Sociolinguistics presented Paper
(My
Experience as An English Teacher in SMAN 4 Makassar)
Submitted to Prof. Dr. Amin Rasyid, M.A in
Part-fulfillment of the Requirement of Sociolinguistics Course
NURHAYATI
08501074
ENGLISH
EDUCATION CONCENTRATION
GRADUATE
PROGRAM
STATE
UNIVERSITY OF MAKASSAR
2009
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The global development towards the
21st century which is characterized by the advancement in science
and technology with all their impacts on every aspect of life has made us aware
of the importance of language as a tool for global communication. The
advancement in information technology has caused almost all existing phenomena
on the globe to become transparent and interrelated so that interactions among
nations have become stronger. The closeness of interaction among nations has
prompted the function of a foreign language to become very significant. As a
result, the teaching and learning of a foreign language has been placed in a
very important position.
English as an international language has been taught in almost all
countries in the world. In Indonesia, English is a foreign language which is a
compulsory subject to be taught in all schools from lower secondary to upper
secondary schools. Even in some elementary schools, English is offered as an
elective subject. However, we have seen that the proficiency in English of
secondary school graduates still creates disappointment among teachers
themselves as well as parents. The unsatisfying quality of English in Indonesia
of course is related to various different variables.
In line with the teaching and learning of a foreign language, in the last
two or three decades different nations in the world especially in the Asia
Pacific region have paid their attention to the teaching of Indonesian as a
foreign language since in political, social, and economic domains Indonesia has
played a very important role and this reality is in fact has placed Indonesian
as a foreign language as a significant subject although due to recent
development in the country especially from the security point of view the
teaching of Indonesian has a little bit been therefore curtailed. Geographical and
economic considerations have brought about a significant role of Indonesian in
the educational institutions. However the teaching of Indonesian as a foreign
language still faces so many hurdles, problems and challenges especially in
terms of the material and the teaching methods. Different efforts have been
made to respond to the problems arising to the surface such as different types
of training and workshops, and some forms of academic offerings. However,
efforts related to how students learn are still rare.
We all know that understanding a language involves not only knowledge of grammar,
phonology and lexis but also a certain features and characteristics of the culture.
To communicate internationally inevitably involves communicating interculturally
as well, which probably leads us to encounter factors of cultural differences.
Such kind of differences exist in every language such as the place of silence,
tone of voice, appropriate topic of conversation, and expressions as speech act
functions (e.g. apologies, suggestions, complains, refusals, etc.).
Bearing the points above it can be
stated that a language is a part of culture and a culture is a part of a
language. The two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate the
two without losing the significance of either language or culture (Brown 1994:164).
Furthermore, Smith (1985:2) adds that the presentation of an argument in a way
that sounds fluent and elegant in one culture may be regarded as clumsy and
circular by members of another culture. However, as the use of language in
general is related to social and cultural values, language is considered to be
a social and cultural phenomenon. Since every culture has its own cultural
norms for conversation and these norms differ from one culture to another, some
of the norms can be completely different and conflict with other cultures’
norms. Consequently, communication problems may arise among speakers who do not
know or share the norms of other culture. To solve the communication problems
in the target language in the EFL classrooms the learners need to learn the
target culture within the syllabus, and the teachers should be sensitive to the
learner’s fragility so as not to cause them to lose their motivation.
CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION
A.
What Is Culture?
In considering how cultures influence the teaching and learning process
in foreign language classrooms, it is useful to consider what culture is in the
first place, and where it comes from.
Culture is the system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and
artifacts that the members of society use to cope with their world and with one
another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through
learning. Culture (from the Latin cultura
stemming from colere, meaning “to
cultivate”) generally refers to pattern of human activity and the symbolic
structures that give such activities significance and importance. Cultures can
be “understood as systems of symbols and meanings that even their creators
contest, that lack fixed boundaries, that are constantly in flux, and that
interact and compete with one another “ different definitions of “culture”
reflect different theoretical bases for understanding, or criteria for
evaluating, human activity. Culture may mean different things to different
people. In the anthropological sense culture is defined as the way people live
(Chastain 1988:302). Trinovitch (1980:550) defines culture as “...an
all-inclusive system which incorporates the biological and technical behavior
of human beings with their verbal and non-verbal systems of expressive behavior
starting from birth, and this “all-inclusive system” is acquired as the native
culture. This process, which can be referred to as “socialization”, prepares
the individual for the linguistically and non-linguistically accepted patterns
of the society in which he lives.
According to Brown(1994:170) culture is 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 world view, self-identity, and systems of thinking, acting, feeling,
and communicating can be disrupted by a change from one culture to another. Similarly,
Tang (1999) propounds the view that culture is language and language is culture.
He suggests that to speak a language well, one has to be able to think in that
language, and thought is extremely powerful. Language is the soul of the country
and people who speak it. Language and culture are inextricably linked, and as
such we might think about moving away from questions about the inclusion or exclusion
of culture in foreign language curriculum, to issues of deliberate immersion
versus non-deliberate exposure to it.
In a word, culture is a way of life
(Brown, 1994163). It is the context within which we exist, think, feel and
relate others. It is the “glue” that binds a group of people together. It can
be defined as a blueprint that guides the behavior of people in community and
is incubated in family life. It governs our behavior in groups, makes us
sensitive to matters of status, and helps us to know what others expect of us and
what will happen if we do not live up to their expectations. Thus, culture
helps us to know how far we can go as individuals and what our responsibility
is to the group.
B.
Why Is Culture?
Sometimes, some teachers are hardly
aware of the necessity of cultural orientation. Communication is seen as the
application of grammatical rules in oral and written practice. In some case,
learning about the target culture is taken as a threat to the native values,
and the importance of linguistically relevant information is neglected. Since
having a close contact with the target culture and its speakers is a rare opportunity
for all language learners in our country, learners cannot appreciate the importance
of learning the cultural aspects of communication unless they visit a foreign
country and experience the difficulties. Non-verbal aspects of target culture are
sometimes picked up from TV serials, which are far from being helpful for communicative
purposes or which may sometimes impart faulty conceptions. It should not be
forgotten that if the learning of the cultural aspects were necessary for the
learner’s survival abroad, the problem could be minimized; but when the person
faces problems in the comprehension, interpretation, translation and production
of written and oral texts, either as a learner or as a professional, the problem
gets even more serious.
That is to say, an analytic look at
the native culture is as important as the learning of the target culture. On
the other hand, problems that arise from the lack of cross-cultural awareness
are not limited to the verbal side of communication. The paralinguistic aspects
and appropriate manners of behavior are equally important factors in the
communicatively competent learner’s performance. The fact that culture-bound
hand-signals, postures, mimics, and another ways of behavior can also cause
miscommunication is neglected.
C. What Is Cultural Awareness and How Do We Build
It?
Cultural Awareness is the foundation
of communication and it involves the ability of standing back from ourselves
and becoming aware of our cultural values, beliefs and perceptions (Stephanie Quappe and Giovanna Cantatore,
2007). Cultural awareness becomes central when we have to interact with people
from other cultures. People see, interpret and evaluate things in a different
ways. What is considered an appropriate
behavior in one culture is frequently inappropriate in another one.
Misunderstandings arise when I use my meanings to make sense of your reality.
As Buginese and Makassarese, it is
almost automatic to perceive Javanese as people who always work hard and ready
to do everything to get money and talk about business instead of enjoying food
and drink at home, cafe or at the restaurant. What does it mean? Buginese and
Makassarese are lazy and Javanese hyperactive? No, it means that the meaning
that people give to certain activities, like having lunch or spending time in a
cafe could be different according to certain cultures. In Buginese and
Makassarese, where relationships are highly valued, lunch or hang out together
or the simple pauses for coffee have a social connotation: people get together
to talk and relax, and to get to know each other better. For Javanese, where
time is money, lunches can be part of closing a deal where people discuss the
outcomes and sign a contract over coffee.
Misinterpretations occur primarily when we lack awareness of our own
behavioral rules and project them on others. In absence of better knowledge we
tend to assume, instead of finding out what a behavior means to the person
involved, e.g. a straight look into your face is regarded as disrespectful in
Japan.
Becoming aware of our cultural
dynamics is a difficult task because culture is not conscious to us. Since we
are born we have learned to see and do things at an unconscious level. Our
experiences, our values and our cultural background lead us to see and do
things in a certain way. Sometimes we have to step outside of our cultural
boundaries in order to realize the impact that our culture has on our behavior.
It is very helpful to gather feedback from foreign colleagues on our behavior
to get more clarity on our cultural traits.
Projected similarities could lead to
misinterpretation as well. When we assume that people are similar to us, we
might incur the risk that they are not. If we project similarities where there
are not, we might act inappropriately. It is safer to assume differences until
similarity is proven.
Degrees of Cultural Awareness
There are several levels of cultural
awareness that reflect how people grow to perceive cultural differences. They
are:
a.
My way is the only way.
At the first level, people are aware of their way of doing things, and their
way is the only way. At this stage, they ignore the impact of cultural
differences. (Parochial stage)
b. I
know their way, but my way is better. At the second level, people are aware of
other ways of doing things, but still consider their way as the best one. In
this stage, cultural differences are perceived as source of problems and people
tend to ignore them or reduce their significance. (Ethnocentric stage)
c.
My Way and Their Way. At this level people are aware of
their own way of doing things and others’ ways of doing things, and they chose
the best way according to the situation. At this stage people realize that
cultural differences can lead both to problems and benefits and are willing to
use cultural diversity to create new solutions and alternatives. (Synergistic
stage)
d. Our
Way. This fourth and final stage brings people from different cultural
background together for the creation of a culture of shared meanings. People
dialogue repeatedly with others, create new meanings, new rules to meet the
needs of a particular situation. (Participatory Third culture stage)
Increasing cultural awareness means
to see both the positive and negative aspects of cultural differences. Cultural
diversity could be a source of problems, in particular when the organization
needs people to think or act in a similar way. Diversity increases the level of
complexity and confusion and makes agreement difficult to reach. On the other
hand, cultural diversity becomes an advantage when the organization expands its
solutions and its sense of identity, and begins to take different approaches to
problem solving. Diversity in this case creates valuable new skills and
behaviors.
In becoming culturally aware, people
realize that:
Ø
We are not all the same
Ø
Similarities
and differences are both important
Ø
There are
multiple ways to reach the same goal and to live life
Ø
The best way
depends on the cultural contingency. Each situation is different and may
require a different solution.
How Do We Manage
Cultural Diversity?
We are generally aware that the
first step in managing diversity is recognize it and learning not to fear it. Since
everyone is the product of their own culture, we need to increase both
self-awareness and cross-cultural awareness. There is no book of instructions
to deal with cultural diversity, no recipe to follow. But certain attitudes
help to bridge cultures.
1.
Admit that you don’t know. Knowing that we don’t
know everything, that a situation does not make sense, that our assumptions may
be wrong is part of the process of becoming culturally aware. Assume
differences, not similarities.
2.
Suspend judgments. Collect as much information
as possible so you can describe the situation accurately before evaluating it.
3.
Empathy. In order to understand another person,
we need to try standing in his/her shoes. Through empathy we learn of how other
people would like to be treated by us.
4.
Systematically check your assumptions. Ask your
colleagues for feedback and constantly check your assumptions to make sure that
you clearly understand the situation.
5.
Become comfortable with ambiguity. The more
complicated and uncertain life is, the more we tend to seek control. Assume
that other people are as resourceful as we are and that their way will add to
what we know. “If we always do, what we’ve always done, we will always get what
we always got.”
6.
Celebrate diversity. As a company find ways of
sharing the cultures of your diverse workforce, i.e., in 2002 Deutsche Bank
carried out multiple initiatives around the theme of “tolerance: diversity,
identity, recognition” which they called “Initiative Plus 2002.” They
encouraged employee projects and organized an annual colloquium of global
expert.
D. Teaching
Culture through Language
In EFL classrooms, as we teach the
language, we would automatically teach culture. The forms of address,
greetings, formulas, and other utterances found in the dialogues or models our
students hear and the allusions to aspects of culture found in the reading
represent cultural knowledge. Gestures, body movements, and distances
maintained by speakers should foster cultural insights. Students’ intellectual
curiosity is aroused and satisfied when they learn that there exists another
mode of expression to talk about feelings, wants, needs and when they read the
literature of the foreign country. For depth of cultural understanding it is necessary
to see how such patterns function in relation to each other and to appreciate
their place within the cultural system. If language learners are to communicate
at a personal level with individuals from other cultural backgrounds, they will
need not only to understand the cultural influences at work in the behavior of
others, but also to recognize the profound influence patterns of their own
culture exert over their thoughts, their activities, and their forms of
linguistic expression.
The teaching of the target culture
has to serve the development of cross-cultural communication. The achievement
of this goal is possible with the preparation of an organized inventory that
would include both linguistic and extra linguistic aspects of the target
culture. This way the language could build bridges from one cognitive system to
another (Seelye, 1968). The culture of people refers to all aspects of shared
life in a community. A language is learned and used with a context, drawing from
the culture distinctive meanings and functions which must be assimilated by language
learners if they are to control the language as native speakers control it. If
language is described as a mode of human behaviour and culture as “patterned behaviour”,
it is evident that language is a vital constituent of culture. As mentioned
earlier, each culture has a unique pattern and the behaviour of an individual,
linguistic or otherwise, manifested through that is also unique. Foreign language
will mean, therefore, changing the learner’s behaviour and injecting a new way
of life and new values of life into his already settled behaviour pattern (Lado:
1963: 110). So, there is a close relationship between the language and culture.
This relationship of language and culture is widely recognized, communicative
behaviour and cultural systems are interrelated, as there is relation between
the form and content of a language and the beliefs, values, and needs present
in the culture of its speakers.
It is also known that the students,
who are in need of developing cultural awareness and cultural sensitiveness,
are normally those who are least disposed toward these goals. Teacher’s task is
to make students aware of cultural differences, not pass value judgments on
these differences. Students learning a foreign language have to assimilate many
new categorizations and codifications if they are to understand and speak the
language as its native speakers do. This does not mean that the native language
of the students could not have established such distinctions for them. All
languages which have been closely studied seem to possess the potentiality for
expressing all kinds of ideas and making all kinds of distinctions (Rivers,
1982). Learners should be exposed to these distinctions as much as possible in
the foreign language teaching classrooms. Therefore, the reasons for
familiarizing learners with the cultural components should be to;
Ø
develop the communicative skills,
Ø
understand the linguistic and behavioral
patterns both of the target and the native culture at a more conscious level,
Ø
develop intercultural and international
understanding,
Ø
adopt a wider perspective in the perception of
the reality,
Ø
make teaching sessions more enjoyable to develop
an awareness of the potential mistakes that might come up in comprehension,
interpretation, and translation and communication.
The fundamental
function of language is to communicate. A successful English teaching is to
help language learners cultivate a good communicative ability. But nowadays we
also can see that after many years of English study, students still find it
difficult to communicate with native English speakers. The reason is that they
lack the knowledge of western culture. Therefore, English teachers are facing
one problem: furnishing students with the knowledge of culture background and
improving their intercultural communicative competence in English teaching.
E. Some Key Considerations in Developing Cultural
Awareness in EFL Classrooms
As is mentioned, both learners and
teachers of a second language need to understand cultural differences, to
recognize openly that everyone in the world is not “just like me”, that people
are not all the same beneath the skin. There are real differences between
groups and cultures (Brown, 1994:167). Therefore, language teachers cannot
avoid conveying impressions of another culture whether they realize it or not (Rivers,
1981: 315). Language cannot be separated completely from the culture in which
it is deeply embedded. Any listening to the utterances of native speakers, any
reading of original texts, any examination of pictures of native speakers
engaged in natural activities will introduce cultural elements into the classroom.
While developing cultural awareness
in the EFL classroom it should be kept in mind that the native language is
learned along with the ways and attitudes of the social group, and these ways
and attitudes find expression through the social group. Learning to understand
a foreign culture should help students of another language to use words and
expressions more skillfully and authentically; to understand levels of language
and situationally appropriate; to act naturally with persons of the other
culture, while recognizing and accepting their different reactions, and to help
speakers of other tongues feel at home in the students’ own culture.
While most learners indeed find
positive benefits in cross-cultural living on learning experiences,
nevertheless a number of people experience certain psychological blocks and
other inhibiting effects of the second culture. Teachers can help students to
turn such an experience into one of increased cultural and self-awareness. It
is possible that learners can feel alienation in the process of learning a
foreign language, alienation from people in their home culture, the target
culture, and from themselves. In teaching foreign language we need to be
sensitive to the fragility of students by using techniques that promote
cultural understanding.
The use of role-play in EFL
classrooms can help students to overcome cultural “fatigue” and it promotes the
process of cross-cultural dialogues while at the same time it provides
opportunities for oral communication. Numerous other techniques–readings,
films, simulation, games, culture assimilators, culture capsules and culturgrams
can be used for language teacher to assist them in the process of acculturation
in the classroom (Chastain:1988).
In addition to these techniques,
teachers can play a therapeutic role in helping learners to move through stages
of acculturation. If learners are aided in this process by sensitive and
perceptive teachers, they can perhaps more smoothly pass through the second
stage and into the third stage of culture learning and thereby increase their
chances for succeeding in both second language learning and second culture
learning. While teaching culture through the language teaching Seelye
(cf.Rivers, 1982), suggests that students should be able to demonstrate that they
have acquired certain understandings, abilities, and attitudes:
Ø
That they understand that people act the way
they do because they are using options the society allows for satisfying basic
physical and psychological needs.
Ø
That they understand that social variables as
age, sex, social class, and place of residence affect the way people speak and
behave
Ø
That they can demonstrate how people
conventionally act in the most common mundane and crisis situations in the
target culture.
Ø
That they are aware that culturally conditioned
images are associated with even the most common target words and phrases;
Ø
That they are able to evaluate the relative
strength of a generality concerning the target culture in terms of the amount
of evidence substantiating the statement;
Ø
That they have developed the skills needed to
locate and organize material about the target culture from the library, mass
media, and personal observation;
Ø
That they possess intellectual curiosity about
the target culture and emphaty toward its people.
Another point that needs to be
addressed is that if we wish the learners to master another language, we need
to help the learners become communicatively competent in that language as much
as possible. Namely, successful speaking is not just to master of using
grammatically correct words and forms but also knowing when to use them and
under what circumstances. Communicative competence should incorporate
grammatical competence, discourse competence, and sociolinguistic competence.
In other words, if the goal of the
language course is to enable students to reach a level of communicative
competence, then all three components are necessary. The sociolinguistic
component of communication refers to rules of speaking which depend on social,
pragmatic, and cultural elements.
Thus, which linguistic realization we choose for making an apology or a
request in any language might depend on the social status of the speaker or
hearer, and on age, sex, or any other social factor. Besides, certain pragmatic
situational conditions might call for the performance of a certain speech act
in one culture but not in another.
The other issue that should be
focused is that before learning about culture, students must be receptive to
the concept of learning about cultures other than their own. To achieve culture
goals, often teacher has to play a role in breaking down cultural barriers
prior to initiating teaching-learning activities. One way to begin teaching
culture on a positive note is to emphasize similarities between people. Such a
beginning should be followed by a discussion of differences between members of
students’ family, between families, between schools and between cultures. Moreover,
the topics to be used to teach the target language should be presented in the contexts
accompanying the native ones.
That is to say, while teaching a
culture specific topic first language equivalent can also be given in order to
enhance learning. The use of culture-based activities abundantly in the
classroom help learners be familiar with the target culture. The activities in
the materials should involve the cultural values of the target language designed
for every level.
F. The approaches of cultural
awareness cultivation
Teaching English is
also teaching English culture. The importance of teaching culture has been
discussed a lot and widely recognized. Now how to cultivate cultural awareness
at school is also a problem which all English teachers confront. After consider
some keys in developing culture awareness in EFL classroom, now we can design
some activities that may helpful for the teacher in the teaching learning
process. A cultural series usually begins at the elementary stage with
discussions of the daily life of the peer group in the other language community
–their families, their living conditions, their school, their relations with
their friends, their leisure-time activities, the festivals they celebrate, the
ceremonies they go through, dating and marriage customs.
At intermediate and advanced levels
attention may be drawn to geographical factors and their influence on daily
living, major historical periods, how the society is organized, production,
transport, buying and selling, aspects of city and country life, the history of
art, music, dance and film and so on.
Some topics that
can be presented within the course syllabus are suggested below:
Ø
Climate
Ø
Clothing
Ø
Crime
Ø
Eating
Ø
Education
Ø
Family life
Ø
Geography
Ø
History
Ø
Holidays
Ø
Humor
Ø
Language
Ø
Leisure activities
Ø
Meeting people
Ø
Money
Ø
Pets
Ø
Population
Ø
Religion
Ø
Social occasions
Ø
Sports
Ø
Transportation
Ø
Vacation
Ø
Nonverbal Communication
In doing these activities, the aim is to increase students’ awareness and
to develop their curiosity towards the target culture and their own, helping
them to make comparisons among cultures. The comparisons are not meant to underestimate
any of the cultures being analyzed, but to enrich students’ experience and to
make them aware that although some culture elements are being globalized, there
is still diversity among cultures. This diversity should then be understood,
and never underestimated.
Language skill is the basis of communicating ability. The acquisition of
any language is closely related to communication. Thus infiltrating cultural
awareness to English teaching meets the needs of national standards in English
and has its practical value and communicational function. There are some
activities that can be developed by an English teacher in developing culture
awareness.
1.
Making use of textbook and infiltrating cultural
contents.
Textbooks are the first materials to know about English culture. Language
is one important compound of culture. In the textbook, culture is infiltrated
in every unit. Learning English includes learning relative customs, cultural
habits, and living style. In Book1 Unit 6 Table Manners At A Dinner Party of
senior high school, this text explains how to behave in table manners. It
include: place settings, table manners before dinner, while dinner, how to talk
before tables, how to drink several sections. This text completely introduces
culture in table manners. This text not only trains students’ reading ability,
but also fosters students’ cross-cultural awareness. Teachers may give some
tips and some relative background about table manners. For example: 1). Place
settings, 2). Other tips if invited to a dinner: gifts, clothing, napkin,
posture, grace, noises, leaving, follow-up, restaurants, some dos and don’ts.
This background may make students study other knowledge related to the test,
thus broadening their horizons.
2.
Paying attention to the social meaning of words
As the basic element of language, vocabulary is the backbone of the whole
language system. It certainly reflects the differences of culture most
obviously and extensively. From the produce, stretch, and changes of lexicon,
we can get some relative cultural developing messages. At the same time, in the
process of cultural development, the cultural awareness which is integrated by
people living condition, customs and habits, historical backgrounds,
physiological characteristics affects the lexical meanings. For example, in the
text, ‘English around the world’, from the beginning, it tells the differences
of the words between British English and American English. Then it presents a
dialogue to furthermore show how to use different ways to express the same
meaning between British English and American English. Meanwhile, the teaching reference
summarizes some words having the same meaning, but has different forms.
Example: The use of I’m sorry and Pardon me.
For English beginners, teachers can also create situational activities in
class. Teaching activities close to life makes teaching stretch in lives.
Classroom teaching close to life shortens the distance between classes and
teaching. Students’ abilities to apply language can be improved. In the real
and lively situation, students can be interested in English. They can
experience the culture teaching. It can also easily foster culture awareness of
students. For example, in the dialogue, in Teachers’ Days, students give the
presents to teachers. Teachers ask the students to perform. At first, students
can perform the same words in the dialogue, and then they can add other things,
such as giving thanks to the others or giving compliments.
3.
Introducing reading materials to students
Reading materials is easy to find in modern teaching conditions. Teachers
should collect some pure materials to students. These materials should be of colorful
knowledge, interest and authenticity. Teachers use these materials to organize
classroom activities, giving students an ideal condition to learn English. In
relaxed and happy conditions, they will learn culture. One of the very
interesting materials is using folktales.
4.
Paying attention to the English idioms and allusions
Many English allusions relating characters and events came from British
literary treasure trove, especially Shakespeare's works. With knowledge
increasing, many students will be familiar with the English idioms and
allusions. Students infiltrate cultural awareness consciously and
unconsciously.
5.
Paying attention to coupling phenomenon and differences
between Indonesia and English
A major challenge of infiltrating cultural awareness to English teaching
is that through exposure to the foreign civilization, students inescapably draw
some comparisons between the home and target culture. At any rate, the aim of
teaching culture is to increase cultural awareness of students and to develop
their curiosity towards the target culture and their own.
6.
Use modern technological media
With modern technology developing, many new technological media are
widely used in the teaching. Teachers use multimedia, English films,
television, slides, and videos to make students get direct feelings. Students
gradually enhance the understanding of English culture. Take films for an
example. Applied films in the foreign language teaching is so interesting
because Film, with its ability to pack a two-hour period with plot,
emotion, drama, events, images, and ideas, draws attention uniquely to ethical
boundaries, conceptual frameworks, national memory and identity and,
significantly, to the use of language and idioms. It offers profound access to
the cultural forces and attitudes that shape the civilization.
7.
Using other methods
To study and master English, only using limited classroom teaching is not
enough. Teachers may also ask students to collect some relative materials about
foreign culture. Such as pictorials, magazines, and pictures. Students have to
make full use of extracurricular time to enlarge their language and cultural
knowledge. So teachers correctly guide students to pay attention to the
relative accumulation. Teachers try their best to create conditions to make
students get relative messages continue to strengthen the understanding and
mastering of English language and cultural knowledge. Teachers should
improve their communicative competence so that teachers may stress teaching of
cultural factors. Cultural factors exist in the simplest communicative
activities. Cultural teaching also exists in the basic daily teaching.
The following are some approaches I
have ever adopted in my teaching in Senior High School (SMAN 4 Makassar) and
English Course (Briton).
Ø Role play
This is the most
interesting activity that I always do in my class both in school and in the
course. In Senior High school English teaching material there are many dialogues
in each unit and many talking topics involved like introduction, expression of
invitation, giving instruction etc. I often require students act out a dialogue
by role play. By this means, the full uses of these topics can be made to
cultivate students’ cultural awareness.
For example, in order
to present students with the general practice of eating out in a restaurant in
western, I provide students with English introduction about how to find a table
reserved, how to order and so on, then let the students act out. In Senior
English book, the topic is introduction and the use of body language. It tells
us different body language in different countries. For example, when greeting
to others, an Indonesian will give you a hand-shaking, while Americans would
like to hug each other. To let the students understand the cultural differences
better, after finishing reading the text, I ask some students to act out the
body language in different situations.
The role-play not only
shows how well the students understand them, but also gives them a vivid
impression; it not only helps the students understand cultural differences,
experience foreign culture, but also provides opportunities for oral
communication.
Ø
Comparisons
and contrast
When we carry on the
language teaching, cultural should be put into it. Teachers may summarize some
vocabularies and idioms which have cultural connotation; and use direct
explanation method and comparative method to show students the differences
between Indonesian and English.
For example, when
students want to say “dog”, in Indonesia, it is usually used in a derogatory
sense such as you are so impolite but in English, it has commendatory sense.
e.g. “lucky dog” means “lucky person”, “a Jolly dog” means “a happy man”. It is
the same when I greet my students in the class. When I teach at school, it’s OK
to greet my students with Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh instead
of saying good morning because almost all of them are Moslem but if I teach in
the course, where Moslem is minority of course I never greet them like that. I
just say: Good morning/afternoon class!
Ø Audio-visual Approach.
The audio-visual
approach means to guide students to experience the cultural content of
English-speaking countries by the use of various audio-visual aids, such as
pictures, tapes, videos, computers, newspapers, magazines and so on. I have one
or if possible I make two movie class in one semester and I found this activity
is very fun.
Ø
Using
Folktales
Most of the reading material in the first grade of senior high school are
folktales. Folktales are rich oral histories grounded in cultural tradition and
life experiences. Folktales from one country may have the same story with ones
from another country. Using folktales in language classrooms is enjoyable and
meaningful, beside; the language used is so simple. They represent human
experience, values, and history; thus it can provide both entertainment and
opportunities for further discussion. These advantages show that the use of
folktales can encourage learners to participate actively in the learning
process, develop their critical thinking, and act as a bridge for arousing
cultural awareness among the language learners. This is one of the activities I
have ever used in my class.
Teaching Points : Adjectives and
adverbs (Language skill)
Summarizing (Reading skill)
Group discussion (Speaking skill)
EF Material : Bawang Merah
Bawang Putih
Teaching method : Deductive method
Activities:
- T asks Ss to read the story of Bawang Merah Bawang Putih.
- T explains how to summarize.
- Ss write the summary of Bawang Merah Bawang Putih.
- T explains the theory of adjectives and adverbs.
- Ss identify the adjectives and adverbs used in the story.
- Ss make some sentences by using the adjectives and adverbs they have learnt.
- T asks Ss to discuss the following questions in groups of three:
- What would you do if you were Bawang Putih? Justify your answer.
- What are the values you can learn from the story?
- Are there similar stories in other countries? Can you identify the similarities and differences between Bawang Merah Bawang Putih and that story?
The use of folktales in language classrooms can be an effective medium to
teach language skills, study skills and cultural values. Therefore, it is
highly suggested that language teachers exploit folktales as a valuable
resource of authentic material to teach language and culture at once.
Ø Cultural awareness cultivation
outside class
Senior high school
students show interests in many things outside class. For example, reading,
listening to the music, seeing films and so on. Therefore we should make full
use of them so as to arouse students’ study interest, and help increase
students cultural awareness.
On the whole, the
relationship between language and culture determines the importance of culture
teaching. It is required to foster students’ cultural awareness and improve
their cultural understanding competence. Filtering cultural teaching into English teaching can bring about
new spirit to the English teaching, and it can also promote the quality
education.
CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION
Language is an integral part of culture and plays an important role in
it. Language cannot be separated from culture. On one hand, without language,
culture would be impossible. Culture depends on language. On the other hand,
language is culturally determined. In the broadest sense, language is the
symbolic representation of a people, and it comprises their historical and
cultural backgrounds as well as their approach to life and their ways of living
and thinking. English teaching is language teaching. Of course, it cannot be
separated from culture education. If language is separated from its cultural
background language can’t exist. Learning
a foreign language well does not simply mean mastering its pronunciation,
grammar and vocabulary. In fact, the learning of a language is inseparable from
the learning of its culture.
In developing cultural awareness in the classroom it is important that we
help our students distinguish between the cultural norms, beliefs, or habits of
the majority within the speech community and the individual or group deviations
from some of these norms. Students should be enabled to discuss their native culture
with their foreign-speaking friends at the same time that they are provided
with a real experiential content.
They can make use of their knowledge
of the foreign language. There should also be presented, discussed, or merely
alluded to in two parallel streams. It should also be kept in mind that
language teaching, as mentioned above, is a long process in which performance
is not absolute and therefore we cannot expect all learners ever to acquire
perfect native like behavior. What we are after is the development of an
awareness of sociocultural and sociolinguistic differences that might exist
between the students’ first language and the target language. Such awareness
often helps explain to both teachers and students why sometimes there is
unintended pragmatic failure and breakdown in communication. If we are aware of
it, it might be easier to find the appropriate remedy.
In this respect Smith (1985:6)
advocates that studying English does not change one’s identity. Student’s
ethnic, religious, and political backgrounds should remain the same. Students
will certainly want to use English well and be acknowledged as doing so, but
this does not require them to attempt a change in their identity. There is no
need to become more American or British in order to use English well. One’s
morals or dedication to family traditions need not change at all. As an English
teacher, we should try to broaden our students' view so
that they can accept and be tolerant towards the different culture in different
countries. And they should develop a right attitude towards the cultures. Both
total acceptance and total rejection are not correct. The more we know of other cultures, the greater
the possibility is of a successful communication!
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