Professional Documents
Culture Documents
4706 10087 1 SM
4706 10087 1 SM
Giyatmi
Universitas Veteran Bangun Nusantara
Indonesia
giyatmi85jimmy@gmail.com
Abstract
Learning a language is not only about learning its language aspects and four language skills but
also about its culture. A new language cannot be achieved entirely unless the students have
achieved the cultural context of that language. This articles discusses; relation of language and
culture, culture in foreign language teaching, language teaching methods view on culture, applying
culture in EFL/ESL classroom. Introducing culture is suggested to foreign language learners
focusing more on communicative ability with the target language. Language and culture are
closely related. Most of language teaching methods view that language and culture are inseparable.
Introducing culture has an important role in EFL/ESL. It can reduce misunderstanding, culture
shock, and stereotype. Cultural teaching must be integrated with four language skills in language
learning. Cultural materials that are good in language learning are authentic text such as literature,
newspapers, film, vlogging, table manner practice, proverbs, folklore and the native speakers
to ask someone’s will still be tolerable for the as Grammar Translation Method, Audio
English native speakers. lingual Method, Direct Method, etc. Those
On the other hand, the expression like methods introduce culture in different
“How old are you?” will be intolerable for an perspectives. Grammar Translation Method
English native speaker. There is nothing introduces culture through literature texts.
wrong in the term of grammar in that Audio Lingual Method and Direct Methods
expression, but such kind of question is introduces culture through the introduction of
considered to be impolite if it is addressed to countries where English is spoken, habits and
the English native speakers that you meet at the life style of the English native speakers.
the first time. Asking age is something we In Indonesia, English learning has
need to avoid when we meet them for the first already been enclosed cultural aspects
time. Age is something private for the through spoken and written texts. However, it
English native speakers. Malihah [2] pp. 44 still practices less and is given less attention
gives examples that questions dealing with in learning process. Marmanto [4] mentions
age, marital status, and salary are not that curriculum of 2004 or known as
forbidden in the context of English culture competency based curriculum which
unless those are asked in the job interview. emphasizes on Contextual Language
However, those questions are allowed in Teaching (CLT), has already discussed about
Javanese culture specially to maintain the culture, especially local culture. The
conversation. It happens due to the lack of presentation of the material is still in the level
cultural awareness on English. of understanding knowledge so the evaluation
Learning language is not about is still in the level of language aspects. Still on
understanding grammar well, having many [4] language learning will be better if it is on
vocabularies, having native speaker-like the stage of students’ activity. The students
pronunciation. The language learner is are invited to compare the culture of the target
supposed to use the language in the same way language (English) and their own language
the native speakers use it. It means that the (Indonesian). Hopefully, it will increase the
language used by the learner must be students’ awareness towards their own nation
authentic and acceptable in the society where culture which is of course different from that
the language is spoken. Indonesian learners of the language they are learning.
perhaps say “My finger is cut” to say “Jariku It is obviously known that understanding
terkiris”. There are no grammatical mistakes culture is quite important in learning a foreign
within the sentence but the expression is not language such as English. Besides, to
spoken by the English native speakers. They overcome misunderstanding in
prefer saying “I cut my finger”. This communication process, it can become a
expression is perhaps a bit confusing to the media to improve the students’ awareness of
learners but that the way it says. their own culture which is of course different
From the brief description it is clearly from the culture of target language, to
enough that the purpose of learning foreign overcome culture shock. Finally, the
language in this case is English, is not only difference which exists between two
mastering the language aspects and skills but languages can build the tolerance of students
also mastering the culture of the society where to other cultures. So that is why, introducing
the language is spoken. Language and culture culture in teaching foreign language such as
are inseparable so that’s why it should be English should be given attention.
underlined that culture is an important To support this article, the writer includes
element in language learning [3], pp. 522. the notion of language and culture, the
Culture actually has been introduced in relation of language and culture, culture in
learning English through some methods such language teaching methods, the role of culture
CULTURAL LEARNING IN TEACHING ENGLISH
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3rd English Language and Literature International Conference (ELLiC) Electronic ISSN: 2579-7263
Proceedings – (ELLiC Proceedings Vol. 3, 2019) CD-ROM ISSN: 2579-7549
culture at least can shorten the periods of Still from [7] pp. 4, the students should
culture shock happened to the language be exposed to the authentic materials from the
learners. If they do not have enough target language community. Authentic
understanding about foreign language materials are those taken from real sources
culture, they are probably get problems even and designed for communicative purposes
though they can use the language fluently. rather than for teaching and learning [12]
pp.37. Authentic materials are not designed
2.5 Bringing Culture in ESL/EFL for teaching language. Authentic materials are
Classroom for communication for native speakers and
Perhaps, first of all, we have to define what good to be used in EFL/ESL classroom
English as Second Language (ESL) and because of its original forms and design.
English as Foreign Language (EFL) are. ESL Authentic materials can be in the form of
is English taught to people whose main spoken or written ones. Written authentic
language is not English and they live in a materials are likes are newspapers, magazine,
country where English is an official or main websites, menus, bills, tickets or even labels.
language such as English in Singapore and The spoken materials can be TV programs,
India. On the other hand, EFL is English movies, announcement, radio talk, weather
taught to people whose main language is not forecast, commercial breaks.
English and they live in a country where Moreover, Gebhard in [12], pp. 39
English is not the official or main language mentions that authentic materials can be
such as English in Indonesia. English is the classified into authentic listening/viewing
main foreign language taught in Indonesia. materials (silent films, TV commercials, quiz
Cultural materials should be taught shows, cartoons, news, comedy shows,
integrated in the teaching and learning dramas, movies, soap operas, radio news,
process. Introducing culture can be done professional audio taped short stories/novels,
along with the teaching of four language skills radio ads, and documentaries), authentic
and four aspects of language. Syairi [11] pp. visual materials (slides, photographs,
174 declares that cultural base learning is a paintings, drawing by children, stick-figure
strategy to create learning atmosphere and drawings, wordless street signs, calendar
experience design that integrate the culture as pictures, pictures from travel, news, popular
a part of process of learning. The teachers magazines, postcard, stamps), authentic
should think carefully in choosing material printed materials (newspaper articles, movie
dealing with cultural activities given in the advertisements, astrology columns, sports
class. They should be managed and reports, advice columns, lyrics to songs,
incorporated into the second language lesson restaurant menus, street signs, travel
plans in order that it can give enrichment to magazines, cereal boxes, candy wrappers,
the teaching context content. tourist information brochures, university
The teachers must pay attention on the catalogs, telephone books, maps, greeting
cultural materials they want to give. Idrees cards, grocery coupon, bus schedules)
[7], pp.3 proposes some teacher’s role before Kuo and Lai [6], pp.7 suggest that the
introducing culture in their class. The teachers teachers needs to match the cultural material
should make survey on students’ need on with the learners’ age and competence. Idrees
what they want to learn about culture (food, [7] pp. 2 writes that cultural teaching aims at
literature, games, customs, patterns of social increasing the learners’ awareness on both
interaction, beliefs, values). The teachers their own and other’s culture. So it is
should refresh with the current cultural necessary also to provide material comparing
changes like politics, economic, sport, music, both cultures. Comparative and contrastive
movies. are meaningful in cultural learning [13],
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3rd English Language and Literature International Conference (ELLiC) Electronic ISSN: 2579-7263
Proceedings – (ELLiC Proceedings Vol. 3, 2019) CD-ROM ISSN: 2579-7549
pp.57. The using of appropriate materials with can be about culinary, daily activities,
cultural content, hopefully, can be helpful for tour travel, review or unboxing
the students to get involved in actual cultural products, make up tutorial, fashions,
experiences. education video, etc. There are many
There are some useful sources that can be vlogs made by English speaking
used in introducing culture in the classroom vloggers in You Tube that can be used
such as; as an authentic material source. On the
a. English newspapers and magazines other hand, Idrees [7] pp. 4 says film
Those includes as authentic materials. consists of observable behaviors of
They can provide facts of everyday society within the texts. There are now
life in society. Those material offer us many sources in the internet to find
with advertisement, politic affairs, films and videos such as
economy affairs, and local social www.youtube.com. But teachers
affairs. They can support the learners should be very wise and be careful to
to learn the target language in a natural choose the movie. They have to
way. We can benefit the offline or choose the appropriate movies for the
online newspaper and magazine. students’ age. Both video and film are
There are some examples of good to explore the students’ language
newspaper online websites such as; skills for instance listening
www.bbc.com/news, comprehension, speaking, writing,
www.express.co.uk, translation as well as interpreting.
www.thetimes.co.uk, c. Proverbs
www.abcnews.go.com, Proverbs are short, simple and famous
www.nytimes.com, sayings that usually consists of advice
www.m.huffpost.com. For the online based on practical experience. These
magazines we can klick on can be used as cultural materials in the
www.newsweek.com, class because they have close relation
www.cbssport.com, www.ew.com. with language and cultures.
The teachers can expose the articles Contrasting common proverbs in the
found in both English newspapers and target and learners’ native language
magazines to explore the students’ can help them to observe the
language skills such as reading difference and similarity of the
comprehension, writing, and speaking common proverbs and in addition this
as well as the students’ grammar concept can give insights of the target
mastery. culture [7], pp.4. There are actually
b. English Video and English Film many proverbs having the same
Video and film can be used to meaning around the world. For
introduce culture. Though most of the example, in Indonesia we have Ada
movie is only a fiction but the story in udang dibalik batu (There is a shrimp
the movie can describe about norms, behind the stone) but in English
habits, attitudes, behavior, and way of proverb we know There is a snake in
thinking of the society. Nowadays, the grass. Both proverbs have the same
vlogging is very popular around the meaning but they use different
world. Vlogging is an activity in symbols. The other examples of the
which people record their opinions, similar proverbs are Nasi sudah
thoughts and experiences than menjadi bubur (Crying over spilt
publishing it in the internet so that it is milk), Sekali merengkuh dayung dua
wide world seen. Vlogging materials tiga pulau terlampaui (Killing two
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3rd English Language and Literature International Conference (ELLiC) Electronic ISSN: 2579-7263
Proceedings – (ELLiC Proceedings Vol. 3, 2019) CD-ROM ISSN: 2579-7549
birds with one stone), Tong kosong Another interesting way to introduce
nyaring bunyinya (Actions speak culture is by having table manner
louder than words), Kehidupan course in a hotel or a restaurant. By
berjalan seperti roda, kadang di atas doing this, the students can learn the
kadang di bawah (Life is like a roller way how to eat and etiquette of eating
coaster, sometimes up sometimes in foreign culture. Besides, they may
down). The use of proverbs is good to also learn about the food, the eating
develop the students’ writing skill, utensils. After doing table manner, the
speaking skill, and critical thinking. students are hoped to be able to
d. Literature compare their own and the other
Literary works such as short stories, country’s table manner. It can help the
novels, dramas, poems, folklores are students to think critically. They may
full of cultural information. They tell also discuss about the different food
the behavior, values, norms implicitly and eating utensils they have with
and explicitly within the texts. The those of other countries. Table manner
teachers should be able to select the is able to explore the students’ skill on
literary works so that it can help the writing, speaking, and vocabulary
students to learn the target culture. The especially that of dealing with food
example of novel consisting cultural beverage, cooking and eating utensils.
elements is Little House in the Big f. Native Speakers
Wood. The cultural elements found in English native speakers are the best
the novel such as geographical way to study about culture because
situation, tradition (eating, clothing, they get involved in the real society
hunting, sugar snow, needle work), directly so that they know more about
folklore, religion, social value [14], the culture there. They can be the real
pp.119. Those cultural elements can culture source to introduce the
be used to teach English like language learners the culture of the
vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, target language. It would be very good
as well as its language skills [15], if the school can invite native
pp.50. The example of applying speakers’ volunteer to help the
literary work is the use of folklores. students deal with the target culture.
Like proverbs, folklore is universal. It Students can learn many things from
means there is a folklore having the them because they are the real doers.
same story around the world. In
Indonesia we know Bawang Merah, Conclusion
Bawang Putih, while in English we In the proses of communication with
find the story of Cinderella which is a foreign language, grammatical errors are still
bit similar. By contrasting the tolerable, in the other hands; cultural errors
folklore, the learners are hopefully are not. Understanding culture plays a
able to get insight into the target significant role in teaching and learning
culture and it can be used to explore foreign language such as English. It can help
the students’ critical thinking. The use the learners to avoid misunderstanding when
of literary work can be used to teach they use the language to communicate with
writing skill, and speaking skill. It can the native speakers in the real world. In
also be used to increase the students’ addition, it is useful to overcome the culture
vocabulary size. shock.
e. Table Manner The communication will run well if
there is no barrier between the participants
CULTURAL LEARNING IN TEACHING ENGLISH
Giyatmi
193
3rd English Language and Literature International Conference (ELLiC) Electronic ISSN: 2579-7263
Proceedings – (ELLiC Proceedings Vol. 3, 2019) CD-ROM ISSN: 2579-7549