Culture plays an important role in society by shaping people's thinking, behavior, and values. It provides a foundation of knowledge and traditions that are passed down through generations. A culture determines how people view important aspects of life like family, religion, career choices, and social relationships. It establishes norms and interpretations that unite communities and help societies function in an organized manner.
Culture plays an important role in society by shaping people's thinking, behavior, and values. It provides a foundation of knowledge and traditions that are passed down through generations. A culture determines how people view important aspects of life like family, religion, career choices, and social relationships. It establishes norms and interpretations that unite communities and help societies function in an organized manner.
Culture plays an important role in society by shaping people's thinking, behavior, and values. It provides a foundation of knowledge and traditions that are passed down through generations. A culture determines how people view important aspects of life like family, religion, career choices, and social relationships. It establishes norms and interpretations that unite communities and help societies function in an organized manner.
Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur وزارة التعليــم العالــي والبحــث العلمــي et de la Recherche Scientifique et de la Recherche cientifique بجايةde Bejaia Université جامعــة بجايــة Université de Bejaia Faculté des Lettres et des Faculté des Lettres et des Langues Langues كليـــــة اآلداب واللغـــــات Aboudaou Aboudaou أبـــوداو Département de Langue et Littérature Le Doyen Anglaise قســم اللغــة واألدب االنجليزى Level: Master Specialty: DLE + Linguistics Module: Langue and Culture Teacher: IMERZOUKENE
The Importance of Culture
Culture refers to a social basis that shapes any social context and situation. 1-The importance of culture in the society: Culture is so important to society because culture is constructed by society. People are shaped by their culture and through their culture. Society could not function without cultural norms that assist in governing behaviour and values. Our cultural values influence how we approach living that is: our cultural values serve as the founding principles of our life. They shape our thinking, behaviour and personality. * ➢ The roles of culture in society: Tél.Tél. : : 1.1.Culture isTél Tél : the: 034/22/15/42 treasury of 034/22/15/42 knowledge: culture provides knowledge, which is essential FaxFax : : FaxFax : 034: 034 /22/15/47 /22/15/47 for the physical and intellectual existence of a man. Man was born with a great capacity to learn, to understand things in his environment. Culture preserves knowledge and helps its transmission from generation to generation through language. That is, culture helps the preservation, accumulation, diffusion and transmission of knowledge. Eg. Oral tales, values, ways of marriage... 1.2.Culture defines situations: culture defines, conditions and determines what we eat and drink and wear; when we laugh, weep and sleep; what work we do; what God we worship; what knowledge we rely on; what poetry we recite.... It even explains the why of these situations. Eg. In the Kabyle society, we wear a special dress; we eat couscous as the main meal.... 1.3.Culture defines attitudes, values and goods: attitudes refer to the tendency to feel and work out in certain ways; values refer to the measure of goodness or desirability; goods refer to the attainments which our values define as worthy. That is, culture determines the
Faculté des Lettres et des Langues. Campus Aboudaou – Bejaia
Téléphone : 034 22 15 42 / Fax : 034 22 15 47 faculte-ll@univ-bejaia.dz http://www.univ-bejaia.dz/Fac_Lettres_Langues/ الجمهوريــــــــة الجزائريــــــة الديمقراطيـــــة الشعبيـــــة République Algérienne Démocratique et Populaire Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur وزارة التعليــم العالــي والبحــث العلمــي et de la Recherche Scientifique et de la Recherche cientifique بجايةde Bejaia Université جامعــة بجايــة Université de Bejaia Faculté des Lettres et des Faculté des Lettres et des Langues Langues كليـــــة اآلداب واللغـــــات Aboudaou Aboudaou أبـــوداو Département de Langue et Littérature Le Doyen Anglaise قســم اللغــة واألدب االنجليزى structure of our thinking, which influences our perceptions. It determines our attitudes, behaviours about how good/bad or easy/difficult we perceive things in our environment. It is the culture which conditions our attitudes towards various issues such as morality, religion, marriage, science, family planning, positions... Eg. In the kabyle society, the grandfather decides everything for the whole family; beliefs about health and medical care are a part of all cultures.... 1.4.Culture decides on our career: culture sets limitations our choice to select different careers. However, there are some people who oppose and try to modify these aspects of culture. Eg. In early kabyle society, becoming a nurse or a hairdresser was not allowed for women. 1.5.Culture provides behaviour patterns: culture directs and confines the behaviour of an individual. It rewards noble works and punishes ignoble ones. In early kabyle society, women are not allowed to buy meat. 1.6.Culture Tél. : shapes personality: culture prepares man for group life and provides him the Tél : 034/22/15/42 Tél. : Tél : 034/22/15/42 FaxFax : :design FaxFax : 034 : 034 of living. /22/15/47 /22/15/47 That is, to be accepted as part of a group. We tend to follow what the group decides for us. We are influenced by the norms and values carried out by the culture. Eg. 1.7.Culture provides traditional interpretations to certain situations: men tend to determine their behaviour according to certain situations and give interpretations that perpetuate through time. Eg. In many cultures, when a black cat crosses one’s way, it would be better to postpone the journey (a black cat is seen as a sign of bad luck). An awl is seen differently from one culture to another (as a symbol of wisdom, of idiocy..., in the kabyle society an awl is seen as a symbol of death)... 1.8.Culture keeps social relationships intact: culture ties people together. By regulating the behaviour of people and satisfying the primary drives/needs like hunger, sex..., it has been able to maintain group life. That is, culture lessons the chances that a man will behave in a wrong way. Eg. Village committee.
Faculté des Lettres et des Langues. Campus Aboudaou – Bejaia
Téléphone : 034 22 15 42 / Fax : 034 22 15 47 faculte-ll@univ-bejaia.dz http://www.univ-bejaia.dz/Fac_Lettres_Langues/ الجمهوريــــــــة الجزائريــــــة الديمقراطيـــــة الشعبيـــــة République Algérienne Démocratique et Populaire Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur وزارة التعليــم العالــي والبحــث العلمــي et de la Recherche Scientifique et de la Recherche cientifique بجايةde Bejaia Université جامعــة بجايــة Université de Bejaia Faculté des Lettres et des Faculté des Lettres et des Langues Langues كليـــــة اآلداب واللغـــــات Aboudaou Aboudaou أبـــوداو Département de Langue et Littérature Le Doyen Anglaise قســم اللغــة واألدب االنجليزى 1.9.Culture broadens the outlooks (ways of understanding and thinking) of the individual: culture provides a set of rules that help the individual to think not only about himself but also about others as he is a member of a larger group. That is, he thinks about family, state, nation.... Eg. Cooking croissant (Croissant rouge) which works to help and feed people in need. 1.10. Culture creates new needs: as culture changes, modifies and develops through time, needs also change and develop. Eg. Today, people need to use the new technologies in their work, studies, in their daily life. That is, everywhere and for everything but before they didn’t need them.
2-The importance of culture in the classroom: education:
School carries home and social expectations of students. Therefore, school is an important cultural means. Culture is a set of values, traditions, social and political relationships shared by a group and transmitted by: peopleTélfrom Tél. the same group. Therefore, we cannot learn any subject matter without : 034/22/15/42 Tél. : Tél : 034/22/15/42 Fax : Fax : Fax : 034 /22/15/47 Fax : 034 /22/15/47 including cultural facts. Examples: ➢ Module of “history” carries social, historical and political elements of the society. ➢ In the module of “economics”, the economic conditions of the society are introduced. ➢ In the module of “civic education”, cultural norms, values and ethics are involved. ➢ In other modules, such as “maths”, “physics”..., cultural facts and behaviours such as morals and ethics are also introduced. 3-The importance of culture in a language classroom: Language is the primary means by which any culture transmits its beliefs, values and norms. This means that people acquire/learn culture through language. The uses of language reflect the cultural values of the society in which the language is spoken. We cannot deal with any language without introducing the cultural facts vehicled by this language.
Faculté des Lettres et des Langues. Campus Aboudaou – Bejaia
Téléphone : 034 22 15 42 / Fax : 034 22 15 47 faculte-ll@univ-bejaia.dz http://www.univ-bejaia.dz/Fac_Lettres_Langues/ الجمهوريــــــــة الجزائريــــــة الديمقراطيـــــة الشعبيـــــة République Algérienne Démocratique et Populaire Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur وزارة التعليــم العالــي والبحــث العلمــي et de la Recherche Scientifique et de la Recherche cientifique بجايةde Bejaia Université جامعــة بجايــة Université de Bejaia Faculté des Lettres et des Faculté des Lettres et des Langues Langues كليـــــة اآلداب واللغـــــات Aboudaou Aboudaou أبـــوداو Département de Langue et Littérature Le Doyen Anglaise قســم اللغــة واألدب االنجليزى Eg. In the French classroom in secondary education, we learn, for example, how to invite, to request, to apologise, to behave in such situations. These are cultural facts related to the French culture and not to our own culture. We read texts in the French language written by French writes who rely on their culture while writing. That is, these texts convey cultural facts related to the French culture. Hence, consciously or unconsciously, readers of these texts understand some cultural facts. 4-The importance of culture in an EFL classroom: In early language teaching, culture was limited to the big “C” culture such as literature, civilisation and arts. However, with the rise of the communicative trend-which claims communication as the ultimate aim of foreign language learning-teaching of culture was developed and included the teaching of little “c” culture (the way of life, behaviour, beliefs...). Today, culture is integrated in every language aspect. Foreign language learners tend to transfer their own cultural values and norms into the foreign language they are learning and this leads to interference thus to a wrong use of the foreign language. Teaching Tél. the : cultural Tél : knowledge 034/22/15/42 will be of great help to the learners’ linguistic comprehension Tél. : Tél : 034/22/15/42 Fax : Fax : That is, Fax : 034 /22/15/47 Faxculture : 034 /22/15/47 and expression. helps to understand foreign language correctly and to express oneself in the foreign language appropriately. To master the foreign language, one needs to be aware and know to use the cultural aspects vehicled by this language. Learning a language without its culture is learning meaningless symbols since language takes meaning in a specific context. The integration of the target culture in the classroom refers to an intercultural teaching and learning. That is, when teaching and learning a foreign language, we also teach and learn the culture it vehicles and we refer to students’ own culture. The fusion of the two cultures-native and target-helps learners discover the similarities and the differences, helps to understand and accept the other culture without rejecting their own culture. This type of integration is called “intercultural teaching”.
Faculté des Lettres et des Langues. Campus Aboudaou – Bejaia