in particular master English effectively via the textbooks “New Headway”, cultural elements should be highlighted by the teachers during the language lessons Also, it should be noted gradually that it is necessary to teach culture to the students so that they can overcome all difficulties or culture shock in real-life communication Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 41 Despite the writer‟s great efforts, the study has shown many inevitable shortcomings and weaknesses due to the writer‟s incomplete knowledge of the field as well as limited ability of doing scientific work and some other objective factors such as limitation of time and reference materials relating to subject – matter under investigation So the further research should be done in the future This research has only investigated British and American cultural elements in New Headway textbooks Therefore, the writer‟s hope is to go further into in-depth investigations about the fact of English speaking cultures in the English classrooms and in daily cultural communication in order to master the deeper and broader cultural knowledge in Britain and America in particular and English speaking countries in general LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 42 REFERENCES Bentahila, A and Davies, E (1989), Culture and Language Use: A problem for Language Teaching, In Iral, vol 27/2 Bock, P.K (1970), Culture Shock - A Reader in Modern Cultural Anthropology, Alfred A Knoft, Inc New York Brook, N (1968), Teaching Culture in the Foreign Language Classroom, Foreign Language Annals, Volumn 1, issue 3, March 1968 Brook, N (1983), Teaching Culture in the Foreign Language Classroom, Foreign Language Annals, Volumn 16, New York: ACTFL, Inc.,1983 Brown, H D (2000), Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, London: Longman, Pearson Education Limited Cakir, I (2006), Developing Cultural Awareness in Foreign Language Teaching, Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 7, 3-12 Crowther, J (1999), Oxford guide to British and American Culture, Oxford: Oxford University Press Dell Hymes, (1964), Language in Culture and Society: A reader in linguistics and anthropology, New York: Harper and Row Do Mai Thanh & Dao Thu Trang, (2006), Introduction to Cross Cultural Communication Vietnam National University, Hanoi College of Foreign Languages English Department 10 Eli Hinkel, (1999), Culture in second Language Teaching and Learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 11 Englebert, (2004), Character or Culture? An EFL Journal, 24(2), 37-41 12 Esther wanning, ( 1999), Culture Shock: USA Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company Portland, Oregon 13 Geert Hofstede, (2001), Cultures Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations International Educational and Professional publisher: Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi 14 Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, Cao Thi Tuong Minh, Nguyen Thi Minh, Nguyen Thi Bach Thao & Phung Ha Thanh, ( 2007), An introduction to American Studies Hanoi, 2007 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 43 15 Hui Du, (2005), False Alarm or Real Warning? 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HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES *************** NGUYỄN THỊ THÚY HẰNG AN INVESTIGATION INTO CULTURAL ELEMENTS VIA LINGUISTIC MEANS IN