Transcript Slayt 1

FOCUS ON TEACHING CULTURE IN THE CONTEXT OF
LANGUAGE EDUCATION: REFLECTIONS FROM TURKEY
By Dr.LtCmdr. Aykut ARSLAN
BILC SEMINAR
OCTOBER 2007, VIENNA
NAVY TRAINING CENTER
DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES / YALOVA
INTRODUCTION
-LANGUAGE SHAPES OUR CULTURE
-IT IS MORE THAN JUST A MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
-1940s: SHAPES OUR PERCEPTION OF REALITY: WE SEE THE REAL
WORLD ONLY IN THE CATEGORIES OF OUR LANGUAGE
-DEBATE ON CULTURE AND LANGUAGE RELATIONS IS STILL A HOT
TOPIC IN LANGUAGE TEACHING
-HOW, AND TO WHAT EXTENT THE CULTURE SHOULD BE TAUGHT IS
STILL UNRESOLVED
- NEW TREND; CULTURE AND LANGUAGE ARE INTRINSICALLY BOUND
AND HOW EFL/ESL PEDAGOGY CAN BE IMPROVED TO REFLECT THIS
NEW UNDERSTANDING CONTINUED TO BE DISCUSSED IN THE 1980S
AND 1990S
INTRODUCTION
THE LANGUAGE TEACHING HISTORY IS COMPRISED
OF FOUR PARADIGMS :
• The traditional approach to teaching culture (
Earlier times- literature texts)
• The “culture studies” approach (1970s - area
studies)
• The “culture as practices” approach (1980santhropology studies)
• Intercultural language teaching (from 1990s
onwards- cross-cultural encounters)
DEFINITION OF CULTURE
•HUNDREDS OF DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS
• THREE BASIC FEATURES OF PEOPLE’S EXPERIENCE:
• WHAT THEY DO (CULTURAL BEHAVIOR),
• WHAT THEY KNOW (CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE),
• WHAT THINGS THEY MAKE AND USE (CULTURAL ARTIFACTS)
• WHAT IS CULTURE?
“INTEGRATED PATTERN OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR THAT INCLUDES
THOUGHTS, COMMUNICATIONS, LANGUAGES, PRACTICES, BELIEFS,
VALUES, CUSTOMS, COURTESIES, RITUALS, MANNERS OF
INTERACTING AND ROLES, RELATIONSHIPS AND EXPECTED
BEHAVIORS OF A RACIAL, ETHNIC, RELIGIOUS OR SOCIAL GROUP; AND
THE ABILITY TO TRANSMIT THE ABOVE TO SUCCEEDING
GENERATIONS”.
• LANGUAGE IS NOT ONLY A TOOL TO DEFINE CULTURE BUT ALSO A
REFLECTION OF IT
LITERATURE REVIEW
TWO OPPOSITE VIEWS :
THE FIRST SCHOOL OF THOUGHT THAT FAVORS CULTURE
“CULTURE AND LANGUAGE ARE INTERLINKED AND INSEPARABLE”
(LINGUACULTURE)
TEACHING A LANGUAGE REQUIRES THREE INTERCULTURAL ASPECTS:
1. TEACHING OF A LINGUACULTURE
2. THE COMPARISON BETWEEN LEARNERS’ FIRST
LANGUAGE/CULTURE AND TARGET LANGUAGE/CULTURE
3. INTERCULTURAL EXPLORATION
MAINTAINED IN VARIOUS FORMS IN RESEARCH DISCIPLINES SUCH AS
LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY, TRANSLATION STUDIES, AND STUDIES OF
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
LITERATURE REVIEW
THE RATIONALE:
(1) Languages cannot be translated word-for-word…
(2) The tone of a speaker's voice (the intonation pattern) carries meaning…
(3) Each language-culture employs gestures and body movements which
convey meaning…
(4) …languages use different grammatical elements for describing all parts of
the physical world.
(5) All cultures have taboo topics…
LITERATURE REVIEW
THE RATIONALE (CONT.):
(6) In personal relationships, the terms for addressing people vary
considerably among languages (Dunnet et al. 1986: 148-149 cited in
Baker 2003).
(7) Language is culture-bound, and one is not far from a conception of a
closed universe of language, culture, history and mentality (Risager
2005, 185).
LITERATURE REVIEW
OTHER SCHOOL OF THOUGHT THAT IS AGAINST THE IDEA OF
TEACHING CULTURE IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION ESPOUSES
“CULTURAL IMPERIALISM”
“CULTURE AND LANGUAGE ARE SEEN AS SEPARATED
PHENOMENA”
ASSOCIATED WITH THE STUDY OF ENGLISH AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
LANGUAGES - AND ESPECIALLY ENGLISH - SHOULD BE SEEN AS
FLEXIBLE INSTRUMENTS OF COMMUNICATION THAT MAY IN
PRINCIPLE BE USED WITH ANY SUBJECT MATTER BY ANYBODY
ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
“SCHEMATIC KNOWLEDGE”; WHILE LEARNING A LANGUAGE A
PERSON CAN APPLY HIS/HER HOME LANGUAGE CULTURE MUCH
EASIER.
LITERATURE REVIEW
THE RATIONALE:
(1) There are problems in deciding what culture to teach, possibly creating cultural
stereotypes and ignoring the individual when teaching culture (Baker 2003: 19).
(2) Language is culturally neutral; language is seen as a code, and one is not far
from a reconstitution of the classical structuralist conception of the autonomy of
language (Risager 2005: 185).
(3) English can be taken as a means of expressing the speakers’ culture, not one for
imitating the culture of Great Britain, the U.S. or any other English speaking
country (Aliakbari 2002).
(4) ESL may have a hidden curriculum that inculcates Western cultural values as an
implicit part of language teaching (Auerbach and Burgess (1985), cited in
Stapleton 2000:293)
REFLECTIONS FROM TURKEY
LANGUAGE TEACHING NEGATIVE VIEW
* ENGLISH BECAME A HOTSPOT TOPIC IN TURKEY
• THE UNEASINESS IT LED TO AND THE DEGENERATION IT MAY BRING
ABOUT, MERELY CAUSED BY THE HIGH NUMBER OF ENGLISH-MEDIUM
SCHOOLS
• SUCH AN INTENSIVE PROCESS OF LANGUAGE TEACHING, WHICH IS
NATURALLY FULL OF FOREIGN CULTURAL ELEMENTS, WILL HAVE A
NEGATIVE IMPACT ON TURKISH LANGUAGE, AND CONSEQUENTLY ON
CULTURAL CONSCIOUSNESS
• “CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC IMPERIALISM,” MAY HARM CULTURAL
CONSCIOUSNESS SERIOUSLY AND MAY RESULT IN A TOTAL DEVASTATION
IN THE SOCIETY
REFLECTIONS FROM TURKEY
LANGUAGE TEACHING POSITIVE VIEW
• LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE DOES NOT HAVE NEGATIVE INFLUENCES
ON THE MOTHER TONGUE. THEY EVEN CLAIM THAT IT WILL FOSTER THE
AWARENESS OF THE FIRST LANGUAGE
• THE STUDIES CARRIED OUT IN THE 1940S ON BILINGUALISM AND RELATES
THEM TO THE TURKISH CONTEXT CLAIMING THAT A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
WILL NOT ONLY IMPROVE THE TURKISH LEARNERS’ COGNITIVE ABILITIES,
BUT ALSO ENHANCE THEIR L1 CAPABILITIES
•TURKISH WORKERS LIVING IN GERMANY AS AN EXAMPLE AND MAINTAINS
THAT A FOREIGN LANGUAGE ENRICHES SOCIAL INTERACTION AMONG
PEOPLE LIVING TOGETHER
REFLECTIONS FROM TURKEY
MORE NEGATIVE VIEW
• NATIONAL EDUCATION HAS TO BE CARRIED OUT IN THE MOTHER TONGUE
FOR THIS WOULD ALSO FOSTER THE DEVELOPMENT OF TURKISH AS THE
LANGUAGE OF SCIENCE AND EDUCATION IN TURKEY
• YES TO FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING; NO TO EDUCATION THROUGH A
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
•THE IMPORTANT QUESTION OF HOW CULTURE SHOULD BE ADDRESSED
WHILE TEACHING ENGLISH IN TURKEY REMAINS
REFLECTIONS FROM TURKEY
CULTURE MATTERS
• ENGLISH SHOULD NOT BE TAUGHT WITH REFERENCE TO ENGLISHSPEAKING COUNTRIES’ CULTURES
• ENGLISH SHOULD BE TAUGHT INDEPENDENTLY OF THIS CULTURAL
CONTENT REFERRING ONLY TO THE “INTERNATIONAL ATTITUDES” OF
INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH
•ENGLISH CAN BE TAUGHT WITHOUT CULTURE
TURKISH TEACHERS OF ENGLISH FIND THEMSELVES CAUGHT
BETWEEN THESE CONTRADICTORY ARGUMENTS