Generally culture can be divided into two categories. Firstly it is so called achievement culture, also referred to as ‘big C’ culture, and secondly it is behaviour, or ‘small c’ culture.
The former emphasizes the elements of the culture of the communities where the language studied is spoken, such as geography, history, literature, art, music and institutions. The latter became “culturally-induced beliefs and perceptions, especially as expressed through language, but also through cultural behaviours that affect acceptability in the host community” (Stempleski, Tomalin 1993: 6-7). In other words, behaviour culture deals with body language, clothes, food, humour, table manners, superstitions, proverbs and sayings, etc.
It seems impossible to say which culture, whether ‘big C’ or ‘small c‘, is more important for the learners of the language. It goes without saying that both are essential, and they ought to be treated equally. At the same time they have to be integrated into as many language lessons as possible.
Teaching culture
According to Stempleski and Tomalin, the following “seven goals of
cultural instruction” are suggested:
1.
To help students to develop an
understanding of the fact that all people exhibit culturally-conditioned
behaviours.
2.
To help students to develop an
understanding that social variables such as age, sex, social class, and place
of residence influence the ways in which people speak and behave.
3.
To help students to become more
aware of conventional behaviour in common situations in the target culture.
4.
To help students to increase their
awareness of the cultural connotations of words and phrases in the target
language.
5.
To help students to develop the
ability to evaluate and refine generalizations about the target culture, in
terms of supporting evidence.
6.
To help students to develop the
necessary skills to locate and organize information about the target culture.
7.
To stimulate students´
intellectual curiosity about the target culture, and to encourage empathy
towards its people.
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