Nguyen Thj Hdng Minh Tap chf KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE 87(11) 119 124 SUPPLEMENTAL CULTURE BASED ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH CLASSES AT THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION Nguyen Thi Hong Minh College of Educati[.]
Trang 1S U P P L E M E N T A L C U L T U R E - B A S E D ACTIVITIES IN E N G L I S H CLASSES AT THAI N G U Y E N U N I V E R S I T Y OF E D U C A T I O N
Nguyen Thi Hong Minh
College of Education - TNU
ABSTRACT
Culture is a particularly important component of foreign language learning and teaching, which provides the learner with an understanding of the country, people and custom of the language that they are learning; thence, their love and motivation for the language learning can be improved and promoted However, due to a number of reasons, teaching culture cannot be directly taught for non-majors of English at Thai Nguyen University of Education (TUE) Wishing to bring the culture of English-speaking countries to the learner, the author has been applied supplemental culture-based activities in her English class as a way of building a bridge between the student and the English culture
Key words: culture, foreign language learning and teaching, supplemental culture-based activities,
non-majors of English
INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, researchers declare that foreign
language learning involves not only
grammatical competence, communicative
competence and language proficiency but also
a certain features and characteristics of the
culture There has been a shared belief in the
society of EFL teaching that cultural
competence, i.e., the knowledge of the
conventions, customs, beliefs, and systems of
meaning of another society, is indisputably an
integral part of foreign language learning
[10] This assumption seems to fit well with
Baehman's [1] model of language competence
-that language competence comprises not only
language knowledge but also pragmatic
competence, of which cultural knowledge is a
vital component
A question arises for Vietnamese teachers
who are in charge of non-English majors that
how culture can be taught to these learners
who usually do not have close contact with
native speakers of English and have little
opportunity to discover how the speakers
think, feel and interact with others in their
own peer group That how we can stimulate
their curiosity about the target culture when,
sometimes, they do not even have sufficient
time to learn formal properties of the language is also another problem concerning the teachers of in Vietnam
CULTURE TEACHING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING
The idea of teaching culture is nothing new to any English language teachers because while
we teach the language we automatically teach the culture [2] Additionally, the teaching of culture, as many authors suggest, should take place within the normal language classroom and begin on the very first day of class and should continue everyday thereafter
Why teaching culture
As it is previously mentioned, there is a close relationship between language and culture Thus, in order to communicate well, people must not only be fluent in the language spoken, but also aware of the hidden part of culture, such as communication style, beliefs, attitudes, values, perceptions As Bennete and Fantini state [7], it is obviously clear that 'the study of language cannot divorce from the study of culture, and viee versa The wherewithal to function in another cultural system requires both prowess in the language and knowledge of the culture.' Sharing the same viewpoint, Nguyen Quang assumes that
"Tel: 0983 114299
Trang 2Nguyen Thi Hdng Minh Tap ehf KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE 87(11): 119- 124
one cannot master a language without
understanding its cultural background [5]
In Vietnamese classroom context, especially
where learners of English hardly have
chances to communicate with native speakers
or to be exposed to the target culture, students
should be aware of cultural differences and
'assimilate many new categorizations and
codifications if they are to understand and
speak the language as its native speakers do"
[2] The author also points out several reasons
that language learners should perceive and get
familiar to culture components as follows:
• (to) develop the communicative skills;
• (to) understand the linguistic and behavioural
patterns both of the target and the native culture
at a more conscious level;
' (to) develop intercultural and international
understanding;
• (to) adopt a wider perspective in the perception
of the reality;
• (to) make teaching sessions more enjoyable
to develop an cr^vareness of potential mistakes
that might come up in comprehension,
interpretation, translation and communication
(Ibid, 156)
Also, Lessard-Clouston claims that although
the goals for FL culture teaching may not be
the same in different FL contexts, but they
'must reflect the general, specific and
dynamic aspects of culture' [4] He shows
that students will indeed need to develop the
knowledge of and about the target culture and
master some skills in cuhurally appropriate
communication and behaviour for the target
culture Cultural awareness allows the
students to develop an understanding of the
dynamic nature of the target culture as well as
their own culture
Hence, it is advisable that language teachers
should be interested in culture study not only
because they want to teach the culture of the
other study but also because they have to teach
it [11] If language is taught without
simultaneous culture teaching, students will expose to meaningless symbols or symbols to which students will attach the wrong meaning
In a nutshell, the goal of teaching culture is 'to increase students' awareness and to develop their interest towards the target culture and their own, helping to make comparisons among cultures' [9]
] Methods of teaching culture '
Culture teaching is closely related to language teaching, but how to teach culture in language classroom, to a large extent, is quite different from how to teach foreign language
Nevertheless, it is widely believed that the primary goal of foreign language teaching is
to develop students' basic skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing If we introduce culture teaching into L2/FL classes, we have
to adjust the relationship between them On the whole, it is advisable that cultural background teaching should be incorporated into language teaching by following the steps
of language teaching; and in the process of it, language teachers enlighten the students on the cultural connotation of language and appropriateness of communication [12]
THE SITUATION OF TEACHING CULTURE
AT TUE From the author's observation, it can be seen that almost of the language teachers at TUE talk explicitly about cultural elements rising from the language material; only raise some issues and organize class discussion in form
of pair work or group work and provide students with a more complete picture Some others ask students to play roles But a little percentage of the teachers at TUE assigns homework for students to do research at home and compares the target culture elements with the Vietnamese ones to find out the similarities and different between the two cultures
With the use of such methods of teaching culture, students are treated as knowledge
Trang 3receivers, listening and taking notes of the
information the teacher provides them This
derives from the traditional methods in
language teaching and learning at TUE and
other Vietnamese university classrooms as
well, where teachers are knowledge transmitters
and learners are passive and receptive Thus,
non-English majors at TUE have fewer
opportunities to discover the various cultural
issues themselves
OBJECTIVES OF SUPPLEMENTAL
CULTURE-BASED ACTIVITIES
Because the learners in this situation are
non-English majors, who evidentially do not have
culture study as a separate lesson, and in
order to incorporate culture into foreign
language classroom, it is advisable for
language teachers at TUE to employ
culture-based activities which attach to the current
course syllabus
The aim of culture-based activities is to
increase students' awareness and to develop
curiosity towards the target culture and their
own, helping them make comparisons among
cultures These comparisons do not mean to
underestimate any of the cultures being
analyzed, but to enrich students' experience
and to make them aware that although some
cultural elements are being globalized, there is
still diversity among cultures This diversity
should then be understood and respected
Culture-based activities are derived from the
language material being taught and learnt and
constitute a minor but important part of the
language lessons They are characterized by
co-operative learning tasks in which students
- Work together in pairs or small groups to
gather precise segments of infonnation;
- Share and discuss what they have discovered,
in order to form a more complete picture;
- Interpret the information within the context
of the target culture and in comparison with
their own cuhure
There is a teaching belief that when students have understood the language being used in a situation and then go on to gain an understanding of cuhure at work, this is for them one of the most absorbing and exciting parts of any language lesson Studying culture with culture based activities and co-operative learning approach may add a new dimension
of achievement and understanding of the students and teachers as well
TYPES OF ACTIVITIES APPLIED IN EFL CLASSROOMS
As the author clearly understands, the more aspects of the target culture are introduced to the students, the more cultural knowledge they can achieve and thus the better they become at dealing with communication within classroom as well as wider contexts Nevertheless, due to the main requirements of the general English course prescribed by administrators at TUE and time limitation, activities to teach culture should closely relate
to the topics introduced in the current textbook Finding the usefulness of the culture-based activities presented by Cullen [3], I have implemented several of them in my language classroom with some adoption, adjustment and some development Some of the activities, which 1 have already applied in my English class when teaching the textbook New Headway Elementary (Soars, 2000), are described in details in the following part
Quizzes
Quizzes have been proved to be one of the most popular and successful activity types for culture teaching in EFL classrooms Quizzes can be employed to test the materials that the teacher has previously taught; on the other hand they are a wonderful tool to introduce new information because they get students discuss, share their existing knowledge and predict to give the right answer
Trang 4Nguyen Thi Hdng Minh Tap ehf KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE 87(11): 119-124 There can be a diversity of how to carry out
quizzes in classroom; it can be in forms of
game show adopted from a favourite TV one,
or a competition between two teams In
addition, quizzes can be designed in true/false
format as well as multiple choices For example, the following true/false quiz is designed for teaching about special occasions
in English speaking countries
With a peer, decide the following statements true or false
1 People in England celebrate their Mother's Day on different date from those in America
2 On wedding day the bride often wears something old, something new, and something borrowed
3 Thanksgiving was first celebrated by the settlers in Australia to show their gratitude to the God
4 On New Year's Eve in London, many thousands of people gather in Time Square where they can hear Big Ben strike midnight
5 On Easter Day children often go 'trick or treat' from house to house to ask for chocolate Easter eggs
The following is another quiz in form of multiple choices which can be a supplementary activity while teaching about the superlatives
Choose the best answer for these questions
1 Which country has the largest population among those?
A.Japan B France
C Australia D Ethiopia
2 Where is there the highest waterfall in the world?
A South Africa B Venezuela C Norway
3 Who is the richest football player in the world?
A Rgnaldinho B Ronaldo, C Rooney
4 Where is the most crowded capital in Asia?
A Jakarta B Tokyo C Delhi
D Canada D Zimbabwe
D Ballack,
D Bangkok Research
I have found that students are more
responsible when they are given learning
tasks which require them a great amount of
preparation at home They seem to be more
motivated when their assignments are related
tg their interest and personal knowledge
Moreover, students are more excited when
they are given freedom to decide aspects of
their learning Thus, student research can be
one powerftil tool because students themselves
search necessary information from various
sources and then they present what they have
gained in front of the class and answer any questions raised by other classmates
In fact, I have applied this activity as an essential part of a short-term project to my non-English majors many times Students are asked to work in groups, finding out the required information, for instance, on famous inventions, on different kinds of food around the world, and on the most attractive sites in different countries Then they gather the information, compiling and analyzing the information and present the final product And as what I have assessed; the learners
Trang 5have performed quite perfectly Despite their
low level of English, they are eager to share
information and express their ideas to their
classmates They are also very creative when
doing this activity: they paint pictures, draw
graphs and maps, and bring beautifial photos
to illustrate their ideas
Students when involving in group work in
this activity have chances to cooperate with
each other to complete the learning task
More importantly, everyone can learn
something from others; either the language
skills or cultural knowledge For these
benefits, research is one of my favourite
activities supplemental to the current textbook
to teach about cultures
Proverbs
Short and easily memorable, proverbs in any
language contain folk wisdom gathered
through time and depict its people's
experience and culture which are expressed in
vivid words Thus, when incorporating
culture into foreign language classroom, one
should take these valuable folk properties into
serious consideration
It is really useful when contrasting common
proverbs in the target language and the
students' native language Students can
recognize the similarities and differences in
the language use and the cultural aspects
between the two countries In addition, even
when they cannot find out the equivalent
translation of the proverbs in their mother
language, this activity does create an
opportunity for them to learn new conceptions
in the target language and culture It is really
fun and exciting when students are asked to
translate the proverbs into their own words I
experienced an amusing moment when my
non-English major translated the proverb
'Like father, like son' as 'Thfch ca bo lan
con' (Loving the father and the son at the
same time) or 'Out of side, out of mind' as
'ThSng mil bi dien' (The blind man is crazy'
There are various of English proverbs that
have corresponding ones in Vietnamese so
that the language teacher can choose to introduce in her classroom when dealing with specific topic or matter in a specific lesson in the current textbook Some of them are listed here for those who are interested in this activity
• 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do'
• 'East or west, home is best'
• "Like father, like son'
• 'A good beginning makes a good ending'
• 'No pain, no gain'
• 'The grass is always greener on the other side' When proverbs were integrated as a culture element into my English class, we - the teacher as well as the students highly appreciated the lessons which were proved to
be so interesting and helpful in a way that culture was not something far-away but close
to our daily life
Comparing cultures
This is the culture-based activity including 'selling points' as called by Cullen [3] that portrays different aspects of the culture in order to create cultural texture covering the assortment of different features of cultures Alternatively, the language teachers need to 'sell' different views of the culture to the students by introducing deliberate contrasts within a cuhure, for example
The following 'selling points' have been often implemented to teach culture in EFL classroom at TUE:
• Attractive vs Shocking (Unit 7 -PRACTICE: When did it happen?)
• Similarities vs Differences (Unit 7-EVERYDAY ENGLISH; Special occasions)
• City life vs Country life (Unit 10 - CITY LIFE)
• Stated beliefs vs Actual behaviour (Unit 12 -READING: The tale of horribly good Bertha)
• Old people vs Young people (Unit 12 -FUTURE PLANS)
• Fact vs Behaviour (Unit 14 - READING; How to live to be 100)
Trang 6Nguyen Thi Hdng Minh Tap chf KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE 87(11): 119-124
Due to the students' low level of English,
these activities are not easy to be cartied out
in English classroom at TUE However, this
problem can be solved by dividing the class
into small groups where the better can help
the weaker and all of the students can
contribute to their group work
Conclusion
Because of the particular importance of
culture in language teaching, it is advisable
that culture should be introduced in the
language classroom However, due to the
strained context of teaching English for
non-majors at Thai Nguyen University of Education,
culture has not been able to be taught directly
but through supplemental culture-based
activities, which may not only develop
students' language repertoire on culture but
also help them move beyond the classroom
into the living culture of the native speakers
REFERENCES
[1] Bachman, L (1990) Fundamental Considerations
in Language Testing Oxford: Oxford UP
[2] Cakir, 1 (2006) 'Developing Cultural Awareness
in Foreign Language Teaching' Turkish Online
Journal of Distance Education 7(3) 154 - 161
[3] Cullen, B (2000) 'Practical Techniques for
Teaching Culture in the EFL classroom' The Internet
TESL Journal 6(12)
http;//iteslj.org/Teehniques/Cullen-CulUire.html Retrieved September 20th 2008
[4] Lessard-Clouston, M (1997) 'Towards an Understanding of Cuhure in L2/FL Education'
The Internet TESL Journal 3(5)
http://iteslj.org/ArticIes/Lessard-Clouston-Culture.html Retrieved September 20th 2008
Nguyen, Q (1997) Intercultural Communication
Hanoi: CFL- Vietnam National University
[5] Nguyen Q (2006) Lecture Notes - CCC for Uni EL Teachers Hanoi; Vietnam National University
[6] Seelye H (1993) Teaching Culture:
Strategies for Inter-cultural Communication
Third Edition Lincolnwood, IE: National Textbook Company
[7] Tang, R (1999) 'The Place of "Culture" in
Foreign Language Classrooms' The Internet TESL Journal 5(8)
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Tang-Culture.html Retrieved October 1 st 2008
[8] Tavares, R & Cavalcanti 1 (1996)
'Developing Cuhural Awareness in EF
Classroom' Forum 34
[9] Thanasoulas D (2001) 'The Importance of Teaching Culture in the Foreign Language
Classroom' Radical Pedagogy 3(7)
http://www.radicalpedagogy.icaap.org/content/iss ue3_3/7-thanasoulas.html
[10] Valdes, J (Ed.) (1986) Culture Bound:
Bridging the Cultural Gap in Language Teaching
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
[11] Yang, C (2005) 'Sttidy on Methodology of
Culture Teaching' Sino-US English Teaching 2(2)
http://www.linguist.org.cn/doc/su200502/su20050
201 doc Retrieved on October 10th 2008
TOM TAT
TICH HOP C A c HOAT DONG B 6 TRO D I T A TREN NEN TANG VAN HOA
TRONG GIANG DAY TIENG ANH KHONG CHUYEN
O TRU^ONG DAI HOC S\f PHAM - DAI HOC T H A I NGUYEN
F
Nguyin Thj Hong Minh'
Trucmg Dgi hoc Su phgm - DH Thdi Nguyen
Van hoa la mgt thanh phan quan trgng tat yeu trong day bgc ngoai ngir, giiip ngudi hge cd dugc
nhirng hieu biet ve dat nude, eon ngudi, phong tue eua thir tieng ma minh dang theo bgc, tir dd ma
them yeu va cd ddng lire cao han trong viec hge tap va sir dung ngdn ngir Tuy nhien, trong
chuang trinh dao tao tieng Anh khdng chuyen d trudng Dai bgc Su pham- Dai bgc Thai Nguyen, vi
nhieu li do ma van hoa khdng the dugc day mdt each true tiep trong cac gid hge Vdi mong mudn la
dem nen van hoa eiia cac qudc gia ndi tieng Anh den eho eac em sinh vien, tae gia da va dang ap
dung cac hoat dgng bd trg dua tren nen tang van hoa trong cac Idp bgc tiing Anh nhu la mdt giai
phap gdp phan truyen tai van hda den ngudi hoc mgt each tu nhien, sinh ddng va gin gui nhit
Tir khoa; vdn hod, dgy hoc ngogi ngU, dgy hoc vdn hod, hogt ddng bd trg dua tren nin tdng vdn «
hod, tieng Anh khdng chuyen i
'Tel: 0983 114299 Email: hminh8782(ii}gmail.com