INTRODUCTION
Rationale
English learning does not only include grammatical competence and language proficiency, it also includes culture learning “Foreign language learning is comprised of several components, including grammatical competence, communicative competence, language proficiency as well as a change in attitudes towards one‟s own or another culture For scholars and laymen alike, cultural competence, i.e., the knowledge of the conventions, customs, beliefs and systems of meaning of another country, is indisputably an integral part of foreign language learning, and many teachers have seen it as their goal to incorporate the teaching of culture into the foreign language curriculum.” (Dimitrios Thanasoulas, akasa74@hotmail.com)
From the idea above, it can be inferred that foreign language teaching can‟t be complete without the transmission of cultural information in the lessons
However, it is still controversial among many language teachers about the appropriate teaching methods and cross – cultural activities used in speaking lessons in order that the target of raising students‟ cross – cultural awareness can be met
In HaUI, there has never been any study on raising students‟ cross – cultural awareness and teachers‟ attitudes towards these issues From my 8 years‟ experience as a teacher at HaUI, I am aware that the teaching of culture has not been emphasized in this teaching context The curriculum in HaUI has not been designed to include culture teaching or developing additional teaching and learning materials that includes English speaking countries‟ cultural values In speaking lessons, students are often asked to talk about the topic the teachers raise, taught some expressions and new words Cultural elements are rarely mentioned Therefore, students often ask me a lot of questions which are grammatically correct but culturally inappropriate
These reasons have given rise to this study It‟s the author‟s attempt to find out the effective activities to raise students‟ cross – cultural awareness It is hoped that this study will help the situation in HaUI.
Aims of the study
The study is aimed at:
1 finding out the effective activities in raising students‟ cultural awareness
2 finding out the difficulties in incorporating cultural elements into speaking lessons at HaUI
Scope of the study
The participants in the study are first year English majored students They are in their 2 nd semester The textbook chosen for the course is Let’s talk 2 The study only focuses on supplementary activities in raising students‟ cross – cultural awareness Teaching „culture” in this thesis refers to British and American culture in language use and in communication contexts.
Research questions
The study is carried out to find the answers to the following research questions:
1 What are the effective activities for improving HaUI students‟ cross-cultural awareness?
2 What are the difficulties in incorporating cultural elements into speaking lessons at HaUI?
Methods of the study
In this study, action research is employed The author makes comments, remarks, comparisons and conclusions from observations, survey questionnaires, discussions and experience
Survey questionnaires are utilized to survey the situation of teaching and learning culture at the beginning of the study They are also used to collect teachers‟ and students‟ opinions about culture teaching and learning after the study 2 tests are administered before and after the study to figure out the differences in students‟ cultural knowledge Observations and formal discussions are also effectively combined in the study.
Design of the study
The study is divided into 4 chapters
Chapter I is an introduction to the research in which rationale, methods of the study and research questions are discussed
Chapter II reviews the literature of culture in foreign language teaching, the relationship between culture and language learning The study also looks at some influential theories of activities used for teaching culture
Chapter III discusses the context of the study, data collection methods and activities for raising cross cultural awareness in HaUI The author also analyzes the data collected to answer the research questions Changes in the results of the culture achievement tests are assessed based on both quantitative and qualitative data collected through the test results, interviews, informal discussions, observations and survey questionnaires
Chapter IV includes the findings of the study and suggests further research.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Culture and foreign language learning
Culture can be defined in many ways from many different perspectives On a general level, anthropologists define culture as “…the whole way of life of people or group In this context, culture includes all the social practices that bond a group of people together and distinguish them from them” (Montgometry and Reid-Thomas, 1994:5)
In Nguyen Quang‟s view, “Culture is the whole complex of tangible and intangible expressions that are created and adapted by a society or a social group as well as the ways it functions and reacts in given situations; this helps distinguish one society or social group from another not only in terms of the availability of those expressions and behaviors, but also in terms of their proportionality and manifestability” (Nguyen Quang, 2006:24)
According to Brown (1994: 170) culture is a deeply ingrained part of the very fiber of our being, but language - the means for communication among members of a culture – is the most visible and available expression of that culture And so a person‟s worldview, self – identity, and system of thinking, acting, feeling, and communicating can be disrupted by a change from one culture to another
From these points of view, it can be inferred that language and culture are inextricably linked
Therefore, language teaching can not be separated from culture teaching
Language and cultures are closely related in many ways According to Claire Kramsch, language is the principal means whereby we conduct our social lives (Claire Kramsch, 1998:3) When it is used in contexts of communication, it is bound up with culture in multiple and complex ways
To begin with, the words people utter relate to common experience They express facts, ideas or events that are communicable because they refer to a stock of knowledge about the world that other people share Words also reflect their authors‟ attitudes and belief, their point of view that are also attitudes, belief and point of views of others In both cases, language expresses cultural reality
But members of a community or social group do not only express experience; they also create experience through language According to Claire Kramsch (Claire Kramsch, 1998:3) “They give meaning to it through the medium they choose to communicate with one another, for example on the telephone or face – to – face, writing a letter or sending an e-mail message, reading the newspaper or interpreting a graph or chart The way in which people use the spoken, written, or visual medium itself to create meanings that are understandable to the group they belong to, for example, through a speaker‟s tone of voice, accent, conventional style, gestures and facial expressions.” Through all its verbal and non-verbal aspects, language embodies cultural reality
According to Nguyen Van Do (Nguyen Van Do, 2006), language and culture can be seen as the faces of paper Language cannot exist “outside the social context; language is a social institution; both shaping and shaped by society at large This relationship can be illustrated in the following trio relation diagram:
2.1.3 Cultural awareness and cross – cultural awareness
2.1.3.1 Cultural awareness Cultural awareness is a term we have used to describe sensitivity to the impact of culturally – induced behavior on language use and communication (Barry Tomalin and Susan Templeski, 1993: 5)
As presented in the previous section, the forms and uses of a given language reflect the cultural values of the society in which the language is spoken Linguistic competence alone is not enough for learners of a language to be competent in that language (Krasner, 1999)
Therefore, cultural awareness should be viewed as a significant component in communicative competence It is essential that language learners should be aware of the culturally appropriate ways to express attitudes, address people, make requests, and express agreements or disagreement etc
There exist differences between cultures in the way people communicate, behave and act
People use various terms to refer to communication between people from different nationality, social or ethnic origin, gender, occupation and sexual preference
„Cross – culture‟ refers to the meeting of two cultures or two languages across the political boundaries of nation – states (Claire Kramsch, 1998:81) They are predicated on the equivalence of one nation one culture language, and on the expectation that a “culture shock” may take place upon crossing national boundaries
Cross culture can be seen as culture in contact or culture encounters Cross – cultural communication does not only study cultural differences and their influences on the people‟s behaviors but also see the similarities between them (crossing – common and different aspects)
In foreign language teaching a cross – cultural approach is applied in order that students will be aware of the cultural differences and equipped with knowledge and skills to act in puzzling cross – cultural situations This also assists them in achieving effective communication.
Culture teaching in conversational classes
As mentioned earlier, culture is defined differently from different aspects Researchers, therefore, have made many attempts to find out relevant cultural issues to delivers in foreign language lessons
Stephen More (1985) identifies the components of culture as: beliefs, values, norms, roles, role conflicts and status, and those of language as morphemes, words and sentences
Nelson Brooks (1983) identifies 5 meanings of culture: growth, refinement, fine arts, patterns of living, and total way of life He believes that pattern of living should receive the major emphasis in the classroom It is patterns of living that are the least understood, yet the most important in the early phrases of language instruction He labels this meaning of culture as culture 4 and defines it as follows:
“Culture 4 (pattern of living) refers to the individual‟s role in the unending kaleidoscope of life situations of every kind and rules and models for attitude and conduct in them By reference to these models, every human being, from infancy onward, justifies the world to himself as best he can, associates with those around him, and relates to the social order to which he is attached”
From the point of view of language instruction, culture and be divided into two types: deep culture, or “culture with little c” (behavior culture) and “culture with big C” and big C (achievement culture) Deep culture, or “culture with little c” focuses on the behavioral patterns or lifestyles of the people: how they greet in the first meeting; which expression they use to show sympathy, approval, etc “Culture with big C” includes the humanistic manifestations and contributions of a foreign culture: art, music, literature; architecture, technology and politics
Gail Robinson (1985), an American researcher in the area of cross – cultural education, reports that when teachers are asked, “What culture means to you” the most common responses fall into three interrelated categories: products, ideas, and behaviors The broadening of „little c”
(behavior culture) can be expressed through the following diagrams
In a nutshell, the type of culture we teach in conversational classes should be flexibly comprised of both “big C” and little c” “The study of culturally – influenced behaviors should arise out of the language material being studied, but should nevertheless be clearly identified and systematically treated as a regular feature of the language lessons.” (Tomalin and Stempleski, 1993:7)
2.2.2 Task based approach in incorporate culture into teaching
Although intercultural communicative competence has long been viewed as an important goal of EFL, many materials used to train learners or raise cross – cultural awareness are limited in clarifying appropriate methods to carry out “culture part” in EFL lessons Incorporating culture into English speaking lessons entails more than teachers‟ merely giving information and students‟ taking notes According to Willis (1996) an appropriate classroom task is “a goal – oriented activity in which learners use language to achieve a real outcome” In this way, tasks can actively engage learners or promote skills required for negotiating meaning Nunan similarly states that, a task “…is a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing, or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form” (Nunan,
Behaviors Customs Habits Dress Foods leisure
Products Literature Folklore Art Music artefacts
Activities for raising students’ cultural awareness in conversational classes9
2.3.1 Goals for incorporating culture into English speaking class
According to Seelye (1994), to teach culture for understanding, the following goals should be achieved:
Goal 1: Interest – The student demonstrates curiosity about the target culture and empathy toward its people
Goal 2: Who – The student recognizes the role expectations and other social variables such as age, sex, social class, ethnicity and place of residence affect the way people speak and behave
Goal 3: What – The student realizes that effective communication requires discovering the culturally conditioned images that are evoked in the minds of people when they think, act, and react to the world around them
Goal 4: Where and when – The student recognizes situational variables and convention shape behavior in important ways (S/he needs to know how people in the target culture act in common mundane and crisis situations)
Goal 5: Why – The student understands that people generally act the way they do because they are using options society allows for satisfying basic physical and psychological needs, and that cultural patterns are interrelated and tend mutually to support need satisfaction
Goal 6: Exploration – The student can evaluate a generalization about the target culture in terms of the amount of evidence substantiating it, and has the skills needed to locate and organize information about the target culture from the library, the mass media, people, and personal observation
According to Tomalin and Stempleski (1993:7-8), Seelye (1993), Hammerly (1982, pp.522-
524), and Stern (1992, pp.212-215), the teaching of culture has the following goals:
To help students to develop an understanding of the fact that all people exhibit culturally – conditioned behaviors
To help students to develop an understanding that social variables such as age, sex, social class, and place of residence influence the ways in which people speak and behave
To help students to become more aware of conventional behavior in common situations in the target culture
To help students to increase their awareness of the cultural connotations of words and phrases in the target language
To help students to develop the ability to evaluate and refine generalizations about the target culture, in terms of supporting evidence
To help students to develop the necessary skills to locate and organize information about the target culture
To stimulate students‟ intellectual curiosity about the target culture, and to encourage empathy towards its people
To help students develop an understanding of the dynamic nature of the target culture, as well as their own culture
2.3.2 Activities for raising students’ cultural awareness in conversational classes
Teaching culture requires a lot of efforts from teachers in order that students can enrich their cultural awareness with enthusiasm In this paper, the author some practical activities summarized by Christine Elmore, contributed by Elisabeth Peterson and Brownyn Coltrane and Deborah Peck
2.3.2.1 The summary of Christine Elmore’s activities
Christine Elmore (www.google.com) has summarized twelve ways of teaching culture as follows:
From the first day of class teachers should have prepared a cultural island in their classrooms
Posters, pictures, maps, signs, and realia of many kinds are essential in helping students develop a mental image Assigning students foreign names from the first day can heighten student interest Short presentations on a topic of interest with appropriate pictures or slides add to this mental image Start students off by making them aware of the influence of various foreign cultures in this country Introduce students to the borrowed words in their native language or the place-names of our country This helps students to realize they already know many words in the target language (i.e poncho, fiesta, rodeo) A good introductory activity is to send students on cultural scavenger hunts to supermarkets and department stores and have them make lists of imported goods
* Culture Capsules (developed by Taylor & Sorenson, 1961)
Culture capsules are generally prepared out of class by a student but presented during class time in 5 or 10 minutes A Culture capsule consists of a paragraph or so of explanation of one minimal difference between the native culture and the target culture.Essentially a culture capsule is a brief description of some aspect of the target language culture (e.g., what is customarily eaten for meals and when those meals are eaten, marriage customs, etc.) followed by, or incorporated with contrasting information from the students' native language culture
The contrasting information can be provided by the teacher, but it is usually more effective to have the students themselves point out the contrasts
Culture capsules are usually done orally with the teacher giving a brief lecture on the chosen cultural point and then leading a discussion about the differences between cultures
A culture cluster is simply a group of three or more illustrated culture capsules on related themes/topics (about the target life) + one 30 minute classroom simulation/skit that integrates the information contained in the capsules (the teacher acts as narrator to guide the students)
For example, a culture cluster about grades and their significance to university students could contain the capsule about how a grade point average is figured plus another about what kind of decisions (such as being accepted in graduate study, receiving scholarships, getting a better job, etc.) are affected by a person's grade point average
The culture assimilator provides the student with 75 to 100 episodes of target cultural behavior Culture assimilators consist of short (usually written) descriptions of an incident or situation where interaction takes place between at least one person from the target culture and persons from other cultures (usually the native culture of the students being taught) The description is followed by four possible choices about the meaning of the behavior, action, or words of the participants in the interaction with emphasis on the behavior, actions, or words of the target language individual(s)
Students read the description in the assimilator and then choose which of the four options they feel is the correct interpretation of the interaction Once all students have made their individual choices, the teacher leads a discussion about why particular options are correct or incorrect in interpretation
Critical incidents are another method for teaching culture Critical incidents are descriptions of incidents or situations which demand that a participant in the interaction make some kind of decision Most of the situations could happen to any individual; they do not require that there be intercultural interaction as there is with culture assimilators Generally, the procedure with a critical incident is to have students read the incident independently and make individual decisions about what they would do Then the students are grouped into small groups to discuss their decisions and why they made them they way they did Then all the groups discuss their decisions and the reasons behind them Finally, students have to be given the opportunity to see how their decision and reasoning compare and contrast with the decisions and reasoning of native members of the target culture
Mini–dramas consist of three to five brief episodes in which misunderstandings are portrayed, in which there are examples of miscommunication Additional information is made available with each episode, but the precise cause of the misunderstanding does not become apparent until the last scene Each episode is followed by an open-ended question discussion led by the teacher The episodes are generally written to foster sympathy for the non–native of the culture the "wrong" that is done to him or her by a member of the target culture At the end of the mini–drama, some "knowing" figure explains what is really happening and why the target culture member was really not doing wrong
With mini–dramas, scripts are handed out and people are assigned to act out the parts After each act, the teacher asks students (not necessarily the ones performing in the drama) what the actions and words of the characters in the drama mean and leads them to make judgments about the characters in the play After all of the scenes have been portrayed and the "knowing" figure has made his or her speech, students are asked to reinterpret what they have seen in view of the information which the knowing figure provided
SITUATION ANALYSIS
Situation analysis
The study is carried out at HaUI This study targets at English major students who are trained to become interpreters and translators Like interpreter and translator trainees from other universities, students at HaUI are required to take English courses as major subjects for 4 years Textbooks such as Let’s talk 2, Speak up, Listen to it, Academic Writing , etc are chosen to develop four basic skills In the first semester, Let’s talk 2 is selected as a mainstream textbook to improve students‟ speaking skill It is believed that this book will help students to know how to speak in English in some common conversational situations
However, it seems that the textbook tends to focus on expressions and at HaUI little attempts have been made to draw students‟ attention to cross – cultural issues
The study is carried out with the participation of 180 students (from English classes 1A,1B, 1C, 2A, 2B) and 40 teachers at HaUI in 15 weeks
All the 40 teachers participating in the study graduated from University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi They have been teaching English for at least 3 years.
Data collection instruments
Heterogeneity reflexes markedly as students come from different backgrounds, from different provinces and cities Most of the students have learnt English for 3-6 years All the students focused only on grammar at high school, had hardly any chance to practice speaking English
At the time of the study, students are beginning the second semester of their first year
This is an action research The data collection methods adopted is aimed at collecting both qualitative and quantitative data to make use of analytical and exploratory – interpretive paradigms in applied linguistics Data will be collected from questionnaires, observation and informal discussions in this action research
Before the study, a questionnaire is distributed to teachers and students at HaUI to get an overview of the situation of teaching and learning culture for English majored first year students; and explore the anticipation of teaching and learning English cultural elements
After the course, a test is given to see if there is any progress in participants‟ cultural knowledge
A survey questionnaire is conducted after the test to find out explanations for the changes
Observation and formal discussions are combined with the other methods during the study
This tool for data information collection will be used to find out teachers and students‟ view of the significance of cultural awareness to teaching and learning Also, the author wishes to figure out the changes in students‟ English culture achievement after applying some methods in teaching culture in speaking classes
All the items of the questionnaire are designed clearly Each questionnaire takes approximately 15 minutes of class time The author explains carefully each item in the questionnaire and urges respondents to give faithful answers
The author presented the results of the questionnaires in tables and charts Besides survey questionnaire, the author also applied other methods as mentioned above
A cultural awareness assessment test was administered twice before the course and after the course
4 classes will be observed separately by this author and 2 teachers from HaUI Observation will be carried out with a set of checklist designed by the author including students‟ attitude towards teachers‟ activities, their involvement in their activities Students‟ preference for the activities will also be noted down
Informal discussions will be conducted during short breaks and gatherings during the course.
Data analysis
The survey for teachers was conducted with the participation of 40 teachers at English Department, HaUI The data of the survey questionnaire was analyzed to figure out current situation in incorporating cultural elements into English speaking classes and teachers‟ attitude towards this issue
3.3.1.1 An overview of culture teaching in HaUI (Questions 1,2)
Question 1 : Do you often include cultural knowledge in your speaking lessons?
The answers to the question are shown in the chart as below:
Yes, very often Yes, sometimes Rarely
This question focuses on figuring out the current situation of teaching speaking in HaUI in the aspect of including cultural element in the lessons Most of the teachers (67%) confide that they sometimes “teach” culture in conversational lessons 22% rarely mentions cultural issues
The rest 11 % never touches upon any cross – cultural elements
Question 2 : Do you often intend to make the speaking lessons more interesting with cross
– cultural activities or just mention cultural notes as they appear in the course books?
Mention only the culture note Others
Data from question 3 reveals that most of the teachers (67%) tend to mention cultural elements when they are printed in the “Culture note” section in the textbook 23% says that they sometimes add cultural information in their lecture with a view to making it more interesting
The reason for not frequently delivering cultural information in speaking lessons is that they do not know much about culture and they do not have a lot of time to prepare for cultural knowledge
3.3.1.2 Teachers’ opinions of the difficulties in delivering cross – cultural elements in speaking classes (Questions 3 )
Question 3 : What are your reasons for not having cultural issues discussed in your speaking lessons frequently?
You are not interested in delivering cultural issues
You are interested but have no time to prepare for the lessons
Students can learn cultural issues at home
Data show that the majority of the teachers (56%) show interest in giving cultural information in speaking lessons However, they say that they sometimes teach “culture” because of some objective and subjective reasons A main objective reason is that they do not have enough time to prepare for cultural information before the lessons 22% say that the reason is overloaded curriculum The rest 22% think that students can learn cultural issues at home From informal discussions, it is revealed that lack of teaching aids also prevents teachers from supplementing students with interesting facts about cross cultures Hence, it is clear that teachers should have chances to improve their knowledge of cultural issues and sufficient teaching aids should be available for the teaching of English with cross – cultural activities
3.3.1.3 Teachers’ opinions of the necessity of including cultural information in the lessons (Questions 5)
Question 5 : How important is English cultural knowledge to your English teaching?
Teachers very important important rather important not important at all
22% teachers agree that it is very important to teach culture 56% say that it is important for the students to have cultural issues discussed in the lessons These teachers highly appreciate the importance of English cultural knowledge to English teaching and learning The rest 22% hold the view that culture is rather important in language learning
When asked why it is necessary to “teach” culture, teachers say that languages always go with cultures and knowledge of culture helps students learn language better and become better communicators
3.3.1.4 Teachers’ opinions of the cross – cultural topics and activities for speaking lessons
Interestingly, 100% teachers show preferences for all the topics mentioned in question 7(appendix 1) including people, living conditions, food and drink, work, entertainment, relationship, values, people‟s attitudes Teachers tend to cover information about common issues in communicaion in speaking lessons This is very practical because it helps students easily find out the differences and similarities in Vietnamese and English cultures in many daily situations
When asked about the source that they obtain cultural knowledge all the teachers agree that they search the internet, read books and watch TV for cultural information
Regarding the activities, most of the teachers confide that role play, quizzes are effective in
“teaching” culture in speaking lessons Students appear to actively take part in activities that give them fun Quizzes offer them chances for competition between teams Role play also helps students easily remember cultural issues
3.3.1.5 Teacher’s difficulties in incorporating culture into speaking classes
63% teachers hold the view that not knowing how to “teach” culture effectively is their difficulty 36% they that lack of teaching materials is a hinderance in their teaching
Therefore, most of them believe that it is feasible to deliver cultural issues in speaking lessons when their difficulties are tackled
3.3.2 Applied activities for raising students’ cross-cultural awareness in speaking classes at HaUI
As discussed in the literature review, studies on teaching have suggested numerous ways to incorporate culture into language training However, only some activities are selected to use in this study pursuant to the special situation at HaUI as seen from survey for teachers above and survey for students and result of cultural assessment tests discussed later In addition, the textbook chosen for speaking lessons for 1 st year students in their second semester is Let’s talk
2 Basing on these facts, we choose some activities to apply in HaUI context as follows: cultural islands, action logs, reformulation, quizzes, role plays, proverbs, problem solving, prediction, research
At the beginning of the semester, the participants have a good chance to have an exposure to the target culture by observing posters, maps, sign, and relia Posters, pictures of some famous people and maps of the USA and Great Britain are shown to the students Many borrowed words from English culture are introduced to students such as tennis, rock, pop, and pudding
Through these activities students pay attention to cross – cultural knowledge by a short presentation about the importance of English culture in English learning by the teacher
After using cultural islands , the participants are suggested to prepare note books as diaries (or action logs )They can design the notebook in the way they want to store cultural information which they obtain from each lesson The information in the book can be revised when necessary In their notebook, the participants also write their own evaluation on each class activity for interest, usefulness and difficulty
Students also have chances to get involved in role plays, quizzes, problem solving, discussions, proverbs, prediction and research
In the activity “ Quizzes” Students in a class are divided into 2 or 3 teams Teachers read the questions from slides or handouts and students compete to get most of the correct answers For example, when talking about handshaking in formal situation, the teacher shows slides about 4 different pictures and students have to choose the picture with appropriate handshaking
In role play, some students act as the script (provided by teacher), other watch and find out the cultural differences or discover the inappropriate behavior and explain the reasons For example, students will act the roles of 2 people in the first appointment They will greet and ask some questions Other students watch and compare the differences between Vietnamese and English culture in the same context
In problem solving , students often work in group or individually to find out solution to a problem involving misunderstanding in communication Teachers help students find out solution and make explanations when necessary There may be description of situation which demand students to work independently and make individual decisions about what they would do Then they work in groups to discuss their decisions and reaons behind them After that, students have to be given the opportunity to see how their decisions and reasoning compare and contrast with the decisions and reasoning of native members of the target culture
Discussion of the findings
The survey was conducted with the participation of 40 teachers and 180 students
Many methods were collaborated including action research and survey questionnaire in order that the results found were as reliable as possible The results of tests and survey have revealed many interesting facts about the current situations of the teaching and learning speaking at HaUI Also, the results show the necessity and feasibility of raising HaUI students‟ cross – cultural awareness with supplementary activities They assert the correctness of the theories by many authors as cited in the Literature Review about the importance of culture in foreign language learning
Firstly, most of the teachers agreed upon the necessity of incorporating culture in speaking lessons However, teachers at HaUI have not paid great attention in incorporating cultural elements in speaking lessons because of some reasons The first reason is that they do not have enough time to prepare for this part in the speaking lessons In addition, they lack materials and sufficient teaching aids Furthermore, some teachers do not think it necessary to teach
„culture‟ and some do not know how to teach „culture‟ effectively
Secondly, before the study students hardly have any ideas about cross-cultural issues After the study, initial findings have show positive change in students‟ opinions about cultural issues and well as cultural knowledge
Thirdly, results from the survey and from my observations show that students tend to participate more enthusiastically in activities which students have more chances to act such as quizzes, role – play, Problem Solving, discussions/ culure capsule, proverbs …than simple tasks which just requires students to think and speak out what people from other culture would do in certain situations Students seem to have great joy in doing quizzes partly because this type of activities offers the joy of competing between teams Role plays also attract students immensely However, students also show little interest in Action logs or writing diary and reformulation They appear to have little time for writing diary and noting down for reflection what they have learnt during the day Proverbs help them learn about English cultures but sometimes they find it hard to remember Results from tests reveal that students have positive change in their cultural knowledge Many factors many contribute to this result
This results prove the effectiveness in intial stages of the activities applied
Fourthly, some difficulties still remain for teachers and students Still, teachers need to be equipped with adequate materials and modern teaching aids Without teaching aids, teachers can not realize their ideas Teachers should also be guided about how to incorporate culture into speaking lessons in an effective way Besides, the speaking curricula should be tailored in some ways to serve the goal of teaching speaking along with raising students‟ cross – cultural awareness If teachers have to convey a lot of structures, grammars and new words in speaking lessons, they would have no time for cultural activities Also, students should have chances to practice their cultural knowledge though this is not very feasible Students also have their own difficulties They have little chance to practice their knowledge They come from different background and sometimes they even lack background knowledge to discuss in speaking lessons In addition, insufficient learning materials or classroom equipments decrease their enthusiasm in cross-cultural activities.
Implications for raising HaUI students’ cross – cultural awareness
In order to get a comprehensive picture of the target culture from many angles, we need to present students with different kinds of information The list below shows some possible sources of information which can be used as materials for teaching culture In addition, teachers should also be provided with up-to-date and relevant materials for teaching
It apears that students are interested in the following activities Therefore, teachers should focus on these activity types and design tasks for students in speaking classes
It depends on the topic of the speaking lessons that teachers should choose the type of activities or content that suits the lessons Teachers should also balance the cultural and linguistic contents
Only by personalizing activities and content can we hope to lead students to better cultural understanding We can start off by talking about a distant country, but this will only result in stereotyping if we do not allow students to relate the same issues to their own lives And as every language teacher knows, students love to talk about themselves
Know your students Even though you may see yourself primarily as a teacher of culture, if you are working with EFL students, you must constantly remember that they probably will not understand everything that you say It is not necessary that they understand every word and indeed a challenge is wonderful for learning, but consistently using material or a way of speaking that is too difficult is a sure way to make students lose their interest in target-culture
Of course, the culture is interesting to you, so you presume that it will be interesting for your students However, imagine sometimes that you are studying the culture of a foreign country, one that you may have no intention of visiting Pick out the interesting aspects of a culture and present them in a way that will engage students By using the variety of approaches described above to create cultural texture and by employing your own enthusiasm, you should also be able to create an exciting class for your students
Students learn more in groups They have more opportunities for using the target language, discussing the target culture, and gaining additional perspectives on their own cultural
Don’t try to cover everything
A culture is enormous It consists of all the institutions, all the behavior, in fact all the man- made aspects of a very large group of non-homogeneous people All that we can do is provide some pathways to enter into learning more about the culture After all, we never know everything about our own culture We should not be disappointed that we cannot teach everything but rather be happy that we are able to raise intercultural awareness at all.
CONCLUSION
Summary of the study
In HaUI, cross – cultural activities have not yet been emphasized in the teaching of English for English majored students in speaking classes Therefore, the researcher has conducted this study to find out the effective activities for raising HaUI students‟ cross-cultural awareness as well as difficulties in including cultural issues in speaking classes
The study has been implemented with the participation of 30 teachers and 180 students
Teachers and students are given survey questionnaires before the study Students also take a cultural assessment test before and after the study
The author has analyzed the survey questionnaires and changes in students results of cultural assessment test before and after the study
Surveys show that teachers in HaUI have paid little attention to including cultural issues in speaking lessons The study has got positive attitudes from students about incorporating culture into English learning Results from tests also show a positive change in students‟ knowledge about culture They showed favor for many cross – cultural activities and considered them very important to English teaching and learning The activities that they like most are quizzes, role plays, problem – solving, discussions They do not show much preference for action logs and reformulation
Teachers also point out their difficulties in conducting lessons with cross – cultural activities including lack of materials and teaching aid, overloaded curricula Teachers also confess one of their difficulty is not knowing how to “teach” culture effectively For the students, they lack background knowledge even in mother tongue to discuss cultural issues and have little chance to practice their knowledge Students also conplain that they are not provided with sufficient cultural materials and sometimes teaching equipments‟ not working properly prevents them from concentrating on the cultural issues in speaking lessons
After the study, the author has discussed with teachers at HaUI about raising students‟ cross- cultural awareness and share with them her experience from the study.
Limitations of the study
The study has just been carried out in only speaking classes It has not been implemented in writing, reading and listening classes In specific conditions, some activities applied in the study are quizzes, research, action logs, role play, research, problem solving, culture island, noticing, prediction and proverbs Other activities such as culture assimilators, cultoons, audio-motor units, celebrating festivals, ethnographic studues and literature have not been used in the study The participants chosen are only English majors The author has not pointed out how to balance the linguistic content and cultual content in the English training curriculum or effective tools to measure students‟ cultural knowledge.
Suggestions for further study
This study has focused on some activities to raise students‟ cross – cultural awareness in speaking classes It should be further implemented in the class of reading, listening and writing
There should be further research using activities which are not applied in this study such as culture assimilators, cultoons, culure capsules, audio-motor units, celebrating festivals, ethnographic studues and literature to evaluate the their effectiveness in raising cross-cultural awareness
Further research can also be implemented in classes for non – majors to see whether the activities used in the study are effective for non-majors or not
There should also be research on how to balance the linguistic content and cultural content in English training curriculum and effective tools to measure students‟ cultural knowledge
1 Brooks, N (1983), Teaching Culture in the Foreign Language Classroom, Foreign Language Annals, Volume 16 New York: ACTFL, Inc, 1983
2 Byram, M., Morgan, C., & Colleagues (1994), Teaching and learning language and Culture Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters
3 Brown, H.D (1994).Principles of Language Learning and Teaching Englewood Cliffs, NewJersey: Prentice Hall Regents
4 Kramsch, C (1993), Context and culture in language teaching Oxford: Oxford University Press
5 Krasner, I (1999), The role of culture in language teaching Dialog on Language Instruction, 13 (1-2), pp.79-88
6 Kroeber, A., & Kluckhohn, C (1954), Culture: A critical review of concepts and definitions New York: Random House
7 Lessard-Clouston, M (1992), Assessing culture learning: Issues and suggestions
Canadian Modern Lnaguage Review, 48(2), pp.326-341
8 Lessard-Clouston, M (1997), Towards an Understanding of Culture in L2/ FL Education In Ronko, K.G Studies in English, 25, 131-150 Japan: Kwansei Gakuin University Press from The Internet TEST Journal, Vol III, No 5, May 1997 http://iteslj.org/ Articles/ Lessard-Clouston – Culture.html
9 Lessard-Clouston, M (1994), Teaching Culture: An annotated bibliography Mosaic:
A Journal for Language Teachers, 2(1), pp.19-20
10 Montgomery, M., and H Reid – Thomas (1994), Lnaguage and Social Life, England
11 Nguyen Quang, (2002), Communication and cross – cultural communication, Hanoi National University Press, Vietnam
12 Nguyen Quang‟s lecture notes, (2005), Communication and cross – cultural Communication, Vietnam National University – Hanoi
13 Nguyen Van Do (2006), English teaching to Vietnamese through American Culture
Hội thảo khoa học Giáo viên Khoa đào tạo tại chức, 29.6.2006, pp.59-61
14 Nunan,D (1989) Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom.Cambridge :
15 Peck, D (1998), Teaching Culture: Beyond Language, Yale: New Haven Teachers Institute
16 Robinson, G (1998), Crosscultural understanding New York: Prentice – Hall
17 Saville – Troike, M (1975), Teaching English as a second Culture In R Crymes &
W Norris (Eds.), ON TESOL‟ 74 (pp.83-94) Washington: TESOL
18 Seelye, H (1994), Teaching Culture: Strategies for foreign language educators
Skokie, IL: National Textbook Company
19 Stern, H.H (1983a), Fundamental Concepts of language teaching Oxford: Oxford University Press
20 Tomalin, B & Stempleski, S (1993), Cultural Awareness Oxford: Oxford University Press
21 Willis, J (1996) A framework for Task – based Learning Harlow: Longman
22 Brian Cullen, Nagoya Institute of Technology (Nagoya, Japan), Practical Techniques for Teaching Cultures in the EFL Classroom
Cullen at ks.kyy.nitech.ac.jp
23 British Culture, British Customs and British Tradition www.learnenglish.de/culture.htm#Bottom
24 Dimitrios Thanasoulas, The Importance Of Teaching Culture in the Foreign Language
Classroom, Member of TESOL Greece and the AILA Scientific Commission on Learner Autonomy, akasa74@hotmail.com
Appendix 1: Questionnaire (for teachers of English)
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE ON ENGLISH CULTURE TEACHING
This survey is designed to collect information for the study on raising Haui students’ cross – cultural awareness The obtained results will be of great importance to our study
Your assistance in completing the following items is highly appreciated You can be certain that this is for research purpose only and that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data
Please put a tick, or ticks, or write some words for your answers
1 Do you often include cultural knowledge in your speaking lessons?
2 Do you often intend to make your speaking lessons more interesting with cross – cultural activities or just mention cultural notes as they appear in the course books?
□ No, I mention only the cultural notes printed in the course book
3 What are your reasons for not having cultural issues discussed in your speaking lessons frequently?
□ You are not interested in delivering cultural issues
□ You are interested in delivering cultural issues but you don‟t have time to prepare for the lessons
□ The curriculum is overloaded There is no more time left for cultural issues
□ You think students can prepare this kind of knowledge themselves
4.How do you evaluate your own English cultural knowledge?
5.How important is English cultural knowledge to your English teaching?
□ Not important at all Please explain why you think so:………
6 Do you think that it is suitable and feasible to deliver cultural information in speaking lessons?
7 Which English cultural elements do you find most motivated in English language teaching?
8 If all teaching conditions are favorable, how often do you want to have English cultural issues discussed in your lessons?
9 In what way have you managed to obtain English cultural knowledge?
□ CDs □ Your own information □ Photographs
10 If you plan to have a cross – cultural activity in your class, what sources do you think motivate students the most?
□ Magazines articles □ Your own knowledge and experience Others: ………
11 Which of the following activities do you find effective in delivering cultural issues in speaking lesson?
12 What difficulties have you met in your delivering cultural issues in speaking lessons?
□ You are not interested in including cross – cultural activities in speaking lessons
□ You don‟t have sufficient materials and teaching aids
□ You don‟t know how to “teach” culture effectively
□ You feel that students are not interested in cross – cultural activities
Thank you so much for your cooperation!
Pre-course questionnaire (for students of English)
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE ON ENGLISH CULTURE LEARNING
This survey is designed to collect information for the study on raising Haui students’ cross – cultural awareness The obtained results will be of great importance to our study
Your assistance in completing the following items is highly appreciated You can be certain that this is for research purpose only and that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data
Please put a tick, or ticks, or write some words for your answers
1 Do you often participate in cross – cultural activities in speaking lessons?
□ No, never Please explain why:………
2 How do you evaluate your own English cultural knowledge?
3 How important is English cultural knowledge to English learning?
□ Not important at all Please explain why you think so:………
4 Which English cultural elements do you find most motivated in English language learning?
5 How often do you want to have English cultural issues taught?
6 In what way have you managed to obtain English cultural knowledge?
□ CDs □ Your own information □ Photographs
Thank you so much for your cooperation!
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE ON ENGLISH CULTURE TEACHING AND LEARNING
This survey is designed to collect information for the study on English culture teaching and learning The obtained results will be of great importance to our study, which targets at working out the most effective methods of incorporating English cultural elements into English training Your assistance in completing the following items is highly appreciated You can be certain that this is for research purpose only and that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data
Please put a tick, or ticks, or write some words for your answers
1 How do you evaluate your own English cultural knowledge?
2 How important is English cultural knowledge to your English learning?
□ Not important at all Please explain why you think so:………
3 How often do you want to have English cultural issues taught ?
4 What do you think of the activities used in the course? Please tick the right column
Activities Your comments Your participation
( work in pairs, in groups, do tasks…)
5 What are your problems in learning culture in the course?
□ You are not provided with sufficient materials
□ You do not have chances for practicing your cultural knowledge
□ You find it difficult to understand cultural issues
6 Do you have any recommendations or requests on cultural teaching in English language learning?
Thank you so much for your cooperation!
Appendix 4 Cultural assessment test 1 Choose an answer/ or answers for the following questions
1 You’ve just been introduced to a British or American friend’s colleage What would you do?
B Say nothing and shake hands
C Say, “Nice to meet you”, and shake hands
2 English people avoid this in conversations with a new acquaintance:
D Where are you living now?
3 When an American gives a compliment, ‘Your dress is beautiful.’, you should say:
4 When an English suggests you have some more food or drink, you usually refuse this way:
5 When an English suggests you have some more food or drink, you usually accept this way:
C Yes, do it right now
6 When you want to ask for confirmation, you should avoid:
C Do you mean to say that….?
7 When you want to express disagreement, you should avoid saying:
C You could say that, but…
D That‟s more or less true, but…
8 Talking to a fat woman for the first time, you should:
A Ask, „How much do you weigh?‟
B Ask, „ Do you want to loose weight?
C Suggest, „I know a good recipe for fat ladies Would you like to try?‟
D Ask nothing about the woman‟s weight
9 When an English point up his/ her finger to you, it means:
10 You’ve been having digestive problems for a week, and have just started to feel better You met a British friend at a party.Your friend says, ‘How are you?’
A Start talking in detail about your problem
B Say, “Fine, thanks How are you?”
C Say, “Not bad, thanks How are you?”
11 You are visiting an American friend in her new apartment You like the apartment and you want your friend know, What would you do? a Say, “You apartment is nice How much is the rent?” b Say, „Gee, this place is really nice.” c Say, „I really like your apartment” d Say nothing, but show that you are interested in by walking around, looking at everything in the apartment, and picking up everything that is movable
12 You are 20 minutes late for class The teacher is explaining something to the class when you arrive What would you do? a Go in, walk up to the teacher and apologize b Wait outside the classroom until the class is over and then apologize to the teacher c Knock on the door and wait for the teacher to tell you it‟s OK to come in d Go in as quietly as you can and take a seat
No Questions True False Don’t know
1 In social situations, a man is traditionally introduced to a woman
2 The greeting topic of conversation for the Vietnamese is the family, the British the weather, and Americans the geographical association
3 It is quite normal to ask Amercians questions about their salary
4 Saying “Thank you” is a common way of reacting to a compliment
5 “Excuse me” is a way of attracting attention
6 “How are you?” is a request for information about a person‟s health
7 The British do shake hands when first introduced to new people, and they also do that when parting
8 In a formal situation you may see social kissing (often just a peck on the cheek) This is acceptable between men and woman and also between woman who know each other very well But it‟s strange that you will see two British men kissing even if it is only on the cheek
9 When shaking hands people may give you their name without a hello first Also if you wish to be on a first – name basis with someone you can indicate this by repeating your first name
10 If you are talking to someone, it is acceptable if they approach closer that about 2 feet
11 People ask, „What‟s wrong?‟ if they see by a person‟s expression that something is bothering him or her
12 If you have an appointment, you‟ll mutter an excuse if you are 5 minutes late, and apologized profusely if it‟s ten minutes An hour late is almost inexcusable
Examining cultural behavior Activity type: Culture assimilators Aim: To increase awareness of appropriate behavior in English-speaking cultures; to compare and contrast these behavior patterns with those in Vietnam
Materials: A task sheet for each student
Preparation: Design a task sheet Make enough copies to give to each student
In class: 1 Divide the class into groups of three or four
2 Distribute the task sheet and explain the task to the students They are to work together in groups, discussing the situations and deciding what they would do in each situation
3 The groups work together, discussing the situations, and answering the questions
4 After the students have completed the task sheet, a volunteer from each group summerizes the group‟s discussion and answers
5 Ask the students what they would do if they were in the same situations in Vietnam?
6 The students continue to work in groups, discussing their answers in small groups, conduct a whole-class discussion on the following questions:
- What did you learn about behavior in English-speaking countries from these activities?
- What did you learn about behaviour in Vietnam?
Work with a partner Imagine that the situations below take place in and English-speaking countries What would you do in each situation? In some cases, more than one answer is possible
1 Someone introduces you to a British friend What would you do? a Say, “Hello”, and bow b Say nothing and shake hands c Say, “Glad to see you”, and shkae hands d SAY, “Hi”
2 You meet your friend What would you do to greet him/ her? a Say, “Hello” b Ask, “Hey, where are you going?‟ c Ask, “Is it you, [your friend‟s name]?” d Say, “Good to see you again How are you?”
3 You are a person on the computer helpline How do you start a conversation on the telephone? a Say, “Hello” b Say, “Hello.IT helpline I‟m Barry How can I help you?” c Say, “Hello Who‟s that?” d Say, “Hello What do you want?”
4 You would like to have a meeting with a customer What would you say to arrange it? a Say, “I want us to have a meeting on Friday Is it ok for you?” b Say, “Let‟s have a meeting on Friday.” c Ask, “Can we meet on Friday?” d Ask, “Why don‟t we have a meeting on Friday?”
5 You‟ve been having health problems for a week, and have just started to feel better
You meet a British friend at a party Your friend says, “How are you?” What would you do? a Start talking in detail about your problem b Say, “Fine, thanks How are you?” c Say, “Not bad, thanks How are you?”