DEMOCRATIC AND POPULAR REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

MENTOURI UNIVERSITY - CONSTANTINE FACULTY OF LETTERS AND LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES

THE PLACE OF CULTURE IN THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH IN THE ALGERIAN MIDDLE AND SECONDARY SCHOOL

Thesis submitted to the Department of Languages in candidacy for the degree of Doctorat s Sciences in Applied Linguistics

By: MERROUCHE Sarah Board of Examiners: Chairman: Pr. SAADI Hacene Supervisor: Pr. ABDERRAHIM Farida

Supervisor: Pr. ABDERRAHIM Farida

Prof. Prof. Prof. Prof. MC.

University of Constantine University of Constantine University of Algiers University of Constantine University of Annaba

Member: Member: Member:

Pr. BENSEMANE Faiza Pr. HAROUNI Zahri Dr. HOUCINE Nacera

2006

DEDICATION
In the Name of God, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

This work is dedicated: to my husband and my parents; to all my family, particularly to my nephew Abdennour; to all my friends.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I should like to express sincere thanks to Professor ABDERRAHIM Farida, whose unfailing encouragement and understanding and wise guidance in my work have been invaluable. I owe a dept of gratitude to all the teachers, students and pupils, without whose generous cooperation this research would not have been possible. My special gratitude also goes to Mr SERARMA Abdel Wahid, who has been a source of help and support at every stage of the development of this thesis.

II

ABSTRACT

This thesis is concerned with the incorporation of the teaching of culture into the foreign language classroom. More specifically, consideration is given to the way the English language cultural component is treated in the Algerian textbooks of English used at the Intermediate and Secondary Levels. Additionally, an attempt is made to investigate the teachers' understanding of culture and culture teaching, the way they actually handle it in class, and their views about its place in the coursebooks they use. The learners' perceptions of English learning and their attitudes towards English-speaking cultures are also examined. Another aspect of this study is to design and test the effectiveness of a culture training programme intended for prospective teachers of English. The work is led through a qualitative analysis which uses an evaluative guide, two teachers' questionnaires, a pupils' questionnaire and an experiment. The evaluative guide has as focus the treatment of the cultural content in language textbooks. The first teachers questionnaire is concerned with the approach, methods and techniques of culture teaching; the second has to do with the place of culture in the Middle / Secondary School textbooks. The pupils questionnaire sheds light on their viewpoints about and attitudes towards learning the English language and culture. The experiment investigates the question of pre-service teacher training and the role it can play to promote the integration of the cultural aspect in language lessons. The results obtained reveal that the target language cultural aspect is either overlooked or inadequately considered in the coursebooks, that at least half the teachers do not include it in their language lessons, notwithstanding their awareness of its relevance, and that most of the learners give more importance to learning the linguistic components, though they do not on the whole display negative attitudes towards English-speaking cultures. The experimental programme about culture has proved to be successful with about half the participants. On the basis of these findings, recommendations are suggested to syllabus designers, textbook writers and teachers to remedy the deficiencies and reform the teaching of culture in the Algerian School.

III

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

- Adj: adjective. - AF: Annee Fondamentale. - AM: Annee Moyenne. - AS: Annee Secondaire. - CC: Culture as Content. - CM: Culture as Medium. - CLT: Communicative Language Teaching. - EAP: English for Academic Purposes. - EFL: English as a Foreign Language. - EFL 2: English as a Second Foreign Language. - ENS: Ecole Normale Superieure. - EOP: English for Occupational Purposes. - ESL: English as a Second Language. - ESP: English for Special Purposes. - EST: English for Science and Technology. - FC: Foreign Culture. - FL: Foreign Language. - HC: High Context. - IPN: Institut Pedagogique National. - LC: Low Context. - MS: Make up Session .- N: Number of Teachers of English. - n: Number of Teachers' Selections. IV

- N': Number of Pupils. - n': Number of Pupils' Selections. - N*: Number of Students. - n*: Number of lesson plans. - NC: Native Culture. - NL: Native Language. - NS: Normal Session. - ONPS: Office National des Publications Scolaires. - PP: Past Participle. - Q: Question. - SLA: Second Language Acquisition. - SOV: Subject Object Verb. - SVO: Subject Verb Object. - TC: Target Culture. - TEFL: Teaching English as a Foreign Language. - TL: Target Language. - UNESCO: United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. - USA: United States of America. - VSO: Verb Subject Object.

LIST OF TABLES

-Table 1: Types of Textbook -Table 2: Files' Headings in 'Spotlight on English, Book One' -Table 3: Files' Headings in 'Spotlight on English Book Two' -Table 4: Units' Headings in 'Sprig Book Two' -Table 5: Units' Headings in 'My New Book of English' -Table 6: Units' Headings in 'The New Midlines' -Table 7: Units' Headings in 'Comet' -Table 8: Middle School Teachers of English in Oum el Bouaghi District -Table 9: Secondary School Teachers of English in Oum el Bouaghi District -Table 10: Middle School Teachers' Status -Table 11: Including the FC in FL Teaching (Intermediate Level)

239 250 265 280 292 299 310 320 322 325 326

-Table12: Justifying the Inclusion of the FC in FL Teaching (Intermediate Level) 327 -Table 13: Middle School Teachers' Definition of Culture -Table14: Middle School Teachers' Definition of Culture Teaching -Table15: Middle School Teachers' Treatment of Culture -Table16: Considering Language Components on Equal Footing -Table17: The Way Culture Should be Taught (Intermediate Level -Table18: FC Learning as a Threat to (the Middle School) Pupils' Identity -Table19: Middle School Teachers' Ordering of Educational Aims -Table 20: Middle School Teachers' Specification of the Cultures to be Included -Table 21: Middle School Teachers' Specification of the Language -Table 22: Middle School Teachers' Conception of When to introduce Culture 328 328 330 330 331 332 334 335 336 337

VI

-Table 23: Middle School Teachers' Criteria for the Selection of Teaching Materials -Table 24: Middle School Teachers' Selection of Cultural Themes/Topics -Table 25: Middle School Teachers' Time Allocation for Culture -Table 26: Devising Activities to Teach about Culture at the Intermediate Level -Table 27: Designing Activities to Relate the FC to the NC -Table 28: Reflecting upon Culture(s) in the Middle School Language Class -Table 29: Middle School Teachers' Use of Media -Table 30: Aids Available In Middle Schools -Table 31: Techniques to Teach about Culture (Intermediate Level) -Table 32: Teaching Culture as a Duty of the Language Teacher -Table 33: Middle School Teachers' Conception of their Role -Table 34: Attitudes towards the TL and TC (Intermediate Level) 338 339 340 341 342 343 343 343 344 346 346 347

-Table 35: Middle School Teachers' Approach to Encourage Positive Attitudes towards the TL and TC -Table 36: Middle School Teachers' Cultural Knowledge -Table 37: Middle School Teachers' Initial Training -Table 38: Middle School Teachers' Needs -Table 39: Secondary School Teachers' Status -Table 40: Including the FC in FL Teaching (Secondary Level) -Table 41: Justifying the Inclusion of the FC in FL Teaching (Secondary Level) -Table 42: Secondary School Teachers' Definition of Culture -Table 43: Secondary School Teachers' Definition of Culture Teaching -Table 44: Secondary School Teachers' Treatment of Culture -Table 45: Considering Language components on Equal Footing 347 348 348 349 352 353 353 354 355 356

VII

(Secondary Level) -Table 46: The Way Culture Should Be Taught (Secondary Level) -Table 47: FC Learning as a Threat to (Secondary School) Pupils' Identity -Table 48: Secondary School Teachers' Ordering of Educational Aims -Table 49: Secondary School Teachers' Specification of the Culture (s) to be Included

357 357 358 360

361

-Table 50: Secondary School Teachers' Specification of the Language to Teach about Culture -Table 51: Secondary School Teachers' Conception of When to Introduce Culture 363 362

-Table 52: Secondary School Teachers' Criteria for the Selection of Teaching Materials -Table 53: Secondary School Teachers' Selection of Cultural Themes -Table 54: Secondary School Teachers' Time Allocation for Culture -Table 55: Devising Activities to Teach about Culture at the Secondary Level -Table 56: Designing Activities to Relate the FC to the NC at the Secondary Level -Table 57: Reflecting upon Cultures in the Secondary School Language Class -Table 58: Secondary School Teachers' Use of Media -Table 59: Aids Available in Secondary Schools -Table 60: Techniques to Teach about Culture (Secondary Level) -Table 61: Teaching Culture as a Duty of the Language Teacher (Secondary Level) -Table 62: Secondary School Teachers' Conception of their Role -Table 63: Attitudes towards the TL and TC (Secondary Level) 371 372 373 368 368 369 369 370 364 365 366 367

VIII

-Table 64: Secondary School Teachers' Approach to Encourage Positive Attitudes towards the TL and TC -Table 65: Secondary School Teachers' Cultural Knowledge -Table 66: Secondary School Teachers' Initial Training -Table 67:Secondary School Teachers' Needs in the Middle School Textbooks -Table 68: The English Language Cultural Component. 373 374 374 375 380

-Table 69: The Teachers' Viewpoint about the Cultural Component in the Middle School Textbooks. -Table 70: The Nature of the Middle School Textbooks' Cultural Content. -Table 71: Culture Learning /Teaching as Implied in the Middle School Textbooks. -Table 72: The Weight of the Cultural Component in the Middle School Textbooks. -Table 73: Components Given Priority in the Middle School Textbooks -Table 74: The Way Culture is Integrated in the Middle School Textbooks 385 385 387 384 381 382

-Table 75: Culture as Supplementary Optional Material in the Middle School textbooks -Table 76: The Middle School Textbooks' Approach to Culture 388 388

-Table 77: Promoting Positive Attitudes towards the TL and TC in the Middle School Textbooks 389

-Table 78:Characteristics of the Cultural Content of the Middle School Textbooks 391 -Table 79: Suitability of the Middle School Textbooks' Cultural Content to the Learners and the Syllabus -Table 80: The Culture(s) Included in the Middle School Textbooks -Table 81: The pupils' NC in the Middle School Textbooks 392 393 394

IX

-Table 82: Cultural Comparisons in the Middle School Textbooks

394

-Table 83: Mutual Representations of Native and Foreign Societies in the Middle School Textbooks -Table 84: Reference to Stereotypes in the Middle School Textbooks -Table 85: Texts' Types in the Middle School Textbooks 395 395 396

-Table 86: The Historical Dimension of the Middle School Textbooks' Cultural Content -Table 87: Explanations of Culture Specific Items in the Middle School Textbooks -Table 88: Value Judgements in the Middle School Textbooks -Table 89: Sub-Cultural Groups in the Middle School Textbooks -Table 90: The Characters of the Middle School Textbooks -Table 91: The FC Negative Aspects in the Middle School Textbooks 398 399 399 400 401 398

-Table 92: Availability of Different Perspectives on the FC in the Middle School Textbooks 401

-Table 93: Encouraging the Consultation of Other Materials in the Middle School Textbooks -Table 94: The Structure of the Middle School Textbooks. -Table 95: The Grading of the Middle School Textbooks' Cultural Content. -Table 96: Reviewing Cultural Elements in the Middle School Textbooks. -Table 97: Cultural Activities in the Middle School Textbooks. -Table 98: Categorization of Cultural Activities in the Middle School Textbooks. 402 403 404 404 406 407

-Table 99: The Incorporation of Special Culture-Teaching Techniques in the Middle School Textbooks. -Table 100: What the Middle School Textbooks Expect the Pupils to Do. 408 409

-Table 101: Intercultural Situations in the Middle School Textbooks. -Table 102: Artwork in the Middle School Textbooks.

410 410

-Table 103: The Cultural Significance of Artwork in the Middle School Textbook. 411 -Table 104: Analysing the Artwork Contained in the Middle School Textbooks. 411

-Table 105: The Teachers' Familiarity with the Cultural Content of the Middle School Textbooks. 412

-Table 106: The Teachers' Difficulty to Handle the Cultural Content of the Middle School Textbooks. -Table 107: Inappropriate Cultural Contents in the Middle School Textbooks. -Table108: Handling Inappropriate Cultural Contents in the Middle School Textbooks. -Table 109: The Middle School Textbooks' Fitness for Each Other. 415 416 413 413

-Table110: The Teachers' Reliance on the Middle School Textbooks to Teach about Culture. -Table 111: Supplementing the Middle School Textbooks. -Table 112: The Middle School Teachers' Guides. 416 418 419

-Table 113: The English Language Cultural Component in the Secondary School Textbooks. 421

-Table 114: The Teachers' Viewpoint about the Cultural Component in the Secondary School Textbooks. -Table 115: The Nature of the Secondary School Textbooks' Cultural Content. 422 424

-Table 116: Culture Learning/Teaching as Implied in the Secondary School Textbooks. 425

-Table 117: The Weight of the Cultural Component in the Secondary School Textbooks. 426

XI

-Table 118: Components Given Priority in the Secondary School Textbooks. -Table 119: The Way Culture is Integrated in the Secondary School Textbooks.

426 427

-Table 120: Culture as Supplementary Optional Material in the Secondary School Textbooks. -Table 121: The Secondary School Textbooks' Approach to Culture. 428 429

-Table 122: Promoting Positive Attitudes towards the TL and TC in the Secondary School Textbooks. 430

-Table 123: Characteristics of the Cultural Content of the Secondary School Textbooks. 431

-Table 124: Suitability of the Secondary School Textbooks' Cultural Content to the Learners and the Syllabus. -Table 125: The Culture(s) Included in the Secondary School Textbooks. -Table 126: The Pupils' Native Culture in the Secondary School Textbooks. -Table 127: Cultural Comparisons in the Secondary School Textbooks. 432 433 434 435

-Table 128: Mutual Representations of Native and Foreign Societies in the Secondary School Textbooks. -Table 129: Reference to Stereotypes in the Secondary School Textbooks. -Table 130: Texts' Types in the Secondary School Textbooks. 435 436 436

-Table 131: The Historical Dimension of the Secondary School Textbooks' Cultural Content. 438

-Table 132: Explanations of Culture-Specific Items in the Secondary School Textbooks -Table 133: Value Judgements in the Secondary School Textbooks -Table 134: Sub-Cultural Groups in the Secondary School Textbooks -Table 135: The Characters of the Secondary School Textbooks 438 439 439 440

XII

-Table 136: The FC Negative Aspects in the Secondary School Textbooks

441

-Table 137: Availability of Different Perspectives on the FC in the Secondary School Textbooks 441

-Table 138: Encouraging the Consultation of Other Materials in the Secondary School Textbooks -Table 139: The Structure of the Secondary School Textbooks -Table 140:The Grading of the Secondary School Textbooks' Cultural Content -Table 141: Reviewing Cultural Elements in the Secondary School Textbooks -Table 142: Cultural Activities in the Secondary School Textbooks -Table 143: Categorization of Cultural Activities in the Secondary School Textbooks 446 442 442 443 444 445

-Table 144: The Incorporation of Special Culture Teaching Techniques in the Secondary School Textbooks -Table 145: What the Secondary School Textbooks Expect the Pupils to Do -Table 146: Intercultural Situations in the Secondary School Textbooks -Table 147: Artwork in the Secondary School Textbooks -Table 148: The Cultural Significance of Artwork in the Secondary School Textbooks. 449 447 448 448 449

-Table 149:Analysing the Artwork Contained in the Secondary School Textbooks 450 -Table 150: The Teachers' Familiarity with the Cultural Content of the Secondary School Textbooks. 451

-Table 151: Teachers' Difficulty to Handle the Cultural Content of the Secondary School Textbooks. 451

-Table 152: Inappropriate Cultural Contents in the Secondary School Textbooks 452

XIII

-Table 153: Handling Inappropriate Cultural Contents in the Secondary School Textbooks. -Table 154: The Secondary School Textbooks' Fitness for Each Other. 453 453

-Table 155: The Teachers' Reliance on the Secondary School Textbooks to Teach about Culture. -Table 156: Supplementing the Secondary School Textbooks. -Table 157: The Secondary School Teachers' Guides. -Table 158: The Middle School Pupils' Level and Sex . -Table 159: The Middle School Pupils' Reasons for Learning English. -Table 160: The Significance of Learning English to the Middle School Pupils. -Table 161: The Middle School Pupils' Specification of Effective Activities. 454 455 456 465 466 467 468

-Table 162: The Middle School Pupils' Viewpoints about Learning English-Speaking Cultures. -Table 163: The Middle School Pupils' Selection of Cultural Topics. -Table 164: The Negative Effects of FC learning on the Middle School Pupils. -Table 165: The Role of the Middle School Textbooks of English. -Table 166: Supplementing the Middle School Textbooks of English. -Table 167: The Role of the Middle School English Teacher. -Table 168: The Middle School Pupils' Self Assessment. -Table 169: The Middle School Pupils' Attitudes towards their English Class. -Table 170: The Middle School Pupils' Liked Nationalities. -Table 171: The Middle School Pupils' Disliked Nationalities. -Table 172: The Middle School Pupils' Choices of Developed Countries. -Table 173: The Middle School Pupils' Choices of Disliked Countries. -Table 174: The Secondary School Pupils' Sex, Level and Stream. 469 470 471 472 472 473 474 474 476 478 480 482 486

XIV

-Table 175: The Secondary School Pupils' Reasons for Learning English. -Table 176: The Signification of Learning to the Secondary School Pupils. -Table 177: The Secondary School Pupils' Specification of Effective Activities.

486 487 489

-Table 178: The Secondary School Pupils' Viewpoints about Learning English Speaking Cultures. -Table 179: The Secondary School Pupils' Selection of Cultural Topics. -Table 180: The Negative Effects of FC Learning on Secondary School Pupils. -Table 181: The Role of the Secondary School Textbooks of English. -Table 182: Supplementing the Secondary School Textbooks of English. -Table 183: The Role of the Secondary School English Teacher. -Table 184: The Secondary School Pupils' Self-Assessment. 490 492 493 494 495 496 496

-Table 185: The Secondary School Pupils' Attitudes towards their English Class. 497 -Table 186: The Secondary School Pupils' Liked Nationalities. -Table 187: The Secondary School Pupils' Disliked Nationalities. -Table 188: The Secondary School Pupils' Choices of Developed Countries. -Table 189: The Secondary School Pupils' Choices of Disliked Countries. -Table 190: Control Group Pass Marks in the 1st, 2 nd and 3 rd Year Levels. 499 502 505 508 515

-Table 191: Experimental Group Pass Marks in the 1st, 2 nd and 3 rd Year Levels 516 -Table 192: Categorization of Students in the Control Group. -Table 193: Categorization of Students in the Experimental Group. -Table 194: Students' Pass Marks Mean and Standard Deviation. -Table195: Aims and Outlines of the Culture Course Lessons. 517 517 518 522

-Table196:Control Group Lesson Plans Evaluation Before the Treatment Period 525 -Table 197: Control Group Lesson Plans Evaluation After the Treatment Period 527

XV

-Table 198: Experimental Group Lesson Plans Evaluation Before the Treatment Period. -Table199:Experimental Group Lesson Plans Evaluation After the Treatment Period. 531 529

-Table 200: Second Control Group Lesson Plans Evaluation Before the Treatment Period. 533

-Table 201: Second Control Group Lesson Plans Evaluation After the Treatment Period. -Table 202 : Synthesis of the Results Obtained before the Treatment Period. -Table 203: Synthesis of the Results Obtained After The Treatment Period. 534 538 538

-Table 204: Aspect / Skill in Focus in the Control Group Lesson Plans Before the Treatment Period. 541

-Table 205: Aspect / Skill in Focus in the Control Group Lesson Plans After the Treatment Period. 541

-Table 206: Aspect / Skill in Focus in the Experimental Group Lesson Plans Before the Treatment Period. 541

-Table 207: Aspect / Skill in Focus in the Experimental Group Lesson Plans After the Treatment Period. 542

-Table 208: Aspect / Skill in Focus in the Second Control Group Lesson Plans Before the Treatment Period. 542

-Table 209: Aspect / Skill in Focus in the Second Control Group Lesson Plans After the Treatment Period. -Table 210: Aspect / Skill in Focus in All Suggested Lesson Plans. 542 543

XVI

LIST OF FIGURES

-Figure1: File Structure in 'Spotlight on English, Book One'. -Figure 2: File Structure in 'Spotlight on English Book Two'. -Figure 3: Unit Structure in 'Spring Book Two'. -Figure 4: Unit Structure in 'My New Book of English'. -Figure 5: Unit Structure in 'The New Midlines'. -Figure 6: Unit Structure in 'Comet'. -Figure 7: Sampling Process at the Middle School Level. -Figure 8: Sampling Process at the Secondary School Level. -Figure 9: The Pupils' Sample. -Figure 10: Categorization of Students according to their Pass Marks. -Figure 11: Graphs of the Control Group Pass Marks and their Mean. -Figure 12: Graphs of the Experimental Group Pass Marks and their Mean.

249 264 281 292 299 309 323 323 463 517 519 520

-Figure 13:Control Group Lesson Plans Evaluation Before the Treatment Period 536 -Figure 14: Control Group Lesson Plans Evaluation After the Treatment Period 536

-Figure 15: Experimental Group Lesson Plans Evaluation Before the Treatment Period. -Figure16: Experimental Group Lesson Plans Evaluation After the Treatment Period. 537 536

-Figure 17: Second Control Group Lesson Plans Evaluation Before the Treatment Period. 537

-Figure 18: Second Control Group Lesson Plans Evaluation After the Treatment Period. -Figure 19: Lesson Plans Evaluation Before the Treatment Period. 537 538

XVII

-Figure 20: Lesson Plans Evaluation After the Treatment Period. -Figure 21: Aspect/Skill in Focus in All Lesson Plans. -Figure 22: Detailed Lesson Plans Evaluation.

539 543 544

XVIII

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 1. Delimitation of the Problem . 2. Aims of the Study . 3. Hypotheses . 4. Research Means and Procedure 5. Assumptions 6. Overview of the Thesis CHAPTER ONE: DEFINITION OF CULTURE Introduction 1. Approaches to Culture 1.1. What Culture Is Not 1.2. What Culture Is a Historical Account 1.3. Characteristics of Culture 2. The Structure of Cultures 2.1. Cultural Elements 2.1.1. Beliefs 2.1.2. Values 2.1.3. Assumptions 2.1.4. Behaviours 2.1.5. Rituals and Superstitions 2.1.6. Symbols and Myths 2.1.7. Taboos 2.1.8. Stereotypes and Prejudices 2.2. Cultural Dimensions 2.2.1. Cultural Differences and Similarities 2.2.1.1. Cultural Differences 2.2.1.2. Cultural Similarities 2.2.2. Cultural Conceptual Frames 2.2.2.1. Hofstede's Dimensions

01 02 03 03 04 05 05 07 08 08 08 10 17 21 21 21 21 22 24 26 30 31 32 34 34 34 40 41 41

XIX

2.2.2.2. Hall and Hall's Dimensions 2.2.2.3. Other Sets of Dimensions 3. Interaction of Cultures 3.1. Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous Cultures 3.2. Dominant vs. Minority Cultures 3.3. Culture Shock 3.4. Cultural Globalization or Cultural Imperialism? Conclusion

45 47 49 49 51 53 55 60

CHAPTER TWO: CULTURE, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION Introduction 1. A SocioCultural View of Language 1.1. Language and Context 1.1.1. Disciplines that Study Language in Context 1.1.2. Types of Context 1.2. Language and Culture 1.2.1. Original Interest in the Relationship Language and Culture 1.2.2. Nature of the Relationship 1.2.3. Illustrations 1.2.4. The English Language and Culture 1.3. The Linguistic Relativity hypothesis 1.3.1. Definition 1.3.2. Illustrations 1.3.3. Criticism 1.4. Language, Culture and Identity 1.4.1. Nature of the Relationship Language, Culture and Identity 1.4.2. IdentityRelated Issues 2. A Socio-Cultural View of Communication 2.1. Communication and Culture 2.1.1. Communication as a CultureSpecific Act 2.1.2. Culture in CrossCultural Communicative Interactions 2.1.3. Instances of CrossCultural Communication Breakdown 2.2. Cultural Studies of Communication 2.2.1. Ethnography of Communication XX

61 62 62 62 62 65 67 67 68 70 72 73 73 76 81 83 83 85 89 89 89 91 94 97 97

2.2.2. Intercultural Communication Studies 2.3. Beyond Communicative Competence 2.4. Culture and NonVerbal Communication 2.4.1. Culture and Kinesics 2.4.2. Culture and Proxemics Conclusion CHAPTER THREE: THE PLACE OF CULTURE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING Introduction 1. Approaches to Culture in Foreign Language Teaching 1.1. Against Culture Teaching 1.2. For Culture Teaching 1.2.1. Culture and Language Teaching 1.2.2. Arguments For Culture Teaching 1.2.2.1. Interdependence of Culture and Language 1.2.2.2. Interdependence of Culture and Communication 1.2.2.3. Culture and Learning Motivation 1.2.2.4. Intercultural Understanding 1.3. Our Viewpoint 2. Culture in the Most Common Language Teaching Approaches / Methods 2.1. The Grammar Translation Method 2.2. The Direct Method 2.3. The Audio-Lingual Method 2.4. Communicative Language Teaching 2.5. The Intercultural Approach 3. Culture or Cultures in the second Foreign Language Classroom? 3.1. Culture as Content 3.2. Culture of Communication 3.3. Culture of Learning 3.4. What Culture to Consider? Conclusion

98 100 103 103 104 106

107 108 108 108 111 111 112 113 115 116 118 120 122 122 123 123 125 127 131 131 131 132 134 138

XXI

CHAPTER FOUR: TEACHING CULTURE Introduction 1. Why Teach Culture 1.1. Rationale 1.1.1. Nature of the Culture Teaching / Learning Process 1.1.2. Principles of the Teaching of Culture 1.2. Objectives 1.2.1. Types of Objectives 1.2.2. How Much Culture to Teach 2. What and When to teach 2.1. What Culture to Teach 2.1.1. Aspects of Culture to be Included 2.1.2. Criteria of Selection of Content 2.1.3. Progression 2.2. When to Teach Culture 3. How to Teach / Evaluate Culture 3.1. How to Teach Culture 3.1.1. Methods of Teaching Culture 3.1.2. Classroom Techniques 3.1.2.1. Common Techniques 3.1.2.2. Activities for Young Learners 3.1.2.3. Recommendations 3.1.3. Integrating Culture through the Four Skills 3.1.3.1. Listening Comprehension 3.1.3.2. Speaking 3.1.3.3. Reading Comprehension 3.1.3.4. Writing 3.1.4. Integrating Culture through Grammar and Vocabulary Lessons 3.1.5. Integrating Culture through Literature 3.1.5.1. Culture and Literature 3.1.5.2. A Cultural Approach to Teaching Literature 3.1.5.3. Culture in Literary Genres 3.1.6. Integrating Culture through Media 3.1.6.1. Importance of Media in the Language and Culture Classroom XXII

140 142 142 143 143 145 148 148 152 153 153 153 160 162 164 167 167 167 171 171 179 180 182 182 185 187 192 194 196 196 197 198 202 202

3.1.6.2. Criteria of Selection of Media 3.1.6.3. Methodology of Presenting Culture through Media 3.2. How to Evaluate Cultural Learnings 3.2.1. Importance of Evaluating Cultural Learnings 3.2.2. Activities to Evaluate Cultural Learnings 4. Teacher's and Learners' Role 4.1. Teacher's Role 4.2. Learners' Role 4.2.1. Learners' Attitudes 4.2.1.1. Impact of Attitudes on Learning 4.2.1.2. Factors Shaping Attitudes 4.2.1.3. Improving Attitudes 4.2.2. Learners' Native Culture Conclusion CHAPTER FIVE: THE PLACE OF CULTURE IN THE ALGERIAN TEXTBOOKS OF ENGLISH Introduction 1. Textbook Evaluation 1.1. Criteria of Textbook Evaluation 1.2. Textbook Evaluation Models 1.2.1. Skierso's Model 1.2.2. Byram and Escarte-Sarries' Model 1.2.3. Sercu's Model 1.2.4. Cortazzi and Jin's Model 1.2.5. Damen's Model 1.3. Textbook Evaluation Guide 2. Evaluation of Middle School Textbooks of English 2.1. Spotlight on English (1e AM) 2.1.1. General Descriptive Information 2.1.2. Rationale 2.1.3. Content 2.1.3.1. General analysis 2.1.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis XXIII

204 207 212 212 213 215 215 219 219 219 221 223 226 229

230 232 232 232 234 234 234 236 237 237 240 246 246 246 246 248 248 253

2.1.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 2.1.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 2.1.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors 2.1.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 2.1.5. Complements 2.1.6. Recapitulation 2.2. The Second English Coursebook (2e AM) 2.2.1. General Descriptive Information 2.2.2. Rationale 2.2.3. Content 2.2.3.1. General Analysis 2.2.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 2.2.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 2.2.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 2.2.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors 2.2.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 2.2.5. Complements 2.2.6. Recapitulation 2.3. Spring (9 AF) 2.3.1. General Descriptive Information 2.3.2. Rationale 2.3.3. Content 2.3.3.1. General Analysis 2.3.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 2.3.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 2.3.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 2.3.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors 2.3.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 2.3.5. Complements 2.3.6. Recapitulation 3. Evaluation of Secondary School Textbooks for English 3.1. My New Book of English (1e AS) 3.1.1. General Descriptive Information 3.1.2. Rationale XXIV
e

253 254 255 256 260 261 262 262 262 263 263 268 269 269 270 272 277 277 279 279 279 280 280 283 285 285 286 286 289 289 290 290 290 290

3.1.3. Content 3.1.3.1. General Analysis 3.1.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 3.1.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 3.1.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 3.1.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Author 3.1.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 3.1.5. Complements 3.1.6. Recapitulation 3.2. The New Midlines (2e AS) 3.2.1. General Descriptive Information 3.2.2. Rationale 3.2.3. Content 3.2.3.1. General Analysis 3.2.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 3.2.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 3.2.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 3.2.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors 3.2.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 3.2.5. Complements 3.2.6. Recapitulation 3.3. Comet (3e AS) 3.3.1. General Descriptive Information 3.3.2. Rationale 3.3.3. Content 3.3.3.1. General Analysis 3.3.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 3.3.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 3.3.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 3.3.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors 3.3.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 3.3.5. Complements 3.3.6. Recapitulation Conclusion XXV

291 291 294 294 295 295 295 297 297 297 297 297 298 298 300 301 302 302 303 307 307 308 308 308 309 309 311 311 312 312 313 315 315 316

CHAPTER SIX: TEACHERS IN ACTION: FIELD INVESTIGATION Introduction 1. Means of Data Collection 2. The Sample

318 319 319 319

3. Middle and Secondary School Teachers Questionnaire: Approach, Methods and Techniques of Culture Teaching 3.1. Description 3.2. Results and Discussion 3.2.1. Middle School Teachers Questionnaire 3.2.2. Secondary School Teachers Questionnaire 323 323 325 325 352

4. Teachers' Questionnaire: The Place of Culture in the Middle / Secondary School Textbooks of English 4.1. Description 4. 2. Results and Discussion 4.2.1. Middle School Teachers Questionnaire 4.2.2. Secondary School Teachers Questionnaire Conclusion 378 378 380 380 421 459

CHAPTER SEVEN: PUPILS IN ACTION: FIELD INVESTIGATION Introduction 1. The Sample 2. Middle and Secondary School Pupils Questionnaire 2.1. Description of the Questionnaire 2.2. Middle School Pupils Questionnaire 2.3. Secondary School Pupils Questionnaire Conclusion

462 462 462 464 464 465 485 511

CHAPTER EIGHT: THE CULTURAL TRAINING OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS: AN EXPERIMENT Introduction 1. Research Design 1.1. Participants 1.2. Procedures 1.3. Data Analysis XXVI 513 514 514 514 521 524

2. Results and Discussion Conclusion CHAPTER NINE: PEDAGOGICAL RECOMMENDATIONS Introduction 1. Syllabus Design and Textbook Development 2. The Professional Development of Teachers 3. Dealing with the Learners Conclusion CONCLUSION

525 546 547 548 548 552 555 556 558

APPENDIXES -Appendix I: Middle and Secondary School Teachers' Questionnaire: Approach, Methods and Techniques of Culture Teaching -Appendix II: -Teachers' Questionnaire: The Place of Culture in the Middle/Secondary School textbooks of English

561

562

569

-Appendix III: Justifications for the Conception of the FC as a Threat to one's Native Cultural Identity (Middle School Teachers' Questionnaire; Q14) -Appendix IV: Justifications as to When to Introduce the FC (Middle School Teachers' Questionnaire; Q20) -Appendix V: Justifications as to How Much Time to Devote to the Cultural Component (Middle School Teachers' Questionnaire; Q24) -Appendix VI: Middle School Pupils' Questionnaire in English and in Arabic -Appendix VII: Secondary School Pupils' Questionnaire 594 595 604 593 592

BIBLIOGRAPHY

608

XXVII

INTRODUCTION

1. Delimitation of the Problem 2. Aims of the Study 3. Hypotheses 4. Research Means and Procedure 5. Assumptions 6. Overview of the Thesis

1. Delimitation of the Problem Foreign Language teaching has always been associated with foreign culture teaching. What is language if not a means of communication operating in a defined socio-cultural context. According to our experience as a teacher of English at the University (and before, at the Secondary School), the majority of the Algerian learners of English find tremendous difficulties to communicate in English, even after several years of study, and even after they pass the Baccalaureate exam. General dissatisfaction with English language teaching in Algeria, particularly at the Middle and the Secondary School has led us to wonder whether the cultural component is adequately taken account of in the English class at these levels. This questioning entails reference to various relevant concerns:

-How much of the English-speaking culture is (and should be) embedded in the syllabi and manuals for English?

-What cultural content is (and should be) taught to learners who do not have close contact with the native speakers of the target language, and have little opportunities to see how these foreigners think, feel, and interact -the case of Algerian learners of English?

-Is culture acquired unconsciously or is it to be taught and learned explicitly and systematically?

-Is it the professional duty of the Algerian teacher of English to teach about and to encourage positive attitudes towards English-speaking cultures?

-Is culture teaching (and should it be) introduced at an early stage of language learning, or at a later stage, when the learners would have developed cultural selfawareness?

-Does raising the learners' awareness of English-speaking cultures have any effect (positive or negative) on their native culture and native cultural identity?

-Is the English language (and could it be) taught within an Algerian cultural mould for fear of a foreign 'cultural invasion'?

-How do the Algerian pupils conceive of the whole matter of learning English and learning about English-speaking cultures?

2. Aims of the Study Through this study, we aim at having a better understanding of culture teaching within foreign language education. We aim in particular at assessing the weight of the English language cultural component as incorporated in the Algerian textbooks of English that are currently used in the Middle and Secondary Schools. We also aim at investigating the teachers' understanding of culture teaching, and the way they actually deal with culture in their classrooms. Another aspect of this study is the analysis of the learners' views and perceptions of foreign language / foreign culture learning, and of their attitudes towards English-speaking cultures. The information collected will serve to make recommendations as to how best to teach about the target language cultural dimension in the Algerian context. Further, this work sets out to design a culture training programme intended for prospective teachers of English, and to test its effectiveness in raising consciousness about the importance of culture in language teaching. 3. Hypotheses To give insight in the problems raised in this study, the following hypotheses have been elaborated. The first one focuses on the textbooks; the second one pertains to the teachers; the third one is concerned with the learners; and the fourth one has to do with the training of pre-service teachers.

Hypothesis One We hypothesise that the socio-cultural component of the English language is either not incorporated or not adequately dealt with in the textbooks of English used in the Algerian schools.

Hypothesis Two We hypothesise that most of the Algerian teachers of English at both the Intermediate and the Secondary Levels are not conscious of the importance of incorporating the cultural component in foreign language teaching, and do not design activities to integrate it in their lessons.

Hypothesis Three We hypothesise that the learners of English in the Algerian Middle and Secondary Schools are more interested in learning about the linguistic aspect (grammatical and phonological structures) than about the cultural one, and have rather negative attitudes towards English-speaking cultures.

Hypothesis Four If teachers to be had cultural training, they would be more likely to include the cultural component in their language lesson plans. 4. Research Means and Procedure The hypotheses enunciated above entail the resort to several means of data collection. To begin with, this research work is led through a qualitative analysis that is underlain by 'a Textbook Evaluation Guide', elaborated by the researcher on the basis of published literature in the field of culture teaching and textbook evaluation. To inquire into the teachers' beliefs and viewpoints about the approach, method and techniques of culture teaching, as well as the place of culture in the official textbooks, questionnaires are designed and adapted to the targeted levels. The same research means is suitable when surveying the learners, to throw light on their views and attitudes as regards learning English and learning about Englishspeaking cultures. On the other hand, the experimental (or quasi-experimental) design is adopted to test the fourth hypothesis. To enable the researcher to demonstrate the effectiveness of the independent variable (cultural training). different groups of subjects (pre-service teachers) who receive different opportunities are compared.

5. Assumptions This study is underlain by two major assumptions:

Assumption One Culture as related to language can lend itself to pedagogical considerations, i.e., can be accurately defined, sub-divided into teachable units, selected, graded, taught and tested.

Assumption Two It is also assumed that effective communication is more than a question of language proficiency. It presupposes, in addition, an awareness of the cultural aspect of the language.

6. Overview of the Thesis This thesis is made of a theoretical part including the first four chapters and a practical part subsuming the next five chapters. Chapter one definition of 'culture' - examines anthropological and literary approaches to the concept of culture, and highlights the various shifts in significance that it witnessed over the course of time. The chapter also points to the diversity of cultures and their interaction. Chapter two deals with the relationship culture, language and communication. It endeavours to demonstrate that language and culture are so intimately interwoven that they cannot be separated without losing their essence. This interweaving is particularly spotlighted in patterns of communication. The chapter surveys the principle trends in the study of language in context, and throws light on the cultural studies of communication. Chapter three is a logical continuation of chapter two. It addresses the thorny issue of the place of culture in the language classroom. It describes different types of culture and shows their relevance to foreign language teaching / learning. It also presents an overview of the way the cultural component has been handled in the major language teaching approaches and methods. Chapter four is complementary to chapter three. Its aim is to argue for the systematic teaching of culture, and to demonstrate how foreign language teachers

can incorporate it in their lessons. It features sections about the 'why', 'what', 'when' and 'how' of culture teaching, drawing on the works of prominent scholars in the field. Chapter five is devoted to the analysis of the cultural content of the textbooks of English used in the Algerian Middle and Secondary Schools. It seeks to test hypothesis one. The analysis is based on a textbook evaluation guide that synthesizes several textbook evaluation models presented at the beginning of the chapter. Field investigation is the central focus of chapter six. It provides the context for testing hypotheses one and two. It explores the teachers' knowledge, views, and perceptions of foreign culture teaching in theory and in practice, as applied in relation to the coursebooks of English. Chapter seven is also based on field work. It describes the pupils' impressions about learning the English language and learning about English-speaking cultures; it throws light on their feelings and attitudes towards these foreign cultures and their peoples. As such, it paves the way for testing hypothesis three. Chapter eight reports on an experiment conducted in the framework of this study to test hypothesis four. It considers the question of pre-service teacher training, and the role it can play to promote the integration of the cultural aspect in language lesson(s) (plans). Chapter nine is based on the outcomes of the previous chapters. It outlines pedagogical implications in the form of suggestions and recommendations to syllabus designers, textbook writers, teacher trainers and teachers, to attempt to remedy the shortcomings associated with teaching about culture in the Algerian educational context.

CHAPTER ONE

DEFINITION OF CULTURE

Introduction

1. Approaches to Culture 1.1. What Culture Is Not 1.2. What Culture Is a Historical Account 1.3. Characteristics of Culture 2. The Structure of Cultures 2.1. Cultural Elements 2.1.1. Beliefs 2.1.2. Values 2.1.3. Assumptions 2.1.4. Behaviours 2.1.5. Rituals and Superstitions 2.1.6. Symbols and Myths 2.1.7. Taboos 2.1.8. Stereotypes and Prejudices 2.2. Cultural Dimensions 2.2.1. Cultural Differences and Similarities 2.2.1.1. Cultural Differences 2.2.1.2. Cultural Similarities 2.2.2. Cultural Conceptual Frames 2.2.2.1. Hofstede's Dimensions 2.2.2.2. Hall and Hall's Dimensions 2.2.2.3. Other Sets of Dimensions 3. Interaction of Cultures 3.1. Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous Cultures 3.2. Dominant vs. Minority Cultures 3.3. Culture Shock 3.4. Cultural Globalization or Cultural Imperialism? Conclusion

Introduction The culture in which each of us lives affects and shapes our feelings, attitudes, behaviours, as well as the thoughts which make the furniture of our minds. It is largely through our culture that we see and interpret the world and evaluate acts and behaviours as good or bad, right or wrong, appropriate or inappropriate. Sociocultural dos and donts regulate peoples behaviour in all life facets: child rearing, schooling, professional training, working, marrying, communicating . This chapter looks at what 'culture' means, examining anthropological and literary approaches to culture, and pointing to the various shifts in significance that this concept witnessed over the course of time: cultural products as literary works or works of art, background information about the history and geography of the country where a target languages TL is spoken and the social knowledge that people use to interpret experience. For some scholars, culture is invisible and lies in the mind of its bearers. Many metaphors have been associated with culture: now it is a 'map' to know ones way around in the life of a society, now it is a 'school of navigation' to cope with different terrains and seas; sometimes, it is even thought of as a filter through which reality is perceived. The chapter points also to cultural diversity and to the interaction of cultures. 1. Approaches to Culture There are numerous misconceptions about the nature of culture, for it is a broad and complex phenomenon. One way of understanding what culture relates to is knowing what it is not, what it is and its different characteristics. 1.1. What Culture Is Not Brooks (1968) delineates the framework of culture by differentiating it from other close subjects: geography, history, folklore, sociology, literature and civilization. Culture is not geography, for the latter is the setting of the former: ''Geography is the stage upon which the drama of human culture is played. But the plays the thing, not the scenery. Geography can at best be no more than the material surroundings in which culture takes root, flourishes, and comes to fruition'' (Brooks,ibid:19).

Culture is not the same as history which heavily relies on written records :'' of course everything has a history even history and human culture is no exception. [] In general, it is fair to say that history goes back no further than the invention of writing. [] Though much younger than geography, human culture is vastly older than history, for culture appears at present to go back in time the greater part of two million years'' (Brooks,op.cit:19). Culture is not folklore, i.e., not ''the systematically studied customs, legends, and superstitions that are transmitted in an informal way from one generation to another by means of oral communication [] folklore can provide only a limited and partial view of what we mean by culture'' (Brooks,op.cit:20). Culture is different from sociology : '' Sociology informs us with precision that in a given community there are three and a half children per family, but culture still waits for an interview with one of those half children '' (Brooks,op.cit:20). Damen (1987:82) believes that a society has a culture and a social organization. Therefore, she maintains society and culture are not the same : '' In general, social refers to the interactions of groups of people, with the group serving as a major focus of analysis, while culture refers to a set of behavioural, cognitive and emotional patterns''. However, what is social and what is cultural may coincide and be identical. Both the social and the cultural perspectives are important and are complementary and hence the term 'sociocultural'. Culture is not to be confined within literature : '' literature can supply us with but a part though clearly a most valuable part of what needs to be taught under the heading of culture.'' (Brooks, op.cit: 21). Culture is also not to be confused with civilization. Brooks (op.cit:21) puts it clearly that ''Civilization deals with an advanced state of human society, in which a high level of culture, science, industry, and government has been attained. It deals mainly with cultural refinements and technological inventions that have come about as the result of living in cities and thickly populated areas.''. In other words, civilization is a more inclusive concept. Brooks(op.cit:21-22). argues that culture is above all ( and most of all ) about human beings, the point which distinguishes it form the disciplines mentioned above:

The most important single criterion in distinguishing culture from geography, history, folklore, sociology, literature, and civilization is the fact that in culture we never lose sight of the individual. The geography for example, of mountains, rivers, lakes, natural resources, rainfall, and temperature is quite impersonal and would be what it is whether people were present or not. It is only when we see human beings in this geographical picture and observe the relationship between their individual lives and these facts and circumstances of the earth' s surface that our perspective becomes what we may call cultural.

1.2. What Culture Is a Historical Account Culture is not an easy concept to define, for it reflects what one thinks of oneself and how one is seen by others. Actually, the definition of this concept has developed in time. To begin with, the term culture has historically been used in various discourses, in O Sullivan et al.'s words (1994:68), it is a 'multi-discursive' term . Hence, no definition can fit all relevant contexts ( anthropology, literary criticism, cultural studies, agriculture, Marxism, microbiology, nationalism,

intercultural communication,...): ''the term culture may be regarded by an anthropologist as a major unifying force, by a communication professional as a major variable, or by a psychologist as an individual mental set.'' (Damen, op.cit: 20).The concept of culture originates in agriculture where it denotes the tillage or the cultivation of the soil and plants. By extension, it refers, in biology, to the growing of bacteria. OSullivan et al. (ibid: 69) make it clear that ''cultivation such as this implies not just growth but also deliberate tending of 'natural' stock to transform it into a desired 'cultivar' a strain with selected, refined or improved characteristics''. Accordingly, a 'cultured' or 'cultivated' person has a good educated and refined mind; the ''cultivation of minds'' is ''the deliberate husbandry of natural capacities to produce perfect rulers'' (OSullivan et al., op.cit: 69). Along these lines, culture in the nineteenth century meant Western civilization a subjective,authoritative , taken for granted definition: ''it was popularly believed that all peoples pass through developmental stages, beginning with savagery, progressing to barbarism and culminating in western civilization. Its easy to see that such a definition assumes that western cultures were considered superior.'' (Jandt ,1998:6). In the mid-nineteenth century, culture was bound to (great) literature and fine arts. It was then defined as ''the pursuit not of material but of spiritual perfection via the knowledge and practice of great literature, fine art and 10

serious music.'' (OSullivan et al. op.cit: 70). Hence, it was exclusively restricted to an elite class, leaving the majority of people 'uncultured'. This has later formed one of the basic orientations in the definition of culture, namely the literary, aesthetic, artistic approach or big 'C' culture, known also as formal or high culture. The second orientation is that of the social science anthropological approach which views culture as what shapes everyday life, namely patterned ways of behaviour, including the thought processes of a given people, in other words, small 'c' or deep culture. (Brooks 1968, Seelye 1993). Anthropologists were the first to try to define culture given that this concept is the core of their discipline. However, going through one of the many anthologies or collections of readings on this subject makes one become bewildered given the various definitions conferred on such key concepts as culture , intercultural or acculturation. Three hundred definitions were analysed by Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1954; cited in Seelye, ibid.), on the basis of which culture was regarded in a very broad perspective being linked to all aspects of human life. These many (sometimes conflicting) definitions attest to the complexity of culture as a human phenomenon. Anthropologists seem to agree, however, on three main principles regarding the nature of culture: first, it should be dealt with as a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts ( Seelye, ibid: 81) ; second, there exist many cultural means to serve the same human needs, and hence the importance of the principle of 'selectivity'; and third, culture is considered as an ever-changing phenomenon. Since the mid-nineteenth century, anthropologists in both Europe and the United States of America (USA) approached culture as human (universal) patterned ways of living. Research then aimed at finding out general laws of human behaviours. The notion of cultural relativism did not emerge until later in history. Definitions illustrating this early approach to culture are quoted in Damen (op.cit:8283):
-''Culture is coterminous with man himself''(Sapir 1964:79) -''God gave to every people a cup, a cup of clay, and from this cup they drank their life.They all dipped in the water but their cups were different. (Benedict,1934:27-22) -''Culture is a way of thinking, feeling, believing. It is the groups knowledge stored up (in memories of men; in books and objects) for future use . A culture constitutes a storehouse of the pooled learning of the group. (Kluckhohn,1944:24-25)

11

By the twentieth century, American anthropologists under the leadership of Boas, (in Damen,op.cit) shifted the attention from searching general laws applicable to all cultures to investigating the particularities of individual cultures.They focused on field work,extensive data collection and induction aspects that were to provide the foundations of ethnography. They believed that culture was
a uniquely human mode of adaptation, at work in every facet of human life. Its functions were to hold human groups together and to provide ways of behaving, believing and evaluating for its human bearers. It was seen as learned and transmitted; it included knowledge, accepted manners of behaving, and was reflected in the artifacts and institutions of its given groups. (Damen, op.cit: 83)

This means that culture was viewed as what people

share in the same social

environment, and what sets them apart from people from another social environment. It is worth mentioning that cultural anthropologists during that time gradually moved from a description of culture as a more or less random collection of traits, to its definition as a system of patterned behaviours. Indeed, Kluckhohn and Kelly conceived culture as ''all those historically created designs (our emphasis) for living explicit and implicit, rational , irrational, and non-rational , which exist at any given time as potential guides for the behaviour of men.'' ( in Hoijer, 1953; in Lado, 1957:111) . Furthermore, some anthropologists were concerned with the relationship that binds culture and language . This is clear, for instance, in Kluckhohn's (1944; in Damen, op.cit: 84) statement "Human culture without human language is unthinkable''. Other definitions related culture to its ecological environment : ''Culture is all those means whose forms are not under direct genetic control ... which serve to adjust individuals and groups , within their ecological communities.'' (Binford, 1968; in Damen, op.cit: 85) . In short, the anthropologists of the time emphasized the diversity of human cultural patterns , but restricted culture to what is observable and shared. This is known as the behaviourist approach to culture .Culture is most commonly defined in behaviouristic terms . Behaviourists viewed culture as a set of shared observable behaviours or patterns of behaviour, having to do with habits, events, customs. They were, however, interested in the mere description of behaviours without interpreting them, i.e., without attempting to understand their underlying rules and the circumstances of their occurence.

12

Subsequent definitions of culture were functional . Culture is also commonly defined in a functionalist perspective . Unlike the behaviourists , the functionalists were interested in understanding the underlying reasons and rules which explain and govern observed behaviours and events. People belonging to the same culture are believed to share common rules of behaving. Knowing these rules would lead to develop an ability to predict others' actions resulting in a better understanding of and a successful participation in the culture in question. Although the functionalist approch was a step further compared to the behaviourist, in that it attempted to uncover why people behave the way they do, it had shortcomings that were equally those of the behaviourist . Both assumed that identifying cultural behaviours and their functions could objectively and accurately be done , though , practically speaking , this proved not to be the case. Robinson (1985) explains that whether the observer is a native or a non-native of the culture , designating cultural behaviours is not an easy task , let alone their interpretration. For instance, a cultural anthropologist may observe a smile and infer the reason for smiling is happiness . Another may infer that the interpretion of the smile, in the same context , is embarrassment. A third might not perceive the smile but another act . Besides, the behaviourists and functionalists restricted culture to what is observable in behaviours and to what may be deduced on this basis.These approaches, thus , disregarded the unobserved cultural features shared by the members of the same culture , namely culture as " a way of perceiving, interpreting and creating meaning." ( Robinson, ibid: 10) , what has precisely been taken into account by the more recent cognitive approach . The cognitive approach to culture (known also as the ideational approach) views it as a system of ideas and mental constructs rather than material observable things in Goodenough's words (1964; in Damen, op.cit:85):
a society's culture consists of whatever it is one has to know or believe in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members ... By this definition ... culture is not a material phenomenon ; it does not consist of things , people , behavior , or emotions. It is rather an organization of these things. It is the forms of things that people have in mind, their models for perceiving, relating, and otherwise interpreting them.

For Robinson (op.cit:10), "culture is like a computer program. The program differs from culture to culture. The program refers to cognitive maps". Similarly, Hofstede

13

(1991; in De Jong, 1996: 26) refers to culture as the "software of the mind ", and De Jong as "the set of mental rules that govern our everyday behaviour". To put it otherwise, cognitivists view culture not as behaviour but as knowledge, or as an internal system for thinking, interpreting and behaving. Along these lines, the European sociologist and anthropologist, Lvi-Strauss conceives of culture as 'creations' of the human mind. Obviously, this dealing with culture is not based on fieldwork, but is more abstract and aims at throwing light on universal properties of the human mind. Its limitation lies in the fact that it fails to consider the other modes of acquiring a culture such as the emotional and the kinesthetic modes. It explores the inside of people only on the basis of knowledge conveyed through the analytic cognitive mode. Other abstract definitions of culture consider, in addition to the universal mental aspect , the process of sharing these mental processes , in Damen's words (op.cit:87): ''The locus of inquiry then moved from within the human mind to the relationships in which the mental representations were joined .The study of cultures meant the study of shared codes of symbolic meaning". An example of such

definitions is Geertz' (1973; in Lantolf, 1999: 30) which views culture as a historically transmitted semiotic network constructed by humans and which allows them to develop, communicate and perpetuate their knowledge, beliefs and attitudes about the world. Another instance is Thompsons (1990; in Kachru, 1999: 77) , according to which culture denotes ''the pattern of meanings embodied in symbolic forms, including actions, utterances and meaningful objects of various kinds , by virtue of which individuals communicate with one another and share their experiences , conceptions and beliefs''. Culture is, thus, approached as symbols and meanings. In other words, while cognitive anthropologists point out culture as a 'process , a

cognitive mapping , symbolic anthropologists consider it as a product of this process , a set of meanings .These meanings are historically intertwined in the sense that ones past experiences influence present and future ones in a dynamic process . One further approach to culture worth mentioning in this account is the sociocognitive approach (Atkinson, 1999). It is a middle-ground approach which advocates a theory of culture that balances what is considered as the traditional theory of culture and its alternative, critical, postmodernist theory. The traditional view of culture (in Atkinsons words the received view) considers it as a homogeneous, static, monolithic, all-encompassing entity; a set of values, norms, meanings 14

collectively shared by a community. The alternative critical approach reveals the inequalities, disagreements and differences that exist within the same one culture, and throws light as well on cross-cultural interactions and cultural change. Attention shifts from ''culture'' considered as a general and misleading concept to ''identity'', ''subjectivity'', ''resistance'' viewed as more useful categories. These concepts highlight the importance of individuals and their positions vis--vis the prevailing way of life. Moreover, in the framework of the alternative critical approach, cultures are viewed as unbounded, that is there are no strong boundaries isolating cultural groups. Rather, cultures interact and share borderlands. They are permeable and permeating. Hence, they are unstable, ever-changing and developing. What is more, viewed from ''the inside'', cultures are not homogeneous. Indeed, the same culture bearers display individual differences and personal idiosyncracies. Some may act in ways that resist or ignore or alter cultural norms. The process of acquiring cultural symbols and meanings is very significantly influenced by individuals personal knowledge and experience. Thus, culture is viewed as an ideology constructed by people in position of power (notwithstanding outside influence and inside individual difference), to justify particular socio-political interests. The socio-cognitive approach, as mentioned above, is a middle ground approach in that it views culture as neither exclusively homogeneous and monolithic, nor heterogeneous and fragmented. This goes in harmony with the Structuration theory (Giddens, 1979; in Atkinson, op.cit) according to which abstract social systems (i.e., shared culture) and individual actions (i.e., individual fragmented culture) are significant only in relation to each other: ''In this view humans are agentive in creating their environments , but not in a wholly unconstrained way . Cultural models and schemes provide basic guidelines for behavior, but these guidelines are constantly being reworked and remade in the messy crucible of everyday human behavior'' (Atkinson, op.cit: 637). This view has been further reinforced by work in cognitive anthropology and related disciplines, which demonstrates that society and culture are neither ''homogeneous, monolithic edifies [n]or fragments drifting chaotically in space.'' (Atkinson, op.cit: 637).A culture exists as a result of the interaction of 'culture in the head' and 'culture in the world', in other words, the interaction of socially (more or less) shared 'schemas' and networks, i.e., cognition, and actual socialized practices and actions. We do believe that culture has both a collective and an individualistic dimension: it is a whole shared by the members of a social group, but at the same 15

time, each member adds something of his / her own to this whole. To put it otherwise, culture has something that unites people, but every individual makes his / her contribution to it, as so aptly put by Keesing (1974; in Damen, op.cit: 87):
Culture, conceived as a system of competence shared in its broad design and deeper principles, and varying between individuals in its specificities, is then not all of what an individual knows and thinks and feels about his world. It is his theory of what his fellows know, believe, and mean, his theory of the code being followed, the game being played, in the society into which he was born.

Culture is now regarded as a broad concept that embraces all aspects of human life. Jandt (op.cit: 8) thinks of culture as a life experience in which people share problems , pleasures , tastes , eating habits , values , challenges , :
To begin to understand a culture, you need to understand all the experiences that guide its individual members through life , such things as language and gestures; personal appearance and social relationships ; religion , philosophy , and values ; courtship , marriage ,and family customs ; food and recreation ; work and government ; education and communication systems ; health , transportation , and government systems ; and economic systems .Think of culture as everything you would need to know and do so as not to stand out as a stranger in a foreign land.

In the concise words of Seelye (op.cit: 22) culture ''is everything humans have learned.'' For Damen (op.cit: 23), it is ''learned and shared human patterns and models for living.'' What is more, culture is now viewed as both cognitive and material: ''Culture is a set perhaps a system of principles of interpretation, together with the products of that system.'' (Moerman, 1988:4; in Cortazzi and Jin, 1999: 197); it refers to the ''totality of a peoples socially transmitted products of work and thought. Thus Irish culture refers to everything commonly thought of as Irish.'' (Jandt op.cit: 9). This approach to culture as an inclusive all-embracing concept takes us back to the classical nineteenth century anthropological definitions such as Tylors (1871; in Damen, op.cit:73): ''Culture or civilization, taken in its wide ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society''.

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The best definition of culture is, according to us, the one that embodies all relevant factors and finds a middle-ground between the behavioural, the functional, the cognitive, the symbolic, the social and other perspectives. Kramsch's (1998) is perhaps such a definition and is worth ending this historical account with. According to Kramsch, culture affects its bearers in two contradictory ways: it frees them from the generality and anonymity of nature by conferring on them a special hue, but at the same time, it restricts and restrains them to this particular hue, and imposes on them conformity to it. These effects of culture are, according to Kramsch, felt at three layers: the social, the historical and the metaphorical layers. Socially speaking, culture manifests itself in the ways members of the same social group think , behave, and value things in the world .This is reflected , for instance , in their use of language. They choose what to say or not to say, when, and how to say it, according to their shared socio-cultural norms. The latter are reinforced by social institutions such as the family and the school. Culture has also a historical dimension in the sense that what is cultural is reinforced through time and handed down from one generation to another , so that it becomes natural and unquestionable . Kramsch (op.cit: 7) states: ''The culture of everyday practices draws on the culture of shared history and tradition.'' The historical view of culture entails the reference to its material productions namely scientific inventions, monuments, literary works and artifacts of all kinds. Preserving them means preserving ones cultural patrimony. In this regard, language plays a significant role to safeguard the cultural heritage of a nation and to perpetuate its thoughts and views .The third layer of culture is imaginative , in Kramschs opinion , '' Discourse communities are characterized not only by facts and artifacts , but by common dreams , fulfilled and unfulfilled imaginings'' (p 8). These imaginings are part of a nations culture. Again, language serves as a means to externalize and express peoples imaginative reflections and metaphorical thinking. 1.3. Characteristics of Culture Cushner and Brislin (1996) outline several characteristics for culture. These characteristics touch on both concrete and abstract facets. As such, they enable a better understanding of the true nature of culture. First, they believe it to be human, i. e., it is all that is related to humans and made by them; it is not merely something that exists in nature. As already mentioned, this point was particularly stressed by Brooks (op .cit). 17

Second, culture has subjective and objective facets. Subjective culture has to do with the beliefs, values, norms and assumptions about life that underlie peoples behaviours and attitudes, in other words, ''the invisible, less tangible aspects of a group of people'' (Cushner and Brislin, op.cit: 6). Objective culture means material visible culture, i.e., ''things as the artifacts people make, the food they eat, the clothing they wear, and even the names they give to things.'' (Cushner and Brislin, op.cit: 6). Some of the less tangible cultural aspects remain implicit and not discussed. These aspects mostly underlie intercultural miscommunication and misunderstanding, when people from different cultures behave on the basis of different perspectives and find themselves consequently frustrated. It is actually perplexing for them to speak about or figure out what is going on when it is the subjective elements of their culture that are in conflict with those of others. Hinkel (1999: 5) explains: ''One of the prominent qualities of cultural values, assumptions, and norms acquired in the socialization process is that they are presupposed and not readily available for intellectual scrutiny.'' Many scholars have pointed out the unconscious aspect of cultural phenomena. Keesing (op.cit; in Damen, op.cit: 88) writes ''the actors theory of his culture, like his theory of his language, may be in large measure unconscious. Actors follow rules of which they are not consciously aware, and assume a world to be out there that they have in fact created with culturally shaped and shaded patterns of mind''. Weaver (1993; in Thanasoulas, 2001) believes that the most important part of culture is that which is internal and hidden, i.e., what lies in the deep sub-conscious of its bearers. Reference is made here to the values, thought patterns and assumptions which underlie peoples behaviours and ways of life. Weaver states that they are what lies below the water level of an iceberg, the water level of conscious awareness, and hence their significance. Third, culture is socially and collectively constructed and transmitted. It follows that it is not innate but learned. Jandt (op.cit: 8) puts it clearly that ''Culture is not a genetic trait. All these cultural elements are learned through interaction with others in the culture.'' Besides, cultural values, beliefs and worldviews are learned right from childhood. In this regard, Hilgard et al. (1958; in De Jong, op.cit: 27) state: ''The process of growing up includes learning to behave in ways expected by our society. We usually accept group values without much reflection and without awareness that peoples of other cultures may not share these values. If our culture values 18

cleanliness, promptness, and hard work, we try to be clean, prompt, and industrious.'' Because culture is learned and is learnable, it can thus be taught. Fourth, according to Cushner and Brislin, a culture enables its bearers to readily communicate much information via few words or gestures. This is known as the cooperative principle. In other words, people belonging to the same culture are able to 'Fill in the blanks' and to deduce what is not explicitly stated, on the basis of their shared cultural knowledge. Fifth, people are likely to react with emotion when their cultural norms and values are violated in cross-cultural encounters(1) . Sixth, the values and norms of culture are unquestionable. It happens that individuals or groups rebel against some of them; for example, adolescents may challenge authority or conventional social order, but this is generally temporary and they end up joining the main stream culture. Besides, a cultural value remains a value though it may be compromised in real-life situations. It is worth mentioning, however, that cultural beliefs, attitudes and worldviews may change. For instance, the western civilization was, among other things, built upon the belief that nature is to be conquered. Now, the relationship man / environment has changed. Indeed, efforts are being made to protect the environment and clean it up. Another example of cultural change is the status of women in most world cultures. After world war two, women began to work outside the home and started to share what was exclusive to men. Accordingly, family roles shifted in that men had to assume, to some extent, more responsibility as far as housework and children care are concerned. It should be remembered, nevertheless, that for a long established cultural belief to change, there need be much time and will. Seventh, cultures may be described on the basis of contrastive criteria like the use of time, orientation in space, respect of age. For example, some cultures are past-oriented, others are present- and future- oriented. (This characteristic will be further discussed in subsection 2.2.2). Damen (op.cit) points out other features of culture. To begin with, she argues that it is an ever-changing code .Culture is, indeed, subject to constant change, and absorbs inside and outside influences .Cultural patterns change in harmony with peoples needs and values. It is this dynamic aspect which, in our opinion, keeps it
(1)

See chapter two, section 2.1 for further information.

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alive. Damen highlights on this basis the need to learn how to learn a culture, that is how to recognize, analyze and assess its aspects, and adapt to its changes and variables rather than learn particular temporary facts. For her, culture is a whole life aspect, in that no society or social group can be conceived of without implying the existence of a culture. This is due to the fact that culture has to do with human needs and ways of living; it structures ones life on the basis of selected principles and values: ''Cultures provide sets of unique and interrelated selected blueprints.'' (Damen, op.cit: 88-89). In addition, according to her, culture is a filter through which people perceive reality, a selective but limiting filter. It is also a system that is mainly expressed and transmitted through language. Scollon (1999: 185) characterizes culture as regular, patterned, distinctive and out-of-awareness. By regularity, he does not mean ''rigidity of practice'' but ''stability of expectation''. By pattern, he refers to the fact that cultural codes ''are not specific to the single situation depicted''; the distinctiveness feature denotes that one's cultural codes ''differ from the codes used by members of other cultures''; and the out-of-awareness characteristic implies that cultural codes ''are not highlighted in any way except when violated.'' Another characteristic of culture worth mentioning in this account is its heterogeneity. Every culture is heterogeneous for it is made up of a variety of subcultures (age, social class, sex, ethnic origin)(1) , and the same one situation may elicit varied reactions. Therefore, one cannot expect exact similarity in behaviour among the members of the same culture. Each individual has distinctive features setting him / her apart from the others .Hilgard et al. (op.cit; in De Jong, op.cit:29) explains:
Even though cultural pressures impose some personality similarities , individual personality is not completely predictable from a knowledge of the culture in which a person is raised for three reasons : (1) the cultural impacts upon the person are not actually uniform , because they come to him by way of particular people-parents and others who are not all alike in their values and practices ; (2) the individual has some kinds of experiences that are distinctively his own ; and (3) the individual because of the kind of person he is , redefines the roles he is required to fit into.

(1)

See section 3.1 for further details in this regard.

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2. The Structure of Cultures A culture, as explained in the previous section, is what a group of people share as a common background. This is reflected in major components as cultural beliefs, values, assumptions and behaviours. Rituals, superstitions, symbols, myths, taboos, stereotypes, and prejudices are also subsumed under the cultural umbrella. To understand the deep structure of cultures, scholars have developed conceptual frames that relate for example to time, space, power and uncertainty. On the basis of these dimensions, cultural profiles can be drawn and variation analysed.

2.1. Cultural Elements 2.1.1. Beliefs A belief is a conviction in the truth of something that one learned by living in a culture. It is the basis of ones actions and values. Samovar, Porter and Jain (1981; in Damen, op.cit) identify three types of beliefs: experiential, informational and inferential. The experiential type is based upon a persons experiences, the informational type has to do with information acquired interpersonally and the inferential one transcends direct observation and information. Inferential beliefs are based on logic and thinking. It goes without saying that patterns of thinking are culturespecific. In close connection with the beliefs, we have the knowledge, i.e., the facts, the skills and the understanding that people of a culture have gained through experience and learning. Ones views are what one has learned from ones culture about how to regard and think about issues and ideas. Regarding nature, for instance, Germans and Americans do not have the same view the Germans being more polished or civilized: (Hahn, 1997: 506)
The German concept of nature is not the rugged western style and setting familiar to Americans. Rather it was found to include (in addition to such physical features as lakes, forests, and mountains) a refined lifestyle, in which one sits down to a glass of wine or a cup of strong sun-grown coffee at a nicely set table with flowers, and may smoke a mild cigarette or enjoy the delicious candy-brought by a guest the previous evening.

2.1.2. Values Values are a set of beliefs made up of rules for making choices. They tell one what is right and wrong, good and bad; they tell one how to live ones life. Cushner

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and Brislin (op.cit: 318-319) believe that values significantly shape and pervade ones life: ''People make judgments and draw conclusions about what is and what is not of value. These judgments give rise to certain presuppositions from which people act with little or no conscious awareness. These presuppositions learned during childhood, play a pervasive role in all areas of peoples adult experiences.'' For Damen (op.cit:191-192) ''Values bring affective force to beliefs.[...] Values are related to what is seen to be good, proper, and positive, or the opposite. [...] They are also often the hidden force that sparks reactions and fuels denials''. These reactions and denials are especially cross-cultural given the fact that cultures are built upon different values: ''The often unexamined practice of making casual attributions about the behaviour of people from other cultures from our own perspective is part of a much larger picture, in which social interactions in one culture are distorted through the prism of values in another'' (Ellis, 1996: 216). What is more, values change through time and may only be embraced by some and not others in the same culture; certain aspects, however, remain valid for a very long time. Individual courage and initiative, team spirit (or support from all the members of the team) are examples of American cultural values (Kramsch: 1993). In the Chinese culture, the major value is to uphold the needs of the group over those of the individual, together with a reluctance to draw attention to oneself. 'Value dimensions' are a set of interrelated values that exist along a continuum of relative importance. These dimensions describe the values that influence cultural behaviours in all cultures, for example, individualism versus collectivism and high power versus lowpower distance dimensions. These dimensions are viewed in subsection 2.2.2. 2.1.3. Assumptions A culture is underlain by a set of assumptions about life and the world. An assumption is a belief that is not proved. Assumptions are indispensable to everyday living. Without them, people would constantly need to ask about the meaning of things. Differences in assumptions can go unrecognized or dismissed. For example, a teacher may assume that if learners do not ask questions, they understand the material. Learners may assume that if they ask questions, the teacher will think they

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are not intelligent. Different cultures have different assumptions which may reflect different world views:
To members of a particular culture, these assumptions appear selfevident and axiomatic. They are not, however, necessarily shared by members of other cultures whose values are also based on unquestioned and unquestionable fundamental notions and constructs. In this sense, conceptualizations of reality and social frameworks in different cultural communities may occasionally be at odds to varying degrees. (Hinkel, op .cit:5)

People holding very different assumptions about what is right or wrong will have difficulties to communicate, unless one or both parties make an effort to understand what the other assumes to be true. Acknowledging and understanding one's own assumptions and those of one's interlocutor is required if effective cross-cultural communication is to occur. People all over the world may hold some common assumptions and beliefs, which may at times be wrong. Thousand years ago, it was believed that the Earth was flat and was the centre of the universe, staying fixed while the Sun, Moon and Stars moved. When virtually all people believe in the same thing, there is little chance that they will ever consider believing in something else. As a result, a view that is not valid may be propagated from generation to generation. We may assume that our cultural traditions must be good or else they would not have survived. It is particularly tempting for Americans to assume their traditions are perfect, as the USA has become a superpower in recent history. If we are unwilling to question our own longheld assumptions, we may negatively perceive another group of people. Their behaviour or way of living may be queer or wrong by our standards. The outcome would be negative stereotyping of other cultures. If we care about truth, we will not believe things just because those around us do or say so. We need to question one's own perceptions and assumptions. If beliefs are not shared by other cultures, we may question them to find the reason why others think differently, and compare the evidence for each view. It is difficult to reconsider a cultural assumption if we are not conscious of it. We should, nonetheless, try to analyze a question for ourselves, and come to the most unbiased possible conclusion.

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2.1.4. Behaviours Behaviours are the way people act, based on their learned beliefs and values. Behaviours that one group of people consider improper may be practised on a routine basis by those in another group. The set of behaviours one is expected to engage in as a consequence of ones social position (mother, father, teacher, president...) is known as ones role in the society. An individual may assume a number of different roles in his/her daily interactions with other individuals: ''Productive, efficient, and healthy persons are able to shift roles as needed (e.g., from participant to leader, from employee to spouse) and understand the appropriate behaviors in each context.'' (Cushner and Brislin, op.cit: 297). For these persons, it is not difficult to realize that other people who have different cultural frameworks have themselves different roles and expectations in different contexts. It is relevant, in this regard, to refer to cultural patterns. ''The cultural behaviours of people from the same country can be referred to collectively as cultural patterns, which are clusters of interrelated cultural orientations.'' (Matikainen and Duffy, 2000:41). A dominant pattern is the one that represents the majority or the largest number of people in a culture. According to Lado (op.cit), the pattern of behaviour is the functioning unit of a culture. He describes it as ''The mold or design into which certain acts must fall to be considered [as belonging to the same pattern of behaviours]'' (p111). Each pattern is made up of several elements such as the performer, the act, the objects, the setting, the time, the manner and the purpose. There are 'static units' such as people , animals , things , places ; 'processes', i.e., actions such as to eat , to wash , to think ; and 'qualities' that is adjectives and adverbs such as quick , slow , beautiful , happily. Each pattern has form, meaning and distribution that are culturally determined. Lado (op.cit:113) argues that it is very difficult to define accurately the form of the patterns of a culture : ''Even such a clear unit of behaviors as eating breakfast , immediately identified by the performer if we ask him what he is doing , may be described by him as the morning meal when you eat cereal, bacon, eggs, and coffee [in the American culture], yet a man who works during the night might be eating breakfast in the evening , and a meal of cereal, bacon, eggs, and coffee might be lunch or even supper.''. Lado implies that even the members of the culture in question may not be able to define a cultural pattern of behaviour of theirs, though perfectly able to identify it. This inability to describe ones cultural ways may be due 24

to the fact that one has been doing things without being conscious of doing them. Therefore, to describe the form of any cultural pattern, researchers should observe a number of occurrences of this pattern and contrast them with occurrences which resemble them but are identified as other patterns of behaviour. The natives can help identify the cultural pattern, but the accurate description of its form requires systematic observation and careful analysis. What is more, any patterned form of behaviour has a complexity of meanings that are significant within the framework of a given culture. Many factors are at work in this regard. Considering the act of eating breakfast or any other meal, to paraphrase Lado again, the primary meaning has to do with nutrition; the secondary meanings may have religious, health, economic, social class, political connotations. A cultural pattern has form, meaning, but also distribution in time, space and position in relation to other patterns. All these factors are culturebound and may not be transferable form one culture to another. Lado (op.cit:114) puts it clearly that:
The patterning that make it possible for unique occurrences to operate as sames among the members of a culture did not develop for operation across cultures .When they do occur in contact across cultures , many instances of predictable misinterpretation take place . We can assume that when the individual of culture A trying to learn culture B observes a form in culture B in a particular distribution spot, he grasps the same complex of meaning as in his own culture. And when he in turn engages actively in a unit of behaviour in culture B he chooses the form which he would choose in his own culture to achieve that complex of meaning.

Regarding the pattern behaviour of sleeping, for example, it may be culturally significant in the sense that it varies from one culture to another. Time of sleep is particularly significant in most cultures. On this basis, some members of a culture might be judged as lazy, or sick, or reckless with ones health. It is useful to note Lodos classification of the cultural patterns of behaviour according to the type of needs they meet : needs of ones body ( to sleep, to eat, to clean ...) ; needs of ones personality ( to study, to engage in social and artistic activities); needs of one's soul (religious organize ...) . activities); tool activities (to communicate, to work, to govern, to

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A culture provides a set of rules and norms of behaviour that its members should respect and conform to. According to Jandt (op.cit:18), rules and norms represent distinct paradigms: ''Rules may refer to socially agreedon behavior or to individual guidelines for behavior. Norms specify appropriate and inappropriate behaviors.'' Knowing cultural rules means, for instance, knowing when to call a friend on the phone, or the appropriate time for an informal visit, or what to expect when considering someone a friend... . Hand salute and walking on the left of a senior are illustrations of norms in the military subculture (Jandt, op.cit). Cultural rules and codes of behaviour are not immutable, but it may take some time before changes become obvious and generally accepted. It is useful to note that cultural rules and norms are explicitly stated by people to justify their attitudes and behaviours, while cultural values and assumptions lie at a more sub-conscious level and are unquestioned.

2.1.5. Rituals and Superstitions For De Jong (op.cit: 29), ''Rituals are to do with areas of behaviour like ways of greeting and saying farewell, and showing respect towards others, i.e. customary' cultural behaviour , both at the level of the individual and at the social level''. Customs are habitual ways of going about daily activities, i.e., settled practices that cannot be easily given up. Cushner and Brislin (op. cit: 307-308) define a ritual as:
Some standardized behaviour in which the relationship between the means and the end is not intrinsic. Rituals are therefore not based on facts but rather on symbolic concepts. [...] Rituals are often performed as part of relationships there are rituals of kinship, of ties to others, of participation in and connection with the organic, psychological, and metaphorical realities of the society. They are related to key areas of human life [...] and are concerned with binding peoples feelings and behaviour into the social fabric.

The way knives and forks are handled during a meal, the way people get dressed in ceremonies or formal occasions , the way formal meetings are opened and closed , the way one greets friends upon meeting in public or private ( kissing , handshaking , verbal greetings...) , handing out a sport winner medals are all examples of rituals . Circumcision of little boys is a ritual that symbolizes growing up or manhood, and implies as well belonging to Muslim or Jewish communities. In any culture, there is a

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language to celebrate rituals. It is generally characterized by a more careful articulation, a special prosody and an exceptional use of vocabulary and structures compared to everyday language use. Rituals vary from one culture to another. With respect to the ritual of kissing, cultural differences have been observed in that in some countries like France and the Netherlands, meeting a friend requires an exchange of three kisses, whereas in other countries such as Britain and Germany, at most two kisses (De Jong, op. cit). In the Arab world, the number of kisses may exceed four. Besides, in Western Europe, this ritual is restricted to women or men towards women, but in Eastern Europe or in the Arab world, it is quite normal for men to exchange kisses in ritual occasions, especially in feasts and after daily praying for Muslims. Shaking hands is another culturespecific ritual. French people, for instance, shake hands on many occasions when introducing themselves, when meeting again, and when leaving. This custom has spread widely, in that for most people on the European continent, shaking hands is an everyday occurrence, though, perhaps, not as frequently as in France. English people on the whole restrict shaking hands to the occasion of meeting someone for the first time, hence their difficulty to adapt to others in this regard (De Jong, op.cit). In Asian and African cultures, people do not use the left hand in personal contact given that it is used to wash unclean parts of the body; the right hand is to be used for eating and personal contact (Cushner and Brislin, op. cit). Other forms of greeting that are culturebound are verbal forms. How are you ?, for instance , is a greeting formula that is used by English-speaking cultures not to elicit full details of ones interlocutors health, but to be answered with a similar short utterance : ''How are you? is a signal that allows Australians [for example] to acknowledge each other.(Sakamoto and Naotsuka, 1982: 2). In a like manner, Japanese greet each other with the question Where are you going? that is not meant as a request for information (Sakamoto and Naotsuka, ibid.). Moreover, Chinese speakers do not use greeting formulas on the phone; for the French, this is considered impolite, particularly in formal situations (Zhihong, 2001). According to Crystal (1997: 49), a phone call to a private residence in France normally follows the sequence: Telephone rings Answerer : allo Caller verifies number [C'est bien le] Answerer : oui 27

Caller identifies self, apologizes and asks for intended addressee [Je suis ;je m'excuse, est-ce que je pourrais parler ].

In Britain, there are only three stages: Telephone rings Answerer gives number [This is ] Caller asks for intended addressee [Could I speak to].

On this basis, an English caller may seem bold to a French answerer, for not observing step five of the normal French telephone conversation pattern. This is one of the ways stereotypes are formed about foreigners. Compliments are also handled differently cross-culturally. For instance, Americans take them for gifts and acknowledge them with thanks and big smiles. The French are rather embarrassed when complimented, that is why they usually say something to minimize the value of the compliment (Kramsch, 1998). In the Chinese culture, acknowledging compliments is not humble, and may be considered as bad manners a hostess would, for example, respond to ''that was a wonderful meal'' with ''No, Im sorry the food is not delicious.'' For modesty reasons, we may find similar reactions in the Arab world. Modes of address are also socio-culturally bound. When people meet, the way they address each other depends on the culture they belong to, as well as on the factors of the speech situation in which they take part. The choice of first names and nicknames in direct address usually signals intimacy between the speakers, while last names and titles indicate social distance and a more formal level of relation. Nevertheless, the basis of selecting one form or another is not always that straightforward and complex factors are at work in this regard. In addition to cultural differences operating at the level of languages and dialects, there are idiosyncratic preferences (some people may agree to dispense with titles). Contextual factors or factors of the speech situation determine as well ones choice of the actual appropriate form. What is normally inappropriate is to mix both title and first name such as Mister Jack. Many foreigners to a particular culture find it difficult to use names properly, and often put themselves in embarrassing situations. The same applies to the use of polite and familiar pronouns of address. Reference is made to the T form versus the V form that is , for example , tu versus vous in French , tu versus vos in Latin, ti versus chwi in Welsh and du versus sie in German. The rules

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governing the use of these pronouns are complex. At the outset, T form was used in Latin when referring to one person and V form to more than one. Then, the latter began to be used when addressing a very important person, or a person of power, as a mark of respect. Later, it signalled social distance as opposed to T form which acquired the meanings of solidarity, social closeness and intimacy. Therefore, the implications of V and T forms may be different form one culture to another, and perhaps even from one individual to another, and these implications may change in time. As a result, misunderstandings and confusing situations often occur. Other cultures do not have the T and V pronouns, but manifest this distinction via other means, verbal and non-verbal, such as intonation, careful pronunciation, and body posture. Other rituals performed daily are calls. When entering a room or an office, a Korean would clear his / her throat, or shuffle his / her feet as a call, i.e., as a means to call attention to him / her, and this would open up or signal the beginning of the interaction. It has to be noted that Koreans do not knock on doors, while Chinese knock with the back of their hands or knuckles, even if they have been seen coming and asked to come in before they perform this ritual (Scollon, op. cit). It is very important to mention that rituals have been trivialized in modern secular societies, as aptly put by Cushner and Brislin (op.cit: 65):
Modern secular societies have stripped their cultures of many of the rituals that were significant or have trivialized them to such a degree that they have largely lost their meaning. Sojourners from such societies are apt to view rituals of other cultures as quaint, amusing superstitions or mere spectacle or sport. Failure to take them seriously can easily cause offense, so sojourners should be sensitive to their hosts regard for such events.

People in a culture may, in fact, cherish superstitious acts and beliefs. A superstitious behaviour is ''a learned habit repeated periodically, often a behavior coincidentally reinforced in association with other rewarded action (e.g., a person always bets on gray horses because he once won a large sum of money on one)'' (Cushner and Brislin, op.cit: 308-309). Anthropologists believe that a superstition has more pejorative meanings than a ritual in that the former is viewed as ''degraded or degenerate ritual, the context of certain ritualistic practices being lost with cultural

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changes and only the habitual action or vague fears persisting as superstitions.'' (Cushner and Brislin, op. cit: 309). 2.1.6. Symbols and Myths Hofstede (1991; in De Jong, op.cit:29) defines symbols as ''words, gestures, pictures or objects that carry a particular meaning which is only recognized by those who share the culture.'' Symbols are particularly noticeable in religious ceremonies, weddings, funerals, sessions of law courts. The national flag , for instance, symbolizes a country's unity ; the head scarf for women is a token of a religious belonging ( according to Islam , women must be completely covered except for face and hands ; their 'abaya' and veil represent honour , dignity ,chastity and purity ); white colour suits signify death and funerals in Japan . Other symbols have to do with hair style, preferred beverages, choice of words... and characterize especially youth subcultures .Further , there are symbols associated with holidays ( for example foods) , good and bad luck ( such as animals) and are different from one culture to another . Under the cultural category of symbols may be included as well literary , artistic or architectural products of all kinds : important characters , events and themes from folk literature , stories , legends ; visual arts ( and artists ) ; musical arts (and composers) ; traditional songs , rhymes and games; and significant national or geographic monuments . Currency coins, stamps and other realia have also symbolic cultural meanings. To understand a culture, one needs also to understand its myths. Jandt (op.cit:8) associates a cultures myths to its symbols, values, and rituals; for him, ''Myths provide the cultural image of perfection and provide a guide for living (...). [They] are expressed in the dominant symbols and rituals of a culture in story form''. Myths are sometimes used to influence peoples beliefs and behaviours .For example, the myth of the American Cowboy is exploited in cigarettes advertisements. Under the cultural category of myths may be included the category of heroes, that is, in De Jong's words (op.cit: 29), '' the persons, dead or alive, real or imaginary, who serve as models for behaviour.'' Heroes may be political, sport, art,figures and may be common to many cultures.

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2.1.7. Taboos Members of a culture are psychologically and physically shaped to observe taboorelated rules. The word 'taboo' is borrowed from Tongan, a Polynesian language (Chu, 2000). It refers to 'forbidden', 'unmentionable' and 'to be avoided' behaviour, both verbal and non-verbal. In other words, a taboo is an act or a word which religion or custom considers as forbidden. Once taboos are formed in a society, references to them become taboos as well. Some cultures may consider certain topics taboo; hence, these are not raised in public, and may only be discussed among people who may know each other very well. Examples would be discussing one's income in Britain (as opposed to USA ) or discussing ones religious conviction in the Netherlands (as opposed to Britain) (De Jong, op. cit). To display affection in public, to cross one's legs with the sole of one's shoes facing another person, to whistle, and to walk in front of someone praying are taboo behaviours in the Arab world. A taboo question that seems to be common to many cultures is asking a woman about her age. In every language, there seem to be some words of such strong affective connotation that they cannot be used in polite discourse. Some of such words are probably universal, for example, those that relate to excretion and sex. Further, in both Eastern and Western cultures, fear of death engenders fear of words that relate to it. Therefore, expressions as 'pass away' and 'depart' are usually used as substitutes for 'die'. Many cultures in south Africa, the Americas, China, England, and Turkey (Crystal, op.cit) witness 'linguistic duels', whether intentionally organized with a public attendance, or happening occasionally in many social settings, where participants quarrel to have the last word .These linguistic attacks may be implicit using subtle forms of irony and alluding jokes, as they may be explicitly rude, indecent and obscene. The exchanges of insults are delivered with great speed, following consistent phonological patterns. The language of cursing has two main varieties: formal expressions used in formal contexts like law and taboo forms expressing different intensity levels of emotion used in other contexts (Crystal, op. cit). Among these taboo forms are 'the four- letter words' in English. They may be common to the members of a social group, and can be considered as a marker of group identity. Polynesians and Japanese are said to use very little language of this sort.

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Knowledge of the non-verbal and verbal taboos of a culture is essential to successful communicative interactions, and should thus be discussed in language classrooms and textbooks, as part of cultural instruction. In many cases, foreign people realize the existence of the rules associated with taboos only after they have violated them. People who do not respect these rules may face total embarrassment, or other more serious outcomes, for a taboo is by definition (culturally) insulting. 2.1.8. Stereotypes and Prejudices A stereotype is a belief or an opinion held by one group that the majority of a different group can be classified by the actions, appearance or attitudes of a few members of that group. In other words, it is an unanalysed attribution of some characteristics to all members of a cultural group. An expression such as ''thats typical of those people...'' (Koyama, 1992: 6) is typically stereotypical. A stereotype is hence a form of prejudice that is due to a rough overgeneralization, a judgement made on the basis of little or no evidence. According to Lado (op.cit), the phenomenon of stereotyping is due to preconceived ideas about the others and their culture , ideas which result from the assumption that ones view of the world is the best and the most correct one, compared to the others' ; hence , any difference is not taken as such and is even not tolerated . In addition, preconceived ideas about a culture may be due to the fact that people usually rush to false generalisations, applying to the whole society or culture what holds true only for one individual or one group: (Lado, op. cit : 120 )
Another type of problem related to distribution differences or rather to assumed distribution differences , occurs when member of one culture , who normally recognize many subgroups in the population of their own culture , assume that another culture with which they come in contact is uniform . Hence, observations made about one individual of that other culture tend to be generalized to the entire population.

He further illustrates the point stating: ''What a religious person does on Sunday is not [or should not be] generalized to all religious groups and much less to the non religious members of the culture.'' (p121) Stereotypes are handed down from one generation to another as fixed truths about otherness. They are, hence, more likely to be reinforced than questioned or modified. Along these lines, Kramsch (1998:131) defines stereotypes as

32

conventionalized ways of talking and thinking about other people and culture. She believes that stereotyping is , anthropologically speaking, a diffusing, focusing process, that is stereotypes are formed by ''extending the characteristics of one person or group of persons to all'' (p127 ), and by ''focusing on certain classificatory concepts prevalent within a certain discourse community '' (p128). For Clarke and Clarke (1990: 34), stereotyping is underlain by the stigmatisation of others or of those who are unlike us, to be able to feel ourselves more fully human. The dollar grasping American, the indolent Latin American are instances of stereotypes. The Americans in general are usually stereotyped as gregarious, the Germans as very disciplined, and the French as individualists (Kramsch, 1993). Other people may cherish other stereotypical viewpoints about these cultural groups; for example, for De Jong (op. cit: 16)
The Dutch look upon the English as typically trustworthy, friendly, approachable people, they are almost like the Dutch themselves in many respects. The reputation of the Germans on the other hand is terrible: they are harsh, overbearing loudmouths who insist upon occupying their particular spot on the beach and everything that goes with it. The French are too far away to have much of a reputation ,apart form the Latin-lover type of fame, but if they do have one , it is one of arrogance [... ] French cuisine and French wine enjoy a high reputation in the Netherlands even among those who have never even seen a four star restaurant from the outside . French is still the language of upper class culture in many respects.

Similar stereotypes exist in Algeria about its neighbouring countries. For instance, Tunisians are viewed as polite but secular and greedy. Clarke and Clarke (op. cit ) identified three major types of stereotyping: racial ( racist ) stereotyping, which negatively represents black people as trouble makers and violent individuals; sexual (sexist) or gender stereotyping, depicting women as less rational and less capable than men, and restricts their role to housework and childcare, in short, viewing feminity as the absence of masculinity; and class (classist) and regional stereotyping which regards groups or classes as homogenous, resulting in such oversimplified generalizations as 'Northerners are less friendly than Southerners'. Obviously, these stereotypes do not represent the complex sociocultural reality. Blair (1989: 48) advocates refining the stereotypes that surround cultural differences, ''a process sometimes known as education.''

33

As mentioned above, a stereotype is but one form of prejudice. Prejudice towards a culture is essentially caused by ignorance of or preconceived ideas about this culture. It was defined by Clarke and Clarke (op.cit: 31) as: ''aversion fuelled by ignorance, and although this is not the terminology used by Krashen (1982), it is clearly cognate with those negative feelings on the part of a learner towards a target language / culture which trigger, in Krashens model of second language performance, the raising of the affective filter and the consequent hindering of language learning / acquisition.''

2.2. Cultural Dimensions 2.2.1. Cultural Differences and Similarities 2.2.1.1. Cultural Differences Cultures of the world are different in many respects. Cushner and Brislin (op.cit) outline differences in work, decision making, time, space, displays of affection, silence, intensity of verbal exchanges, family relations and roles, male/female relations, sex roles, social relations and engagements, and hierarchies. With respect to work, some cultures such as Latin-American and Asian ones, unlike others, mix work and relationships. Another instance of difference is that in USA, as reported by Kramsch (1993:214), jobs are advertised in a special section of newspapers or through signs in shop windows bearing the words: help wanted. For the Russians, this phrase is too impersonal and cold, because they are used to phrases as you are invited to work here instead; for the Americans, the former phrase has the connotations of efficiency (i.e., what is important is the job) and need (i.e., to work means to help). Decision making is culture-bound in that is may be a democratic participative process in some cultural systems such as that of European Americans, or an individual matter in high-power-distance countries, that is countries whose social structure is shaped on the basis of authority and power.(1) Time is a crucial cultural aspect. Its conception and use may vary considerably cross-culturally: (Cushner and Brislin, op.cit: 285)

(1)

See p 42 for more details

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The working unit of time for European Americans is the 5 minute block; any amount of time smaller than that is not considered very important. Thus an individual can typically be 2 or 3 minutes late for a meeting without apologizing. After 5 minutes, he or she is expected to offer a brief apology. If the individual is 15 minutes late _a block of time representing three significant units_ he or she is expected to make a lengthy sincere apology, and perhaps may even be expected to make a phone call to the waiting party to explain the delay. Other cultures, however, do not place the same emphasis on time and punctuality as do most Europeans and Europeans Americans.

For the Hopi Indians, time is not fixed or measured, but dealt with in relation to changes in the environment, such as the maturation of corn. Space is also managed differently in different cultures. For instance, some people like Latin Americans observe a close distance between themselves during casual conversations, the fact which may be highly disagreeable for others, namely, European Americans or northern Europeans. Misinterpretations of such culturally influenced differences are common. Arabs, for instance, are often claimed to violate what European Americans consider as their personal space in public places. Actually, personal space and public space are thought of differently in these cultures (2). Time and space are two momentous conceptual frames to understand the underlying structure of cultures(3). Public displays of affection also obey cultural rules: in some countries they are routine matters, but not in others; some cultures do not tolerate displays of affection between persons of the some sex, and the opposite happens in other cultures. Silence is another cultural phenomenon. It may communicate different meanings in different contexts and in different cultures. It may be threatening, thoughtful, or may elicit speech on the other part. In the same one situation, silence may be or not desirable, depending on the socio-cultural environment in which communication takes place. In the Apache culture, silence is the appropriate form of greeting, while in the Japanese it is the best language to express innermost feelings and emotions (Goddard and Wierzbicka, op.cit: 231). In Asia, listeners are said to remain silent longer than their American counterparts, waiting for others to finish speaking, before they would intervene. Crystal (op. cit: 174) reports an interesting example in this regard: ''in response to the question 'Will you marry me?' silence in

(2) (3)

See subsection 2.4. 2 in chapter two for further details in this regard This point is tackled on pp 44-46.

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English would be interpreted as uncertainty; in Japanese it would be acceptance. In Igbo, it would be considered a denial if the woman were to continue to stand there, and an acceptance if she ran away.'' In the Arabic culture, silence in this context is desirable and denotes acceptance. Moreover, in conversations, some cultures allow for intense verbal exchanges and disagreements, which are interpreted as anger or hostility in other cultures. Peoples ways of speaking are in fact governed by their culture as clearly delineated in the following quotation: (Goddard and Wierzbicka, op.cit: 231)
In different societies people not only speak different languages and dialects, they use them in radically different ways. In some societies, normal conversations bristle with disagreement, voices are raised, emotions are conspicuously vented. In others, people studiously avoid contention, speaking in mild and even tones, and guard against any exposure of their inner selves. In some parts of the world, it is considered very bad to speak when another person is talking, while in others, this is an expected part of a conversationalists work. In some cultures, it is de rigueur to joke and banter obscenely with some people but to go through life not saying a word to others.

The Arabs, as noted by a Westerner (Jandt, op. cit: 134-135), usually use high pitch and emotional intonation, that is, they talk with much noise and emotion in daily life interactions: ''What may appear to be a heated argument may just be two friends having a chat.'' Family relations and roles also have cultural hues. Cushner and Brislin (op. cit: 297) illustrate the point referring to marriage rituals: ''In many societies, for instance, a public announcement of engagement cannot be made until the intended spouse has been approved by the extended family into which he or she intends to marry. In some cases, it may even be the Fianc's extended family itself that must be approved''. In the West, marriage does not entail all these constraints; ''In Western countries, marriage as an institution has waned. More than a quarter of all children born in the United States, a third of those in France, and half of those in Sweden and Denmark are born outside marriage'' (Jandt, op.cit: 210). Moreover, different cultures define the concept of family differently: it includes more people in southern Europe than in its north. The Dutch have the word gezin to mean the father, mother and children and familie to refer to other relatives such as cousins, uncles, i.e., those who share the same ancestors. The English word family denotes both gezin and familie. (De Jong, op.cit). Age is another factor assigned different roles in different 36

cultures. In some cultures, it is a virtue, in others it is a curse. Accordingly, different expectations are associated with respect to age values, needs, abilities, rights and duties in different cultural frameworks. In Latin American and Arab cultures, elders are respected and consulted, but they are marginalized in other cultures like in the European American culture. Male / female relations constitute a particularly sensitive issue that often engenders misinterpretations and stereotypes and so are male and female roles in the society. To conceive of women in positions of authority is still only possible in few cultures. The status of women is one of the most controversial and delicate issues, nowadays, particularly in the Arab world. Attitudes, role expectations and values associated with the position of women vary considerably across cultures. In some Arab countries, a husbands consent is necessary for a wife to obtain a passport. Women cannot leave the country without the husbands permission in Iran and in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, in the latter, no woman, including foreigners, may drive cars or ride bicycles. The Nordic countries namely Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland are said to have the greatest gender equity. We believe that such questions cannot be overlooked in modern language and culture textbooks, for even if they are, they are often hinted at or raised in discussions by the learners themselves. There are also cultural differences regarding social relations and

engagements. The American culture, for instance, is a self-oriented society in which all social engagements are scheduled, unlike Asian cultures whose social activities are characterized by more spontaneity and are group-oriented. Accordingly, Americans do not pay casual visits to each other; even time with friends is often carefully scheduled (Cushner and Brislin, op.cit.). Further, to behave politely does not have the same significance across cultures. For Japanese, for instance, it is polite to say uncomplimentary things about oneself, ones family, ones things which is far from being to case of Americans. Jones (1995:1), who is American, relates his shock when his Japanese friend invited him to dinner stating, ''I just got married, and my wife and I would like you to come to our house for dinner next Saturday []. Shes not beautiful, and she cant cook very well. But I hope you'll come''. He later realised that to emphasize ones inferiority is polite in the Japanese culture, while obviously not so in the American culture. Jones (op.cit:3-5) elucidates this discrepancy on the basis of the fact that the cultural rules for politeness, or what he refers to as the polite fictions underlying behaviours in the two cultures are different: 37

Every culture has its own polite fictions. Whenever we want to be polite, we must act out certain fictions, regardless of the facts []. These fundamental polite fictions, which are closely interrelated, make up a logically consistent psychological world which unconsciously shapes and influences everything we feel, think or do []. One of the most fundamental of the American polite fictions is that You and I are equals. The corresponding Japanese polite fiction, however, is that You are my superior.

As an outcome, people from different cultures may misinterpret and misjudge the others ways of being polite. It is only through the recognition of ones own polite fictions that one can come to understand the others and the reasons why they behave the way they do. Furthermore, being too polite may generate

misunderstandings. In fact, appropriate language use does not entail one to be too polite in all situations. Consider, for example, the situation depicted by De Jong (op. cit: 102): ''How would you feel, if you were just expected to sell entrance tickets, and someone addressed you with: Excuse me for interrupting your work, but could you possibly find a moment to sell me two adults and three childrens admission tickets to the fair? ''. Obviously, these polite forms are not expected in such context and might cause misinterpretations. Cultures display discrepancies in hierarchies as well. The criteria for placement in a hierarchy may depend on ''age, birth right, election by peer, expertise in a topic area, family name, formal education, sex and even physical attractiveness.'' (Cushner and Brislin, op.cit: 312). To be placed at the top of a hierarchy in a culture implies acquiring certain privileges such as expecting respect from others, expecting that ones opinion will affect decisions, the right to speak first in a meeting, to give orders . These privileges are also culture-bound. Moreover, what is considered as high status in a culture may not be so in another, like the occupation of teaching, which is respected in Japan, but not in USA: (Cushner and Brislin, op. cit: 313)
In Japan, teaching is a respected occupation, and an honorable term, sensei, is used for members of that occupation. In the United States, on the other hand, teaching is not an especially respected profession. Many American teachers tell stories about being introduced to people at parties who, when they find out they are teachers, move on to initiate conversations with others who might be of higher status. An American teacher on a sojourn in Japan, then, would experience an increase in status. A Japanese teacher visiting the United States would experience a decrease in status.

38

Japan is considered as a typically hierarchical society, and the Japanese publicly acknowledge this hierarchy, verbally and non verbally, that is through the use of language, bowing to one another, seating arrangements. High-ranked people are older people (over young ones); males (over females); teacher (over learners); sellers (over buyers); superiors (over subordinates). The Wolof of west Africa also have a complex system of social raking reflected, for example, in the Wolof proverb, ''when two persons greet each other, one has shame, the other has glory.'' (Goddard and Wierzbicka, op.cit: 233), though this might not be noticed by cultural outsiders. Another interesting cultural topic is humour. Cartoons may convey many cultural overtones. What is funny (or not) as apposed to what is witty varies across cultures. It would be interesting to know about these cultural variations. There are cultural dissimilarities too in celebrations and festivals and their rituals. For example, Easter is observed in a like manner in France and USA, but not Christmas, and the American thanksgiving has no counterpart in the French calendar (Ladu, 1974). In Arab cultures, there are other holidays that are completely different in concept and observance from those just mentioned. Cultures differ also with respect to religious fundamentals, views of God, relationship of man to land, property, view of profit, growth, and performance. Kramsch (1998) draws attention to another aspect of discrepancy between cultures: the latter are said to be more or less literate or more or less orate than others, depending or the uses their members make of the written language or the spoken one in different contexts. In Eastern European countries an oral agreement is not as valuable (in the sense of binding) as a written one (De Jong, op.cit). However, in Muslim and Arab countries, important contracts are initially based on men's words. The Senegalese philosopher and statesman Senghor (in Von Barloewen, 2000: 47) thinks that ''African cultures real capability lies more in emotional sensitivity than it does in intellectual observation''. Put otherwise, he believes that African cultures are more based on an intuitive way of thinking, unlike western cultures which are underlain by an analytical way of thinking (Aristotelian and Cartesian rationality). For instance, in Brazil, Afro-Brazilian cultures such as Macumba and Condomble are characterized by a way of thinking and a logic of action that are wholly unlike the empirical and pragmatic culture of Calvinistic north

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America, which is built upon the principal of individual property rights , as initiated by Locke. The renowned Islamic thinker Imara (2003) depicts the Islamic culture as being based on moderation in all its facets, that is it amalgamates what is mental, rational (the mind) with what is emotional, passionate ( the heart). On the other hand, the Western culture, according to him, is underlined by contrasts: the individual versus the group; religion versus science; religion versus state. Contrasts are fused in the moderate Islamic culture.

2.2.1.2. Cultural Similarities All the cultural differences outlined above do not negate the fact that cultures do share similarities. For example, the Chinese and the Arabs have approximately the same concept of familism, in that, in these cultures, the family comes before the individual, males are valued more than females, and elders are venerated. Sons are the pride of the family; daughters are to serve fathers in their youth, husbands in marriage and children in old age: "In Arabian cultures, a man is considered a descendant only of his father and his paternal grand father. A mans honor resides in the number of the sons he sires. A man belongs to his fathers family. A divorced woman may keep her children until they are 7 years old, but then they go to the fathers family. Decisions are made by the family patriarch-not the individual.'' (Jandt, op. cit: 205). The situation is worse in the Korean culture where a ''wife who does not produce a healthy son under Korean custom could be driven from the home and deprived of her status as a wife'' (Jandt, op.cit: 204). According to the Islamic culture, women are equal to men. The rights and duties of women are equal to, but different in nature from, those of men. The woman who was in the past denied the right to live, and was buried alive, being considered a shame to the family, is viewed by Islam as the wife and the mother who should be entirely catered for by her husband, to quote Jandt (op.cit:205) again: "The prophet Mohammed revolutionized life for women in the seventh century by granting women access to the mosque, full participation in public affairs, and the right to inherit property.''. Generally, values and human rights are the same in all cultures:" I dont know of any culture that considers murder legitimate. I know of no culture in which rape, torture or genocide is held justifiable. These fundamental values are more or less the same in all cultures around the world'' (Gunter, 2000:51). 40

In many cultures, similarities have been observed in peoples communicative behaviours, according to their gender: ''more women make suggestions, whereas more men give orders; more women use and accept touching more than most men do, and more women use conversation to create a feeling of connection whereas most men give information'' (Jandt, op.cit: 212). In some cultures, there are important linguistic differences between men and women in that they use different words to refer to the same thing, for example: the translation of 'it's beautiful' to the Japanese language varies according to gender, Kirei dawa for a woman and Kirei dana for a man. (Jandt, op.cit: 208). Generally speaking, male language is said to be stronger, less refined and more direct than the female one. An amusing instance of cultural similarity is reported by (Valdes, 1990: 24). We, as Arabs, may be surprised to hear that dipping exists in the American culture: ''They [Moroccans] expected us [Americans] to be horrified that we were to dip Moroccan bread into a communal bowel, and were pleased to learn about party dips so popular in America''. Moreover, some British eating habits such as taking ones meals on small tables or even on the carpet, home-made cakes and bread curiously remind one of those in the Arab culture, particularly in the country side. Differences between cultures point out the individuality and the uniqueness of each culture, similarities enable people to go beyond their own culture and learn about others, as noted by Damen (op. cit: 94): ''It was what we share that makes it possible for us to learn another culture''. It should be noted that cultural differences may occasionally give rise to negative feelings and attitudes, namely intense dislike of culturally different others (leading to prejudice) negative labels (stereotypes) and refusal to interact with others (discrimination) (Cushner and Brislin, op. cit: 12). The difficulty inherent in people to perceive cultural differences, their fear of 'the other', their prejudices, their ethnocentrism and selective perception, and their devaluating and discriminating attitudes are all barriers to intercultural understanding and tolerance. 2.2.2. Cultural Conceptual Frames 2.2.2.1. Hofstede's Dimensions Hofstede (1991; in De Jong op. cit) puts forward a set of dimensions according to which cultures can be analysed, described and compared, namely:

41

and -

Power distance; Individualism / Collectivism; Assertiveness / Modesty; Avoidance of uncertainty; Short term / Long term focus.

The power distance dimension is related to how a culture views influence; it has to do with the internal relationships within a community: ''Power distance is a measure of built-in inequality. The effects of power distance show themselves in the way people in influential positions are treated by their environment.'' (De Jong, op.cit: 35). In some cultures, groups of people holding certain positions in the society (for example political functions) enjoy exclusive privileges and rights. These high-powerdistance cultures ''believe that authority is essential in social structure, and strict social classes and hierarchy exist in these countries'' (Matikainen and Duffy, op.cit: 41). On the other hand, low-power-distance cultures believe in equality and the people with power may interact with the people without power on equal level. (Matikainen and Duffy, op.cit: 41), i.e., people are less impressed by positions of power, and lead a more democratic life. De Jong (op.cit: 35) refers in this respect to the Scandinavian countries:
In the Scandinavian countries democracy has worked for many years. The inhabitants tend to be less impressed by the function of the prime minister than by his/her personality. They are / must be on the whole easily approachable people who do not give the impression that the country would go to the dogs without them; an impression one often takes away from Prime ministers behaviour in, particularly, southern and eastern European, and many other countries.

Another socio-cultural behaviour reflecting low-power-distance is that of teachers who socialize with their students outside of the classroom, and of students calling them by their name. Cultures with a high score on the dimension of power distance are generally characterized by such phenomena as manipulation and corruption. Negotiation and compromises are the alternative in countries where power distance is small. Additionally, the power structure of a country determines to a great extent what is or what should be considered as its underlying cultural values: ''The influence of a country's power structure shapes to a very large extent our system of values, basically through insisting on the use of certain rituals, and quite often deciding for us 42

who are our heroes, and what symbols we must use in what circumstances.'' (De Jong, op. cit: 42). With respect to the individualism / collectivism dimension, a culture is assessed as loosely structured or highly integrated. The importance of the group and that of the individual are differently considered in different cultures. A culture based on individualism focuses on the individual, his/her beliefs, needs, viewpoints, interests and aspirations: ''each individual is the most important part of the social structure, and each individual is valued for his / her unique persona. People are concerned with their own personal goals and may not possess great loyalty to groups.'' (Matikainen and Duffy, op.cit: 41). In a collectivist culture, on the other hand, the individual and his / her factors dissolve within the group and the groups factors, that is individuals are led and not leaders: ''individuals are very loyal to all the groups they are part of, including the work place, the family and the community. Within collectivism, people are concerned with the groups ideas and goals, and act in ways that fulfil the groups purposes rather than the individuals.'' (Matikainen and Duffy, op. cit: 41). In a collectivist culture people stay at the same job all their lives; when people make choices about marriage, education, and the work, they always make their decisions together with their families. However, in individualistic cultures, if people are unhappy at their jobs, they are encouraged to look for jobs that are likely to make them happier; besides decisions and choices are those of the individual and not of the group. USA is probably the best example of an individualistic society. Other nations that rank high on this dimension are Australia, Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands and New Zealand (Cushner and Brislin, op. cit). Western cultures, on the whole, give great importance to the dignity of the individual and self-work, as well as to individual achievement and individual privilege. This fact is relatively new in human experience and may be considered as an outcome of science and the Industrial Revolution. Increasing mobility, urbanization and access to education are among other factors that reinforced individualism in the societies mentioned above. On the other hand, nations that score high on collectivism are primarily those in Asia and South America. Collectivism in Japan, for instance, has its roots in the agricultural needs of the people in the far past. Irrigation for rice farming needed coordination and cooperation among the inhabitants of the same village, to be able to harvest a good crop. Then, the welfare of the group meant the welfare of the individual. On this 43

basis, the Japanese developed habit of doing things together. Collective cultures are underlain by higher degrees of conformity, cooperation and reciprocity than individualistic ones. In this regard, Robinson (1976:86) notes: ''every American wants to be different. To tell an American youre really different, youre really an individual is a compliment. To a Japanese, the same words may be interpreted as an insult meaning the individual is not fitting in and, hence, breaking the social code, resulting in loss of face.'' It is worth noting that all people and cultures have both individual and collective patterns, and the ideal is to keep them balanced. De Jong (op. cit: 36) explains:
The amount of individual freedom and the space where individuals follow the directives of others can and will be manipulated, depending on circumstances and individuals. In every community a balance has to be found between the needs of each individual and the needs of the collective, the community as a whole. Some cultures emphasize individuality more, while others favour the collective.

On the basis of the assertiveness versus modesty dimension, a culture is said to be governed either by masculine assertive values or feminine nurturing and modest ones. In many societies, the roles of men and women are changing: men are taking up cooking, cleaning and looking after children and women are pursuing their outside of home careers. The uncertainty avoidance dimension describes the extent to which a culture may accept ambiguity and risk. De Jong (op. cit: 38) elucidates this point stating:
Some people become very anxious when confronted with a problem they cant decide on the basis of existing rules, while others are completely happy to use their own initiative in order to solve the same problem. Some communities accept that one cant foresee every eventuality and prefer to provide broad guidelines, while other communities are the exact opposite. They will supply detailed prescriptions for every eventuality; sometimes with the result that there are so many rules that nobody bothers to follow them anyway.

With respect to the fifth dimension, a culture is evaluated as being short- or long-term focused, depending on whether it values now or then: ''Europeans are typically focused on the short term: 'life is short, well have to get the most out of it

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while we can'. Asians generally take the long- term view: 'after this life there is more to come'.'' (De Jong, op. cit: 34). Differences between cultures can be 'measured' on the basis of these dimensions. They are interrelated in that, for example, a high score on the dimension of power distance correlates with a high score on the dimension of uncertainty avoidance and collectivism, and vice versa. Southern European countries represent cultures with a high score on these dimensions they are high power distance; they do not tolerate uncertainty; and they advocate collectivism and assertiveness particularly among the masculine population. On the other hand, northern European cultures display opposite features in that they have low scores on the dimensions of uncertainty avoidance and power distance, treat men and women on equal footing and encourage individual initiative (De Jong, op. cit). In other words, behaviours such as making decisions, changing jobs, interacting with people, socializing with superiors are largely influenced by the dominant cultural patterns reflecting the value of the culture in question. 2.2.2.2. Hall and Hall's Dimensions Hall and Hall (1990) suggest other conceptual frames to understand the deep structure of cultures. They refer to time, space, context, information flow and interfacing. Time (referred to above as the fifth dimension) is an important cultural system. It is viewed and used differently across cultures. Among other things, when entering a new culture, one needs to know whether people adhere to schedules or not, whether the culture in question is past-, present- or future- oriented cultures, i.e., whether it values the past, the present, or the future. People in future- oriented cultures believe their future to be better and more prosperous than their past. Hence, they are more willing than others to undertake new projects, investments and to take risks, in general. People in past- oriented cultures do not readily make and accept change, given that they prefer to hold on to their past. Past- oriented cultures are characterized by collectivism and high- power distance, while future-oriented cultures are low-power distance and individualistic cultures (Matikainen and Duffy, op.cit). Cultures whose primary focus is on the here and now are present-oriented cultures. Moreover, cultures may be classified as 'monochronic' if they emphasize schedulings and appointments, and concentrate on one thing at a time, polychronic if based on 45

arbitrary schedules and on the involvement of many people and many things at a time. There are as well cultural differences in the amount of time spent on work versus time spent socializing. Like time, space or spatial organization can be significantly different from one culture to another. Hall and Hall (op. cit: 180) illustrate the point contrasting the French and the Germans: ''People like the Germans are highly territorial, they barricade themselves behind heavy doors and sound proof walls to try to seal

themselves off from others in order to concentrate on their work. The French have a close personal distance and are not as territorial. They are tied to people and thrive on constant interaction and high-information flow, to provide them the context they need''. In other words, for the Germans [as well as the British and the Chinese; see Scollon, op. cit], closing doors implies the values of order and respect. For the French [and even the Americans; see Kramsch, 1993], leaving doors open suggests friendliness and sociability. In addition, different cultures regard the proper space to be respected in interpersonal interactions in different ways (as pointed out on p28)(1). With respect to context, people and cultures may be high- or low-context. High- context people (unlike low- context ones) are well informed even outside their spatial area of expertise, and do not need to be given background information when interacting with others. Put in other words, in a high context culture communication is mainly based on information embedded in the surrounding physical environment or in the communicators brain, while in a low-context culture, much of the information is explicitly expressed, in Halls (1977; in Damen, op. cit: 78) words '' A high context (HC) communication or message is one in which most of the information is either in the physical context or internalized in the person, while very little is in the coded, explicit, transmitted part of the message. A low-context (LC) communication is just the opposite; i.e., the mass of the information is vested in the explicit code''. Interaction between high- and low-context cultures may engender misunderstandings and friction, as explained by Seelye (1993: 9):
Sojourners who are socialized in high-context cultures (e.g., Hispanic, Arabic, Japanese) and then travel to a low-context one (the United States or Germany) often erroneously perceive slights and insults where none were intended. Conversely, the low-context person often misses the barbs in interactions in a high-context culture. Its like someone from a non tonal language such as English trying to hear the difference between two utterances that appear identical save a tonal difference.
(1)

See chapter two, section 2.4 for further elucidation of this point

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Damen (op.cit: 79) adds that ''High context groups were characterized as generally more traditional, slow to change, and highly stable; while low context groups were associated with technological, fast-paced, and less stable groups.'' How information is dealt with in culture is one of its crucial aspects. The information flow may be free and rapid; this is the case in the French culture, for instance. In the German culture, in contrast, information flows relatively slowly. The greater the difference in such things as time, context, and space between two cultures the more difficult the interface will be between them. The term interfacing derives from the technical terminology of computers and is used by Hall and Hall (op. cit: 184) to mean the key to combining and using different systems''. 2.2.2.3. Other Sets of Dimensions The value orientations approach as elaborated by Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck (1961; in Damen op. cit.) analyses cultures and cross cultural variations on the basis of other dimensions. This approach has as its cornerstone the assumption that values in all cultures revolve around five universal human problems, having to do with mans relationship to the environment, human nature, time, activity, and human interaction. In relation to each aspect, cultures may be classified along a continuum of variations having three focal points: an intermediate and two extreme points. For instance, concerning the relationship man / environment, the three focal points are: human mastery over nature, harmony with nature, and subjugation to nature. For the human nature orientation, variations range from good to evil with a mixture of both in the middle. The dimension of time, as dealt with in the previously mentioned approach, has three focal points: past, present and future and a culture may be oriented accordingly. With respect to the activity dimension, cultures may be action oriented, or beingoriented, or somehow both in an intermediate point. Past oriented cultures are said to be reflective, beingoriented cultures, whereas future oriented ones are geared to action. On this basis, one can decide peoples ''inventive drive, entrepreneurial dynamics, abilities with technology, and investment behavior'' in a particular culture (Von Barloewen, op.cit: 47). As to the human interaction dimension, variations range from individual-, to group-oriented, with a concern with both in a middle point. Along these lines, cultures' profiles could be drawn and

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orientations determined. The value orientations' approach aimed thus at constructing cultures profiles, and explaining why people in a particular culture act the way they do. Furthermore, contrasting such cultures' profiles in relation to these dimensions is insightful in that it enables a better understanding of these cultures, including ones own, and alerts one to the need to examine things from different perspectives. Other scholars developed other sets of dimensions to draw cultural profiles. Halls (1959) list (in Brooks, op. cit.) includes: 1. Interaction (to interact with others) 2. Association (to associate with others) 3. Subsistence (to gain the requirements of living) 4. Bi-sexuality (men and women and the ways they relate to each other) 5. Temporality (time and its effect) 6. Territoriality (space and ones relation to it) 7. Learning (formal and informal learning) 8. Play (games, sports...) 9. Defense (to defend what one values) 10. Exploitation (to control things) Brooks list (1968) had also ten but different focal points: 1. Symbolism (language, literature, art, politics, religion) 2. Value (personal preference and rejection, conscience, morality) 3. Authority (whose word is respected?) 4. Order (arrangement of thoughts and things) 5. Ceremony (dress, rituals, gay and solemn occasions) 6. Love (of different types) 7. Honor (high standards of personal conduct) 8. Humor (what is witty and comic) 9. Beauty (what is aesthetic, innovative, perfect) 10. Spirit (mans awareness of himself) All these approaches are insightful in that they enable an understanding of the true and deep nature of cultures and their categorization. They also help to throw light on the boundaries of variability within which human cultures manifest themselves, as well as on features common to all cultures.

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3. Interaction of Cultures The cultures of the world do not exist in isolation; they are rather in constant interaction. This interaction brings about enrichment and expansion, but also antagonism and dissension.

3.1. Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous Cultures Diversity denotes the state of being different or of unlikeness. In the context of society, diversity means differences in various factors that interact to define the society of a particular culture. For example, religion, art, food, educational level, and economic wealth may be similar for the majority of the people in a homogeneous culture. In a heterogeneous culture which includes many ethnic groups, there is diversity of cultural features. Put otherwise, a homogeneous culture is one in which the majority of the members share the same beliefs, attitudes and values and have little difference in economic wealth and social level. A heterogeneous culture, in contrast, is one in which members of the society come from diverse cultural groups. Besides, there are differences of economic, educational, and social levels among the groups who live in the same society. For Kramsch (1998: 50), every culture is heterogeneous in that ''it is composed of a variety of subcultures, and every situation elicits a variety of responses, even within the same national culture''. Hence, talking about the Western or the Arabic culture assumes that they are homogeneous entities, which is not true. Every culture is a continuum of patterns of behaviours, values, beliefs. Hippler (2002:10-11) states that the ''West''
encompasses religion and atheism, secularism and determinationalism, the philosophers of the Enlightenment, the inquisition, human rights, fascism and democracy. It also includes rural communities with close family ties and low mobility as well as highly adaptable experts in information technology and telecommunications. There are significant regional and national differences, different languages and dialects, patriarchal mentalities alongside feminism, progressives alongside reactionaries, bigotry alongside tolerance. The West is full of differences and contradictions.

This diversity is also sensed in the East and the Arab world. There are, thus, cultures or subcultures within cultures. According to Jandt (op.cit:11), ''A subculture resembles a culture in that it usually encompasses a relatively large number of

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people and represents the accumulation of generations of human striving. However, subcultures have some important differences: they exist within dominant cultures and are often based on economic or social class, ethnicity, race, or geographic region''. A social class, for instance, is a subculture since, among other things, members belonging to different social classes advocate different values. An ethnic group is another subculture given its very definition: it may be regarded as ''a group of people of the same descent and heritage who serve a common and distinctive culture passed on through generations []. Ethnic groups can exhibit such distinguishing features as language or accent, physical features, family names, customs and religion.'' (Jandt, op.cit: 13). Subcultures based on ethnicity may be living within the same one dominant culture. USA offers a perfect example in this regard. Subcultures can as well be based on race. A race is a group of people descended from the same ancestors. Nevertheless, people may belong to the same race but to different cultures USA, for instance, is said to be a culture of all races. Some scholars prefer to use the term co-culture instead of sub-culture, believing that the former implies mutuality, whereas the latter carries meanings of inferiority and subordination. Actually, there is a dominant powerful culture and a less powerful subculture, especially when it comes to the legal system of a nation. The best example may the case of the subculture of Native Americans in USA. At this stage, it is relevant to refer to sub-group or membership group. It gathers people who have common interests and characteristics on the basis of such factors as occupation, age, and religious affiliation. When people belong to the same profession, for instance, they usually dress alike, and share a common code of language and behaviour. In other words, sub-group members share words and ideas, norms and values. Students, for example, form a sub-group having its own values and patterns of behaviour; the military, teachers, doctors; police officers are other examples of sub-groups. It should be noted that communication problems may occur between sub-groups just like they do between global cultures or sub-cultures. Many conflicts between parents and children originate from incompatibilities between the system of norms and values that operate at home (with ones parents) and the one that is valid outside of it (with one's friends). All of us are and have been members of a variety of sub-groups. Our culture, sub-culture (race; ethnicity; economic or social class; geographical region) and sub-group (sex; age; occupation; hobbies) help define who we are. 50

3.2. Dominant vs. Minority Cultures The diversity of cultures and sub-cultures as mentioned above is a fact. It does not only signify difference but also variety. Standards and norms are established according to the beliefs and norms of the majority group or culture; national identities develop on the basis of sameness of ethnic origin, language, religion and culture, hence the existence of dominant and minority cultures: ''the common cultural patterns that apply to the entire country represent the dominant culture in a heterogeneous society.'' (Matikainen and Duffy, op.cit: 41). In other words, a dominant culture or dominant cultural patterns are those that represent the majority or the largest number of people. In a community, there is usually a dominant culture (and language) and minority subcultures (and languages). People belonging to the latter generally find themselves victims of prejudice when it comes to jobs, education, housing and so on. Kramsch (1998: 9) believes that the culture of a group is that of the powerful: ''only the powerful decide whose values and beliefs will be deemed worth adopting by the group, which historical events are worth commemorating, which future is worth imagining. Cultures and especially national cultures resonate with the voices of the powerful, and are filled with the silences of the powerless''. What is more, a powerful culture may consider and put it forward as an absolute truth that other cultures are inferior, and only its beliefs and values are fitting. Thus, one needs to reflect upon (not to say question) universal truths, for knowledge is usually coloured by the socio-cultural context in which it is learned. Theoretically, speaking, races, languages and cultures are considered as equal. A language is considered a good language, as long as it satisfies the needs of its users, and so is a culture. Field work by Boas and other leaders in American anthropology did not confirm the previously held belief that American Indians' cultures and languages were primitive and ill-formed. On the contrary, it uncovered the fact that they were complex and required the direct observation of details to be described, rather than relying merely on general laws of behaviour. Among other things, a difference was pointed out between the behaviours and skills that are valued as intelligent in the Native American Indian culture and that of the white man in USA (Christison, 1998). Boas (1940; in Baugh, 1988: 64) puts it clearly that ''the present state of our knowledge justifies us in saying that, while individuals differ, biological differences between races are small. There is no reason to believe that 51

one race is by nature much more intelligent, endowed with great will power, or emotionally more stable than another that the difference would materially influence its culture''. Furthermore, the claim that oral cultures (i.e., those which make little or no use of written language) are said to be primitive while literate cultures (i.e., those which make extensive use of writing and printing) are considered as civilized is now widely rejected (Great Divide; in Kramsch, 1998).In fact, literacy should not be restricted to the written medium. According to Kramsch, there should be a recognizance of multiple literacies that are socially constructed and that are linked to various genres (literature, press, science). The equality of cultures is not, however, reflected in reality. Indeed, the world witnesses the existence of dominant, superior languages, cultures and races, as well as subordinate, inferior ones ; in Baughs opinion (op. cit:65):
Domination of some groups over others has been the rule rather than the exception throughout history [] racists believe that their language (and most other aspects of their culture) is superior to those of the inferior races. Such an attitude, if supported by political domination, whether overt or covert, is used to justify attempts to impose various doctrines on racially subordinate groups. Ironically, these policies are usually offered in the name of improving the plight of less fortunate people.

Barrow, (1990:8-9) is among those who believe that some cultures are more valuable than others: ''Some cultures are superior to others, at least in certain specific respects''. By these respects, he means ''their literature, their morality, their industrial capacity, their agricultural efficiency, their scientific understanding and so forth''. In relation to these 'civilizational' spheres including Big 'C' cultural and artistic aspects, cultures may indeed, show discrepancy. Nevertheless, when it comes to small 'c' deep culture, that is thought and behaviour patterns, world perceptions and assumptions, norms and values, to talk about superiority or inferiority of cultures is, in our view, an ethnocentric, subjective and even imperialistic attitude. Being of a different culture does not mean being superior, inferior, or suspect. Rather, cultural differences should be respected and tolerated; they bring richness and quality to the human cultural heritage. Todays generations are building common threads around which differences can exist in harmony and values can be shared. Nevertheless, this change in worldview is not readily accepted and adopted. Many long-standing prejudices and practices against the other culture(s) still exist in

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all societies. Education and teaching, particularly foreign language (FL) teaching is one of the ways to overcome these prejudices. In culture teaching, it is important not to idealise or undervalue other cultures. A realistic attitude helps the learners to make comparisons, to be able to recognize the typical features of another culture, and understand more their own. An intercultural society is a society which recognizes the importance of common norms and languages but also recognizes the specificities of minorities, and in which diversity is perceived as a mutual source of enrichment. In other words, an intercultural society is the one that is founded on the recognition of and openness to cultural differences, as well as flexibility and acceptance of change. 3.3. Culture Shock Culture shock is a reaction of astonishment, frustration and rejection or even revolt, an emotional and intellectual experience relevant to those who find themselves for one reason or another outside their native culture (NC). It is an important element in intercultural interactions. When interacting within a foreign culture (FC), one may witness what shocks one as vulgar, obscene, and barbaric. Culture shock in Koyamas words (op. cit: 6) is the ''bewilderment in a new environment''. According to him, at first, there is the euphoric stage during which new comers into a culture see positively everything novel: ''New comers generously evaluate every aspect of the new culture _ very often to the extent that they regard it as being better than their own'' (p 6). This is the positive side of culture shock, according to Jordan (1997: 104), that is, the ''excitement caused by the prospect of something new and interesting''. Then, new comers to a culture go through a period of grievance and bitterness, when they feel irritated and vulnerable and often seek refuge in people of the same cultural background. This stage is followed by a stage of acceptance and recovery in which they eventually learn to adapt themselves to the new environment and /or culture. Damen (op. cit: 261) summarizes these stages in the following words: ''sinking from a high point of enthusiasm at the beginning of the episode to a stage of despondency as culture shock is experienced, and then rising to higher levels of adjustment both in the host culture and in the home culture''. These stages, in her opinion, illustrate Gullahorn's (1963) view, that the adjustment process of sojourners in a FC is based on a W curve. According to Cushner and Brislin (op.cit), individuals experience culture shock when they feel that there is a pressing demand on them to make many adjustments 53

at a time in their new environment: work and eating habits, interpersonal relations patterns, communication patterns, dressing ways . This engenders ''the problems of fatigue, sleeplessness, anxiety, depressions, anger and malaise'' (Damen, op.cit: 261), in addition to a feeling of not belonging and a sense of loss of what is familiar. It should be noted that culture shock may occur in a FL class, and is not necessarily connected to a sojourn or settling in the FC in question: ''the effects of culture shock may even be manifested in the foreign language classroom where the distance between native and acquired cultures is great. The classroom use of second language features should be considered for their role in addressing, or conversely, exacerbating this problem.'' (Potter, 1995: 77). Emerique (1985) lists five major areas where culture shock is likely to occur: first, shocks related to the differential perception of space and time ; second, shocks due to differences in the structure of the family: family type, parental system, socialization of children, gender roles, modalities of communication and modes of social control; third, shocks having to do with sociability: hospitality, gifts, exchanges, codes of well being..; fourth, shocks related to help request; and fifth, shocks pertaining to religious rites and beliefs which accompany the most important moments of an individuals life from birth to death. A situation of culture shock related by a French educator and reported by Emerique (op.cit: 285) reflects feelings of uneasiness and consternation facing a mourning family:
Il sagit dun assassinat dun jeune fils de Harki, 25 ans environ, assassin la sortie dune boite de nuit. Moi jinterviens dans la famille depuis pas mal de temps. []Le jour de cet vnement toute la famille a t prvenue dans toute la France et la mre qui dhabitude tait trs passive et ne bougeait pas, ce jour l elle tait trs disperse, elle courait dans tout le camp pour chercher de l' eau avec des sceaux. Cela ma paru dingue cette dmarche ; la chambre du garon a t lave et on a profit pour laver toute la maison. Mai, je me trouvais l par hasard et je ne jouais pas au curieux. Jai eu limpression quil y avait la fte la maison et cela ma profondment choqu.

To cope with culture shock, one is recommended to attempt to see things from the others perspective, as so aptly put by an orientation seminar coordinator: ''Dont look at things through your own sunglasses. When you feel lost or angry in the new society you are about to join, take off your sunglasses and look around'' (Koyama, op. cit: 7). Besides, culture shock, if properly analysed, plays an important role in 54

revealing aspects of ones own culture and social identity. One knows oneself through knowledge of 'the other'. Usually people do not consciously think or meditate upon their culture. Many of them take it for granted. The issue of culture is raised only in some situations, namely when travelling abroad, when facing instances of a culture that are so different from ones own (culture shock), and in specific religious or social rituals. FL learners have a further opportunity to reflect upon their NC in the framework of their studies, that is, in relation to the TL culture. 3.4. Cultural Globalization or Cultural Imperialism?

Thursday morning in Berlin. During a breakfast consisting of Darjeeling tea from India and bio-dynamic musli from Uc kermark we can scan the newspaper: Korean yodeller Kim Chul Hong has won first prize at the Swiss Music Festival being held in the Japanese town of Norikura ; a German and a Japanese company have made their joint venture plans known . Later , the BBC world Service broadcasts a report about a new initiative from Bangladesh bank (Breidenbach and Zukrigl, 2000 : 40 )

The quotation above is but one instance depicting the world as a small village in a global era. Nowadays, the world is witnessing unceasing peoples movements, namely movements of businessmen, sportsmen, refugees, immigrants, students, diplomats, members of international organizations, tourists and others. In addition, the world is getting more and more unified thanks to the tremendous development achieved in the field of communication. Modern means of communication have facilitated the interaction of people, and hence of languages and cultures. What was before isolated and relatively unknown has become now part of the world system. As a result, schools are adjusting programmes, and working forces are integrating many nationalities and races. Cushner and Brislin (op.cit:1) state: ''It has become clear to many people that, like it or not and ready or not, the conditions of the world are such that we are all increasingly coming into contact with those who are different from ourselves''. Because cultures are in constant interaction, they overlap and borrow from each other. People do not remain within the frontiers of their NC; they venture beyond. This may be reflected in the clothes they wear, the food they eat, the music they listen to, and sometimes even in their ways of thinking and behaving. Mee Cheah (1996: 193) writes about new 'border lands': ''Cultural border crossings do not

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necessarily mean stepping into a different culture but new cultural border lands can be formed where shared beliefs and values are developed''. Some observers speak of cultural mix and of a blurred line between what is local and native and what is distant and foreign. Instances of racial mix are, to mention but two, the case of Tiger Woods , the international gulf star who calls himself Cablinasian (i.e., Caucasian + black + Indian + Asian) , and the case of Noah Becker, the son of tennis player Boris and his black wife. As defined by Tomlinson (1997: 170 -171), globalization (usually written with z) refers to
the rapidly developing process of complex interconnections between societies, cultures, in situations and individuals world wide. It is a process which involves a compression of time and space(Harvey,1989), shrinking distances through a dramatic reduction in the time taken either physically or representationally to cross them, so making the world seem smaller and in a certain sense bringing human beings closer to one another.

Anyone interested in debates about globalization finds, no doubt, a wide range of positions on several issues, and this is unsurprising given the complexity of this phenomenon. Some believe that the globalization process goes back to the 15th century, when Europeans began to colonize the world; others think it to belong to the second part of the twentieth century. Some view it as a 'done deal', whereas for others it is a 'work in progress' (Block, 2004:75). The interaction of cultures may thus be viewed as a positive process, in that it brings about variety which in turn leads to enrichment and expansion: ''Cultures enrich one another this keeps them alive and protects them from museum like paralysis.'' (Naumann, 2000:3). Along these lines, some scholars visualize culture in broad terms: they view it as general rather than specific, flexible rather than rigid, and unifying rather than separating or distinguishing; they conceive it as a world phenomenon rather than a group or an individual feature. Put otherwise, culture is not ''a clearly defined, relatively static unit'' but ''a moving river of various meanings which continually dissolves old relationships and makes new connections and associations'' (Breidenbach and Zukrigl, op.cit: 42). It is no longer associated with a community of people living in the same geographical area and sharing a common historical origin: ''Today's culture is not the culture associated with a place, it is the culture of a time'' (Von Barlowen, op.cit: 46). Focus is now on a common culture that

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goes beyond geographical borders and that connects people on social, professional, artistic, economic, technological bases. Nowadays, we talk about youth culture, internet users culture, artists' culture , each of which may be seen as a global culture. In this framework, ''an increasing number of people relate to a growing number of universal categories, ideas, standards, and have access to the same goods and stories'' (Breidenbach and Zukrigl, op.cit: 42). We believe that a culture denotes an identity, a way life, a conception and an interpretation of the world, a personality, a belief, a value that are, doubtless, not shared by all humans. But this fact does not exclude interchange, sharing and caring. Besides, the interaction of cultures carries an inherent risk of intercultural and ethnic conflict. Different cultures particularly those belonging to the Arab and European worlds have had tense relationships marked by prejudice and fear. In cases of confrontation and clash, people identify strongly with their NC which confers on them their identity: they are nobody, unless they belong to a culture. Acceptance of other cultures is a difficult and gradual process. Crucial issues such as cultural identity and nationalism are brought to the fore in a period of rapid social change. In an attempt to preserve ones culture, one's language, ones religion, ones history, ones ethnic belongingness, people get involved in conflicts. The image conveyed by the media worsened the situation: (Rotter, 2000: 52)
These days newspapers and magazines, radio and television, and increasingly the internet in short, the mediaare the transmitters of information per se. Yet, stereotypes , prejudices , deliberate misinterpretations and exaggerations that consciously or unconsciously exercise a decisive influence on the opinions held by media consumers everywhere are also transmitted via these channels.

Accordingly, one may view the others culture as strange, alien, or even hostile and threatening. Ones negative stereotypes may eventually lead to a battle of cultures, a battle in which languages and religions are used as arms. What is more , the intensive interaction of world cultures may lead them to melt in the same mould imposed by one culture what Breidenbach and Zukrigl (op.cit) call the Homogenization scenario , that is one or more culture(s) may attempt to dominate the other cultures . Instances of wearing Jeans and eating Big Macs almost all

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over the world lead us to say that this major culture is likely to be the Western American culture. Cultural imperialism as defined by OSullivan et al. (op .cit: 73) is
both an integral part and product of a more general process of imperialism , whereby certain economically dominant nations systematically develop and extend their economic , political and cultural control over other countries [] The local cultures of developing nations become dominated and in varying degrees invaded, displaced and challenged by foreign, often western, cultures.

In other words, cultural imperialism occurs when the NC and its language are presented and deemed as backward and incapable of modernity. Kramsch (1998: 129) refers to linguistic imperialism or ''worldwide expansion of one language at the expense of others''. Instances of cultural imperialism abound in ones everyday life: (Tomlinson, op .cit: 176 177)
The distantiated influences which order our everyday lives can easily appear as those of the culturally dominated other: from the McDonald's restaurant, that replaces the local caf to the multiplex cinema vertically integrated into the Hollywood distribution system and thus showing almost exclusively American films. If you happen to live in the third world, the sense of distanciated influences must seem almost total: from the western brand marks which carry the most social cachet, to the transnational that owns the plant where you work, to the world bank that provides the development bans but also dictates the pattern of that development and, in extremis to the foreign aid workers who try to keep you alive at feeding centres and in refugee camps.

FL teaching can as well be a powerful way to promote imperialistic forces, in that it may be a vehicle for the introduction of alien and harmful ideas. Educators who are against the integration of the FC in the FL curriculum argue that such integration would foster cultural imperialism, threatening ones national cultural identity .They believe that cultural globalization is but an extension or a deepening of the cultural imperialism of the West , an Americanization or a 'Westernization' : (Tomlinson, op.cit: 174):

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Globalization is either just the latest term for, or the latest stage in, a process with a long history, a history more or less co-extensive with the history of Western imperialism. It is simply the global working through a process of domination in which the West (or American, or transnational capitalism) draws all its cultures into its ambit.

On this basis , if the dominant others ( meaning north American , western European , possibly Australian cultures ) are being imposed locally in terms of clothes , food , music , television programmes , architecture , , why reinforcing them further through FL teaching ? On the other hand, it is argued that there is no such Americanization or cultural imperialism, if people look beyond what seems evident. In relation to USA television exports, it is proved that, though they are dominant especially in third world countries, there is actually high competition in this domain on the part of other international and national companies. There is, thus, a 'pluralization' in the cultural production, and not oneculture dominance. The cultural imperialism perspective referred to before is due to the long history of western colonialism and imperialism in the third world. Besides, this perspective overlooks the fact that in the process of the interaction of cultures, there is mutual influence and not ''a unidirectional flow of power'' (Tomlinson, op.cit:181) on the part of a strong culture over a weaker one. Although cultures may lose some of their particularities in the globalization process, it should not be forgotten that the diversity emanating from world cultures leads to the enrichment of the human cultural heritage. One only needs to do away with value judgments, and to pick up what is in conformity with ones religion and morality. There are, thus, two opposing views when considering the interaction of cultures: some professionals speak of a clash of civilizations, others of a dialogue of cultures. In other words, some consider that ''cultures are divided by fundamental differences'', and others believe that cultures are ''united by the opportunity and need for dialogue'' (Hippler, op.cit:10), a dialogue which assumes the equality of its parties and the focus on their similarities rather than differences. We believe that dialogue is always needed to promote attitudes of tolerance, acceptance and respect, and to ease tensions and hostilities. In this regard, the United Nations Educational Scientific and cultural organization (UNESCO) has proclaimed 2001 the year of dialogue between cultures, a dialogue to be promoted through international seminars, conferences, scholarships and exchange programmes. A global culture is indeed, likely to be shaped in western terms. This does not mean that they are 59

unchallengeable. The role of the other parties particularly people in oriental cultures is to critically analyse concepts and behaviours, to adapt and not adopt them, but above all, to defend their own position. Along these lines, a global culture will be a ''structure of common differences'' (Wilk ; in Breidenbach and Zukrigl, op.cit: 42), i.e., a common framework to manifest differences , aiming at a better understanding and recognition of others and a better communication with them. Feminism, for example, is a global culture within which womens rights are viewed in different perspectives: western feminists, for instance, have as ideals individual self-determination and equality in the work place; women in southern countries are chiefly concerned with economic and legal equality. The global feminism culture provides a frame to reconcile to some extent differences, and to find grounds of common interest to promote women welfare all over the world; why not a global feminine culture inspired from Islam?

Conclusion The concept of culture, its elements, dimensions and variation are the concern of many scholars of the past and of today. They assign culture an umbrella definition, in the sense that they link it to all aspects pervading human life: dressing, eating, marrying, worshipping, educating, working, thinking, speaking, . Perhaps the most concise definition of culture is Lados (op.cit), depicting it as the ''ways of a people''. The human civilization is wealthy in the matter of cultures. This wealth and diversity of cultures may however be a source of trouble and conflict when it comes to questions of values, identity, religion, and nationalism.Intercultural dialogue is an important means to overcome cultural crises. This remains one of the crucial challenges facing the twenty first century generations.

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CHAPTER TWO

CULTURE, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

Introduction

1. A SocioCultural View of Language 1.1. Language and Context 1.1.1. Disciplines that Study Language in Context 1.1.2. Types of Context 1.2. Language and Culture 1.2.1. Original Interest in the Relationship Language / Culture 1.2.2. Nature of the Relationship 1.2.3. Illustrations 1.2.4. The English Language and Culture 1.3. The Linguistic Relativity hypothesis 1.3.1. Definition 1.3.2. Illustrations 1.3.3. Criticism 1.4. Language, Culture and Identity 1.4.1. Nature of the Relationship Language, Culture and Identity 1.4.2. IdentityRelated Issues 2. A Socio-Cultural View of Communication 2.1. Communication and Culture 2.1.1. Communication as a CultureSpecific Act 2.1.2. Culture in CrossCultural Communicative Interactions 2.1.3. Instances of CrossCultural Communication Breakdown 2.2. Cultural Studies of Communication 2.2.1. Ethnography of Communication 2.2.2. Intercultural Communication Studies 2.3. Beyond Communicative Competence 2.4. Culture and NonVerbal Communication 2.4.1. Culture and Kinesics 2.4.2. Culture and Proxemics Conclusion

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Introduction In chapter one we saw that culture embraces everything that makes a group of people unique. In chapter two, spotlight is on the relationship culture, language and communication. A language is an aspect of a culture and a culture is an aspect of a language; both are so intimately interwoven that they cannot be separated without losing their essence and significance. The Sapir/Whorf hypothesis in its strong version assumes a causal relationship between language and culture, with language having a dominant controlling force over peoples minds, behaviours and world-views. Language and culture are interwoven in patterns of communication. Without language, communication would be very restricted; without culture, there would be no communication at all.

1. A Socio-Cultural View of Language The view of language as a system of structures has long since been transcended. The birth of sociolinguistics in the early seventies, and later of disciplines which derive from it, such as the ethnography of communication, has led to an increasing focus on language as a socio-cultural phenomenon. The fact that language and culture mutually act upon and depend on each other is more and more recognized and supported by research evidence. 1.1. Language and Context 1.1.1. Disciplines that Study Language in Context ''There is neither a society without a language nor a language without a society which uses it'' (Baylon and Fabre, 1975; our translation)1. On the basis of this double implication was born the discipline of sociolinguistics. Sociolinguistics views language as a socio-cultural phenomenon: ''language, of course, is more than a mental phenomenon. Indeed, many would say that such a function is secondary to its role in social interaction, i.e., to its function in communication and as the principal agent for the transmission of cultural and social values'' (Newmeyer, 1988: vii). For Trudgill (1992: 43), language is ''not only a linguistic but also a political, cultural, social and historical term''.

- Il nya pas de socit sans langue ni de langue sans socit qui parle.

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Historically speaking, sociolinguistics developed as a fully-fledged discipline in the sixties and seventies. Its origin goes back to American social anthropologists' works in the twenties and thirties, on the connection between cultural meanings and language. Sapir's (1920; in Hinkel, op.cit) theory about language as a social phenomenon was leading as regards relating language to its socio-cultural context. It inspired such prominent works as the one of Hymes and Gumperz (in Goddard and Wierzbicka, op.cit), mainly in the seventies, which made explicit the connection between language and culture. Hymes theory of communicative competence includes the speakers ability to use language appropriately in socio-cultural contexts. He emphasizes the need to consider the socio-cultural factors at work in any communicative interaction, i.e., the participants and their social status, setting, purposes of the interaction, social and cultural norms of appropriateness... .(1) Searles and Austins (in Corder, 1973) theory on speech acts, in the fifties and sixties, was also influential in that it provided the cornerstone to studies of language in use such as pragmatics. The latter analyses such parameters of speech acts as the speakers meaning, goal and intention, presuppositions, assumptions, and shared knowledge, which are culturally defined. According to the speech act theory, language is regularly used by members of a social and cultural group, who are expected to behave according to the social context and to defined cultural norms, with which non-native speakers may not be familiar. In Britain, it is in the theoretical models elaborated, beginning from the thirties, by Malinowski, Firth and later by Halliday (cited in Dubin and Olshtain, 1986) that the relationship between language, society and culture was highlighted, by drawing attention, for the first time, to the importance of the context of situation for the production and interpretation of language. The socio-cultural background of written discourse was one of the objects of study of the Prague school of linguistics, in the thirties. According to Lavandera (1988), Chomsky is indirectly held responsible of the growing interest in the study of language in its socio-cultural context, what his paradigm paradoxically does deemphasize and even exclude. There is considerable overlap between sociolinguistics and ethnolinguistics given that these disciplines are both assigned broad definitions: sociolinguistics is usually defined as the study of language in relation to society, and ethnolinguistics is

(1)

See section 2.3 for more about 'communicative competence'

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known as the study of language in relation to culture, taking culture in its anthropological sense. As culture and society interpenetrate and depend on each other, so do their respective disciplines. According to Baylon and Fabre (op.cit), sociolinguistics is a vast domain which encompasses ethnolinguistics, sociology of language, geographical linguistics or dialectology, and other disciplines concerned with the systematic study of language use in social life. Each discipline, however, has its focus and methodology. Sociology of language is the study of language facts as indicators of social cleavage, with a special focus on non-linguistic factors. Dialectology or linguistic geography is a comparative study of the local varieties of a language. Ethnolinguistics, as mentioned above, studies a language as the expression of a culture and in relation to a situation of communication. The relationship between language and culture has been the object of ethnolinguists' investigations, in the eighties and the nineties. Research findings in this regard demonstrate that the language acquisition process, for instance, does not progress in the same universal way. Rather, it follows a sequence that is determined by the cultural context in which it takes place. In fact, the way children interact and use language in the society is culturally-determined. Therefore, the form and content of their utterances will develop on this basis. It was shown as well that the input they are exposed to is more socio-cultural than purely linguistic or grammatical in nature. It is also rich in terms of paralinguistic patterns of communication, which are, similarly, culture-bound(1). The ethnography of speaking is another subfield of sociolinguistics which studies the norms for using language in social situations in different cultures; in Durantis (1988:210) words, it ''studies language use as displayed in the daily life of particular speech communities''. The ethnography of communication is similar to the ethnography of speaking, but it is more inclusive in that it embraces as well nonverbal communication(2). Discourse and conversation analysis are other studies interested in investigating language use in context. Their object of analysis is the utterance at the interpersonal level, namely, at the level of the interacting persons and their psychological aspects, rather than the social context of interaction. Their methodology is analogous to the one followed in Chomskyan linguistics. Intercultural
(1 ) (2 )

Paralinguistic communication will be discussed in section 2.4 See section 2.2 for more details about the ethnography of speaking (or of communication)

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communicative interactions may breakdown, because the participants operate with different rules and expectations. Discourse and conversation analysts attempt to investigate this question at length. Many other relevant research approaches fall under the heading of contrastive pragmatics. One of them was inspired by Grices (1975) maxims of conversation (e.g. be brief, be informative, be relevant, be clear) (in Goddard and Wierzbicka, op.cit). Another research work oriented towards universality is Brown and Levinsons strategies of politeness (1978; in Goddard and Wierzbicka, op.cit), supposed to underlie communicative interactions across cultures. Another trend analyses the way speech acts are realized in different cultures by both native and non-native speakers, what is known as interlanguage pragmatics. Data collection techniques used in contrastive pragmatics like questionnaires, surveys, role plays and discourse completion tasks enable the statistical interpretation of data, but they are based on a restricted amount of spontaneous speech. What distinguishes ethnographic approaches from pragmatic analyses is that the former are more concerned with the socio-cultural context of language use (Duranti, op.cit). The quantitative paradigm is another approach to language study mainly advocated by Labov and his collaborators. Its data are not based on the utterance, but on ''the aggregate statistical data that result from quantifying linguistic variables and correlating them with external variables in all the utterances of the corpus, which itself is obtained from a socio-economically representative sample of speakers.'' (Labov, 1972 a; in Newmeyer, op.cit: 2-3). Linguistic anthropology is a branch of anthropology that is equally interested in studying language and culture, or the cultural aspects of discourse. In this perspective, language use in considered as an integral part of the whole constituted by culture.

1.1.2. Types of Context In the framework of all these disciplines, increasing attention is given to the socio-cultural context of language use: ''sociolinguistics views any language as inseparable from its sociocultural context'' (Dubin and olshtain, op.cit: 69). Kramsch (1993: 35) points to the importance of such context stating: ''Constructing a speech event means not only having a choice of grammatical and lexical features, but deciding which to choose from, depending on ones assessment of the whole situation of communication, and on the expectations raised in the speaker and the 65

listener by that situation''. There are many contextual factors that are relevant to the production and the interpretation of speech. The immediate situation within which the speech act is performed is to be taken into account. Labov refers particularly to the features of the participants in a communicative situation such as sex, age, race and socioeconomic status. The larger situation in which the communicative event takes place is equally important. Researchers focus on specific speech community divisions such as groups, classes and influential cultural patterns. Other contextual factors have to do with the communitys shared knowledge, assumptions, beliefs, values, patterns of verbal and non-verbal behaviour and attitudes. Lavendra (op.cit) distinguishes the social context from the interpersonal context. The former focuses on the natural influence of linguistic and social factors. This issue is mainly considered in the ethnography of speaking and in other branches of sociolinguistics. The interpersonal context lays stress on the interacting psychologies of individuals (beliefs, intentions, presuppositions). It is the foundation of pragmatics, discourse analysis and conversation analysis. Studies done on politeness strategies are relevant in this context; they exclusively point to the relationships between speaker and hearer, disregarding significant social factors such as the distribution of power (Lavandera, op.cit). Doubtless, an exhaustive study of language in use must consider both social and interpersonal contexts. According to Kramsch (1993:42), four major contexts are to take account of: 'the linguistic context', 'the situational context', 'the interactional context' and the cultural context. The linguistic context is shaped by ''the intratextual linguistic demands of cohesion and coherence''. Put otherwise, ones choice of language forms and meanings depends on what preceded and what is to follow to achieve cohesive and coherent discourse. The situational context refers mainly to ''the physical setting and the participants'', i.e., the external context of communication. The interactional context has to do with ''the interactional demands of exchanging utterances both for display and for communication''. In other words, language is used according to the interactional needs and patterns imposed by the context of situation. The cultural context or the context of culture is considered as a larger kind of context. Malinowski (in Kramsch, ibid: 42) was the first to use the term 'context of culture' to mean ''the institutional and ideological background knowledge shared by participants in speech events''. Fowler (1986) calls it the communitys store of established knowledge, whereas Tannen (1979) refers to prior experience and expectations about the 66

world, and Lakoff and Johnson (1980) talk about a set of metaphors a society lives by (in Kramsch, ibid). It is the context of culture which makes the difference between native and non-native speakers' ways of using language, hence its relevance to FL teaching: (Saville-Troike, 1992; Becker 1992; cited in Kramsch, 1993:43)
This makes native speakers ways of speaking predictable enough to be understood by other speakers, but it is also what makes it so difficult for non-native speakers to communicate with native speakers, because they do not share the nativespeaking communitys memory and knowledge. And all the more so if they are fully socialized adults who carry with them twenty or thirty years of their own speech communitys ways of talking. Even if they have mastered the forms of the new language, they might still have difficulty in meeting the social expectations of speakers from the new speech community.

1.2. Language and Culture 1.2.1. Original Interest in the Relationship Language / Culture Interest and inquiry on the question of language and culture originate in the field of anthropology, as early as the end of the nineteenth century. The then researchers who investigated the structure of Amerindian languages (Boas, Sapir; in Hinkel, op. cit.) were the first to throw light on the crucial relationship of language and culture: language expresses the thoughts, beliefs and assumptions of a community, hence, language reflects ways of looking at the world and understanding reality. This thought was the core of what came to be known as the Sapir / Whorf hypothesis(1). The intimate interweaving of language and culture was pointed out in instances, as ''human culture without language is unthinkable.'' (Kluckhohn, 1944: 26; in Damen, op.cit: 84). The study of culture has developed under the heading of anthropology. Scholars as Geertz (1973) and Shweder (1984) (in Hinkel, op.cit.) did research works aimed at understanding cultures on the basis of the analysis of language in use. Language was already recognized as a valuable tool for the scientific study of culture. As early as 1949, Sapir wrote: ''It is an illusion to think that we can understand the significant outlines of a culture through sheer observation and without the guide of the linguistic symbolism which makes these outlines significant and intelligible to society'' (Sapir, 1949; in Lado, op.cit: 116).

(1]

This hypothesis is dealt with in section 1.3

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In a like manner, sociologists have recognized the interdependence of language and culture, in the early 1900s. Durkheim (1912; in Thanasoulas, op.cit.), for example, observes that a child acquires his /her mother tongue within its culture specific framework. Put otherwise, as part of language acquisition, a child internalizes associations that are built on the basis of the cultural environment within which s/he is being socialised. Doubtless, these associations will vary from one culture to another, and hence the rationale of the linguistic relativity hypothesis. The issue of language and culture is also of major importance in sociolinguistics and ethnolinguistics (as demonstrated in the previous section). 1.2.2. Nature of the Relationship Language and culture cannot be separated given the very definition of language. It is widely agreed that language is a social institution that operates within a socio-cultural group or in cultural niches (Eleanor Armour-Thomas & Sharon- Ann Gopaul-McNicol, 1998; in Thanasoulas, op.cit.). We cannot conceive of a language in a vacuum. Any language has a setting, and its setting is a society, a culture, hence, language and culture interpenetrate. Thanasoulas elucidates this complex

relationship, stating that language serves as a complex system to classify experience, an important window on the universe of thought, a link between thought and behaviour, and a prototypical tool for interacting with the world. In one word, to speak a language means to enter a culture; it is through language that one is considered as a member of a community, of a culture. For Kramsch (1998:3), language relates to culture in three main complex ways. First, ''language expresses cultural reality'', for it enables its speakers to express ideas, facts, attitudes and beliefs that can only be understood when shared within a specific cultural setting. Second, ''language embodies cultural reality'', since it is a system that is inherently creative, in the sense that it enables people to use it in various ways, for example, face to face interaction, reading / writing messages, speakers on the telephone. Moreover, using language through one medium or another gives way to a variety of possible meanings, depending on the tone of the speakers voice, accent, adopted style..., which are significant to the members of the same culture. Third, ''language symbolizes cultural reality'', because it symbolizes ones identity, in Sapirs words (1964; in Damen, op.cit: 84), language may be thought of as the ''symbolic guide to culture''. 68

Among the characteristics of human communication, or language, Hockett (1960; in Damen, op.cit) cites traditional or cultural transmission, a feature that closely links language to culture. Hickerson (1980; in Damen, op.cit:119) states:
Although the potential for using language ... is biologically transmitted, specific languages are taught and learned. They are passed on traditionally, generation after generation, from older speakers (who already know the language) to younger ones (who acquire it). In turn, language enables humans to learn other things through tradition rather than by direct experience.

In other words, language is culturally transmitted in the sense that one learns the language of the culture in which s/he is being raised, regardless of the language of ones biological parents. On the other hand, language reflects culture and enables its speakers to recognize and learn aspects of the culture they bear, as concisely put by Jin and Cortazzi (1998:100) ''language reflects culture. However, language is part of culture and it also constitutes culture''. Limbach (2002:25) puts it clearly that '' if I would like to generate enthusiasm for the culture of my country, then I must encourage people in other countries to speak my language. The language is always the first tool, as it were, when introducing others to specific cultural achievements''. For Corder (op.cit:69),'' there is a necessary connection between a community possessing a distinctive culture on the one hand and the nature of its language, that is, its dialect, on the other''. He believes the concept of language, unlike that of dialect, to be too vague and not functionally useful. As to the nature of this connection, he explains that ''language mediates between the individual and the culture'' (p70). He argues that the process of socialisation that a child goes through takes place within a defined linguistic framework. To achieve this mediation, a language should have codifiability, i.e., '' an economical and easily learned way of referring to objects and events which that culture classifies together, or regards as useful or important'' (Corder,op.cit:70). Put in other words, language should serve the cultural needs of the community in that linguistic entities should reflect what is culturally significant, what is culturally structured and highlighted, in a way that is economic and a form that is easily memorized. Metaphors portraying the relationship between language and culture are common. For instance, a language is frequently depicted as the mirror which reflects culture. Another instance is that which conceives of language and culture as forming

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an iceberg: what is visible is the part of culture represented by language; what is invisible is the culture part that is not reflected in language or that goes beyond it. For Jiang (2000), language and culture combine to form a living organism where language is flesh and culture is blood; thus, without culture, language would be dead and without language culture would be shapeless.

1.2.3. Illustrations Instances showing that language is deeply rooted in culture abound. To begin with, in vocabulary, there are always nuances of difference between synonyms or similar words in different languages. Thus, there is no perfect similarity or synonymy across languages. Indeed, members from different cultures associate seemingly the same word with different culturally pre-determined objects, feelings or beliefs (as will be illustrated in subsection 1.3.2) In grammar, the use of conjunctions, for example, may be culturally significant. The choice of a particular conjunction rather than another can reflect particular values, beliefs, assumptions or stereotypes: (Sercu, 1998: 267)
One can link he's from Madrid and he's very nice in a number of different ways. One could say: Although hes from Madrid, hes very nice. The speaker is then clearly negatively prejudiced against people living in Madrid. One could also say: he's from Madrid and he's very nice, which is a neutral description of that person. A third possibility would be: Because hes from Madrid, hes very nice, the speaker here being positively biased.

Another example may be the sentences she is not married, she would like a baby. Using 'and' as a conjunction is possible from the Western cultural point of you, whereas from the Eastern one though is more appropriate as a conjunction in this context. Moreover, pronouns in Spanish are culture-loaded. In other words, their daily use is related to one's feelings. Many factors are at work in this regard: politeness, groupness, the ego (Morain, 1970; in Kitao, 1991). In English, plural and singular forms are not merely based on the factor of number. Rather, their use depends on the way English-speaking people view things in the world (countable versus uncountable words, e.g. a cup of tea versus tea). Besides, a language can reflect the cultural dimension of power distance in its pronouns, for example, the availability of two forms for the second person pronoun in French (one indicates familiarity and

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close social relationship, and the second mirrors social distance and is used with people in position of power tu and vous, respectively). Many scholars have pointed to the cultural aspect inherent in language patterns and structures. Hill (1988:22) refers to what he calls the unsaid cultural meaning:
The realm of the unsaid, a vast and unspoken source of human cultural meaning derivable primarily only by inference, lies not only in the conditions of pragmatic interaction, but in the patterning of grammar itself. Linguists of every theoretical persuasion have pointed out that the surface representation of any sentence inevitably leaves out a great deal of semantic detail [for example] in the sentence she heard the piano there is likely to be a piano player who is not mentioned.

These grammatical images and others(1) are likely to be different from one language to another, and from one culture to another. Another aspect attesting to the close relationship of language and culture is language discourse patterns. For instance, the Arabic language, unlike English, mirrors a culture that is basically religious. References to 'God' and religion in general are very common in everyday situations: for example, no future event is usually mentioned without adding ' God Willing' (Insha Allah) as a reminder of the conviction that only the 'Almighty God' holds the secrets of the future. In English, the term ' god ' is only used in oaths (blasphemous or solemn) or in very formal situations (Harrell et al., 1965; in Hyde, 1994). Thus, language discourse patterns reflect, and are based on, the values and beliefs of the society. Accordingly, learning new languages does not mean merely learning new linguistic codes; it signifies as well acquiring new beliefs, attitudes, values, worldviews new cultures. Poetry and idiomaticity are other instances in which language and culture merge. One cannot usually grasp the figurative meanings of a poem or an idiom without having an appropriate cultural background, and so is the case of proverbs, similes, metaphors and sometimes even newspapers headlines. According to

Lakoff and Johnson (1980; in Lantolf, op.cit), language use is underlain by 'metaphors' that are culture-bound. For example, utterances like "thanks for your time" or ''you're wasting my time'' are based on the metaphorical concept that time is money ". Lakoff and Johnson refer to the 'cognitive metaphor' ''Good is UP and bad in DOWN'' in terms of which positive and negative aspects of life are expressed,
(1)

Other examples will be mentioned in the subsection 1.3.2.

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hence the expressions ''to be in top shape'' and ''to fall ill'', for example. All languages have metaphors, which may be different across cultures: ''Since metaphoricity is deeply rooted in the culture of a people, it is representative of how a given community cognizes reality, how a way of thinking evolved into specific traditions and social practices.'' (Ponterotto, 1994: 5). Masako (1991; in Ponterotto , ibid: 5-6 ) illustrates differences between the Japanese and American cultures

within the framework of the cognitive metaphor theory : for the Americans , for example , "sweet is good and sour is bad" , whereas for the Japanese a sweet person denotes a pushover or an immature , spoiled person; besides , in English , ideas are "in the mind" , in Japanese they are "in the belly" , hence the expressions 'he couldn't make up his mind' , in English, corresponding to 'he could not close his belly', in Japanese. Speakers are believed to be unconscious of these metaphors. Some of the latter are said to be universal, since they are said to exist in many languages, and may reflect some universal innate human culture. Moreover, the characteristics of a language may be as well those of its corresponding culture. A sexist language, for instance, reflects a sexist culture; it expresses the stereotypes, attitudes, expectations and prejudices of a cultural group. Leard (1998: 38) believes that one way to overcome the bias and stereotyped beliefs of a culture is by reconsidering aspects of its linguistic system: ''For those who believe that language and culture are interrelated, that language embodies and disseminates cultural assumptions and relations of power, the first step forward transforming a biased society may be to transform the language itself''. What is more, a language changes and evolves along with the culture it reflects. One reason why artificial languages such as universal languages (e.g., Esperanto) do not survive is the fact that they remain static, as they have no relationship to a culture.

1.2.4. The English Language and Culture With respect to the English language, some professionals refer to what they call 'Neutral' English (Hill, 1967), 'Nuclear' English (Quirk, 1981), i.e., 'a culturally unmarked' version of English "which would serve as a universal medium of communication" (Saleemi, 1985: 16). Along these lines, Chew (1991) argues for an IAL, namely, an international auxiliary language. She believes that ''We need a worldview of English, which recognizes that it no longer belongs exclusively to its native speakers. We must realise that when any language becomes international in 72

character, it cannot be bound to any culture. It cannot be owned by its native speakers'' (p 43). She states further that ''the English language has to be denationalized "(p 44). For Hasman (2000: 4), ''English is divesting itself of its political and cultural connotations as more people realized that English is not the property of only a few countries. Instead, it is a vehicle that is used globally and will lead to more opportunities. It belongs to whoever uses it for whatever purpose or need''. In other words, since English has long since been recognized as an international language, a language of wide communication, a language which enjoys an official status in many countries, it has become, at the same time, a language that belongs to no particular culture, that is, it has been emptied of its cultural connotations and specificities. English, as many other languages, changes constantly, reflecting patterns of interaction with other languages, and the developing communication needs of people. Nevertheless, can a language ever become a culturally neutral medium of communication? It is highly recognized that language is governed by numerous extra-linguistic factors (social, cultural, political, educational) interacting in a complex fashion. Thus, to attempt to 'simplify', 'generalize', or 'standardize' it is,

according to us, a theoretical enterprise, and yields an artificial product . Widdowson (1982; in Saleemi, op.cit: 17) puts it so aptly that '' a language stripped down to its bare essentials as a resource for impersonal reference is deprived at the same time of its potential for creativity and change, and the humanity of its users is diminished accordingly ... [ Such a language ] ceases to function as a natural language''. The cultural norms and conventions of a society are so deeply 'ingrained' in its language that one can hardly see how they could be 'extracted' or 'uprooted' from it . 1.3. The Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis 1.3.1. Definition Through language, humans make of their world a meaningful one. In other words, things in the world make sense to humans mainly through a mediator, language. The notion of "linguistic relativity" may be traced back to the writings of German scholars [Johann Herder (1744 -1803 ) and Wihem Von Humboladt (1762 - 1835); in Kramsch, 1998], at the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century, who, in a framework of 'nationalism', advanced that

different people speak different languages because they think differently. This 73

difference in thought patterns is reflected in language forms or structures which are said to affect the way people think and view the world around them the very conception of the "linguistic relativity" principle. In USA , it became the focus of attention of Boas ( 1858 -1942 ) and then of Sapir ( 1884 -1939 ) and his pupil Whorf ( 1897 -1941 ) ( in Kramsch , 1998 ) , hence the appellation Sapir / Whorf hypothesis. Boas observed that common phenomena elicited in different cultures and languages more or less distinctive reactions and attitudes. He pointed out the role of language in the unconscious shaping and explaining of the concepts of culture and thought , though he did not suggest a direct causal relationship . However, his student, Sapir (1929; in Damen, op.cit: 127) did suggest that: "We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation". In a like manner, Whorf, Sapir's student, believed that speakers of different languages viewed the world differently. He based his hypothesis on data from the Hopi language, an Indian language spoken in the north American south west. He demonstrated that this language has some grammatical categories that do not correspond to the 'Standard Average European' grammatical system, and that delineate different thought patterns. It was noted for example, that the Hopi language speakers conceive of time in a completely discrepant way from the English. This discrepancy is, according to the hypothesis, due to a difference in the structures of the Hopi and English languages. In other words , it was hypothesized that the structure of a language determines the thought patterns of its speakers, that the world as one knows it is largely predetermined by the language of one's culture : ( Whorf , 1956; in Corder, op.cit : 75 )
We dissect nature along lines laid down by our native languages. The categories and types that we isolate from the world of phenomena we do not find there because they stare every observer in the face ; on the contrary , the world is presented in a kaleidoscopic flux of impressions which has to be organized by our minds - and this means largely by the linguistic systems in our minds ... We are thus introduced to a new principle of relativity , which holds that all observers are not led by the same physical evidence to the same picture of the universe , unless their linguistic backgrounds are similar or can in some way be calibrated.

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For Damen ( op.cit:119), ''human language may be viewed as a system, as a vehicle for cultural transmission, as a formulaic force whose structures place their stamp upon the minds and actions of its speakers''. She elucidates the hypothesis stating : ''the Whorfian hypothesis, for it was more Whorf's than Sapir's, states that a causal arrow can be drawn from language categories and forms to cultural items and meanings , which in turn add up to a unique world view or system of cultural meanings , postulates , and theories . This is the strong version'' (p125). It is known as linguistic determinism. Mackey (1965 : 14) holds a similar view: " the content of language , far from being shaped by thought , is itself the shaper of our mental categories . It is the language content that shapes the mental content. An example is in order: the linguistic form "I see what you mean is based on the metaphor ''understanding is seeing". This metaphor provides a conceptual framework through which English speakers view the world. This view is not necessarily shared by other languages and cultures; different languages imply different world views. If we concede that language governs thought, it follows that a language structure is likely to hinder its speakers' grasping of particular thought patterns, as developed by the speakers of a different language: ( Barrow , op.cit: 4)
Particular communities may vary what they think worth reasoning about and, as a consequence, fail to develop a language for reasoning about certain things. This, in turn, will inhibit and restrict the chances of developed or refined thought about those things. For example , classical Greek indicates a concern with , and allows for sophisticated reasoning about , individual freedom ,which the contemporaneous language of the Persians does not.

The Sapir / Whorf hypothesis in its weak version, that is, what is known as 'linguists relativity', suggests that a language influences (rather than determines) the way one thinks and perceives the world, in the sense that its semantic encoding of experience highlights some aspects and not others. This varies across languages and cultures. Thus, what seems to be the same concept in different languages is not actually so, but there are underlying cultural nuances. Kramsch (1998: 14) states succinctly : "The theory of linguistic relativity does not claim that linguistic structure constrains what people can think or perceive, only that it tends to influence what they routinely do think ''. Put otherwise, this version of the hypothesis simply states

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that there is a relationship between language forms and cultural thought patterns, that language has an impact on mental activities in that it "provides the conceptual categories that influence how its speakers' perceptions are encoded and stored." (Jandt, op.cit:130). Hill (op. cit:15) distinguishes 'linguistic determinism' from 'linguistic relativity', stating that the latter, unlike the former, suggests that "there are no a priori constraints on the meanings which a human language might encode, and these encodings will shape unreflective understanding by speakers of a language". 1.3.2. Illustrations Kramsch (1998: 13 -14) reports the results of an experiment to illustrate the hypothesis:
Navajo children speak a language that encodes differently through different verbs the action of ' picking up a round object' like a ball and ' picking up a long, thin, flexible object, like a rope. When presented with a blue rope, a yellow rope , and a blue stick , and asked to choose which object goes best with the blue rope , most monolingual Navajo children chose the yellow rope , thus associating the objects on the basis of their physical form, whereas monolingual English speaking children almost always chose the blue stick, associating the objects on the basis of their color, although , of course both groups of children are perfectly able to distinguish both colors and shapes .

Speakers of different languages may therefore have rather different worldviews, depending on how different the languages are from one another, semantically and grammatically. The language and culture connection is especially manifested in the systems of categorization of natural and cultural objects and relationships. Patterns of kinship, colour coding, organizing time and space may be viewed as universal classifications. However, upon closer analysis, variations due to cultural differences will emerge. People in different cultures categorize things differently, i.e., they place the same element in different categories. Consequently, what may be differentiated in a culture may not necessarily be in another. Sometimes, people who do not differentiate information in the same manner as others may be viewed as ignorant or naive. In the Ayamara language of the Altiplano of Bolivia and Peru, for instance, time divisions are quite different from those in other languages: (Miracle, Jr., and Yapita, 1981; in Damen, op.cit : 121-122)

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In Ayamara, time is divided into the future and other time. Such divisions are reflected in the very inflections of the language. There is no obligatory division between present and past. One Ayamara speaker explained: the future in Ayamara is what has not been seen. We cannot see the future . In Ayamara the future is behind you you cannot see it. In English, the future is ahead of you; you can look into it.

Furthermore, no distinction is made in Hopi between spilling as an accidental act, and pouring as an intentional act, (Lantolf, op.cit). Another instance has to do with kinship terminology, that is, terms used to label family relationships. The latter, contracted through birth and marriage, are the same in all societies, but different cultures classify and name them differently. Indo-European kinship systems make use of only a few items that are subject-centred, and are more and more vague and rare when referring to far kins. Terms such as father, mother, son, daughter, brother, and sister are relatively precise, but those of uncle, and aunt are very flexible. Beyond this stage, no other terms are available. English-speaking people do not distinguish linguistically between uncle, fathers brother, mothers brother, fathers sisters husband, and mothers sisters husband'. Other languages do not distinguish between all or some of these relationships. The linguistic system in Arab cultures, for example, makes available separate terms for fathers brother and mothers brother (am and khal, respectively). This differential labelling posits a difference in the structures of societies and in the roles, behaviours and attitudes expected of individuals on the basis of these relationships (ones fathers brother, for example, is usually treated with deference and ones mothers brother with familiarity in the Arab culture). Subtle cultural features of this kind are not catered for in all languages. In the Chinese system, hundreds of terms are counted and new ones can even be created by combining elementary terms. Thus, no kinship degree whether close or far can be expressed with less precision. The colour system is also relevant to this discussion. In Jaqara, an Aymaran language in Chile, there are four terms to refer to four kinds of red: shocking pink, burgundy, reddish brown, and wine red; and in Tarahumara, no distinction is made between green and blue (Hill, op.cit). So, languages have as many words as required in their respective cultures to satisfy the needs of speakers.

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Considering cultural emphases or foci, and the way they are reflected in corresponding languages is also relevant to this discussion. The importance of some cultural elements is highlighted in language through the availability or even the proliferation of lexical items to express them, or to enable fine distinctions in relation to them. The Barai of Papua in New Guinea, for example, have thirty different words for yam, the fact which shows the importance of yam in this culture. Surprisingly, only one word is available in their language to refer to beds, chairs, tables, benches, desks, counters and cupboards (Damen, op.cit). In a like manner, the point demonstrates that these people do not give much importance to furniture, given the fact that they spend much of their time outdoors. Compared to other languages, Japanese has many items to refer to the seasons of the year. The four seasons are divided into twenty-four subseasons, and each subseason into the beginning, middle and end: ''It is said that when a Japanese writes a letter, it always begins with a remark on the weather and the season. It will say things like ''it is already mid-May, and the young foliage is fresh and green'' (Jandt, op.cit:132). The Yanomamo language of southern Venezuela has only three numbers that correspond to one, two and more than two in English. Another striking example is that of the Arabic language: it has three thousand words for camel, eight hundred for sword, five hundred for lion and two hundred for snake. This fact denotes that animals (living in the wilderness) and swords (traditional war arms or tools) are (or were) significant in the Arabian culture. Moreover, the Eskimo language is proved to have four hundred words for snow, given its vital importance in the Eskimos life and environment. In a like manner, there are multiple words for automobiles in contemporary USA culture. Hickerson (op. cit; in Damen, op.cit: 122-123) puts it clearly that:
points of cultural emphasis are usually directly reflected in language through the size, specialization, and differentiation of vocabulary. That is, there are more separate terms, synonyms, and more fine distinctions made in reference to features of environment or culture with which the speakers are the most concerned. There are fewer terms and they tend to be more generalized when they refer to features which are given less cultural emphasis. Cultural emphasis may indicate environmental or economic factors which are critical to subsistence; it can also comprehend aesthetic, religious, or other kinds of values.

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As previously mentioned, the same one item may also evoke different meanings, feelings, reactions in different cultures: (Sercu, op. cit: 268)
When considering the abstract concept bird, Americans may prototypically think of a sparrow whereas members from some Asian culture may think of another concretisation of that same abstract category. The concretisation then becomes the point of reference of the members of that culture. Americans will for example regard a duck as less bird like than a sparrow.

In her survey of word association technique, Jiang (op.cit) demonstrates that people associate words to images, events, entities, characteristics, relations that are relevant to their NC. For instance, she notes that while native speakers of Chinese link the word food mainly to items such as steamed bread and rice, English native speakers refer to hamburger and Pizza. Moreover, it appears that the difference between breakfast, lunch and supper is much more important for the latter, and that in the Chinese culture similar food is served in the three occasions. What is also significant is that English native speakers are found, as well, to care more than the Chinese about the quality of food and nutrition, since they use more adjectives to describe their food and feelings about it. These cultural instances are reflected in words. Words, as pointed out before, convey cultural meanings. Besides, the words of a particular language and their equivalents in other languages are generally not true or perfect equivalents since they have different associations and images, as illustrated by Kramsch (1993:2): ''a rose, may be, is a rose, but it is not une rose, is not eine Rose, but multiple ways of viewing and talking about roses''. Holly (1990: 14-15) offers another instance: ''When I use fentre in translation, I cannot, in this sense, use it as an exact equivalent of window. Though for many purposes such translation may be perfectly adequate, nevertheless fentre has a cultural history which gives it an emotive force quite distinct from window or fenster or okno to choose only European examples''. This is to say that words are to be viewed as cultural referents, i.e., they have a cultural potential: ''And this is not a matter of academic etymology: a word is related to its object referent via a thought process, a complex of recognition and emotive response which is, outside poetic utterance, usually dormant but which, nevertheless colours our thinking however faintly (Holly, ibid: 15).

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Differences in syntax and grammar in general may be indicators of differences in cultures and worldviews. For instance, change in world order across languages is significant in that it reflects specific focal points. In an SVO (subject verb object) language like English, emphasis is on the subject, the doer of the action: ''Only about a third of English sentences lack a subject'' (Jandt, op.cit:133). This is not the case of Japanese. Though the typical word order in this language is basically SOV (subject object verb), the subject is not emphasized: ''75% of Japanese sentences lack a subject [] [The latter] is known by context'' (p133). On the basis of the Sapir / Whorf hypothesis, it can be implied that English is an individualistic culture, whereas Japanese is a group-oriented one. A VSO (verb subject object) language like Arabic shifts the focus into the verb. This may suggest that Arabic-speaking people value action itself whoever its doer. In addition, grammatical categories such as case, gender, aspect, and tense exist in a language because they represent corresponding aspects in the external world. Different languages have different grammatical systems. The Burmese language has nominal classifying particles to distinguish a long object or an object as a weapon (Corder, op.cit). Navaho language has a grammatical feature that modifies the stem of verbs of handling according to the shape of what is handled (Carroll and Casagrande, 1958; in Corder, op.cit). The Hopi language has a grammatical attribute to indicate whether a statement is based on observation, memory, expectation or generalization. Furthermore, what is for Hopi people a question of modality is for English people a question of time (in Corder, op.cit). Whorf (in Hill, op.cit:17) notes that ''the Hopi view was embodied in such habitual linguistic patterns as the absence of spatiotemporal metaphors, the impossibility of counting units of time, and the absence of tenses in the verbs''. Sapir reports the case of ''a number of indigenous languages of the Pacific Northwest [which] lacked a distinction between nouns and verbs'' (Hill, op.cit:18). The Wintu people of northern California do not demarcate self from other; while English, like other European languages, distinguishes I go from we go, Wintu does not allow for such a distinction, since it only provides for one word harada to mean both (Kearney, 1984; in Lantolf, op.cit). Another example relevant to the English language has to do with the fact that there is no question that elicits an ordinal number as an answer (i.e., 1st or 2nd, ). The question what is (was) the rank of? is not acceptable as idiomatic to the native speakers of English. One possible interpretation is that the latter did not need or were not interested, in their culture, to ask such a 80

question. In other cultures, however, an appropriate question word for this purpose may be available (ethramate in the Indian Malayalam language and hoeveelste in Dutch) (Abooty, 1997). Again, this offers further evidence that people within a culture view the world differently from others, and the linguistic means they have serve their particular view and their own needs. A language, thus, helps form its users worldview, and enables them to describe and deal with their reality. A worldview is associated with the values and beliefs of a cultural group. In Damens (op.cit:124) viewpoint, 'worldview' is ''a cover term that refers to the particular sets of realities associated with a given cultural group. It includes attitudes, beliefs, and assumptions about the environment, human relations, social organization, and all that constitutes human life''; all these aspects are essentially reflected and expressed in the language of the cultural group in question.

1.3.3. Criticism The Sapir / Whorf hypothesis was widely criticized by linguists and anthropologists, especially in its strong deterministic form. Scholars could not admit that human thoughts were prisoners of the structure of languages. It was unreasonable to believe that speakers of a language (like the Hopi) would not

understand thought of another language users (like modern scientific English thought), because of the structure of their language, and that to achieve this purpose they have to learn first the language in which this thought was originally expressed. Besides, the belief upon which the hypothesis is based was not revealed by data, but was merely supported by them. Whorf and Sapir themselves are reported to have at times contradictory statements: sometimes, they advocated the strong position of linguistic determinism, and at other times, they adopted the weak version of linguistic relativity or even a universalistic position (Damen, op.cit.). Carroll (1973; in Damen, op. cit) contested this hypothesis arguing that all worldviews can be expressed in any language. Corder (op. cit) does not think ones language restricts ones conceptual capacities and worldviews as do Whorf and Sapir. He believes their position to be radical and of a very powerful claim. According to him, ''The differences between cultures are ones of degree not of kind. The members of different cultures live in the same world but they categorize it differently'' (p74). Still, however, the fact of having many worldviews and basically the same one for people who share the same 81

language indicates that the Whorfian hypothesis is not to be dismissed for good. Its weak version is generally acknowledged nowadays (Kramsch, 1998), but it needs further research and analysis. In this respect, Carroll (op.cit) and Singer (1982; in Damen, op.cit) have suggested modified forms of the original strong version of the hypothesis. They stress the connection between language, culture and thought, but disregard the deterministic factor of language. While the linguistic determinism / relativity hypothesis advances that ones language shapes / affects the way one thinks and views the world, culture is argued to have its own 'grammar' or rules imposed on that of language (Howell & Vetter, 1976; in Thanasoulas, op.cit). That is why, for instance, an American seeing a bus coming would say the bus is coming, but a Japanese would rather say the bus has come (Thanasoulas, op.cit: 9). In our viewpoint, whether it is language which governs thought and hence shapes culture (for what is culture if not what people think and do), or it is culture which acts upon language and conditions language use, this cannot deny the fact that they are significantly connected, and should be dealt with as such. We believe the relationship between language and culture should not be restricted to which determines which. It is not a relation of cause and effect, but a relation of alliance and correspondence. The Sapir / Whorf hypothesis serves, thus, to highlight the interconnectedness of language and culture: language reflects cultural meanings, choices, preferences, and at the same time, it can only be fully understood in the light of its cultural context. Language and culture are two parallel modalities of a more fundamental activity: the human spirit. As to the implication of the Sapir / Whorf hypothesis in the field of language teaching, Mackey (op.cit:15) states that ''language-teaching methods based on such theories tend to regard language instruction as the teaching of a new mode of thought''. In a like manner, Barrow (op.cit:5) views teaching a second language as teaching about a new way of life and thinking: ''I concede that in teaching English to those for whom it is a second language we may be promoting different ways of thinking and different values from those with which they are familiar''.(1)

(1) The question of including culture in language teaching will be dealt with in some detail in chapters three and four.

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1.4. Language, Culture and Identity 1.4.1. Nature of the Relationship Language, Culture and Identity For many people, language, culture and identity are intimately associated. One's culture is everything that makes one unique. It is viewed as the expression of one's 'collective' identity, in Von Barloewen's words (op. cit: 46), ''Cultures most important task is to act as a foundation for people's identity''. A participant in a culture experiences it as something deeply internalized, an integral part of one's nature, oneself: (Hinkel, op. cit: 1)
The term culture has diverse and disparate definitions that deal with forms of speech acts, rhetorical structure of text, social organizations, and knowledge constructs. Culture is sometimes identified with notions of personal space, appropriate gestures, time and so forth. Although these concepts are certainly manifestations of cultural norms, the impact of culture [...] is both broader and deeper, defining the way a person sees his or her place in a society.

Language may be considered as the foremost culture and identity mark of a society, in addition to being a pragmatic system of communication. This is manifested in the importance conferred on one's mother tongue or native language (NL), and in the conflicts accompanying the process of choosing a national language or learning a foreign one. In addition, language carries and expresses shared cultural and identity symbols, namely, what pertains to one's roots and cultural heritage, and all the distinctive features and symbolic elements which confer on a group its identity. This is especially manifested in poetic language use (proverbs, songs, metaphors). Spradley (1979; in Damen, op. cit: 120) sees that language is ''The primary symbol system that encodes cultural meaning in every society''. For Strevens (1987: 56), ''one's language is a central element in one's personal, national, and ethnic identity''. For Crystal (op.cit: 34), it is ''the primary outward sign of a group's identity''. This close connection between language and identity is due to many reasons: language is a 'taken for granted' aspect of community life, ''it is such a widespread and evident feature of community life '' (p 34); in addition, language relates one to one's past ancestors and origin, ''for example, many presentday Italians-Americans and Australians know very little Italian, but they still see Italian as a symbol of their ethnic identity'' (p 34). What is more, language can be a 'natural barrier' between people when it is not shared. Kramsch (1998: 65) believes that

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There is a natural connection between the language spoken by members of a social group and that group's identity. By their accent, their vocabulary, their discourse patterns, speakers identify themselves and are identified as members of this or that speech community. From this membership, they draw personal strength and pride , as well as a sense of social importance and historical unity from using the same language as the group they belong to.

Varieties of language as well symbolize a social group identity. Black English Vernacular, for example, refers to ''the non-standard English spoken by lower- class African Americans in urban communities'' (Crystal, op.cit: 37). Slang also reflects the common social and linguistic identity of its users, hence the slang of outlaw gangs , the slang of gays , the slang of pop singers, the slang of students , the slang of medical staff ... . The switch from one language or variety to another is culturally significant, in that it signals the speaker's solidarity or distance vis--vis the interlocutor. In Paraguay, for example, there are two main languages, 'Guarani' and Spanish. To use one or the other depends on geographical as well as social factors. It has been observed that bilingual speakers form Itapuami and Luque would use Guarani to show solidarity vis--vis the addressees that they consider socially close to them, while they use Spanish in formal situations and with strangers. On this basis, ''jokes would tend to be in Guarani. Courtship often began in Spanish, and ended in Guarani'' (Crystal: 42). Another example worth mentioning is the Vaups Indians of Columbia. These Indians belong to twenty tribes, having each an independent language. Though they have a common lingua franca called Tukano, each tribe remains faithful to its own language which symbolizes the social identity of the same group of 'brothers'. The latter could only have marriage partners from other tribes (Crystal, op.cit). In 'monolingual' societies , speakers use different language varieties depending on the kind of social relationships they have with the hearers , and more generally, on the speech situation or event they take part in . A Berlin official, for instance, uses standard German at work, and a local dialect at home. A particularly interesting case to mention in relation to this topic is that of the Australian

Aborigines who witnessed the development of special languages referred to as 'avoidance' languages, called sometimes 'mother in law' languages, to be used when communicating with ' taboo' relatives, mainly the wife's family. These

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languages are characterized by a limited vocabulary and a specific prosody and style marking social distance. Crystal (op.cit: 51) points to the process of 'linguistic accommodation' or 'convergence' which normally occurs in any communicative interaction: ''When two people with different social backgrounds meet, there is a tendency for their speech to alter, so that they become more alike ''. This change in speech implies a change in grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, speech rate, and pauses. It is mainly aimed at facilitating communication. However, this convergence may have negative consequences in that it can engender the loss of one's social identity, or it may elicit a negative attitude on the part of the listener, as a reaction to the style adopted by the speaker. On the other hand, speech divergence occurs in circumstances that entail the speaker to defend or simply to display one's social, national or religious identity. This often happens when one feels offended or threatened, or when one dislikes the other's behaviours and attitudes. In intercultural communicative interactions, code switching can mirror the speaker's position vis--vis one's own and the interlocutor's cultures. In other words, by adopting words, sentences, prosodic features from ones own language, the speaker is at the same time manifesting one's cultural pertaining and identity. This is referred to by Kramsch (1998: 70) as ''language crossing as an act of identity''. Therefore, one's language is part of one's culture, and both denote one's identity. 1.4.2. Identity-Related Issues Identifying accurately people's linguistic and cultural identities is not an easy task in the complex and open societies of today. Indeed, in the same one country, people may identify themselves with different ethnic (cultural) groups. In addition, one's cultural identity cannot always be defined on the basis of race, for genetic differences may be detected within the same racial group. Language in particular cannot always be used as a criterion of group identity. Kramsch (ibid: 68-69) outlines many examples in this regard:

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Alsatians who speak German, French and Germanic Platt may alternatively consider themselves primarily Alsatians, or French, or German, depending on how they position themselves vis--vis the history of their region and their family biography. A youngster born and raised in France of Algerian parents, may even though he speaks only French , call himself Algerian in France , but when abroad he might prefer to be seen as French , depending on which group he wishes to be identified with at the times ... .

Kramsch refers even to cases where the cultural identity of a group survives notwithstanding the disappearance of its language (Hebrew of the Jewish culture
(1)

the Gullah of the American Black culture, the Indian languages of the east Indian culture in the Caribbean). Hence, the relation language cultural identity is not always straightforward. For Kramsch, an individual has several identities that change in time and space. She believes as well that a group identity is not a natural fact but the outcome of others' perception conditioned by their cultural worldviews and stereotypes. Along these lines, Kramsch points out the relevance of politics: "linguistic wars are always also political and cultural wars''. In fact, for particular political

motives, one language variety is chosen to be the 'national' 'standard' language of the country, and to represent its 'national' culture and 'national' identity, a choice that is not agreed upon by everybody. According to Byram (1992) many European countries hold 'a monolingual ideology' in that national identity implies for them one national common language. He believes multilingualism to be more realistic a phenomenon in today's European countries: English and Welsh in Britain, to mention but one language ; French and Flemish in Belgium; Spanish and Basque in Spain. In other words, more than one national language is actually recognized in these countries. Most world nations are, nowadays, too mixed to readily talk of a 'national' language and a 'national' culture, let alone a 'national' identity. Nevertheless, a 'national' language is strongly fought for everywhere, and is in many cases imposed as a mark of cultural identity, as a 'cultural totem', in Kramsch's words. On the other hand, there are minority groups whose languages are more or less acknowledged within the country in which they live. Linguistic conflicts often occur as an attempt on the part of ethnic minorities to preserve their linguistic and cultural identity. The minority language is for its people a token of identity, whereas the 'national'
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Paradoxically, Yiddish, the modern form of Hebrew that was revived by the Jews, in the nineteenth century, played a central role in building the state of Israel.

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language is viewed as a means of communication: ''The more recognition afforded, and the larger the minority group, the less insistence on using only the language of the group and the more it is seen as a symbol of identity rather than, as well as, a tool for communication'' (Byram, op.cit: 168). The children acquire both languages and cultures becoming eventually bilingual and bicultural, that is, they learn the language and the way of thinking and acting of the minority, as well as of the majority. Learning the latter does not mean letting down the former. Indeed, when pointing to the distinction between the symbolic nature and the communication nature of language, Byram aims at showing that the link binding one's language to one's identity does not hinder one from learning another language to facilitate communication with other countries and other social groups. (1) Although there is not always a one-to-one relationship between one's language and one's cultural identity, language is perhaps the most significant key to identity. Besides, identity, in our viewpoint, is not that intricate to define, for it is an inside-felt sense. There are many factors at work to determine one's sense of self: language, culture, religion, race, country, nationality, hometown, and social class; they are not incompatible except in some cases, as shown above. We want , in this regard, to refer to the Muslim concept of 'El Ouma', where all people have the same identity, that of being 'Muslim', whatever their origin, colour, sex, mother tongue or other, and where all differences merge in the framework of a common faith. This identity is not the same as the so called 'intercultural identity', which frees its holder from the ''restraints'' of his / her original culture. It is claimed that to have such an 'intercultural identity' means, among other things, not to feel strange when entering new cultural spaces and when interacting with foreigners: ''This intercultural identity is flexible and fluid because it is no longer based solely on belonging to the original or the new culture in which a person finds himself'' (Von Barloewen, op. cit: 48). It is also claimed that the intercultural identity will solve the religious, ethnic and cultural conflicts of the world: ''what was originally foreign is transformed into a constantly expanding interculturalism'' (Von Barloewen, op.cit: 48). We think that to have an 'intercultural identity' or an identity ''in between'' means to have no identity at all. How can we be at the same time Arabs and Jews, Muslims and Christians...? An identity serves essentially to distinguish an individual or a group of individuals from

(1)

See chapter three, section 1, for further elucidation of this issue.

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others or other groups, on some particular bases .What would then be the value of this entity if all people of the world had the same identity in the so-called globalization era? How could cultural differences in this perspective, "be kept in mind and honored" (Von Barloewen, op.cit: 48)? Nowadays, one has sometimes to "struggle" to keep one's culture alive, and to stick to one's identity and religion; what would be the plight of the world if everybody let down willingly the cornerstones of one's identity, that is, one's language, culture , religion and ethnicity, and adopted a fictitious 'intercultural identity'? Doubtless, it would not be, according to us, an ideal world. It would not be unification or globalization; it would not be integration or acculturation; it would rather be the Westernization or Americanization of the world. This is not to say that one should not learn FLs and cultures, lest one loses one's native cultural identity. Modern sociopsychologists interested in intercultural communication regard identity not as a stable single entity, but as a varied dynamic one: (Collier and Thomas 1988; in Jin and Cortazzi, op.cit: 117-118 )
Identity is seen in a 'mosaic sense' in which people identify themselves not only in relatively stable terms ( on such dimensions as nationality , mother tongue , ethnic group, age , gender ) but also in dynamic terms. In the latter, major [our emphasis] aspects of identity are 'framed, negotiated, modified, confirmed and challenged through communication and contact with others.

We think that one's sense of identity is at first dynamic in that it develops along with other processes, in the course of one's socialization with others. Then, it becomes more and more stable, at least in what concerns the basic foundations of one's identity, namely, language, culture, religion and ethnicity. When interacting with others, especially interculturally, some (and not major), aspects of one's identity may change and evolve. These aspects are, according to us, minor compared to the former, they nonetheless contribute to one's expansion and knowledge of oneself and of others. A concrete example is in order. We all heard of ' Zineddine Zidane', the French football star of the Algerian origin. The fact that he is currently a member of 'Real Madrid', the famous Spanish football club, (or that the he is married to a Spanish woman), has introduced a change in his identity. Put in other words, he has gained a kind of a 'new 'identity, but his original basic identity is always there, unique

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unchangeable, wherever he is, and whomever he interacts with. Byram (op.cit) thinks in terms of 'national' and 'international' identity. One's mother tongue or NL has symbolic significance that is related to one's national social identity: "It symbolises that complex process of secondary socialisation which takes place largely in primary and secondary schooling and which establishes the individual's relationship to a whole range of social groups" (Byram, op.cit: 168). That is why, minority groups in dominant cultures wish their children to attend their own schools, to help them know their NC, and build their actual identity, to quote Byram again (p168),
people are ' German ' because they speak German but it also embodies the values and shared meanings into which 'Germans' have been socialised, as they internalise the language (Vygotsky, 1971) . It is the form in which those values and meanings are made available and exchanged between group members [] [the] language through which the socialisation process can take place.

However, 'Germans, for Byram, are also ' Europeans '; this constitutes their international social identity, and so is the case of other European citizens. Acquiring an 'international' identity does not (or should not) negate or affect one's national' identity. 2. A Socio-Cultural View of Communication Jiang (op.cit) compares communication to swimming, where language is the swimming skill and culture is water. Communication can as well be compared to transportation: the vehicle is language and culture is traffic lights; language enables communication to take place, and culture regulates communication in that it may facilitate or hinder it. In fact, culture provides rules as to what to say or not, to whom, when, where and how communication begins, proceeds and ends. 2.1. Communication and Culture 2.1.1. Communication as a Culture-Specific Act Many of the civilizations of today allow for the free unconditioned use of language: people constantly talk, and any subterfuge is good to make them express themselves, ask questions, make comments. This way of using language is not universal, however. Communicating in primitive cultures, for example, proved to be quite limited to some prescribed circumstances; in these cultures, people de not talk

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at any time and about anything. As far back as 1959, Hall (in Damen, op.cit: 73) wrote ''Culture is communication and communication is culture''. Watzlawick, Beavin and Jackson (1967; in Damen, op.cit: 74) add: ''if communication is culture, and vice versa, then human beings cannot not communicate''. The ability to communicate or to use language appropriately in communicative interactions depends on the context of use: '' In different times and places we may be obliged, permitted, encouraged, or even forbidden to communicate; and the quality or quantity of the language we use will be subject to social evaluation and sanction'' (Crystal, op.cit: 48). By context, reference is not only made to the immediate context or the context of situation; as seen previously, it also refers to the context of culture or the broader culturally-determined context. Context is central in communication, for one reason, the same word or utterance may have many meanings. One may use the same word in different contexts to mean so many different things. Thus, for an effective interpretation or production of a piece of (oral or written) discourse, we need to make use of contextual information. We need to know about the subject of conversation, for instance. We need as well to know about the culture in which the conversation takes place, if not, it would be like 'understanding all of a joke except the punch line' (Seelye, 1997: xiv). In a communicative interaction, culture is present in the social environment or context in which the interaction takes place: ''Communication is an intricate matrix of interacting social acts that occur in a complex social environment [...]. This social environment is culture, and if we truly are to understand communication, we also must understand culture'' (Porter and Samovar, 1982; in Damen, op.cit: 32). It is also ingrained in the meanings exchanged between sender and receiver, on the basis of their cultural backgrounds. Successful communication depends partly on the extent to which participants share cultural assumptions and background knowledge. Damen (op.cit: 75) states:
the inference of culture in communication is most evident in the social environment . [...] the assignment of meaning or attribution assumes that communication is the kind of behavior that can be assigned meaning and defined in terms of its attributions or what the receiver and sender think it means .The meanings are also culturally colored so that each sender and receiver may be drawing upon different 'meaning reservoirs'. These various meanings are developed throughout the human lifetime as a result of cultural and personal experiences.

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Contextual cultural dimensions are provided by the daily routine of the members of a culture, their history, religion, philosophical values, the way their society defines role and gender, the way it sets proxemic boundaries, the way it perceives temporality, the way it views power and deals collectivist ... . with ambiguity, whether it is individualist or

2.1.2. Culture in Cross-Cultural Communicative Interactions Communicative interactions of people from different cultural backgrounds require an understanding and an appreciation of the cultures involved. Seelye (op.cit:1) argues that ''When communication is between people with different worldviews, special skills are required if the messages received are to resemble the messages sent''. It is highly agreed upon that the use of the same one language does not imply successful communication. Usually communicative breakdowns are due to hidden causes that are culturerooted. They are hidden because it is not

evident to analyse and bring them to light. Zhihong (op.cit) refers to what is consciously implicit and what is unconsciously implicit in intercultural communication ("Limplicite conscient" et "limplicite inconscient"). The former denotes what is

meant, but not explicitly stated by the speaker ; the latter has to do with what is culturally deeply rooted and goes beyond conscious recognition both fall in Tylors (1978; in Hill, op.cit) field of the unsaid. According to Zhihong, misunderstandings usually result on the basis of what is unconsciously implicit in linguistic and non-linguistic behaviours, given the fact that they are taken for granted by the speaker, and hence may remain as a source of confusion or misinterpretation for the hearer. That is why, intercultural communication is a process which is often more marked by failure than success. Smith (1985: 4) thinks that this failure is simply due to our tendency to expect others to use language in the same way as we do, as if we overlook the fact that they are different from us and that they belong to another culture: ''Even though we are aware that our interlocutor is from anther culture, we often interpret what he or she says as if a fellow national had said it. When English is the common language, we somehow seem to expect the words, sentences, and discourse to have common meanings even when we have ample evidence to the contrary''. As mentioned before, every participant in a communicative interaction is actually the product of a specific culture with a specific mode of communication. 91

S/he enters an interchange with a set of expectations. A cross-cultural interchange rests on assumptions each party makes about one's own and the other partys culture. The problem with such assumptions is that they are often inaccurate and misleading. Background assumptions and expectations concerning, for example, requests, positive and negative responses to an offer or an invitation, initiating a conversation, ending an exchange, use of gesturesmay cause serious

misinterpretations, and hence the breakdown of communication. In fact, the way discourse operates differs from one culture to another. In other words, cultures build their discourse styles differently, on the basis of their rules of verbal and non-verbal behaviours. There are preferences in relation to the expression of feelings and opinions, and different conversation conventions and genres. In some styles, facts are referred to more explicitly than in others; some allow for a direct expression of ones wishes and emotions unlike others. In some cultures, people use more nonverbal than verbal means of expression; in others, overt negation is not tolerated. Some cultures tolerate only mild and indirect forms of complaint, whereas others may accept direct and severe ones. Linguistically speaking, the frequency of exclamatives and interrogatives varies across cultures, and so do forms of address and self reference. Even linguistic routines, which are usually, fixed communicative formulas such as greeting, parting, thanking, and complimenting formulas are highly culture specific. In other words, understanding a communicative routine properly requires knowing not only the words, but also the cultural assumptions underlying them. For example, one is purported to say ''congratulations!'' to someone who has had a baby; in Ewe in west Africa, the same context requires one to say something like ''God is strong!'' or ''ancestors are strong!'', expressions which reflect the basically religious culture of the Ewe people (Goddard and Wierzbicka, op. cit). Another instance is the American English phrase see you later. This leave-taking formula does not necessarily mean that the speaker really intends to see the hearer later. The misinterpretation of this phrase often engenders stereotypes on the part of foreign interlocutors. Under the heading of ''Differential stylistics'', Mackey (op.cit.) argues that, in everyday life situations, what is said in a language (or a culture) does not correspond in form or content to what is said in another in the same context: ''One language may require a long utterance, and in the same situation, another language

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may require not more than a word or simply a gesture. It is a matter of style''. An example is in order: a German speaker would offer his/ her seat to a stranger saying 'bitte' ('please'), whereas an English speaker would do it non-verbally, i.e., through a gesture. Furthermore, what is in English a stress-based distinction is in French a question of vocabulary: ''thats my business'' (''Cest mon affaire'') versus ''thats my business'' (''Cest mon metier'') (Mackey, op.cit.). Lyons (1983: 187) believes that most speech acts are culture bound in that ''they depend upon the legal, religious or ethical conventions and practices institutionalized in particular societies''. For example, the need to apologize and the degree of apology may be determined on the basis of factors as age or social status, depending on the priorities of a culture (Olshtain and Cohen, 1991). With respect to inviting, a German would say what corresponds to the English utterance ''Are you coming to dinner tonight?'', which for the French fits a reminder of a previously extended invitation (Kramsch, 1993: 25) .The function of establishing and maintaining social relationships is proved to be more valued by some social groups compared to others, and so is poetic language use. In Englishspeaking cultures, for instance, proverbs are not common in everyday life speech, while they are in the Egyptian culture. Even speech acts that can be said to be universal such as making statements, and asking questions still depend on culture variables such as politeness. Under the heading of contrastive pragmatics, another research points out that Grices (1975) 'maxims of conversation do not apply equally to all cultures: (Goddard and Wierzbicka , op.cit: 234)

In Malagasy village society (Ochs Keenan, 1976), for instance, people are not expected to satisfy the informational needs of coconversationalists because, firstly, withholding information brings a degree of status, and, secondly, there is a fear of committing oneself to particular claims lest any resulting unpleasantness bring tsiny (guilt) to oneself and ones family.

Lyons (op.cit.) points to the fact that linguists and philosophers have for a long time neglected context in their dealing with Grices maxims. That is why they have failed to see the cultural specificity of language use. What is considered sincere, polite or rational is not necessarily manifested in the same way in all cultures.

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According to Beneke (2000), the cultural differences that are at work in the communicative process are ''all those unspoken assumptions that members of ethnic or cultural groups have as to what are normal conduct and normal modes of communication''. Cultures often have differing views of what is correct behaviour. The transference of socio-cultural norms from one culture to another may be very offending, and may cause serious misunderstandings and breakdowns in communication. Strong emotional reactions may even be manifested. According to Cushner and Brislin (op.cit), some people may feel very upset and would, henceforth, avoid what they think are unpleasant encounters; others may seriously

misunderstand their interlocutors and misjudge them, hence the phenomenon of 'unwarranted' stereotyping across cultures. Some others, however, become conscious of the impact of cultural differences and attempt to understand and communicate with those who are different from themselves.

2.1.3. Instances of Cross-Cultural Communication Breakdown Instances of communication breakdown abound in cross-cultural

communication studies. An Australian interacting with a Japanese usually ignores the fact that the act of refusal in Japan is often meant and implied and not carried out directly and explicitly, as it is the case in Australia. An utterance like, ''I will give it positive consideration'' is in Japanese meant as a negative answer, but it gives ''great expectations'' to Australian businessmen (Koyama, op .cit:2). The Japanese resort to an indirect refusal so as not to cause offence, but much misunderstanding may be engendered as a result. This example reminds us of the Arabic culture which, like the Japanese, considers a negative answer as impolite in some contexts. Instead of no an Arab may say may be or Insha Allah (if God is willing)(1) . This conversational strategy is known as indirectness. It is closely linked to the issue of face and politeness. Ethnographers of speaking and conversation analysts have noted that indirectness is more frequently used in some cultures. The Japanese culture is generally characterized by 'indirectness' and restraint in verbal interactions. According to research findings by Naoki and Dean (1983; in
(1)

It should be noted, however, that Insha Allah is not always used as a substitute for no. It refers to any future event, given the fact that only God, in this culture, is believed to be knowledgeable about the future, and only He can control future events.

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Damen, op.cit.), the Japanese, unlike the Americans, have a passive form of criticism. This goes in harmony with their reluctance to assert their own opinions and to express opposing ideas (Koyama, op.cit). This is due to the Japanese ideals of enryo and omoiyari, i.e., reserve and great sensitivity to others feelings, respectively (Goddard and Wierzbicka, op.cit). Accordingly, the Japanese favour silence as apposed to explicit verbal expression, and place high value on what is thought to be socially acceptable, as opposed to individual feelings. This is in sharp contrast with the Americans' very active way of communication that is characterized by a ''lively give and take, opinion expressing, upfronting style'' (Damen, op .cit: 20). It appears that what is an ordinary discourse style in the AngloAmerican culture may seem quite shocking or offensive in the Japanese culture. In a like manner, the Japanese discourse style may seem quite boring and colourless from the American standpoint. To go back to the world of business, the instance outlined above shows that successful communication between business partners requires knowledge and the observance of certain rules of conduct without which the parties would be involved in awkward situations and misunderstandings. Another example is the Asian ritual of giving presents to a business partner on a first visit. This may be misunderstood by Western business people, who do not find it 'normal' to receive presents from utter strangers. They may even interpret this act as an attempt at bribery, though it is, on the part of the givers, 'natural', ' spontaneous' and 'well-meant'. Beneke (op.cit:64) explains this cultural discrepancy on the basis of the fact that Asians and Middle Easterners ''do business only with friends'', but for Westerners, ''business and pleasure do not mix''. Beneke refers to another aspect in the world of business, namely, ''exploratory preliminary communication'', an initial stage before getting to talk business. How much preliminary communication is appropriated and allowed for is culturebound. For Asian businessmen, establishing a personal relationship and a system of mutual obligations is a precondition for a successful business relationship. On the other hand, for Westerners, this would be arrived at after many meetings. What is more, as part of this exploratory preliminary communication, doing the honours, that is to say, taking care of the visiting business partners is necessary in the Asian culture, where respect and deference are highly valued. However, the Western business partners do not always appreciate this doing the honours from

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their Asian counterparts, because they worship autonomy and resent dependence of any form. Research findings in contrastive pragmatics have proved that politeness strategies do not operate in the same way in all cultures (Brown and Levinson, op.cit; in Goddard and Wierzbicka, op.cit.). For the French, saying something like ''Quand vous arrivez en France, noubliez pas de me tlphoner, vous avez mon numro de domicile, je vous inviterai passer un weekend chez moi, ...'' (Zhihong, op.cit : 44) does not necessarily mean a real invitation, but a way of manifesting politeness and respect vis--vis friends of a foreign nationality. For the Japanese, however, an invitation is an invitation, and if it is not carried out, they will be disappointed and may even be led to believe that the French do not keep their promises. The British in particular are very sensitive to politeness forms and acts; they do not tolerate an utterance like I want to ask a question in a meeting, unless ''preceded by elaborate apologies for the intrusion'' (De Jong, op. cit: 97). In some cultures, the conventional form to make a polite request is to use an imperative followed by an expression meaning please. In English, this form is viewed as too direct or patronizing and may, thus, be inappropriate in some situations. Nevertheless, being too polite in particular contexts may invite misapprehension. White (1993) explored the use of please by Japanese users of English. He noticed that though many of their utterances are grammatically correct, they are functionally confusing or inappropriate, and often lead to problems of crosscultural communication, 'pragramalinguistic failure' in his words. It appears that polite forms of expression are common in many cultures, and are usually indispensable for a successful communicative interaction. However, their use follows defined socio-cultural pragmatic rules. In the French language, bonjour is used in a wider way than is good morning in English. Using good morning to greet someone in the afternoon may be ironic; this does not apply to bonjour. Bengali and Wolof are said not to have greetings that are time-bound (Crystal, op.cit). All these instances demonstrate the importance of knowing about others' cultural rules and the need to negotiate in-between positions. One needs to be curious about how others think, to be able to enter into fruitful dialogue with them. Everyone needs as well to get at a certain distance from ones own self, to objectively analyse what actually happens in intercultural interactions.

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2.2. Cultural Studies of Communication 2.2.1. Ethnography of Communication Ethnography of communication is an important approach to language and culture developed by Hymes and Gumperz in the seventies (in Goddard and Wierzbicka, op.cit). According to them, language communicative competence includes more than linguistic structural competence, namely, the ability to use language in culturally appropriate ways. Hymes believes research should be based on the speech events of different cultures, i.e., activities involving speech like a job interview, a chat, a university lecture. He points out that data about communicative events across cultures can be gathered in relation to the following dimensions: (Goddard and Wierzbicka, op.cit: 232)
S setting and scene (where and when does it happen?) P participants (who is taking part?) E ends (what do participants want to achieve?) A act sequence (what is said and done?) K key (what is the emotional tone, for example serious, sorrowful, light-hearted?) I instrumentalities (what are the channels for example verbal, written and the codes, for example languages, speech styles?) N norms of interaction and interpretation (why should people act like this?) G genre (what kind of speech event is it?).

The aim is to relate patterns of behaviour (linguistic and non-linguistic) to their immediate and broader socio-cultural context. Hence, questions such as who is supposed to speak to whom, when, what type of language to be used, in which context, how much should be said or left unsaid, how to make a request are central in this regard. Communication between speakers of different cultural backgrounds is, as demonstrated in the previous section, difficult, given that different cultures have different rules of language use. Such difficulties, however, may even be encountered intraculturally. Methods of gathering data in the framework of this approach are participant observation and consultation with native speakers. The N ( norms ) dimension is the one that is most highlighted by ethnographers, given its importance in the description and interpretation of communicative events in cultural terms .The ethnography of communication does not, however, offer methodological clues to investigate these

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cultural norms which are uncovered and analysed.

often unconscious, and

require indirect means to be

2.2.2. Intercultural Communication Studies Intercultural communication studies are relevant to this discussion. They are essentially based on the comparison of various national cultures with AngloAmerican cultures, in order to facilitate business and international relations. Focus is on the analysis of the difficulties and obstacles encountered in intercultural communicative interactions, whether related to the verbal or the non-verbal medium. This field draws insights from many disciplines such as anthropology,

communication, linguistics and psychology, and

borrows concepts and terms from

them. Thus, it is an eclectic domain of research. According to Hoopes (1979; in Damen, op .cit), intercultural communication emerged as an academic discipline beginning from 1959, with Halls publication the silent language, in which the relationship between language and culture was analysed. The need for

communication across cultures increased during and after world war two, resulting in further attempts to understand others languages and cultures, and fostering the development of academic interest in the field of intercultural communication. In addition, training in intercultural communication was more needed than ever, with the arrival to USA of groups of foreign students, business workers, technicians.... for educational and / or working purposes, leading to further developments in the field. Hoopes notes that the first cross- cultural training manual did not appear till the nineteen seventies in USA, while the first basic textbook on intercultural communication ( by Condon and Yousef ) was in 1975. Undeniable is the contribution of the above-mentioned disciplines to lay the theoretical foundation for the field of intercultural communication, which, in turn, offered new insights to old concepts. A note worth mentioning at this stage is the distinction between the terms

intercultural and cross-cultural. These two terms are, in a sense, synonymous and are often used interchangeably. However, to be more accurate, the former designation (intercultural) is used to point to the interaction between individuals or groups from different cultural areas. The emphasis is on the interaction itself. The term 'cross-cultural', on the other hand, focuses on the differences existing between the participants in the interaction. This differentiation is pointed out by Scollon (op.cit:183) when he writes ''Cross-cultural studies are those studies of different 98

groups in isolation that are then compared or contrasted on the basis of structural differences, behavioural displays, habits, customs, and the like . Intercultural studies, as I use the term, are those that focus on situations in which members of different groups have direct contact with each other''. Moreover, crosscultural communication does not entail the interaction of different languages; speakers of the same one language do have different culturallycoloured communication styles such as the Australians, the British and the Americans (Trudgill, op.cit.). When researchers attempt to analyse cultures, they are faced with the problems of their own bias due to the influence of their NC. In fact, they have been raised in a culture which shapes their views and interpretations of the world. In relation to culture and discourse studies, Goddard and Wierzbicka (op .cit: 231) put it clearly that:
As in all cross-cultural research, the overriding methodological problem is ethnocentric bias, that is, the danger that our understanding of the discourse practices of other cultures will be distorted if we view them through the prism of our own culture specific practices and concepts. There is a need to find a universal, languageindependent perspective on discourse structure and on cultural values.

In this regard, Goddard and Wierzbicka suggest the cultural script approach which aims at supplying an accurate, culture-independent scheme to describe the cultural norms of discourse. This approach is compatible with and complementary to other ethnographic and pragmatic approaches, in that it provides them with a non ethnocentric metalanguage to formulate cultural rules. This metalanguage was elaborated on the basis of simple meanings expressed by morphemes or words in all cultures, such as PEOPLE, SOMETHING, GOOD, BAD... . For example, this script is typically but not exclusively Japanese: (Goddard and Wierzbicka, op.cit: 236)
If something bad happens to someone because of me I have to say something like this to this person: I feel something bad because of this

This script elucidates why Japanese apologize very frequently and in a variety of situations. Their apology is not based on the English speech act verb 'apologize'. The latter is culture-bound since it presupposes the element I did something bad to you

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(p 236). On the other hand, Japanese is purported to apologize even in situations where hurt or discomfort are indirectly caused by the speaker. Put in other words, the Japanese apologize in their own way, which is different form the English way.

2.3. Beyond Communicative Competence Intercultural competence is defined as the ''ability of a person to

behave

adequately in a flexible manner when confronted with actions, attitudes and expectations of representatives of foreign cultures'' (Meyer, 1991; in Cortazzi and Jin, op.cit:198). Intercultural communicative competence is said to transcend

'communicative competence' to include other skills that consider the discrepancy between the interacting cultural and social identities. Byram (op.cit: 165) argues that the concept of communicative competence has been conceived on the basis of native speakers' communicative interactions, and is, thus, inadequate when it comes to communication between people of different cultural origins and backgrounds: ''an ability to understand people of other national groups does not only depend on communicative competence but on the awareness that cultural meanings and

values embedded in the foreign language are specific to national groups''. Along these lines, Thanasoulas (op.cit: 3) writes ''we cannot go about fostering 'communicative competence' without taking into account the different views and perspectives of people in different cultures which may enhance or even inhibit

communication. After all, communication requires understanding, and understanding requires stepping into the shoes of the foreigner ''. According to Byram (2000), ''intercultural communicative competence'' includes all the components of

communicative competence: 'Linguistic Competence', i.e., the ability to use ones knowledge of the rules to produce and interpret correctly spoken and written language. 'Sociolinguistic Competence', i.e., the ability to give meanings to language, whether assumed or negotiated meanings. 'Discourse Competence', i.e., the ability to use strategies for the production and interpretation of texts.

Intercultural communicative competence includes, in addition, other elements, namely: 100

Attitudes of curiosity and openness; Knowledge of other social groups, their products, practices and patterns of interaction;

Skills of interpreting meanings from other cultures and relating them to meanings in ones own culture;

Skills of discovery and interaction with others under real life time constraints; Critical cultural awareness, that is, the ability to critically evaluate perspectives and behaviours in ones own and others' cultures.

The cultural component, in our viewpoint, is already strongly felt in Hymes' paradigm of communicative competence (in Canale and Swain, 1988) which encompasses: -The grammatical aspect (whether and to what degree something is formally possible); -The psycholinguistic aspect (whether and to what degree something is feasible); -The sociocultural aspect (whether and to what degree something is appropriate; -The probabilistic aspect (whether and to what degree something is actually performed). The two last mentioned aspects are culture-based, since it is according to the cultural rules of a community that one can assess the appropriateness and the probability of occurrence of a piece of language, in a given speech situation. For instance, according to the English cultural rules of discourse, the utterance good bye is inappropriate when greeting someone. According to the same rules, this utterance is exactly what a native speaker is likely to say when ending a routine telephone conversation, and it is more probable than an utterance like may God be with you in this context, in this culture. In the Arabic culture, the second utterance is used in many contexts. At a party, an English-speaking person would greet his / her friend saying, for instance, awfully nice to see you here; an utterance like I apprehend an atmosphere of spontaneous delight with your arrival (Bereksi, 1993: 157) would not only be inappropriate, but also highly improbable. Inappropriate language use of such kind occurs when foreign speakers of the language are too formal, too in formal, or too abrupt, where they should not. Sometimes, they do not know how to start a conversation in a spontaneous way. In other words, they fail to use the appropriate

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style in the appropriate speech situation, because of their ignorance of the socio cultural rules of language use. For Dubin and Olshtain (op.cit: 76) 'communicative competence' subsumes the cultural component:
a generally accepted definition begins with the idea that communicative competence entails knowing not only the language code or the form of language , but also what to say to whom and how to say it appropriately in any given situation . It deals with the social and cultural knowledge that speakers are presumed to have which enables them to use and interpret linguistic forms. It also includes knowledge of who may speak or may not speak in certain settings, when to speak and when to remain silent, how to talk to persons of different statuses and roles. A well-known description of communicative competence has been that it includes knowledge of what to say when, how, where and to whom. In effect, it takes in all of the verbal and non-verbal mechanisms which native speakers use unconsciously to communicate with each other.

Likewise, Al Mutawa and Kailaini (1989) believe communicative competence to be a comprehensive concept, for it includes: Linguistic competence having to do with the mastery of language phonological, orthographic, grammatical and lexical systems; Pragmatic competence that is related to knowledge of language functions and speech acts but also discourse strategies; Strategic competence, i.e., the ability to solve communication problems whether in relation to production or interpretation; Fluency competence, namely, the ability to express oneself without difficulty; Sociocultural competence related to knowledge of the socio-cultural aspect of language: to know what is expected socially and culturally by the users of a language; to know what to say, where, when, why and how; to know how to respond verbally and non-verbally on the basis of ones communicative purposes. They put it clearly that ''Ignorance of cultural features would either create misunderstanding or lead to incapacity to use the language. The social use of language involves, among other things, cultural allusions or conventions such ways of thinking, customs, mores, art forms, idioms, beliefs, etc'' (p169 ). as

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2.4. Culture and Non- Verbal Communication Communicating does not merely mean speaking, for it is often carried out through hand gesturing, eye shifting, eyebrows raising, winking, body leaning, back slapping, arm punching, or through light signals, as well as a variety of other signs that are part of the culture of a community. Language is but one means of communication, though it is the most outstanding one. Any culture embodies other systems of communication in addition to verbal communication. They convey meanings that may complete, clarify, weaken or add an emotional tone to what is communicated verbally. They may also be used to manage the interaction, that is, for example, to give up the floor or to provide feedback about the listeners attitude: boredom, disbelief, relaxation, admiration. The non-verbal mode of communication is the target of such studies as kinesics and proxemics.

2.4.1. Culture and Kinesics To begin with, kinesics has to do with the non-verbal visual means of communication, namely, gestures, eye contact, facial expressions, body posture, and other forms of body movement (Crystal, op.cit). Expressions of the face and movements of the body can reveal clues as to a persons mood and personality. One's face may clearly mirror ones emotional state: fear, happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, interest, disgust.... Sometimes, we pay more attention to the way a person looks than to what s/he says, and hence the utterance the expression of his face told me that he was lying (Crystal, 1971: 24). Visual signals operate differently from one culture to another. In some cultures, there is a whole vocabulary of hand signals and waves. Some cultures (like the Italian culture) make extensive use of gestures and facial expressions, while others (like the Japanese) use very few (Crystal, 1997). Besides, the same visual effect may be thought to be universal, while it actually conveys different meanings cross-culturally. For example, gestures, which usually accompany speech and may even replace it in some communicative interactions, follow (very) different rules in different cultures, and may signify diverse meanings crossculturally. It is noted that a back-and-forth nod of the head, for example, does not mean yes in all cultures; in some communities it rather means the opposite. Other aspects of body language

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such as the inclination of the body towards the speaker may express attention in some cultures but not in others (Damen, op.cit). Eye-contact may also vary in significance from one culture to another. In the French culture, for instance, establishing eye-contact in communicative interactions is a must (Zhihong, op.cit); not to do so would either reflect timidity, or insincerity. In China, however, eye-contact especially between males and females may be negatively interpreted, for in normal situations, no eye -contact is made between speakers and hearers (Zhihong, op.cit.). Similarly, in English-speaking countries, direct gazes in communicative interactions are rather considered rude (Keiko, 1991). In the Malay culture, meaningful looks constitute a conventional non-verbal strategy of communication: they may express anger (through a kind of glare), disapproval (by widening the eyes), boredom (by lowering the eyes and turning the head away), (Goddard and Wierzbicka, op.cit.). Sercu (op.cit: 269) so aptly states that people ''betray their membership of a particular culture not merely through their accent but also through the way they express or do not express their emotions, the way they stand, the way they look or do not look into the eyes of their communication partner''.

2.4.2. Culture and Proxemics ''Proxemics is the study of ones perception and use of space'' (Ivannia,

1996:32), i.e., it studies how physically close to each other people may be, when communicating with one another in different cultures . It is mainly determined by the culture one belongs to. Different cultures have different proxemic systems; for instance, when conversing, North Americans observe a respected space, while South Americans stay very close to each other privacy, thus, is more valued by the former. Proxemics has three major aspects: space, distance, and territory. Personal space is ''an area with invisible boundaries surrounding a persons body into which intruders may not come'' (Sommer, 1979: 26; in Ivannia, ibid.). British people, for example, maintain a larger space from one another compared to the French. When personal space is violated, people react more or less furiously by defensive gestures, change in posture, and moving away. There are three types of space (Hall, 1959; in Ivannia, ibid.): fixedfeature space, i.e., the way houses, buildings, cities, objects are organized; semifixed feature space which is important

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in interpersonal interactions given that its use is significant and communicative: it may be a sign of involvement, closeness and warmth, or the opposite, leading to quick withdrawal; and informal space which is related to the distances people unconsciously maintain in interactions. According to Hall (op.cit:32), ''informal spatial patterns have distinct bounds and such deep, if unvoiced, significance that they form an essential part of culture. To misunderstand this significance may invite disaster''. Distance is ''a relational concept, typically measured in terms of how far one individual is from the other'' (Leather, 1978; in Ivannia, op.cit: 33). Individual distance may be outside personal space; when one is alone, individual distance, unlike personal space, is infinite. Personal space may disappear in crowding. According to Hall (op.cit), four types of distance can be identified: 'intimate', 'personal', 'social', and 'public' distance. 'Intimate' distance ranges from body contact to approximately half a meter. This intimate space is used differently in different cultures. For instance, North Americans feel discomfort when a proper distance is not respected by their interlocutors, and hence the expressions get your face out of mine and he shook his fist in my face. Costa Ricans and Arabs, on the other hand, feel uneasiness when their interlocutors stand far from them, and hence the utterance I dont bite or I dont eat. Personal distance may be close when it allows one to touch the other, or far when it does not. Social distance ranges from four to twelve feet. It is the casual interaction distance between people in business meetings, classrooms and impersonal social affairs. Physical objects such as desks, tables, and counters serve as barriers to keep this distance between people. It is believed that the Arabs social distance is the Westerners intimate one. Public distance suits interaction with strangers or large audiences. As previously mentioned , cultures can be subdivided into two types : high - contact cultures , the cases of the Arabic, Latin American, Greek, Turkish, French, Italians cultures, and low- contact cultures like the Chinese, Japanese, Thai, German, Dutch and North American cultures. The former generally keep small distances one from the other, whereas the latter maintain large spaces among themselves, while interacting. Territory is the third aspect of proxemics. It refers to ''any area controlled and defended by an individual or group of individuals with emphasis on physical possession'' (Ivannia, op.cit: 33). Leather (op.cit) identifies four types of territory: public territories, i.e., for everybody such as restaurants ; home territories for

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relatives and family members; 'interaction' territories for informal meetings like a local gym; and body territories, i.e. , the space we occupy ourselves, the space we claim and protect, like the case of a student in class and a father at home. It should be noted that the choice of verbal and / or non-verbal patterns of communicative behaviour depends on the socio-cultural situation in question; they co-exist alongside one another. Worth noting as well is the correlation existing between these two modes of communication, in that cultures which curb the verbal expression of interpersonal feelings and emotions are low-contact cultures, where interlocutors are supposed not to touch or directly look at one another, and vice versa.

Conclusion Culture shapes one's thoughts and experiences as well as one's sense of identity and worldview. It regulates one's attitudes and behaviours, linguistic and nonlinguistic. It follows that, in communicative interactions, knowledge about the other's cultural (or sub-cultural) assumptions, beliefs, values, norms and expectations is more than needed for mutual understanding. In the modern world of today, people have little choice but to communicate interculturally, being linked by satellites and webs, hence the significance of 'intercultural communicative competence'. The relevance of this discussion to FL teaching / learning will be tackled in chapters three and four.

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CHAPTER THREE

THE PLACE OF CULTURE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Introduction

1. Approaches to Culture in Foreign Language Teaching 1.1. Against Culture Teaching 1.2. For Culture Teaching 1.2.1. Culture and Language Teaching 1.2.2. Arguments For Culture Teaching 1.2.2.1. Interdependence of Culture and Language 1.2.2.2. Interdependence of Culture and Communication 1.2.2.3. Culture and Learning Motivation 1.2.2.4. Intercultural Understanding 1.3. Our Viewpoint

2. Culture in the Most Common Language Teaching Approaches / Methods 2.1. The Grammar Translation Method 2.2. The Direct Method 2.3. The Audio-Lingual Method 2.4. Communicative Language Teaching 2.5. The Intercultural Approach

3. Culture or Cultures in the second/ Foreign Language Classroom? 3.1. Culture as Content 3.2. Culture of Communication 3.3. Culture of Learning 3.4. What Culture to Consider?

Conclusion

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Introduction In the previous chapter we saw that language and culture are inextricably tied, that language use is meaningful only in a context, and culture is part of such context. One important implication is that language cannot be taught without its culture. Today, some language teaching professionals believe that culture teaching is an indispensable component in language pedagogy: ''It is a truism to say that teaching language is teaching culture'' (Kramsch, 1993:177). Is culture that crucial in language teaching / learning? Is it really important to do more than what is (or used to be) done in language classrooms? Would it not be detrimental for learners to learn about a culture other than their own? Does the dichotomy EFL (English as a Foreign Language) / ESL (English as a Second Language) matter in this regard? The goal of this chapter is to throw light on the place of culture in the language classroom. Different types of culture will be defined, and their relevance to FL teaching /learning substantiated. The way the cultural component has been handled in the major language teaching approaches and methods that have characterized the field over the course of time is also examined.

1. Approaches to Culture in Foreign Language Teaching Notwithstanding the inseparability of language and culture, the FC is not always 'welcome' in the FL class. Some teaching professionals put forward heated arguments against incorporating it in language courses and textbooks. Others believe it to be a 'taken-for granted' component in FL teaching, for several other arguments.

1.1. Against Culture Teaching To begin with, Altan (1995) thinks that FC based situations such as finding a flat in Manchester, purchasing a pet, playing rugby, watching a game of cricket, and their ingrained values, beliefs, and norms are irrelevant to the learners native environment and background. Coursebooks depicting the culture of, for example, English speakers are, in his opinion, stubbornly Anglo-centric (p 59). Moreover, it is thought that teaching the literary and cultural aspects of a FL is of little use in a world where FLs are basically needed for science, technology, business and 108

international communication. On these grounds, the FC as a target is unfit for todays schools and universities; it does not meet their needs and aspirations. Further, FC based textbooks are, for Altan, culturally based in the sense that they implicitly or explicitly belittle the learners NC. In the specific context of Africa, Turum-Barima (1986: 92) writes:'' the impression is given that Africa has been 'all void or full of sin and shame' and must be filled with European knowledge and ideas''. Altan raises the issue of the likely incompatibility or conflict between NC and FC, the fact which makes learning the latter a threat to the former, in that one runs the risk of having ones own culture overwhelmed and mind warped, when immersed in a new cultural system. In other words, it is thought that instruction in a FC would be detrimental, since it would entail reshaping their patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving to fit the FC patterns. Holly (op. cit) explains that learning a FL whose corresponding culture is politically and economically dominant usually results in what he calls ideological colonisation; by this he means ''not a willing submission but, rather, a hopeless sense of inadequacy in the face of vaunted excellence. It is 'alienation' in the basic sense of a loss of self-confidence to an other set of experiences which are felt to be somehow superior'' (p16). He states that, in the contemporary world, English is the best example of a language serving as a means of ideological, economic, technical and military imperialism an evil influence leading to Westernization. In the context of FL teaching, Altan writes: While it is a known fact that foreign language learners are usually interested in learning about the people who speak the language they are learning, this interest is often lessened due to an underlying fear of losing ones native culture (p 58). The Western culture is not always depicted as a superior, more powerful, more dominating and more compelling world than the developing worlds. It is equally viewed as racist, reductionist', prejudiced and hostile, conflicting with the learners native cultural codes and values, particularly in the Arab world (Obediat, 1997). It is thus a concern over the gradual Westernization of the younger generation, accompanied by a perceived loss of native and traditional values, which make some language teaching professionals decide against FC teaching. In case the TL is English, Altan advocates the perspective of 'international' English, a variety of English that is emptied of the English culture themes, beliefs, values and norms. Similarly, for Post and Rathet (1996), learning English, nowadays, means learning a lingua franca, just like what used to be the case of learning Latin in 109

Europe, during the medieval period. Actually, English enjoys the status of an international language used for specific purposes, in various cultural environments. It is no longer viewed as a vehicle of the Englishspeaking peoples culture and way of life. Put otherwise, it no longer belongs uniquely to them, but to anybody who knows it. Through time, it has been emptied of its cultural connotations and particularities. Some educators refer to teaching English as a purely functional or instrumental tool: nothing more than a linguistic means to certain ends, such as fuller employment and a stronger economy, as in tourism, international banking, [] [so that] the cultures behind the language can be contained and the unwanted sideeffects of English learning reduced. (Hyde, op.cit:296). Hyde observes that language as a system of communication is to be distinguished from the ideology it is used to convey. It is this ideology which can be dangerous or harmful, according to him:
The idea that any particular language is intrinsically good or bad is discarded. Language is seen as a tool for communication, and as such is not to be confused with ideology, that is, the subject matter of specific messages that people choose to convey through the medium of that particular language. To believe that a language per se is dangerous is to hold a confused and illfounded notion of language.

This ESP (English for special or specific purposes) approach encourages the learners' instrumental rather than integrative motivation which denotes the learners identification with the FC and its people. Other educators recommend the nativization of the TL, that is to say, to use it to reflect the local NC, to make up a kind of Algerian English, for example. Altan (op.cit:58) is for incorporating elements from the learners NC in the FL teaching curriculum: if cultural elements of learned native countries are integrated into ELT materials, these elements will certainly strengthen the learner psychologically for the learning situation to be encountered. For Post and Rathet, the adoption of the learners NC as cultural content in FL classrooms does not only enhance their selfconfidence and motivation to learn, providing them with the opportunity to explore their own identities and interests through a new linguistic environment, but it also supports the findings of the schemata theory research, that familiar content positively affects the learners comprehension and assimilation of the TL, and vice versa. Thus,

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to use a foreign cultural content instead means to overburden our students with both new linguistic content and new cultural information simultaneously (Post and Rathet, op.cit:12). In a like manner, Altan (op.cit) notes that a foreign cultural input would engender further difficulties for FL learners to cope with, in addition to the already existing linguistic complexities: passages and units with foreign cultural themes and topics not only cause difficulties in comprehension, but actually seem to increase misunderstanding and confusion about the non-native culture (p 59). He adds that learners seek just to learn English and not to master it. Only the latter, he argues, requires knowledge of the target culture (TC): there needs to be an understanding of the difference between mastering and learning a foreign language. Mastery necessitates native-speaker proficiency in language use and cultural knowledge [] most learners do not aspire to become masters of another language, they simply desire to function with communicative fluency (p 60).

1.2. For Culture Teaching 1.2.1. Culture and Language Teaching ''Except for language, learning, and teaching, there is perhaps no more important concept in the field of TESOL [Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages] than culture. Implicitly or explicitly ESL teachers face it in everything they do'' (Atkinson, op. cit: 625). For language teaching professionals and lay people alike, learning a FL is not merely mastering an academic subject, but it more appropriately denotes learning a new means of communication, a new culture. It is now increasingly recognized that it is impossible to operate a divorce between language learning and learning about the TL culture (Valdes, 1986; Robinson, 1988; Byram, 1989; Harrison, 1990; Kramsch, 1993); in De Jongs words (op.cit:17), learning norms and values is part of the language learning process. In the eighties, Hirsh (in Malkina, 1995) advanced the notion of cultural literacy acquired essentially through language learning. In return, cultural aspects make of language learning a meaningful, rich and versatile experience. Though the concept of communicative competence has highlighted the role of context (immediate and large) in language use, and hence in language learning/ teaching, it did not provide genuine help in language classrooms. Attention shifted to 111

cultural competence on the basis of which language patterns and structures should be taught with their culture-specific meanings. Many language teachers, nowadays, put it as their goal to include culture in their courses. However, as reported by De Jong (op.cit:8), many other teachers still focus on vocabulary and grammar, while learning proper behaviour in another cultural environment should receive at least the same amount of attention. In a like manner, Thanasoulas (op.cit) notes that though language pedagogy has transcended the behaviourist and structuralist era, some of its old beliefs are still sensed in modern classroom methodologies and FL curricula, undermining the role culture should play in FL courses. He defines FL learning deterministically in culture terms: foreign language learning is foreign culture learning, and, in one form or another, culture has, even implicitly, been taught in the foreign language classroom if for different reasons (p 2). He insists, further, that language teaching is culture teaching and teachers do their students a great disservice in placing emphasis on the former, to the detriment of the latter (p 7). 1.2.2. Arguments For Culture Teaching Proponents of the cultural component in FL teaching usually advance one of two central arguments. The first argument has to do with the very nature of language: linguistic forms acquire unique colouring and bias, depending upon the beliefs, values and practices of the speakers. This intrinsic interweaving of language and culture makes it impossible to separate them in teaching / learning. Hence, dealing with the TL culture is indispensable, if not unavoidable, in all stages of the language teaching / learning process. The second argument is geared to instrumentality, in that cultural understanding is advocated as a prerequisite to communicate effectively with the TL speakers, and to function appropriately in the cultural context in question. Another argument that is often put forward, in this regard, has to do with psychopedagogy. It is believed that cultural pursuit stimulates language learning, in that it awakens interest and curiosity even in lessmotivated learners, broadens their intellectual horizons, develops their imaginative powers and critical thinking, and sustains their motivation to work at a productive rate.

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1.2.2.1. Interdependence of Culture and Language Byram (1989) has explored the role of cultural studies in FL education. To him, as well as to other scholars, cultural awareness contributes to language awareness and proficiency. He believes that a language curriculum necessarily includes (whether implicitly or explicitly) elements of the culture of its speakers, because language invariably reflects their knowledge and perception of the world and their cultural concepts and values. Thus, one cannot learn a language and disregards its culture: to speak a language is to speak a culture, to exchange language which embodies a particular way of thinking and living (Byram, 1992:169). According to Byram (ibid: 170), cultures share translatable similarities, but there are as well cultural differences which need to be learned, to be understood: In learning the groups language, an outsider has also to learn new ways of thinking and living, some of which may contradict those peculiar to his own culture. In a like manner, Seelye (op.cit: 6) makes it clear that unless the student is learning the language in the target culture, the cultural referents necessary to understanding a native speaker must be learned in addition. Corder (op.cit:77) states that as long as there is an overlap between cultures, as long as translation from and into languages is possible, learning a FL is not an impossible task, but is more or less difficult, depending on how close are ones NL / TL, and NC / TC:
The learning of a second language does clearly involve some degree of recategorization ; [] learning a second language does involve learning to see the world as the speakers of that language habitually see it, does involve learning their culture. But this is not an impossible task []. Learning a new language is emphatically not a question of acquiring a new set of names for the same things; it is not just the learning of an automatic translation device, the internalizing of a bilingual dictionary. On the other hand, learning a language does not involve learning a new worldview.

It can be implied that Corder adopts a middle position: he acknowledges the fact that a language reflects a culture, and that cultures are different, but they are not categorically and totally different to make learning a new language impossible, or to equate it to acquiring a drastically new worldview. There are similarities between cultures, as there are differences. After all, we are all human beings who have similar needs and who live in the same world.

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Tang (1999) also subscribes to the view that language and culture are two sides of the same coin. For her, the question of including (or not) culture in the FL classroom is pointless: questions of this sort and research of this sort appear to me to presuppose that culture can be separated from language, that culture is something that needs to be introduced into the language classroom and to the learner, and that learner and teacher have some sort of a choice as to whether 'cultural integration' is to be included in the syllabus or not. (p1). In her opinion, language is not merely interwoven with culture, but language is culture (p1). Speaking a language implies thinking in that language, hence taking on the identity of its speakers. She suggests going beyond the question of the inclusion (or not) of culture in a FL curriculum, to consider deliberate immersion versus nondeliberate exposure to it. In the fifties, this question was analyzed by H., Nostrand (1956; in F.B., Nostrand, 1974:196) who put it plainly that:
we cannot help teaching the foreign culture As we teach a peoples language or literature, we unavoidably form our students ideas of that peoples way of life. The factual curiosity of our students impels them to find answers to their common-sense questions in whatever we say, even if we were never able to indulge in a single explicit generalization about the foreign peoples values, or worldview, or strengths or weaknesses. What is worse, our students are bound to practice the fallacy of judging any fragment of the foreign culture as though it were intended to fit into their own scheme, unless we are prepared to help them draw an informed comparison instead.

According to Valdes (op.cit: 20), in a FL curriculum, language and culture always go together like Sears Roebuck or Marks Spenser. From the very beginning, culture is introduced along with language, even though some teachers may ignore or deny it: (p 20)
From the first day of the beginning class, culture is at the forefront. Whatever approach, method, or technique is used, greetings are usually first on the agenda. How can any teacher fail to see the cultural nature of the way people greet each other in any place in any language? Not calling it a lesson in culture does not prevent its being one. Every language lesson, from repetition drills, and fill-in-theblanks to sophisticated compositions in advanced classes, must be about something, and almost invariably that something will be cultural, no matter what disguise it travels under.

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This is identical to what is advanced by Ladu (op.cit:129): Language cannot be separated from the culture in which it is deeply embedded. Any authentic use of the language, any reading of original texts, any listening to native speakers will introduce cultural concomitants into the classroom whether the teacher is conscious of them or not. By not making them explicit, the teacher permits misconceptions to develop in the students' minds. In other words, mere fluency in the production of FL utterances without any awareness of their socio-cultural implications, or reading texts without a realization of the underlying values and assumptions is not language learning. If it is the case, that culture is unavoidable in a language class, why not making the most of it, for the ultimate benefit of the learner.

1.2.2.2. Interdependence of Culture and Communication The impact of cultural knowledge on the success of intercultural

communication is undeniable. Misunderstandings and communication difficulties may be solved or alleviated by the resort to further information-giving and-requesting on both sides of the communicative interaction; ''does not cross-cultural communication involve a lot of give-and-take on both sides of the cultural divide?'' (White, op.cit: 201). Nevertheless, ones effectiveness as an intercultural communicator is in part a function of ones knowledge of other peoples and their cultures. One needs to adopt a culturally appropriate style to meet the expectations of foreign interlocutors; for instance, to speak up or in a low tone, to make or not eye contact, to be more or less confident, to state ones opinions, to act dependently or independently from others. Lack of cultural knowledge results in inappropriate language use, misunderstanding, and breakdowns in communication. Accordingly, why not designing a teaching curriculum that would meet these needs and give learners insights into what communicating in a new culture might be like. Peck (1984:1) states:
Knowledge of the codes of behavior of another people is important if todays foreign language student is to communicate fully in the target language. Without the study of culture, foreign language instruction is inaccurate and incomplete. For FL students, language study seems senseless if they know nothing about the people who speak it or the country in which it is spoken. Language learning should be more than the manipulation of syntax and lexicon.

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1.2.2.3. Culture and Learning Motivation Kitao (op.cit: 4) reporting the outcomes of a culture training programme notes: ''they [trained learners] demonstrated a more international outlook with greater understanding of the target culture and they understood themselves better, showed more self-confidence, and had increased motivation for foreign language study''. In other words, the benefits of teaching about the TL culture, as revealed by this work, are two-fold: to enable learners to have a better understanding of others and of themselves, but also do motivate men to learn more of the TL. According to the experience of Mavi (1996:54) in FL teaching, ''teenaged pupils become more motivated when they learn about the life style of the foreign country whose language they are studying''. Research in the field of language learning and motivation has shown that among the most important variables that affect learners motivation, positive perceptions of the TL people and culture hold a major place. According to Niederhausers (1997:11) experience, ''bringing cultural content into the language classroom is one of the best ways of increasing motivation. In a society in which the conflict between globalization and nationalism remains unresolved, many members of the younger generation greatly appreciate the opportunity to learn about life in other countries and to exchange ideas with teachers who are sensitive to both cultures''. In Bals study (1971; in Kitao, op.cit), two groups of American learners of German were compared. The first group relied only on a textbook to study the TL, but the second had an additional cultural instruction. It was found out that in the former, three learners dropped the language course, while no one did so in the latter. Besides, learners who were taught about culture achieved better (in terms of grades) than those who were not. It can be inferred that learning about FCs may serve as a motive to learning FLs. Kitao gives an account of a number of other studies: Keller and Ferguson (1976), Klayman (1976), Leward (1974), Steiner (1971) which all demonstrate that learning about a FC results in learners short and long term motivation to study the corresponding TL. Culture may serve as well to arouse the learners instant motivation, giving light relief, or pervading lessons, where language learning is sometimes felt to be boring or limited: When pace lags, when the eyes drop, when the heat comes, the smart teacher will have the cultural unit (Steiner, ibid.). This is due to the fact that cultural matters generally stimulate learners interest: (Kitao, op.cit: 7)

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Students like activities based on culture, including singing, dancing, role playing, skits, doing research on countries and people, etc. [] there was a high correlation between the FL which students were studying and their choice of foreign countries to visit or live in. The study of culture increases students' curiosity about and interest in the target countries, their people, and their culture.

For Valdes (op.cit: 21), recognizing and highlighting the cultural component in a language lesson promotes learning and completes its usefulness:
How much more effective for the language learner if the teacher is cognizant of the cultural nature of what he is teaching and adds interpretation, explanation of underlying values, along with word order, tense, and aspect. Attention to cultural details doubles the usefulness of the lesson, not only in adding another dimension, but also in making the lesson more interesting and therefore easier to learn.

Likewise, Kitao (op.cit: 7) thinks that culture instruction makes of language learning a meaningful and a purposeful enterprise, facilitating comprehension and assimilation: studying culture makes studying foreign languages real. Students have difficulty relating to the people of another culture without knowing anything about them. [] explaining cultural aspects of language would help students relate the abstract sounds and forms of a language to real people and places. F.B., Nostrand (op.cit: 200) was among the first scholars to draw language teachers attention to this fact: It makes sense to teach something of the lifestyle of the people at the same time that one is teaching the language. [] in many texts the dialogs, the sentences used as examples, and the reading materials sound contrived and artificial. Lacking cultural authenticity, they are, in my view, dull. Put otherwise, culture contextualises language learning and language use, brings authenticity to the language class and reduces its artificiality.

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1.2.2.4. Intercultural Understanding Knowing about FCs promotes cross-cultural understanding, tolerance of diversity, and perhaps even a liking for others and others cultural ways, overcoming stereotypes and ethnocentrism: (Peck, op.cit:1)
Humanistically, the study of different cultures aids us in getting to know different people which is a necessary prelude to understanding and respecting other peoples and their ways of life. It helps to open our students eyes to the similarities and differences in the life of various cultural groups. Today, most of our students live in a monolingual and monocultural environment. Consequently, they become culture-bound individuals who tend to make premature and inappropriate value judgments. This can cause them to consider the foreign peoples whose language they are trying to learn as very peculiar and even ill-mannered.

Culture study enlarges the learners horizons and general knowledge, being a basic part of their general education. The Islamic thinker Imara (2003) points out the need to read about others, to raise ones awareness about them, their civilization, culture and religion. This awareness is, according to him, a first step to overcome their potential hostilities. In other words, he urges one to consider others standpoints to be able to defend and protect oneself, if need be. On the other hand, he asserts that it is only through the others view of oneself (even if these others are ones enemies) that one may come to truly know oneself and ones failings, hence the need to open up to the world, rather than be isolated and restrained within the limits of ones culture, language and civilization. This window on the world will be a mirror to reflect ones persona, to cite Goethe (in Limbach, op.cit: 25) Compare yourself! Recognize who you are!. This means that one can better understand ones thoughts and behaviours, when comparing and contrasting them with the others'. In this respect, Tavares and Cavalcanti (1996:18) explain: the development of peoples cultural awareness leads us to more critical thinking as citizens with political and social understanding of our own and other communities. Indeed, as one learns more about other people from various cultures, one also discovers more about oneself. Elements of ones own culture one is not actually aware of would be brought out when the others models are studied. In other words, the experience of entering a new culture prompts many questions not only about others, but also about oneself and ones NC; it points to differences and similarities which question or confirm ones beliefs

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and feelings. It is what strikes one most in another culture which will be most revealing about oneself and ones society and its functioning mode. As far back as 1956, H., Nostrand (in F.B., Nostrand, op.cit:195-196) wrote: ''Surely it would advance the understanding between peoples, as well as selfknowledge, if we could make comprehensible the essential content of each culture''. Byram, Zarate and Neuner (1997: 66) deem it essential that in FL learning the learner receives information about the people of the target country, about the way they organise their daily lives (routines and rituals), about their ideas, attitudes and beliefs etc., because this will help the learner to reflect upon his own position (similarities or differences) and come to terms with possible communication traps in the foreign language (misunderstandings, blockades; etc.). For Brire (1984: 563), knowledge about FCs enhances ones sense of self and awareness of ones own identity:
It is obviously not possible to become aware of ones own identity as a member of a national culture without making contact with foreign cultures. One must leave the United States intellectually or physically in order to become aware of what it means to be an American. Such an objective is so important that it should stand as sufficient justification for making the study of foreign languages and cultures a requirement in American schools.

Cortazzi and Jin (op.cit: 219) affirm that intercultural understanding leads to the stabilization of ones sense of identity: ''A cultural focus on intercultural competence has communicative ends, but there are further important advantages: it may not only encourage the development of identity, but also encourage the awareness of others identities and an element of stabilization in a world of rapid change''. Being teachers of language and culture and encouraging reflection on self and on the FC is being much more than teachers of language knowledge and skills; it denotes undertaking the responsibilities of educating young people (Byram, 1992: 175). Harmer (1991; in Cheung, 2001: 60) puts it so aptly that language teaching is not just about teaching language. This is to say that it is as well about educating. Porto (2000: 90) thinks that teachers have to conceive of their role as being educators and not just language trainers, for, according to her, language teaching is bound to be educational. The FL classroom is ideal for cultural education since the

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subject matter lends itself for the discussion of everyday issues and of a variety of topics that make up the TC. Porto asserts that the cultural component plays a more influential role in a language class than actually recognized. Suffice it to say that it contributes to the overall learners linguistic, social and cognitive development.

1.3. Our Viewpoint We hold the viewpoint of those who believe in the interlocking of language and culture; hence, learning the latter along with the former is a matter of fact. Learners do not need to study the FL only to act appropriately in intercultural communicative interactions, but also owing to the fact that culture is an inherent feature of language, and its understanding enables a better knowledge and use of language itself. In addition, learning another culture enlarges the learners general knowledge, and incites them to understand better their own culture. However, we do not agree with those who believe that to learn a FL and its corresponding culture means to take on the foreign identity of its speakers. An Algerian, for instance, does not become suddenly French or less Algerian when speaking or learning French or about the culture of the French, as long as one knows who one is and what ones NL and NC are. Learning a new culture, as noted by Byram (1992:170), does not mean letting down ones own culture, for by the time one engages in learning a new language, s/he would have internalized a set of values, beliefs, pertaining to the language and the culture of the people s/he belongs to:
For when learners discover, in the part of the circle of culture which does not overlap with their own, contradictions of and differences from the values and meanings of their own culture, they cannot simply cast off their own and adopt the other. Since their own identity is in part formed through their internalisation, in secondary socialisation, of the values and meanings of the social group to which they belong, they cannot simply put aside one set of values and meanings as if it were separable cultural baggage

Along these lines, Porto (op.cit: 92) states: although language learning may involve awareness of different dimensions in the perception of reality, this does not entail undermining ones values. Language teaching does not alter the learners cultural perspective dramatically, for one may appreciate different values and still remain within ones culture .

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We do not exclude the possibility that a language may be used to refer to cultures other than its own, as well as to international concepts and phenomena. A target FL can, for example, be used to introduce learners to aspects of their own NC, though not as perfectly and authentically as when the NL is used. This is not to be understood as an urge to nativize the TL, which is to curtail it to a tool to refer exclusively to ones NC. This nativization process is, in our viewpoint, only conceivable in contexts where the TL is a second language, enjoying a specific historical background. In the case of English, reference is being made to regions which witnessed a past English-speaking colonist, i.e., ESL countries. And even in these contexts, we believe that such a 'nativized' language would not escape artificiality. At the same time, we cannot concede that a language can be emptied of its cultural content. In Hydes (op.cit: 297) opinion, stripping English of its cultural baggage would also strip students of invaluable knowledge. It would mean also causing language to lose its essence, in other words, dehumanizing it. This disassociation of language and culture is possible only theoretically, for if this is manageable in class, how could it be so outside, in a world essentially characterized by a revolutionary global information technology? (Hyde, op.cit: 297):
Information, mostly in English, is flooding the world, through advertisements, magazines, newspapers, books, instruction manuals, satellite television, films and rock music, videos, radio, telephones, the post, fax and telex machines, computers and information technology in general, tourism and migration for economic and educational reasons, and business relations.

Byram, Zarate and Neuner (op.cit: 57) put it aptly that there is no foreign language teaching without socio-cultural content. Even if the socio-cultural component is not defined as an explicit cognitive objective or the target language is used as a lingua franca it is represented in all other factors of competence. It appears that both the ESP instrumental approach and the nativization approach do not offer a sensible solution to the issue of what culture to teach in the framework of FLT. Being based on censorship, they fail to address the core of the question of cultural imperialism. They above all ignore the intimate relationship a language has with its culture. One way to cope with cultural imperialism in FLT, in my opinion, is by developing the learners analytic and critical skills with respect to

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cultural inputs. This presupposes a firm and a critical awareness of ones own language and culture.(1) According to Brooks (op.cit), language teachers need not be exhorted to teach culture since this need has long been felt by them, though not always actually applied. What they rather need is to see clearly what is meant by culture, and how it can be incorporated in their daily tasks. They need as well materials specially designed for this purpose, and tests to assist them in evaluating learners progress in this area.

2. Culture in the Most Common Language Teaching Approaches / Methods It may be thought that the introduction of culture in language courses is relatively recent. However, a review of relevant literature indicates that culture has always been present in language instruction. Indeed, as far back as a century ago, Jespersen (1904; in Kitao, op.cit) recognized the value of culture stating that the most important goal of language courses is teaching about another culture. Nevertheless, this goal has not been given due care until more recent years, namely in the seventies, when it was considered a new tendency in language pedagogy, just like the individualization of language teaching trend. Even then, the question of culture teaching was not duly investigated, and culture did not play a significant role in language classes. 2.1. The GrammarTranslation Method At the time of the grammartranslation method, namely in the nineteenth century, a FL was not studied for communicative purposes. Rather, FL teaching was devoted to reading and studying literature. One of the goals was to shape the learner's personality by introducing him / her to the target cultural, civilizational heritage in an ''international [European] community'' (Byram, Zarate and Neuner op.cit: 61). Literature had the basic role of depicting the outstanding figures, historical events and achievements of the TC. The grammartranslation method, thus, embraced a civilization approach, that is it only considered capital C or high culture. This cultural component was, in addition, an autonomous part of the curriculum. Texts were explored for their
(1)

This point will be further discussed in chapter four.

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grammatical (rather than cultural) value, and they (indirectly) fostered a stereotypical view of the TL culture (Damen, op.cit: 255): the
civilization approach reflected stereotypic conceptions more frequently than it did ethnographic reality. Few who struggled with such texts escaped confusion and disappointment when they moved from the gallery of one-dimensional natives who graced the pages of their textbooks to the real world. Students searched in vain for those merry-making, carefree Italians, eternally dancing Mexicans, Indianfighting American cowboys, or blue-frocked, sabot-clad Frenchmen.

2.2. The Direct Method Some scholars believe that the significance of culture in FL teaching began with the direct method, at the end of the nineteenth century. The socio-cultural component was dealt with explicitly in FL instruction. Then, the goal was to promote international communication and trade exchange in a Europe characterized by competition and imperialism. Focus was on knowledge about the TC geographical, historical, political, economic and technical facts, and their comparison with ones own cultural data.

2.3. The Audiolingual Method Heusinkveld (op.cit) observes that the teaching of culture before the sixties was sporadic at best. It was assumed that the study of language leads automatically to culture understanding and appreciation. In the sixties and seventies, the significance of culture in language learning / teaching developed with the audiolingual (audiovisual) approach, when the relationship between culture and language was pointed out by structural linguists and anthropologists. The need of cultural knowledge to understand even a simple poem was highlighted. It was demonstrated that language structures are culture-loaded and their use depends on cultural rules, for instance, the use of pronouns in Spanish and Japanese, and the use of singular and plural forms in English (countable versus uncountable). It was also agreed that similar words have different cultural connotations in different languages and cultures. In USA, the aim of FL education in the late sixties was to promote international understanding that can be achieved through learning about other

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cultures and studying other languages. This need of linguistic and cultural learnings had been particularly felt with the decline of isolationism, namely during and after world war two, when American soldiers were sent abroad and interacted with speakers of the other languages, and of different cultural backgrounds. The army, then, designed a training programme to enable the Americans to bridge the linguistic and cultural gaps they had with their enemies. The increase of necessity of intercultural communication resulted in the increase of the need to teach about others cultures. Learning other languages and about other cultures did not only help the Americans to understand others and communicate effectively with them, but also to understand themselves and each other, namely their own individual backgrounds characterized by bilingualism or multilingualism, and hence biculturalism or multiculturalism. Since the sixties, bilingual / multilingual education has been encouraged in USA, but also all over the world. At that time, scholars like Hall, Nostrand, Seelye and Brooks toiled to make the FC more accessible to FL learners. It became the object of language teaching conferences to investigate questions concerning what should be taught in the name of culture and its objectives. The very definition of culture was a crucial question to be handled, let alone designing appropriate strategies for incorporating it in an already crowded language syllabus. As previously mentioned (p 6), there were three hundred definitions examined by Kroeber and Kluckhohn (op.cit). While the type of culture drawing attention then was capital C culture (i.e., art and literature), small c culture (that is information about everyday life) became the focal point in teaching. Brooks (op.cit) was the first to distinguish capital C and small c culture, and it is mainly thanks to his seminal works and writings that attention in the language classroom shifted from teaching literature, geography and history, to the more anthropological facet of culture, namely the lifestyles of everyday people. Hence, culture began to be valued for the sake of language learning and not for the study of literature. Thanasoulas (op.cit: 4) insightfully puts it that Brooks ''helped dispel the myth that culture [] is an intellectual gift bestowed only upon the elite. Admittedly, the main thrust of his work was to make people aware that culture resides in the very fabric of their lives their modus vivendi, their beliefs, assumptions and attitudes rather than a preoccupation with aesthetic reflections or high falutin ideas''. Rivers (1968) suggested six categories of objectives to FL education, among which two pertain to culture. Culture teaching techniques developed by that time were culture 124

capsules (Tayler and Sorensen, 1961), culture assimilators'( Piedler, Mitchelle and Triandis,1971), and 'culture clusters (Meade and Morain, 1973) (in Kitao, op.cit.). There were even attempts by some scholars (like Nostrand, 1974) to tackle the question of testing cultural learnings(1).

Notwithstanding all such developments, Byram, Zarate and Neuner see that the audiolingual method pertains to the pragmatic concept of FL teaching. Though the cultural component raised in importance in the audio-lingual class, it was subordinated under other objectives related to language usage. Small c culture related to day-to-day interaction emerged as an aspect of FL learning, but it was handled implicitly, mainly through visual aids and vocabulary words. The cultural content was, furthermore, reduced to serve some pragmatic social roles (tourist, consumer). The aim was to develop in learners a set of habits in relation to some socio-cultural behaviours, to make the learners do as the natives do. The outcome was highly inadequate: sociocultural aspects have a servicefunction for the development of linguistic systems and skills, and the result is a rather superficial, random, stereotyped, and sometimes even distorted representation of sociocultural features of the target language (Byram, Zarate and Neuner, op.cit: 63). Put simply, the structural approach gave priority to language usage over language use; the result was that the content of language teaching could remain virtually context-free (Clarke and Clarke, op.cit: 32), and hence culture-free. 2.4. Communicative Language Teaching Beginning from the seventies, culture gained more significance in the framework of communicative language teaching (CLT), where major importance is conferred on the context and situation of language use. The instructional goal has become to enable learners to communicate within the cultural context of the TL, that is, to develop 'communicative competence' in the TL. Then, F.B., Nostrand (op. cit: 193) wrote:

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Culture teaching / testing objectives and techniques will be tackled in chapter four.

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As I write this in the fall of 1973, the teaching of culture in the foreignlanguage classroom has been accepted as part of the curriculum by a great number of teachers over a large part of the country [USA]. Students have shown that they are interested in this area of learning, not only in relation to foreign languages but, to the other disciplines. Many professors and teachers now acknowledge that the lifestyle and the value system of a foreign people is a legitimate part of a foreign language and even of a literature program.

Canale and Swain (1980:31; in Lessard Clouston, 1997:1) think that the communicative approach allows for a more natural integration of language and culture, than the preceding approaches. However, worth mentioning is the fact that CLT was in its beginnings devoted to the promotion of the pragmatic, functional perspective in language teaching. It investigated learners communicative needs in socio-cultural situations (at the post office, shopping, at work, at the university). The topic-areas dealt with basically reinforced these functional objectives. Their socio-cultural content served merely as background information to communicative activities. Thus, culture was not explicitly and systematically taught. In addition, the grammatical aspect was still an operational factor in content selection and presentation, the fact which results in a distorted image of the TC. Byram, Zarate and Neuner (op.cit:65) demonstrate this point stating:
In our research on the influence of grammar on the presentation of topics in textbooks of English as a foreign language we have discovered that in a given topic e.g. the presentation of New York entirely different aspects are displayed when combined with different grammatical aspects, e.g. present perfect, gerund, passive voice or indirect speech with the result that socio-cultural information remains superficial, that it excludes almost all controversial or critical questions, and that it concentrates on aspects reinforcing the preconceived stereotyped positive image of living in that big city.

In the eighties and nineties, the value of culture learning in language teaching was further investigated (Valdes, 1986; Robinson, 1985; Damen, 1987; Kramsch, 1993). The growth of relevant disciplines such as pragmatics, sociolinguistics and ethnography resulted in an increased focus on culture and culture learning. A new trend in FL teaching research emerged under the heading of cultural studies

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(Byram, 1989). New insights considered the importance of developing learners comprehension and analytic skills to enable them to function appropriately as foreigners in a new culture, and not only with respect to a set of fixed situations and roles. What is more, a common core of universal socio-cultural experiences, including topics as personal identity, family, education, work, health care, communication, values was elaborated (Byram, Zarate and Neuner). In this light, attention was drawn to the need to teach the socio-cultural component in an explicit way. It was more and more realized that FL learners need to be made knowledgeable about the people of the TC, their daily life routines and rituals, their beliefs, their values, and should be encouraged to reflect upon them as well as upon their native ones (similarities, differences). This would be conducive to empathy and acceptance of others. Thus, by that time, the importance of teaching culture in FL instruction was widely acknowledged, and culture together with communication became the two

cornerstones of FL education. From then on, culture teaching continued to be improved. 2.5. The Intercultural Approach Traditional culture teaching was restricted to providing the learners with a body of information about the native speakers of the TL and their way of life. It proved to be an inadequate approach to culture teaching. Its perspective is objective culture rather than culture as a social construct, or as the product of subjective perceptions (Kramsch, 1993). It presents facts without catering for means susceptible to stimulate the learners' study and synthesis skills. Besides, culture was essentially defined in behavioural terms. The focus in culture instruction was thus based on the mere description of observable behaviours, such as how to celebrate religious or other feasts, how to do shopping, how to interpret gestures and other forms of body language, without attempting to understand their underlying rules and the conditions of their occurrence. In the sixties and seventies, intercultural communication scholars such as Brooks, Nostrand and Seelye attempted to find common grounds and set up universal bridges between cultures. Their aim was to bring the FC to the language classroom, and make it more familiar to the language learner. However, their work, which was based on insights from contrastive linguistics, social anthropology and cross-cultural psychology, dealt with culture in structural terms. One structuralist 127

approach to culture teaching is underlined by the principle of teaching texts from the learners' NC, before proceeding to the TC (Byrnes 1991; in Kramsch, ibid.). Another structuralist approach underlines patterns of meaning common to the TC and NC (Swaffar 1992; in Kramsch, ibid.). These two approaches delineate a linear proceeding from the universal to the particular. Kramsch (ibid: 226) thinks that crosscultural communication is simultaneously based on both: "The universals can get their proper meaning (or weighting) only from the particular voice of the writer and the particular voice can be listened to and understood only through the universal". In the framework of these approaches, learners are left without means to proceed from the universal to the particular, and from their NC to the TC. One wonders if such a transition is possible. In the eighties and nineties, that is, in the post structuralist era, scholars such as Byram (1989) called into question the structuralist approach to cross-cultural teaching. Advances in pragmatics and sociolinguistics were timely to bring in change in the field of language and culture teaching. Teaching professionals advocate in present times an 'intercultural' approach based on reflection upon and an analysis of cultural data, as well as on comparison of TC and NC. Learners do not only need to know about cultural matters. More important is the need to practise what is taught and apply it in actual socio-cultural situations. De Jong (op. cit: 97) explains: ''Knowing lists based on () differences between everyday occurrences is not sufficient for the language learner to avoid cultural pitfalls. What is necessary is training in recognition, observation, understanding and participation in situations requiring the use of phrases like these, as well as appropriate non-verbal behaviour''. Learners need also to develop intercultural skills such as gathering ones own information, assessing it critically, taking the others perspective, to become interculturally competent. Byram (1997: 19) refers, in this regard, to 'learning to learn' or 'savoir apprendre' about another culture, that is, discovery and analysis skills that enable learners to develop by themselves understanding of another culture. Similarly, Seelye (1993) believes that increasing the learners ability to communicate across cultures means developing in them a set of skills, not just a mass of facts.

He points to the importance of cultivating the learners' curiosity about the TC and empathy toward its bearers, and of making them recognize the role of socio-cultural factors in shaping speech and behaviour. Equally crucial, in his opinion, is to develop in learners the ability to assess the validity of a generalization about the TC, and to 128

search for and to organize cultural data. Kramsch (1993) is for 'a critical language pedagogy' which is based on encouraging the learners to be critical , that is, not to accept passively what is presented to them , to question it , to relate it to their own experiences and worldview , but most of all , to adopt a 'third place' between their NC and TC. The intercultural approach to language teaching is basically learnercentred. This is reflected in its characteristics as outlined by Byram, Zarate, and Neuner (op.cit). Firstly, the learners native cultural background and socio-cultural experience are not excluded from the FL teaching class, given their impact on the perception and interpretation of the FC .They may serve as a basis for the selection of topics and the design of activities. Secondly, effective FL use is not merely the result of a habit formation process based on mechanical imitation. Rather, the development of intercultural competence calls for the learners cognitive skills in that it requires them to think, interpret, analyse, compare, infer and negotiate meanings in a FC. They are supposed to synthesize target cultural elements and their past experiences to form new symbols and meanings. It can be implied that, in the framework of the intercultural approach, culture is not merely regarded in behavioural terms but more importantly in cognitive and symbolic ones (as previously elucidated in chapter one). Thirdly, the development of socio-cultural competence in the TL is embedded in the learners' general socio-cultural competence concerning their world and the world in general. The aim is to achieve a balance between personal and social identity. Fourthly, both declarative and procedural knowledge are catered for in the intercultural approach, i.e., the learners are not only provided with facts and information about the TC people, institutions and achievements, but attention is given as well to developing their understanding and communication skills(1) . Fifthly, content selection criteria are cultural representativity, accessibility and interest(1). Sixthly, differences between NC and TC are dealt with even at the beginning stage of FL learning notwithstanding their level of difficulty, since they are vital for understanding, communication and survival in a FC. Seventhly, 'metacommunication' defined by Byram, Zarate and Neuner (op.cit: 76) as discussing the learners way of perceiving, of creating ideas and images, and of dealing with experiences with the foreign language in situations of comprehension and interaction'' is a crucial aspect of
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More about this point will be tackled next chapter.

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intercultural FL teaching / learning. On the whole, the intercultural philosophy denotes, by definition, cultural interchange for a better mutual understanding and enrichment. It assumes thus that the cultures involved are all valuable and equal. It is a look upon ones own society and its functioning mode, stimulated by confrontation with other societies and cultures. New approaches to culture teaching are four, as identified by Kramsch (1993): - ''Establishing a sphere of Interculturality '', by which is meant an intercultural approach based on reflecting on both NC and TC, as delineated above. According to this approach, understanding a foreign culture requires putting that culture in relation with ones own'' (Kramsch, ibid: 205).

- ''Teaching culture as an interpersonal process'', according to which, teachers should not merely present facts about the TC but should more importantly provide for ways to enable learners to understand these facts and all what is other or foreign.

- ''Teaching culture as difference'', on the basis of which, to have a different culture does not only mean to have different national identities; age, gender, regional origin, ethnic background, social class are other factors that determine ones cultural personality.

- ''Crossing disciplinary boundaries'', on the basis of which, culture teaching is viewed in relation to anthropology, sociology, semiology and ethnography. Language and culture teachers should accordingly have readings in these disciplines.

These approaches reflect, by far, more than an incidental encounter with or random reference to cultural matters. Worth noting is that special emphasis on culture is far from being wasteful of class time, as claimed by some teachers, given its relevance to language learning / teaching.

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3. Culture or Cultures in the second/ Foreign Language Classroom? It has been demonstrated that language and culture are closely entwined. In a language classroom setting, where learners form a small socio-cultural group, language and culture particularly interrelate in various and complex ways. Indeed, talking about culture in the classroom entails a reference to more than one culture: culture as content, as a medium of communication, and of learning, in relation to both foreign and second language settings. 3.1. Culture as Content The cultural content as portrayed in textbooks, or culture as content (CC), is but one facet. Any type of teaching shapes values and beliefs, let alone language and culture teaching: ''When it comes to teaching a language, ultimately one teaches the distinctions that are recognized by and are important to those who normally speak the language, one teaches types and ways of reasoning, and one almost certainly, more indirectly but more specifically, promotes particular substantive values through the material one uses'' (Barrow, op.cit: 3). The CC of the textbooks for English used in the Algerian Middle and Secondary Schools is a basic theme in this research, and will be dealt with in detail in Chapter five. 3.2. Culture of Communication According to Jin and Cortazzi (op.cit), in addition to CC, there should be a consideration of a culture of communication. They define it as a systematic pattern of culturally specific emphases in ways of speaking which mediates language and culture in verbal interaction (p100). In other words, speakers of different languages communicate in culturally different ways; they have different patterns, emphases, priorities, .(1) FL learners should be made aware about the culture of communication associated with their TL. Jim and Cortazzi point to the need of a language to talk about culture, that is, a kind of metalanguage, whether in the learners NL or their TL to convey knowledge about the TC, and a culture to talk about language', that is whether to resort to professional academic ways and terms relevant to linguistics and pedagogy or not.

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This theme has been tackled in some detail in chapter two.

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3.3. Culture of Learning Jin and Cortazzi (op.cit: 100) refer to another culture in the FL classroom, namely that of learning. A culture of learning has to do with culturally based ideas about teaching and learning, about appropriate ways of participating in class, about whether and how to ask questions. In other words, the culture of learning called as well the cultural medium or culture as medium (CM) refers to ways of learning / teaching, patterns of interaction and relationship between teacher and learners, expectations, attitudes, values and beliefs about what constitutes good learning / teaching. It is part of what Jordan (op.cit.) calls 'academic culture', that is, the cultural norms of academic institutions (schools, universities). CM is deeply rooted in the learners and / or teachers NC. Different cultures have different perspectives with respect to the teachers and learners roles, the appropriate ways of learning and participating in the learning / teaching process, the lesson content and focus, the status of FLs and FCs. The teacher, for instance, is sometimes viewed as a knower, a dominator, and sometimes as a facilitator and a mere guide. This, doubtless, implies different classroom interaction patterns and teaching / learning modes. Cortazzi and Jin (op.cit:196) make it plain that culture is not only content, but also a series of dynamic processes, including those involved in teaching. From an early age, students (and teachers) are socialized into expectations about what kinds of interaction are appropriate in class, about how texts should be used, about how they should engage in teaching and learning processes. Ones CM thus determines the way one perceives, filters, interacts with and learns (or teaches) the TC. For Western teachers, that is, teachers from USA, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Western Europe, the textbook is viewed as a resource to be adapted to particular classroom contexts. Its contents are to be critically approached and evaluated by them as well as by learners. Focus is on the development of communication skills through a task-based or problem-solving methodology in which learners are assigned a major role. This CM underlies Western language teaching methods and approaches like CLT. CLT is said to be built upon a set of assumptions in the matter of learning processes, learning modes, teaching styles and classroom relationships that are Western culture-based: first, it emphasizes language use rather than language knowledge, fluency and appropriacy rather than structural correctness; second, classroom techniques depend upon spontaneity and trial and error on the part of the learners who are encouraged to 132

engage in extensive interpersonal interactions; and third, the classroom environment should be relaxing and not excessively formal to be conductive to useful learning. These principles conflict with the traditionally established principles of some teaching contexts, especially in Eastern cultures. Chinese learners, for instance, have a CM that is completely different from that of Western learners. In fact, they view teachers and textbooks as sources of absolute knowledge to be unquestionably followed and respected. To them, effective learning takes place through attentive listening and memorization, and language learning means merely the mastery of grammar and vocabulary. Their care for face and group harmony curbs their active and creative contribution in class. These Chinese characteristics are inspired from the Chinese traditional culture of Confucianism, Toasim and Buddhism, in Hirds (1995:23) words:
Chinese tradition of language study focuses on a meticulous analysis in a textbook-based approach involving a systematic unlocking of the meaning of each fragment of language. Perfection is sought through a painstaking understanding of every language item. Personal creations and interpretations are not heavily promoted or valued [] Memorization is a long established teaching technique, especially in the language field. Teachers expect their students to receive rather than construct; learning and classroom relationships are based on formality, with a high degree of teacher-centeredness.

Old Chinese sayings such as Its the noisy bird that is easily shot dead, a real man should be good at thinking, but weak at speaking, and keep silent unless you can burst on the scene like a bombshell (Hui, 1997: 38) clearly discourage speaking or oral communication, a factor that is in conflict with CLT principles. These Chinese characteristics are, according to us, quite similar to those of Arab learners. The latters CM is also teacher and textbook based. Learners are more often viewed as passive recipients of information; they are supposed to keep silent rather than to take part in the learning / teaching process. Critical reflection on and evaluation of textbook contents is uncommon. The teaching / learning situation is complex in case teachers and learners do not share the same CM, that is, when they come from different cultural backgrounds, for instance, when the teacher is a native speaker of the TL and is teaching foreign learners. In such a case, teacher and learners would have mismatched expectations as to what is effective teaching, classroom roles, relations, activities and patterns of interaction. Consequently, the learning process is likely to be negatively influenced. 133

The examples just mentioned, i.e., Western teachers and Chinese learners, illustrate the point. Asking questions about the CC of the textbook, for instance, will not be exploited fully in class, for though the teacher thinks it to be a very useful technique, an opportunity for further learning, learners do not perceive its value. They rather consider it as a waste of time , a way to show off , or an embarrassing , face-losing act , in addition to its being a burden to the teacher .The Western instructor believes in learner- centred classrooms , while Chinese learners seem passive , unwilling to speak and even resist work in pairs or groups. They, by contrast, believe in teachercentred classrooms .The teacher for them is a model for pronunciation and a provider of cultural and linguistic knowledge. Interaction and practice with peers are futile and may even be harmful, given that they expose them to others errors. That is why Hui (op. cit: 38) states, ''group discussion may be less fruitful than individual essaywritings'' for Chinese learners. Because of these differences in teaching / learning styles, behaviours of teacher and learners may be mistakenly judged on either side. Valdes (op.cit: 27) draws a sharp contrast between western and non-western CMs:
The American-British theory of learning which requires that the student examine the information he is given, even in scientific and technical subjects, analyze it, compare and contrast it with other information at his disposal, test it, and even apply in ways of his own devising not specified for him by the teacher [] is mind-boggling to students of many other cultures. In most non-western cultures, the student is given information and is required to accept it without question; his is not to reason why, or even if. Hypothesis is not for him. And to be required to do something on his own with the information he is given is beyond thinking about. Students from these cultures who go to western countries to study are sure to undergo culture shock in this area, if in no other.

3.4. What Culture to Consider? When the textbook includes more than one TC (the TLculture, the source culture (NC), international TCs), the learning/teaching situation may be intricate. It becomes even problematic when learners do not come from a single cultural background and bring many NCs and CMs to the FL classroom. What is more, when teacher and learners have the same CM, the latter may not be in harmony with the CM on which the FL textbook is based ; as noted by Mee Cheah (op.cit: 202) materials and methods for language teaching are themselves never value free. In

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this case, the teacher is likely to understand the learners' approach to the text, but may not be able to go beyond it to adopt the CM expected by the textbook designer, and which better suits the TC or CC. Cortazzi and Jin see culture learning through a textbook in a FL classroom as a three-party dialogue with CC (as contained in the textbook) i.e., a dialogue between teacher, learners and textbook. Each of these elements influences the process of culture teaching / learning in that it brings a culture and a CM, which may not be similar or congruent with those brought by the other elements. They believe that in most cases, it is the source culture of learning which overwhelms the others: The problem is that the students' and their teachers culture of learning may not be consonant with each other, and either could be out of synchronization with the TC. Source cultures then dominate the interaction so that the culture content becomes filtered or distorted by the participants' approach to interaction with the text (Cortazzi and Jin, op.cit: 212). Moreover, teachers and learners are urged to transcend differences in order to promote interculturalism: When there are such mismatches, it will not be a solution to include more representative elements of target cultures in texts. It is necessary to go beyond this, to reflect on ways of using the human resources of the classroom more effectively for intercultural education (Cortazzi and Jin, op.cit: 197). On the basis of what is mentioned, we can imply that to learn and teach successfully about a TC, we should not regard only the cultural content of textbooks, we should as well give due care to the way this cultural content is to be handled by teacher and learners, that is considering their CM(s) and hence their NC(s)(1), and the way they match (or not) the CM of the approach underlying the textbook being used: ''paying heed to cultural materials and methods is insufficient. Attention also needs to be given to teachers' and students' ways of learning, and, by extension, each side needs to pay attention to the other sides culture of learning'' (Cortazzi and Jin, op. cit: 216-217). In some situations, significant adjustments and compromises need to be operated to achieve success. A crucial point worth raising in this discussion has to do with the distinction between foreign and second language situations. Some scholars see that CLT is adapted and is more suitable to ESL learning contexts (in case the TL is English). In these contexts, opportunities for oral language practice abound outside the

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More about the NC in the FL class will be discussed in chapter four, sub-section 4.2.2.

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classroom; there are as well infinite instances of appropriacy in language use; the motivation and need to communicate using the TL is greater than in EFL settings. In the latter, the teacher who is almost always a non-native speaker of English is the major source of communicative competence including all its components: ''It would be a remarkable person who could be an adequate teacher in all these areas in an EFL context'' (Hird, op.cit: 23). Many EFL teachers have little access to natural language occurrences and may therefore be unable to teach the TL socio-cultural rules. EFL, thus, is like any other school subject that depends on contextual factors such as the teachers proficiency, the availability of teaching resources, the governmental educational policy, national and curriculum goals: ''Reconsidered in this light, the EFL teacher could be doing the student a disservice by focusing on oral skills when, for example, the examination is testing for translation skills'' (Ellis, op. cit: 215) or for other skills such as reading and writing, as is the case of EFL in Algerian schools. In a like manner, culture teaching in EFL contexts is viewed with doubt. Some educators wonder whether it is useful to teach the culture of a FL like English to non-native speakers in non-native settings, where there is little or no opportunity to interact with the native speakers of English; as put forward by Strevens (op. cit: 62) in the great NNS [nonnative speaker] populations English will be taught mostly by nonnative speakers of the language, to nonnative speakers, in order to communicate mainly with nonnative speakers. Morgan (1993: 66) distinguishes between FL and SL contexts with respect to motivation to learn about the TL culture: ''Much of the work in this field has been in SLA (second language Acquisition] one needs to question whether the motivations in an FL classroom will be equally strong if students have no contact with the target culture''. So, why bother teaching culture in FL contexts? The question above assumes that culture is an independent component to be added to the language whole, while there is general agreement that language and culture are inseparable. Culture is intrinsically embedded in language and language reflects and expresses culture. Therefore, even if English is used in areas where it is not native, it still carries the culture of the natives. It is probably true that culture learning is more relevant to and even inevitable for learners who are living in the TL country or where the TL is prevalent, mainly ESL contexts. This does not mean that the cultural component is not necessary in EFL settings. Valdes (op.cit: 25) writes: ''Is EFL in a non-English speaking country as susceptible to cultural transfer as ESL? 136

Actually, no, not so much; but still susceptible''. He argues that including culture in FL teaching methodologies and materials enhances learning and is highly motivating to learners. Culture penetrates even into an EST (English for science and technology) class, where the aim is to handle technical English. Reading technical literature may at first sight seem remote from any cultural pertaining. However, it is cultural, for one thing, different cultures have different rhetorical styles. Western cultures, like the English one, favour a succinct straight-arrow approach, whereas Oriental Eastern cultures adopt a more elaborate style. This is due to the fact that cultures have different patterns of thought, values and priorities: (Valdes, op.cit:26 )
Succinctness is certainly not admired by most Orientals or Middle Easterners. When they read texts in English , so bare and brief, they tend to feel cheated, to fear they have missed something, or even that the author does not know his subject well enough to write about it. Lack of respect for the writer leads to inadequate learning of the materials as well as a frustrated feeling that something is missing from the information gained.(1)

We believe that even if the latter are not likely to live in, or visit the TLspeaking country, cultural insights should be available in the textbook, and their grasping one of the goals of FL education. Modern technological means of communication (such as the internet) have made it possible for people of different nationalities, and hence different languages and cultures, to interact, for various purposes. Consequently, one does not need to live in or travel to the TL country to communicate with its people: ''In the contemporary world, a person does not need to travel to encounter representatives of other cultures: popular music, the media, large population movements, tourism, and the multicultural nature of many societies combine to ensure that sooner or later students will encounter members of other cultural groups'' (Cortazzi and Jin, op.cit: 198). Put otherwise, in the contemporary era of globalization, where the internet is being extensively used by almost everybody, the necessity to learn FLs cannot be put into question, And since effective control of the language requires at least a minimum of knowledge of the cultural implications in formulas, idioms etc., presentation of the culture is really inescapable (Tucker, 1978: 228). It is worth mentioning, however, that the EFL
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Valdes explains other culturerelated difficulties learners may encounter when reading in a FL and culture. They will be discussed in chapter four, sub-section 3.1.5.1.

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learners contact with the foreign world remains indirect, just like that outside the classroom, that is to say, through the media (texts for listening and reading, photos, films, songs, etc). Byram, Zarate and Neuner (op.cit:72) point out that EFL learners build, as a result, their own image of the TC world, an image that is highly based on their experiences within their native socio-cultural environment :
The result of this indirect contact is the stimulation of an inner event (Inneres Ereignis) which in its essence is fictional and in which cognitivemental and emotional-affective dimensions are interwoven. The learner, through the series of filters (the foreign language; the media; the regulation of information by grading and sequencing; his own sociocultural perspective; etc.) establishes a 'fictional scenario' of the foreign world in which he individually arranges this inner stage with projections and properties taken from his own world (knowledge; experience) and from bits and pieces of information about the foreign world that he has gathered. The learner gives all of this its dramatic quality by identifying with the 'dramatis personae (e.g., members of the peer group; people of the foreign world that interest him) and their interaction.

Actually, many ESL teachers are reported to impart the TL culture to learners in their language courses. For instance, Anglo-Saxon values such as efficiency, pragmatism and individualism are emphasized to the exclusion of the learners native cultural values (Kramsch, 1993). On the other hand, many EFL teachers do just the opposite, that is, they transmit with the FL a worldview based solely on the learners NC. We back the teaching of both TC and NC, with much focus on the former since learners are socialized within their native cultural framework, and have the possibility to know more about it through several school subjects such as history, geography, sociology, economics, study of the native language and literature. However, the FL class is, we suppose, the only context in FL settings to know about and understand the FC. Care should be taken to avoid situations which offend local sensitivities or violate cultural taboos.

Conclusion Culture, whether CC and / or CM, has always been present in classrooms. It has been more or less spotlighted in language teaching approaches and methods.

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Nowadays, its importance is more and more recognized in foreign as well as second language teaching settings. If culture cannot be escaped in the language classroom, it seems reasonable to make the most of it. Chapter four attempts to show how this can exactly be done.

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CHAPTER FOUR

TEACHING CULTURE

Introduction

1. Why Teach Culture 1.1. Rationale 1.1.1. Nature of the Culture Teaching / Learning Process 1.1.2. Principles of the Teaching of Culture 1.2. Objectives 1.2.1. Types of Objectives 1.2.2. How Much Culture to Teach

2. What and When to Teach 2.1. What Culture to Teach 2.1.1. Aspects of Culture to be Included 2.1.2. Criteria of Selection of Content 2.1.3. Progression 2.2. When to Teach Culture

3. How to Teach / Evaluate Culture 3.1. How to Teach Culture 3.1.1. Methods of Teaching Culture 3.1.2. Classroom Techniques 3.1.2.1. Common Techniques 3.1.2.2. Activities for Young Learners 3.1.2.3. Recommendations 3.1.3. Integrating Culture through the Four Skills 3.1.3.1. Listening Comprehension 3.1.3.2. Speaking 3.1.3.3. Reading Comprehension 3.1.3.4. Writing 3.1.4. Integrating Culture through Grammar and Vocabulary Lessons 3.1.5. Integrating Culture through Literature 3.1.5.1. Culture and Literature 3.1.5.2. A Cultural Approach to Teaching Literature 3.1.5.3. Culture in Literary Genres 3.1.6. Integrating Culture through Media 3.1.6.1. Importance of Media in the Language and Culture Classroom 3.1.6.2. Criteria of Selection of Media 140

3.1.6.3. Methodology of Presenting Culture through Media 3.2. How to Evaluate Cultural Learnings 3.2.1. Importance of Evaluating Cultural Learnings 3.2.2. Activities to Evaluate Cultural Learnings

4. Teacher's and Learners' Role 4.1. Teacher's Role 4.2. Learners' Role 4.2.1. Learners' Attitudes 4.2.1.1. Impact of Attitudes on Learning 4.2.1.2. Factors Shaping Attitudes 4.2.1.3. Improving Attitudes 4.2.2. Learners' Native Culture

Conclusion

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Introduction Teaching a FL as part of the school curriculum is often regarded as similar to that of any other school subject. Nevertheless, FLs are socio-cultural phenomena and are to be viewed and dealt with as such. Most other curriculum subjects are more or less concerned with teaching elements of the learners NC, using their NL. FL learners are not only faced with a new linguistic system (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation), but also with a totally new system of beliefs, norms, values and views. FL learners / teachers are bound to be FC learners / teachers as well. How can such a vast topic as culture be incorporated into an already crowded language syllabus? Should it not be dealt with merely incidentally? Is it to be taught implicitly or explicitly? Is the learners' NC to be included as well? The goal of this chapter is to argue for the systematic teaching of culture, and to demonstrate how FL teachers can incorporate it into their lessons. Questions as to why, what, when, and how to teach will be discussed at length, drawing on the works of prominent scholars in the field. 1. Why Teach Culture Decisions related to questions such as which languages or language varieties are to be taught in schools, from what age, for how long, time tabling etc. do not only depend on findings in the field of FL learning and teaching and relevant disciplines, but are essentially taken with reference to an official governmental policy, and a given popular opinion, according to which languages can be actively promoted, passively tolerated, deliberately ignored, positively discouraged, and even banned. (Crystal, 1997: 368). Broadly speaking, world countries are nowadays in favour of a bilingual or a multilingual educational policy to ensure greater access to world opportunities. Bilingualism or multilingualism implies biculturalism or multiculturalism. With language content expanded to include cultural matter, syllabus designers, textbook writers and teachers face compelling questions: which sociocultural aspects are relevant to language learning? When and how should they be dealt with? Are they necessary for all language courses? Should rules of sociocultural interaction be presented in a discrete or in a holistic way?... . These issues and others are, again, governed by socio-political and / or institutional factors. The socio-political factors define the relationship between the NC and TC worlds (whether friendlyadverse / dominantdependent / Neutral). The institutional factors 142

determine the pedagogical framework of education in general and of FL and FC education in particular, namely, its status, goals and approaches. 1.1. Rationale 1.1.1. Nature of the Culture Teaching / Learning Process As argued in the previous chapter, teaching the culture in which a FL is embedded is paramount to truly teach this language. However, culture learning / teaching is not a short experience with immediate easilyattainable outcomes. Developing understanding of the TC is a whole laborious process that proceeds along stages of excitement, frustration and tolerance. Wildner- Bassett (1997) refers to learners as cultural travelers. MantleBromley (1997:454) thinks that teaching about culture is a formidable task. It is a process that necessitates particular teaching skills and an appropriate methodology. In her book Context and Culture in Language Teaching, Kramsch (1993) states that learning about a FC can only aid the attainment of FL proficiency, but she cautions that FC acquisition is even not simple for non-native speakers who are proficient in the FL, and who had years of experience with the FC. They, according to her, struggle to find themselves at the intersection of their NC and TC. Every culture is unique and should be dealt with in its own terms. To begin with, what is distinguished in a culture and readily expressed in its language may not be so in another. FL and FC learners will, therefore, encounter difficulties when dealing with a culture that is different from their own. Though cultural differences do not make learning impossible, as evinced by Corder (op.cit), they do make of it an onerous enterprise. Learners should develop the ability to view the TC as the beliefs and behaviours of others, and hence cannot be understood in their own terms. Foreigners are often hindered by their ethnocentrism and stereotypes, factors that filter received information and engender erroneous beliefs. The latter are transmitted as general truths from one generation to another. They have long been recognized as very serious obstacles to the understanding of another culture. (Lado, op.cit: 121). Jandt (op.cit:7) puts it clearly that we can have no direct knowledge of a culture other than our own. Our experience with and knowledge of other cultures is forever limited by the perceptual bias of our own culture. An adult Canadian will never fully understand the experience of growing up an Australian.

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Additionally, culture is difficult to teach given its very nature. Unlike grammar and vocabulary, it does not lend itself to pedagogical considerations. In other words, teaching culture is fraught with difficulties: culture is not easy to define and to subdivide into teachable units; it is not readily selected, graded, taught and tested. That is why, most textbooks are grammatically and lexically organized. That is also one reason why culture is still missing in many language curricula and classrooms, despite the fact that language and culture have long been acknowledged by language teaching professionals to be inextricably linked. Allen (1985; in Lafayette, 1997: 120) adds that grammar is a subject matter the classroom teacher can teach him or herself, if necessary, using an advanced grammar text, and which, once mastered, is unlikely to change, which is far from being the case of culture, given its intricate, ever-changing, and challenging nature. Some aspects of it elude scrutiny and learning: ''although nonnative speakers can acquire certain culturally determined concepts and aspects of behaviour, others may not be easily taught or learned'' (Hinkel, op.cit:10). What is more, culture teaching may correlate with many problems. On the one hand, learners may have little or no close contact with the natives of the TL and TC. They may also have little time, even to learn the formal proprieties of language. They may not be interested in the TC, or not motivated to learn it. On the other hand, teachers may lack the appropriate resource materials or the competent skills to do their job adequately. As previously mentioned, even he fact of living in the TL country and interacting with its native speakers in natural settings does not guarantee culture acquisition, if void of explicit elucidations; in Finocchiaro and Brumfits (1983:26-27) words:
Nor is cultural immersion simply living in the target country enough to overcome the gap (this is true of some native speakers as well). Unless newcomers receive a tremendous amount of varied input (stimuli) from near-native or native speakers of the target language and culture, they may spend years acquiring the significance of gestures, distances, or cultural allusions. Explicit information will be needed especially if the newcomers to the target country live and work in areas where they continue to hear their native language / dialect.

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1.1.2. Principles of the Teaching of Culture Explicit information about the TL community is even more needed by classroom learners. Accordingly, a FL curriculum should provide for explicit as well as implicit culture teaching. The fact that cultural aspects may be naturally embodied in the dialogues and reading passages purported for teaching does not mean that they are actually grasped and acquired by the learners. Kramsch (1993) considers important the question of how many of socio-cultural meanings must be made explicit and how many can be left implicit. What is more, discussing cultural issues as they incidentally arise in language teaching materials is not enough. This approach does not focus on culture as a basic component in the language teaching syllabus and classroom techniques. While the focus of teaching may be laid on syntactic or phonetic structures, culture may be referred to in an unintentional secondary manner. FC teaching should rather be purposeful, systematic, planned and evaluated, that is, the study of culture should be taken as seriously as the study of language: The cultural content of a foreign language course should be as carefully planned and systematically presented as the language content to insure that knowledge of the foreign life and culture will progress hand in hand with that of the language. (Ladu, op.cit:130-131). Mantle- Bromley (op.cit:454) thinks that the culture learning process requires first of all the involvement of learners:
The language teacher must understand that just as language learning is a process, so too is culture learning. Facts, artifacts, textbook vignettes, and slide shows will not, by themselves, assure that language students reach beyond the first level (that of stereotypes and disbelief) or cross-cultural understanding. Students participation and emotional involvement in the culture learning process are necessary first steps to acculturation.

In a like manner, Ladu underlines the importance of relating cultural tuition to learners and their background: (p131)
In order that knowledge about the culture may be assimilated rather than learned as a list of facts, it should be made to live in the hearts and minds of students through experiences and activities of various kinds, in a classroom atmosphere of delight and discovery. In this way, the facts assume meaning and are incorporated into students knowledge, appreciation, and attitudes from which they will build a broadened base for value judgements in later life.

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This is to say that culture teaching is not a mere listing of facts or transference of a body of knowledge from the mind of the teacher to that of the learner; it is no doubt more than that. Hinkel (op.cit:5-6) thinks that:
It is probably simplistic to imply that culture can be examined, taught, and learned through exercises for reading newspaper headlines and helpswanted advertisements or that customs, cuisines, and courtesies delineate the extent of the impact of culture on ones linguistic and interactive behaviors, although they can serve as springboards to more in depth discussions.

Kramsch (1993) notifies that a common approach to culture teaching considers presenting to learners highbrow and lowbrow cultural information, that is, literary and artistic works (capital C culture) and the rituals of everyday life, foods, fairs, (small 'c' culture), respectively, in addition to statistical information about the TC country. This approach fails to address the TC underlying meanings, namely, its values, assumptions and beliefs, and the learners remain unaware of the many aspects of both the target cultural identity and of their own. Culture instruction thus does not consist in presenting to learners rote facts and surface features of a TC. Rather, it teaches them how to approach these facts and features by looking beneath them, that is, by exploring the patterns and values that underlie them. In other words, it assists them to react actively to cultural knowledge and develop analytic and interpretive skills vis--vis the FC and their own. Otherwise, the outcome might be either an insignificant tourist's perspective about the TC and / or reinforcement of already existing stereotypes and prejudices, instead of genuine cultural

understanding. According to Kramsch (ibid). an adequate approach to culture teaching considers culture both as facts and meanings, and views cultural knowledge not only as part of language learning, but as an educational objective in its own right. It takes into account the differences existing between native and target cultural meanings, and the conflicts and paradoxes that may result from these differences, and incites learners to reflect critically upon them. It makes one experience new feelings and modes of thinking and acting, and view life from ones own and the others perspective, in a double- voiced discourse philosophy (Kramsch, ibid). It can be implied that culture teaching is a matter of raising awareness and changing attitudes, not only of inculcating culture-specific knowledge. As asserted by Sapir and Whorf in the fifties, and Hymes, Gumperz and Geertz in the seventies, to acquire a

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new language and a new culture implies readjusting ones NL and NC. Given that language use involves a system of socio-cultural meanings and normative behaviours, using a language other than our own in intercultural communicative interactions entails readjusting ones cultural norms and behaviours so as to meet those of the other interactants. For Byram (1992), discovering new ways of thinking and acting gives learners insights into intercultural communicative competence which, according to him, encompasses three levels of understanding: the relativity of their own and the other culture; the divergence between the two; and the fact that each culture has an interpretation of the other within its cultural meanings, often in the form of stereotypes.In this intercultural perspective, teaching culture does not only mean providing knowledge about this culture; it means more importantly, developing the learners intercultural skills. This entails the consideration of the culture the learners bring with them to the classroom or their NC. Jin and Cortazzi (op.cit : 98) state that:
It is commonplace to think of foreign language teaching as bringing a target culture to learners. This is culture as content. The aim is that students should acquire knowledge of a target culture. The learning of intercultural skills, in relation to target culture peoples is less often emphasised. It is less usual to consider the culture learners bring to the foreign language classroom and its relationship to the target culture. This is, we argue, more than simply a background influence.

Moreover, intercultural understanding outstrips knowledge about a cultures way of life to take account of the appreciation of its underlying bases, namely its values, assumptions and views. According to Byram and Escarte Sarries (1991: 179-180)
The notion of language for intercultural understanding implies that foreign language teaching is a major factor in maintaining the expansion of young peoples range of experience and helping them to acquire new ways of thinking and new ways of valuing their new knowledge and experience. [] it is not enough to offer them new experience which they assimilate to their established framework as a tolerable variation on the normal way of doing things. It is necessary for them to make sense of that experience through the framework of meanings and values which underpin the ways in which people in that other culture talk about the experience themselves. Thus learning the language and experiencing the culture are ultimately identical.

They imply that teaching about the TC cannot be merely an idealised tourismdominated course. Byram (1989) puts it clearly that there is a fundamental difference 147

between catering for tourist curiosity and developing the learners intercultural communicative competence. It appears that teaching about culture is no longer an unplanned secondary addition to the language lesson or a support to and a positive influential aspect in language learning / teaching. Rather, culture with all its facets is viewed as an integral component in FL education. As aptly expressed by Kramsch (1993:1), culture is not a fifth extra skill to be added to the four main skills speaking, listening, reading and writing, but it is always in the background, right from day one, ready to unsettle the good language learners when they expect it least, making evident the limitations of their hard-won communicative competence, challenging their ability to make sense of the world around them. She deems that the whole business of language learning / teaching should be re-thought over and reframed so as to consider its principles as far as the cultural aspect is concerned.

1.2. Objectives 1.2.1. Types of Objectives To teach culture effectively, goals and objectives should be clearly and accurately set at the inception of the syllabus design process. Socio-cultural objectives are not easy to define. As stated by Byram, Zarate and Neuner (op.cit:58), they are interwoven in a rather complex didactic system of factors and can be described separately only for theoretical purposes, e.g. as checklists of topics or as systems of general or specific semantic concepts. Besides, as mentioned previously, the study of a FC must not be understood as the mere learning of historical geographical or other notions about the FC community and its people, but as raising ones awareness of the socio-cultural values, beliefs and worldviews underlying the others culture and developing critical understanding of both NC and TC. Cultural awareness would contribute to language mastery and effective use in communicative contexts, and is, thus, to be not only encouraged, but pursued as a key pedagogical goal. To develop the learners cultural awareness means to make them recognize or bring to a conscious level the characteristics of the TC patterns of thought and action, to examine, interpret and assess them in a non-evaluative way. For Cortazzi and Jin (op.cit:217), cultural awareness includes understanding and communicating: Developing cultural awareness means being aware of members of another cultural 148

group: their behavior, their expectations, their perspectives and values. It also means attempting to understand their reasons for their actions and beliefs. Ultimately, this needs to be translated into skill in communicating across cultures and about cultures. According to Byram (1992), cultural awareness does not simply mean cultural understanding. Learners are not only required to know about the others way of life and way of thinking, but to experience this as well, in other words, to take the others perspective, rather than merely learning ''the requisite information to get by on holiday'' (p172). Accordingly, culture teaching / learning should not be viewed only as a means to enhance ones communication skills with the TL world and to enlarge ones general knowledge about it. It would more importantly be considered to develop ones ability to take on a variety of perspectives (the perspective of the other as well as ones own), through culture-based experiences (role plays, dramatization, simulation, travelling, reading). Pesola (1997:183) expresses the impact of culture as a curricular goal stating:
Acquiring the culture of a group means more than simply mastering the appropriate gestures and social forms required in the new setting, more than being able to describe practices and relationships of daily life or the significant symbols and monuments of a people although it also means all of these. It is even more than being able to function within the group without making serious gaffes. It means being able to take on the perspective of an individual from that culture and understand the actions of others and of oneself in terms of that experience.

For Barrow (op.cit: 6) developing peoples ways of thinking is exactly what language and culture education is about: For if education is not about developing peoples ways of thinking, it is hard to see what it is about or why we do the various things that we do . The tighter the connection made between language and thought, the more evident it becomes that all education, and not just second language teaching, necessarily involves presenting particular beliefs and values. In the British National Curriculum(1), cultural awareness denotes the learners ability to: (D.E.S, 1991: 256 in Byram, 1992: 172)

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The National Curriculum is applied in English and Welsh State Schools.

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consider and discuss the similarities and differences between their own culture and those of the countries and communities where the target language is spoken; identify with the experiences and perspectives of people in these countries and communities (); learn the use of social conventions () and become increasingly aware of cultural attitudes as expressed in language; () investigate, discuss, and report on aspects of the language and culture of these countries and communities.

Scholars in the field conceive of cultural goals in more or less the same terms. For the Nostrands (1970; in Lafayette and Schulz 1997: 578-579), there are nine cultural goals:
1. The ability to react appropriately in a social situation. 2. The ability to describe, or to ascribe to, the proper part of the population a pattern in the culture or social behaviour. 3. The ability to recognize a pattern when it is illustrated. 4. The ability to explain a pattern. 5. The ability to predict how a pattern is likely to apply in a given situation. 6. The ability to describe or manifest an attitude important for making one acceptable in the foreign society. 7. The ability to evaluate the form of a statement concerning a culture pattern. 8. The ability to describe or demonstrate defensible methods of analyzing a sociocultural whole. 9. The ability to identify basic human purposes that make significant the understanding which is being taught.

Lafayette and Schulz (op.cit:581-582) believe that there are only three 'realistic' cultural goals that can be tested in Secondary Schools: 'to recognize', 'to explain' and 'to use' cultural information:
1. Knowledge: the ability to recognize cultural information or patterns. This goal focuses on factual information about selected patterns of the target culture, the students ability to recall, recognize, and describe cultural information. 2. Understanding: the ability to explain cultural information or pattern [s]. The student needs to comprehend a cultural pattern in terms pf its meaning, origin and interrelationships within the larger cultural context. This goal presupposes not only factual knowledge, but also implies reasoning ability. Students should see the logic of pattern in its own cultural context.

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3. Behaviour: the ability to use cultural information or pattern [s]. This objective refers to behavioural skills, such as the ability to act meaningfully, unobtrusively, and inoffensively in real or simulated cultural situations.

It appears that cultural knowledge is different from cultural understanding, in that, as illustrated by Heron et al. (2002: 37), the former denotes factual accumulation (e.g., the Mona Lisa resides in the Louvre), while the latter engages the student in reflective thinking as well (i.e., the fact that the Mona Lisa, an Italian work of art, is in the Louvre, a French museum, suggests a relationship between its Italian creator and the French). Cultural knowledge is to be distinguished as well from cultural information. In Byrams (1989:120) viewpoint, information is an arbitrary and decontextualised collection of facts, whereas 'knowledge' is 'structured information'. Byram and Zarate (1994) refer to four savoirs as attainment targets of an intercultural language course: attitudes and values (savoir-tre); ability to learn (savoir apprendre); skills / know how (savoir faire); and knowledge / knowing what (savoirs). Approximately the same elements constitute the components of cultural proficiency as elaborated by Heron et al. (op.cit): culturespecific knowledge (i.e., acquisition of knowledge and skills pertaining to one specific culture); culturespecific understanding (i.e., engaging in reflective thinking about aspects of the TC namely understanding its values, beliefs, assumptions and underlying meanings); general knowledge (i.e., ability to learn about a culture other than ones own); the ability to behave appropriately in the TC; and developing critical attitudes towards ones own culture and TC. Sercu (op.cit) believes that attaining a critical understanding of otherness is the target of intercultural language teaching. It includes: self-cultural knowledge that is founded not only on insights about ones own culture but also on the awareness that ones culture shapes ones perceptions and behaviours and interpretations of others behaviours; the ability to compare interculturally or to view things from the others and not only ones own perspective, in other words, to put oneself in the other's shoes before making judgements;

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 the adoption of a critical questioning attitude even towards the sources of ones knowledge; and the ability to mediate between cultures based on discussing similarities and differences, and negotiating meanings. As to Kramsch (1993:228), she phrases the aim of cross-cultural education in terms of bridges and boundaries: What we should seek in cross-cultural education are less bridges than a deep understanding of the boundaries. We can teach the boundary, we cannot teach the bridge. . She means that teachers and learners can deal with and understand cultural differences, differences in values, beliefs, attitudes, but they cannot directly tackle the question of how to resolve eventual conflicts.

1.2.2. How Much Culture to Teach An important question worth raising in this regard is: to what extent should foreign patterns of thought and action be taught to learners and actually adopted by them? This question generates other related issues: whose cultural or pragmatic rules are to apply in intercultural communicative interactions, those of ones NC or FC, or are there other universal rules? Is it not imperialistic to impose native speakers rules on non-native users? Does cultural competence entail cultural performance, i.e., the actual observance of the TC norms? Are FC teachers supposed to urge learners to be and behave like the TC bearers, or to be critical vis--vis them and their culture? With respect to the writing skill, for instance, some professionals think that it is desirable to acquire the rhetorical modes of the TL. Others believe it legitimate for FL learners to use the rhetorical patterns preferred in their NC, given the fact that no language and no culture are superior: Just as no language is more or less logical than another, no rhetorical pattern is more or less logical. (Kachru, 1995 a and b; in Kachru, op.cit:84). Kachru further states language and rhetorical styles are too intimately bound with cultural identity to be dictated from the outside. (1) (p86). Banon and Reymond (2001) wonder whether it is possible to teach communication strategies (verbal and non verbal) in a FL class. Learners, according to them, should be made aware of the socio-cultural aspects characterizing a conversation, but should not be recommended or constrained to appropriate them, particularly when it

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This point will be re-examined when dealing with integrating culture into lessons on the four skills.

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comes to gestures, mimics, and other body language forms. In Kramschs (1993) opinion, FL and FC learners should be made aware of cultural differences in discourse styles and conversational behaviours, but it is up to them to conform or not to FC norms. In our viewpoint, it would be presumptuous to claim that the aim of integrating culture into FL courses is to teach culture as such. It is rather to teach about it. The point is for learners (and teachers) to become aware that different languages reflect and express different cultural meanings, that different cultures may attach different meanings to similar behaviours, that other cultures may have other standards of behaviour that are not inferior or superior to ones own, and all these factors and others may lead to misunderstandings and sometimes even to distrust of otherness. In fact, many scholars believe that the goal of FC teaching is not to make learners acquire it the way it is actually acquired by its natives, through the process of socialization. This is quite ambitious, but also irrelevant and impossible to realize in the context of the FL classroom. It is just a question of decreasing the cultural and social distance between the learners and the TL country and people. Moreover, teaching about another culture neither aims at the merging of the NC and FC into one, nor aims at assimilating learners to the latter. It basically aims at developing understanding of another culture without losing sight of ones own, i.e., in a more technical word, acculturation. This assumes the learners awareness of their own culture and their willingness to know about another one. Cultural differences should be understood and tolerated. 2. What and When to Teach 2.1. What Culture to Teach 2.1.1. Aspects of Culture to be Included As pointed out before, Today, learning a foreign language is likely to mean learning a great deal about the foreign civilization and culture at the same time. (Crystal,1997:372). CLT has transcended the structural aspect of language to include semantic and cultural aspects deemed equally if not more important than the former to truly learn a language. In this perspective, teaching syllabi consist of many components. According to Dubin and Olshtain (op.cit), the communicative syllabus has expanded the content of the language teaching syllabus in many ways. On the one hand, not only is conceptual meaning considered, but functional meaning as 153

well, and language is viewed in discourse form. On the other hand, variables related to the socio-cultural context of language use such as the participants' identities, roles, attitudes and settings are also catered for to serve socio-cultural appropriateness. Similarly, AL Mutawa and Kailani (op.cit) consider that the inclusion of the TC in the language syllabus, together with forms, notions and functions assists learners to develop communicative competence. Holly (op.cit) uses the metaphor of the unspoken curriculum to portray the unavoidability of culture in language teaching contents. Language teaching, in his opinion, necessarily conveys cultural or ideological messages. Robinson (1991) notes that teaching programmes generally fail to achieve the cultural goals because practitioners have not looked at what it is that is acquired in the name of culture learning,. So what is (or should be) acquired in the name of culture learning? What is the 'great deal' in Crystals quotation above exactly about? Once the socio-cultural objectives of the course are specified, the selection and sequencing of content are to be undertaken accordingly. Decisions need to be made regarding to many issues: should all the aspects of culture be given equal importance in the FL curriculum, or should particular aspects be highlighted and taught in greater depth depending on the actual needs of the learners? Is the TC to be described as it is in the present state (synchronically) or is it to be dealt with as a developing phenomenon (diachronically)? Is the focus to be on people and their daily life, small c culture, or institutions and cultural artifacts, literature, arts, big C culture? Is the TC defined as the culture of the elite or of common people? And who are the elite? Dont common people have a culture? Are sub-cultures defined on the basis of factors such as age, gender, region, ethnic background, religious beliefs, social class to be all considered as TCs? What is representative of a given culture? Is it to be determined by the outsider, the ethnographer, or the insider, the native of the culture in question? If English is the TL, which TC should it represent, the British, the American, the Australian or other cultures? If it is the British culture, can the English, the Scottish or Welsh cultures be distinguished? Is a TC defined by language, political borders, value systems, ethnic origin, or others? How are multicultural societies like USA to be handled? Is the NC to be considered in FL and FC teaching? Is it possible to have an objective view of ones own and others cultures? What socio-cultural meanings could make learners reflect on both TC and

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NC? What cultural features should be communicated explicitly and what could be left implicit? To begin with the last question, Post and Rathet (op. cit) distinguish between implicit cultural content and explicit cultural content. The former is inherent in the language syntax, vocabulary and other features. They call it the intrinsic cultural flavor. Explicit cultural content, which is of more interest to us, is provided by the contents of the curriculum. Socio-cultural content has for a long time been subordinated under other dominating aspects particularly structural elements. It has accordingly been approached implicitly in vocabulary, visual aids, the situational context of dialogues or the context of certain authentic text types like advertisements. Due to the intricacy of culture, it is not an easy task for teachers, syllabus designers and textbook writers to select those aspects of it that should be dealt with, whether implicitly or explicitly, at various stages of instruction. The choices range from supplying learners with factual information about a culture, to potentially influencing their attitudes vis--vis the TC and its people, and developing their intercultural communicative skills as well as their ability to process complex cultural phenomena. In our viewpoint, the cultural component may sometimes be implicitly, sometimes explicitly dealt with. What counts is that it should not be ignored or dealt with incidentally. Both big C and small c cultures should be considered. Many people think of culture as big C or high culture, sometimes referred to as well as formal culture, while equally if not more important, particularly for sojourners, is little or small c culture, known also as deep culture. Researchers have defined big C culture as a civilizations salient achievement in literature and fine arts, architecture, music and the like, its social institutions, its history, geography, technology and political systems, and little c culture as aspects of lifestyle or patterns of daily living, including the thought processes, beliefs and values of a given people. It was big C culture which was first introduced in language teaching, while attention was drawn to little c culture, beginning from the late sixties. The functional approach relates exclusively to small c culture, in the framework of everyday events and interactions, but it deals with it implicitly, as background information to communicative activities. In relation to big C culture, learners could be taught, for instance, how to recognize and explain major geographical monuments, historical events, institutions (administrative, economic, political, religious, social, educational institutions), artistic 155

monuments (architecture, arts, literature) and national products. Pesola (op.cit) conceives of what can be taught under the heading of culture in big C culture terms, namely literature, social studies and arts. The use of culturally based literature is, in her viewpoint, useful in culture teaching, as it enables learners to experience elements of the culture, rather than just be informed about them. As to social studies such as history and geography, they can, in her opinion, be relevant to culture teaching when they are used to uncover and elucidate the similarities and differences between native and foreign settings. History in particular may have the strongest natural connection to culture; a historical account can include significant information and can elicit emotional understanding of the TC. The TC can as well be approached in fine arts and music, and Pesola suggests many samples of activities in this respect. As far as small c culture is concerned, everyday sociocultural conventions and patterns such as eating, shopping, greeting people, making a living, using public transportation, chatting are to be delineated, but also what relates to social stratification, marriage, work, schooling system, what Lafayette (op.cit) refers to as active and passive everyday culture, respectively. Active cultural knowledge denotes what a learner needs to know to be able to act appropriately in the TC, whereas passive cultural knowledge enables him / her to have a better understanding of the TC patterns. Spinelli (1997:214) uses the term functional culture to mean all what must be learned in order to function while traveling, living, studying, or working in a foreign culture. Teaching small c culture has to do, accordingly, with developing learners intercultural communicative skills, that is, teaching them how to act appropriately in common everyday situations, whether verbally or non-verbally, orally or in writing. This entails teaching them about the TC assumptions and values. These aspects are presupposed by native speakers but need to be elucidated to the non-native speakers. Attention should also be drawn to the cultures of TL- speaking communities in international settings, international TCs or C3, C4, in Lafayettes words. It should be remembered that cultural objectives, as mentioned in the previous section, must take into account the learners ability to recognize cultural information and patterns, the ability to explain them, and the ability to use them actively when engaging in intercultural interactions. Brooks (op.cit) is among the first scholars to highlight the importance of culture and its relevance to language teaching. He defines this complex concept in terms 156

that are meaningful to classroom teachers. He identifies five meanings of culture: (p22)
Culture 1 Culture 2 Culture 3 Culture 4 Culture 5 - biological growth - personal refinement - literature and fine arts - patterns for living - the sum total of a way of life

He believes that culture 4 should be the focus in a language class. According to him, it is the least understood, yet the most crucial in the early phases of language instruction. He defines it as: (p 23)
The individuals role in the unending kaleidoscope of life situations of every kind and the rules and models for attitude and conduct in them. By reference to these models, every human being, from infancy onward, justifies the world to himself as best as he can, associates with those around him, and relates to the social order to which he is attached.

In more practical words, he specifies it as: (p24)

What one is expected to think, believe, say, do, eat, wear, pay, endure, resent, honor, laugh at, fight for, and worship, in typical life situations, some as dramatic as a wedding or a court trial or a battlefield, others as mundane as the breakfast table or the playground or the assembly line. And just as important is the extent to which that expectation is met.

Brooks asserts that whatever the type of culture, one should not lose sight of the individual who is, according to him, the core of culture: (p26)
What is important is to see an individual relating to the people and the life around him. As long as we provide our students only with the facts of history or geography, economics or sociology, as long as we provide them only with a knowledge of the sophisticated structures of society such as law and medicine, or examples and appreciative comments on artistic creatures such as poems, castles, or oil paintings, we have not yet provided them with an intimate view of where lifes action is, where the individual and the social order come together, where self meets life.

Brooks, furthermore, distinguishes between surface culture, that is, the overt easilyseen characteristics of a society, such as types of clothes, eating habits, gestures,

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and deep culture, namely, the values, assumptions and beliefs that underlie the way of life of a people. H., Nostarnds work (1974; in Thanasoulas, op.cit) in this field has also significantly contributed to make cultural knowledge comprehensible and accessible to language teaching practitioners. He defines culture at the individual and the societal levels. His Emergent Model is a cultural scheme underlain by six categories: - Culture (value systems and habits of thought); - Society (organizations and familial, religious and other institutions); - Conflict (intra/interpersonal conflict); - Ecology and technology (knowledge of plants and animals, health care, travel etc.); - Individuals (intra/interpersonal variation); and - Cross-cultural environment (attitudes towards other cultures). In other words, teachers should be knowledgeable of all these aspects to be able to present them to FL and FC learners. For Finocchiaro and Brumfit (op. cit), teaching about culture means teaching what is relevant to the socio-cultural appropriateness of language use. According to them, language is made up of four main subsystems: the sound system, the grammar system, the lexical vocabulary system and the cultural system. Cultural knowledge includes knowledge about the significance of gestures, facial expressions, distances maintained, unarticulated sounds, and cultural allusions of all kinds, having to do with values, taboos, habits, art forms, rituals etc. Lack of this knowledge often results in misunderstandings and misinterpretations and, therefore, breakdowns in communication between natives and non-natives, whether orally or in writing. According to Moran (1990), to attain the general goal of culture instruction which is to raise the learners cultural awareness, learners need to know information about the TC, to develop skills to behave appropriately in real or simulated experiences in the TC, to reflect upon and understand the underlying features of the TC., and to compare and contrast it with their own NC, namely, what he refers to with the cultural categories Knowing About, Knowing How, Knowing Why and Knowing Oneself, respectively. By culture as knowing about, he means knowledge, information, facts, data about the TC. The culture as knowing how category has to do with skills, behaviours that ensure effective participation in the TC everyday life. Culture as knowing why relates to the unobservable features of culture, what Brooks calls deep culture, namely, its values, attitudes and assumptions. These aspects 158

necessitate the learners meditation and appreciation. The culture as knowing oneself category brings the NC in the FC classroom and invites the learners to reflect upon their own culture for a better self-awareness. Rileys (1989; in De Jong, op.cit) model is not very dissimilar from, but less comprehensive than Morans. Cultural knowledge, in this regard, is viewed as encompassing three major components: Know That, i.e., background knowledge, beliefs, values, assumptions, what is taken as true; 'Know Of', i.e., knowledge of current events, news, what is happening in the present time; and Know How, i.e., skills, actions , behaviours, communicative competence. Byram and Escarte- Sarries (op.cit) state that there are only two types of culture to be catered for in language textbooks and syllabi: Knowing How and Knowing That, i.e., knowing how to operate in the TC, 'operations, and knowing truths about it, respectively. For them, the cultural KnowHow should not be restricted to linguistic performance, that is, learners should not only be taught what to say in a particular situation, but also how to behave, what to do or not to do. Besides, the Know-How category should not be merely based on tourist situations, and should be dealt with in an explicit way. The cultural Know What does not mean unstructured, unconnected, partial, incidental facts, depicting an unrealistic or biased image of the target country and culture. Contextualization, systematicness and realism are required when selecting and presenting cultural data and facts. What is more, there should be a balance between the two types of culture in the syllabus, the textbook and classroom procedures. OMalley & Chamot (1990; in Byram, Zarate and Neuner, op.cit:77) refer to the same two cultural categories with the terms 'declarative' and procedural knowledge: All the things we know about constitute declarative knowledge and the things we know how to do are procedural knowledge. The socio-cultural curriculum should, thus, include both types of knowledge, i.e., information about the TC and ways to develop the learners' comprehension strategies (text comprehension, comprehension of the behaviour of ones interlocutors) and communication skills (initiating a conversation, sustaining it, requesting explanation). For example, one way to stimulate the learners communicative and interactive strategies is to include the TC routine formulas in the curriculum. It is possible, according to Byram, Zarate and Neuner (op.cit:79-80), to elaborate a common core of socio-cultural topics for all groups of learners, at the elementary stage, on the basis of universal human experiences of (verbal) 159

interaction, i.e., on the basis of topics referring to general socio-cultural experiences, ''people and their day-to-day interactions', and the learners' ''conceivable encounters with the foreign world''. These topics would stimulate the emotional involvement of the learners. Kramsch (1993) draws attention to the fact that culture should be presented with all its interpersonal dimensions (age of the TC bearers, their gender, social class, religion, ethnicity ). This aspect introduces learners to sub-cultures, i.e., to the variety and heterogeneity existing within the same one culture, and invites them to examine their stereotypes and prejudices, to attempt to see beyond them, to view and interpret things form the others perspective. Seelye (1993) has also worked on cultures within cultures and recommends their inclusion in language teaching curricula. We may conclude that teaching about a TC consists of teaching about its observable and unobservable features, about its aesthetic and sociological facts, about its past and present. It means also teaching pragmatic skills and competencies, and not merely facts and statistics. Most important of these skills are intercultural communication skills, hence the need to teach, for example, about the non-verbal means of communication and the way they operate in the TC, as well as about the socio-cultural characteristics of language use, concerning both spoken and written discourse. We believe, additionally, that the NC as well as the cultures of the TL-speaking communities should form part of the overall target cultural content, to enable learners to see things form a variety of perspectives. In this regard, it is also useful to draw their attention to sub-cultures or cultures within cultures, for a better understanding of the heterogeneous and complex nature of each culture. 2.1.2. Criteria of Selection of Content In every teaching method and teaching manual, and for every teacher, choices are done, and others remain to be done as to what to teach. In most cases, these are conscious choices which depend on a defined set of criteria. The cultural content in particular should be carefully selected. Byram, Zarate and Neuner (op.cit) identify three types of criteria: subject-matter-oriented criteria, learner-oriented criteria and teachability / learnability of cultural concepts. First, the cultural content is to be selected on such bases as: systematicness (cultural information should be complete, structured); completeness (cultural information should be complete, exhaustive); and representativity (cultural information should be representative, characteristic, typical). 160

Second, the cultural content should be in harmony with the learners factors. Reference is made to the learners interests, such as curiosity to know about the TC way of life, cultural similarities, differences, outstanding figures in the target world; the learners needs, which may be professional, vocational, communicative, and / or survival needs; and the learners attitudes, capacities, background knowledge about and experience with the target world. This divergence in the learners factors shows that a common core of socio-cultural topics is hard to elaborate. Concerning the teachability / Learnability criterion cultural aspects that can be easily represented in the language class through, for instance, objects, visual aids, simple explanations, or direct comparison in the NC, as well as those which can easily be integrated in a language course are opted for. Brooks (op.cit:32) cautions that culture-related materials should be selected with care. His criteria for the selection are mainly subject-matter-oriented: ''What is selected for presentation must be authentic, typical, and important; otherwise false impressions may be created''. Plecinska (2001) also points to a subject-matter based selection of cultural content. For her, authenticity and variety should characterize FL teaching materials in order to represent as faithfully as possible the TC, but also to generate and sustain the students' motivation to learn and to enjoy learning. Artal, Carrion and Monros (1997) consider two factors when selecting and sequencing cultural material: first, relevance to the learners lives and experiences to promote intercultural learning; and second, cultural explicitness in passages, pictures, film scenes: the more explicit culture appears in the material, the better it is. Straub (1999) draws attention to a fundamental learner factor sensitivity. In fact, when designing a cross-cultural course, one has to bear in mind that there are particular topics that are too delicate to be discussed in class. They may offend local sensitivities and violate cultural taboos. Examples of these topics may be male female relationships, controversial political issues like revolutions and wars, and volatile subjects like alcohol, sexual orientation and drugs. This point raises the question of censorship in a language and culture class. It is up to the teacher to censor by filtering the cultural input to his / her students, or to expose them to all available cultural information, whatever its nature, and whatever its impact on them. To opt for censorship may be viewed as eluding ones responsibility, as teachers, to provide the learners with opportunities to discover world truths, to see other cultures as they actually are, and to equip them with the necessary means to deal with facts 161

in an analytic and critical way, to defend themselves and their standpoint if need be (Hyde, op.cit). The question, thus, is not whether to deal or not with such topics, but how to deal with them and to what extent. One may wonder which criteria are to be applied. Byram, Zarate and Neuner recommend as much teaching and learner orientation as possible, as much subjectmatter orientation as necessary. (op.cit: 79). It is useful to note that subject-matter oriented criteria were particularly applied in the framework of the grammar translation method. The audio-lingual and communicative approaches are based on a more learneroriented selection of cultural content. FL teachers are able to decide on aspects of the socio-cultural content on the basis of the type of learners they have to teach: school pupils? University students? Tourists? Businessmen? Scientists? Immigrants? Beginners? Advanced learners? Different groups of learners have different cultural perspectives. The objectives of the course are also important to take account of in addition to the learners factors. The general objectives of FL teaching are usually determined, as previously stated, by the socio-political system of the country where the FL is taught. For Bibeau and Germain (1983), the general goals of teaching constitute a norm according to which teaching contents are to be designed. They put it clearly that any (linguistic, cultural) element selected for teaching should have been submitted to a two-dimensional study: firstly, the norm dimension refers to the objectives and goals of teaching as specified by the socio-political and educational institutions of the country, to be considered by syllabus designers, textbook writers and teachers; secondly, the pedagogical dimension refers, in their viewpoint, to methodological principles, having to do with progression, functionalism, contrastive analysis findings, degree of specialization, interest, method of presentation and illustration. Questions about the type of cultural content to include the role of the teacher, the context in which the textbook is to be used, syllabus goals and learners cultural background(s) are all connected to the process of selecting the cultural content of teaching materials. 2.1.3. Progression A final question to treat in this sub-section is how to grade cultural contents. Byram, Zarate and Neuner suggest various models of grading. The linear progression or progression according to structural complexity is not suitable for sociocultural content given that, on the one hand, the grammar (or the structural building) 162

of culture has not yet been adequately developed (Byram, Zarate and Neuner); on the other hand, this gradation implies disregarding the learners factors. In the spiral progression, an elementary stage is defined on the basis of a set of elements, a, b, c, d, having equal weight, to be then added on at different stages of teaching/learning: a-a, a; b-b, b; c-c, c; . The contrastive progression comprises an analysis of the content in terms of similarities and differences between NL / NC and TL / TC, then, the arrangement of its elements accordingly. One possible procedure is to start with similarities supposed to be easier to deal with than differences. The opposite procedure highlights differences to help learners cope with them right from the beginning of the learning process. Which procedure to adopt remains a question mark(1). Besides, systematic comparative / contrastive research in the field of culture is still lacking (Byram, Zarate and Neuner). The progression based on pragmatic considerations is primarily concerned with the learners needs (linguistic, cultural). In the progression based on the teachability and

comprehensability of socio-cultural phenomena, cultural elements that are easy to present in a language class using concrete objects, explanations in the TL or NL are dealt with first. When designing the language and culture syllabus, one element may be considered as a core around which all other elements revolve. In most available FL textbooks, it is, usually, grammar which provides such a core on the basis of which language functions, vocabulary, socio-cultural topics are organized. Another possible procedure is to consider these various elements on equal footing, that is, to combine grammar, culture and function in such a way that, at different steps of the syllabus or the textbook, one of the three elements dominates. Given that the aesthetic sense of culture, namely, what relates to literature and arts may only be appreciated by advanced language learners, it seems logical to begin with its anthropological or sociological sense, i.e., what has to do with everyday patterns of behaviour and interpersonal relations. In addition, learners should first be taught about the basic socio-cultural rules of communication, for example, how to address somebody to whom one must show respect, or somebody one does not know, how to start a conversation or how to end it. More subtle rules for the management of communicative interactions have to be considered at advanced
(1)

audio-visual media, simple

Some scholars recommend presenting to learners cultural similarities first, for psychological reasons; see section 4. 2 for more details.

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levels. Then, learners may be made aware of the significance of implicit cultural meanings and connotations, of how the use of one linguistic form rather than another may have interactional and social implications of ''the way cultural reality is constructed through language'' (Kramsch, 1993:30).

2.2. When to Teach Culture When should culture be taught? Is the language class to concern itself with language proper and postpone cultural matters until the learners become more mature and more competent in language? Will not emphasis upon culture right from the beginning of language instruction be wasteful to precious class time? For Brooks (op.cit), the answer is no. He believes that learning about culture should be programmed beginning from elementary courses. It is precisely at this stage that culture is most needed in his viewpoint: It is during the early phases of language instruction that the inclusion of culture is at once the most significant and the most baffling. (pp12-13). His argument is that many students do not have the opportunity to reach advanced levels. Therefore, the sooner culture is introduced, the better it is for the majority of learners: Because of the large decrease in population in language classes with each succeeding year of advancement, the concept of culture can be communicated to only a relatively small number of students unless this is done in the earliest phases of their instruction. (p14). Brooks further states that culture should be regarded as an indispensable component at the beginning stages of FL learning, to assist young FL learners to avoid inappropriate language use: instruction in a foreign language, even at the start, remains inaccurate and incomplete unless it is complemented by appropriate studies in culture (p15). Most contemporary scholars seem to agree with Brooks. Potter (op.cit: 79), for example, thinks it a need to consider the cultural component of language use, at the threshold of learning: Foreign language learners (of English and other languages) have need of exposure to the sociocultural aspects of language use from the outset in the classroom where the differences in sociocultural rules of use may be freely discussed. Byram (1992: 173) even encourages beginners to reflect upon language and culture and their interconnectedness: Since language embodies the meanings and values of the culture, the language learner has constantly to reflect on the relationship of language and culture, in both the foreign and his own society. This has to happen from an early stage. Byram, Zarate and Neuner share Brooks' view as to 164

what it is that should be introduced in terms of culture at the elementary stage of language learning, namely small c culture. Such a programme will centre around 'people and their daily life' (aspects of universal sociocultural experience of the self and the peer group), around imagined encounters with foreign language use in 'everyday situations' (comprehension /communication) or around ones own point of view when looking at the foreign world from outside (Byram, Zarate and Neuner, op.cit:75). It would raise the learners interest and involve them emotionally in the process of language and culture acquisition. Byram (1992) suggests that beginners contrast the cultural connotations of the commonest words related, for instance, to items of food and clothing, in the NC and FC, to discover the significance of culture in shaping meanings. This does not go in harmony with Robinsons (1991) approach, according to which culture instruction should initially highlight the similarities existing between the NC and TC. She argues that first impressions of a new culture based on perceiving the differences (which are generally salient and whose frequency is often magnified) turn out to be negative, and may lead learners to develop stereotypes and negative attitudes towards people of other cultures. Furthermore, once these impressions are formed, they are very difficult to alter. In Germany, culture is taught from the earliest stages of FL learning through the provision of Landeskunde in textbooks, i.e., geographical, historical and contemporary information about social institutions and aspects of daily life (Buttjes & Kane, 1978; in Byram, 1992:171). In France, FCs are introduced at later stages, that is, at advanced levels (Byram, ibid). In Britain, while a foreign language is taught mainly for specific purposes (i.e., based on the learners future needs of the language), young learners are taught a FL to get by as tourists (Byram, ibid: 172). Hence, learners are not provided with a veracious image of the culture of the people who speak the language in question. In relation to bilingualism / biculturalism, a question which is usually raised is: should children be taught a first language then a second in a transitional fashion, or should they have a kind of dual language instruction throughout their schooling? The proponents of the first position argue that maintaining the two languages (and cultures) together may cause the mastery of neither of them: ''the children may become trapped in their mother tongue [or first language], and fail to achieve in the majority language [or second language] thus reducing their access to prosperity'' (Crystal, 1997: 368). Those who are for the maintenance approach believe that it 165

does not only reinforce the learners' ethnic identity but promotes as well linguistic diversity, cultural pluralism and tolerance: maintaining the mother tongue is said to develop a desirable cultural diversity, foster ethnic identity, permit social adaptability, add to the psychological security of the child, and promote linguistic (and perhaps even cognitive) sensitivity (Crystal ibid: 368). To opt for one view or another is a major step in the process of language planning, for it implies the adherence to a certain conception of the society we want to see around us: culturally pluralistic (in the maintenance view) or culturally homogeneous (with the dominance of the culture of the majority in the transitional view). An important issue that is related to this controversy is the apprehension that the early introduction of a FC may have negative outcomes as to the young learners cultural identity. De Jong (op.cit) believes a FC can only be introduced when learners have developed a firm knowledge of their NC, lest they become negatively influenced by this FC. This is particularly true for young children who adapt more quickly and completely than older ones, often renouncing the previous environment virtually completely. The amount of pressure to conform is perceptibly stronger the younger one is, becoming less towards the age ten. (De Jong, op.cit: 14). That is why, some professionals see that until young learners cultural identity is established, they should just learn FL(s) and not FC(s).However, this argument assumes that language and culture are separable, which is not the case, as argued by many scholars (Byram, 1989; Kramsch, 1993 and others). We think that children should first be taught their NL or first language and NC, and only then FL(s) and FC(s). Maintaining the NC thereafter is required to foster the learners cultural identity, and to achieve the goals of intercultural education. Though culture is always present, explicitly or implicitly, in the language classroom, FL courses that are FC-loaded are, in our opinion, not to be programmed at the very inception of the language learning process, but at later stages. Then, the focus would be on the TL-culture. FL textbooks featuring the FC at these stages would only foster bilinguality and interculturalilty. The learners' NC remains always accessible to them, being part of if not their everyday life.

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3. How to Teach / Evaluate Culture 3.1. How to Teach Culture 3.1.1. Methods of Teaching Culture Building on the notion of communicative competence (Hymes) and the speech act theory (Searle and Austin), professionals in the field of language pedagogy have become increasingly aware of the need to include a cultural component in language curricula, and the focus has been on devising appropriate techniques for addressing cultural facts and behaviours while teaching linguistic skills. It is worth noting, however, that given the complexity of culture and its multiple aspects, little research has been carried out in applied linguistics to throw light on how it can be pedagogically dealt with in the framework of language teaching, and in most cases, it is left to the classroom teacher to decide on this matter. On the other hand, teaching about culture is an aspect of language teaching that is unfamiliar to language teachers whose professional training largely focuses on the structural facets of language. Even if the FL textbook caters adequately for the TC, it is not a guarantee that it would be taught and learned as it should be. It all depends on how the textbook is used and how the cultural content is approached, i.e., on the method and the techniques applied. Cortazzi and Jin (op.cit:210) put it clearly that the learning of culture and the development of intercultural skills depend in large part on how the textbooks are used in the classroom, that is, on the quality of interaction between students, texts, and teachers. Beyond textbooks, what is required is a methodology of cultural learning. By the seventies, professional literature included many ways to teach about culture, but they are not all judged effective. For Heusinkveld (op.cit: xxviii), too many of them, presented a pastiche of unrelated cultural facts that did little to convey a deeper cultural understanding. This is not surprising given the intricacy of culture. To know how to effectively teach about it, and how to successfully integrate it in an already crowded language curriculum can only be done in a gradual process. One difficulty lies in the fact that the comprehension of some cultural concepts may transcend the learners linguistic abilities. Another difficulty is that culture competes for time with other language components. The former should, nevertheless, be given due care, as put by Seelye (1997: xviii), Robust approaches to teaching culture in the foreign language classroom require more than carving out five or ten minutes at the end of each class period for cultural activities, in whatever language. An 167

important task for the teacher is to expand the amount of student contact time with the second language and culture. It is a basic premise for the pedagogy described in this work that culture should not stand alone as an add-on, filler, or after thought, but should rather be intrinsically incorporated in the language teaching unit. So, how to teach effectively about the TC? Is talking about it to the learners sufficient to raise their awareness about it? Seelye (1997: xvii) does not think so: simply talking in a foreign language classroom about culture (in English) may produce about the same results as talking (in English) about the language. Neither portends much progress toward helping students communicate with native speakers of the language. The teaching of culture, as argued previously, must not be restricted to imparting factual information about it. It should more importantly be viewed as an experience, a process. A facts-only approach is considered by researchers as being not only insufficient but also detrimental, for it may in some cases reinforce stereotypes. The learners do not only need to know facts about the TC; they also need to experience it, to organize their minds in culturally-specific ways (Lantolf, op.cit). Culture is recommended to be taught through process skills like inference skills, observational and interpretive skills, analytic and hypothesis formation and testing skills, skills that should be integrated within the traditional basic language skills. In other words, the learners are urged to interact with the TC and its members, and not just be passive receivers of knowledge about it. Is the teacher to use classroom or out-of-class time for culture teaching? Both in-class and out-of-class methodologies are recommended, since they both have advantages and disadvantages: in-class procedures provide more teacher control over the content of culture learning, but time is always in short supply; out-of-class procedures extend the amount of contact with the TC, but learners do not always do their work. Should the activities be carried out in the FL or the learners NL? The TL should be the primary vehicle used to teach culture, as well stated by Allen (1985; in Lafayette, op.cit: 134), Of all the elements of the target culture, the target language is the most typical, the most unique, the most challenging, and almost ironically the most readily available. Its authentic use in the classroom from the beginning of instruction is therefore the primary cultural objective. Robinett (1978) distinguishes between teaching culture in its native context and in foreign contexts. It seems evident that both culture and language are easier to acquire when the learners are immersed in the TL and TC environment. 168

For Cushner and Brislin (op.cit), there are five methodological frameworks to teach culture in the classroom: cognitive training (teaching); experiential training; cultural self-awareness; behaviour modification; and attribution training. Cognitive training (teaching) teaches learners facts about the TC on the basis of lectures, group discussions, and readings. Though the learners could become well informed about the TC, this does not guarantee their ability to function effectively in it. For this purpose, they need more active strategies like experiential learning. In the framework of experiential training, the learners are supposed to take part in activities that immerse them in target-like experiences. Reference is made to role-plays, simulations, but also, when possible, field trips in the TC. Experiential activities can be very effective but they need much skill and practice. Cultural self-awareness aims at making the learners recognize the importance of culture in shaping minds and personalities, on the basis of examining their own cultural patterns, norms and values, and their effect on them. Knowing oneself is a step towards knowing others. Behaviour modification is based on the notions of reward and punishment in a culture. The learners are required to conceive of what is rewarding and what is punishing in their NC, and are then asked to learn about that in the TC, to be able to obtain reward and avoid punishment in it. It is worth mentioning that such approach fits only specific goals and learners. Attribution training teaches the learners to make culturally right judgements as to the causes of peoples behaviours and attitudes in the TC, in Cushner and Brislins words, to make isomorphic attributions. The aim is to reduce misunderstandings in cross-cultural exchanges. The typical method used is the culture assimilator, called also the intercultural sensitizer. According to Lafayette and Schulz (op.cit:580), there are three main methods for teaching about culture: Total uncritical immersion into a culture, known also as cultural conditioning: learning occurs by imitation and stimulus response techniques, just like the way a child is socialized into his/her own NC. Critical and analytical observations of recurring incidents which demonstrate a similar pattern of cultural behaviour: this method pertains to anthropologists, ethnographers, and social scientists, and is best applied when one is within the TC. Guided observation of selected patterns in isolation followed by explanation and interpretation of the pattern with the help of a knowledgeable person': this method 169

consists in presenting the learners with a defined cultural pattern as reflected in an artifact, dialogue, reading passage, culture capsule, film, photograph, song, newspaper advertisement, etc. Only this third method, according to Lafayette and Schulz, is appropriate and relevant to the classroom context. On the other hand, Byram (1992:173) thinks that enabling the learners to grasp the deep or the non-material aspects of culture requires a methodology which is open-ended and gives the learners the potential for continuing to learn, as opportunities arise. This methodology should, in his opinion, be based on ethnography. Ethnography, in Robinson's words (1985:73) is a method of describing a culture or situation within a culture from the 'emic' or natives point of view, i.e., from the point of view of the cultural actors. This method is based on observation and interviews. As far back as the fifties, to gather cultural data for a structural description, Lado suggested the use of 'the informant approach', that is, interviewing a representative sample of informants, together with the systematic observation of the TC and its members, to test the significance of the data collected through the interview. What is critical about these techniques is that they do not pre-select and pre-categorize what is to be observed, to avoid as much as possible cultural bias on the part of the observer. Besides, the ethnographers do not work in laboratories, and their data are not necessarily quantifiable. According to Atkinson, methods of studying cultural knowledge and behaviour are unlikely to fit a positivist quantitative paradigm. Ethnographic research seems more appropriate for its flexibility or its context-sensitive emergent quality [or for its] ability to capture some of the complex uniqueness characterizing every cultural scene, and from the perspectives of the social actors involved. (Atkinson, op.cit: 646-647). The ethnographers cultural accounts may serve as useful inputs for teaching about culture. However, ethnography has, up to now, approached mainly exotic cultures rather than the TCs whose languages are most commonly taught all over the world (Robinson, 1985). Findings of ethnographic research may also be relevant to how best to teach about culture, namely, by considering both the learners NC as well as the TC when organizing instruction, and making it fit their linguistic and cultural needs, hence maximising learning. Atkinson thinks that the ethnographic approach may be applied by the learners themselves through in and beyond classroom projects. Byram (1992) suggests that FL and FC learners become apprentice ethnographers. In other words, to learn the TL and TC, one should be immersed in 170

the FL environment to both observe (the outsiders perspective) and participate (the insiders perspective). Robinson believes that doing ethnography may be a way to overcome cultural barriers, negative attitudes and impressions, and also a way to promote self-awareness. For the learners who do not have the opportunity to travel abroad, the necessary ethnographic data should be made available to them in the classroom. Besides, they should be taught how to deal with these data, how to collect similar data from their own culture and make comparisons between them. Basic cultural themes to be tackled in this regard are, in Byrams viewpoint, the family, education, work, social identity and politics. He notes that immersion in the target foreign country has proved to be, for some ethnographer students, a deceiving experience, in the sense that the positive impressions they initially had of the country and its people eventually become negative ones. Whether a balance in their feelings and impressions is to be established later on is still to be seen. 3.1.2. Classroom Techniques 3.1.2.1. Common Techniques Techniques to teach culture in the language classroom abound. Damen (op.cit: 279) states There are almost as many ways to bring cultural instruction into the classroom as there are students to teach or so it appears sometimes to those planning culture teaching units. It is widely agreed, however, that culture can best be taught through activities that require an active participation and involvement on the part of the learners. Damen lists several techniques to teach culture. Many of them overlap in that they are based on the same or similar principles. Many of them are also familiar to language teachers, but there are cultural implications in their use in a cultural context. This is to say that FL and FC teachers need not devise activities that are exclusively culturegeared. They can combine linguistic, communicative and cultural objectives in the same task. AreaSpecific Studies An areaspecific study requires the learners to gather information about a specific country or cultural area, using library resources (books, magazines, encyclopaedias, CD-ROM databases, internet) and / or by interviewing informants. Reading all types of printed material especially those relevant to the TC cannot be 171

but insightful. Damen (op.cit: 289) illustrates this point in the following words: Consider how much can be said about life in the United States simply by reading the daily newspaper comic strips or following the soap operas. Informant interviewing is a technique used by ethnographers and anthropologists to collect data about a particular culture(s). It may as well be used by language learners when possible for the same purpose. The information collected is to be organized in categories such as factual background information, values, attitudes, personality traits (or subjective culture). The learners eventually write reports to be presented and discussed in class. Throughout the project, the teacher may help by providing questions, worksheets to guide the learners in their areaspecific study. Case Studies and Critical Incidents A case study is a case analysis or a problem-solving enterprise in which the learners attempt to identify target questions and suggest solutions to them. In the field of intercultural education, these questions are related to the values, assumptions, communicative styles, role expectations and non-verbal behaviours of the TC. Similarly, a critical incident is a problematic interactive situation emanating from conflictual cross-cultural values, assumptions, standards, expectations. It serves the learners to successfully handle everyday intercultural problems. The learners are purported to discuss the incident in question, and suggest possible explanations and/ or solutions. Critical incidents may be used to introduce a target cultural topic, to be the subject of class or group discussions, or may be related to subsequent relevant readings. They may as well be used in role-plays, that is, teachers may have the learners roleplay the people in the incidents, and explain their behaviour from different cultural standpoints. The learners can also be asked to narrate incidents pertaining to their own experience and cultural background. The problem-solving principle is inherent in several culture teaching techniques. When practising problem-solving in a language and culture class, the learners are required to analyse questions, to explain stands and reach solutions that are culturally appropriate. They may be presented with a problematic communicative situation coloured by embarrassment, anger or offence, and asked to figure out what went wrong and why (what was done and what should have been done), and 172

eventually suggest solutions (what should be done now). The teacher may help them with thought-provoking questions. An alternative activity may be to present socio-

cultural situations in which the learners have to make choices. They should then be given feedback on the cultural consequences of their choices. The aim is to develop their critical thinking and analytic skills vis--vis matters in both their NC and TC.

Contrast American Contrast American is a contrastive technique that applies to any cultural group, though frequently used in the context of the American culture. Damen (op.cit: 281) identifies it as ''the setting up and systematic examination of the contrastive qualities of one or more cultural groups''. Analysing contrasts in the assumptions and values of the TC may be based on selected reading or televised materials, followed by discussions, case studies, role plays. It would develop the learners' awareness about the TC, and would as well provide a comparative framework for the TC, NC and other cultures. The learners may compare and contrast patterns from their own culture, for example, eating a leisurely home-cooked meal, with corresponding patterns from the TC, such as eating at Mc Donalds or in another restaurant. The comparison and contrast of these behaviours are not ends in themselves, but they should lead to the more important discussion of the cultural values underlying these behaviours: Anglo-Americans place great value on efficiency and convenience, while Arabs value the time they spend with their family during a leisurely meal. Some scholars believe that comparing and contrasting cultures should not be overemphasized, at least at the beginning stages of culture learning. The goal should be to encourage the learners to observe and discover, not to compare and evaluate. Comparative analyses should, in this perspective, be postponed until the learners achieve some progress in understanding the TC, and become more able to handle it in an objective way. Krishnamurti (1967; in F.B., Nostrand, op.cit, 197) puts it clearly that Comparison prevents you from looking fullyIt is only when I look at you fully, not with comparative judgement, that I can understand you. When I compare you with another, I do not understand you, I merely judge you. Lado (op.cit) considers three levels of comparison between cultures: form, meaning and distribution. He underscores the importance of understanding ones own culture (before comparing it with another), which is not an easy task, given the fact that cultural behaviours are acquired unconsciously. Other professionals (like Damen, op.cit) believe that it is the 173

comparison and contrast of the TC and NC which engenders the need to examine ones own cultural assumptions, views and values from the perspective of the other, hence to understand better oneself and one's cultural system. In our viewpoint, similarities and differences between the native cultural context and the foreign one should always be pointed out in the FL class. It is always enlightening to make a cultural clash explicit by reflecting on issues as viewed in the NC and the FC. Culture Assimilators Culture assimilators is a technique that was first designed at the university of Illinois (Fiedler, Mitchell and Triandis, 1971; Triandis, 1975; in Damen, op.cit). The first culture assimilator was developed to address communication and interaction problems between Arab and American students (Cushner and Brislin, op.cit). Like critical incidents, culture assimilators present a problematic situation. They briefly describe its episodes and require the learner to identify its attributions or causes, in Cushner and Brislins words, judgments about the causes of behaviour (p42). Usually four possible attributions are mentioned: three are expected to be made by members of the learners culture and one pertains to the TC. The learner is required to analyse the situation and choose the TC appropriate attribution for each episode, or the attribution that best accounts for the problem from the TC standpoint. This technique aims at developing in the learners intercultural skills such as cross-cultural sensitivity, and overcoming stereotyped thinking. It is based on the assumption that as the learners know about and analyse the intercultural interactions drawn from actual situations and experiences, they are likely to successfully overcome the barriers in their own upcoming intercultural interactions. In other words, as the learners receive feedback on their responses, they will gradually understand the TC values and assumptions and learn how to interpret things and judge behaviours from the TC perspective. They would accept others attitudes and behaviours because they knew their underlying reasons and motivations. It is not easy for a language and culture teacher to prepare culture

assimilators, for they do not only require him/her to be familiar with both the learners NC and TC, but also to work on the attributions of critical incidents in both cultures in statistical terms. However, ready culture assimilators may be found in relevant literature. They may revolve around a variety of topics: gift giving, use of personal space, giving compliments, male / female relationships, inviting and accepting 174

invitation, greetings. Cushner and Brislin distinguish between culture-specific and culture-general assimilators. Culture-specific assimilators are developed for specific groups and for highly specific purposes (for example to prepare Spanish doctors to live and work in African rural regions or American technical assistance advisers to work in the Algerian Sahara). On the other hand, the items of a culture-general assimilator are of widespread usefulness, fitting all types of clients (learners) and TCs. The idea of a culture-general assimilator developed on the basis of the fact that being in a FC generally engenders in people the same feelings of alienation, loneliness, uprootedness, loss, frustration,, whoever they are, and wherever they find themselves. Besides, there are concepts such as the differentiation of roles, ingroup /out-group distinctions, decision making that always come up in the accounts of people who enter cultures other than their own. Empirical research findings (Cushner and Brislin) suggest that training in culture assimilators leads to a better understanding of and an enjoyable interaction with the TC bearers, who, themselves, acknowledge these facts. It also lessens negative stereotypes, develops complex (instead of oversimplified) thinking about the TC, and eventually results in a better adaptation and better job performance in the TC world. Cultural Capsules and Culture Clusters Culture capsules (or culturgrams) which were first developed by Taylor and Sorenson (1961; in Damen, op.cit) describe briefly a typical incident or event in the TC and require the learners to answer comprehension questions in relation to this material. The cultural content delineates (a) difference(s) between two cultural groups. A culture cluster is a set of culture capsules that deal with the same topic. There are available culture capsules for over eighty different countries (Peck, op.cit). Each one of them includes sections on family, lifestyle, attitudes, customs and courtesies and history. It also includes, on the first page, a map showing the location of the country in question. The learners can compare and contrast their own and the foreign customs and traditions. The cultural insights gained can be role-played for further practice. Moreover, the learners can work in groups to prepare speeches about culturgrams.

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 Group Discussions Group discussions are powerful means to practise the speaking skill, and if their topics are culturally relevant and appropriate, they will be very enriching in terms of cultural learnings. Besides, they develop in the learners tolerance of others and of difference. According to Mee Cheach (op.cit:201), culture should essentially be taught through class discussions rather than what he calls top down effect in culture dissemination or direct inculcation of culture. In other words, a teacher and learners should, in this perspective, discuss and negotiate culture meanings, values, and beliefs instead of a one way cultural instructing or direct teaching. Classroom discussions aimed at culture teaching should be guided by defined questions. The learners may be prompted to reflect upon both their NC and TC. Cultures should not be reduced to clichs and value judgments. Diversity should be pointed out, and stereotypes and prejudices tackled. The teacher may ask the learners to pretend they are in the others shoes or to hold the others views, as a means to reduce their ethnicity and overcome their bias, as well said by Damen (op.cit:288). A useful cross-cultural strategy is to assign students to a position to which they do not subscribe. If properly explained, students find this exercise exciting. The simulation of empathy for those who hold the opposing view is a useful device to promote intercultural understanding. This is a rewarding strategy, if handled with great care. A class discussion may be triggered by a what if question. It more often that not generates misunderstandings and sometimes even hostilities among the learners, but these are only temporary and are a first step towards understanding and reaching consensus. Role-Plays and Simulations Roleplaying and dramatization of simulated situations are very useful language and culture teaching activities, for they involve the learners in life-like target cultural experiences and situations, or in an environment in which they could experience new and different feelings () risk-taking, shock, self-doubt, and fear. (Isbell, 1999:10). They would learn on the basis of these techniques how to cope with eventual similar situations. They would also understand that language has not only to do with the transfer of information from one person to another, that it is also used for small talk, which is sometimes needed in order not to appear unnecessarily brusque and abrupt. The basic aim is, thus, to develop their intercultural 176

communicative competence, but also to promote empathy towards the TC bearers. To achieve this purpose, the activities should be carefully designed so as to avoid oversimplifications. They may be based on culture bumps: A culture bump occurs when an individual form one culture finds himself or herself in a different strange or uncomfortable situation when interacting with persons of a different culture [it] occurs when an individual has expectations of one behaviour and gets something completely different. (Jordan, op.cit:105). It should be noted, in addition, that roleplays are not easy to carry in a language classroom: Undertaking role play or other active, participatory activities often seems to call for more explanation than participation. Many of our students simply dont seem to know how to play our pedagogy games. (Damen, op.cit:20). Though many scholars believe this type of activities to be one of a whole gamut of communicative techniques which develops fluency in language students, which promotes interaction in the classroom and which increases motivation (Porter, 1987: 7), some others question its validity in the matter of improving the learners socio-cultural and communicative skills: ''roleplaying seems to imply that learners will acquire appropriate social norms of the target language-culture by assuming the identity of a member of that speech community. However, in most instances it is not at all clear just how the learners are supposed to get the information they need to adequately enact this identity'' (Dubin and Olshtain, op.cit:135). Doubtless, the teacher has a significant role to play in this regard. Situational Exercises and Dialogues A situational exercise, as its appellation shows, presents the learners with a particular situation on the basis of which they are supposed to write scripts or complete skits. This serves at the same time as a culture-teaching and testing activity. Kramsch (1993) particularly recommends this type of activities, because they train learners to have an insiders and an outsiders outlook of culture right from the early stages of language and culture learning. Constructing cultural contexts is a situational exercise that consists in writing an ending to a conversation between two native speakers of the TL, or to a short story taking place in the TC, on the basis of the characters involved, and the cultural context in which the event takes place. Situational exercises may be based on dialogues. The latter are traditional classroom techniques which can be exploited to present, elucidate or practise target 177

cultural patterns. They may even be used to evaluate cultural learnings, when they are to be produced by the learners themselves, following given instructions. Their value lies in the fact that they call for meaningful language use, and can be geared to serve various target socio-cultural situations and language functions (for instance, applying for a job, shopping, chatting with acquaintances or friends from the TC). Kramsch (1993:28) conceives of culture teaching as a kind of dialogic education in which the teacher and learners are not just speakers and hearers but they are as well interested in genuinely exploring the intentions, frames of reference, and reactions of the other participants in the classroom dialogue. So is (or should be) the case in the actual cross-cultural dialogue: each party tries to take the other's perspective, to see the world through the others eyes, to understand the other without losing sight of oneself.

Culture Discovery and Culture Self-Awareness Techniques Culture discovery skills or exploratory skills may be developed on the basis of variety of techniques such as undertaking community research projects, field trips, surveys, polls, library research . The aim is to make the learners discover for themselves cultural information. Culture self-awareness techniques aim at raising the learners awareness of themselves and of their personal assumptions, values, attitudes, and worldviews. They may consist in self-assessment questionnaires, problem-solving activities, and value-orientations checklists. Their contents usually deal with general human problems. Media Units This has to do with the use of the various audio-visual media to teach about the TC. Reference is made to televised materials (films, news reports, commercials, documentaries, songs and other programmes), radio broadcasts, pictures and photos, internet, printed material etc. . These means have rich cultural contents, and have as well the potential to involve the learners, to elicit their reactions, and to develop their hypothesizing and analytic skills. The learners may be asked to write media reports from radio and / or television, an activity that may cover a variety of current cultural topics. Media may be used in conjunction with other techniques such as role-plays and group discussions to maximize learning. 178

 Culture Quizzes A culture quiz is a technique used to evaluate or test culture learnings. The learners are supposed to provide culturally-appropriate answers. Quizzes may be used in conjunction with culture assimilators, capsules or clusters, to evaluate their effectiveness as culture learning techniques. They are also said to stimulate cultural awareness. 3.1.2.2. Activities for Young Learners Peck (op.cit) suggests several culture teaching techniques that best suit beginning levels such as cultural islands, celebrating foreign festivals, vocabulary activities, translating TL jingles and proverbs, and map tracing. Teachers are recommended to make of their classrooms small cultural islands through the provision of cultural items such as posters, pictures, maps, charts, books, magazines, newspaper clippings (articles, advertisements, comic strips), and realia of all kinds (money, stamps, costumes, records of contemporary music, pieces of pottery, artifacts). The learners should take part in the renewal of these items at regular intervals, to sustain their motivation and interest. Their attention should be drawn to the foreign goods existing in their culture and the words, names they already know. These procedures familiarize them with the TC, or help them build mental images in connection with it. Inviting guest speakers (whether native or non native speakers) to give talks in class about cultural aspects is also important and rewarding. It has the further advantage of breaking with the everyday routine, and adding authenticity to the classroom, especially at later stages of language and culture learning. Letters of invitation and thank may be written by the learners themselves. Celebrating foreign festivals needs much planning in which the learners should be involved, namely decorating the classroom, drawing posters, preparing foods, . Furthermore, they may take part in the foreign cultural festival by learning, for example, some relevant folk songs, dances and talks. These activities are said to be highly enjoyable among children. They use culture as subject matter to learn both language and culture. Perhaps, there is no need, in our opinion, to actually celebrate foreign festivals or rituals; the learners may just discuss related issues and compare the foreign ways with their own.

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To look up names of the TC products in the supermarket, names of artists, restaurants etc is an example of a vocabulary activity. The learners can cut out the names from magazines or newspapers. The teacher should help them to pronounce these names correctly. This technique proves to be motivating for young learners, since it makes them see the immediate usefulness of their FL class. Translating TL jingles and proverbs is also both fun and insightful. Beginners maps can be very simple including merely bordering countries, rivers, mountains and the capital city. Then, learners would proceed to the study of more complex ones (large relief maps). Follow-up activities based on maps are numerous. The teacher may ask the learners to infer answers related to climate, sports, on the basis of the map, or to locate the TL-speaking countries on it. Through these activities, the learners will be at the same time practising grammatical and phonological structures.

3.1.2.3. Recommendations Organizing trips to learn about a FC in its home, or to take the learners into the field as ethnographers would express it, remains the most effective technique as it is, besides, to acquire the FL. Byram (1997:18-19) so aptly puts it that such visits are the richest and most complex opportunity for learning which can be offered to learners in any of the prioritised sectors of education. The total experience of another environment, provided pupils are well prepared and given the opportunity not only to experience but also reflect on the experience, is unlikely to be matched by classroom learning. If FL learners were given the opportunity to be immersed in a TL environment, for a short or a long period, they could engage in a variety of activities such as conducting interviews, field observation of foreign behaviour in specific places or situations, taking photographs of things or people, attending political meetings, studying street graffiti or foreign drivers behaviour in an accident, going to the theatre or museum, not only to applaud plays and admire pieces of art, but also to discover who goes to the theatre or museum, why and how often. Nevertheless, most FL pupils and students learn the TL in their own culture, where they have little direct exposure to the TC, and may have no contact with its natives. As an alternative, the teacher should attempt to bring the TL and TC to them, in the classroom. One way to achieve this purpose is the intensive use of audiovisual media, which make available a rich input in terms of authentic language, and a 180

wealth of information about its culture. The teacher should also provide them with opportunities to use the language as it is actually used in its natural context, to develop their intercultural communicative skills. In addition, distance exchange, i.e., interaction with the TL speakers via both traditional and modern means of communication (letters, telephone, e-mails, ) is equally crucial to develop the learners intercultural competence, and adds significantly to classroom learning. These projects can be started as class activities, then the learners may continue to have pen-pals and e-friends, and may share the contents of their mails with classmates. Moreover, contacts and exchanges between schools in different countries should also be encouraged as extra-curricular learning opportunities. Within the same school or university cooperation with the teachers of relevant disciplines, be they teachers of science, economics, history, geography, social studies, music, art, or others is also noteworthy to complete the learners view of the TC. There may even be language clubs with various interests (linguistic and cultural) for further research on both language and culture. In most of the aforementioned techniques, reflection on cultural events, experiences, symbols, artifacts and patterns of thought and behaviour etc., whether pertaining to the TC or NC, is recommended as an effective means to truly understand a culture. Reflection on cultural matters enlarges the learners (as well as the teachers) knowledge; it enables them to channel the flow of cultural information to which they are exposed from different sources, and which they may see and/or hear but not grasp; it makes them detect what lies beneath surface matters. Nissil (1997: 71) expresses the importance of reflection in culture learning in the following words:
Reflection is a key to the internalisation of knowledge: the trainees conceptions become more definite and comprehensive through reflection. School pupils should also be given time to reflect and talk about their experiences of foreign cultures. Once the process of becoming sensitive to another culture has started, pupils as well as the trainees will continue making observations and resolutions.

It is worth noting that not all culture teaching activities need to be explicit. Sometimes, just creating an environment in which culture is noted and tolerance and respect are observed is enough to instil awareness. Another important methodological point worth ending this section with has to do with reviewing cultural items. Finocchiaro and Brumfit (op.cit) advocate the spiral

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approach for the teaching of cultural items. In this approach, the same socio-cultural item is viewed and reviewed in great depth, at successive levels of language learning, leading to the integration of past and new learning: We have found that - in regular courses particularly - students return pleasurably to a culture topic and integrate their knowledge with some point of information they have already acquired or an experience they have already had. This is preferable to trying to treat a topic exhaustively all at once (Finocchiaro and Brumfit, op.cit:129). Many of the culture teaching techniques and activities outlined previously fit better a culture-based syllabus. However, they can readily be integrated in a structural or a functional communicative syllabus. In our opinion, any activity may be geared to culture teaching, if it is designed on the basis of a cultural context. Taking account of the cultural aspect in FL teaching is basic to enable the learners to read, write, speak and understand speech in the FL.

3.1.3. Integrating Culture through the Four Language Skills 3.1.3.1. Listening Comprehension Culture is an intrinsic component in listening comprehension. McCarthy (1991) observes that listeners (and readers) resort to an outward or exophoric reference, i.e., reference out of what is said (or written), whether a reference to the immediate real world context or to the assumed shared knowledge between sender and receiver, to be able to comprehend spoken (or written) discourse. This knowledge is partly of the cultural type: Exophoric references will often be to a world shared by sender and receiver of the linguistic message, regardless of cultural background, but equally often, references will be culture-bound and outside the experiences of the language learner (McCarthy, ibid:40). Indeed, FL learners cannot identify the referents of such items as for instance the city, the chancellor, Halloween, the brunch, by mere anaphoric reference in discourse. Rather, they need to consult an encyclopaedic source or an informant (the teacher). According to Crystal (1997:372), even the names of known representatives of the TC have their weight in understanding everyday discourse: in every country, knowing the names of the most famous men and women of a culture, whether they are political figures, folk heroes, or media stars, is a major factor in really understanding the meaning of a newspaper report, a debate on television, or the course of conversation.

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Passages intended for listening comprehension in a FL class should be authentic, in the sense that they should reflect actual language use in actual communicative situations. Yet, in De Jongs viewpoint, situations may be invented, and the language which fits them 'delineated', provided that it corresponds to what native speakers would say in the contexts in question. We believe that this could only be done by native speakers themselves as textbook writers, or at least under their close supervision. In addition, authentic language in actual communicative situations should be selected with reference to the learners objectives, needs and interests. It goes without saying that texts should as well have a target cultural content. Comprehension-check questions and other activities accompanying a listening comprehension passage (or a reading one) should not only elicit facts about the content of the passage in question, but should most importantly raise the learners awareness as to the socio-cultural factors governing language use: who is talking (or writing) to whom, what is being said (or written), when, where and why. The TC patterns of spoken discourse should also be made explicit and distinguished from their NC patterns. With respect to Arab learners of English, Hyde (op.cit:301) puts it clearly that: Arabic discourse patterns are often not transferable to standard British or American English, so students need to be instructed about target cultures if they are to be able to use target language discourse patterns, and especially if they are expected to listen to and interpret the real pragmatic force of non-indigenized English discourse. Integrating the cultural aspect in listening activities can be accomplished by having the learners listen to a cultural content and perform a task. For example, they may be given maps of the target country, and asked to circle ski or seaside resorts or trace someones trip, as this is read aloud by the teacher. The learners may also listen to music, songs and radio broadcasts. Given that music and songs are relaxing, motivating, and culture-rich, they have given rise to a positive affective approach to language and culture learning. This approach breaks with the routine and monotony of everyday classroom work, and makes of the teaching / learning process an enjoyable and an entertaining experience. Jedynak (2000: 30) defines music as a manifestation of culture and of the human need to communicate. It has been used in FL classes in many ways, and for different objectives. In the framework of suggestopedia, music is conceived of as a means of relaxation. Music is also a powerful vehicle of culture in the FL classroom. Regarding songs, Failoni (1997: 400) so suitably puts it: One of the few 183

music/language researchers states that a song is an ideal marriage of poetry and music and is one of the most authentic expressions of people, their feelings, and their everyday life. Both the lyrics of songs and their musical styles are culturally significant, and may be linked to a variety of activities, not only in relation to listening, but also to other skills - reading, speaking (singing) and writing, to enhance the learners knowledge and understanding of the TC. On the one hand, musical texts may convey many themes pertinent to the TC, reflecting faithfully the values, beliefs and way of life of its members. The lyrics may also reflect cultural differences as well as linguistic variations among the countries which speak the TL. On the other hand, the choice of musical instruments, singing style and rhythm are actual manifestations of aspects of the TC. Musical styles mirror the culture they belong to, and may be a useful means to explore it. The learners will react to the music; they can talk or write about their impressions, likes, dislikes; they can as well compare what is foreign to what they are familiar with, without undervaluing the one or the other. To be efficiently used in class, songs should be programmed together with a set of appropriate activities, such as comprehension questions, fill in blanks, role plays and writing follow-ups. As an example of the latter activity, the learners may be asked to imagine themselves the main or one of the characters of a song, and write a related story, dialogue or letter that would fit the foreign cultural context. A song is to be played as many times as needed, and may even be learned by the whole class. Some teachers find it beneficial to play melodies from the TC as background music during classroom activities. Some others choose to focus on songs accompanying dramatic play or songs that tell a story, because they are appropriate for extended activities. Other teachers prefer to make the learners work on popular music, being one of their (the learners) few attractions, particularly in EFL settings, the reason why it should be exploited more regularly and more systematically in the FL classroom (Domoney and Harris, 1993). It remains always salutary to survey the learners' interests and preferences, and make selections accordingly. What should be remembered, above all, is the fact that music is a valuable tool to teach about the TC, and not only about language structures, vocabulary, pronunciation and rhythm, as well said by Brooks (op.cit:32) Music is welcomed in the language class not because it teaches language but because it represents other elements of culture in a most appealing form.

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3.1.3.2. Speaking Culture can be clearly sensed in verbal exchanges. To begin with , forms of address , or markers of social deixis, in Kramschs words (1998:131) , are language indicators of where the speaker stands socially in relation to the hearer .For example, the use of tu and vous in the French language is culturally significant of the social status of the speaker and that assigned to the learner: vous connotes power or distance, while tu solidarity, closeness, or the subordination of the addressee. Cultures have different conventions of use regarding social deixis markers. Culture is also reflected in the interactors adoption of social positioning, what Goffman calls footing, that is, the stance we take up to ourselves and to the others present as expressed in the way we manage the production or reception of utterances.'' (Kramsch ibid: 42). Footing is manifested through, for instance, the tone of the voice (intonation, pronunciation), body language and the register used. These instances and others reflect the way the speaker perceives his/her role as a participant in a communicative interaction, taking place in a defined cultural context. An example is in order: it is frequently the case in the United States that a Northerner talking to a Southerner instinctively aligns his / her way of talking on that of the Southerner, as a sign of conversational co-operation. (Kramsch, ibid: 42). By choosing ones footing or defining ones position vis--vis others in a communicative interaction, people implement and perpetuate their culture. Another aspect demonstrating the presence of culture in spoken language interchanges is face-work, i.e., the strategies adopted to protect face. In the Japanese culture in particular, saving social face is crucial in any communicative interaction. The latter is framed in such a way that juniors or inferiors have to begin speaking first, taking a greater risk than seniors or superiors of face loss. Conversational styles are also governed by socio-cultural factors. In a conversation, adopting one style or another depends not only on the situation in which the verbal exchange takes place, but also on the general cultural context. Cultures vary in the way they use discourse styles even in the same context of situation. Some cultures are said to have a more formal conversational style characterized by conciseness and exactitude. Though people can adopt various styles, they are culturally conditioned to prefer one or the other, in a particular situation. Generally speaking, however, the typical style of an interview, for example, is clearly different from the informal / intimate style of friendly chatting, 185

whatever their cultural context. The former is normally characterized by a non overlapping sequence of turns, and a sense of detachment, while the latter by overlaps, paralinguistic signals such as signs and interjections, hence, a high feeling of interpersonal involvement, in Kramschs words, more literate and more orate style, respectively. The continuum orate-literate operates differently in different cultural traditions. In a like manner, the discourse styles adopted in story-telling are also culture-bound. In some cultures, people are said to be better story tellers than in others (Tannen, 1993; in Kramsch, 1998): they adopt a narrative style that focuses more on interpersonal involvement than on the content of the story. They do so by including, for instance, judgement about the characters behaviours or about the message of the story. It should be remembered, however, that the criteria of good story-telling vary from one culture to another. FL and FC learners should be made aware of all these cultural facets. They should be given opportunities to express their opinions about what is both native and foreign. In addition, they should engage in simulations and role plays that reflect the TC ways. Various other activities can be designed to develop the learners ability to perform tasks using linguistically correct and culturally appropriate language. Integrating the TC into lessons on the speaking skill means, as well, teaching about the non-verbal aspects of communication: communication is not the rapid fire exchange of linguistically accurate complete sentences. It is the sometimes slow, sometimes painful, sometimes non-verbal exchange of thoughts between human beings. (Savignon, 1972:66). Peck (op.cit: 3) points out the importance of gestures in a language classroom stating: Gesture, although learned, is largely an unconscious cultural phenomenon. Gesture conveys the feel of the language to the student and when accompanied by verbal communication, injects greater authenticity into the classroom and makes language study more interesting. Scanlan (1997) considers the ability to analyse a photograph or to interpret a non-verbal scene of crucial importance, and believes it to be an important FL skill that is inextricably linked to the four major skills. Morain (1997) puts forward the concept of visual literacy by which he means the ability to decode visual signs in ones environment, including the non-verbal means of communication such as gestures, facial expressions, and hands movements. Visual literary in a FC is, according to Morain, needed to avoid misunderstandings.

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One of the aims of a culture-teaching course may be, for instance, to raise the learners awareness of touch and eye-contact in the TC. Another aim may be teaching about proxemics; unawareness or ignorance of ones interlocutors proxemic behaviours may lead not only to failure in communication, but also to feelings of rejection and even hostility. As previously mentioned (chapter two, section 2.4.), there are high-contact cultures and low-contact cultures, depending on whether people maintain small or large distances one from the other, while interacting. FL and FC teachers and learners should be sensitive to these cultural differences. Teaching strategies based on visual media are very useful to instruct about the non-verbal aspects of the TC. Film viewing, for instance, followed by a class discussion, then by practice in the framework of dialogues or role-plays are effective means to teach about both verbal and non-verbal patterns of communication. The learners are also recommended to read relevant literature, which is always an insightful activity. They may even carry out experiments to explore peoples reactions to inappropriate non-verbal behaviours: for example, to wink or to smile to a stranger, to stand closer than usual to a person, to sit in someones usual place, or to sit with strangers in a restaurant. When possible, contact with the native speakers of the TL offers golden opportunities to observe their behaviours and attitudes. For Robinson (1991), the learners are not only supposed to know about body language and other communication patterns in the TC. This would be analogous to learning about rather than learning a FL. They should, in her opinion, acquire these communication patterns, and achieve what she calls cultural versatility. In our viewpoint, FL and FC teachers should raise the learners awareness about the TC communicative strategies and styles, whether linguistic or nonlinguistic. Nevertheless, they should not compel them to appropriate these foreign ways. The learners should feel free to go on with their own ways, and it is the teachers duty to back them to preserve their native tradition. Their other equally important duty is to teach them how to tolerate difference and not to form value judgements about others.

3.1.3.3. Reading Comprehension To teach about a FC in some European countries means to make the learners read contemporary or classic literature, as well as contemporary documents about 187

the foreign society, with a particular focus on its social and political problems (Byram, 1992). It may be thought that the simplest skill to integrate with culture is that of reading, since all that is apparently needed is to select reading passages with a cultural content. What is crucial, in addition, is to design appropriate accompanying activities, so as to make sure the texts are read for their cultural content, and not for grammatical illustrations or pronunciation practice. The importance of the cultural content should also be born in mind when selecting the material to be read in class. Cameron Bacon (1997:331) states that what counts most is the authentic cultural content of the material rather than its grammar or other pedagogical foci: ''to insist on a pedagogical grammar focus in reading, however, may unduly restrict the kinds of readings that one should introduce to students. Rather, the authentic cultural message of each text takes precedence over the pedagogical focus.'' Furthermore, Lees research findings (in Cameron

Bacon, ibid.) indicate that grammatical structures, such as the subjunctive, do not cause difficulties of comprehension for beginning readers of Spanish, whereas what seems to be grammatically simple such as the language of a menu does not guarantee actual comprehension. A text is said to be authentic when it is intended for a nativereader audience. Although readers may incorporate real-life cultural information, they are not necessarily authentic. It should be noted, however, that authentic texts may be deceptively difficult and challenging, thereby causing frustration for nonnative readers. FL and FC teachers should, thus, carefully select passages that are not only authentic, but also accessible to the learners. Novice and intermediate learners may first begin with reading material as available in short documents such as train schedules, menus, announcements, advertisements, and television guides. The culture lessons that can be learned from birth, death, wedding announcements, for instance, are various: they may relate to the system of (first and last) names, god parents, the importance of the extended family, the norms of Catholicism, customs surrounding birth and marriage. Then, lengthier documents such as news items, editorials, newspaper and magazine articles, extracts from books, encyclopaedias and printed media of all sorts would be gradually introduced. Eventually, literary texts (short stories, novels and other literary genres) could be enjoyed when the learners would have developed sufficient skill for such reading.

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Selected passages to teach about the TC should not contain only tacit and implicit cultural information. On the contrary, focus should be on texts which deal explicitly with the TC. In addition, they should be made open to encourage the learners to express their own opinions and interpretations. The teacher may elicit the learners reactions vis--vis foreign behaviours, but also vis--vis their own behaviours, and the way these might possibly be viewed by foreigners. This procedure stimulates the learners interpretation skills, going beyond the traditional mere listing of facts. The other equally important teachers task is, thus, to guide the learners to discover and grasp the cultural content of a text, as they engage in the process of comprehending it. For this purpose, appropriate activities should be designed. Professionals recommend tasks prior to reading, in order to introduce relevant cultural elements that would make the passage to be read meaningful to the learners, and post-reading activities for fostering comprehension and for expanding the learners appreciation of the TC. Every reading should be preceded by at least one culture-related pre-reading activity so as to set the scene and get the learners closer to the content of the reading passage. One suggestion is to ask the learners to reflect upon cultural phenomena as seen in the NC, prior to reading about them in the TC. According to the schema theory, the reading skill involves an interaction between the readers schemata (i.e., background knowledge stored in ones mind, part of which is cultural knowledge) and the text itself. So, if the cultural content of the latter is remote from the learners background knowledge, it is likely not to be comprehended by them. To provide the learners with pre-reading cultural (and linguistic) explanations helps them understand roughly what the passage to be read is about. This preliminary introduction should be brief, to pave the way for a deepened study and discussion of the cultural issues embedded in the text, when the students are actually immersed in reading. Post-reading activities require the learners to process the information just read, and compare it to the information about the NC discussed before. The teacher should as well consider designing activities having other various objectives: to recognize cultural patterns via a written account, to identify cultural beliefs and values as reflected in selected passages, to empathise without judging with the motives, skills and assumptions of the TC, and so on. The learners may work on the cultural topics embedded in the reading passage in groups. Each group deals with one 189

aspect on the basis of what is revealed in terms of attitudes, actions, reactions and other clues given by the writer. Given the fact that FL classes are usually constituted of mixed-ability groups, the teacher may use different cultural readings, purported for different levels, on the same topic. In this case, the same pre-reading activity would be used with the whole class, but post-reading would be done in small groups. Then, the content of the various passages could be compared among the groups. The importance of cultural knowledge to understand written discourse is undeniable. Indeed, when the learners read in a FL, they decode what they read on the basis of their own cultural background and experiences. Harrison (1990: 45) argues that: the message in any text does not flow unimpeded, as a constant, from the writer to the reader, but that each individual reader must wrestle with a given text, and will interpret it in the light of his or her sensibility, world-view and cultural experience, in whatever cultures. And since the readers culture (NC) is likely to be different from the writers (TC), what is understood may be quite different from what is intended. Thus, the reader should share the same cultural assumptions and norms as the writer, to be able to fill in the unstated inferences. Valdes (op.cit:28) talks about a common schema:
Even if the student follows the process of matching his schema to the material, he is likely to form false anticipations as he reads which will result in frustrating confusion and leave him puzzling over the meaning. Ignore the culture and read for factual information? The world is not made up of factual information, cut and dried. In order to understand the message, the reader must find a common schema with the author, who is trying to communicate by presenting the unfamiliar through overt or covert comparisons with the familiar in his own schema of the world. This can be accomplished only through the readers understanding, in some depth, of the culture of the author.

Kramsch (1993) believes that the socio-cultural meanings of discourse as perceived by the native speakers of the TL should be made explicit to foreign readers, if they are to actually comprehend the text, in her words, to authenticate the text or to perform ''authentic reading. In other words, failure of FL learners to read authentic material is due to cultural rather than linguistic impediments: The issue that is raised by the use of real-life materials is that culture is a reality that is social, political, and ideological and that the difficulty of understanding cultural codes stems from the

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difficulty of viewing the world from another perspective, not of grasping another lexical or grammatical code. (Kramsch, 1993: 188). FL texts are not only seeded with aspects depicting the FC, but they are also conceived in such a way as to reflect particular discourse features and styles belonging to the culture in question. Kramsch (1998) states that culture in written discourse is manifested through cohesion and coherence devices. Cohesion displays a certain logical and rhetorical progression throughout the text. Coherence is the outcome of the readers response elicited by the discourse being read. She believes that one cannot get the full meaning of a text unless it is dealt with as discourse, hence considering what happens in the mind of the reader when dealing with it and considering also the contextual factors of its production and reception. When reading a piece of discourse, what Kramsch (ibid.) calls a literacy event, that is, the interaction of a reader or community of readers with a written text (p129), contextual factors interfere with ones understanding of it. These factors, as mentioned above, relate to both contexts of production and reception, i.e., they have to do with the writers as well as the readers contexts. The first important context to consider is the socio-historical cultural context of the text. Any text can be associated with other existing texts, prior texts, in that it can be seen as a response to them. A reader makes sense of a new text by relating it to other relevant texts available to him/her in his/her culture. In addition, any text puts forward a point of view, an ideological point of view that reflects the beliefs, values and assumptions of its writer, aspects that constitute the culture s/he belongs to. Understanding this point of view and its underlying bases is crucial for understanding the text being read. One has to understand as well the texts propositional content, purpose, intended audience, register, and key (or the writers stance, whether ironic, humorous, factual etc.), elements that form, according to Kramsch (ibid.), the second important context, namely, the context of situation of the text. She notes that the difficulty to read in a FC has more to do with the cultural coherence of discourse than with its internal cohesion. She illustrates the point with the following example: a sentence like Although he was over 20 years old, he still lived at home written for an American readership, draws on the readers cultural knowledge concerning young mens independence from their families, but might not be self-evident for readers from a culture where young men continue to live at home well into their twenties (Kramsch, ibid: 59). 191

It appears that teaching reading across cultures is not an easy work. One of the basic tasks of FL teachers, in addition to selecting materials with an authentic cultural content and designing pre-reading an post-reading activities (as explained above), is to reconstitute and elucidate the cultural contextual factors of FL discourse (both in its spoken and written forms) to the learners, to make it more meaningful and coherent to them. This means raising the learners awareness about cultural differences in discourse styles. One way to foster this awareness is to resort to roleplay techniques in which foreign styles are adopted (instead of native ones). Another way is to explicitly elucidate these styles and show how much they are different from native ones, what Kramsch (1993) calls metatalk. An effective approach to explore a written or spoken passage in a FL class, in our opinion, should go beyond providing the learners with the dictionary meaning of some lexical items or some sporadic cultural notes. It should, in addition, clarify the social, historical, political, religious philosophy which accounts for a cultures style of presentation of facts, that is, to make explicit the intentions lying behind words, utterances, textual patterns and images.

3.1.3.4. Writing The invention of writing revolutionized the way culture was acquired and transmitted. Textual tradition replaced oral tradition, in Kramschs words (1998:53): The invention of writing around 3000 BC transformed oral tradition, transmitted through storytelling, bardic epics, mythical re-enactments and performances, into textual tradition, handed down by scribes. Written language played a critical role, particularly in the transmission and learning of religious beliefs henceforth preserved in sacred books. It is worth mentioning that though what is written is perpetuated, it is usually very difficult to uncover the original meaning of ancient documents, since the context in which they had been written is lost in time and space. They need, thus, to be tentatively reinterpreted by specialists. Yet, cultural meanings as contained in written or printed texts have always been monopolized and censored by sources of power, namely, the church, first (in western countries), then the academy, the press and the political institutions. One example of the academic monopoly over the interpretation of written texts, in traditional times, was to focus the attention of readers merely on formal linguistic aspects such as the literal meanings of words and

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correct grammar and spelling, excluding personal reactions to the content, i.e., to the social and cultural meanings the text incorporates (Kramsch, 1998) A written text reflects, in its form and content, patterns of thought that are bound up with the culture of the writer. In fact, the purpose of writing, how the text should be constructed to achieve this purpose, what is considered a logical progression of the text, what is proper to write, the target audience, the circumstances of writing, and other conventions of written discourse are shaped by culture, and thus differ cross-culturally. In other words, every culture defines its genres by specifying their form, content, language, audience in a way that is not necessarily shared by other cultures: ''What might have been intended as an American childrens story might be viewed by foreign readers as an adult cautionary tale'' (Kramsch, 1993:122). Genres of written discourse existing in a culture may have no counterparts in another. For example, as delineated by Kachru (op.cit:78), the English literary genres ballads and lyrics do not correspond, as it may be thought, to the Hindi pada and geet; the latter are short poems meant to be sung, not just read and recited. Another example may be the written invitation entailed by a wedding in some cultures such as the Anglo-American tradition. This written form does not exist in cultures which rely above all on the oral, face-to-face invitation. It can be implied that the text genre that is appropriate in a culture (application form, business letter, political pamphlet or other) is not necessarily so in another. What is more, there may be different rhetorical patterns associated with the same genre across cultures. An argumentative text in American and British English, for instance, is based on the problem-solution design. The writer raises an issue, discusses it, suggests a solution and argues for its effectiveness. Argumentative texts in other cultures do not necessarily have the same structure and purpose. The English text is generally characterized by linearity and hierarchy, while the Arabic by parallelism and repetition. The Arabs favour the circular or the spiral textual pattern to the straight linear one. The Germans are also said to be non-linear in their writings. In German academic texts, McCarthy (op.cit:165) notes ''a greater amount of parenthetical information and freedom to digress than [in] English writing of the same kind''. He points out, also, that German writers prefer to use a bridging sentence between paragraphs while the English a topic sentence. Other cultures have other different styles: the Indian Sanskrit is ornate and metaphorical (Kachru, op.cit), the 193

Japanese is digressive (McCarthy, op.cit), and the Oriental, in general, is indirect (Kaplan 1966; in McCarthy, op.cit). Rhetorical styles and genres develop on the basis of the social structure of a community. Hence, it is difficult to train the learners in another foreign way of thinking and writing. According to research carried out in this domain, many years of language learning may not enable members of other cultures to write according to the rhetorical paradigms expected in the TC, or to achieve a native like proficiency in writing. Some researchers question whether this goal is at all necessary. Besides, as observed by Kachru (op.cit:85), real texts in any language or culture generally show variation from the idealized theoretical models: It is the tension between received conventions and the innovative spirit of the individual that produces good writing in academic disciplines, as well as in creative literature. We think that FL learners should be taught about the textual patterns of the FL. They should not only be assisted to improve their lexico-grammatical competence at sentence-level, but also, at the macro-level of discourse progression and organization. This would at least assist them in reading comprehension (as delineated in the previous sub-section). It is then up to them to adopt these patterns or not in their written performances. Culture can be integrated in writing assignments in many ways: for instance, to have the learners write actual letters or e-mails to native speakers (pen pals, companies, travel agencies, ), soliciting information of various kinds. It goes without saying that the learners should first be taught how to write such letters (personal, business, ). Another task may be to give the learners a topic sentence in the form of one or more cultural generalization, and ask them to provide supporting details to illustrate the target cultural topic. The learners written performances in a FL should be evaluated for their cultural as well as linguistic content, thereby encouraging adequate attention to both components. 3.1.4. Integrating Culture through Grammar and Vocabulary Lessons When teaching grammar, the instructor is supposed to present target grammatical points and structures, and to provide for their practice in culturally relevant contexts. Concerning the simple past tense structure, for instance, instead of asking the learners about what they did yesterday or last week-end, why not asking

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them first about what William the Conqueror did in his time? By doing so, the activity would have the added advantage of reinforcing cultural information. A language vocabulary is a useful and significant indicator of its corresponding culture. Indeed, the fact that the Eskimos, for instance, have many words for snow is culturally significant in that it reflects their particular environment and needs. Besides, almost every vocabulary item, in any language, has a cultural connotation that escapes bilingual dictionaries, and has to do with the deep values, beliefs and attitudes of the people who use it. For instance, the Spanish casa is not exactly the same as the English house; retirement from work for an American is not as joyful an event as is jubilacion for a Spanish, (Hensinkveld, op.cit). it was the traditional approach to foreign vocabulary learning which equated words across languages. All lexical items were considered as translatable. At the present time, it is believed that most of the words of a language are untranslatable, in the sense that they have no exact correspondence in another language. Examples from the North American culture may be the words opportunity and Challenge(1). Kramsch (1993:43) explains that these terms and others are untransferrable, because they are ideologically laden, i.e., they have an ideological content that is specific to the language and culture in which they are used, and cannot thus be directly translated into other languages and cultures. On this basis, to neglect the cultural layer of meaning when teaching vocabulary, or to teach vocabulary out of its cultural context is to leave a golden opportunity to enhance the learners overall understanding of and knowledge about the TC, and may even result in misunderstanding and inappropriate language use. Vocabulary should thus be presented and taught in culturally authentic contexts. Newspaper extracts, scripted conversations, passages from books, novels, and other authentic documents provide such contexts to present and discuss target cultural concepts, or reinforce those already presented. To present and practise vocabulary items in culturally appropriate semantic fields (or groupings) is another useful technique: for example, instead of presenting food vocabulary via traditional food groups, it would be culturally advantageous to place the items into subgroups
(1)

The concept of challenge is viewed differently in different cultures. In North America, for instance, a challenge is ''an opportunity to show what one can really do'' (Kramsch, 1993:21); people are supposed to rise to, respond to, pick up challenges (ibid:22). In other cultures such as the German, challenge is viewed as a paradox for ones intellect, an invitation to question existing logic and existing world views. (ibid:22). For Kramsch, the former view calls for 'competition' and the latter for cooperation.

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according to what the TC people eat during different meals, such as breakfast (cereal, eggs, toast, cake, ), lunch (sandwich, Big Mac, hot dog, pizza, ) and dinner (steak, potatoes, peas, )(Lafayette, op. cit). Descriptive adjectives could be introduced and / or practised by describing a famous person, monument, or work of art belonging to the TC. Another relevant activity is to study lexical borrowings across languages, for as aptly put by Rey (1985: 93), Les mots aussi voyagent (words also travel). Whenever visuals accompany the introduction of lexical items, it is important that they be culturally relevant. Neuner (1997; in Byram, Zarate and Neuner, op.cit) suggests an approach to vocabulary teaching which establishes a kind of scale of socio-cultural difficulties. It consists in introducing first general and concrete words (the list of general and specific notions as specified by the Threshold level), then proceeding to the analysis of more and more complex, culturally-specific and abstract concepts. This sequencing, in our viewpoint, equally fits the presentation of socio-cultural themes in a language and culture curriculum. 3.1.5. Integrating Culture through Literature 3.1.5.1 Culture and Literature Reading materials in FL classrooms may be selected literary excerpts. The relevance of culture to FL learning is highly put in evidence when it comes to teaching literature. It has always been believed that literature offers an ideal means to teach about peoples way of life. Valdes (op.cit:29) states that literature can be studied for a better understanding of culture as may culture be studied for a better understanding of literature: ''the reading of literature utilizes the cultural knowledge that one has accumulated, and adds further to that accumulation''. Thus, an effective way to make FL literature accessible to learners is to introduce them to the culture in which this literature was conceived. As mentioned before (in sub-section 3.1.3), it is the cultural aspect which very often brings about difficulties to understand a piece of discourse, particularly literary discourse: Cultural assumptions, beliefs or materials embedded in a literary work often cause more comprehension problems than language, sometimes to the degree that the whole idea or theme of the story is misunderstood (Stern, 1991:341). Kramsch (1993:130) points to the advantage of including literature in language and culture lessons in the following words: More than any other text, it is said, the piece of literary prose or poetry appeals to the students emotions, grabs their 196

interest, remains in their memory and makes them partake in the memory of another speech community. Furthermore, research has proven that teaching foreign literature, and hence the FC embodied in this literature, develops the learners linguistic skills. According to Obediat (op.cit: 32), literature helps the learners acquire a native-like competence in English, express their ideas in good English, learn the features of modern English, learn how the English linguistic system is used for communication, see how idiomatic expressions are used, speak clearly, precisely, and concisely, and become more proficient in English, as well as become creative, critical, and analytical learners. He states, further, that literature and culture oriented courses provide actual exposure to the language at its best to help develop subtle and sophisticated language knowledge (p33). 3.1.5.2. A Cultural Approach to Teaching Literature It should be remembered that literature teaching requires a well defined approach. One crucial question is which type of literature suits best the portrayal of the TC? Some literary works depict past events and settings rather than contemporary ones. Besides, literature is generally based on what is fictitious instead of what is real, and deals with themes of universal interest rather than typical cultural specificities. That is why language teachers, according to Seelye (1993), should draw on cultural insights pertaining to social sciences. Not that he puts in question the merit of literature as a means to portray culture, but he denounces the limited range of insights fiction offers as the major source of information (p18). He convincingly argues that culture cannot be dealt with as a series of disconnected footnotes to literature (ibid: 18). Along these lines, Robinett (op.cit:248) suggests the use of fiction and drama written in the TL to teach about the TC, but also contextualized activities, cartoons, newspapers, visual aids, field trips etc., and warns that learning to know a culture is a lifetime work. Harrison (op.cit:52) thinks that teaching culture through literature depends on the ''sensitive choice of text'' coupled with ''skilled teaching''. The literary passages selected for a FL course have to be appropriate to the educational level and the cultural background of the learners, so that the latter would be able to analyse and appreciate their contents. In the process of selection, the FL teacher may wish to consider two major questions: ''Are the cultural allusions clear or unclear to foreign readers?'' and ''Are the silences in the text understandable to 197

foreign readers?'' (Kramsch, 1993:138). What is more, literary texts should not merely be linguistically decoded in the language classroom. More importantly, their cultural content and aesthetic features should be elucidated. Special emphasis should be laid, for example, on the analysis of expressions that pass unchallenged and are considered self-evident by FL writers: for example, the American dream and the American way. According to Kramsch (ibid), the teacher should, for optimal efficiency, establish an explicit link between the writers experience and the learners corresponding experiences, allowing for a comparison of the possibly different worldviews expressed by the two parties: the alternative context of reality offered by the text can be discussed in the light of the alternative contexts of culture present in the class. (Kramsch, ibid: 135). When the text suggests a theme that is culturally relative, this relativity should be highlighted by referring to the attitudes of the learners themselves. There may be a kind of cultural discrepancy among them due to their different social backgrounds, and this would illustrate perfectly the concept of cultural relativity to them. This culture-rich classroom dialogue gives depth to the original text, opens the learners minds to alternative world-views, and encourages them to look at their experiences critically, in light of the text.

3.1.5.3. Culture in Literary Genres The literary genres referred to in this sub-section are: drama and story-telling, jokes and riddles, proverbs and idioms, metaphors and similes. Drama and Story-Telling As part of literature, drama lends itself to teaching about culture in the FL classroom. As delineated by Heathcote and Bolton (1998: 160): the main purpose of drama is to train pupils to look beyond the surface action, beyond our waiters diningroom rituals to the personal and cultural values that sustain them. There is a sense, therefore, in which we can claim that in our school drama, we are always dealing with cultural values. Sometimes, the learners watch a short piece of theatre; sometimes, they role-play one themselves; at other times, their tasks are to read, comment, discuss, write, collaborate in planning, analyse, interpret, and deduce. Story-telling is another way to teach about the TC in this framework (literature). It is worth noting that a considerable part of FL teaching is based on narrative pieces of language. A story with all its types expresses the values, 198

fantasies, fears and aspirations of its tellers, in Pedersens (1995: 2) words: Oral stories are a direct expression of a literary and cultural heritage, and through them that heritage is appreciated, understood and kept alive. Although the learners may grasp the general plot of a FL narrative, some particular details may remain ambiguous to them. Usually these details have to do with the background of the story and the cultural assumptions upon which it is based, hence the need to make these points clear to the learners, to enable them to fully understand it. Folktales, namely popular stories handed on, in spoken form, from one generation to another, are said to be particularly insightful to FL and FC learners. In her article Dividing the Chicken A Djeha tale, Abderrahim (1996) shows how a tale borrowed from a FC gets altered to satisfy the beliefs and traditions of the borrowing culture. Among the aspects discussed are the position and the role of the woman in the Algerian and the American cultures: the part of the chicken given to the woman changes according to the culture. In the Algerian culture, the woman is not as near to the man as is the woman in the American culture. It is possible to say that in the Algerian tale, the woman is given the bottom because she is often relegated to a back position when important decisions are to be taken. (Abderrahim, op.cit:149). Folktales are part of the folklore of a nation which includes, among other things, superstitions, jokes, riddles, proverbs, songs, dances, handicrafts, legends, myths, traditions. Studying folk materials in a language class can introduce the learners to important cultural themes that characterize the thoughts and actions of a society. Jokes and Riddles The interpretation of a joke is highly culture-bound. Indeed, it is common to wonder about what is funny in a foreign tongue joke. There are many cultural differences in the subject matter and the connotations of jokes. In addition, the contexts where they are used (or not), peoples attitudes and expectations, the conventions to be followed when a joke is being told are other factors that depend on the culture and the language of the joke. In England, for instance, Irish people are stereotyped as stupid, hence the labelling Irish jokes. When saying ''there was an Irish man'', the listener expects a foolish action to follow. Sometimes, a joke goes beyond cultural boundaries. Crystal (1997: 62) reports a kind of universal joke that was first told in Arabic ''theres the one about the Sareehi boy, who chased a bus all 199

the way home, then boasted to his mother that he had saved 20 pence. But his mother called him foolish, saying that if he had followed a taxi, he would have saved over a pound! ''. Using jokes in teaching and learning about culture is thus a useful tool. They do not only have a culture-rich content, but they are also a source of authentic language and a means to create a friendly and relaxed classroom atmosphere. Like jokes, riddles are part of the folklore and thus of the culture, and can be used in language and culture instruction. In Europe, riddles take the form of short questions with a humorous character, and are mainly meant for children. In Africa, they are poetic and philosophical and are used by adults (Crystal, ibid). Some riddles many be common to many cultures. Proverbs and Idioms The TL proverbs have always been included in the language curriculum, given their fascinating phrasing. Attention should also be drawn to their potential cultural content. The learners may be asked to identify the values underlying the FC proverbs, or to compare them to their NC counterparts. Like jokes and riddles, some proverbs are common to all known cultures. They reflect a universal human experience. The language of proverbs has also the same characteristics across cultures such as the use of images, alliteration and word play. Idioms also use words figuratively and are important to consider in a language and culture curriculum. They are even more important than proverbs or any other figurative form, given their high frequency in written and spoken discourse. Their understanding and production by FL learners is, thus, basic. Idioms reflect a culture and a world-view. They originate in the ancient beliefs and practices of a particular group of people. In their book Metaphors we live by, Lakoff and Johnson (op.cit) discuss the way idioms are built upon metaphorical themes reflecting ones view of the world. For example, to talk about spending, saving or wasting time is underlain by the metaphor time is money in the Anglo-American culture. Research findings, as outlined by Cooper (1998), indicate that the figurative meaning of idioms is grasped by children after the age of nine, and that idioms constitute a major problem for learners of a FL, who have to cope with interference from their NL or first language. Moreover, it is found out that the idioms that are syntactically flexible (i.e., that allow for more than one structure such as the passive 200

and active forms) and the idioms whose meanings are metaphorically opaque (i.e., whose figurative meaning is far from literal meaning) are more difficult to learn compared to the idioms that are syntactically frozen and those which have a metaphorically transparent meaning, respectively. Furthermore, idioms are better learned if contextualized or categorized according to themes. Teaching idioms should be planned in the light of these findings. Selecting idioms should be done on the basis of their frequency in contemporary speech and writing, easiness of vocabulary and simplicity of structure. In addition, the teacher is recommended to begin with the idioms that have identical or similar counterparts in the learners NL. Then, s/he could proceed to those which are very different or unique to the TL, being are likely to cause more learning difficulties. The figurative meaning of an idiom and the purpose it fulfils in speech and writing can be discussed by contrasting it to the literal meaning in carefully selected contexts. It is recommended to point to the origin of the idiom, if known, given its relevance to the culture of the language users. The degree of formality of an idiom is also very important to discuss in the framework of speech situations that elicit different language styles. Cooper (op.cit) suggests a variety of activities in relation to idioms: dividing idioms into categories; drawing idioms to depict the corresponding concrete images; dramatizing idioms to compare, in a humorous way, their literal and figurative meanings charades may be used, i.e., acting out the literal meaning to deduce the figurative one; retelling a story, trying to recall as many of its idioms as possible; add-on story initiated by the teacher, who utters one sentence containing an idiomatic expression; listing and discussing idioms from newspaper comic strips, cartoons and television shows; and many other activities. Metaphors and Similes Other non-literal forms of language are the metaphors and the similes. In a metaphor, an element is compared to another one on the basis of one or more shared characteristics. In a simile, the comparison is explicitly stated through the use of like or as. Metaphors have culturespecific connotations which may inhibit the FL learner from understanding even simple everyday discourse. That is why FL teaching should give ample space to the metaphorical traditions and potentialities of the TL. As illustrated by Ponterotto (op.cit), the learners cannot understand a magazine headline phrased These Fathers Are Behind In Their Child Support, and 201

its connection with a passage dealing with undernourished American children, unless they are familiar with some history of USA. Reference is made to the notion of the Founding Fathers (the authors of the USA constitution), held responsible of fathering and supporting the nation and its children. Behind this analysis lies the birth metaphor identified by Lakoff and Johnson, in this context, the birth of the USA nation. Many of the techniques outlined previously in relation to learning idioms equally suit learning metaphors. 3.1.6. Integrating Culture through Media 3.1.6.1. Importance of Media in the Language and Culture Classroom Adopting a multimedia culture teaching methodology, or making use of visual, audio, and audio-visual media in the culture classroom denotes teaching culture through sensory experience, or through the senses. Shumin (1997: 13) states that By and large, using audio-visual stimuli brings sight, hearing, and kinesthetic participation into interplay, which gets students across the gulf of imagination into the 'real experience' in the first place. As far back as the sixties, the importance of media was acknowledged by Rivers (1968:176), when she wrote: The picture, with accompanying voice, has a greater sensory impact than lines on a printed page, or even than that of the voice alone. Media have always been present in the language classroom, whether in their traditional, non mechanical forms or their more sophisticated mechanical or electronic models, what Brinton (1991) calls small m and large M media, respectively. CLT in particular provides for the implicit and explicit learning of culture through an active use of media: radio, television, audio-and video-tapes, pictures of different kinds, and all other possible teaching aids which transfer instances from the everyday life of the TL community to the learner, adding authenticity to the classroom experience. Undeniably, these means have facilitated the task of the teacher and have extended learning opportunities, whatever the approach endorsed. They are motivating and entertaining. They stimulate the learners sense of imagination and creativity. They develop their inferential skills, critical thinking and aesthetic appreciations. They expose them to a vast range of authentic language, with different registers, accents and intonation patterns, used in the context of real life communicative situations, thereby promoting their communicative abilities and command of the TL.

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More relevant to this discussion is the fact that media provide a rich informative cultural content, not otherwise available in the classroom. They arouse the learners sensitivity and curiosity about otherness, facilitate their understanding of what may seem complex or remote, and expand their cultural horizons and knowledge. Printed and visual aids of all sorts (newspapers, magazines, books, pictures, photos, posters, slides, graphs, timetables, and other data from documents produced by the TC bearers), realia, radio broadcasts, television shows, videos, CDROMs and more recently the world wide web can all introduce the TC into the classroom without the necessity of travel. Even textbooks' illustrations can add a significant dimension to learning about the TC, if culturally appropriate. Many books contain illustrations of real artistic merit, and in some cases, simple pictures may incorporate considerable culturallyinteresting details. As to advanced technologies such as the computer technology, they have introduced a drastic change in the way knowledge is transmitted and acquired. Kramsch (1993) refers to revolutionary learning possibilities about socio-cultural phenomena, offered by the exploration of microworlds. They go very far beyond the one-way communication of the textbook page. Byram (1997) states that mass-media and new technologies make the learners experience a virtual reality of otherness within the FL classroom. A video, for instance, enables the learners to observe and reflect on minute details that are culturally significant and that may sometimes pass unnoticed in a novel or a textbook, like non-verbal behaviours in communicative interactions; in De Jongs opinion, (op.cit:101), These days there is no reason why texts should only be presented in a printed and/or in an audio format. Video has been around for many years now and could be enormously helpful in the presentation of communication settings, particularly when cultural misunderstandings, or just differences, and how to cope with them, is the topic of study. Films, in particular, are important channels of exposure to the TC, since they naturally embody many of its aspects (linguistic, historical, artistic, religious, economic, political aspects). Numerous film stars have become part of the cultural heritage of a nation, and many film lines have been integrated as part of its language idioms. A further advantage of film viewing in a language and culture class is that it enables the learners to live or to experience cultural phenomena: Film helps to create a unique environment for cross-cultural learning because it speaks to our emotions as well as our intellect. Learning about 203

stereotypes, ethnocentrism, discrimination, and acculturation in the abstract can be flat and uninspiring. But if we experience intercultural contact with our eyes and ears, we begin to understand it. (Summerfield, 1993:1). Many studies have examined the effect of the use of audio-visual media, particularly the video, on cultural knowledge and learning (Herron and Hanley, 1992; Martinez- Gibson, 1998; Adair- Hauck, Willingham-Mclain and Youngs, 2000; in Herron et al., 2002). Their results show that the learners overall cultural knowledge improves with a video component included in the curriculum, whether narrative instructional videos, journalistic ones (such as interviews), documentary films or others. 3.1.6.2. Criteria of Selection of Media Some researchers have questioned the effectiveness of multimedia in culture teaching on the grounds that their input is too difficult for the learners to process (Harper and Williams, 1998; Chun and Plass, 2000, Just and Carpenter, 1992; in Herron et al., op.cit). Thus, an effective use of these materials in class depends on careful selection and an appropriate methodology. Variables as the materials length, structure, linguistic difficulty, nature and quality of content are to be considered in the selection process. Merio and Massi (1998: 17) are for the use of long, but not too long texts: A news item should be long enough to allow the student to become involved in reading and viewing, but not so long that the student becomes fatigued by the demands of the task. In addition, they believe that the cognitive load composed by reading, listening or watching should not be too much above the learners level as to prevent them from processing the input. For example, the language should not be too idiomatic for intermediate level learners to follow. Similarly, Scanlan (op.cit:352) opts for simplicity with respect to the pictures to be used in a FL class: it is best to choose a picture that is not cluttered in any sense, i.e., one that will not provoke sensory overload. Green (1993), on the other hand, thinks that there should be a kind of disequilibrium between the learners level and that required to grasp the media contents, to involve their cognition, and to sustain their motivation to learn more. Qudah (1991) recommends the use of short films, documentaries, articles to allow some time for debate, and to keep the learners attentive and interested. He also approves of the use of current issues of magazines, radio and television 204

programmes, since up-to-date material appeals to everybody. This does not mean, in our opinion, that classical or historical cultural materials are to be disregarded. It is useful, however, to place them within their specific content. Qudah further notes that the learners should be given time to enjoy what is being presented as a whole, before exploring particular components; otherwise, they might feel restricted in their perception and appreciation. Gareis (2000) suggests that the learners first read novels and other works of literature, then view and analyse their film adaptations. She deems that not all films are suitable to FL teaching settings. The teacher has to consider factors as the learners age, educational level and language proficiency, cultural background, objectives and interests, when selecting teaching materials of all kinds. Due care should be taken to keep away from themes that may cause culture shock, or that may offend the learners sensitivities, that is, subjects made taboo by ones religious beliefs, political orientations or social conventions. In some Western newspapers, for example, sensual photos are common. Even advertisements about games, cars and machines of all kinds are presented in connection with photos of half-naked women, a fact which may be quite shocking to learners from Oriental cultures. The teacher should, thus, be very careful and opt only for informative cultivating materials. A photograph that may cause culture shock should better be disregarded even if it is typical of the TC. The cultural aspect it mirrors may be dealt with through other means, for instance, by merely mentioning it or reading about it. Summerfield (op.cit:13-14) recommends beginning with conservative issues, i.e., the least sensitive cultural topics, and proceeding subsequently to what is polemical and challenging:
The sequencing of multicultural material is of paramount importance, and it is almost always advisable to begin more conservatively and then move to more controversial areas. Once a sense of trust develops among group members, and between yourself and the group, you can venture into more challenging territory. Without this trust, it is very risky to plunge into highly charged areas of prejudice and racism.

Even humorous topics should be dealt with tactfully, since reactions to humour are unforeseeable: People may be willing to poke fun at their own ethnic, racial, or national group, but they can easily become defensive when outsiders do the same.

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(Summerfield, op.cit:15). Besides, what is humorous in a culture may be obscene in another. The teacher has to think of evaluating the multimedia contents in terms of cultural accuracy and reliability, that is, assessing whether the picture they reflect of the TC is authentic or distorted, objective or biased, deep or superficial. In fact, not any FL article of press or television show or other media input can be considered as an authentic representation of the TC. It may be a question of an individuals standpoint, a stereotypical attitude, an exaggeration, or a tourism-geared perspective, which often misleads non natives. Regarding films, for example, Summerfield (op.cit:16) remarks that Even though plot and characterization may be fictional, feature films, like literary fiction, can reveal profound truths about people and cultures, or they can distort and misrepresent. If the teacher lacks the background and experience to judge the merits of a film, filmographies and information about the directors qualifications may be helpful in this regard. In addition, consulting other culture specialists, or if possible the natives of the TC, for assessment and advice is doubtless enlightening. Brooks insists on the fact that if culture is to be presented and taught adequately, the human aspect should always be present, even in pictures and photos purported to bring the TC to the classroom: (Brooks, op.cit:32)
if pictures are to be effective in culture 4 [patterns for living] they must in every case relate the cultural configuration to individual participation. It is not enough to see a market display of fruits and fish and vegetables; we need to see the vendor and a client engaged in a transaction. It is not enough to see the faade of a school and some empty classrooms; we need to see a class in session and observe the posture and attitude of teacher and students. It is not enough to see a picture of a busy street scene in a large city; we need to see a close-up of a pedestrian waiting, more or less patiently, for the signal to cross. It is not enough to see a painting displayed in a museum; we would also like to see the artist in his studio working at an unfinished canvas.

Cheung (op.cit) advocates the inclusion of what appeals to the learners and motivates them. Popular FC or what is popular in the FC is, in his opinion, the best type of materials to consider in the design and selection of language and culture course contents, being part of the learners daily lives. Reference is made to pop music, movies, magazines, comics, fashion, and computer games. They enrich the 206

FL classroom with novel, authentic, and readily accessible linguistic and cultural contents, and make learning tasks relevant, meaningful and enjoyable. Learning takes place since it is based on what is familiar and desired: The truth is that many students can recite the lyrics of popular songs without difficulty, but find it hard to memorize a poem or a mathematical formula. They do not make particular efforts to memorize things like the TV schedule, the current number one song, or the faces of different movie stars, but these trivial facts seem to become imprinted on their minds without effort (Cheung, op.cit:59). One word of caution is that some aspects of popular culture may be harmful when they encourage violence or sex, for example, hence the need to take account of other criteria of selection such as the learners age and their educational background. At later stages of the learning process, the teacher could proceed to work on what attracts the learners in other valuable cultural sources such as literature and theatre. The aesthetic or artistic criterion is not to be overlooked, for what is attractive holds the attention of the viewers and is long-lasting in their memories. The sound and image quality of the material must be adequate to achieve the purpose it is intended for. As far as advanced technologies (such as the computer) are concerned, teachers may need to undergo special training to be able to use them as they should be. 3.1.6.3. Methodology of Presenting Culture through Media The mere availability of multimedia in class is no guarantee of cultural learning. Heusinkveld (op.cit:341-342) refers the matter to the teachers wisdom to appropriately use them to the best of the learners:
Whether one uses still photographs, videos, or the latest computer-generated images, the key to cultural instruction lies not in the C2 images alone, but rather in the consciousness-raising questions, that accompany their viewing. The same holds true for music, ethnic foods, or any other cultural artifacts that may be introduced into the FL class: teachers need to develop a sense of which questions and activities will best help students to understand the cultural images, sounds, and flavours they are experiencing

To maximize the benefits of videos in the culture teaching classroom, Lebedko (1999) highlights the need to accompany their viewing with a special taxonomy of tasks. Massi and Merio (1996) note that planning for a video lesson is a demanding

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and time-consuming step, for the teacher does not only have to select and preview the film, but also to design adequate and purposeful activities. In fact, teaching about culture does not merely mean showing films, playing tapes of songs, or supplying nice photographs in colour. This would only be the beginning that is to be followed by discussions and activities of all sorts. The ultimate aim is to enable the learners to get insights about the TC and be critical towards it as well as their own. Sercu (op.cit) puts it clearly that for television programmes and other media materials to be of use to FL and FC learners, they should be reviewed, analysed, discussed and questioned by them. Newspapers in particular may be exploited in a variety of ways and for several objectives. Focus may be on their formats, styles, contents, orientations (political, economical, cultural, psychological). The learners need to develop the ability to notice the way foreign people behave, whether linguistically or nonlinguistically, to be able to make informed choices when interacting with them. FL teachers can find, in relevant literature, numerous suggested

methodologies, to plan a culture lesson based on media use. Summerfield (op.cit), for example, incorporates films in teaching units with warm-up and follow-up stages. Warming up is a brief conversational stage meant to capture the learners attention and stimulate their curiosity, to provide background information and explain key words or concepts, in order to facilitate comprehension. It is also at this stage that the teacher may (if s/he has the necessary expertise) elucidate some techniques of the film industry: for example, high-angle shots in which the audience looks down on the actor usually imply his/her weakness; the choice of music as well conveys specific messages to the viewers. These techniques whether used in a fiction film or a documentary transmit a particular viewpoint that is not necessarily objective. The learners should be trained to view these aspects as well as the cultural content of the film in a critical way. During the second stage, namely viewing the film, the teacher can, in the opinion of Summerfield, make interruptions, dividing the film into segments to serve teaching ends. Needless to say that constant interruption may irritate the learners. The subsequent step is the follow-up. Summerfield recommends some discussion immediately after viewing the film, to elicit the learners personal reactions and feelings. One technique to generate such discussion is the imagesound skim in the framework of which the learners are supposed to recall visual images or sounds from the film. Another technique is to give the learners some time to write about their personal reactions and impressions of the moment, before 208

sharing them with the whole class. This step bridges the sometimes embarrassing gap between viewing the film and discussing its content. The teacher may ask the learners about what surprised, shocked, annoyed or pleased them most in the film. Only then can they move to a theoretical and an analytical debate, in the course of which reviewing parts of the film may be necessary, for a deep and critical interpretation. Keeping a journal to record first impressions is a rewarding activity, but other writing assignments such as writing letters, film reviews, or summaries to friends, newspapers are equally valuable, since they are real-life communicative activities which allow for free and authentic language use. As stated before, the learners may be asked to read about the film, or the novel upon which the film is based, before viewing it. They may also read related literature after that: to read other works by the same novelist or about the film topic as explored in other perspectives. Another follow-up activity suggested by Summerfield is role-playing. The learners may assume the film characters personalities or may act as themselves in situations connected to the film in question. The aim is to develop empathy towards the other and to overcome ones stereotypes. Further, the learners can be asked to investigate the cultural issue addressed by the film in their own society, through observation, questionnaires and interviews. The aim is to see the relevance of culture to ones own life. To evaluate the impact of a film on the learners attitudes and knowledge, the teacher can resort to the free-association method (Summerfield, op.cit). In the framework of this method, the learners are asked to write whatever they think of in relation to a cultural aspect or issue, do the same after viewing the programmed film, and compare their thoughts before and then. As an alternative, the teacher may simply ask them some specific relevant questions before and after viewing the film. The methodology put forward by De Jong (op.cit) in his aural training is not dissimilar from Summerfields. It is built upon discussions to compare appreciations about watched material (for instance, television serials) and role-plays to practise cultural learnings. In Donleys (2000) film for fluency, the learners are not supposed to understand every video scene or plot twist. Rather, they just have to grasp the main ideas to be able to answer the multiple choice questions contained in the viewing sheets, and to take part in the post viewing discussion. The viewing sheets enable them to go through central focal points, and the discussion is a room for them to ask questions and to know more about the unfamiliar culture they see on the screen. 209

Merio and Massi (op. cit) adopt a discourse approach underlined by the view-internalize-retrieve-reconstruct technique in the case of broadcast news, or the ''read-internalize-retrieve- reconstruct'' technique in the case of printed news. This means, first , viewing or reading the news ; second , internalizing it proceeding from general to detailed comprehension; third, selecting (retrieving ) the elements that form the core; and finally , reconstructing the news text in ones words , and

according to ones own interpretation of what has been viewed or read . Sorani and Tamponi (1997) propose a culturegeared, mediabased lesson plan of five phases .The introductory phase explores the learners feelings and attitudes regarding a selected cultural aspect, through brainstorming or the word association technique. Then, focus shifts to the learners thoughts and perception vis-vis this aspect. In the subsequent phase, the learners watch the video sequence and answer factual comprehension questions. After that, they are supposed to relate their initial feelings and thoughts expressed in phase one and two to the new data acquired in phase three, going through a specially devised questionnaire. In the final stage, they discuss, together with their teacher, the way the cultural aspect in question is dealt with in their NC, in an attempt to understand self in the light of the other .The learners may admit that their initial representations on the FC were superficial and sometimes even stereotypical, that their perception of it has become more complex and articulate, and that these facts have helped them clarify who they are. Hemei (1997) draws attention to the technique of freeze framing that the teacher can resort to in a video viewing lesson, to highlight targeted cultural aspects: for example, to focus on a characters body language, posture, looks, clothes, food, attitude, or on some key background details. The teacher may also pause at a certain point of video presentation, and get the learners to predict what is to happen next. Scanlan (op. cit) suggests a series of questions and activities to analyze the cultural content of photographs. They progress from descriptive questions of what is seen in the photo, to interpretive questions purported to sharpen the learners observation skills, and make them speculate about the cultural significance of the photo. The learners observation skills can be enhanced in similar ways, when dealing with other means such as videos, television and computer-generated images. In relation to the use of television commercials to teach about culture, WildnerBassett (1997) puts forward a set of strategies, meant to develop the following 210

learners cultural processing skills: to identify the cultural conventions embedded in the advertising; to grasp the connotative meanings of words and images; to recognize the cultural conditioning implicit in the advertisement; and to develop skills of cross-cultural comprehension, including analysis, hypothesis formation, and tolerance of ambiguity. It is useful to note that the use of television commercials to teach about a FC is highly effective, given that culture is naturally embedded in their contexts. Implicit in each advertisement is a particular cultural tradition or value. In an American advertisement about Coca-Cola, for example, not only is the product presented but also a certain American reality with its myths and identities. It weaves the product in question into the fabric of the countrys social and historical tradition. Besides, commercials can be introduced at the beginning stages of FL learning since they require little language proficiency to be understood: Television commercials are high-context messages, where most of the information is available from the physical context or internalized in the viewer, while relatively little information is in the coded, explicit, transmitted part of the message (Wildner-Basset, ibid: 378). However, for an active viewing of commercials, the learners should be assisted to attend to culturally significant details through suggestive questions and focused discussions. It is interesting to add that teaching about the TC through the senses may focus on the tasting sense. In this respect, the learners are to experience the typical cuisine of the TC. The key to cultural instruction is to design appropriate questions and other exercises to accompany the cooking or tasting experience, in order to enhance the learners awareness as to the significance of this cultural aspect in the TC. Abrate (1997) suggests the following strategies to teach about a culture through its food: to relate the historical or socio-economic background of the dish; to experience the dish with all five senses; to react to the dish, discussing any associations or memories it may generate; and to relate this experience to other aspects of both TC and NC. The four language skills may be integrated while studying menus, preparing recipes or collecting information and presenting projects about the TC foods and eating habits. It is important to encourage the learners to watch television shows broadcast in the TL, and to read books and other materials printed in the TL, at home, to extend their exposure to the TC. On the one hand, segments from television shows do not only provide a culturally informative input, but also reveal how the mass-media treat cross-cultural issues. On the other hand, developing the reading habit in the learners 211

is, in our opinion, invaluable to foster both language and culture learning. Reading the TL literature is particularly rewarding, given that it is, as delineated in the previous section, a rich field for linguistic appreciation and cultural discovery. The internet is undoubtedly another equally crucial means to know about the TC, outside of the classroom. It confers on the learners actual opportunities to exchange intercultural experiences with the speakers of the TL, via e-mails and chatting sites. It allows them to uncover how the natives of the TC interact and negotiate meanings in the course of authentic conversations, and to uncover as well many other subtleties about the TC and its bearers. 3.2. How to Evaluate Cultural Learnings 3.2.1. Importance of Evaluating Cultural Learnings If culture is to be an integral part of FL teaching and learning, it should be taken into account, on equal footing with the other language components, when assessing the FL learners performances. Integrating culture in formal achievement testing would not only give credit for culture teaching and intercultural competence, but it would also raise its importance for the learners, who would consequently confer on it due care. Indeed, classroom experience shows that the learners would not concern themselves about a school subject, unless it affects the course grade. Even good learners are not that idealistic to learn just for the sake of learning. Besides, designing cultural tests serves as a means to evaluate the effectiveness of culture teaching methods and techniques, and to measure the learners progress in culture learning. Although many FL teachers recognize the value of culture and do include it in their language curriculum, few of them devise tests to evaluate cultural learning. This can be justified by the fact that culture is difficult to evaluate given its very nature: it is intricate, unconscious and ever-changing. Cultural proficiency may be more difficult to assess than linguistic proficiency because, as noted by scholars in the field, the evidence reflecting cross-cultural understanding even in individuals immersed in the TC is not obvious. Thus, it is not easy to construct, administer, and grade tests on cross-cultural understanding. Language teachers may find it hard to delineate cultural goals, i.e., what the learners are supposed to be able to do by the end of the course with respect to culture. They may find it hard as well to decide on the cultural aspects to be assessed, and on the assessment method. A test of discrete cultural items, for 212

example, does not reflect the actual complex nature of culture. The quantitative evaluation of knowledge of cultural facts and data is not a better alternative: such an evaluation, in Artal, Carrion and Monros (op. cit: 29) words, runs the risk of not being scientific: an appearance of system projected by an organisation of contents which may be arbitrary ". The evaluation of attitudes, perceptive abilities, intercultural communicative skills is even more complex. In relation to attitude tests, for example, Damen (op.cit:293) warns teachers that Such tests indicate what the test taker feels at the moment; they can seldom be regarded as valid, reliable, and sure-fire indicators of the effects of cultural instruction. 3.2.2. Activities to Evaluate Cultural Learnings For some scholars, it is the success or failure to communicate in intercultural interactions which enables true assessment of cultural learnings. In the classroom setting, such evaluation is possible through communicative activities like role plays or simulations. Indeed, these techniques and others (as seen in the section techniques for Teaching Culture') are both culture teaching and testing 'Techniques. For Seelye (1993), the items of a culture test are sorted into two main categories: items that are linked to the ability to function in the TC (little c), and items that measure knowledge not directly linked to functioning in the target society (big C). Damen (op.cit) distinguishes between evaluating the learners progress in culture learning, and testing the effectiveness of the culture teaching methods and techniques. She believes that the former can actually be done only by the learners themselves; the teacher is just a mediator and a guide. In addition, she is for creative assessment means: Creativity in devising ways and means to test the results of cultural instruction calls for uses of all the senses touch, sight, hearing and all the means by which human beings communicate (p292). Renwick (1979; in Damen, op.cit) thinks that cultural instruction affects the learners knowledge, perceptions, attitudes, skills and patterns of behaviour, and he puts forward several methods to assess these effects: self-report (checklists and scales about perceptions and attitudes, critical incidents, case studies, discussions); enactment (role plays, simulations); production (writing reports following instructions, ); and observation (by teacher or peers). In their comprehensive article Evaluating cultural learnings, Lafayette and Schulz (op. cit) report the following test items: testing for knowledge, i.e., the ability to 213

recognize cultural information or patterns; testing for understanding, i.e., the ability to explain such information and patterns; and testing for behaviour, i.e., the ability to use them appropriately. They recommend activities such as the multiple choice test, open-ended questions and oral and written behavioural tests. In her insightful treatment of the question of testing cultural learnings, Valette (1997) outlines four cultural aspects to be tested: awareness and knowledge of the TC; command of etiquette in the TC; understanding of the differences between the TC and the learners NC, and understanding of the values of the TC. She suggests various techniques such as listing, matching, multiple choice exercises, essay questions, as well as practical ways of scoring the learners performances. Finocchiaro and Brumfit (op.cit) recommend many activities to test cultural knowledge and understanding. The learners may be required to complete sentences (with or without choices), to identify, match, or to explain target cultural phenomena. Herron et al. combine short answer and free recall techniques to assess the learners short term retention of big C and small c cultural information (for instance, immediately after viewing a video). The short-answer items involve inferences based on the analysis of the cultural information presented. The free recall section allows the learners to express all that they retain from the presentation phase, be it facts or their own interpretation of facts. According to Herron et al., all the test questions and answers should be in the learners NL, so as not to confound cultural understanding with FL writing skills. To assess the effect of a culture instructional programme on the learners knowledge and attitudes over the course of a school year or a semester, Herron et al, resort to the pre-test / post-test procedure. The same culture-geared test is administered to the learners prior to, and after going through the programme in question. The learners samples of work would then be compared to measure their (long-term) gains in cultural knowledge. Herron et al. use a multiple choice pre-/ posttest. Various other techniques may be used in this regard: dialogue-completion exercises, role plays, situation activities of the type: you want to what would you say / do, and culture assimilators. As an alternative procedure, every learner in the class may be asked to keep a journal of his/her impressions, feelings, attitudes and information about the TC with all its facets. At the beginning, some learners may not be able to write anything in this regard, but gradually, their ideas and writings would normally become more and more sophisticated, accurate, thoughtful, and

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appropriate. The teacher may observe a marked difference in the learners attitudes towards the TC, or at least in their awareness of its significant aspects. It should be remembered that culture presentation and testing must not be restricted to isolated facts and fragmented information. This may lead the learners to develop (rather than overcome) stereotypical thinking about the TC. Cultural awareness should be evaluated through both discrete point and global testing, that is, through multiple choice exercises, true/ false questions and other tests that allow one correct answer in relation to one or more cultural elements, but also through essay questions and behavioural tests, which require the learners to perform in linguistically correct, and culturally appropriate ways. FL and FC teachers cannot expect the learners to come up with all-inclusive accounts about the TC. For example, questions related to understanding why people in the TC behave the way they do do not assume that there is an accurate cause-effect relationship linking cultural patterns and behaviours, to be elucidated by the learners; rather, such questions point out that there may be reasons behind culture-specific behaviours, and that what may seem peculiar or ambiguous to some makes sense to others. Knowing these reasons may help the learners not to misjudge and to tolerate others. A final word in this section has to with scoring. For some culture teaching professionals (like Lafayette and Schulz, op. cit), only the criterion of cultural appropriacy and relevance is to be catered for, when assessing answers to culture questions, regardless of their linguistic form or length. Hence, common errors in spelling and syntax are not counted. For each test item, the learners may receive x points for a correct answer in the TL, and additional points for a culturally appropriate answer. One point may be awarded to any cultural information mentioned by the learners instead of penalizing them for missing what the teacher expected and deemed important. The extent to which the test cultural items are valued depends on the objectives of the test and hence on the objectives of the course. 4. Teachers and Learners Roles 4.1. Teachers Role The teacher plays a momentous role in the language and culture teaching process. One may be tempted to believe that all what s/he is supposed to do is to begin or end the language lesson with a five minute presentation of a culture point, or to teach the contents of a selected textbook. The situation is far from being that easy. 215

Many scholars in the field think that teaching about a FC is a challenging responsibility to the FL teacher. It is a slow and arduous process, and requires special knowledge and skills. Byram (1992) raises the question of whether it is the professional duty of the teacher to present a positive image of the TC, and to attempt to influence the learners attitudes(1). He identifies three categories of teachers: those who are generally enthusiastic vis--vis the FL and FC, and hope to transmit their enthusiasm to the learners; those who feel that they must be critical; and those who wish to be neutral. In the viewpoint of Edelhoff (1987; in Sercu, op.cit), intercultural FL teachers have defined qualifications with reference to attitudes, knowledge and skills. Regarding attitudes, these teachers are viewed as lifelong intercultural learners; they are curious about others and about the way the latter see them; they negotiate and share meanings with people from other cultures and with the learners in the classroom; they are not merely viewed as passive ambassadors of a culture, but as social and intercultural interpreters aiming at attaining international understanding. The intercultural FL teachers knowledge is basically socio-cultural; it covers both NL/NC as well as TL/TC, with a special emphasis on the way language is used in intercultural communicative interactions; it is an active knowledge devoted to teaching/learning. Intercultural FL teachers handle successfully communicative interactions in the TL, and have the ability to decode TL authentic material in all media; they can also create an appropriate learning environment that enables the learners to experience the TC as if they were in its natural context. To sum up, FL teachers need to be trained to become mediators of cultural knowledge and skills in the FL classroom. A language teacher, in the assessment of Kramsch (1993: vii), is a mediator of a foreign culture and catalyst of educational change. She thinks that the teacher is not supposed to tell the learners what they should say, or how they should behave in conflictual cross-cultural situations. Rather, a teachers responsibility, in her opinion, is to give the learners a space to make their own meanings and help them interpret those meanings. (p 26). Classroom experience shows that FL learners do not generally consider contextual factors when completing a dialogue or preparing a roleplay, but opt for whatever language form they know best. The teachers task is to

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Learners and their attitudes will be the core of the following section.

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make them realize the cultural implications of their choices. This learner-centred procedure assumes the teachers awareness of the TC ways, an awareness that is indispensable to assess what is said or done in the light of what should be said or done. Kramsch adds that the teacher should help the learners view themselves and their culture in the light of the other, an attitude that engenders the negotiation of meanings, and stimulates critical thinking. Kramsch puts it so aptly that ''language teachers are so much teachers of culture that culture has often become invisible to them'' (p 48). They apply the CM that is set up by the instructional system in the framework of which they were themselves taught and trained; they reflect the NC in which they were socialized; and they represent the TC which they have learned and are teaching about. In Atkinsons view (op. cit), a teacher should attempt to know the learners as individuals and as members of a particular culture. This is implied in his revised view of culture built on the belief that all humans are individuals (p 641) and that individuality is also cultural (p 642). In other words, he thinks that individuals should not be reduced to their cultural types, but at the same time, many aspects of their individuality originate in the culture in which they have been socialized. He thinks as well that all individuals pertain to various sub-groups and play many social roles, all of which are constantly changing. In a like manner, the learners should be acknowledged to have multiple complex cultural identities. Damen (op.cit) points out another teachers task, namely, supplementing culture instructional materials. As it is the case in language teaching, the culture teacher is required to adapt rather than adopt textbooks, and all other teaching materials and tools, to adapt them to his/her particular class and teaching situation. S/he may need to supply further information, balance the content in terms of subcultural variation, or discuss matters from the learners native cultural standpoint: Cultural training, even more than language instruction, must be tailored to the audience. Do not be afraid to develop your own materials for your own students. Be prepared to make mistakes and take some risks. (Damen, op. cit:291). Moreover, it is the teacher who manages the way in which the learners perceive the culture mirrored in textbooks, and even the way they see themselves and their NC. S/he is, in the words of Cortazzi and Jin (op. cit), an ambassador of culture. In our viewpoint, a teacher needs to develop intercultural competence himself/ herself: The teacher himself must be aware of the cultural behaviour so that he can 217

interpret it for pupils. Without this understanding, cultural explanation is impossible. (AL Mutawa and Kailani, op.cit:90). The teacher can draw on insights from relevant disciplines such anthropology, ethnolinguistics and intercultural communication studies. S/he should also learn about FC teaching aims, methodologies, materials and metalanguage, to be able to formulate relevant objectives and design appropriate teaching contents. Equally important is understanding the nature of culture learning, being not merely a question of imparting culture-specific knowledge, but of raising awareness and developing skills and attitudes. As demonstrated throughout this chapter, a FL and FC teacher should do more than just provide the learners with a body of information about the TC. S/he should more importantly raise their awareness of cultural differences in thoughts, values and behaviours, and foster their intercultural communication skills. Besides, s/he should promote tolerance and empathy towards the TC, and overcome or at least shake stereotypes and prejudices against otherness. A further responsibility of the teacher that we assess as fundamental is to help the learners (particularly young ones) to preserve their own cultural identity and sense of self for, as mentioned before, a FL (particularly the English language) can be a means of politico-cultural colonisation of the spirit. (Holly, op.cit: 18). In the contemporary world, the particularities of a culture may completely disappear under the heavy influence of dominant cultures, namely powerful concentrations of economic power. One way to prevent cultural colonisation or imperialism is to involve the learners NC in FL and FC teaching(1). In this intercultural perspective, cultural differences should be known and tolerated but not blurred or ignored. The learners should be taught to be curious and tolerant, but also analytical and critical vis--vis the TC and their own. Although the language teacher may be well-informed about the TC, it is worth noting that even the TC natives do not know all its facets. This truth was pointed out by anthropologists, as far back as the forties: No participant in any culture knows all the details of the cultural map . Thus, part of a culture must be learned by everyone, part may be selected from alternative patterns, part applies only to those who perform the roles in the society for which these patterns are designed. (Kluckhohn, 1944; in Damen, op.cit:84). The TC bearers are not necessarily effective culture teachers, since they have the tendency to take cultural matters for granted.

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More about the learners NC will be discussed in the following section.

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Thus, a non-native language teacher with an adequate knowledge of the TC would serve the same purpose just as well, or even better. The effective culture teacher, in our opinion, is the one who involves all the members of the class to reflect upon cultural issues in the framework of a variety of culture-geared activities and tasks: to report on what they would do or how they would react in given situations, to analyse situations for themselves and then exchange results and opinions with other students and with the teacher, to analyse differences and similarities in chosen courses of action. The language teacher should acknowledge the fact that cultural and communicative problems are part of language learning problems, but the learners should not expect him/her to solve all of these problems for them. They too have a basic role to play in the language and culture learning enterprise. To this point we shall now turn to round off this section.

4.2. Learners Role The learners role in the FL / FC class is discussed with reference to two major factors: the attitudes they bear towards the FL / FC, and the NC they draw on considerably when interacting with the foreign one.

4.2.1. Learners' Attitudes 4.2.1.1. Impact of Attitudes on Learning In the previous section (the teachers role), it is suggested that the language and culture teachers task is not merely to impart knowledge about the TC and develop intercultural communicative skills, but also to improve attitudes towards otherness. Byram (1989:22) states that One of the aims of cultural studies teaching should be to produce changes of attitude in pupils towards other cultures. The learners attitudes towards the TL and TC are recognized to affect learning motivation, and are equally or more important than aptitude in predicting language learning success. Research on attitudes (and attitude change) in the field of social psychology has been mainly based on language rather than culture learning, but given that language and culture are inextricably bound, what applies to the former can generally be transferred to the latter. Many of the learners regard their first encounter with a new language and a new culture as an encounter with something alien, a challenge, a threat. Consequently, they experience feelings of nervousness, uneasiness and even 219

insecurity, resistance and prejudice. And if above all the teacher is found to be a foreigner too, these negative feelings and attitudes are likely to sharpen:
Not only does learning imply confronting something new, but learning a foreign language by definition invites engaging an unknown world. The alienness of the target language and its implicit culture can easily become anxiety-provoking when added to the usual hazards of the classroom. Foreign language students are dependent on a teacher to lead them through a field filled with invisible traps which may without warning make one look or feel like a fool. (Blair, op.cit:47)

According to Wilkins (1974), when the learners are not motivated to learn a language, they will automatically develop hostile attitudes towards the languagespeaking community and vice-versa. On the other hand, a FL/FC may be, from the outset, associated with positive attitudes, due to instrumental, integrative or other motivations. For Morgan (op.cit), the attitudes of the learners may also be ambivalent, when they experience mixed feelings about the object of learning. Mantle-Bromley (op.cit) states that the learners attitudes may negatively change at any point of the learning process, because of unrealistic expectations or low motivation or other reason, in which case they are referred to as sliding attitudes. It is difficult to identify the learners attitudes towards the object of learning. Some teachers may have false assumptions of positive attitudes attributed to learners because of their fluency in the TL. Research in the field of psychology and language teaching/learning has shown that positive attitudes towards the culture (or integrative motivation) influence positively language acquisition, whereas the opposite is not true, i.e., language proficiency has not been proven to have any effect on attitudes, or to be a token of positive attitudes towards the culture. So, to assume that FL instruction leads to cultural understanding and empathy is what Robinson (1976) calls the Magic-Carpet-Ride-to-Another-Culture Syndrome. What is

problematic about attitudes is that they cannot be directly observed but only inferred from behaviours. Sometimes, they may be revealed through indirect questions. In addition to negative attitudes, there are other factors that may inhibit or influence negatively learning about another culture. Social distance is an example of such factors. It may occur in case the learners NC is dominant (in standard of living, technology, education, political power ) compared to the TC. It also depends on the degree of similarity between cultures, and the attitudes of native and foreign societies

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towards each other. Ethnocentrism, that is, the tendency of people to judge others from their own cultures perspective, believing theirs to be the only ''right'' or ''correct'' way to perceive the world (Cushner and Brislin, op.cit:5), and fear of loss of ones cultural identity may also be detrimental to the culture learning process.

4.2.1.2. Factors Shaping Attitudes There are two major factors to be dealt with: the socio-cultural background and affective factors.

Socio-Cultural Background The learners perception of the TC world is highly shaped by their sociocultural background. This includes the socio-political environment and its ideologies, the family, school and work contexts and their patterns of socialization, but also individual factors such as age, gender, knowledge of the world in general and of the target country in particular, motivation, and cognitive skills. Byram, Zarate and Neuner (op.cit:72) explain: in foreign language teaching and learning the encounter with the foreign world is embedded in the learners own socio-cultural environment and influenced by factors of his own experience. Thus, FL teaching is but one factor affecting the learners view of the FC world: ''Socio-cultural instruction in foreign language teaching does not start ' from zero ' but has to deal with these preestablished concepts of the foreign world (bits and pieces of information; personal experience; generalisations and stereotypes; prejudices; aversions or preferences; etc.) in the individual learners mind'' (Byram, Zarate and Neuner, op.cit: 70). Affective Factors According to Morgan (op.cit), attitudes are governed by many factors. Research findings underscore the significance of such affective factors as: . the high expectation of success especially at the inception of the learning process, to get the learners used to change and novelty; . the communicators (teachers) credibility, hence the importance of preparing thoroughly for the culture course. Room should be left for the learners, however, to discover by themselves and for themselves facts related to their learning; . the communicators attractiveness and strong personality;

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. the sense of security that may emanate from the procedure of keeping the learners informed of what is to be taught and how; and . the beneficial consequences of the communication, that is, the utility of FL and FC learning. It can be linked to instrumental or integrative motivations. It is worth mentioning, in this regard, that teaching methods that involve threat and engender fear in the learners have negative consequences on their attitudes towards learning. On the other hand, environmental factors that contribute to the learners ease and relaxation such as humour, music, refreshment, posters and realia from TC foster positive attitudes. Cognitive factors are equally crucial in inducing attitude development or change. Morgan considers the following elements: the learners involvement in the learning/teaching process; the clarity of the form of the instruction message; the familiarity with the content presented and its suitability to the learners' level; and the learners' previous experiences and preconceptions. The clarity of the form of the instruction message depends on the number of items presented, the order of presentation, the language of presentation and review or reinforcement. How much should be introduced in a lesson depends on the cognitive level of the learners. It is recommended to introduce first important aspects. Subtle language is said to engender a long-lasting change in attitudes and a deeper involvement on the part of the learners. Repetition and review are also reported to be salutary. It is recommended to start with the similarities existing between the NC and TC, before moving to contrasts and differences. Robinson (1991) believes that perceived contrasts draw cultures apart, whereas similarities bring them together and improve the learners attitudes towards FCs. She argues that perceptual biases or errors may inhibit culture acquisition, in that human perception tends to exaggerate differences across cultures, resulting in false stereotypes and negative impressions of the TC. She suggests countering this perceptual bias by deliberately highlighting similarities, to develop positive perceptions of the TC. One of her strategies is to search for similarity beneath difference, what she refers to as similarity through analogy: the learners are required to analyse cultural differences, and by analogy, uncover shared aspects between the TC and their NC. It is assumed that if one can relate foreign customs to similar or parallel behaviours in ones own culture, one may see previously unacceptable behaviours in a better light. This strategy is reported to 222

be very efficient to cope with stereotypes and prejudices. For example, if TL speakers are stereotyped as liars, the learners have to think of when and why they lied before. On the other hand, other professionals believe that it is the ability to recognize and appreciate differences that leads to true cross-cultural awareness. For other scholars, the focus should be on both, i.e., maintaining a balance between what is shared and what is different. When facing unfamiliar cultural aspects, the learners should be assisted to recognize their feelings and attitudes and to attempt to go beyond negative ones, by taking the others position in simulations and role play activities. The learners previous experiences, or what some researchers prefer to call schemata, and their attitudes have been proven to affect the way new information is processed. Krashens (op.cit) low / high affective filter refers to their role in shaping received input. Attempting to reduce the learner's prejudices against foreign people or behaviours may sometimes reinforce them. Recognizing the relativity of cultures (including ones own), viewing things from the others perspective, and reading about the other may be useful experiences to reveal new ways of perceiving the world, new schemata and new attitudes.

4.2.1.3. Improving Attitudes On this basis, some professionals advocate readiness lessons or culture lessons intended to prepare the learners to enter a new culture. At this stage, the teacher explores the learners attitudes towards the TL and TC, to help maintain positive ones and / or improve negative ones. Mantle-Bromley, for instance, suggests that activities be designed to help the learners understand the concepts of culture and sub-culture, know about culture studying and learning methods, and have a better understanding of their own culture and culture-bound behaviours, before venturing into foreign worlds. According to her, culture learning can be compared to the game of trying to identify an object which has been dismantled, and whose pieces have been put in different black sacks, and can only be touched. This is to explain to the learners that culture cannot be presented in its entirety once at a time, that it is not something to be seen, and that, usually, we only sense its aspects and have to guess their meanings. Besides, commonly-held stereotypes about the TC may be discussed in terms of their origin and the extent to which they represent the overall TC population. The 223

teacher should make it clear, whenever feasible, which customs, beliefs and behaviours are typically related to the TC, which ones are related rather to specific geographical, social, ethnic, religious, or age group, and which ones are merely due to individual differences. Ethnocentric thoughts and behaviours common among the learners may also be analysed, to eradicate the fancy that ones way of doing things and of understanding the world is the best. Cultural bias or partiality occurs when people regard their behaviours, thoughts and attitudes as natural and universal, unlike others. The teacher should assist the learners to overcome (or at least to minimize) their cultural bias, by making them conscious of their own cultural ways and of the fact that these are no better or worse than other ways. Equally important is training them to expect difference rather than assume similarity in intercultural interactions. This would be one step towards successful intercultural communication and understanding. Discussion can thus associate stereotypical and ethnocentric thinking to intercultural communication problems. Mantle-Bromley (op.cit: 451) considers three attitude-change methods: providing discrepant information that counters commonly-held stereotypes. A variety of means may be used: newspaper articles, excerpts from movies, radio broadcasts, or even guest speakers from the TC; requesting behaviour that is inconsistent with ones attitudes, to modify ethnocentric tendencies. In this regard, the teacher may, on the basis of a cultural difference, discuss with the learners the possible advantages of a foreign belief or behaviour of which the learners may only see the disadvantages, to reach the ultimate conclusion that foreigners have strengths as well as weaknesses; providing direct exposure to improve attitudes. When possible, representatives of the TC can be invited to the FL classroom, to enlighten the learners as to aspects of the TC. The learners should discuss the cultural topic targeted before the visit, to help them recognize their own attitudes and beliefs, and prepare appropriate questions to the guest (s).

Robinson (1985) suggests ethnography as a means to overcome cultural impediments and to foster intercultural understanding. She explains that the important amount of time spent by the ethnographer with the informants, the depth of their discussion, the importance of listening to the other, the recognition of ones own communication style and cultural norms, and the fact of being both an observer of 224

and a participant in a TC experience are all factors that lead to empathy and tolerance. Summerfield (op.cit) thinks that critically viewing and analysing TC films enable the learners to recognize and cope with stereotypes. By identifying with the film characters, the learners can, in addition, develop empathy towards the TC people, that is, the ability to experience the other persons point of view, to comprehend the others feelings, thoughts and motives. (Summerfield, op.cit:3). For Clarke and Clarke (op.cit), long-standing prejudices against a FC are essentially caused by ignorance or misinformation. Thus, teaching about the TC is in itself a way to overcome prejudice against it. Indeed, knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to tolerance and openness. Byram (1989) points out that teaching about the TC in a way that promotes intercultural understanding, and that fosters positive attitudes towards it does not mean presenting an idealistic tourist view of it to the learners. He even questions whether this unrealistic view will in fact change or develop attitudes in the learners: It is apparently assumed that this image will also foster positive attitudes, although the link between 'positive image and positive attitudes remains unproven. (Byram, ibid: 125). He believes that one way to develop the learners' empathy and positive attitudes towards the TC is to depict situations, events and people realistically. When the characters of a textbook, for example, are credible, that is, when they are portrayed with their failings as well as qualities, with the problems they live daily, with their fears and hopes, the learners may get close enough to understand them and to share their perspectives. Some of the problems raised would be theirs as well (the learners), and this may give way to empathy and positive feelings. Byram (1997) states that in western Europe, FL/FC learners are generally ethnocentric and hold negative attitudes towards the object of learning, while the reverse happens in eastern and central Europe (as well as in developing countries), that is, the learners who have had little or no contact with the West are, on the whole, enthusiastic and uncritical vis--vis FCs, and hold idealised pictures about them. Therefore, the aim in the former case should be to reduce ethnocentrism and to develop tolerance and acceptance of others, while in the latter, to develop realistic and objective attitudes. While many researchers believe that developing positive attitudes such as empathy and tolerance towards the TC and its bearers is a prerequisite for successful FC and FL learning, others think that understanding a TC requires neither loving and admiring it, nor hating and undervaluing it: Many people do not realize 225

that a presentation of a foreign culture which seeks to promote love and admiration for that culture is as detrimental to cultural understanding as a negative presentation. Awareness, not love, is essential here and it can only come through a questioning of ones own perception of the other culture. (Brire, op.cit: 564). In this perspective, the teacher should refrain from influencing the learners attitudes by transmitting either his/her love or hatred of the TC to them. His/her task is to make the learners aware of aspects of the TC, not to influence their attitudes, beliefs and opinions, not to indoctrinate them. The internal conflicts that FL learners may experience when encountering FC instances which contrast sharply with their own cannot, in our opinion, be overcome merely by attempting a change in attitudes, presumably from negative to positive. Rather, we believe that the learners should be made conscious of their own feelings and attitudes, and of the fact that they themselves belong to a culture whose patterns and values need to be examined critically. They should always be encouraged to voice their attitudes and views about the TC, and to support them by evidence from this culture. In addition, it is imperative to make them aware of the fact that some of their views and attitudes are just provisional and may later change, when they get more and more acquainted with the TC, and when they uncover further evidence about it. That is why they should be cautious in assigning the labels irrational, ridiculous, absurd, or others to particular acts or beliefs, on the basis of partial knowledge of the FC. The ultimate aim is to make them relativise both the FC and their own. The teacher should also be aware of the different phases the learners go through in the process of culture learning, and should be sensitive and perceptive enough to assist them to overcome the frustrations and conflictual feelings that this experience entails.

4.2.2. Learners' Native Culture Discussing the learners role in the FL and FC classroom entails reference to the culture they bring with them, the culture they draw on so extensively, namely, their NC. As previously discussed, culture has traditionally been viewed as knowledge, and TC acquisition as the acquisition of new knowledge about the others way of life. For Robinson (1991), culture acquisition is to be regarded as it is in symbolic anthropology, namely as a kind of synthesis between what already exists in the learner (his / her native cultural background) and the new TC, in Robinsons 226

words, the color purple, blue plus red, i.e., the cultural background plus the cultural objective. Robinson draws on research findings in the field of psychology of perception, namely that perception is by definition subjective. Hence, a FL learner cannot be considered as a cultural tabula rasa upon which the teacher can paint target cultural objectives. The clichs lets see it through their eyes or from their perspective are not realistic, in her opinion. Neither the learners NC nor the TC could be excluded from the FL classroom, but a synthesis of the two is necessary, aiming at what she calls cultural versatility. This symbolic view of culture and culture acquisition as 'synthesis' transcends the traditional view of culture as knowledge, and points out the way it is created and transmitted, as a dynamic phenomenon that cannot be perceived or described objectively. In a like manner, Brire (op.cit) puts it clearly that the learners NC determines to a large extent the way they see reality and the way they select and organize information. He underlines the need to raise the learners consciousness about this fact, for they usually have little systematic knowledge about their membership in a given culture: Students should always be made aware that they do not tackle the study of a foreign culture with a blank mind and that their own culture has instilled in them patterns of perception which are going to orient the way they look at the other. (Brire, op.cit:564). In his opinion, any observers account about a FC cannot be but relative and to some extent subjective, because of the irreversible impact of the NC on his/her perceptions, attitudes and behaviours. Intercultural communication problems (or pragmalinguistic, failure, in whites (op.cit) words) often occur as a result of transferring NC patterns to the FC context. Johnson (1995:56) explains the point in the following words:
Second language students possess an accumulation of culturally acquired knowledge through which they interpret and respond to the world around them. Embedded in this knowledge is their use of language, the medium through which they understand and represent their experiences to themselves and others. When students begin to operate in a second language, they must acquire a new means of understanding and representing their experiences. However, as they acquire a second language, most continue to rely on first language linguistic and cultural knowledge to interpret and participate in social interactions.

On this basis, the teaching of FCs must be underlain by an explicit intercultural approach in which both TC and NC are considered in a comparative analytic 227

framework. The aim is to develop the learners intercultural competence and to raise their cultural selfawareness. Such explicit intercultural pedagogy has thus the advantage of taking into account the cultural background of the learners, of raising their consciousness as to the relativity of their views because of this cultural background, and of promoting reflection on cultural matters in the light of the interaction between the TC and the NC. Brire thinks that even immersion in the FC environment would not be equally beneficial to FC learners, the latter being cut off from their NC. Therefore, he recommends that study abroad and immersion programmes be organized so as to encourage the learners to be attentive to the foreign environment around them, but also to enable them to discuss findings and observations together with an instructor linking them to their NC. Considering the NC in the FC class has the further advantage of providing a kind of moral support to the learners, and of reinforcing their cultural identity and sense of self. Indeed, the influence of the NC on FC learning is not a one-way influence; the FC may also affect the NC, in the sense that it may either overwhelm it, when one substitutes, consciously or unconsciously, foreign ways for native ones, or, paradoxically, reinforce it, when one learns more about oneself in comparison with the other. The process of learning about a FC provides, in fact, a notable experience of self-awareness. It may draw the learners attention to aspects of their own culture, not hitherto recognized. When the learners go into depth about the others' thoughts, experiences and feelings, they will learn about their assumptions, values and worldview, by comparison and contrast with the others: It is through the eyes of others that we get to know ourselves and others (Kramsch, 1993: 222). For this purpose to be achieved, the NC should, in our viewpoint, be present in the FC class. In addition, FC learners should have developed a firm knowledge of their NC, before engaging in learning another one. This gradation is, in our opinion, a safe measure to equip the learners with the cultural codes of conduct of their community, before they enter a new world that may be challenging and influential. Hyde (op.cit: 303) refers to this point stating: To be able to select, accept, or reject ideas, concepts, and pressures especially those emanating from other and dominant cultures, people have to be equipped with a good knowledge of their own culture and history. This provides the bedrock upon which to judge. Along these lines, Kramsch (1993: 216) writes: Besides trying to understand the foreign culture on its own terms, learners have to be aware of their own cultural myths and realities that ease or 228

impede their understanding of the foreign imagination. This is not to say that FL/FC teaching is a threat to the learners mother tongue or identity. On the contrary, we believe that this kind of teaching opens new academic and professional avenues to them, if it is rightly conceived and practised. With respect to culture the question is to develop the learners awareness of a foreign one, whilst still retaining ones own.

Conclusion To teach about another culture means to teach the learners how to feel comfortable in the presence of people of this culture, to know what to do, what to talk about and what to avoid, to respect space and eye-contact rules, to understand the cultural connotations of words and acts, and to overcome ones own ethnocentrism and stereotypes. One of the cornerstones of teaching about a FC is the teachers conviction as to the importance of including culture in language courses and lesson plans. This means that culture should be dealt with in an explicit and systematic way, rather than implicitly or incidentally. Cultural objectives are to be clearly expressed and activities carefully designed, as is the case with the other language components. Language tests should include cultural items to evaluate cultural learnings and to give credit to such type of learning. Today, many world countries are unstable or at war. We will have to learn to live together in this critical period. FL/FC teaching can play a significant role to inculcate in young people the values of peace, tolerance and love. Developing empathy toward other cultures cannot, however, be conceived in a language classroom where there is no such feeling between the teacher and the learners, and among the learners. Hence, an essential prerequisite involves crossing the cultural barriers in our own classrooms (Robinson, 1976:76).

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CHAPTER FIVE THE PLACE OF CULTURE IN THE ALGERIAN TEXTBOOKS FOR ENGLISH

Introduction 1. Textbook Evaluation 1.1. Criteria of Textbook Evaluation 1.2. Textbook Evaluation Models 1.2.1. Skierso's Model 1.2.2. Byram and Escarte-Sarries' Model 1.2.3. Sercu's Model 1.2.4. Cortazzi and Jin's Model 1.2.5. Damen's Model 1.3. Textbook Evaluation Guide 2. Evaluation of Middle School Textbooks of English 2.1. Spotlight on English (1e AM) 2.1.1. General Descriptive Information 2.1.2. Rationale 2.1.3. Content 2.1.3.1. General analysis 2.1.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 2.1.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 2.1.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 2.1.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors 2.1.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 2.1.5. Complements 2.1.6. Recapitulation 2.2. The Second English Coursebook (2e AM) 2.2.1. General Descriptive Information 2.2.2. Rationale 2.2.3. Content 2.2.3.1. General Analysis 2.2.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 2.2.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 2.2.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 2.2.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors 2.2.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 2.2.5. Complements 2.2.6. Recapitulation 2.3. Spring (9e AF) 2.3.1. General Descriptive Information 2.3.2. Rationale 2.3.3. Content

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2.3.3.1. General Analysis 2.3.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 2.3.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 2.3.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 2.3.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors 2.3.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 2.3.5. Complements 2.3.6. Recapitulation 3. Evaluation of Secondary School Textbooks for English 3.1. My New Book of English (1e AS) 3.1.1. General Descriptive Information 3.1.2. Rationale 3.1.3. Content 3.1.3.1. General Analysis 3.1.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 3.1.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 3.1.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 3.1.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Author 3.1.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 3.1.5. Complements 3.1.6. Recapitulation 3.2. The New Midlines (2e AS) 3.2.1. General Descriptive Information 3.2.2. Rationale 3.2.3. Content 3.2.3.1. General Analysis 3.2.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 3.2.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 3.2.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 3.2.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors 3.2.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 3.2.5. Complements 3.2.6. Recapitulation 3.3. Comet (3e AS) 3.3.1. General Descriptive Information 3.3.2. Rationale 3.3.3. Content 3.3.3.1. General Analysis 3.3.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 3.3.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 3.3.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 3.3.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors 3.3.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 3.3.5. Complements 3.3.6. Recapitulation Conclusion

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Introduction It is widely recognized that teaching materials, particularly the textbook, determine to a large extent what is taught / learned in a FL class. As well put by Skierso (1991:432), ''No teacher is entirely satisfied with the text used, yet very few manage to teach without one.'' Teachers use the textbook in the day-to-day planning of lessons, as a reference for which language to teach and what information to provide learners with. In the Algerian teaching context, the English language syllabi are based on the designed textbooks, to ensure that parallel classes all over the country would cover approximately the same content, and follow the same progression. It is, thus, of crucial importance that appropriate techniques of textbook evaluation are elaborated. 1. Textbook Evaluation 1.1. Criteria of Textbook Evaluation To be selected, a textbook should be suitable to the learners' levels and goals, should provide them with up-to-date, interesting material, but should also be culturally insightful to them. Culture has always been present in FL textbooks, given that it is closely bound to language. The extent to which it has been intentionally considered and taught differs according to the followed approach and the set goals. Its form has varied from few footnotes to a whole strategy having learning / teaching about culture as a target, and reflecting it in plans, selections, activities and recommendations. Textbooks prior to the CLT era were evaluated and selected on the basis of the learners' levels and the curriculum goals (Damen, op.cit). Subsequently, CLT has drawn attention to the importance of meaningful communicative practice in FL teaching methodologies and materials. The current tendency that advocates teaching about the TL culture requires the consideration of the cultural component on equal footing with the other components when evaluating textbooks and teaching materials. Textbook evaluation on the basis of both linguistic and cultural criteria has long been pointed out by Lado (op.cit), while the focus in language teaching approaches and methods was solely on grammatical and phonological structures: ''On the surface, most textbooks look pretty much alike []. If a teacher is professionally trained, however, he will be able to look beyond attractive illustrations and handsome printing and binding. He should be able to see whether the book presents the language and culture (our emphasis) patterns that

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form the system to be studied, and does not merely list disparate items from here and there.''(p2). There should be an analysis of the linguistic and socio-cultural choices made by the textbook writer, and their impact on the learners' personality and attitudes. Teachers and learners alike should be conscious of the fact that a language textbook usually represents an ideology that reflects the political, social, economic, cultural choices of decision makers. The cultural content is selected and interpreted accordingly: ''the textbook can be seen as an ideology, in the sense that it reflects a worldview or cultural system, a social construction that may be imposed on teachers and students and that indirectly constructs their view of a culture. This aspect often passes unrecognized.''(Cortazzi and Jin, op.cit: 200). Culture in a FL textbook is not only reflected in the texts; it should normally be, in addition, the object of practice exercises which the learners are required by the material to undertake. Hence, it is imperative to assess the cultural weight of the suggested activities, and see to what extent they make the learners more aware of the TC, and to what extent they encourage reflection and develop critical thinking vis--vis this culture and their own. Following this line of thought, it can be implied that assessing the textbook cultural content entails the consideration of whether or not the material takes account of the learners' NC and of what attitudes it takes (and encourages others to take) towards this culture and its relation with the foreign one. For Lado (op.cit), an effective textbook is the one that takes into account the similarities and the differences that exist between the NC and the FC. It should, according to him, be graded on the basis of what is similar comes first and what is different next, claiming that the latter is more complex to learn than the former. Teaching materials can also include information about other target language-speaking cultures, celebrating difference and diversity. English, for instance, is a language that reflects many cultures. A textbook for English can be designed so as to make its cultural focus balanced between x units on UK, y on USA, w on India, z on Ireland or Australia, without overlooking the learners' home culture. One objective of evaluating the treatment of the cultural content in textbooks may be, thus, to see whether and to what extent these cultures are taken account of. Many cultures may be incorporated to some extent. Textbook designers should be alert, however, to the fragmentation which may result. There should be a kind of cultural thread to link the different

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cultures and topics together. The same theme, for example, may be viewed from different cultural perspectives throughout the textbook. 1.2. Textbook Evaluation Models Published textbook evaluation checklists do not always adequately consider the cultural aspect. In fact, questions about the latter are, in many cases, totally disregarded, indirectly implied in other questions, or relegated to the end of the checklist, as if of secondary importance. Some checklists refer to one particular cultural focus, such as possible stereotypes of races and cultures, learners' values and attitudes, or possible existence of varieties of the TC. Other checklists are more comprehensive. 1.2.1. Skierso's Model Skierso's list (op.cit), for example, considers the extent to which cultural content is integrated in texts, dialogues and exercises, and asks whether the cultural contexts provided assist the learners to understand the social situations being referred to. In other words, Skierso points to cultural skills as well as cultural knowledge. She also raises other important questions such as considering whether and to what extent the textbook is stereotype-free, accurate and authentic, whether the reference is made to its texts, activities or artwork. Byram (1989) cites Huhn's (1978) comprehensive criteria for textbook evaluation: -giving factually accurate and up-to-date information. -avoiding (or relativizing) stereotypes by raising awareness. -presenting a realistic picture. -being free from (or questioning) ideological tendencies. -presenting phenomena in context rather than as isolated facts. -explicitly relating historical material to contemporary society. -making it clear how personalities are products of their age. 1.2.2. Byram and Escarte-Sarries' Model Byram and Escarte-Sarries (1991) focus on 'realism' in culture presentation. Realism in this regard is not concerned merely with accuracy or comprehensiveness in the presentation of the TC. It has more to do with the reader's perception of the portrayed cultural image and his / her acceptance of it as real, authentic. A realistic cultural content refers to real places and situations and believable people and events. In the words of Byram and Escarte-Sarries, a realistic textbook depicts culture '' as it

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is lived and talked about by people who are credible and recognisable as real human beings.'' (p180). In more practical terms, they suggest four layers of analysis to assess the factor of realism in a language textbook: the micro-social level of the individual and his / her social environment; the macro-social level of social, economic, political, geographic, historical representations; the intercultural level of the mutual representations of the native and foreign cultures; and the standpoint of the textbook author, whether implicitly or explicitly stated. At the micro-social level, it is a question of analysing the social and the geographic identities of the textbook characters, to see whether they constitute a representative sample from the TC. For example, the textbook author should make it clear whether the TC population is on the whole rural, urban, working class or other, and decide which part of it will be presented and focused on. The author needs also to represent the social environment of the textbook characters, by referring to authentic contexts which demonstrate different social patterns of interaction, and not merely limited, as is often the case, to consumers' and tourists' situations. Worth mentioning in this regard is the fact that drawings cannot be as realistic as photographs, but even the latter are to be selected with care given that they become quickly out-dated. The textbook's characters should also be realistic in the sense that they should display emotions when need be. Reference is to be made to their problems, beliefs, worries, values; the general impression should not be that of complete approval and enjoyment of life. At the macro-social level, the point is to see if general facts about the TC are mentioned. The author is supposed to select enough and appropriate information about the historical background of the country in question, its socio-political or economic strengths and weaknesses, and other data, attempting to depict the TC reality as it is. In this regard, statistical data are welcome. At the intercultural level, the textbook assessor needs to know whether attempts have been made to deal with the mutual representations of the NC and FC. This aspect includes dealing with stereotypes, promoting intercultural tolerance and understanding, comparing and contrasting native and foreign ways and experiences, and referring to historical and contemporary bi-lateral relationships between the two countries. The analysis of the author's viewpoint can be carried out on the basis of the characters s/he selects as intermediaries to represent the FC, or the pieces of advice 235

s/he may include to assist the learners to cope with likely problems in this new culture. Some authors put forward evaluative statements about aspects of the FC that may reinforce rather than eradicate stereotypes and prejudices. Others encourage the learners to reflect upon the FC as well as their own and view both of them critically. The standpoint of the author can be deduced as well from the overall impression one gets of the TC after going through the textbook units: realistic or idealistically harmonious. To sum up, for a cultural content to be realistic, it needs to be balanced, comprehensive, to refer to both micro and macro social levels, and also to positive and negative aspects. 1.2.3. Sercu's Model Sercu (op.cit.) raises similar questions to assess the cultural weight of language teaching materials. He classifies them into four categories: -First, representativeness and realism in relation to which the picture the textbook depicts of the foreign society is examined. This picture may be representative, realistic, up-to-date, complete, or biased, stereotypical, unrealistic, and out-of date. Leaving out references to aspects of the TC and restricting the textbook contents only to some aspects would reflect a biased picture of the TC. When all things are depicted as perfect, and no problems, incidents, or negative facets are pointed out, the picture would be 'royal'. In a like manner, a 'tourism-oriented' picture would not mirror the everyday life of the TC bearers, their beliefs and values, and would lay focus on rather marginal aspects. For a textbook to be representative and realistic, it should equally refer to the multicultural nature of the foreign society. -Second, the textbook characters are to be more closely scrutinized to see whether the latter are representative of the FC with regard to their age, social class, interests, mentality, family situation, . Reference should also be made to their mood: are they always happy or do they display other feelings and attitudes, as in the case of ordinary people? -Third, the language of the book should as well be assessed and biased forms are to be pointed out. -Fourth, the textbook is to be reflected upon in terms of what it offers to and expects of learners. It is crucial to know whether the textbook merely provides them with facts and information about the TC or whether it attempts to develop their intercultural

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skills and positive attitudes towards it. This can be found out on the basis of the analysis of the type of activities suggested. 1.2.4. Cortazzi and Jin's Model For Cortazzi and Jin (op.cit.), evaluating the cultural content of coursebooks entails examining whether their aim is merely to provide cultural information or to develop, in addition, cultural skills. In other words, one does not only inquire about the cultural elements included but also to consider whether these elements assist the learners in perceiving and categorizing socio-cultural situations, and hence behaving appropriately in them. Developing the learners' cultural skills has to do with both recognition and production, that is with the ability to recognize cultural elements and contexts and the ability to produce language or to behave appropriately in these contexts. Furthermore, Cortazzi and Jin point to other relevant questions namely the assessment of the weight of culture in texts, dialogues, tasks and exercises; the reference to the learners' native cultural values and attitudes; the reference to stereotypes of races and cultures; the reference to cultural (and sub-cultural) variation including a comparative element, for cultures (and sub-cultural) should be presented in relation to each other and not isolated; the analysis of the ideology reflected in the textbook, i.e., the unstated beliefs and values on the basis of which the cultural content was selected and presented for teaching / learning; the reference to included evaluative comments or viewpoints, whether the author's or others', and to any invitation to reflection and critical analysis. 1.2.5. Damen's Model Damen (op.cit.) believes that a language textbook is a 'culture-loaded' teaching tool. The term 'load' denotes ''the emotional, affective, and often culturally specific power associated with given types of content, approaches and

perspectives.''(Damen, op.cit:259). In her viewpoint, the evaluation of the cultural load in a FL textbook should be done on the basis of four major dimensions, or what she calls 'bases of choices': clients (students), contexts, communicators (teachers) and texts (textbooks). A textbook is to be selected depending on the type of clients purported to use it. They are not necessarily students 'in the usual sense'. Damen identifies four other types of clients having different characteristics and goals, namely sojourners, immigrants, refugees, and visitors or travellers.

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The specificities of the context in which learning takes place are equally important when choosing textbooks. The context may be formal or informal, native or foreign. Some contexts are more conducive to learning than others. Textbooks should also be selected on the basis of teachers' factors, that is their intercultural communicative competence, teaching experience, knowledge of the TC, in Damen's words: ''Different types of texts call for special expertise on the teacher's part. Some call for a practiced intercultural communicator, others for a native culture bearer. Still others call for a cultural mediator who is able to bridge all intercultural gaps.'' (p262). In our opinion, all textbooks require supplemental cultural input on the part of the teacher to complete the suggested picture of the TC and to make it more suitable to the learners' needs, interests and cultural background. The more culturally-sensitive a textbook is, the greater the need for teacher's assistance and guidance will be, hence the importance of language teachers' specialized cultural training. The fourth basis of choice which is of particular interest to us is the textbook itself. With respect to culture, textbooks vary in content, perspective and methods. The content of the textbook may be 'culture-specific' i.e., concerned with a particular culture patterns and specificities, or 'culture-general', i.e., dealing with culture as a universal human phenomenon and promoting understanding and empathy across cultures and nations. Another content-related question is to examine whether it is presented following a 'factual', 'realistic' approach or an 'idealistic' one. Damen elucidates the difference between the two approaches stating: ''a textbook using a factual approach would be more likely to present actual case studies, real life examples, and specific data about a cultural group. The 'idealised' approach tends to 'explain' given cultural behaviour. It is often disguised as an 'Introduction to'. '' (pp262-263). Content may also be analysed in terms of its cultural emphases. A textbook may, for instance, focus on explaining the way communicative functions are performed in the TC, another would merely throw light on the nature of the TC with a minor focus on the development of intercultural communicative skills. Damen suggests a taxonomy classifying textbooks in three major categories: traditional, communicative, and cultural / linguistic. They are delineated in the following table:

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TABLE 1: Types of Textbooks Type I. Traditional I.A. Linguistic Skills I.B. Linguistic Skills Characteristics -Culture implicit; peripheral; linguistic skills primary focus. -Culture focus still secondary, but less implicit; practice of language in use; vocabulary development; exploration of semantic ranges. -Culture and communication primary focus; often heavy emphasis on development of oral skills; explicit cultural information presented; explanation of how, when, and where behaviours take place in the TC. -Focus upon idiom; language use; specific functions for target group; provision of culture-specific information; used in conjunction with traditional textbooks or in informal learning settings. -Cultural content and focus plus complementary linguistic drill or practice; primary emphasis not on linguistic skills development.

II. Communicative II.A. Notional/Functional Situational

II.B. Supplemental

III. Cultural/Linguistic

III.A. Thematic: Presentation of Cultural Patterns -Content related to universal human problems; an III.A.1. Universal emphasis on similarities of difficulties and differences in solutions; focus on understanding the general processes of culture and communication; more importance for cultural understanding and communicative abilities than for linguistic skills. III.A.2. Specific -Content culture-specific; emphasis on culturally relevant III.A.2.a. Stated vocabulary; discussion encouraged; cultural content Linguistic Focus provides data for practice in the development of linguistic skills. III.A.2.b. Descriptive or -Linguistic focus minimal or absent; components of the TC examined; cultural content primary focus. Explanatory -Readings related to cultural themes; culture-specific and III.A.2.c. Directed culture-general; often in the form of anthologies of selected Discovery readings; stimulate discussion and encourage analysis. -Related to individual change. III.B. Developmental -Examines process and methods of change; survival; III.B.1. Acculturative problem solving; culture-general or culture-specific; similar to II.A. with more emphasis on culture learning and adjustment. -Focus upon developing intercultural communicative skills III.B.2. Intercultural (and not merely understanding the nature of culture, the Communicative case of III.A.1); culture learning is placed on equal footing with language learning; focus on the culture learning process. -Combination of III.A and III.B above III.C. Eclectic

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Assessing a textbook in terms of perspective means finding out whether it provides for information about the TC components and patterns (the case of textbooks with a culture-specific content) or focuses on the general understanding of the nature of culture and ways of learning about a new culture (the case of culture-general texts). As to a textbook's methods, they have to be analysed in addition to the analysis of its content and perspective. Reference is made here to methods or techniques of presenting cultural content. They may be geared to comprehension such as case studies, explanations and discussions, as they may be geared to production like role plays, cultural guessing or hypothesizing. 1.3. Textbook Evaluation Guide On the basis of our reading of published literature on textbook selection and evaluation, some informative articles of which are outlined above, we have elaborated a textbook evaluation guide which has as focus the treatment of the cultural content in language textbooks. This guide will provide the foundation and the framework for our analysis of the textbooks for English that are currently used in the Algerian Middle and Secondary Schools. In this work, we are concerned with those aspects of cultural content which are selected by the Algerian school textbook writers, and perhaps more significantly, those which are omitted. We aim at analysing whether the process of selection of socio-cultural aspects is carried out systematically or unsystematically, intentionally or accidentally, and whether the image of the TC and the TC bearers (if any) is representative or not of reality. In a word, we aim at examining whether the sociocultural component is adequately incorporated in the textbooks for English used in the Algerian schools. This task is doubtless not an easy one. Many anthropologists and ethnographers point out that dealing with cultural matters is problematic in that the most obvious and the least noted cultural aspects are those that are mostly significant, and that what is obvious in a culture is not necessarily so in another. Damen (op.cit:259) recognizes that: ''Weighing the cultural load calls for pushing aside the natural cultural screen and assessing the cultural content with as much detachment as we do the linguistic context of a textbook. We must, in fact, step outside our own cultural identities and walk in the shoes of others if we are to make honest evaluations and suitable selections.'' The weight assigned to the textbooks' treatment of cultural content may be subjective. Yet, the consideration of many 240

elements by the evaluator (as outlined below in the evaluation guide) ensures that major relevant variables are handled in a systematic way. Besides, the opinions of those directly concerned with the use of the textbooks, namely teachers and pupils, will be referred to in search of further evidence.

TEXTBOOK EVALUATION GUIDE TREATMENT OF CULTURAL CONTENT

1. General Descriptive Information - Name of textbook - Intended learners' level - Author(s) - Publisher - Year / place of publication - Number of pages

2. Rationale -What is the rationale for the textbook (goals, underlying approach, targeted skills)? -Is the goal for cultural instruction explicitly stated? Is it secondary to other goals? What is the goal of the presentation of cultural content? (to develop knowledge about the FC facts and artifacts: know about; to develop understanding of the underlying bases of the FC, that is its values, assumptions, beliefs: know why; to develop the ability to behave appropriately in foreign socio-cultural contexts: know how; and to develop knowledge about one's NC: know oneself, but also to develop positive attitudes towards the FC community). -What type of textbook does the book represent? (Traditional, Communicative, or Cultural / Linguistic, as identified by Damen, 1987)? Is the cultural component integrated in the course or is it treated as supplemental or optional material? Is it hidden (implicit) or secondary to linguistic skills? Is it given equal importance as the other language components?

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3. Content 3.1. General Analysis - On which basis are the textbook units organized (functions, situations, structures, topics)? Does information on the TC form part of the core of the unit or is it added at the end of every unit or even presented in a separate unit at the end of the book? Does each unit address a different aspect of the TC? - What cultural items are covered, big 'C' culture (i.e., what relates to literature, fine arts, social institutions, history, geography, technology and politics) or small 'c' culture (i.e., aspects of lifestyle or patterns of daily living, including the thought processes, beliefs and values of a given people)? Are the cultural items thematic universal (i.e., culture-general, relating to universal human problems and focusing on the general understanding of the nature of culture and culture learning) or thematic specific (i.e., culture specific, providing information about a specific TC, its components and patterns)? - What are the main topics covered? -How well are stereotypes, factual inaccuracies, oversimplification, omission and bias avoided? - Is the cultural content up-to- date? - Is it suitable to the learners' age, level, cultural background and interests? Are there types of cultural content that may be considered as 'unacceptable' or 'inappropriate'? - Is the cultural content suitable to the curriculum goals? 3.2. Micro-Social Analysis - Are the characters of the book credible? Are they presented as average (ordinary) personalities or as individuals? Do they display emotions? In what mood are they: always happy? Happy one moment, sad the next? Irritated, angry, aggressive, racist, tolerant? Does the textbook refer to intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships? -What cultural or social groups are represented? Are they representative of the TC people with regard to their age, social class, interests, mentality, family situation? Is there a reference to sub-cultural variation (i.e., sub-cultural groups based on age, social class, profession or other)? Does the textbook introduce the learners to famous TC figures?

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-What type of situations and interactions do the characters engage in? Are the characters portrayed in situations representative of a range of social interactions? Are they varied, interesting, basic, authentic, or not varied, uninteresting, trivial and artificial (limited as is often the case to consumer or tourist-oriented situations)? What image is depicted? 3.3. Macro-Social Analysis -What broad social facts about the TC are given, and on what basis are they selected? Are they selected arbitrarily? Is the amount of information adequate or limited? -Does the textbook include a description of some of the TC institutions? -Is the cultural content given a historical dimension (allowing a broader analysis and a more complete view)? Is historical material related to contemporary society? -Does the textbook provide adequate knowledge of the geography of the country in question? -Is there information on socio-political and socio-economic problems such as unemployment, immigration, crime ? 3.4. Intercultural Analysis - Is information presented in relation to one culture or is it presented in a comparative frame of reference? - Does the textbook offer an authentic reflection of the multicultural character of the foreign society? - Do cultural incidents occur? Do situations occur in which someone with a good mastery of the FL is not understood because of differences in culture-specific frames? - Is there a reference to the learners' NC? Does the textbook bring out similarities and contrasts between what is native and what is foreign? Does the textbook deal with the mutual representations of native and foreign societies? Does it avoid or relativize stereotypes ? Does it promote intercultural tolerance and understanding ? - Is there a reference to several TL-speaking cultures? To what extent does the textbook distinguish between British, American and other English-speaking cultures? - Is there any fragmentation in the presentation of data from different cultures?

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3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Author (s) - Does the textbook contain general anonymous detached commentaries about the TC (more an outsider's view), or personal factual information contained in talk by the textbook characters (more an insider's view)? - Is the cultural content presented with evaluative comment, either direct or implied? Is there any critical analysis of cultural matter on the part of the textbook author or any encouraging the learners to do so? (examples). - Are teachers and learners encouraged to consult additional material on the topics dealt with or do(es) the textbook author(s) present information in the book as the true and only picture of the FC? - How is the overall image one gets of the FC after going through the textbook units: a royal (perfect) image or a realistic one? Does the material only present a tourist (marginal) point of view, or does it give a fair, balanced picture of life in the FC? - Do(es) the textbook author(s) promote positive attitudes towards the TC? - Is the textbook free from ideological tendencies?

4. Techniques of Presentation of content - Is culture integrated in texts, dialogues and exercises? - By what techniques is the cultural content of the textbook presented? Are these techniques geared to comprehension (e.g., explanations, case studies) or production (e.g., role plays, problem solving activities), or both? - Is the cultural information provided in context and in a structured way or in the form of fragmented isolated facts? - What types of texts does the textbook contain? (dialogues, narratives, explanatory notes, songs, jokes, anecdotes, newspaper articles, proverbs, idioms, metaphors). - What does the textbook expect of learners and what does it offer to them? What opinion do(es) the textbook author(s) hold on the comprehension ability of the learners? Can learners only handle data and facts or should they be able to compare and judge materials? Should learners be able to think in an abstract way and understand differences in value systems and mentality? Do activities prepare learners to behave adequately when in contact with members from other cultures? Do activities invite learners to take in a foreign perspective? - Have the cultural elements taken from the text and used in follow-up activities been carefully selected? (The elements popping up in exercises are often the only 244

ones learners will remember. They may reinforce certain over-simplified judgements and distort the more diversified message of the text) - Are insights that have been gained previously re-used in the course of the textbook? Is there progression? How is the cultural content graded? (from familiar to non-familiar; from observable to non-observable; according to linguistic difficulties; according to communicative functions). - Is the cultural content reprinted from original sources without change (authentic), reprinted with adaptation, or written for this textbook? - Are specific cultural items 'explained'? Would additional information or explanation be necessary? Is the descriptive vocabulary appropriate, unbiased? Is the language in the textbook authentic, not stilted, artificial or old-fashioned? Is it correct for the persons and relationships for which it is used? Does it (or not) imply value judgements and opinions? - Are there illustrations? Are they appropriate? Would any specific group be offended by any illustration(s)? Do they supplement the content effectively? Would learners need additional hints from the teacher to understand the cultural implications of the illustrations? Are there any photographs of people, places? (Black and white or coloured? Up-to-date or not?) Are there any drawings, cartoons, maps, diagrams? To what extent is the artwork unbiased (free of stereotypes), yet accurately and authentically conveying the cultural content? 5. Complements - How does the textbook fit in with the other textbooks? - Would a teacher using this book need specialized training? - Is a teacher's guide available? What assumptions are made about the teachers' awareness of the cultural context portrayed in the course material? What information is given about the culture items to be taught and what guidance is given about handling them? Are there any helpful notes about possible problems?

2. Evaluation of Middle School Textbooks for English

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2.1. Spotlight on English (1e AM)(1) 2.1.1. General Descriptive Information - Name of textbook: Spotlight(2) on English(3) - Intended learners' level: 1e AM (beginners) - Authors: Head of project: Mrs Lakria MERAZGA Authors: Mrs Ouahiba GUEDOUDJ Mrs Ouzna MEKAOUI Mr Khelifa ACHOUR Mr Hamid AMEZIANE Mr Farouk BOUHADIBA Mr Bouteldja RICHE Mr Lounis TAMRABET -Publisher: O.N.P.S (office Nationale des Publications Scolaires) -Year / Place of publication: 2003-2004 / Algeria -Number of pages: 189 2.1.2. Rationale Since the academic year 2003-2004, teaching English as a second FL has been introduced at the level of the first year of the Middle School, breaking with the Foundation School system(4). This change is part of an overall innovative project impinging on all school subjects. The aim is to launch competency-based education purported to build up the learners' autonomy. As a matter of fact, new syllabuses have been designed and corresponding textbooks have been conceived. It is stated in '' Programme of English as a Second Foreign Language, 1e AM '' (2003) that the finality (final or general goal) of English learning / teaching is '' helping our society to get harmoniously integrated with modernity''(p2). According to the programme designers, this implies knowing about 'oneself' and the 'other' in all the fields of life. It also implies transcending the ESP perspective in ELT, deemed as '' traditionally narrow, utilitarian, instrumental and commercial'' (op.cit: 2). From this
(1) (2)

that is, ''premiere anne moyenne '' We note that this word is spelt differently on the cover of the book: ''Spot light''. (3) ''Book One'' should have been added to distinguish it from ''Spotlight on English Book Two'' e intended for 2 AM. We note that ''Spotlight on English'' is also the title of an EFL textbook for Turkey by Dede and Emre (1988) (in Cortazzi and Jin, op.cit). (4) See footnote 1 p 279.

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finality derive general objectives: linguistic, methodological, and cultural. Thus, general cultural objectives are explicitly referred to, but are not specified. All that is pointed out is their importance: ''They contribute to make the pupil open up his mind through discovering the context of English civilisation and culture.'' (op.cit: 3). The programme designers of the 1e AM course believe in what they label 'universal culture' (op.cit: 2) vis--vis which the learners should be taught to be tolerant but also critical. In another context, they point to the importance of learning about the ''English civilisation and culture'' (op.cit:3). Many questions should be raised in this regard: What is meant by ''English civilisation and culture''? The British? The American? The Australian? Or other? Or all of them? What is meant by 'universal' culture? Is there a culture that is 'universal'? Do the Algerian programme designers consider Englishspeaking cultures as universal?... . With reference to the 1e AM syllabus and textbook aims (1), they are specified in the following terms:
To train the pupil to: . Interact in real situations related to school life; . Express himself through writing simple correct language; . Have access to simple documentation through functional teaching; . Carry on studying the target language at the next school year (2nd AM) (op.cit: 4)

In this set of aims, the cultural component is not referred to. It is merely implicit in the first aim. The last aim seems to us needless to mention, for it is inherent in any teaching programme. These instances denote, in our opinion, inaccuracies in the formulation of the course targets. The approach underlying 'Spotlight on English' is the approach by competency. The latter has been recently adopted as a substitute for CLT, which has, according to 1e AM designers, yielded unsatisfactory results, as far as performance in English is concerned. They wrongly equate CLT with ''dispensing knowledge'' (op.cit:5), for CLT, as widely recognized, is a use-oriented language teaching approach, hence its appellation. If the set objectives have not been attained, it is not (only) the followed approach that should be blamed. One may wonder whether CLT has been adequately applied in the Algerian school in the last decades.
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The aims outlined for the 1 AM syllabus are the same as those of the textbook 'Spotlight on English' since the latter was developed on the basis of the former (Achour, 2003, in the teacher's handbook).

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In the framework of the new approach (the approach by competency), the learner is supposed to master a set of competencies: to interact, to interpret and to produce simple language (in the context of 1e AM). These competencies would enable him / her to go beyond the acquisition of linguistic knowledge to the actual use of this knowledge in communicative interactions. The learner is also expected to develop learning strategies, to gradually learn by himself / herself. In other words, s/he is assigned an active role in that s/he is held responsible for and made increasingly autonomous in learning. With reference to the categories of textbooks identified by Damen (op.cit), we would classify 'Spotlight on English' somewhere in the continuum between type I.B ('Traditional' / 'Linguistic Skills') and type II.A ('Communicative' - 'Notional / Functional' 'Situational'). It is linked to type I since it is undeniably concerned with the development of linguistic skills. However, it also focuses on the development of oral skills (more than written ones) and presents explicit cultural information. The textbook does not pertain to type III, i.e., 'Cultural / Linguistic' given that it does not present and does not focus on a defined cultural content with complementary linguistic drill or practice, but the other way round. This classification will be justified throughout the analysis of the book content and of its presentation techniques. 2.1.3. Content 2.1.3.1. General Analysis 'Spotlight on English' is made up of one 'pre-file' and seven files (units). The former is entitled ''You know English'' ; it is an introductory phase of few pages (pp1318) which outlines the language alphabet and basic lexical items, some of them are supposed to be familiar to the pupils, such as some types of food and items of clothes. The aim of the pre-file is, hence, to supply the pupils with a sort of 'survival' vocabulary to initiate learning, but at the same time, to raise their consciousness about 'the English' they already know, to motivate them to learn more of it. Each of the seven files of the book consists of eight sections: 'Sequence1', 'Sequence2', 'Sequence3', 'Listening Scripts', 'Learn about Culture', 'Reminder', 'Check', and 'Your Project'. These sections introduce the pupils to a set of grammatical and phonological structures, notions and communicative functions. Sequences1, 2, 3 in every file (i.e., 'Learn the language', as put in the teacher's handbook, p6) are each subdivided into three sub-sections: 'Listen and Speak', 'Practise' and 'Produce'. In most of the 'Listen 248

and Speak' steps of the book, a special sub-division is devoted to pronunciation, stress and intonation. The listening scripts upon which the Sequences are based are provided in a separate, subsequent part. It should be noted that the pupils are mainly trained in the listening and speaking skills. There is no file section headed 'Read' or 'Write', but these skills are not neglected, though granted a second place after the aural / oral skills. As it is pointed out by the structural organization of the textbook units, the cultural component is catered for in a special section, that is 'Learn about Culture'. Through this section, the pupils are stimulated to visualize the link between language and culture. It can be implied that culture is explicitly taught in the framework of this textbook. In 'Reminder', the basic language structures, notions and functions upon which the file is based are highlighted. A series of activities related to the aims of the unit are outlined in 'Check'. The unit ends with an assignment to the learners, a project to be worked on in groups(1). The file structure is delineated in Figure1. Figure1: File Structure in 'Spotlight on English, Book One' Listen and Speak Practise Produce Listen and Speak Practise Produce Listen and Speak Practise Produce

Sequence 1

Learn the language

Sequence 2

Project

Sequence 3 File Reminder Learn about Culture Check

The headings of the files, as displayed in Table 2, indicate that each unit is centred on a basic theme / topic.
. It is worth noting that the present work is not restricted to the analysis of the 'Learn about Culture' section. The cultural load is rather assessed in the whole unit with reference to its listening and reading passages, as well as its suggested activities.
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Table2: Files' Headings in 'Spotlight on English, Book One' File 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Heading Hello Family and Friends Sport In and Out Food Inventions and Discoveries Environment

The analysis of each of these files, however, demonstrates that they are not topic- or thematic-based, that is, the cornerstones upon which the units are built are not topics or themes, but structures and functions. In other words, language structures and functions are first selected and graded then contextualized in the framework of given topics, hence the inclusion of several topics in the same one unit. In this light, the cultural component can be said to be subordinate to the structural and functional components. In File 1, the pupil is basically taught how to introduce oneself and how to greet others. The 'Learn about Culture' section is about monuments and countries, the British royal family, currencies and flags. It can be implied that this unit lacks coherence, at least regarding its cultural content. It is stated in the teacher's manual that through 'Learn about culture', the pupils ''will be able to infer the similarities and differences between their own culture and the cultures that use English as a national or official language.'' (p9). This is questionable since the focus in File 1 as well as in the whole textbook is on English as an international language, hence the reference to countries whose national or official language is not English, such as France (Files 1, 2, 5), China (File 4) and Egypt (File 7), to mention but few. Following this line of thought, Algeria is not disregarded, being, besides, the native country of the pupils. Worth noting, in addition to what has been stated so far, is that File 1 is mainly concerned with big 'C' culture and the 'know about' facet. File 2 is based on the same function as File 1, with the slight difference that the pupils learn how to introduce people (and not themselves). They also learn how to describe their physical appearance. The heading of the unit, 'Family and Friends', is, in our opinion, misleading, given that it suggests more than what is actually

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offered by the authors. One may think the unit to be about family life for example. The culture section can be subdivided into two 'unrelated' parts: the first reintroduces greeting formulas, and the second deals with celebrations. The cultural content is geared this time to small 'c' culture, but it is still restricted to surface matters, i.e., no reference is made to the 'know why' aspect of culture. In File 3, 'Sport'(1) is the major theme. It is approached as a general international issue. Many cultures are involved: England, Algeria, France, Brazil and others. 'Learn about Culture' introduces the pupils to different sports and world cups. It also describes some of young Londoners' hobbies. The content is both of the small 'c' and big 'C' types. The fourth file 'In and Out' introduces many topics at a time: holidays, animals, and daily activities. The only linking thread cannot be but structural / functional: the use of the present simple, the present continuous and prepositions of place and time, to talk about present and everyday activities. The culture section is devoted to time, the English school, pets in America and the Chinese horoscope, displaying further the incoherence characterizing the cultural content of the unit. This incoherence is indisputably due to the fact that the cultural content is used to reinforce structural and cultural objectives. Though parts of File 4 are linked to small 'c' culture, the file can be said to encompass a culture-general content. File 5 is about food. It involves the pupils in some consumer's situations such as asking about prices and ordering a meal. 'Learn about Culture' deals with international cuisines, including that of the pupils. It also links the topic to celebrations. Food and celebrations pertain to small 'c' culture. The focus is always on surface (rather than deep) culture. File 6 is entitled 'Inventions and Discoveries', but this is not the major theme of the unit. In fact, it is only that of Sequence 2.The other parts of the file are about a variety of topics having to do, for example, with talking about one's journey and reporting what one did the day before. As in the previous units, these topics serve the main function of the file and its corresponding grammatical structures, in this case, the function of talking about past events, and structures as the simple past tense, did questions and past time markers. The thematic / topical (cultural) aspect is thus just

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'Sport' in the Table of Contents and 'Sports' in the unit itself.

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complementary and secondary to functional and structural components. The 'Learn about Culture' phase is historical to suit the aim of the unit (the use of the simple past). It also includes some proverbs that illustrate a 'by-product' structure (the comparative of equality: asas). In File 6, the pupils learn about some small 'c' and big 'C' cultural facts which remain limited to the surface observable part of the culture iceberg, following the example of the other files of the book. The last file refers to environmental issues such as the weather, endangered animals, and pollution. Nevertheless, as noted in relation to most of the 1e AM textbook files, other 'irrelevant' topics are there to back the function and structures of the unit _ in this context, the function of talking about future events and activities using the future simple with will. The culture section is basically geographical. It has to do with locating countries and sites around the world. It refers as well to international organisations. Basically, the cultural items presented in this file are culture-general relating to universal human problems. The cultural content of the textbook is up-to-date. In File 1, for example, all the members of the royal family are cited, including Prince Charles' sons William and Harry. In the food file (File 5), reference is made to traditional dishes as 'the couscous' and 'les madeleines', but also to the fast food culture of hamburger, pizza, and soda. In a like manner, the pupils in File 6 are introduced to Bill Gates as well as to Louis Braille. Moreover, 'Spotlight on English' presents many instances of e-mails in addition to traditional letters, and encourages the learners to search for information on the World Wide Web to do project works. It is also stereotype-free, if we exclude the stereotypical representation of the French as good cooks (Franois in File 5). Because the textbook is peopled with teenagers(1) and is focused on topics as sport, food, inventions and discoveries, we find it quite interesting and suitable to 12/13 year-old pupils. Besides, there are no inappropriate or inaccurate materials to condemn. The textbook is also in harmony with the official syllabus since, as stated in section 2, both syllabus and textbook have been conceived in the framework of competency-based education and do have the same goals. To sum up, in the 1e AM textbook, the cultural component is explicitly taken account of, though it is relegated to a secondary position after language structures

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See Micro-Social Analysis for a detailed analysis of the characters of the book

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and functions. The items covered relate to both small 'c' and big 'C' culture, and are sometimes thematic-universal. Many cultures are targeted by the book, for English is viewed as an international language used world wide. Surface (or objective) culture is catered for in the book seven files. The cultural content provided is on the whole upto-date, accurate and suitable to the learners and the syllabus.

2.1.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis Most of the characters of the book are teenagers of different nationalities (British, Algerian, American, Chinese, Nigerian, Egyptian, Russian, and others). Many of them are presented through photographs and are thereby realistic. There is no focus, however, on one (or more) character(s), the fact which resulted, in our viewpoint, in some kind of scattering and disunity within the book. The ten year-old Sally from England could have been such a unifying character, if she had been referred to in all or most of the files. Rather, she was totally disregarded in Files 3 and 4, and merely alluded to in one activity in Files 5 and 6, hence her (quasi-) absence in four files, i.e., 57.14% of the textbook files. In 'Spotlight on English', there is a reference to some renowned people (media stars, athletes, scientists) pertaining to different cultures. Some important figures such as the British royal family members are presented for recognition, but they are not put in an appropriate context. It is important to note that the image of the book characters is superficial. We do not get close enough to know and understand them. There is no basis for empathy, except in File 7, which deals with shared environmental problems. Being the last unit of the book, the pupils may even not have the opportunity to work on its contents. Equally worth mentioning is that the characters are not portrayed in varied situations, representative of a range of social interactions. They do not display emotions; they are never upset or angry. One would expect teenagers to fight sometimes with each other, for example _ not a single instance of that in the book. 2.1.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis As previously stated, there is not one TC in the 1e AM coursebook, but several ones. This may be one reason why the cultural facts provided are superficial and limited: the pupils learn everything and nothing at the same time. We mean that if only one English-speaking culture had been the focal point of teaching / learning, and all other cultures (if need be) subsidiary, the cultural content would have been 253

insightful to the pupils. Besides, the cultural elements selected are subservient to linguistic targets, as demonstrated in section 2.1. 3.1. There is a reference to some world monuments, flags and currencies in File 1, some known cuisines in File 5, and the Earth environmental troubles in File 7. The latter includes in one of its activities the unique statistical data of the whole book. They have to do with the geography of London and Manchester. Knowledge of the geography of some world countries is catered for solely in this file and in one activity in File 1. Historical material is also lacking in the book, but for little information in relation to world famous inventions and the origin of some countries' names in File 6. Only the British school as a FC institution is referred to very briefly in File 4. No word is mentioned about the socio-political / socio-economic problems of any country. 2.1.3.4. Intercultural Analysis The 'know oneself' component is clearly one of the targets of the 1e AM textbook. In fact, information is presented in a comparative frame of reference, where the Algerian and foreign cultures are involved. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the intercultural situations which occur in the book are undeniably trivial and lead to no real interaction of cultures. Consider, for example, the 'colourless' dialogue between Olga (Russian) and Yanis (Greek) in File 2 (p55):
Olga: Is that your father? Yanis: No, it's my uncle. Olga: What's his job? Yanis: He's a dentist.

It is clear that the dialogue was merely written to illustrate the functions and structures of the unit. This is also the case of the conversation between Sally (English) and Sami (Algerian), in File 7 (p158):
Sally: Let's have a look at that notice on the wall. What does it say? Sami: Great! We'll have the right to elect a pupil to represent us at the teachers' council. Sally: Wonderful! We'll have the right to take part in the writing of the school regulations for next term. Sami: We'll have rights but duties too.

We assume that the 1e AM pupils would understand that Sally and Sami belong to the same school and culture. This discourse would have been authentic if it were

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intra-cultural, that is, between two English or two Algerian classmates. The multicultural character of the book could have been better exploited to promote intercultural tolerance and understanding through the presentation and treatment of authentic intercultural events (incidents, communication breakdowns).

2.1.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors The authors' attitude is not explicitly stated in 'Spotlight on English'. There are no instances of intercultural advice, no evaluative comments, no invitation to reflect upon cultural issues and to analyse them critically. However, after going through the textbook files, one gets the image of a happy world, if it were not for the environmental troubles in the last file. In this world, different cultures live in harmony: they 'communicate' with each other (Files 1 and 2); they 'play' together (File 3); they visit each other (Files 4 and 6); they have a variety of dishes, and one can taste them all (File 5); they benefit from each other (File 6); and they help each other to protect the environment (File 7). There are no conflicts, no wars, no colonialism, no terrorism, no racism, no poverty, no starvation,no problems. Though 1e AM pupils are relatively young, most of them, we believe, are quite conscious that life is not that rosy. It is a truth they see everyday on television through the news, films, and even cartoons. Thus, it seems reasonable that school textbooks deal with some of the issues outlined above, to enable youngsters to better understand them, and to positively respond to what is going on in their country and outside of it. The ideology behind the book is, according to us, that of promoting cultural globalization. Put otherwise, 'Spotlight on English' depicts the world as a small village which encompasses diverse cultures that are in constant contact. This diversity of cultures leads to enrichment and progress, hence the need to open up to others and to others' cultures. What should equally be highlighted are the possible destructive effects of globalization such as cultural imperialism _ facts that do not seem to be significant for the textbook authors, at least at this stage.

2.1.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content

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The analysis of the textbook files in section 2.1. 3.1 has demonstrated that the 'know about' cultural component is integrated, but is without any discernible structure, and is largely presented as subsidiary to the linguistic aspect. Indeed, in five files out of seven (namely, files 1, 2, 4, 6, 7), that is, in 72.42% of the book, the cultural content provided is in the form of fragmented, isolated pieces of information. This fact led the book to be incoherent, and at times, confusing. Through many instances, we get the evidence that cultural facts are arbitrarily selected and incorporated in the coursebook. In 'Hello', File 1 through the 'Learn about Culture' section, the pupils are introduced to some world monuments, the British royal family, some currencies and flags. Not only are these cultural topics unrelated to each other, but they, in addition, do not fit the basic theme of the file that is about greeting. More appropriate activities would have dealt with the various verbal and non-verbal greeting forms available in one or more cultures. The pupils would learn that there are different ways of greeting peers and superiors, that different formulae exist depending on the time of the day. An analogous activity is found in 'Spotlight on English', but in File 2 (p56). Given the multi-cultural nature of the book, the learners might have been taught some relevant non-verbal rituals and their significance cross-culturally, for example, kissing, handshaking and bowing. Activity c about the royal family (p34) would have been, logically speaking, more proper in File 2, 'Family and Fiends'. File 4 is also conspicuous with its fragmentary cultural content: here about holidays, there about animals, then about daily activities and means of transport, after that about time and the British school, and finally about American pets and the Chinese horoscope . In our opinion, a more jumbled content cannot be conceived. The textbook authors are, thus, just listing cultural information. This approach cannot develop systematic knowledge about, let alone understanding of the TC. Nonetheless, it is fair to mention that some cultural items are recycled in the course of the textbook, namely, monuments, currencies and the world map. The seven files of the book are mainly based on dialogues. Other text types are more or less included: letters (in Files 2, 4, 6, 7); short descriptive passages (in Files 3, 4, 5, 6); songs (in Files 1, 3, 4) and advertisements (in Files 2, 3). The authors could have included extracts from children's literature, which is ideal to teach about the TC at this level. The short narrative passage about 'Little Red Riding Hood' in File6 (p134) may be an extract of this kind, but it is not made clear whether it is authentic or specifically written for the textbook, and no reference is mentioned. 256

Poems and proverbs are also scarce in the book, for only few proverbs can be found in Files 5 and 6, and just two short poems in File 7. We note as well a cartoon in File 4. Concerning the language of the textbook, we think that it is not authentic. In all the dialogues presented, the sentences are complete and grammatically perfect, and most of them follow the question /answer pattern: for example, File 4, Sequence 2, Listening Script 6 (p95):
Pupil: Which animal do you prefer? Animal keeper: I like elephants. Pupil: What do they eat? Animal keeper: They eat fruit and grass. Pupil: How long do they sleep? Animal keeper: They sleep four hours. Pupil: Where do they come from? Animal keeper: They come from Africa and Asia.

It is mentioned in the teacher's guide that the culture section incorporates '' extracts from real life contexts'' (p9). This is questionable given that, on the one hand, the section includes many drawings specifically done to illustrate some of the textbook foci (and not only photographs); on the other hand, little text is provided: single sentences or short paragraphs about cultural facts. The activities suggested in 'Spotlight on English' are essentially based on oral work, with the subsequent integration of some reading and writing. They are also more geared to language usage rather than to language use. Though structural rules are not explicitly presented, their practice underlies most of the book activities. There are exercises as ordering letters, words, sentences and pictures; correcting spelling and grammatical mistakes and supplying capitalization and punctuation; supplying the correct form of verbs; identifying the correct word in a structure or the odd / relevant element in a list; constructing sentences using given cues; filling in gaps, tables, forms and crosswords; completing dialogues based on previously learned ones; matching pairs; answering simple comprehension questions or identifying true / false statements; translating words and expressions; and guided paragraph writing. Mechanical repetition drills and communicative drills are, by far, the overwhelming activity types in 'Spotlight on English'. Though varied, most of these activities are not culture-geared and are even not communicative, unlike what is claimed in the

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teacher's handbook(1). Communicative drills, for instance, cannot be considered as communicative activities because the interaction they suggest follows the same cueresponse pattern; the learners merely substitute some language items given in the model dialogue for others of their choice, keeping the same structure, to build their own dialogue. The authors of 'Spotlight on English' sometimes call a communication drill a role play: for example, File 4, Sequence 2, activity a (p88):
Role play: Look at the chart below. Be the park keeper. Answer your friend's questions about the animals. e.g. Where do fennecs live? They live in the desert. Do they eat grass? No, they do not. They eat fruit and insects. How long do they sleep? They sleep for 11 hours. Animal fennecs monkeys lions cows Habitat desert Park/jungle jungle farm Food Insects/fruit fruit meat grass Sleeping habitat 11 hours 8 11 6

In some cases, the authors use the term role play to refer to a mere mechanical repetition drill: for example, File 3, Sequence 2, activity c (p67)
c. Role play: Say the interview with your partner.

It should be remembered that a role play implies spontaneous, free language use on the part of the learners, which is far from being the case of the activities outlined above. Though the activities suggested in the 'Learn about Culture' section have a cultural context, they are not typical culture teaching activities. We wonder why the authors did not think of including critical incidents, cultural capsules and clusters, group or classroom discussions, culture assimilators, problem-solving activities, role plays and simulations and case studies. In File 5, activity g (p116) focuses the
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It is stated in this document that 'Learn the Language' (i.e., Sequences 1, 2, 3) in each file presents structures, notions and functions in communicative activities.

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learners' attention on the mechanics of writing while it could have been designed as a culture capsule:
g. Rewrite the paragraph with the right punctuation. when I invite my friends for a couscous we sit on a carpet round a 'meida' mother serves the couscous with pieces of meat on top of it in a large plate she puts the plate on the meida and the spoons all around it she brings a casserole of sauce and pours it with the ladle there is a jug of water and napkins too on the meida

Some activities of the book provide the learners with a short passage having a given cultural content, but with no accompanying instructions. We suppose that the pupils are required to read the passage in question, but this would be reading without a purpose, which is not recommended in FL teaching: for instance, File 5, Activity j (p117) New Year Menu -onion soup -turkey (served with cauliflower, carrots, peas, potatoes) -salad -plum pudding -apple pie -mineral water -orange juice -coffee / tea We note, however, that the pupils are expected to engage in much comparative work, though unnecessarily restricted to the linguistic 'know how', or exclusively concerned with surface matters, with reference to the NC and other cultures. The following extracts from the textbook are illustrative: File 2, activities b, c, d, e (p56)
b. Greet in your language. c. Greet in other languages you know. CELEBRATIONS d. What they say e.g. In Great Britain: Happy New Year! -In Algeria -In France -In Italy e. What they have e.g. In Algeria, for Eid El Fitr, children have new clothes and have money.

We note also the inclusion of some culture quizzes, though only the one in File 6 (p137) is named as such (i.e., as a culture quiz). 259

The project with which each file concludes is, in our opinion, a positive step to enhance the pupils' discovery or exploratory skills and to broaden their cultural horizons and general knowledge. However, we believe that the suggested project works (as well as the textbook as a whole, as stated before) should have been focused on a TC, a typically English-speaking culture, with all its facets. The pupils' NC, other world cultures and culture-general topics can be referred to in a secondary manner. 'Spotlight on English' is rich in artwork. There are drawings and / or photographs in almost every page. At times, one gets the impression that the book is overloaded with pictures. Some photographs, it should be noted, are somehow blurred (like those on pp25, 28, 71, 123), and all the suggested photos lack brightness(1) . Besides, there are more drawings than photographs. Drawings are not only less authentic, but in 'Spotlight on English', they are at times inaccurate. For example, the same picture used for Sue in File 3 (p67) is reproduced for Jane in File 4 (p83). The book includes as well some maps, particularly world maps. In spite of the fact that these illustrations supplement the general content and add colour to the book, they have little cultural implications. The photographs of people, for example, depict 'insignificant', individual, smiling faces. It would have been culturally significant to show people interacting in specific contexts. The artwork on the cover of the book displays London's Tower Bridge, Big Ben and telephone boxes. It points out falsely that the school book is on the Anglo-Saxon culture, while several world cultures are included, with English being viewed as an international language and not as the 'property' of the Anglo-Saxons. 2.1.5. Complements 'Spotlight on English' is accompanied by a teacher's handbook. The latter elucidates the philosophy of the book and presents a descriptive account of the files. In the 'Learn about Culture' part, the importance of learning about culture is highlighted, but no methodological notes or further information about the cultural items to be taught are included.

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at least in the copy in hand.

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2.1.6. Recapitulation 'Spotlight on English' is a textbook intended for young pupils who have never studied English before. It is based on the approach by competency and its files are functionally / structurally built. The cultural component is not neglected, but is subsidiary. The outstanding characteristic of the book is its consideration of more than one culture. Although a whole section in each file is purposefully devoted to teach about culture, the cultural content is circumscribed and fragmentary. Both small 'c' and big 'C' cultural facets are touched upon, but only surface 'know about' / 'know oneself' aims are targeted. The information provided is, however, accurate, stereotype-free, and suitable to the learners and the official syllabus. At the microsocial level, the textbook presents real but superficial characters, and at the macrosocial one, what is supplied is rather limited and dispersed. The pupils are expected to engage in intercultural comparisons, but no real intercultural encounters are handled by the book. The overall image depicted is that of a happy world, where different cultures live together in harmony.

Nowhere in the coursebook is direct reference made to cultural values, assumptions and beliefs, whether native or foreign. In our opinion, this fact hinders true understanding of the TC. As far as the pupils' NC is concerned, nothing is stated about Algeria being an Islamic society, but for a slight reference to 'Aid el Fitr' and 'el Mawlid Ennabaoui' in Files 2 and 5. Even these instances are not worth mentioning, since in their corresponding activities, the pupils' attention is focused on material or shallow aspects, namely, what children have in el Aid (new clothes and money), and what people eat in el Mawlid. We believe that 1e AM pupils are able to see beyond these matters, if they are prompted to. What is more, given that several Englishspeaking cultures are introduced, international varieties of English and non-native accents should have normally been introduced too. Nevertheless, this is not appropriate for beginners. Thus, it seems to us that a coursebook with a multicultural character would better fit advanced levels. To be effective, it should, in addition, be designed with great care, lest its cultural content would be fragmentary.

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2.2. The Second English Coursebook (2e AM) 2.2.1. General Descriptive Information - Name of textbook: The second English Coursebook(1) - Intended learners' level: 2e AM. - Authors: Head of project: Mrs Lakria MERAZGA Authors: Mr Farouk BOUHADIBA Mrs Wahiba GUEDOUDJ Mrs Zehour TORCHE Illustrator: -Publisher: O.N.P.S -Year / Place of publication: 2004-2005 / Algeria -Number of pages: 125 Mr Toufik BERDAD

2.2.2. Rationale 'Spotlight on English Book Two' has been elaborated following the same principles and methodological bases as 'Spotlight on English Book One'. Put otherwise, it is underlain by the newly adopted approach _ the approach by competency, and it applies the project pedagogy. In the teacher's manual, Merazga et al. (2004) refer to the philosophy of building up the learners' competencies and to the importance of highlighting the communicative nature of language. They outline four major aims for the book:
to provide motivating materials that allow pupils to respond in real life situations in which English is spoken; -to teach an appropriate language that can be put to immediate use, in both speaking and writing; -to teach authentic language; -to give pupils a feeling of success and achievement in language learning. ('Spotlight on English Book Two'; Teacher's Guide:2004 p4)

These aims are, in our opinion, not accurately formulated: the first and second aims have the same purport, and the fourth seems too vague. What is of more relevance to our work is the failure to regard explicitly the cultural dimension. When describing the structure of the coursebook, the authors put it clearly that the 'Learn about Culture' section ''is meant only for pleasure'' (ibid: 11). In another
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This is the name that appears on the cover of the book. The first page displays another one, namely 'Spotlight on English Book Two'

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context, they state ''This section is a piece of individual reading, for personal enjoyment as an end in itself. A follow up work is suggested to maintain motivation. However, it is not compulsory.'' (op.cit: 38). It appears that the 2e AM textbook incorporates cultural material not because knowledge about culture is crucial to master its corresponding language, or to develop communicative competence in it. The goal of the presentation of cultural contents is not to develop the learners' 'know about', 'know why', 'know how' or 'know oneself', not even to develop positive attitudes towards English-speaking communities. The cultural material of the book is simply meant to be 'entertaining', and is 'optional'. It is, thus, not taken seriously. We find this attitude in contradiction with the previously stated aims, for appropriate and authentic language in real life situations presupposes culture. What seems to be exclusively stressed in the 2eAM coursebook is the linguistic aspect: '' The (cultural) comparisons they (i.e., the pupils) make can be motivating and fruitful on the linguistic level.''(op.cit: 11). Concerning which culture to introduce, the authors refer to 'universal' culture, as is the case in 1e AM. They did not elucidate this concept, which probably means 'general' culture relating to universal human concerns, as will be demonstrated in the coming sections. To begin with an overall evaluation, 'Spotlight on English Book Two' can be classified under the same category as book one, namely at a point between type I.B and type II.A, that is, between the 'Traditional', 'Linguistic Skills' category and the 'Communicative', 'Notional / Functional', 'Situational' category. Indeed, the structural component underlies much of the practice suggested in the textbook, though the latter is topically organized. The development of the pupils' communicative skills, particularly in the oral medium, is also one of the targets of the book, though it is not catered for adequately. The cultural component is left in the background and is, thus, secondary and optional. That is why the book is not 'Cultural / Linguistic' (i.e., type III). 2.2.3. Content 2.2.3.1. General Analysis 'The Second English Coursebook' is not dissimilar from 'Spotlight on English Book One' for it is structured in the same way, with some additions and minor changes. Each of its five files includes, as in the 1e AM textbook, three 'Sequences', 'Listening Scripts', a ' Learn about Culture ' section, a 'Reminder' box, 'Check' activities and a 'Project' work. Each sequence has its objectives explicitly stated at 263

the beginning of the file. It subdivides into two main sections: 'Listen and Speak' and 'Discover the Language'. The former incorporates 'Pronunciation and Spelling', 'Practise Stress and Intonation' and 'Go Forward' (instead of 'Produce'). 'Discover the Language' which is a new section geared to structural discovery and practice, subsumes a reading passage and a series of exercises to practise grammar and vocabulary. It also embodies the 'Reminder' sub-section. The aim is to teach the pupils how language works as a mechanism. Each sequence ends with a 'Fun' portion which comprehends a joke or a riddle. 'Help'(1) is another new section that supplies cues to improve the pupils' learning strategies. The pupils are also provided with an evaluative grid for 'Self Assessment'. Figure 2 displays the way files in the 2e AM textbook are structured. Figure 2: File Structure in 'Spotlight on English Book Two'
Pronunciation and Spelling Practise Stress and Intonation Listen and Speak Sequence 1 Discover the language Reminder Pronunciation and Spelling Practise Stress and Intonation Listen and Speak Sequence 2 Discover the language Reminder Pronunciation and Spelling Practise Stress and Intonation Listen and Speak Sequence 3 Discover the language Learn about Culture Check Help
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Practise Go Forward Practise

Practise Go Forward Practise Project Self Assessment

File

Practise Go Forward Practise Reminder

'Help' is not included in Files 4 and 5.

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'Learn about Culture' reflects the fact that the cultural component is explicitly integrated in the book. Following the example of book one, book two considers many cultures at a time: European, American and Arab cultures, but many of the cultural items introduced by the book are not thematic- (or culture-) specific. Like the 1e AM coursebook, 'Spotlight on English Book Two' has topicallyheaded files. Table 3: Files' Headings in 'Spotlight on English Book Two' File 1 2 3 4 5 Heading A Person's Profile Language Games Health Cartoons Theatre

The analysis of the files indicates that they have actually been conceived on a thematic basis (unlike those of the 1e AM coursebook). This means that their starting point is a theme / topic, not a language function or structure. Each file has been built around a specific topic in relation to which several language functions may be expressed and many language functions are used. As shown in Table 2, File 1 deals with a person's profile. One can read many profiles throughout the unit. Its 'Learn about Culture ' part deals with some music styles. It would have been more appropriate if it had been about the biographies of some famous musicians. This was done in the case of 'classical music', in relation to which the profile of 'Beethoven' was drawn. The description of a person's profile has to do with both small 'c' and big 'C' cultural aspects. The way it is tackled in this file relates more to big 'C' features, for reference is made to actors (Jane Smith), musicians (Louis Armstrong), writers (Charles Dickens) and other celebrities from different cultures. Though cultural values and beliefs are intrinsic in the passages of the 'Learn about Culture' section, no attempt is made to draw the pupils' attention to them. Focus is but on surface cultural aspects. File 2 is about language games such as crosswords and palindromes. 'Learn about Culture' refers to other games, like the puzzle and chess. The content can, thus, be said to be culture-general. Though the listening scripts of Sequences 2 and

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3 are not exactly about language games, but about an advertisement and a trip respectively, the authors succeeded, in our opinion, to link these topics. What is missing is a consideration of deep culture, that is, the 'know why' aspect of culture. For example, the authors could have included short poems, proverbs or other metaphorical forms of language and made the pupils reflect not only on the magic use of words, but also on the cultural meanings implied. Health is the major theme of File 3. Illnesses, exercise, medical advice and medical discoveries are the topics handled. In the culture section, reference is made to traditional remedies to complete the picture. There are also tips of colour therapy. Some of the home remedies mentioned may be viewed as pertaining to small 'c' culture, being based on behaviours that form part of one's daily life, or that describe an aspect of one's way of living (of surviving). Nevertheless, the cultural items introduced in the file can on the whole be said to be thematic universal, i.e., culturegeneral. Values such as tidiness and discipline, the belief in herbal medicine and the assumption that natural, fresh food is healthy food underlie many parts of the unit, but they are not put in evidence by the textbook authors. To the delight of the pupils (we assume), cartoons are celebrated in File 4. It deals as well with leisure activities, which bring in some small 'c' cultural items. The cultural content of the unit as a whole is rather of the big 'C' type, given that strip cartoons or comic strips can be considered as part of the artistic products of a society. The cultural heritage that lies beneath these observable products is not pointed out. In File 5, the pupils are supposed to learn about the world of theatre. Nevertheless, only one extract from a play is presented to them in the 'Go forward' section of Sequence 1. The authors should have cited other extracts from other plays, particularly those intended for children, to suit the age and level of the pupils. The dialogues upon which the three sequences are based are not irrelevant, but, in our viewpoint, they offer little about theatre, particularly the two first ones which clearly illustrate the target functions of the unit. In Sequence 1, for example, the conversation between Andrew and Myra is basically about showing the way to the theatre. The cultural 'know about' is in the background to serve the linguistic 'know how': (p110)

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Andrew: Excuse me, where's the open-air theatre? Myra: It's next to the art school. Do you know where it is? Andrew: No, I don't. Could you show me the way on the map? Myra: Sure. Are you new here? Andrew: Yes, I am. I'm going to see the social comedy that is on. The newspapers made a positive critic about it. Myra: And it's good, believe me! I've seen it. Well, go straight along this street, then turn left at the second corner. The town hall is there and the theatre is just opposite. You can't miss it. You'll probably see people queuing at the entrance. Andrew: How far is it from here? Myra: Not more than 1 km, I think. How are you getting there? Andrew: I'm walking. Myra: If you hurry, it won't take you more than fifteen minutes. Andrew: Thank you very much. Myra: You're welcome.

The part devoted to learning about culture is instructive, in that it outlines some theatrical genres and theatre-related records. This big 'C' culture-oriented file could have offered ideal opportunities to tackle deep culture. Indeed, theatre and all genres of literature are golden means to know about the beliefs, values and assumptions of a culture. The authors included, in addition to the play extract referred to above, two short stories; however, they did not exploit their inherent cultural content. The topics around which the 2e AM textbook has been conceived are, doubtless, engaging and entertaining. They are apposite to Middle School learners since they target their hobbies and stimulate their curiosity. Which teenager is not captivated by music (File 1), games (File 2), cartoons (File 4), and stories (File 5)? In addition, the content provided links the past to the present time: in File 1, for instance, talk is about a number of public figures of the past and of today _ 'Charles Dickens', 'Louis Armstrong', 'Jane Smith', 'Mohamed Fellag', and 'Britney Spears'; in File 2, reference is made to crossword and chess, but also to video games and flippers. The cultural content is also free of errors, stereotypes and bias. The relevance of the cultural content and the whole textbook to the official syllabus is normally taken for granted, given that the latter is based on the former: ''Spotlight, book 2 is a translation of the competencies, objectives and contents recommended by the programme.'' (Teacher's Guide, op.cit:6). The 2e AM syllabus, like that of the precedent year, is elaborated on the basis of the approach by competency. It outlines the learning outcomes supposed to be attained by the pupils by the end of the school year. They are concerned with consolidating and expanding knowledge and skills acquired in 1e AM. Focus is maintained on oral communication,

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with a gradual progression from oral to written, and from comprehension to production. These points are well reflected in the book. The cultural objectives are not specified in the syllabus. As in 1e AM, there is just a general reference to opening up the pupil's mind to the English language culture. This general objective cannot be met by 'Spotlight on English Book Two', the latter being based on an essentially culture-general content. It is to be noted that the nature of the English-speaking culture(s) to be studied is not specified by the syllabus designers. The aims enumerated for the 2e AM exit profile consist in enabling the pupils:
-to interact in real situations related to school life using a more elaborate English; -to express themselves orally and in writing using a more elaborate and correct language; and -to carry on learning the language at the next school level (3e AM). (Programmes de la deuxime anne moyenne, 2003:44, our translation)

As in the textbook's set of aims, the cultural component is here disregarded, though it is implicit in the fist two aims. In the 'Document d'Accompagnement des Programmes de la 2eme Anne Moyenne' (2003), the importance of cultural knowledge for effective communication is pointed out, as well as the need to integrate it in the FL course, with a particular reference to its concrete and contemporary facets to suit the level of the pupils. This is not compatible with the textbook designers' belief that the cultural content is not compulsory material, and is just meant for leisure. To sum up, 'Spotlight on English Book Two' is based on a thematic topical syllabus. Information on several world cultures is embraced throughout the book files, and is specifically presented in the 'Learn about culture' sections. The cultural items covered are mainly of the big 'C' or of the general cultural type, a fact which does not suit the 2e AM syllabus which points to English-speaking culture(s). Aspects of life style or patterns of daily living, including beliefs and values are not taken into account. An important characteristic of the book is its appeal to the pupils. 2.2.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 'Spotlight on English Book Two' reintroduces some of the characters first encountered in book one, like Sally, Sami, Yanis, Olga, Aminata, Steve and Indira. There are also new characters like John, Andrew, Robin, Andy, Myra and others. We think that these are mere names that do not stand for real characters. Other names

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could have been used instead. What was said by Sally could have been said by John or Myra or any other one. Utterances are, it seems to us, arbitrarily assigned to x or y. At times, the authors merely resort to anonymous A and B. This technique, it should be noted, is not recommended in FL learning; learners need to be made aware about who says what to whom, and about other socio-cultural factors of the speech situation. The development of characters is, thus, limited; it makes them appear less real and the issue of understanding them is not dealt with in any depth. On the other hand, a number of known figures particularly artists (singers, actors, painters) and some famous cartoon characters are referred to in the book. This material broadens the pupils' cultural horizons as far as art is concerned. 2.2.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis As pointed out previously, the 2e AM textbook has an essentially culturegeneral content. Some parts of it are associated with several cultures at a time, particularly big 'C', highbrow culture aspects, like music, theatre and other arts. The information provided has to do with these topics. It is to be noted that this information is basically historical, for in all five files, pupils are offered a brief historical overview of a given cultural facet: kinds of music in File 1, crosswords and other games in File 2, some medical discoveries and remedies in File 3, cartoon albums in File 4, and theatre genres and records in File 5. The geography of countries is totally disregarded, but for little information about Edinburgh in File 2. Material of this kind should have been catered for, given its pertinence to learning about others' cultures. Similarly, FC institutions are not referred to; even File 5 about theatre includes no adequate description of this key, artistic, educational institution. Many significant features of English-speaking cultures are unrepresented, especially what concerns the realities of everyday life. On the question of socio-political, socio-economic problems, the coursebook has as well no information. The overall image is in fact very positive. Only surface cultural aspects akin to entertainment are dealt with.

2.2.3.4. Intercultural Analysis The learners' NC is present in 'Spotlight on English Book Two' as well as several FCs such as the British, the American, the French, the Spanish and the Japanese cultures. The characters of the book are also purported to represent 269

different nationalities and countries. However, these various cultures are only referred to in a slight, cursory manner; they are shown in partial glimpses that do not assist the learners to build a coherent picture of any of them. Besides, they are not presented in a comparative frame of reference, but independently from each other. Though some of the characters are portrayed in intercultural interactions, the latter are trivial and are of no intercultural significance. Consider, for example, the conversation between Pedro and Aminata (introduced in the 1e AM textbook as being Mexican and Nigerian, respectively): (p64)
Pedro: Hi, Aminata. What are you doing? Aminata: I'm preparing a quiz about medical discoveries and their authors. Pedro: Can I help you? Aminata: Yes, please. Remind me about the discoveries we saw in file 6 last year. Pedro: ErrVaccines against Rabies and cow-pox, BCG, radium, penicillin and Aminata: Oh, yes. Now, I remember. Penicillin was discovered by Marie Curie and Pedro: You, blockhead! Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming and Marie Curie discovered radium Aminata: Ah! Ah! Ah!... I always get mixed up!

Why a Mexican and a Nigerian to discuss medical discoveries? Are Pedro and Aminata classmates in an Algerian Middle School? We think that there can be no plausible answers to these questions. The authors of the book should have illustrated intercultural interactions in a more authentic way. In this regard, the multicultural character of an English-speaking country could have been depicted, by referring to its ethnic minorities. The authors could have thought as well of including situations in which people with a good mastery of English are not understood because of differences in culture-specific frames. Moreover, the textbook might have dealt with the mutual representations of native and foreign societies. In this light, 'Spotlight on English Book Two' does not support intercultural teaching. 2.2.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors The authors of the 2e AM coursebook adopt an 'outsider's' perspective, providing mainly for anonymous, detached cultural commentaries. There is, in fact, an avoidance of indication of their attitude(s); there are no evaluative comments and no invitation to critical analysis. In general, the cultural image depicted is very 270

positive: people are artists and inventors (musicians, actors, painters, and writers in File 1; players and entertainers in File 2; health advisers in File 3; cartoonists in File 4; and lovers of drama in File 5), and countries are full of interesting things to see and enjoyable things to do. Hence, this image is rather like that presented to a royal visitor: everything is fine, and we see the appealing and entertaining side of life, not the monotonous and the routine. Following the example of book one, 'Spotlight on English Book Two' promotes cultural globalization. Indeed, it portrays a world with no frontiers, where Wang, a Chinese teenager living in London, is a fan of the American star Britney Spears (File 1), where an Indian girl, Indira, won a crossword puzzle contest prize, together with John(1), and narrates their trip to Edinburgh to their Algerian friend, Sami (File 2), and where an English pupil, Sally, and a Japanese one, Akiko, attend the same drama school, to learn about the Picollo theatre of Hamburg, the Kabuki of Tokyo and others (File 5). Other similar instances can be found in the textbook. Whether the focus is on one or more TCs, a realistic cultural account considers negative as well as positive characteristics. It cannot be justifiably assumed that the exclusive presentation of the admirable accomplishments and the enjoyable elements of a culture engenders positive attitudes towards it. Rather a reference to the less attractive realities of life lends credibility to the book and brings about understanding and empathy on the part of the learners. Similarly, cultural globalization is to be presented as a two-edged sword. The learners should indeed be encouraged to open up to the world, to know about different cultures, but more importantly, they should be taught how to be analytic and critical. Besides, broadening the Algerian pupils' cultural horizons does not mean acquainting them with Britney Spears or Mickey. Although these and analogous topics may appeal to young learners, they are, in our opinion, of no educational value. They may even be harmful. Suffice it to watch one of Spears' video clips to realize how detrimental their impact can be on teenagers, who may be tempted to imitate the singer's type of clothing, gestures Even the lyrics are not proper. We believe that cultural globalization can disclose much more than these trivialities to the learners.

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The nationality of John is not identified neither in book one nor in book two.

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2.2.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content The analysis of the 2e AM coursebook contents indicates that culture is integrated in texts, dialogues and exercises. It also uncovers, however, that it is brought in merely as a background to serve the other language components. In other words, it is not put in evidence and not given importance of its own. Even in the 'Learn about culture' section, culture is not given due care, for all that is provided is a collection of passages dealing with a particular theme or topic; no cultural elements are taken from a text and used in follow up activities, to throw light on its cultural message. As pointed out previously (in 'Rationale'), the 'Learn about culture' material is optional and meant just for pleasure. Similarly, jokes are simply used ''to vary presentation and to arouse the pupils' interest and humour.'' (Teacher's Guide, op.cit: 12). In our opinion, their primary use should be for the sake of cultural knowledge. One positive characteristic of the cultural content provided is its coherence. Unlike the 1e AM files, those of 2e AM are thematically well structured and unified. Cultural information is interconnected and presented in defined contexts. The 'Health' file, for example, weaves together topics about illnesses, food, exercise, medical discoveries and home remedies. There is no extraneous material that would have broken this topical harmony; even the suggested jokes are about health. Another positive feature of the textbook is its encompassing of varied text types: dialogues, short descriptive and narrative passages, cartoons, notices, jokes, riddles and letters. There are also dictionary extracts, a passage from a play, one short newspaper article, a song, but no proverbs. As pointed out before with respect to File 5, the provision of only one theatrical piece in a whole unit devoted to theatre is inadequate. More excerpts of this kind should have been included, given their cultural import. It is to be noted that references for the texts are not mentioned except for the dictionary extracts (definitions from Co build English Learner's Dictionary, Collins and Larousse), and for a short passage (adapted from 'The Old Man and the Sea' by Hemingway), suggested as a fill in gaps activity. Does it mean that all the other texts are specifically written for the textbook, and are, thus, non-authentic? In the teacher's manual, it is stated that the culture section ''introduces more complex language, and provides more challenging material: authentic pieces, with different topics for the pupils to read'', but this material ''must not be seen as hard and compulsory work'' (Teacher's Guide, op.cit: 11). It can be implied that all other materials incorporated in other sections are not authentic; otherwise they would be 272

'complex', 'challenging' and hence 'not compulsory'. Though the language of book two is, on the whole, more complex than that of book one, it does not sound 'more natural'. The conversations intended as listening scripts follow the same question / answer pattern as in 1e AM. They do not contain pauses, hesitation sounds, fillers, mistakes, or other features of authentic spoken language. For instance, the dialogue between Sally and Lynda in File 5, Sequence 3 (p110), seems particularly artificial, in spite of the fact that it introduces interesting cultural material:
Sally: Have you acted in a school drama? Lynda: Yes, I have. Sally: When was it? Lynda: It was at the end of last year. Sally: How about this year? Lynda: We have decided to adapt Scoopidoo. Sally: Have you done the casting? Lynda: Yes, we have. I'll be the ghost. Sally: Have you started the rehearsals? Lynda: Yes, we have. The art teacher has drawn the costumes and the settings. Sally: That sounds exciting!

This piece of discourse cannot be viewed as a 'normal' real-life chat between two friends. It is rather more analogous to a formal interview. Its purpose is, as can be read in the book's table of contents, to express the function of enquiring and talking about someone's past activities, hence the use of wh-questions, the present perfect and past simple tenses. This instance and many others are in contradiction with one of the aims of the book _ to teach authentic language (see pp 262-263). It is worth mentioning that the 2e AM coursebook is based on a cyclical methodology, in that it reviews language and culture points introduced in 1e AM, and revises also items learnt throughout its five files. For example, book two, File 3, 'Health', consolidates language and information dealt with in book one Files 3, 5, and 6, about 'Food', 'Sports', 'Inventions and Discoveries', respectively. Some items in book one, File 2 about the description of people's physical appearance are reintroduced in book two, File 1, 'A Person's Profile'. In a like manner, the theme of hobbies and leisure activities can be viewed as the core of book two, being in each file (or part of it) recycled in relation to a particular topic: music in File 1, games in File 2, sports in File 3, cartoons in File 4, and theatre in File 5. In harmony with this topical progression, the function of enquiring / talking about people's activities (likes /

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dislikes) and corresponding language exponents are also recycled throughout the book. 'Spotlight on English Book Two' embodies approximately the same types of activities and exercises as suggested in book one. The most common ones are guided sentence and paragraph construction, substitution drills, mechanical repetition drills, transformation drills, communication drills and the selective transference or the application of new information activities, such as filling in a form, a table, matching pairs, distinguishing true from false statements and answering comprehension questions. In 'Discover the Language' part, all the questions have a linguistic, grammatical focus. Other structurally-geared exercises such as supplying the correct form of items between brackets, correcting spelling or grammatical errors, ordering, adding, deleting or classifying structural items are also common in the book. It appears that structural practice underlies most of the designed activities. Grammatical rules are further explicitly explained and summarized in 'Reminder'. Communication practice, unlike what is claimed in the teacher's book (p4), is restricted to few role plays, some language games, and a number of free expression activities. We note that several activities are mistakenly categorized by the authors as role plays, notwithstanding the fact that they do not allow the pupils to interact freely and to use language spontaneously. In a role play, like in any other communicative activity, the learners have complete choice of what and how to say, like in real sociocultural situations. This is not the case, to give but one example, of activity 2, Sequence 3, File 2 (p37):
You are looking for a flat. Your partner has advertised a flat for rent. You are speaking to your partner on the phone. A: Good morning! B: Who is it? A: It's . I am calling for the . B: I suppose you saw in the newspaper. A: Yes, tell me about it. B: Yes, it's a flat with 2 bedrooms and A: Could I come and it, please? B: Of course. The address is .

We consider this activity as a mere filling in gaps exercise, at most a communication drill. Besides, it does not reflect the normal pattern of a telephone conversation in the Anglo-Saxon culture (see pp 27-28). The sequence demonstrated above is that of

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the pupils' NC. Would not it have been more interesting for them to be introduced to a new pattern, to a foreign one? In spite of the fact that the cultural dimension is inherent in many of the activities of the 2e AM coursebook, it remains tacit, in the background, not targeted by the instructions of the activities. The learners are not prompted to handle cultural data and facts, let alone to think in an abstract way and understand differences in value systems and mentality, or to take in a foreign perspective. In File 4, Sequence 1, 'Discover the Language' presents two conversations in which the function of inviting is expressed in two different styles, using different language forms: (p76)
CONVERSATION (A) Yanis: It's my sister's birthday next Thursday. Do you want to join us? Linda: Sure. What time? Yanis: Three o'clock. CONVERSATION (B) Jane: I've got two tickets for a concert. Would you like to join me? Mary: Yes, I'd love to. Thank you Liz. (sic) 1. Who is Yanis talking to? 2. What's he doing when he says '' Do you want to join us?''? 3. Who is Jane talking to? 4. What's she doing when she says '' Would you like to join me?''? 5. What's the difference between conversation (A) and conversation (B)?

Through these questions, the pupils are led to recognize that Jane in conversation (B) uses a more polite style than Yanis in conversation (A). The socio-cultural factors that entail the use of such or other style are not brought to light. This activity is in opposition to the authors' statement that language ''should be used and learnt in a social context (that) we have to know which variety of language is appropriate according to the situations and people.'' (Teacher's Guide, op.cit:3). In 'Spotlight on English Book Two', no attention is given to language varieties (whether user- or use-related varieties). Activity 3 in Sequence 1, File 2, is even worse, for it requires the learners to practise isolated words, disregarding their contextual socio-cultural meanings: (p29)
Work with a partner. Give him words and ask him to give the equivalents (synonyms), or opposites (antonyms).

This principle is embodied in other exercises. What is more, the culture sections engage the pupils in little work other than reading, reading for entertainment. Those of Files 1 and 5 do not even suggest activities. Is this procedure effective to learn

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about culture? We believe that what Middle School learners need is intensive rather than extensive reading, since they have not yet reached the stage of reading by themselves in English, for pleasure or for broadening their cultural or other knowledge. They need to develop their cultural 'know about ', 'know why', 'know how' and 'know oneself', with the assistance of their teacher and textbook. That is why, professionals have put forward special activities to teach about culture, such as culture assimilators, case studies, and cultural clusters. The 'Learn about Culture' section in File 2 could have been planned as a cultural cluster with several cultural capsules about different games, instead of the mere presentation of these games in descriptive historical passages. All the above mentioned activities equip the pupils with the necessary means to carry out project works. A project work with its processes of data collection, analysis, organization and report can be a golden opportunity to learn about a TC, to learn 'how to learn', and to develop critical thinking. The projects of 'Spotlight on English Book Two' are based on culture-general topics. Artwork is another technique to present culture, and it is particularly rich in the 2e AM coursebook. The pupils would probably be captivated by the nice, up-to-date photographs and the varied coloured drawings. We imagine that they would as well be anxious to figure out what is written in cartoon bubbles, or to complete crossword tables. Nevertheless, the general design of the book may give the impression that it is stuffed with material, an impression which may be intimidating to some learners. The use of photographs representing real people and places lends credibility to the book. Some drawings are also culturally significant and supplement its content effectively. We note that some photographs are irrelevant to the contexts for which they are used. For example, the 'Learn about Culture' illustrations in File 3 (p65), two of which showing earthenware pots and another one a coconut, have nothing to do with the accompanying tips of home remedies. In addition, the characters of book two are not presented through photographs (as they are in book one), but sometimes through drawings. The latter are not only less real but also inadequate, given that they depict them with completely different faces from what they actually are. One has just to compare between Sally in book one (p21) and Sally in book two (p50) to see the discrepancy.

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2.2.5. Complements A teacher's manual is available as a complement to the 2e AM textbook. It explains very briefly the rationale of the latter, but describes its structure in detail. It also provides suggestions for its effective use in the classroom, and includes key answers to its activities. Regarding culture, this teacher's guide does not provide any information about the cultural items to be taught, or about the methodology to be followed. It is, in our opinion, of no help to teachers in case they meet difficulties in this regard. For example, activity 2 in Sequence 1, File 1, expects the learners to identify supposedly known people on the basis of their photographs, and to talk about their profiles. What about if the teachers themselves do not recognize or do not know them? And even if they do, will they all know about their profiles to help their pupils do the activity in question? We wished the manual to suggest as well techniques to handle the passages of the culture section. This section was even not considered in the key answers part (except that of File 4). Furthermore, the samples of assessment techniques recommended by the authors disregard testing the pupils' cultural knowledge. All these inadequacies reinforce the fact that the cultural dimension is not given due care.

2.2.6. Recapitulation 'Spotlight on English' book one and book two fit in perfectly with each other, for they have both been conceived in the framework of the approach by competency. Their files are built on the basis of the project pedagogy, and follow approximately the same sequences. Book two recycles material from book one, and reintroduces some of its characters. Additionally, the two coursebooks have a section to learn explicitly about culture, but the latter is, in both of them, kept in the background to serve functional / structural purposes. Their cultural content refers to many cultures at a time; that of book two is more coherent and particularly focused on general and on big 'C' cultural matters. The cultural image the pupils get out of their two first English textbooks is very positive and totally geared to leisure and amusement in the second one. In our opinion, 'Spotlight on English' with its two books would have been more beneficial to the Middle School pupils, if it had a culture-specific content that relates to one of the English-speaking communities like UK or USA. On the other hand, learning about many cultures at a time is too much demanding for the pupils who 277

would end up learning nothing at all. In addition, introducing several cultures, particularly non -native English-speaking ones, entails introducing as well several English varieties and accents. Both procedures are inappropriate to beginning levels. On the other hand, a culture-general content relating to universal human aspects is not as needed as a culture-specific content that is closely intertwined with the English language and its real life use. Reference to the pupils' NC is equally important, not only to reinforce the pupils' cultural identity, but also to bring in an intercultural dimension. The 1e AM and the 2e AM textbooks include the Arab Algerian culture, but its Islamic facets are ignored, notwithstanding their relevance and significance. In a like manner, although many scholars believe that small 'c' cultural features stand for what a culture really is, they are not very present in book one and disregarded in book two. Consequently, pupils learn almost nothing about the native speakers' patterns of behaviour ('know about', 'know how'), let alone their values, beliefs and assumptions ('know why'). The authors of the textbooks could have dealt with the latter, by pointing, for example, to the message conveyed by a story, or to the values underlying a proverb, or by other similar simple procedures. In fact, developing the cultural 'know why' is very possible with young learners, and does not necessarily require complex, abstract definitions and explanations. In a word, the 1e AM and the 2e AM textbooks do incorporate a cultural component but in an inadequate way.

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2.3. Spring (9e AF) 2.3.1. General Descriptive Information - Name of textbook: Spring Book Two - Intended learners' level: 9e AF(1). - Authors: Project Supervisor: Malika BELKAID Authors: Nadjia BELGAID Fatma Zohra BELHOUCHET Wahiba GUEDOUDJ Fadila KACI Leila RABET -Publisher: O.N.P.S -Year / Place of publication: 1986 / Algeria -Number of pages: 235

2.3.2. Rationale 'Spring Book Two' is a continuation of book one that was designed for the precedent level (8e AF)(2). Both textbooks are structurally built, that is, language structures form their backbone and organizing component. In the teacher's book 'Guidelines', the authors (1986: 18) identify the approach as being Structural / Functional, according to which ''The language is graded structurally and the structures are presented and practised in the context of their most useful functions.'' We would say that 'Spring Book Two' is rather Structural / Notional since language notions are particularly catered for alongside structures, not the case of language functions. This point is clearly delineated in its forward, where it is stated that ''Spring book two is meant to consolidate and develop the notions and the forms introduced in book one. It also adds more advanced patterns, more structures and lexis'' (p4), rather than more functional practice and communication opportunities. Furthermore, the authors believe that ''communication is more a question of methodology than of textbooks'' (p8), and that ''although some models can be found in the textbooks,
(1) i.e., ''neuvime anne fondamentale''. The Algerian educational system was based on the 'Basic' or the 'Foundation' School (L'Ecole Fondamentale). It consisted of nine levels: 1e AF _ 9e AF. The e teaching of English as a FL used to be introduced in 8 AF. The academic year 2004-2005 witnesses e the last 9 AF forms. (2) e The academic year 2003-2004 witnessed the last 8 AF forms. 'Spring Book One' is no longer in use in the Algerian Middle School.

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communicative activities as such could hardly be incorporated in every unit'' (p14). We think that this belief is in contradiction with their later statement that ''Spring is communicatively oriented'' (p17). It is also incompatible with the aim formulated for the coursebook, namely, ''to equip the learners with the minimum language and basic skills necessary to communicate effectively in simple social or working situations.'' (p4). In all that, reference to the cultural component is overlooked. In the forward of the book, the authors point instead to developing the pupils' 'general knowledge'. 'Spring Book Two' represents the traditional textbook type I.A, i.e., 'Linguistic Skills'. It places major emphasis on linguistic skill development. Any cultural content presented is implicit, or merely part of the linguistic data used for structural practice or to demonstrate language exponents. 2.3.3. Content 2.3.3.1. General Analysis 'Spring Book Two' contains sixteen units interspersed by four relax files. Its table of contents shows notional titles illustrating the structures targeted by the units. Table 4 outlines the units' headings and their corresponding language forms.

Table 4: Units' Headings in 'Sprig Book Two' Unit 1 2 3 4 5 6 Heading How do you do? You must give way I am the most beautiful It started many years ago It is made in Algeria First, they are sorted out Language Form / must (not) + stem superlative form: the most + adj simple past tense: stem + ed passive form: am/is/are + pp passive form: am/is/are + pp sequencers: first, then, after that present perfect tense:have/has+pp can (not) + stem present continuous: be + stem+ing comparison form: as + adj + as past continuous: be + stem+ing relative pronoun that wh-word how long if+stemwill(not)+stem be+going to+stem /

7 Have you tried this infusion? 8 You can apply for this job 9 Are they flying or swimming? 10 As strong as a horse 11 I was listening to music while 12 It's a machine that stores information 13 How long have you been there? 14 You won't believe me if I tell you 15 What are you going to do? 16 The farewell party adj: adjective pp: past participle

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Table 4 demonstrates that the units are structurally organized. Their format follows the pattern displayed in Figure 3. Figure 3: Unit Structure in 'Spring Book Two' Introduction

Communicate Unit Read

Consolidate Write Understand

Relax In the introduction is provided a mini dialogue, a notice or a short passage which presents the language forms and notions of the unit, and gets the pupils closer to its topic. 'Communicate' implies that at this stage, the pupils are offered opportunities for real language use. Paradoxically, what is provided is a short dialogue to be learned as a model, preceded at times by an injection of relevant vocabulary. In 'Guidelines', it is written that ''this section demonstrates a terminal listening and speaking interaction to be reached after a systematic oral practice of the new language forms together with the recycling of some previously learnt forms'' (p26). In our opinion, this is an unnecessarily 'complex' explanation of the technique of repetition and memorization of language pieces contained in structurally graded dialogues. In 'Consolidate', there are exercises for language manipulation. In 'Read', another dialogue or short passage is presented with no accompanying tasks. This means that at this stage, the pupils are expected 'to read' without a purpose. It is only in 'Understand' that reading comprehension activities are supplied. 'Write' is the final section which incorporates controlled or guided writing assignments. The unit closes with a relaxing song, joke or a language game. Through 'Spring Book Two', the pupils are not adequately introduced to the English language cultural side. In fact, the content of the book is either linked to the Algerian cultural context or to culture-general themes. Only three units, Units 3, 6, and 11 (18.75% of the book) are more or less related to the British culture. Even these units do not, in our opinion, suggest a culturally insightful content, for it is on

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the whole tourist-oriented: Unit 3 deals with sightseeing in London; part of Unit 6 describes a famous museum in London (Madame Tussaud's); and Unit 11 narrates a media-reported event about former prime minister son Mark Thatcher. On the other hand, eight units, i.e., Units 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, and 14 (50% of the book) tackle mainly general themes, namely, agriculture, sport, art and industry, health, oceanography, technology, employment, and dreams, respectively. The pupils' NC is included in many units, particularly in Units 1, 5, 8, 10, 15, 16, and is viewed from both big 'C' and small 'c' cultural perspectives. For instance, Unit 5 outlines some of Algeria's traditional artefacts, clothes, jewels and potteries (big 'C' culture), while Unit 15 describes the way Algerian Middle School pupils and their teacher prepare for a farewell party (small 'c' culture). The cultural content of the 9e AF coursebook is not current. Various instances demonstrate this fact: Units 5 and 6 deal with handicrafts and traditional cultural products; Unit 10 throws light on ancient carvings, drawings and paintings on rock; Unit 7 suggests mainly 'grand-ma' remedies for health problems; Unit 11 reports on an event that took place in the Algerian desert in the early eighties; Unit 3 outlines results of censuses and other records which were valid twenty five years ago; Unit 4 provides historical information about the football world cup which does not go beyond 1982; in one of its activities, Unit 14 presents plane and train fares that belong to the past(1); and in Units 3, 10 and 13, contact between Rafik and his English friend Betty is made via traditional letters rather than e-mails or wireless phone text messages (SMS), which are more used today, being more modern and practical. Nevertheless, 'Spring Book Two' has a varied content that befits the pupils and their cultural background. We think it to be equally interesting to them since based on school and outside of school situations involving their peers(2). By the end of 9e AF, the pupils are supposed to have acquired the following skills:

(1)

Algiers _ Tunis by plane does no longer cost 776 DA (Dinars Algeriens), but 7760 DA, i.e., the fare suggested multiplied by ten. Besides, the trip is no longer possible by train today. (2) This point will be further elucidated in the following section (Micro-Social Analysis)

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-Listening to and understanding of oral messages -Guided production of simple oral messages - Reading of simple passages and showing their understanding of them (without the interference of the oral) through performing various activities of linguistic checking -Writing simple personal letters -Filling simple forms and writing elementary application letters -Taking notes and writing simple summaries of medium-length texts. (Syllabuses For English, 1995: 7)

On the basis of this quotation, it appears that the cultural objective is not referred to explicitly in the syllabus. Thus, one cannot state whether 'Spring Book Two' is or not suitable to it from the cultural perspective. 2.3.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis The 9e AF coursebook is peopled predominantly with Algerian characters, interacting in Algerian situations. Most of these characters are presented through photographs and are as such made credible. Another positive aspect is that they are featured as average personalities and as family members, not as isolated individuals. Rafik, a fourteen year-old pupil(1) at Okba School is a central character. Reference is made to his family, teachers, schoolmates and friends. Interpersonal relationships, however, are always depicted as harmonious, successful and with little or no emotion; intrapersonal relationships are not referred to at all in the book, notwithstanding the fact that they significantly mirror the thought processes and the worldview of a given people. A realistic account of culture must include intrapersonal as well as interpersonal relationships. On the other hand, we believe that it is more relevant to the ELT context to introduce English-speaking characters, who are representative of the FC people, with regard to their social class, interests, mentality and family situation. This would also be more engaging and challenging to the Algerian pupils: They know about Rafik and Fatiha, why not telling them more about Betty and Steve? All Algerian Middle Schools are very like Okba School, but quite dissimilar from British 'Grammar', 'Comprehensive' or 'High' Schools; so why not enlarging the pupils' cultural horizons? We note that only two FC celebrities are drawn attention to in the textbook, namely, the well-known wax

(1)

This information is provided in 'Spring Book One'.

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figures-maker, 'Madame Tussaud' (in Unit 6), and former prime minister son 'Mark Thatcher' (Unit 11). Besides, the textbook's use of English in Algerian daily life contexts is highly inappropriate and even unnatural. Consider, for example, the very first dialogue of the book, supposed to have taken place at Okba Middle School: (p5)
Mrs Salem: Good morning, sir. -Headmaster: Good morning, Mrs Salem. This is Mr Racem, the new art teacher. - Mr Racem: How do you do? - Mrs Salem: Please to meet youAll right, sir. See you Mr Racem. -Headmaster: Oh, by the way, the teacher's assembly is at 10 o'clock.

The language that is most likely to be used in this context is the Algerian Arabic dialect. French(2) might be used as well, but not English. The latter is even more improper in informal contexts. For instance, if the cosy conversation between Rafik and Zaki (reported in Unit 7, p80) were authentic, it would not occur in English:
Rafik: You look pale Zaki and your eyes are red. Are you sick? Zaki: Yes. I've got a terrible headache. Rafik: Have you seen the doctor yet? Zaki: Yes, I have. Rafik: What has he prescribed? Zaki: Tablets, syrup and a nasal spray. Rafik: Have you had them yet? Zaki: No, not yet. Rafik: You must conform to the prescription, you know.

We point out contrived language use in the naming of such characters as 'Mr Allam', 'Mr Mesbah', and 'Mr Fellah'. The pupils are exposed to such utterances as ''This is Mr Racem, the new art teacher'' (p5), and ''You're Mr Allem and these are your pupils'' (p17). Similar instances abound in 'Spring Book One', where reference is made to 'Mr Aouinet', 'Mr Nejar', 'Mr Khettat', 'Mr Benai', and 'Mr Dahane'. This language use is highly artificial; it is a kind of pidgin created and reinforced by the textbooks.
(2)

French is considered as the first FL of Algeria, while English as the second one. The former may even be said to enjoy the status of a second language; it may be used by Algerians in their daily life interactions. This is due to historical reasons, namely the colonization of Algeria by the French, which lasted more than a century and three decades (1830 _ 1962).

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2.3.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis As stated in section 3.1, parts of 'Spring Book Two' have a general content, others are painted with native colours, and few relate to the British culture. In Unit 3, the 9e AF pupils are introduced to some world historic buildings, particularly those pertaining to the capital of Great Britain, London. Unit 6 describes one of the British museums _ Madame Tussaud's, whereas Units 8 and 9 suggest reading about Algerian institutions_The Police School of Soumaa and the Oceanographic Research Centre of Beni Saf, respectively. Some of the included contents are given historical and geographical dimensions, allowing for a broader analysis of such topics as football in Unit 4, and cave art in the Algerian Sahara in Unit 10. Thus, not only is the amount of information about the English-speaking culture inadequate, but so is its quality. Indeed, attention is exclusively drawn to surface cultural facets that reflect a tourist, rather marginal point of view. Knowing about London's monuments, museums and open spaces is interesting and relevant to ELT, but not sufficient to develop a fair balanced picture of life in the Anglo-Saxon culture. Reference should more importantly be made to the patterns of daily living and to the thought processes, values and worldview of the native speakers of English. Furthermore, information on socio-political and socio-economic problems such as immigration, crime, and unemployment should not be overlooked, if the image of the TC is to be made credible. 2.3.3.4. Intercultural Analysis The intercultural dimension is not catered for in the 9e AF textbook. In fact, cultural information is not presented in a comparative frame of reference, in spite of the inclusion of more than one culture. The two countries that are taken into account, i.e., Algeria and Great Britain, are considered in isolation. Friendship and correspondence between Rafik and Betty do not offer the pupils opportunities to develop intercultural skills and understanding. The Algerian boy and his English friend are not, for example, displayed in interactions where one of the parties misunderstands the other, because of stereotypical beliefs, or due to differences in values and expectations. They are even not involved in discussing similarities and differences between facts and artefacts pertaining to their respective cultures. They are merely shown exchanging cultural data of the big 'C', touristoriented type, Betty's brochures about London, and Rafik's leaflet about rock painting 285

in the Algerian Sahara. Intercultural learning / teaching occurs when viewing the same thing from different cultural perspectives. We note that the textbook does not refer to English-speaking cultures other than the British. Even the latter is given minor focus, as stated before, and its multicultural character is not touched on.

2.3.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors In the light of what has preceded, we can state that 'Spring Book Two' is an English textbook that is mainly based on the pupils' source culture. Though it includes elements of the British society, the Algerian culture features so strongly in it. In fact, almost all of its characters are Algerians interacting in settings located in Algeria. This can hardly be new content for the pupils. Put in other words, the latter see in their 9e AF coursebook members of their own culture, in their own context, who are not different from themselves, except that they all speak English. It can be implied that through 'Spring Book Two', the authors aim at reinforcing the learners' own identity. They are for teaching EFL as long as this is done within the learners' native cultural framework. However, they see no harm in sprinkling teaching contents with few foreign cultural ingredients. In this perspective, teaching about the TL-culture is seen as secondary to strengthening knowledge of one's own. In our opinion, knowing about oneself can truly be achieved when one has developed a certain degree of reflection on cultural contrasts and affinities. 2.3.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content The cultural content of 'Spring Book Two' is presented in a way that serves the structural organization of the units. In other words, topics are basically introduced to provide context for the presentation and practice of language structures and vocabulary. This fact resulted in more or less coherent units. For example, the very first unit, Unit 1, deals with greetings and introductions, hence its heading ''How do you do?''. In 'Read', a totally different topic is handled; it has to do with keeping a school magazine. In 'Write', still another new topic is introduced, namely, summer holidays. Accordingly, Unit 1 can be said to have a fragmentary content. Unit 9 is designed in the same fashion. Its introduction is set in a plane where a captain is addressing passengers. The following setting is Rafik's home; the authors depict a scene pertaining to the daily life routines of an Algerian family. We move 286

subsequently to Okba School, where teachers and pupils are busy preparing for a party. The following activity takes us back to Rafik's home and to his family preoccupations. After that, we find ourselves in a police car, then in a cockpit. The unit proceeds with a completely disparate topic _ oceanography. Moreover, the last phase 'Write' raises other issues related to space and fiction. Through this hotchpotch of topics, the pupils are taught about the present continuous tense structure. It is clear that in this coursebook, the topical (cultural) component is subordinate to the structural one. The most common text type in 'Spring Book Two' is the dialogue. The textbook contains as well a number of short descriptive / narrative passages, letters and advertisements. There are also songs, poems, jokes and riddles, particularly in 'Relax' files. The dialogues and passages suggested, are specifically written to illustrate the language forms and notions selected for teaching, and to suit at the same time, the level of the pupils (beginners). In this sense, they are not authentic. This fact is recognized by the authors, who believe that '' unmodified authentic texts prove to be confusing and unmanageable at an elementary level.'' (Guidelines, op.cit: 27). However, no evidence is given to support this claim. ''The texts in Spring'', they continue, ''are either devised to provide simple illustrative messages or extracted from simple authentic documents, especially in Book II'' (op.cit). Why not adopting simple, authentic, culture-seeded texts in the whole book? Literature meant for children, for instance, is quite fitting in this regard. To illustrate the non-authenticity of the dialogues of 'Spring Book Two', we consider the conversation of Rafik and Zaki in 'Communicate', Unit 3 (p23):
Rafik: Have a look at this postcard, Zaki. Zaki: What is it? Rafik: It's the Post Office Tower. Zaki: The Post Office Tower? Rafik: Yes. It's the highest building in London and in Britain. Zaki: How high is it? Rafik: It's 187 metres high. Zaki: What about this one? Rafik: It's the Tower of London. It was the most famous prison in Europe. Zaki: It's very old, isn't it? Rafik: Yes, it is. It's the oldest monument in London. Zaki: Is it older than the Eiffel Tower? Rafik: Sure. The Eiffel Tower is more recent.

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Though this dialogue includes cultural elements, it seems quite contrived. First, it follows the artificial pattern question / answer, question / answer. Second, fullsentence answers are used instead of short, often incomplete utterances that are typical of spoken language. Third, other characteristics that mirror real life interactions as hesitation sounds, repetition or redundancy are lacking, not to mention the irrelevance of the English language in this Algerian context. Almost all the dialogues of the book are built in approximately the same fashion. Most of the passages are also written for the coursebook. For instance, the one suggested in 'Read', in Unit 11 (pp147-149) is presented as being an article from the Algerian newspaper 'El Moudjahid'. If it were so, it would be in French not in English. It is not mentioned whether it is a translated version, and even if it is the case, it is still nonauthentic. The text entitled 'A Wonderful World' in 'Read', in Unit 9 (pp116-119), which is about a diving expedition related to the Algerian Oceanographic Research Centre, cannot have been written by English native speakers, for an Englishspeaking audience. The aim of the authors is to introduce target language structures and vocabulary. Culture is left in the background. The activities suggested in 'Spring Book Two' are likewise geared to language usage rather than language use. Though grammar rules are not explicitly stated, their practice underlies most of the exercises of the book. Reference is made to constructing sentences using given cues, completing dialogues based on previously learned models, controlled and guided paragraph writing, filling in gaps, completing tables, matching pairs, answering simple comprehension questions, ordering sentences, constructing interrogative forms, supplying the correct form of verbs, and vocabulary exercises. There are no role plays, problem-solving practice, group discussions, projects or other activities that develop the pupils' knowledge about and understanding of the FC, or that encourage them to use the FL as in real life sociocultural situations, however limited is their linguistic stock. There are even not simple communication drills. The artwork in the 9e AF textbook consists of coloured photographs of people and places, drawings and few maps. The cultural implications of these illustrations are mainly general or related to the pupils' NC, in harmony with the overall cultural content of the book, which they supplement. For example, the pupils are expected to work on their home country or continent maps (Units 10, 11), to interpret regional (Tamazight) symbols (Unit 5), to recognize Algerian football team members (Unit 288

4)(1), and to examine rock drawings and paintings pertaining to the Algerian Sahara (Unit10). Only Units 3 and 6 contain material that authentically conveys aspects of the British culture, which is not sufficient to portray a balanced picture of it. The image the pupils get about the Anglo-Saxon culture after going through these units is, in our opinion, rather stereotypical, for only urban, tourist-oriented facets are pointed out. 2.3.5. Complements In 'Guidelines', the teacher's manual that accompanies 'Spring Book One and Two', teachers cannot find information about the English language cultural component, or helpful notes as to how to teach about it. Spotlight is instead laid on the structural component of the language. Compared to the newly designed Middle School textbooks, 'Spotlight on English Book One and Two', 'Spring Book Two' seems old-fashioned and uninspiring. From the cultural standpoint, the former are more informative, especially as far as FCs are concerned. In this light, the 9e AF textbook will probably not 'survive' the momentum of change that is characterizing the field of FL and FC teaching / learning.

2.3.6. Recapitulation The analysis of 'Spring Book Two' evinces that it is a traditional, structurallyoriented textbook which regards culture as peripheral and subservient to linguistic skills. Being mainly linked to the Algerian context or to general themes, its cultural content brings little about the Anglo-Saxon culture. What is provided about the latter is, besides, tourist-geared and far from portraying a realistic picture of life in this FC. Further, the cultural content of the book is on the whole non-authentic and outdated.

We move presently to the analysis of the textbooks of English used in the Algerian Secondary School: 'My New Book of English', 'The New Midlines' and 'Comet'.

(1)

We note that the team represented (p37) is the Algerian national football team of the eighties, and is, thus, out of date.

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3. Evaluation of the Secondary School Textbooks for English 3.1. My New Book of English (1e AS) 3.1.1. General Descriptive Information - Name of textbook: My New Book of English - Intended learners' level: 1e AS(1) - Author: (Head of project): K.E.S. BEREKSI -Publisher: O.N.P.S -Year / Place of publication: 1997-1998 / Algeria -Number of pages: 160 3.1.2. Rationale 'My New Book of English' was designed to respond to changes brought about by the slimming down of the syllabuses of English for the Secondary School, in the mid nineties. It was intended as a substitute for 'New Lines', an old book that was first introduced in 1981(2). The new book is thus based on the then new syllabuses (1995). In this perspective, the English language is no longer viewed as ''the property of the United Kingdom and the United States of America alone, it has become a sort of universal language.'' Syllabuses for English, op.cit: 5).This statement indirectly implies a disassociation of the language from its culture: English does not belong exclusively to English-speaking cultures, but to other cultures as well, to anyone who uses it to express his / her own opinions, feelings and worldview. The finality of the study of English (and other FLs) in Algeria, as stated by the syllabus designers, is to facilitate '' communication in its various forms, aspects, and dimensions.'' (op.cit:5). On the basis of this finality, four categories of objectives are derived: socio-cultural, humanistic, educational and academic. The cultural objective is, thus, pointed out explicitly, as a general objective, but is not specified or further elaborated. It is even not referred to in the 1e AS exit profile (op.cit: 8)

(1) (2)

i.e., premiere anne secondaire Some units of 'New Lines' are still studied in 1e AS at the present time (2004-2005)

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Listening comprehension: They should be able to understand a simple oral message said in everyday English in interpersonal exchanges. They should understand the broad lines of a short talk delivered in standard English. Oral expression: They should be able to communicate on a limited number of topics in correct simple English. Reading comprehension: They should be able to read simple authentic texts and documents (maps, charts, forms, leaflets, notices) Writing expression: They should undertake simple writing tasks in relation with samples studied in class.

These aims, which are also supposed to be those of the textbook, fail to consider directly cultural knowledge, but it is implicit in all of them. 'My New Book of English' represents the I.B type in Damen's taxonomy (op.cit), that is, the 'Traditional / Linguistic Skills' type, given that in this coursebook, culture is implicit and cultural focus is secondary. It cannot be classified as type I.A for though it largely considers the development of linguistic skills, it gives equal importance to the comprehension of discourse and to the practice of language in use, as will be demonstrated through the following analysis of its content.

3.1.3. Content 3.1.3.1. General Analysis One striking feature of the 1e AS textbook has to do with the structure of its units: they are not clearly delimited; they are relatively very short, with a mode of three pages per unit(1); and they do not follow the traditional common pattern, based on defined subdivisions. Each unit opens with a passage that is simply followed by a box highlighting the explanation of some of its words, then by a series of relevant activities, as shown in Figure 4 below.

The seventeen units extend from p10 to p 88, namely 55% of the book. This means that almost half the book is devoted to extra material (Introduction, The Light Side, and Appendixes).

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Figure 4: Unit Structure in 'My New Book of English' Passage

Unit

A few words explained

Activities

One may be led to think that the book is just supplementary. As outlined in Table 5, the titles of the units are topical Table 5: Units' Headings in 'My New Book of English'

Unit 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Heading Introduce Yourself and Your Friends My New School How Much Do You Remember How Much Do You Remember The British Isles Djeha's stories Form Morocco to Spain by Car Be Our Guide Nescafe Superstitions Pilgrimage to Mecca The Telephone Call Camping Out in Rainy Weather Marriage Can Make a Dimwit Brainier ''I Want to Do a Ton'' Rules for Teachers 1872 Regulations for Residents A Teacher's Contract from the 1920s

The cultural content of the book is that of its selected passages. Units 1 and 2 are just introductory; they consist of few activities to serve this purpose. They are followed by a revision file, 'How Much Do You Remember', which reviews in the form of exercises knowledge of English supposed to have been acquired in the Middle School. Unit 4 is actually the first unit of the textbook. It suggests working on a passage that embodies a big 'C' cultural content, having to do with the geography of 'The British Isles'. Big 'C' cultural items are also found in Units 5, 11, 12, 15, and 17.

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Units 7, 9, 10, 14, and 16, on the other hand, are oriented to small 'c' culture. In Unit 9, for example, the text tackles the topic of superstitious beliefs. In Units 6, 8, and 13, there is culture-general material, about the construction of a tunnel, the manufacture of Nescafe and the psychological consequences of marriage, respectively. The English-speaking cultures reflected in most of the passages are the British and the American ones (i.e., in Units 4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17). Hints about the Arab (Islamic) world as a whole are in Units 5 and 10, the former about ' Djeha's stories' and the latter about 'Pilgrimage to Mecca'. Deep cultural features are inherent in several texts such as those in Units 5, 9, 15, and 16. In Unit 5, for example, the pupils can read about the Arab's hospitality, which is sometimes negatively exploited by a cunning Djeha. Djeha's story is not the only tale available in the book; other fairy tales are included by its end. Unit 15 outlines some of the nineteenth century American principles of conduct that are so much different from those of today's America. These cultural items and others may pass unnoticed, for there is no attempt on the part of the author to point them out to the pupils. The design of the unit may lead one to think that the latent cultural content of the book is just incidental(1). Although many topics are included in the 1e AS textbook, it should be noted that they are hardly touched on in the short passages provided. In addition, much of the information given was even not recent at the time when the textbook was first published (namely 1997). For instance, the 'Daily Mail' article about marriage, 'Marriage Can Make a Dimwit Brainier' (p73), goes back to 1987. Another article from the same British newspaper, ''I Want to Do a Ton'' (p76), is even older, for though its complete reference is not provided, one can trace it back to the seventies(2). Besides, both articles are not particularly informative or interesting. We wonder why more recent items from the 'Daily Mail' or other were not considered instead. What is more, 'My New Book of English' contains materials from the nineteen twenties, 'A Teacher's Contract from the 1920s ' (p86), and even from the nineteenth century, 'Rules for Teachers 1872' (p80). We are not claiming that these contents are of no cultural value, but they are undeniably archaic and probably of no interest to the 2005 1e AS pupil. In Unit 6,' Form Morocco to Spain by Car', the text refers to a project of building a tunnel to link Spain and Morocco. Is this topic significant or motivating to Algerian
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This statement will be further elucidated in Techniques of Presentation. This is done on the basis of dates contained in the article itself.

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pupils? Reading about the project of the underground of Algiers, or about the London Underground is, doubtless, culturally more relevant to them. The suitability of the 1e AS book to the 1e AS official syllabus is not to be discussed given that the former, as stated at the beginning of this analysis, was especially conceived to serve the latter. The suitability of the cultural content of the book to the general objectives of the Secondary School curriculum of English cannot be discussed either, since the cultural goal is not clearly defined in this curriculum. All that is mentioned is a vague reference to the ability to communicate in English.

3.1.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 'My New Book of English' offers no characters to scrutinize. As mentioned in the previous section, this textbook is basically an assortment of passages with various unrelated topics. These passages do not make reference to famous TC figures, or to socio-cultural groups that are representative of the TC people. Consequently, not only are the pupils denied an opportunity to know about the TL speakers (and the TC bearers), hence restrained from building a realistic image about the TC, but the units of the textbook are also found to be so lacking in unity and elaboration. 3.1.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis The 1e AS coursebook contains little, basically tourist-geared information about the British society: a word about geography in Unit 4 ('The British Isles') and some data about currency, hotels, parks, theatres and other interesting places to visit in Unit 7 ('Be Our Guide'). Unit 16 ('Regulations for Residents') presents general facts about a British hall of residence. If these facts were about a British university, they would be more insightful, from the cultural point of view; the University is, doubtless, a more important cultural institution than the Hall of Residence. Historical material about the late nineteenth century American teachers is provided in Units 15 and 17 ('Rules for Teachers1872' and 'A Teacher's Contract from the 1920's '), but it is not linked to contemporary society. The historical view the pupils get out of this content remains, thus, incomplete. The texts in Units 11, 12, and 14 do not introduce a significant cultural content though they make reference to American and British settings. We note that Unit 10 ('Pilgrimage to Mecca') offers the only statistical data of the book. They are related to the Islamic nation which gathers many cultures. 294

It appears that the cultural selections of the book are arbitrary, limited and hence unrepresentative. We think that they would add little to the pupils' cultural knowledge. 3.1.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 'My New Book of English' alludes to the British, the American and the Arab cultures. Nevertheless, it is from the intercultural standpoint void, in the sense that it does not present cultural information in a comparative frame of reference, and does not refer to situations depicting contact between cultures. An important point that could have been tackled is the distinction between the British and the American cultures, regarding some of the points raised by the textbook. Another equally important and relevant issue is the reference to the socio-political or socio-economic relationships existing between Algeria and UK or USA. The textbook could have simply brought out similarities and contrasts between what is native and what is foreign. 3.1.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Author The attitude of the author vis--vis the cultural material included in the coursebook is not expressed. There are neither evaluative comments nor encouragements for the learners to do so. The picture the textbook reflects of the FC is, in our opinion, a blurred picture that leaves much to be desired. What is implied is that many basic aspects of the FC are missed out. 3.1.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content It appears from what preceded that cultural topics are only touched upon in the passages of the book, and no explanations, generalisations, or cultural immersion activities are given. Pupils are offered no practice in developing the critical thinking skills that are central to cultural understanding. Their attention is even not focused on the cultural elements provided. Most of the activities suggested are of the classical type, for example, answering comprehension questions according to the text, finding out synonyms, opposites to given words, and identifying true / false statements. Many activities serve the structural component, such as transformation drills, ordering letters, words and sentences, building questions, inducting grammatical rules, and the controlled construction of sentences and paragraphs. Throughout the seventeen 295

units of the coursebook, the pupils are required to engage in only two role plays, two class debates and few surveys. Likewise, they are not encouraged to compare and contrast patterns from their own culture with corresponding patterns from the FC. The little comparative work suggested does not have an intercultural objective, as illustrated by the following activity from Unit 8 (p57):
Write a composition on the following topic: Who prepares fresh coffee at home? Write a step-by-step description of how fresh coffee is prepared in your house. Compare your description with that of a class-mate.

It is to be noted that Unit 7 does not put forward any activity to exploit the cultural content of the advertisements included. 'My New Book of English' contains various text types: expository passages, literary narrative extracts, newspaper articles, advertisements and notices(1). In the 'Light Side' are included, in addition, proverbs, riddles, songs and fairy tales, but this material is meant as supplementary, and is likely not to be dealt with in class. The textbook comprises also explanatory notes, which are not cultural, however, and are merely concerned with the semantic meaning of vocabulary words. A positive aspect of the 1e AS texts is the fact that they are supplied in their simplified as well as their '' (almost) original''(2) versions. It is up to the teacher to use the one and / or the other, in relation to the listening or the reading skill, a fact which makes the textbook quite flexible. As to their cultural content, it is clear that it has no discernable structure: some cultural information is supplied here and there without building up a coherent picture of the TC. The artwork of the 1e AS book is rather limited and culturally insignificant. It consists of one map and few colourless (lifeless) drawings. The only vivid photograph available is that on the cover. We note the use of the same illustration for different passages (p 83 and p 86), notwithstanding its inappropriacy for the first one.

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We note that the newspaper articles are not presented in their authentic form. This is Bereksi's expression, which is used in the introduction of 'My New Book of English' (p5).

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3.1.5. Complements The 1e AS pupil's book is not accompanied by a teacher's guide. Notes about the textbook, recommendations as to its use, key answers to some of its exercises as well as the official 1e AS syllabus are all included in the book itself. No word is said to raise the teacher's awareness of the cultural context portrayed in the course material. There are even not simple culture-relevant notes or explanations. 3.1.6. Recapitulation 'My New Book of English' was designed to serve the communicative objectives of the 1e AS syllabus. Its short topical units are built on passages whose cultural content is partly linked to the British culture, sometimes to big 'C', sometimes to small 'c' cultural facets. It also offers glimpses about the American culture, the Arab and Islamic world and culture-general topics. Though authentic, the cultural selections are arbitrary and limited in the sense that they do not build up a coherent picture about any of these TCs. They are not up-to-date and are not stimulating to the pupils. The textbook is also not useful at the intercultural level. Besides, the cultural elements included remain implicit, for most of the suggested activities are not cultural.

3.2. The New Midlines (2e AS) 3.2.1. General Descriptive Information - Name of textbook: The New Midlines - Intended learners' level: 2e AS - Authors: Khelifa ACHOUR Mahieddine SALMI (Members of the English National Pedagogical Committee) -Publisher: O.N.P.S -Year / Place of publication: 1997-1998 / Algeria -Number of pages: 301

3.2.2. Rationale Like 'My New Book of English', 'The New Midlines' was developed to fit the official 1995 syllabus requirements. Paradoxically, the material brought out by the then 'new' coursebook was not new, since it was merely ''a compilation of existing 297

resources from current textbooks'', that is, 'New Lines' (1981), 'New Skills' (1988), and 'Mid Lines' (1988), as recognized by its authors (p4). 'New Lines' had been the dominating 1e AS course material till the introduction of 'My New Book of English' in 1997, but units from the former are still studied by 1e AS pupils nowadays, as already stated. 'New Skills' was designed for the 2e AS 'Academic Stream', and 'Mid Lines' for the 'Occupational Stream'(1). All three books aim at developing the learners' communicative competence in English. In the introductory notes of 'The New Midlines', there is no reference to the socio-cultural component of FL learning. Instead, the structural component is highlighted, being deemed by the authors as ''the backbone of any serious mastery of a language.'' (p4). Being based on a culture-general content, the 2e AS textbook might be thought to belong to the III.A.1 category in Damen's (op.cit) taxonomy, i.e., the 'Thematic Universal' category. It would have been so if its primary emphasis had been on cultural understanding and communicative abilities rather than on linguistic skills. Since it is exactly the other way round, 'The New Midlines' may be classified as 'Traditional' / 'Linguistic Skills' (I.B). We opt for the I.B rather than the I.A type because of the fact that linguistic practice in the textbook in question is linked to a functional framework. 3.2.3. Content 3.2.3.1. General Analysis 'The New Midlines' contains sixteen units, most of which are borrowed from 'Midlines'(2). They have a Functional / Structural building, in the sense that language functions and forms are presented hand in hand. The most common unit format is depicted in the following diagram:

At the end of 1 AS, the pupils are oriented either to the English for Academic Purposes stream (EAP), namely the Literary, the Scientific or the Management branch, or to the English for Occupational Purposes stream (EOP), which encompasses technical branches such as Mechanics, Electricity, Chemistry and Clerical branches like Accounting and Office Management. (2) exactly twelve units, i.e., 75% of the units of the book, hence the appellation 'The New Midlines'.

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Figure 5: Unit Structure in 'The New Midlines' Listening Comprehension Communication

Unit

Reading Comprehension

Reading for Leisure

Structure Practice

Composition

It is to be noted that 'Listening comprehension' is ignored in seven units (43.75%). The units are functionally headed as displayed in the following table: Table 6: Units' Headings in 'The New Midlines' Unit 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Heading Describing Past Places _ Kalaa in 1880 Planning Future Activities _ Cycling through Africa Narrating _ Killer Oil Describing Job Requirements _ Job-Hunting Questioning _ Where Have You Worked Before? Describing/Expressing Reasons and Consequences_Blackfoot Indians Today Narrating _ Talking about Someone's Life: Louis Pasteur Describing/Comparing/Contrasting _ The Solar System Describing/Instructing/Warning/Prohibiting _ Scout's Life Instructing and Giving Advice Describing Parts and the Whole _ Location and Function Making Predictions Describing/Making Suppositions _ The Arctic_An Open Sea? Describing Function and Use _ The Derrick: Oil Extraction Narrating and Reporting _ Crash in Tokyo Bay Giving Advice _ Advice Column

As can be seen in Table 6, each function(s) is (are) associated with a main topic. Most of the topics are of the culture-general type: description of an itinerary (Unit 2); diseases and medicine (Units 3 and 7); the world of job (Unit 4); astronomy (Unit 8); a youth organization (Unit 9); tools and mechanisms (Units 10, 11, and 14);water and irrigation (Unit 12); remote regions (Unit 13); and international news (Unit 15). Most of the texts are in fact expository and do not contribute meaningfully to the presentation of situations typical of the TL community. This fact applies to the passages included in the 'Reading for Leisure' sections as well as to those added at the end of the book (for Economy and Management stream). It is fair to note, however, that the 'reading 299

for Leisure' texts are sometimes more culture-seeded, or more culturally significant than those suggested in the core of the unit. This is particularly obvious in Units 1, 4, 10, and 13. The Anglo-Saxon culture is slightly referred to in some parts of the book, like Units 4 and 5, about jobs and summer courses, with respect to small 'c' cultural items. The American culture is only drawn attention to in Unit 6, where both big 'C' and small 'c' cultural items are pointed out, in relation to the topic of Blackfoot Indians. The big 'C' and small 'c' cultural items covered in the book are sporadic, at best. The cultural content of the 2e AS textbook is not up-to-date. It goes back to the seventies and early eighties, according to the dates mentioned in the references. This is the case of the content of Unit 3, for example, which reports the story of oil contamination that took place in Spain in 1981. In a like manner, Unit 15 deals with the news items that were recorded from the BBC World Service Radio, in February 1982. Several other units introduce topics which are not of present interest. Besides, most of them are not engaging or entertaining to the 2e AS pupils. For instance, Unit 1 refers to Kalaa, which is a small town in the west of Algeria. We think that what it used to be in the far past may be of interest only to its actual inhabitants. If another town famous for its historical or socio-cultural background had been chosen instead, it would have been more significant and motivating to the majority of the pupils. The authors are likely to find much authentic material of this sort. Unit 14 deals with 'The Derrick: Oil Extraction'. From our teaching experience, we can say that this topic is found to be dull and 'soporific' to both pupils and teachers. We wonder why more original and stimulating themes having to do with sports, trips, modern means of communicationwere not considered instead. Discussing the suitability of this cultural content to the curriculum is pointless, given that the latter does not include any specification of cultural goals, as pointed out in the context of 1e AS. 3.2.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis The micro-social analysis of 'The New Midlines' is not feasible since the textbook is not built around specific characters. Its units are unrelated; they treat different topics that are not necessarily linked to individuals. Nonetheless, we note that some socio-cultural groups are portrayed in three units, though not representative of specific TC people. Reference is made to workers (particularly 300

journalists and interpreters) in Unit 4, celebrities (precisely Louis Pasteur, Marie Curie, Pele, Elton John and others) in Unit 7, and scouts in Unit 9. Unit 6 is equally worth mentioning in this regard, since it refers to the Blackfoot Indians ethnic group. In this unit, one can learn about the observable and the unobservable features of their culture, namely, their behaviours and customs but also their beliefs and ideals. The 'know why' aspect of culture is raised in other contexts in the book. For example, in Unit 8, based on the function of comparing / contrasting, the pupils can read (p 102) an opinion survey about the values and beliefs of the Europeans (Italians, Danes, British and others). The report suggested is, however, short and not properly spotlighted. Unit 9 is also underlain by a set of values as relevant to the scout's sub-culture. Further, a letter and its answer in the last unit of the book (p208) display a western worldview that is completely different from the Arab's _ if only this is elucidated to the learners.

3.2.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis As evinced in the previous sections, 'The New Midlines' targets no particular culture, but focuses on general facts. A number of its units have a scientific or even a purely technical content (Units 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 14). The cultural material of the book is selected on the basis of defined language functions. Some units embody historical facts like Units 1, 6 and 15, but only Unit 6 links past data to present ones, allowing a broader analysis and a more complete view about the topic of Blackfoot Indians. Similarly, there is little geography, mainly in Units 1, 2 and 13. The information provided remains inadequate and inconsequential. In one of the activities of Unit 1 (pp14-15) and in the 'Reading for Leisure' passages of Units 10 and 12 (p 138 and p 168, respectively) are supplied some statistical figures on socio-economic questions. However, these statistics belong to the past, thus of little value to the pupils, if they happen to read them. Information on socioeconomic problems as accidents at work, badly planned irrigation and food shortage are tackled in the book (in Units 10m 12 and 15, respectively), as well as other troubles such as illnesses (Unit 7), earthquakes (Unit 10), and plane-crash (Unit 15). Nevertheless, almost all these topics are handled in extra optional texts meant just for leisure and extensive reading.

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3.2.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 'The New Midlines' does not aim at intercultural language teaching for instances of the latter are scarce in the book. Indeed, much of the cultural content is presented in a general framework, independently from any specific culture(s). The pupils' NC is more or less taken into consideration in Units 1, 2, 9 and 16, but it is not displayed in connection with the TL culture(s). Even Unit 8 which illustrates the function of comparing / contrasting does not highlight the similarities and differences existing between cultures, but in one single activity (pp101-102): Exercise 2: a) Read the following report. Choose, from the list of topics below, those that are relevant to the text
Leisure / Work / Politics / Economy Family Life / School Education / Sports / Moral Education / Education of Children. Current Beliefs Four years ago, The European Values Study Group started the World's biggest opinion survey, into the values and beliefs of Today's Europe. 12,500 people have been interviewed. Here is a report of some of the most revealing British and European results. [] b) Group Work: Compare the customs, ways of life, cooking habits of different regions of Algeria.

More activities of this type should have been included in the book if it were to play a role in promoting intercultural understanding and tolerance. 3.2.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors On the basis of the factual content of the 2e AS coursebook, we can evaluate the authors' standpoint as neutral and detached. No particular culture is targeted or adequately depicted. The cultural component associated with the English language is not deemed important to cater for. Pupils (and teachers) are not encouraged to consult additional material on relevant cultural topics. The overall knowledge they develop about the FC remains limited and fragmentary. In the light of what has been stated so far, the textbook appears to be free from ideological tendencies. The goal is to enable the learners to communicate in English. The perspective is functional / structural, rather than socio-cultural or intercultural. It is an ESP perspective that uproots the TL from its cultural mould, and therefore reduces its significance and authenticity.

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3.2.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content The fact that the culture integrated in the 2e AS coursebook is selected and structured in a way that serves functional / structural objectives has resulted in a rather fragmentary, at times incoherent cultural content. To begin with, Unit 1 subsumes several unrelated topics: life in a small Algerian town (Kalaa), as it used to be in the past; Algeria imports in1980; some international memorable dates; the description of a town in the south of the Sahara (Timbuctoo). The aim is to practise the function of describing a place in the past. Unit 2 opens with Peter's call to John to make an appointment with him. There is, then, the description of the itinerary of the Colso couple In Africa. The unit proceeds with a description of the activities Samir planned for his day off, followed by plenty of things to be done by different people. The same unit brings up other topics such as organizing a holiday camp, and New Year resolutions. The aim is to practise the function of planning future activities. The other units are structured in the same fashion. Their topical contents are more or less incoherent. 'The New Midlines' embodies various types of texts: dialogues, narratives, newspaper articles, letters, application forms, advertisements, songs, jokes and proverbs, but the most common type is the descriptive / expository text. Listening and Reading comprehension sections are on the whole based on passages adapted from a variety of authentic materials, such as 'Modern English International', 'Heinemann Educational Books', 'Newsweek', and 'The BBC World Service Radio'. This is also true regarding the passages intended for 'Reading for Leisure'. In other words, the material provided by the 2e AS coursebook is written by native speakers for a native audience, but is adapted to the Algerian Secondary School pupils. Nevertheless, various non-authentic passages are included. The text about 'Kalaa in1880' (Unit 1) is written specifically to serve the function of 'describing past places', and to illustrate such language items as 'stem+ed', 'was/were+stem+ed', 'there was/were', 'used to+stem' and adjuncts of place. It would be beneficial to the pupils to exploit instead the authentic excerpt about 'The Ancient City of Carthage', suggested as extra material.

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All the dialogues(1) used are composed, i.e., non-authentic. In Unit 2, while the reading text is a translation of an article from 'El Moudjahid' Algerian newspaper, listening is related to 'half' a conversation by phone between Peter and John, where the pupils are allowed to listen only to John's responses. The pupils are not required to guess what Peter says each time, to complete the picture and to ensure global understanding. Instead, their attention is solely put on the language forms mentioned by John, like 'I will...', 'I plan to' etc., and their sequencing, as an exemplification of the function of 'planning future activities'. A dialogue built in this fashion is also found in Unit 16 ('Advice Column'), where the participants intervene only to illustrate how to give advice, each time using different language forms:
Steve: Wouldn't it be a good idea to register for the open university? Omar: [] Salim: If I were you, I'd try SONATRACH. I hear the pay's quite good and the working conditions too. Omar: [] Farid: Why dont you enrol on one of their training courses at Boumerdes, instead? You'll get a pre-salary and you'll easily find a job later. I'm sure you won't regret it. Omar: [] Djamel: You like flying, don't you? I think you should work as a steward with Air Algerie... . (The New Midlines, 1997:204)

The fact that different language forms are used simultaneously to perform the same function is a natural occurrence (as opposed to the joining together of sentences having the same structure). However, we feel that the author wanted the pupils to discover, immediately, all the possible forms used in English to give advice. It would have been better if more than one dialogue had been used, each referring to a particular socio-cultural situation (at home, at school, in a caf, in a surgery), and each presenting an appropriate language style (intimate, informal, formal), depending on the nature of the advice and the social status of the interlocutor. Spontaneous conversations of native speakers are recommended to enable the pupils to handle authentic language and become familiar with its characteristics, as spoken in real life socio-cultural situations. A further example is the composed dialogue of Unit 5 (p 53), where one can read the artificial form of address 'Mr Rachid'. The pupils are
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Except the one in the 'Listening Comprehension' section of Unit 8, which is adapted from an authentic source.

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misinformed and left unaware of the fact that titles like Mr or Mrs can come before the first name only when it is followed by the surname. Failure to observe this sociocultural rule would at least cause eyebrows' raising. Listening and reading passages are mainly followed with information transfer or information application tasks, such as filling in a table, drawing a graph, completing a form, organizing main ideas and matching pairs, and also with vocabulary exercises that focus on synonymy, antonymy and definitions. Other activities aim at developing the pupils' understanding of cohesive markers. The exercises dealing with the formal study of language are varied: sentence building, sentence combining, sentence completion, filling in blanks, scanning the text to pick up specific structures, supplying the correct form of verbs in brackets, drills of the substitution and transformation types. Communication- and culture-geared activities such as role plays, guessing games, and group discussions are few in number and introduced near the end of the units(1). We note that not all the activities suggested in 'Communication' are of the communicative type. In this section, there are more or less controlled exercises. For example, one of the exercises of the 'Communication' section of Unit 16 is even mechanical: (p206)
Exercise 2: Group Work a) P1: My clothes no longer fit me. I've put on so much weight P2: Stop eating cake P4: Go and see a doctor P3: Go on a diet P5: Practise sport You should.. You ought to b) P1: I've got a terrible headache. I can't get rid of the flu. P2: Stay in bed P4: Go and see a doctor P3: Take infusions P5: Have a few days rest Why don't you? []

In real life interactions, native speakers think first of the socio-cultural meanings they want to communicate, only then would they select the language means for their expression. Their attention remains focused on meanings rather than
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In an analytic study of 'Mid Lines', the 2 AS coursebook used before the introduction of 'The New Midlines', it is uncovered that communicative activities constitute just 16.85% of the totality of the activities suggested (Merrouche, 1998). This fact may be said to apply to 'The New Midlines', for it is just a duplicate of 'Mid Lines', but for four units. Even the latter are not communicatively-oriented.

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on forms. Real language use occurs when one uses language to say something and not when one says something to use language. Additionally, real language use implies considering the socio-cultural context in which communication takes place. Put in other words, there are socio-cultural rules that govern linguistic as well as other behaviours. Most of the activities in 'The New Midlines' do not cater for these aspects. Let us analyse, for example, Unit 22, 'Communication', exercise 1 (p27): How to say it
I / We shall / will.. intend to plan to am / are thinking of..

Group work A and B are journalists interviewing the Colso couple before they leave Oran (jobs, families, tastes, hobbies, etc and their future plans after the trip). C and D are the Colso couple.

To begin with, there is no clear instruction for the pupils to follow; only the situation is presented. The activity is, further, not communicative in the sense that the pupils are not given full opportunity to communicate meanings, but are required to produce acceptable pieces of language. It is presented in such a way that the pupils would use the forms (I shall / will / intend to) not to tell about their future plans, simulating the personalities of the Colsos, but because that is what they are required to do as part of the lesson. The purpose of the exercise is to elicit utterances illustrating the structures under 'How to say it'. In this light, this presumed role play would lose its value as a communicative activity and culture teaching technique, resorted to make the learners experience self-doubt, risk-taking and even shock, as in real life situations, and learn how to cope with these feelings. Besides, the pupils, in the context of this exercise, are not supplied with socio-cultural information about the participants whose identities are to be enacted and hence, cannot be expected to play the roles adequately. In other words, they are not prepared to behave properly when in contact with members from other cultures; they are not trained to take in a foreign perspective. A feature vividly visible in 'The New Midlines' is the large number of tables and diagrams associated with the different steps of the unit. They serve as inputs, especially for the activities concerned with the selective transferring and application of new information. There are many boxes too, to put in evidence the language

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exponents of the unit. The photographic material is varied. We find photos, pictures, maps, cartoons, and road signs. They have both a pedagogic and an aesthetic role in that they elucidate and illustrate meanings, and are, at the same time, decorative. However, they have little cultural implications as relevant to the English-speaking culture(s), for their content is of the general or the purely technical type. Moreover, they are in need for colours to be more authentic and more appealing to the learners. 'The New Midlines' has a cover picture presenting the take off of a rocket. We wonder why this picture was opted for. The cover of the 'old' 'Midlines' is, in our opinion, more meaningful and more culturally relevant to ELT since it shows the famous 'Big Ben' in London and the surrounding buildings erected upon the Thames. 3.2.5. Complements The 2e AS coursebook is not accompanied by a teacher's manual, but there are some teacher's notes in the pupil's book itself. They serve as a guide to the general and the step by step objectives underlying the activities. They also put forward methodological suggestions as to how to deal with the different sections of the unit. Nevertheless, there are no cultural insights or explanations. In non-native English-speaking environments (like Algeria), teachers' difficulties to understand the cultural connotations, and the cultural background associated with English as a TL should normally be predicted and tackled. As far as the cultural component is concerned, we cannot state whether 'The New Midlines' (2e AS) fits in (or not) with 'My New Book of English' (1e AS), but it does not remedy its deficiencies, concerning both presentation and practice of cultural items. After going through both textbooks, the Secondary School pupil would have learned little about the culture(s) of English-speaking people, since this is not the target of the manuals. 3.2.6. Recapitulation The analysis of 'The New Midlines' has shown that it is a textbook which gives special care to the teaching of language structures, though designed around a list of language functions. Most of its passages are adapted from authentic sources, but are not current, and are not seeded with cultural insights about English and Englishspeaking people. Their cultural content focuses instead on culture-general and technical topics. It is on the whole fragmentary, given the fact that it is selected and 307

organized so as to serve the targeted functions and structures. The few culturespecific elements provided are not spotlighted, a fact which may lead one to think that they are merely incidental. The 'Reading for Leisure' texts are in many units more interesting, from the cultural standpoint, than those in the 'Listening' and 'Reading Comprehension' sections. The textbook is, above all, in great need for activities to learn about the TL culture and to practise cultural learnings in life-like communicative interactions. 3.3. Comet (3e AS) 3.3.1. General Descriptive Information - Name of textbook: Comet (a Communicative English Teaching Coursebook for all streams). - Intended learners' level: 3e AS - Authors: Abderrazzak BENZIAN (Head of Project) Habib BOUAKKAZ Boubekeur Seddik HADJIDJ -Publisher: O.N.P.S -Year / Place of publication: 1997-1998 / Algeria -Number of pages: 143 3.3.2. Rationale Like 'My New Book of English' and 'The New Midlines', 'Comet' was designed to respond to the new syllabuses for English. The material it suggests is not completely new, because it is mainly based on that of its predecessor, i.e., 'Think It Over'. Contents are also selected from other textbooks, namely, 'Modern World', 'B.A.C English', 'New Skills', 'Mid Lines', and 'New Lines', as recognized by the head of project (Benzian) in the introductory notes of 'Comet' (pp 6-7). The approach followed is thematic: the units are built around specific themes or topics, each of which may refer to a variety of socio-cultural allusions. Nevertheless, the goal for cultural instruction is not explicitly stated. The aim referred to is to prepare the pupils for the end of year baccalaureate exam. This entails dealing with topics that are relevant to their respective streams, with a special emphasis on reading and writing.

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The detailed analysis of ' Comet's ' cultural content (which will be delineated in the following sections) shows that it is close to the III.A.1 type in Damen's (op.cit) categorization of textbooks, i.e., the 'Cultural / Linguistic _ Thematic / Universal' type. In fact, it deals with topics that are, on the whole, related to universal human issues. Besides, focus is more on understanding and discussing this content than on developing linguistic skills. Still, the textbook is, in our opinion, in need for more communication- and culture- geared techniques.

3.3.3. Content 3.3.3.1. General Analysis The eleven units of 'Comet' are, as stated in the previous lines, developed and organized along thematic lines. Each unit opens with a saying or an excerpt from a book or a conference, to illustrate the targeted theme. The first skill that is practised is 'Listening', followed by 'Reading', each of which has a pre-and a post- phase. The inputs of these two skills assist the pupils to tackle the subsequent writing assignment. The unit proceeds with the 'Get Ready' section, which suggests working on a passage that is topically relevant, most often to develop the pupils' understanding of discourse coherence and cohesion devices. The unit closes with a song and 'Reading for Leisure'. This layout is represented in Figure 6. Figure 6: Unit Structure in 'Comet' Introductory Note Pre-Listening Listening Unit Reading Listening Post-Listening Pre-Reading Reading Post-Reading Get Ready Time for a Song Reading For Leisure 309 Writing

The major themes handled by the 3eAS coursebook are highlighted as headings to its units, as delineated in Table 7. Table 7: Units' Headings in 'Comet' Unit 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Heading Modern Life in English Speaking Countries Inventions and Discoveries English in the World Today Humour and Leisure Trade and Development Computing Media Automation Human Rights and Racial Problems Business Correspondence Great Challenges to Mankind

It appears that most of the cultural items covered are thematic universal, i.e., culturegeneral, relating to universal human questions and focusing on the general understanding of topics in the field of science and technology. Even Unit 3, about the English language, does not deal with it as a crucial aspect of the Anglo-Saxon culture, but as a tool serving international communication. Only Units 1 and 4 have a culture-specific content that is relevant to the TL. Unit 1 points to an important small 'c' cultural facet of the Londoners' life, namely, the 'Speaker's Corner', a topic that alludes to such British values as freedom and democracy. The input of this unit is, however, limited, for the same short passage is put forward for both listening and reading comprehension. This fact applies to Unit 4, which slightly refers to a big 'C' culture-specific topic, the famous English playwright, Shakespeare. All other units (Units 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, i.e., 81.81% of the book) are not concerned with English-speaking cultures, though the latter are intrinsic in some of their suggested songs. The passages included at the end of the book deal with the same themes tackled in the units. The cultural content of 'Comet' is not up-to-date; its texts were written in the seventies or early eighties, i.e., more than twenty years ago. For example, Unit 7 includes extracts from the British press which were published in 1973, and Unit 9

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reports the BBC news broadcast in 1985(1). Unit 2 refers to past inventions and discoveries rather than to recent ones. The passage intended for listening comprehension, for instance, cites, among other things, the wheel, the light bulb, paper and ink. Yet, if the mobile phone, the digital camera, the pocket computer, or the microwave oven were referred to instead, they would associate the pupils with the cotemporary world. Logically speaking, they would as well be more interesting and motivating to them. It should be noted, however, that the cultural content of the book is on the whole varied and suitable to the learners' age and concerns. The 3e AS (1995) official syllabus on the basis of which 'Comet' was especially designed distinguishes between the objectives and contents meant for the scientific streams, and those intended for the literary ones. The latter are more concerned with the cultural dimension of the English language: '' The literary streams will need more exposure to literature concerning aspects of the civilization that use English as a means of communication.'' (Syllabuses for English, op.cit:10). In another context, it is stated that ''Aspects of literature and, in general, civilization of the people that use English as a national language will not be neglected. It is even important to select passages from two or three novels written by natives (African, American or British twentieth century writers) and study them in class.'' (p37). The aim is to broaden the learners' cultural 'know about', and to enhance their reading abilities in the FL. As outlined before, 'Comet' suggests mainly culture-general and technical materials and is, thus, more apposite to the scientific streams. 3.3.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis Like the 1e AS and the 2e AS coursebooks, 'Comet' cannot be examined at the micro-social level, because it is not peopled with characters. It presents impersonal factual information, and targets no specific culture or specific English-speaking group. 3.3.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis As the 3e AS textbook does not aim at portraying a specific culture, the information it caters for pertains to general human concerns, having to do with economy and marketing (Units 5 and 10), communication and media (Units 3 and 7),
(1)

This date is not mentioned in 'Comet' but in the original source 'Think It Over'.

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science and technology (Units 2, 6, and 8), and challenges to mankind (Units 9 and 11). The image purveyed touches on world problems: Unit 9, for example, raises some of the socio-political / socio-cultural troubles faced by immigrants, and Unit 11 discusses one of the man-made problems _ pollution. We note that there is very little history and geography in the book.

3.3.3.4. Intercultural Analysis To begin with, the pupils' NC is referred to in only few units, and in most cases, in a slight, cursory manner. In Units 1 and 7, the Algerian culture is drawn attention to in the final writing phase, where the pupils are asked to link the topic being discussed to their home country and local environment. Data are to be supplied by the learners themselves, if they happen to deal with the activity. The textbook does little to bring out similarities and contrasts between what is native and what is foreign. The way the NC is handled in Unit 3 is more satisfactory. Indeed, the whole listening phase is about the English language status in Algeria and in the Algerian educational system; the pupils are encouraged to state their opinions as to when and what FL to introduce in the Primary School. This is followed by reading comprehension, which points out the prominence of English at the international level. There are other instances of interculturality in the book. Unit 9 devoted to human rights and racial problems offers an authentic reflection of the multicultural character of foreign societies like Great Britain and France. Unit 7 which deals with media presents through its reading passage a view of the communication industry that juxtaposes active transmitting cultures with passive receiving ones.

Nevertheless, intercultural communicative interactions do not occur in this textbook, notwithstanding their relevance to ELT.

3.3.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors The nature of the cultural content of 'Comet' points to the detached attitude of its authors. General cultural commentaries are presented with no critical analysis or evaluative notes. In some of the suggested activities, particularly in the post-listening and post-reading phases, the pupils are encouraged to reflect upon cultural facts and phenomena. This is, for example, the case of exercise 9, 'Post-Reading', Unit 9 (p84):

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What's your opinion? How do you explain that Portuguese, Italian and Spanish immigrants don't meet the same problems as the others? Do you think the problem of immigrants may be solved? In what way?

After going through the 3e AS textbook units, one gets an overall picture, not of a particular English-speaking culture, but of the world in general, a picture that is, in our opinion, realistic, for it displays the attractive as well as the less attractive realities of the world. In addition to the examples outlined in the 'Macro-Social Analysis' section, we may cite as well Unit 7 which raises worries in connection with the growth of the communication technology. Likewise, Unit 8 discusses arguments against automation. The aim is to broaden the pupils' general and scientific knowledge. 3.3.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 'Comet's' culture-general content is presented through its suggested passages and activities. It is well structured as it is provided in the context of thematically coherent units. In fact, all the sections in each unit, beginning with the introductory note, and ending with the song and the reading for leisure text, are devoted to the same one topic. The topics selected follow no specific progression. 'Comet' contains most of all expository passages that serve the culture-general / scientific nature of its topics. In every unit, there is, in addition, a song that has a more culture-specific content, providing at least hints about English-speaking people and their way(s) of life. Worth mentioning are the explanatory notes that accompany some songs, to shed light on their cultural background. The song of Unit 5, for example, is entitled 'Clementine'. The authors explain that ''This internationally famous ballad became very popular in San Francisco (California USA) at the end of the 19th century. The song-writer tells of his love for Clementine, the daughter of a Forty-Niner, who died by drowning.'' They add that Forty-Niners are ''Men who went west to California in search of fortune during the gold rush of 1849.'' (p47). We find this annotation culturally significant; it contributes enormously to the general understanding of the lyrics. In 'Comet', there are also excerpts from international conferences and manifestoes, included either as introductory notes, or as reading for leisure passages. There are as well extracts from plays, newspaper articles and a news bulletin. At the end of the book are supplied further expository texts, but also a

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list of more than a hundred of alphabetically ordered proverbs. We think that these are of little use to the pupils, not only because they are meant as extra material, being not incorporated in the units, but also because they are not provided in context and are not explained. Much of the cultural content of the 3e AS textbook is reprinted with adaptation from original sources. At times, it is not made clear whether a passage is authentic or not, its reference being even not mentioned. Unit 3 begins with a translated piece of discourse (from Al Muqaddima of Ibn Khaldoun) and proceeds with an extract from the Algerian Secondary School syllabus for English, meant for listening

comprehension; both texts are non-authentic. In Unit 7, the listening phase is developed on the basis of very short selections from British newspaper articles. These selections are not reprinted in their original form, and are, hence, nonauthentic, at least in this respect. In most of the units, authentic material is supplied at the end, namely, in 'Time for a Song' and 'Reading for Leisure' sections, which is unfortunate for the learners who may not have the opportunity to work on this extra (though authentic and culture-seeded) content. The 3e AS pupils are expected to handle the data and facts dealt with in texts trough a variety of activities: matching pairs, distinguishing true from false statements, identifying main ideas, and picking up specific information to fill in tables and charts. The textbook authors resort to the questioning technique for several purposes: to warm up the learners in pre-listening and / or pre-reading sequences, to check their comprehension of a passage, to make them reflect on specific topics, facts, and to generate group or class discussions. A positive aspect of 'Comet' is, thus, its incorporation of many discussion activities. These communicative activities are powerful means not only to practise the speaking skill, but also to develop knowledge and critical thinking. In 'Comet', the topics suggested for discussion reflect the culture-general nature of its cultural content. The textbook does not make available other culture-geared activities, but two mini-projects in Units 2 and 6, which are similarly thematic-universal. It caters, on the other hand, for form-based practice, and for exercises devoted to understanding the structure of discourse. There is no artwork in 'Comet' apart from few tables and charts, to be completed by the pupils in tasks aiming at the selective transference of information, and 'How to Say it' boxes, highlighting language exponents. Illustrations as

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photographs, cartoons, drawings, and maps are missed out, notwithstanding the role they can play to accurately and authentically convey the TC. 3.3.5. Complements A teacher's manual to elucidate and supplement 'Comet's' contents is not available. The 3e AS teachers are left without guidance or helpful notes about teaching cultural or other items. This may be problematic, especially for a novice teacher. A teacher's guide is not only expected to provide further information about what and how to teach, but also to predict possible problems, particularly regarding the understanding of the cultural context portrayed in the course material, and to suggest appropriate clues and answers. This is mostly needed in non-native settings like Algeria. In comparison with 'My New Book of English' (1e AS) and 'The New Midlines' (2e AS), 'Comet' focuses less on linguistic skills and more on cultural content and language use (discussion). A common feature of the three books is their concern with culture-general topics, hence their failure to present a coherent picture of the TLculture(s).

3.3.6. Recapitulation To sum up the 3e AS coursebook, 'Comet', is based on the thematic approach. It is not relevant to English-speaking cultures, but to universal human concerns having to do with technology, economy . Although its cultural content is realistic, it is not up-to-date. Further, it cannot be said to be authentic, most of its passages being reprinted with adaptation from original sources. The topics selected are varied and dealt with in a structured way, but they do not as a whole respond to the syllabus requirements of the literary streams. The textbook describes instances of intercultural contact, but does not present situations of intercultural communication. It encourages discussion of and reflection on cultural facts and phenomena, yet, it is in need for more communication and culture-oriented practice.

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Conclusion The analysis of the cultural contents of the textbooks of English used in the Algerian Middle and Secondary Schools has shown that the cultural component is either not incorporated, or not adequately dealt with in the coursebooks. This acts as a confirmation of the first hypothesis which underlies this research work. In fact, the socio-cultural component of the English language is overlooked in the textbooks that have a mainly culture-general (at times purely technical) content, mostly Secondary School textbooks. Unlike culture-general textbooks, Culturespecific ones have the advantage of providing a range of clearly identifiable situations for the presentation and practice of language and culture items. They also lend themselves for the conception of characters who appear regularly throughout the course, conferring a sense of continuity to the material and of security and motivation to the learner who may identify with one or more of them. The TLassociated culture is also not given due care in the coursebooks that have a multicultural character, mostly Middle School textbooks. The task of understanding and relating to several cultures portrayed in the same coursebook that is meant for beginners is too great for any likely benefit accruing to justify it. Additionally, the cultural component is, in all the books analyzed (except that of 3 AS), subservient to the structural and / or functional components. This fact has resulted in arbitrary cultural selections and fragmentary cultural contents, particularly in 'Spotlight on English Book One' (1e AM) and ' The New Midlines' (2e AS). The overall image the pupils get about the FC remains limited and far from being balanced and realistic. A further corollary is that cultural items are not spotlighted in most of the designed activities, but are left in the background to serve as context for the practice of structural and / or functional targets. Even the 3e AS coursebook, 'Comet', which encourages discussion of cultural facts and phenomena, is in need for more culture-oriented activities. In all the books we have viewed, there is no single instance of 'critical incidents', 'culture assimilators', 'cultural clusters' or 'case studies'. 'Spotlight on English Book One and Book Two' have a special section to 'Learn about Culture' which paradoxically includes none of the above mentioned activities. In book two, all that the culture section caters for is a passage, at times with no accompanying activity, to be 'optionally' read by the pupils, just for pleasure. Though both books are based on the 'project' pedagogy, the projects suggested are not likely
e

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to develop the pupils' knowledge about the FC, as they are related to culture-general topics. Another point worth mentioning is that small 'c' deep cultural facts are not pointed out in the coursebooks. This is unfortunate, for many scholars believe that small 'c' culture stands for what a culture really is. Thus, by the end of 3e AS, the pupils would at best develop knowledge about some surface cultural matters, rather than true understanding of 'the other' and the 'other's' worldview and way of life.

In the following chapters, spotlight will be on two active agents in the language and culture teaching / learning process, that is, the teacher and the pupil. We will consider their understanding of culture, culture teaching / learning, and their views about the coursebooks and their cultural contents.

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CHAPTER SIX TEACHERS IN ACTION: FIELD INVESTIGATION

Introduction

1. Means of Data Collection

2. The Sample

3. Middle and Secondary School Teachers' Questionnaire: Approach, Methods and Techniques of Culture Teaching 3.1. Description 3.2. Results and Discussion 3.2.1. Middle School Teachers' Questionnaire 3.2.2. Secondary School Teachers' Questionnaire

4. Teachers' Questionnaire: The Place of Culture in the Middle / Secondary School Textbooks of English 4.1. Description 4.2. Results and Discussion 4.2.1. Middle School Teachers' Questionnaire 4.2.2. Secondary School Teachers' Questionnaire

Conclusion

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Introduction Field investigation is the central focus of the present chapter. We shall deal with a factor of major importance in language and culture teaching: the teacher. What do specialists in the field think about the whole matter of teaching about culture? What do they think about the textbooks they are using? Two questionnaires were designed to explore the Algerian teachers' knowledge, views and perceptions of FC teaching in theory and in practice, as applied in relation to the official textbooks of English used at both the Intermediate and the Secondary Level. We note that training is not obligatory for the teachers of English in Algeria, except for those who graduate from the ENS (Ecole Normale Superieure). The only requirement is a university degree, which is, in our opinion, not enough to equip teachers to face the demands of a language (and a culture) class.

1. Means of Data Collection In the framework of this study, we have devised two teachers' questionnaires, both with a form adapted to the Intermediate Level, and another to the Secondary Level. Each questionnaire was pilot-tested thanks to a group of six volunteers of the target respondents (Anderson and Arsenault, 1998). Their answers and comments (verbal and written) about the questionnaires entailed the rewording of some items (e.g. question (Q) 13, Q38 in the first questionnaire, and Q5, Q27, and Q38 in the second). At times, the inclusion of parenthetical explanations was needed (such as in Q8, Q15 in the first questionnaire, and Q23, Q25, Q39, and Q12 in the second). 2. Sample Middle and Secondary School teachers of English in Algeria constitute our target population. Our study population is that of Middle and Secondary School teachers of English at the level of the wilaya (district) of Oum el Bouaghi. The latter was opted for because, on the one hand, the researcher lives there, hence easiness of access to schools; on the other hand, it is practically impossible to work on all the districts of the country for constraints of costs and time. Relevant data about the study population were obtained from 'La Direction des Enseignements'. English is taught in 74 middle schools and 29 secondary schools,

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organized in 6 educational sectors. They are displayed in Tables 8 and 9, together with the number of teachers of English (N) that correspond to each one of them.

Table 8: Middle School Teachers of English in Oum el Bouaghi District Educational Town Sector 1. Oum el Bouaghi Oum el Bouaghi Middle School N 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 2 1 4 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 4 4 2 2 3 2 3 2 2 3 3 3 1 1 1 3 2 %

2. Ain el Beida

3. Meskiana

1-Hamou Bouzid 2-Ibn Tobible Rebai 3-Ouakaf Sebti 4-Adjli Kadour 5-Fellah Mohamed Lakhiari 6-Djebaili Ahmed 7-Berkani Messaoud 8-El Djadida Cite Nasr Sidi R'ghis 9- Fellah Amar Ain Zitoune 10- El Djadida Ain Zitoune Ain Bebouche 11- Ounasse Rebai 12- Zaghribet Derradji 13- El djadida Ain Bebouche Ain Dis 14- Ain Dis Centre Kasr S'bihi 15- Cheriet Belkhir Ain el Beida 1-Ibn Sina 2-Mohamed Salah el Antari 3-Fadhli Lakhdar 4-Kouadria Rebai 5-Hamimi Tahar 6-Kouchari Bachir 7-Meziani Rebai 8-Hadjadj Mohamed Larbi 9-Saidi Djemoui 10-El Djadida Cite el Moustakbel 11-Belalmi Abderahmane Berriche 12-Maameri Miloud 13- El Djadida Berriche F'kirina 14-Delfi Hamada Oued Nini 15- El Djadida Oued Nini Meskiana 1-Ibn Badis 2-Sallaoui Amar 3-Chouabah Liamine 4-Bouragba Mohamed 5-Meskiana Centre B'hir E'chergui 6-B'hir E'chergui R'hia Dalaa 7- El Djadida R'hia 8-Taibi Mohamed Liamine 9-El Djadida Dalaa

44

21.35

48

23.30

19

09.23

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4. Ain Fakroun

Ain Fakroun

Boughrara Saoudi Sigus El Aamiria

1-El Khawarizmi 2-Masri Sebti 3-Souidani Youcef 4-Ben M'hidi Abd el Aziz 5- El Djadida Ain Fakroun 6-Baaziz el Houcine 7-Amar Chaabane 8-Soyoud Mohamed 9-Latrousse Abd el Hamid 10-Talia Moussa 11-Deghar Lakhdar 1-Baaziz Aboud 2-Moudjari Abdellah 3-Maansar Miled 4- El Djadida Ain Kercha 5-Merabet Dhiab 6-Azri Baatouche 7-Kabadj H'mida 1-Mokadem Abd el Madjid 2-Khelifi Touhami 3-Belaabad Mohamed el Djilali 4-Grabsi Abdellah 5-Mellah Aboud 6-Beroual Houcine 7- Ain M'lila Centre 8-Zehag Mohamed 9-Sawalihia 10-Torche Touhami 11- El Djadida Ouled Hamla 12-Berkani Ali 13-Benarab Mesbah 14-Annab Naamoune 15-Souk Naamane Centre 16-Kelab Dabih Souleimane 17-Taleb Abdellah 74

4 3 4 4 3 1 4 3 2 1 1 3 3 3 2 3 3 2 4 3 4 3 3 4 1 3 2 3 2 2 3 4 1 1 3

30

14.56

5.Ain Kercha

Ain Kercha

19

09.23

6. Ain M'lila

Henchir Toumghani El Harmlia Ain M'lila

46

22.33

Ouled Hamla Ouled Kacem Souk Naamane Ouled Zouai Bir E'chouhadah 27

Total

206

100

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Table 9: Secondary School Teachers of English in Oum el Bouaghi District Educational Sector 1. Oum el Bouaghi Town Oum el Bouaghi Secondary School 1-Ferhati H'mida 2-Boukhelfa Sebti 3-Emir Salhi 4-Technicum Zeghdani Belkacem 5-Technicum Sehal Ibrahim 6-Lycee Ain Bebouche 7-Lycee Kasr S'bihi 1-Zinai Belkacem 2-Boukeffa Lakhdar 3-Asma bint Abi Bakr 4-Braknia Ali 5-Technicum Ababsa Abdelhamid 6-Lycee F'kirina 7-Lycee Houari Boumediene 1-Hemzaoui Mohamed Laid 2-Technicum Mohamed Boudiaf 3-Lycee Dalaa 1-Behloul Said 2-El Djadida Ain Fakroun 3-Lycee Sigus 1-Lycee Ain Kercha 2-Lycee Henchir Toumghani 1-Messas Ibrahimi 2-Mentouri Ahmed Cherif 3-Larbi ben M'hidi 4-Technicum Bouafia Ismail 5-Lycee Souk Naamane 6-Lycee Bir E'chouhadah 7-Lycee Ouled Hamla 29 5 4 2 4 3 3 2 4 5 3 6 3 2 2 4 3 2 4 2 3 6 1 5 4 2 4 4 1 2 95 100 N %

23

24.21

2. Ain el Beida

Ain Bebouche Kasr S'bihi Ain el Beida

25

26.32

3. Meskiana

F'kirina Berriche Meskiana Dalaa Ain Fakroun Sigus Ain Kercha Henchir Toumghani Ain M'lila

09

09.47

4. Ain Fakroun 5. Ain Kercha 6. Ain M'lila

09

09.47

07

07.37

Souk Naamane Bir E'chouhadah Ouled Hamla Total 16

22

23.16

The sampling chosen is 'multi-stage cluster sampling'. Contrary to other sampling techniques where single subjects are selected from the population, in cluster sampling (Nunan, 1992), the subjects are selected in groups or clusters. As the appellation implies, multi-stage cluster sampling involves drawing several different samples. Initially, large clusters are selected using 'simple random sampling', then progressively smaller ones within these large clusters are sampled. In

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the present study, educational sectors represent clusters. Schools are clusters within clusters. 50% of the large clusters were randomly selected, namely 3 (out of 6) educational sectors. Then, 50% of units within these selected clusters are again singled out randomly, giving way to smaller clusters (schools). Finally, 100%, i.e., all the subjects in each of these schools are retained to form the study sample. Figures 7 and 8 display the sampling process and the samples we ended up with at the Middle School and the Secondary School levels, respectively. Figure 7: Sampling Process at the Middle School Level -O.E.Bouaghi 6 sectors 50% 3 sectors -Ain el Beida 50% -Ain M'lila 8 schools 8 schools 100% 9 schools

81 teachers

Figure 8: Sampling Process at the Secondary School Level -O.E.Bouaghi 6 sectors 50% 3 sectors -Ain el Beida 50% -Ain M'lila 4 schools 4 schools 100% 4 schools 46 teachers

The Middle School sample is, thus, 81 teachers (pertaining to the randomly selected schools n0 1, 15, 9, 3, 7, 5, 8, 6, in Oum el Bouaghi; n0 5, 12, 3, 1, 9, 11, 7, 2, in Ain el Beida; and n0 9, 1, 7, 2, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, in Ain M'lila; see Table 8). The Secondary School sample comprises 46 teachers (pertaining to the randomly selected schools n0 2, 4, 6, 5, in Oum el Bouaghi; n0 1, 4, 3, 2, in Ain el Beida; and n0 2, 4, 5, 3, in Ain M'lila; see Table 9). We handed in and got back the questionnaires personally. 66 Middle School teachers and 32 Secondary School teachers returned the questionnaires, i.e., 81.48% and 69.56%, respectively. 3. Middle and Secondary School Teachers' Questionnaire: Approach, Methods and Techniques of Culture Teaching 3.1. Description The first questionnaire is common to Middle and Secondary School teachers. In the introduction, we explained its aims to the informants, namely to investigate the teacher's understanding of culture teaching, and the way culture is actually dealt with in FL classrooms. We made it clear that the information collected would serve to

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make recommendations as to how to teach, not only the English language, but also the culture(s) of English-speaking countries. The questionnaire (see Appendix I) includes 39 questions presented in six sections: 'General Information', 'Approach to Culture Teaching', 'Method of Teaching Culture', 'Techniques of Teaching Culture', 'The Language Teacher and Culture', and 'Further Suggestions'. Section I: General Information (Q1__Q3) This section is aimed at obtaining general information about the respondents, namely their status (Q1), teaching experience (Q2), and teaching level (whether Intermediate or Secondary) (Q3). Section II: Approach to Culture Teaching (Q4__Q14) This section is intended to investigate the teachers' understanding of the approach to culture teaching, whereby reference is made to several points: whether (or not) FL teaching / learning includes FC teaching / learning (Q4, Q5); signification of the concept of culture (Q6) and of culture teaching (Q7); the weight of the cultural component in the FL course (Q8, Q9, Q10, Q11); how culture should be taught / learned (Q12); and the impact of FC learning on identity (Q13, Q14). Section III: Method of Teaching Culture (Q15__Q22) This part of the questionnaire is about the method of teaching culture in terms of aims (Q15), nature of content (Q16), language of content (Q17, Q18), progression (Q19, Q20), selection criteria (Q21) and kinds of topics (Q22). Section IV: Techniques of Teaching Culture (Q23__Q31) In this section, techniques of teaching culture are investigated: amount of classroom time that should be devoted to the cultural aspect (Q23, Q24), types of activities (Q25, Q26, Q27, Q28) types of teaching aids (Q29, Q30) and special culture teaching techniques (Q31). Section V: The Language Teacher and Culture (Q32__Q38) This part of the questionnaire is intended to inform us about the way the respondents conceive of their role in culture teaching, that is, whether they consider it their duty to teach about the FC (Q32), and what this duty entails in terms of the teacher's function (Q33), attitudes towards the TC (Q34, Q35) and the culture teacher's requirements (Q36, Q37, Q38).

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Section VI: Further Suggestions (Q39) This final section provides the teachers with a space where they can add any comment or suggestion. 3.2. Results and Discussion 3.2.1. Middle School Teachers' Questionnaire Section I: General Information Q1-Status: a- Titulaire b- Stagiaire c- Supplant(e) Table 10: Middle School Teachers' Status Options 'Titulaire' ( Confirmed teacher) 'Stagiaire' (Probationer) 'Suppleant(e)' (Substitute teacher) No answer Total N 60 / 04 02 66 % 90.91 / 06.06 03.03 100

Q2- How long have you been teaching English? -1 year (3) -2 years (2) -3 years (1) -4 years (2) -8 years (1) -9 years (1) -10 years (5) -11years -12 years -13 years -14 years -15 years -16 years -17 years (3) (5) (5) (5) (1) (7) (1) -18 years -19 years -20 years -21 years -23 years -24 years -25 years (2) (2) (3) (1) (5) (1) (3) -26 years (1) -27 years (2) -No answer (4)

The results can be grouped in the following classes [A - B [: (fi, xi) [1 - 6 [: (8, 3.5), [6 - 11 [: (7, 8.5), [11 - 16 [: (19, 13.5), [16 - 21 [: (15, 18.5), [21 - 26 [: (10, 23.5), [26 - 31 [: (3, 28.5). The mode class is [11 - 16 [, with an absolute frequency of 19. This means that the majority of the informants have a teaching experience which goes between 11 and

325

16 years (16 not included). The central tendency is towards 15.19, on the basis of the following formula: (X =

f x f
i i

Q3- At which level? a- Middle School b- Secondary School All the teachers said that the number of years of teaching English has been in the Middle School. Accordingly, we can state that in our sample, the majority of the respondents are confirmed Middle school teachers with a teaching experience slightly over 15 years. Section II: Approach to Culture Teaching Q4- Does learning / teaching a foreign language include learning / teaching about its corresponding culture? - Yes - No Table 11: Including the FC in FL Teaching (Intermediate Level) Options Yes No No answer Total N 57 06 03 66 % 86.36 09.09 04.55 100

Table 11 shows that most of the teachers (86.36%) believe that learning / teaching a FL includes learning / teaching about its corresponding culture. Q5 If ''Yes'', for which reason? (Please tick the reason you think is most important). a- Language and culture are interconnected. b- The cultural context is important in communication. c- Cultural knowledge motivates the pupils to learn the language. d- Cultural knowledge broadens the pupils' general knowledge. e- Cultural knowledge promotes attitudes of empathy and tolerance. f- Other: Please, specify.

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Table12: Justifying the Inclusion of the FC in FL Teaching (Intermediate Level) Options a b c d e Total n: number of selections( 1). Table 12 shows that most of the teachers who said Yes to Q4 believe that FL teaching/learning includes a cultural component, on the grounds that language and culture are interconnected. This option 'a' was mostly chosen with a percentage of 36.37%. Other options, namely option 'c' (cultural knowledge motivates the pupils to learn the language) and 'b' (the cultural context is important in communication) were also considered (27.27% and 20.20%, respectively), while 'd' (cultural knowledge broadens the pupils' general knowledge) and 'e' (cultural knowledge promotes attitudes of empathy and tolerance) seem to be less important in the viewpoint of the teachers (13.13% and 03.03%, respectively). Q6- What does '' culture '' mean to you? a- A set of behaviours, customs, rituals, patterned ways of living. b- A system of thoughts, assumptions, values and norms. c- Literature and fine arts. d-Other: Please, specify. n 36 20 27 13 03 99 % 36.37 20.20 27.27 13.13 03.03 100

n=99; N=57 (66-9). N n because many teachers ticked more than one option at a time, giving way to so many instances. In such case, arranging data in terms of 'n' is more significant, statistically speaking. It reveals the way the suggested options have been selected in relation to each other. This is valid for all the questions where n is used (instead of N).
( 1)

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Table 13: Middle School Teachers' Definition of Culture Options a b c ab ac abc Total N 27 17 05 04 06 07 66 % 40.91 25.76 07.57 06.06 09.09 10.61 100

40.91% of the teachers are for the behavioural definition of culture, i.e., they link it to what is observable; 25.76% of them define it in functional terms, i.e., they link it exclusively to unobservable features: thoughts, assumptions, values and norms. Actually, culture relates to both observable and unobservable features. Some aspects of it are literary, what is known as big 'C' culture. Only 10.61% of the teachers have such comprehensive view of culture. Q7- What does culture teaching mean to you? a- Providing the pupils with information about the foreign culture facts and artifacts. b- Developing the pupils' understanding of the underlying bases of the foreign culture (values, assumptions, beliefs). c- Promoting the pupils' positive attitudes towards the foreign culture community. d- Developing the pupils' ability to behave appropriately when in contact with a foreign culture. e- Enhancing the pupils' cultural self awareness. f- Other: Please, specify. Table14: Middle School Teachers' Definition of Culture Teaching Options a b c d e N 08 14 14 05 / % 12.12 21.21 21.21 07.57 /

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ab ac bd be cd abc abd abe ace bcf abcd acde abcde abcdf Total

02 01 06 01 01 01 02 01 01 01 02 01 04 01 66

03.03 01.52 09.09 01.52 01.52 01.52 03.03 01.52 01.52 01.51 03.03 01.51 06.06 01.51 100

These results show that the teachers do not have a common view of culture teaching. 21.21% of them conceive of it as developing the pupils' cultural 'know why' (option 'b'). An equal percentage opted for developing positive attitudes towards the FC community (option 'c'). For 12.12% of the respondents, culture teaching means developing the pupils' cultural 'know what' (option 'a'), and for 07.57%, it denotes developing their cultural 'know how' (option 'd'). 09.09% of them selected both 'b' and 'd'. The others are very dispersed giving way to a variety of combinations, with one or more of the elements missing. As demonstrated in chapter four, culture teaching has to do with all the aspects mentioned above. It also means enhancing the pupils' cultural selfawareness (i.e., option 'e', which seems to be overlooked compared to the other aspects). Just 06.06% of the respondents included all the options suggested. Two teachers had further definitions (f). For one of them, to teach about culture is '' to enable the pupils to use language appropriately and to make them aware of what's happening in the world ''; for the second, it means '' to send a message of peace and fraternity because nowadays, we are, more than any time, in need for peace ''.

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Q8- Is culture to be treated as: a- Supplementary optional material (i.e., to be dealt with when it incidentally occurs in texts and activities). b- An integral part of language learning (i.e., to be deliberately included in texts and activities). Table15: Middle School Teachers' Treatment of Culture Options a b Total N 07 59 66 % 10.60 89.40 100

The vast majority of the informants (89.40%) think that culture is to be deliberately included in texts and activities.

Q9- If ''a'', why? Only 03 teachers for whom culture is to be treated as supplementary optional material justified their answer.02 of them wrote that culture '' is meant only for pleasure '', and a third that '' it all depends on the objectives of the course '', implying that the cultural component is not a basic aim of the English course at the Intermediate Level, which is exact (this has been demonstrated in the previous chapter). Q10- If ''b'', should the cultural component be considered on equal footing with the other language components? - Yes - No Table16: Considering Language Components on Equal Footing (Intermediate Level) Options Yes No No answer Total N 46 11 02 59 % 77.97 18.64 03.39 100

330

Most of the teachers for whom culture is an integral part of language learning (77.97%) believe further that all language components should be treated equally. Q11- If ''No'', why? Only 03 teachers (out of 11) justified why the cultural component should not be regarded as the other language components. 2 teachers put it clearly that '' Culture is not language ''; the third stated that '' It (culture) is just dealt with to enrich the pupils' knowledge; it is not to be considered as grammar or vocabulary ''. The first justification is based on the assumption that language and culture are separable entities. The second one assumes that the linguistic components are more important than the cultural one. Q12-Should culture be taught /learned: a- Implicitly b- Explicitly c- Both Table17: The Way Culture Should be Taught (Intermediate Level) Options a b c No answer Total N 11 03 51 11 66 % 16.67 04.55 77.27 01.51 100

77.27% of the teachers are for teaching/learning culture both implicitly and explicitly. 16.67% are for the implicit mode, and 04.55% for the explicit one. We agree with the majority: culture is implicit in language forms and meanings; some features of it need to be explicitly elucidated. Q13- Do you think that learning about a foreign culture is a threat to one's native cultural identity? - Yes - No

331

Table18: FC Learning as a Threat to (the Middle School) Pupils' Identity Options Yes No No answer Total N 21 43 02 66 % 31.82 65.15 03.03 100

65.15% of the informants see that learning about a FC does not threaten one's identity and cultural integrity, while 31.82% of them believe that it does. Q14- Please, justify your answer. 10 teachers (out of 21) justified their 'Yes' in Q13; they warned that the learners run the risk of imitating foreign behaviours and adopting foreign thoughts, to the detriment of their NC and cultural identity. In one of the answers, it was stated that the pupils should better learn about their NC. Of the 43 teachers who answered 'No' to the previous question, 27 explained that learning about a FC is of great benefit to the learners in that it broadens their general knowledge and enhances their communicative abilities in the TL. Some of the teachers distinguished between learning and acquiring (in the sense of adopting) a FC. Others emphasized the importance of selecting the classroom cultural input (see Appendix III).

The results of this section have shown that the majority of the teachers who answered the questionnaire believe that FL teaching/learning includes

teaching/learning about culture. They also think that culture should be treated as an integral part of the language course, on equal footing with the other language components. More than half the teachers denied the negative effects of FC learning on identity. However, the majority do not have a comprehensive view of culture and culture teaching.

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Section III: Method of Teaching Culture Q15- Foreign language teaching can be associated with several educational aims. Please, order the following aims from most to least important: from1 to 8. a- To develop an awareness of the nature of language and language learning. b- To break down prejudices and encourage positive attitudes to foreign language learning, to speakers of foreign languages and their cultures. c- To promote learning of skills of more general application (e.g., analysis, critical judgement ,memorising, drawing inferences). d- To develop an ability to use language effectively for purposes of practical communication. e- To develop an understanding of oneself and one's own culture. f- To form a sound basis of skills, language and attitudes required for further study or work . g- To offer insights into the culture and civilization of the countries where the target language is spoken. h- To broaden one's general knowledge and to provide enjoyment.

333

Table19: Middle School Teachers' Ordering of Educational Aims 1st N a b c d e f g h No answer Total 03 07 03 20 04 06 01 04 18 66 % 04.55 10.60 04.55 30.30 06.06 09.09 01.52 06.06 27.27 100 N 03 03 10 10 16 05 / 01 18 66 2nd % 04.55 04.55 15.15 15.15 24.24 07.57 / 01.52 27.27 100 N 06 05 03 09 04 09 08 04 18 66 3rd % 09.09 07.58 04.54 13.64 06.06 13.64 12.12 06.06 27.27 100 N 06 05 10 01 05 09 06 06 18 66 4th % 09.09 07.58 15.15 01.51 07.58 13.64 09.09 09.09 27.27 100 N 07 08 04 05 09 03 10 02 18 66 5th % 10.61 12.12 06.06 07.58 13.64 04.54 15.15 03.03 27.27 100 N 12 04 07 02 04 08 02 09 18 6th % 18.18 06.06 10.61 03.03 06.06 12.12 03.03 13.64 27.27 N 07 10 03 01 06 05 10 06 18 7th % 10.61 15.15 04.55 01.51 09.09 07.58 15.15 09.09 27.27 N 04 06 08 / / 03 11 16 18 8th % 06.06 09.09 12.12 / / 04.55 16.67 24.24 27.27

Options

66 100

66 100

66 100

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First, we note that more than a quarter of the respondents (27.27%) did not answer this question. This is possibly due to the fact that the latter is somehow demanding, for ordering 8 elements from most to least important requires some concentration. Second, the answers given reflect divergent views about what is to be classified first, second,, and last. One meaningful result is that 30.30% of the teachers gave priority to the aim of developing the learners' communicative ability (option d). Culture is referred explicitly in aims 'b' (to break down prejudices and encourage positive attitudes to FL learning, to speakers of FLs and their cultures), 'e' (to develop an understanding of oneself and one's own culture) and 'g' (to offer insights into the culture and civilization of the countries where the TL is spoken). These aims do not appear important for the teachers; they were even ordered 'least important'. In fact, 'g' was the second option (after 'h') that was mostly judged 'least important' with a percentage of 16.67% (the highest percentage for this option). Moreover, it was graded fifth, sixth or seventh by 33.33% of the teachers (15.15%+03.03%+15.15%). Though option 'b' was ranked as first or second by 15.15% (10.6%+04.55%) of the teachers, it was ranked as seventh or eighth by 24.24% (15.15%+09.09%) of them. Option 'e' was mostly ranked as second by 24.24% of the respondents, but it pertains to learning about one's NC rather than a foreign one. We find these standpoints in contradiction with those in section one. Indeed, how can culture be regarded as an integral part of language learning and a counterpart to the other language components, and be at the same time the object of a less or least important aim of FL education? Q16-Which culture(s) should be included in the English classroom? a- The British culture. b- The other English -speaking cultures (the American, the Australian,) c- The Arabic culture. Table 20:Middle School Teachers' Specification of the Cultures to be Included Options a b c N 16 18 10 % 24.24 27.27 15.15

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ab ac abc No answer Total

02 17 01 02 66

03.03 25.76 01.52 03.03 100

This question divided the sample of informants into four major groups: the largest number of teachers (27.27%) advocates teaching other English-speaking cultures (the American, the Australian); an almost equal number (25.76%) opted for the British and the Arabic culture, and approximately the same number (24.24%) for the British culture only; the fourth group (15.15%) is for the Arabic culture only. The remainder of the respondents ticked either 'a' and 'b', that is, the British and other English-speaking cultures (03.03%) or the three suggested options at the same time (01.52%). 2 teachers did not answer the question. We can deduce that the British culture was mostly chosen with a percentage of 54.55%

(24.24%+03.03%+25.76%+01.52%). Focus should, in our opinion, be on one of the English-speaking cultures (whether the British or the American or other). The other cultures should not be excluded, particularly the pupils' NC. We note that in the 1e AM and the 2e AM newly designed syllabuses, there is a vague reference sometimes to a 'universal' culture, sometimes to an 'English' culture (as demonstrated in Chapter Five, sub-sections 2.1.2 and 2.2.3.1). This fact might explain why Middle School teachers are not in agreement about the type of culture that should be included in the English class. Q17- To teach about the target culture, should the teacher use: a- The English language. b- The Arabic language. Table 21: Middle School Teachers' Specification of the Language to Teach about Culture Options N % a b ab Total 54 08 04 66 81.82 12.12 06.06 100

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The overwhelming majority of the teachers (81.82%) said that to teach about the TC, the teacher should use the TL. Few teachers (12.12%) prefer the NL, and fewer (06.06%) both NL and TL. Q18- If ''b'', why? Eight teachers (out of 12) who selected 'b' or 'ab' as a reply to Q17 justified their choice in the following words: -''Learners can express themselves in Arabic better than in English.'' -''Arabic is a common language.'' -''The level of the pupils is low in English. Using Arabic to teach about culture facilitates understanding.'' (2) -''The teacher should use the mother tongue with beginners.'' -'' to facilitate understanding of complex things.'' (2) -''At times, the teacher feels obliged to use Arabic to get the pupils closer to the target meanings. This is due to the weak level of the pupils.'' Q19- Do you think teaching about a foreign culture should be programmed right from the beginning levels of foreign language learning? -Yes - No Table 22: Middle School Teachers' Conception of When to introduce Culture Options Yes No Total N 61 05 66 % 92.42 07.58 100

Table 22 points out that almost all the respondents think that the FC should be introduced at early levels of FL learning. They, thus, adhere to the approach of Brooks (op.cit) (see Chapter Four, section 2.2). Q20- Please, justify your answer. The 5 teachers who answered 'No' to the previous question gave the following reasons: -''It's difficult for the11 year-old kids to deal with the foreign culture.'' -''There should be a kind of progression in teaching about a foreign language and culture.'' (2) -''Learning a foreign language is not based on learning a foreign culture. At the beginning, pupils should learn grammar.'' -''In beginning levels, we teach the pupils how to speak, read and write (basis of the language).''

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Introducing culture right from the beginning levels of FL learning is recommended by most of the teachers, mainly for the following reasons: to familiarize the pupils with a different culture, with the other; to enable them to assimilate both language and culture in such favourable age; and to make of learning an enjoyable experience. Besides, learning about culture requires many years of teaching; the earlier it is introduced, the better it is (see Appendix IV). Q21- Do you select teaching materials on the basis of their: a- Structural simplicity. b- Cultural context. c- Appeal to learners. d- Other: Please, specify. Table 23: Middle School Teachers' Criteria for the Selection of Teaching Materials Options a b c ab ac bc abc Total N 06 39 10 05 04 01 01 66 % 09.09 59.09 15.15 07.57 06.06 01.52 01.52 100

More than half the teachers (59.09%) stated that they select teaching materials with reference to their cultural context. The remainder ticked one or more of the other options, as displayed in Table 23. Does this mean that the former do not just rely on what is available in the official textbooks to teach about culture? We will find the answer to this question in the second questionnaire. Q22- Which topics or themes should pupils be introduced to? a- Daily life and routines. b- Festivities and customs. c- Beliefs and values. d- History. e- Art. f- Literature. 338

g- The foreign country's significance for Algeria. h- Ethnic relations and racism. i- Stereotypes. j- Other: Please, specify. Table 24: Middle School Teachers' Selection of Cultural Themes/Topics Options a b c d e f g h i j Total n 52 17 21 39 28 21 13 05 03 02 201 % 25.87 08.45 10.45 19.40 13.93 10.45 06.47 02.49 01.49 0.99 100

'Daily life and routines' (a) was mostly selected with a percentage of 25.87%. 19.40% of the answers singled out 'history' (d) and 'art' (e). 'Beliefs and values' (c) and 'literature' (f) were evenly chosen with a percentage of 10.45%. In other words, the teachers' choices are balanced between big 'C' ('d', 'e', 'f') and small 'c' ('a', 'b', 'c') cultural topics. The three last options 'g', 'h', and 'i', which are intercultural topics, were not deemed as important as those just mentioned: they got grouped together, they got the 10.45%. Two teachers added other topics which have to do with 'sports', 'social relationships', 'cartoons' and 'health'. In this section, we have seen that the teachers hold divergent views about the significance of the educational aims associated with FL teaching. Those relevant to culture were graded rather low in the list of aims suggested. Teachers were also divided when it came to which culture(s) should be catered for; on the whole, the British culture is more favoured than the others. On the other hand, the majority of the teachers agreed to teach culture right from the early levels, using the TL. More than the half said that they base their selection of teaching materials on the cultural 339

criterion, and most of them have a tendency towards big 'C' as well as small 'c' cultural topics, rather than intercultural ones. Section IV: Techniques of Teaching Culture Q23- How much of classroom time should, in your opinion, be devoted to the cultural component? a- An integral part of a language lesson. b- Few minutes at the beginning or the end of a language lesson. c- None. Table 25: Middle School Teachers' Time Allocation for Culture Options a b c No answer Total N 32 27 04 03 66 % 48.48 40.91 06.06 04.55 100

For almost half the respondents (48.48%), an integral part of a language class should be devoted to culture teaching. For the other half (40.91%), few minutes at the beginning or the end of a language lesson are enough to deal with culture. 06.06% believe none of classroom time should be allocated to it. Comparing these results with those of Section II, Q8 (Is culture to be treated as supplementary, optional material or as an integral part of language learning?), makes us realize that there are 40.92% (89.40%-48.48%) of the teachers who consider culture as an integral part of language learning but do not think it should be allocated an integral part of classroom time. Moreover, in Q10 (If b, should the cultural component be considered on equal footing with the other language components?), it was found that 77.97% of the teachers who believe in the importance of culture (the equivalent of 69.69% of teachers in the whole sample) believe as well in the equality of all language aspects. Thus, there are at least 21.21% (69.69%-48.48%) of the teachers who think that all language aspects (including the cultural) should be treated evenly, but at the same time opt for few minutes to teach about culture. In our opinion, these teachers do not have a clear picture about the place of culture in the language class.

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Q24- Please, explain why? Only half the teachers who selected 'a' (i.e., 16 out of 32) justified this selection. They declared that enough time should be devoted to culture in the language class, because it is an integral part of language learning. Language and culture, they insisted, are inseparable. Two teachers mentioned that syllabus designers specify 2 hours in each File to teach about culture (see Appendix V). We ought to mention that in the 1e AM and the 2e Am newly-designed syllabuses, there is only a general reference to the cultural component. The cultural objective is not specified, and consequently not the allocated time. 2 hours were not fixed by the syllabus designers, but merely suggested by the 2e AM teachers' Guide authors. The latter recommend 2 hours out of 15 hours (i.e., 13.33%) to tackle the 'Learn about Culture' section, which is not enough, according to us. The cultural component is inherent in all other language components, and should not be just 'added' at (or next to) the end of the unit, and allocated much less than a quarter of the time devoted to it. 12 teachers who chose b affirmed that culture is not a basic element in FL teaching, unlike grammar and the other language components; that is why, little time should be devoted to it. One teacher added that, according to the official syllabus, this is what they (Middle School teachers) are required to do (see Appendix V). 02 teachers who chose 'c' in Q23 explained that: -''Culture is learned implicitly through texts and activities''. -''There is no specific time to teach about culture''.

Q25- Do you devise special activities to teach about culture? - Yes - No Table 26: Devising Activities to Teach about Culture at the Intermediate Level Options Yes No Total N 31 35 66 % 46.97 53.03 100

341

More than half the teachers (53.03%) do not devise activities to teach about culture, notwithstanding the fact that the majority believe it to be an integral part of language learning (Q8; see p 330), and a counterpart of the other language components (Q10; see pp 330-331) that is to be introduced form the early language learning stages (Q19; see p 337). It can be deduced that approximately half the teachers do believe in the importance of culture, but do not translate this belief into practical classroom work. Q26-If''Yes'', which ones? Only 11 teachers (out of 31) answered the question. They outlined the following types of activities: -reading poems -group work, discussion -fill in gaps, problem-solving activities, discussion of cultural differences -famous stories, discussion of historical and sport events -organizing visits to cultural places (02) -activities about history, biographies, songs -jokes, dialogues, games -'Learn about Culture' section (as provided in the textbooks) -grammar activities which have a cultural content. -short stories, tales and related activities. Q27- Do you design activities to relate the foreign culture to the pupils' cultural environment and background? - Yes - No Table 27: Designing Activities to Relate the FC to the NC at the Intermediate Level Options Yes No Total N 60 06 66 % 90.91 09.09 100

The vast majority of the teachers (90.91%) answered 'Yes'. This means that they do design activities that link the FC to the NC. Are not these activities special activities to teach about culture? (Q25) Q28- Do you encourage the pupils to reflect upon their own culture in the light of the foreign culture, and to view both cultures critically? - Yes - No 342

Table 28: Reflecting upon Culture(s) in the Middle School Language Class Options Yes No Total N 62 04 66 % 93.94 06.06 100

Here again, the large majority of the teachers (93.94%) answered 'Yes'. We wonder how 46.97% (93.94%-46.97%) of the teachers can encourage the pupils to reflect upon their own culture in the light of the FC, and to view both critically, if they do not devise special activities to teach about culture. (Q25; see pp 341-342) Q29- Do you make use of media to teach about culture? - Yes - No Table 29: Middle School Teachers' Use of Media Options Yes No Total N 53 13 66 % 80.30 19.70 100

Most of the respondents said they make use of media in the language/culture class. The following question will tell us more in this respect. Q30- What aids are available in your school? a- Pictures, photos. f- Videos. b- Models. g- Projectors. c- Maps. h- CD-ROMs. d- Magazines, encyclopaedias. i- Internet. e- Tape recorders. j- Other: Please, specify Table 30: Aids Available In Middle Schools Options a b c n 55 11 42 % 25.35 05.07 19.35

343

d e f g h i j No answer Total

22 31 14 09 09 17 06 01 217

10.14 14.29 06.45 04.15 04.15 07.83 02.76 0.46 100

Table 30 shows that the most available teaching aid is the picture/photo (25.35%), followed by the map (19.35%), the tape recorder (14.29%) and the magazines/encyclopaedias (10.14%). The other media types listed were opted for with smaller percentages. For example, CD-ROMs got 04.15% of the answers, and the internet 07.83%. 2 teachers added that there are books, games, drawings and dictionaries in their schools, while 4 stated that they just use personal aids, and that nothing is available otherwise. Q31- Do you believe a teacher should use: a- Critical incidents. b- Cultural capsules and clusters. c- Group and classroom discussions. d- Culture assimilators. e- Culture quizzes. f- Problem solving activities. g- Role plays and simulations. h- Songs and poems. i- Projects. j- Case studies. k- Other: Please, specify.

Table 31: Techniques to Teach about Culture (Intermediate Level) Options a b c d e f g n / 01 55 05 24 45 38 % / 0.39 21.57 01.96 09.41 17.65 14.90

344

h i j Total

44 38 05 255

17.26 14.90 01.96 100

According to the results delineated in Table 31, the techniques that should mostly be used are 'group and classroom discussion' (21.57%), 'problem solving activities' (17.65%), 'songs and poems' (17.26%). 'Role plays/simulations' and 'projects' were less chosen (14.90%). The least chosen techniques were 'culture quizzes' (09.41%), 'culture assimilators' (01.96%), 'case studies' (01.96%), and cultural capsules and clusters' (0.39%). No one opted for 'critical incidents'. Could it be that the teachers are not familiar with these techniques? If not, how could disregarding typical cultural activities be justified?

To sum up, we have found in this section that almost half the respondents believe that culture should be allocated only few minutes at the beginning or the end of a lesson, notwithstanding their previous statement (in Section II), that it is an integral part of language learning. Equally important is the disclosure of more than half the teachers that they do not devise activities to teach about culture. The affirmative answer of the majority of the teachers, later on, to the questions of designing activities to relate native and foreign cultures and to encourage reflection upon them is questionable, for it does not seem clear how half the teachers referred to above could do so without designing appropriate activities. Furthermore, most of the teachers reported that they make use of media, though sophisticated ones are not available in most of their schools. They, however, disregarded important culture teaching techniques for a reason that is, again, unclear to us. Section V: The Language Teacher and Culture Q32- Do you think it is the language teacher's duty to teach about the foreign language culture? - Yes - No

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Table 32: Teaching Culture as a Duty of the Language Teacher (Intermediate Level) Options Yes No No answer Total N 43 21 02 66 % 65.15 31.82 03.03 100

65.15% of the informants recognized that teaching about the FC is their duty as FL teachers. If we refer back to Q25 (see pp 341-342), we can imply that at least 18.18% (65.15%-46.97%) of these teachers do not do their duty since they do not design activities to teach about culture. 31.82% of the teachers did not even concede that this is one of their professional duties. Q33- Do you consider a language teacher to be: a- A guide and a facilitator of the learning process. b- A source of knowledge about language and culture. c- A cultural mediator able to bridge intercultural gaps. d- Other: Please, specify. Table 33: Middle School Teachers' Conception of their Role Options a b c d ab ac ad bc abc No answer Total N 35 05 02 / 12 06 01 01 03 01 66 % 53.03 07.57 03.03 / 18.18 09.09 01.52 01.52 04.54 01.52 100

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A little more than half the teachers (53.03%) conceive of their role as guides and facilitators of the learning process, the rest ticked different options, as shown in Table 33. Option 'c', i.e., 'a cultural mediator able to bridge intercultural gaps' was the least selected option. The teacher who opted for ad said that a language teacher is himself/herself ''a learner''. Q34- Do you think it is the professional duty of the language teacher to encourage positive attitudes towards the language and the culture? - Yes - No Table 34: Attitudes towards the TL and TC (Intermediate Level) Options Yes No No answer Total N 58 05 03 66 % 87.88 07.58 04.54 100

87.88% of the respondents admitted that as language teachers, they are supposed to promote positive attitudes towards the TL and TC, whereas a minority (07.58%) denied this fact. Q35- If ''Yes'', what do you do to achieve this aim? a- To attempt to reflect a positive, idealistic view of the culture. b- To attempt to reflect a realistic, may be negative view of the culture. c- Other: Please, specify . Table 35: Middle School Teachers' Approach to Encourage Positive Attitudes towards the TL and TC Options Yes No No answer Total N 40 17 01 58 % 68.97 29.31 01.72 100

To encourage positive attitudes towards the object of learning, 68.97% of the teachers who answered Yes to Q34 prefer reflecting a positive, idealistic view of the 347

culture. Scholars in the field do not recommend that, however; such a view, they explain, is not only fallacious and deceiving to the learners; it does not even guarantee positive attitudes towards the TC. Only 29.31% seem to know that, since they opted for reflecting a realistic, even if negative, view of the culture. Q36- Do you think that you have in-depth knowledge about English-speaking cultures to teach about them? - Yes - No Table 36: Middle School Teachers' Cultural Knowledge Options Yes No No answer Total N 22 38 06 66 % 33.33 57.58 09.09 100

Only one third of the informants (33.33%) are satisfied with their knowledge about English-speaking cultures, whereas approximately the other two thirds are not. Q37- Did your initial training as a teacher adequately prepare you for teaching about the cultural component? - Yes - No Table 37: Middle School Teachers' Initial Training Options Yes No No answer Total N 26 39 01 66 % 39.39 59.09 01.52 100

59.09% of the respondents said that their initial training did not adequately prepare them for teaching about the cultural component. 39.39% said it did. It would seem that these two groups of teachers might have been trained to become Middle School English teachers on the basis of two different approaches: one is traditional and the other is more up-to-date. We assume that the former was applied with the

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now long experienced teachers and the latter is currently used with younger teachers. Q38- What do you feel you need most? a- Textbooks and teacher's manuals adequately incorporating the target culture. b- Culture teaching-training programmes. c- Study visits to English-speaking countries to reinforce your cultural experience. d- Other: Please, specify. Table 38: Middle School Teachers' Needs Options a b c d ac bc cd abd acd No answer Total N 06 01 18 / 18 08 01 13 02 01 66 % 09.09 01.52 27.27 / 24.24 12.12 01.52 19.69 03.03 01.52 100

Table 38 shows that there is little agreement among the teachers as to what they need most to teach culture adequately: 27.27% of them pointed to study visits to English-speaking countries; 24.24% think that textbooks and teachers' manuals are as important as study visits to English-speaking countries; 19.69% pointed to textbooks and teachers manuals, teaching/training programmes and other needs. Only 03 teachers specified other needs: -''Textbooks and other visual aids to facilitate learning/teaching.'' -''CDs about culture.'' -''Different kinds of audio-visual aids.'' Section V has revealed that more than half the teachers in our sample conceded that it is their duty to teach about the FC; with reference to the previous

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section, it is true to state that a number of them do not actually do their duty. The other half of teachers denied it altogether. A little more than half the teachers think themselves to be guides and facilitators of the learning process, and few of them conceive of their role as cultural mediators. Most of the respondents admitted that they should promote the learners' positive attitudes towards the FL and the FC, but the approach of the majority to achieve this purpose is questionable. Approximately two thirds of the informants are not satisfied with their knowledge about the FC. Their initial training as FL teachers might be blamed for that. They expressed their need for study visits to English-speaking countries, but also for adequate textbooks and cultural training programmes. Section VI: Further Suggestions Q39- Do you have any further suggestions or comment? 20 teachers completed the 'Further Suggestions' section. They raised the following points: -The difficulty to teach about the FC particularly to beginners, and in small towns. -The importance of in-service training seminars, to refresh and update knowledge (know what and know how). -The need to supply schools with more means to teach about FCs (audio-visual media, the internet, magazines, CDs). -The need to reduce the number of pupils per class for more learner-centred teaching. -The need to give greater importance to FL and FC learning/teaching in Algeria. Some teachers referred to the value of intracultural debate (namely between teachers, inspectors, syllabus designers, textbook writers). Others pointed to intercultural exchange and cooperation. In relation to the new textbooks, a teacher wrote that they are more culturally significant compared to old ones, but their contents cannot be covered in the short time available in class. Another teacher stated that culture can best be taught if linked to realistic contexts and interesting activities, and also if dealt with across nations and countries. A final word is that of a participant who stressed the importance of learning about one's NC before FCs.

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The analysis of the first Middle School teachers' questionnaire feedback allows us to draw the conclusion that at least half the teachers are aware of the importance of the cultural component in FL teaching. However, they do not have a clear view of what this implies in terms of classroom procedures and time management. At times, they even showed inconsistent attitudes as to what should be done to teach properly about culture. On the one hand, most of the teachers are conscious of the relevance of culture to FL teaching/learning (86.36%; Q4; see p 326). They even believe it should be treated as an integral part of it (89.40%; Q8; see p 330), and should be introduced from beginning levels (92.42%; Q19; see p 337). For more than the half, it is their professional duty to teach about it (65.15%; Q32; see p 346), and to give it as much attention as the other language components (69.69%; Q10; see pp 330-331). What is more, a large number of them opted for both implicit and explicit culture teaching (77.27%; Q12; see p 331) and for promoting positive attitudes towards the TL and TC (87.88%; Q34; see p 347). They put it clearly that FC learning/teaching does not constitute a threat to one's native cultural identity (65.15%; Q13; see p 332). On the other hand, more than half the teachers stated that they do not devise activities to teach about culture (53.03%; Q25; see pp 341-342), and almost all of them affirmed that they do not use some of the typically culture-geared techniques (Q31; see p 345). A little less than the half think that the cultural component should be allocated just few minutes at the beginning or the end of a language lesson (40.91%; Q23; see p 340). Besides, the majority do not have a comprehensive view of culture (89.39%; Q6; see p 328) and of culture teaching (93.94%; Q7; see p 329). They do not assign a high rank to the cultural aims associated with FL education (Q15; see p 335) and do not agree on which culture to teach (Q16; see p 336). Almost two thirds of them prefer to reflect a positive idealistic (rather than a realistic) view of the FC (68.97%; Q35; see pp 347-348). They explained that they do not have in-depth knowledge about FCs to teach about them (57.58%; Q36; see p 348). All these instances demonstrate that at least half the teachers need to have a better understanding of culture and of the way it should be approached in the FL classroom. Is this fact equally valid for Secondary School teachers? We will see this in the next part of the chapter.

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3.2.2. The Secondary School Teachers Questionnaire Section I: General Information Q1-Status: a- Titulaire. b- Stagiaire. c- Supplant(e). Table 39: Secondary School Teachers' Status Options 'Titulaire' (Confirmed teacher) 'Stagiaire' (Probationer) 'Suppleant(e)'(Substitute teacher) Total N 28 03 01 32 % 87.50 09.38 03.12 100

Q2- How long have you been teaching English? - 2 year (2) - 3 years (2) - 4 years (1) - 5 years (1) - 6 years (1) - 8 years (3) - 9 years (1) - 10 years (4) - 11 years (1) - 13 years (2) - 14 years (1) - 15 years (4) - 16 years (1) - 18 years (2) - 19 years (1) - 21 years (1) - 23 years (1) - 27 years (1) - no answer (2)

The results can be grouped in the following classes: [2 7[: (7, 4.5), [7 12[: (9, 9.5), [12 17[: (8, 14.5), [17 22[: (4, 19.5), [22 27[: (1, 24.5), [27 32[: (1, 29.5). The mode class is [7 12[ with an absolute frequency of 9. This means that the majority of the teachers have a teaching experience which goes between 7 and 12 years (with 12 not included). The central tendency is towards 12.16. Q3- At which level? a- Middle school. b- Secondary school. All the teachers said that the number of years of teaching English has been in the Secondary School. Accordingly, we can state that in our sample, the majority of

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the respondents are confirmed Secondary School teachers, with a teaching experience of approximately 12 years. Section II: Approach to Culture Teaching Q4- Does learning / teaching a foreign language include learning / teaching about its corresponding culture? - Yes - No Table 40: Including the FC in FL Teaching (Secondary Level) Options Yes No Total N 28 04 32 % 87.50 12.50 100

Table 40 shows that most of the teachers (87.50%) believe that learning / teaching a FL includes learning / teaching about its corresponding culture. Q5 If ''Yes'', for which reason? (Please tick the reason you think is most important.) a- Language and culture are interconnected. b- The cultural context is important in communication. c- Cultural knowledge motivates the pupils to learn the language. d- Cultural knowledge broadens the pupils' general knowledge. e- Cultural knowledge promotes attitudes of empathy and tolerance. f- Other: Please, specify. Table 41: Justifying the Inclusion of the FC in FL Teaching (Secondary Level) Options a b c d e f Total n 18 13 17 14 08 01 71 % 25.35 18.31 23.94 19.72 11.27 01.41 100

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Table 41 shows that most of the teachers who said Yes to Q4 believe that FL teaching/learning includes a cultural component, on account of the first four listed reasons: the interconnectedness of language and culture; the importance of the cultural context in communication; the motivating role of culture; and its broadening of the pupils' general knowledge. These four options were more or less evenly selected (25.35%, 18.31%, 23.94%, 19.72%, respectively). The fact that cultural knowledge promotes attitudes of empathy and tolerance seems to be less important for the teachers (11.27%). One teacher added that the cultural component ''shows how the FL functions in the society''. Q6- What does '' culture '' mean to you? a- A set of behaviours, customs, rituals, patterned ways of living. b- A system of thoughts, assumptions, values and norms. c- Literature and fine arts. d-Other: Please, specify. Table 42: Secondary School Teachers' Definition of Culture Options a b ab bc abc Total N 10 08 07 01 06 32 % 31.25 25.00 21.88 03.12 18.75 100

31.25% of the respondents define culture in behavioural terms, while 25% of them in functional terms. 21.88% opted for both definitions. 18.75% do not exclude big 'C' literary features, manifesting an all-embracing perception of culture. Q7- What does culture teaching mean to you? a- Providing the pupils with information about the foreign culture facts and artifacts. b- Developing the pupils' understanding of the underlying bases of the foreign culture (values, assumptions, beliefs). c- Promoting the pupils' positive attitudes towards the foreign culture community. d- Developing the pupils' ability to behave appropriately when in contact with

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a foreign culture. e- Enhancing the pupils' cultural self awareness. f- Other: Please, specify. Table 43: Secondary School Teachers' Definition of Culture Teaching Options a b c ad ae bc bd be abc abd bcd bcf abcd Total N 04 06 01 05 01 02 05 02 01 02 01 01 01 32 % 12.50 18.75 03.12 15.63 03.12 06.25 15.63 06.25 03.12 06.25 03.12 03.12 03.12 100

Like Middle School teachers, Secondary School teachers do not have a common comprehensive view of culture instruction. 18.75% of the latter conceive of it as developing the pupils' cultural 'know why'. For 15.63%, it means developing their cultural 'know what' and 'know how'. For an equal percentage, it is rather the cultural 'know why' and 'know how' that are targeted. 12.50% think that it is exclusively the 'know what' which is to be worked on. The rest of the teachers are very dispersed giving way to a variety of other combinations, with one or more elements missing. Developing the pupils' cultural self-awareness was included by only 3 teachers. As stated before, culture teaching subsumes all the aspects mentioned above, in addition to promoting the pupils' positive attitudes towards the FC community. No one of the teachers gave such an answer. 1 teacher had a further definition of culture

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teaching (f), namely, ''providing the learners with the necessary means to compare their own culture and the foreign one''. Q8- Is culture to be treated as: a- Supplementary optional material (i.e., to be dealt with when it incidentally occurs in texts and activities). b- An integral part of language learning (i.e., to be deliberately included in texts and activities). Table 44: Secondary School Teachers' Treatment of Culture Options a b Total N 05 27 32 % 15.62 84.38 100

The majority of the informants (84.38%) think that culture is to be deliberately included in texts and activities, being an integral part of language learning. Q9- If ''a'', why? Only 03 teachers for whom culture is to be treated as supplementary optional material justified their answer: -''The situation is that of FL learning.'' -''Culture hinders learning.'' -''Culture should merely be treated as an aid.'' A FL implies a FC, given the inseparability of language and culture; if cultural meanings 'hinder' understanding, it is a further reason to tackle rather than disregard them. Q10- If ''b'', should the cultural component be considered on equal footing with the other language components? - Yes - No

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Table 45: Considering Language Components on Equal Footing (Secondary Level) Options Yes No No answer Total N 16 07 04 27 % 59.26 25.93 14.81 100

More than half the respondents for whom culture is an integral part of language learning (59.26%) believe that all language components should be treated equally. Q11- If ''No'', why? 06 teachers who ticked 'No' in Q10 justified their answer: -''Importance should mostly be given to the other language aspects.'' -''Culture is not an end in itself, but it helps the learners to grasp genuine meaning.'' -''Pupils in the Secondary School are not specializing in English.'' -''Pupils do not think culture is important for them in their future life.'' -''It is not as important as the other aspects. It helps to understand just a small part of the language.'' -''It is to be dealt with when necessary''. These justifications are underlain by the assumptions that language and culture are separable entities, and that the cultural component is secondary to the linguistic ones. Q12-Should culture be taught /learned: a- Implicitly b- Explicitly c- Both Table 46: The Way Culture Should Be Taught (Secondary Level) Options a b c Total N 06 02 24 32 % 18.75 06.25 75.00 100

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Three quarters of the teachers (75%) are for teaching culture both implicitly and explicitly. The remainder are mainly for the implicit mode of teaching (18.75%). As stated before, both modes are to be exploited to teach about culture. To exclude explicit teaching is, in our viewpoint, to deny the pupils opportunities for learning. Q13- Do you think that learning about a foreign culture is a threat to one's native cultural identity? - Yes - No Table 47: FC Learning as a Threat to (Secondary School) Pupils' Identity Options Yes No Total N / 32 32 % / 100 100

The teachers agreed unanimously that learning about a FC does not threaten one's native cultural identity. Q14- Please, justify your answer. 06 teachers did not justify their 'No' of Q13. Most of those who did pointed to the importance of cultural knowledge in clarifying meanings, 'hidden meanings', and broadening the pupils' general knowledge as well as self-knowledge. They believe that the learners should be ''open to all cultures''; they should learn ''to tolerate cultural diversity'', ''to deal with the other'', ''to behave appropriately in intercultural situations''. As plainly put by one of the informants, the pupils ''have nothing to lose''; they simply ''acquire new information''. Some teachers stated that learning about a FC is not a threat to one's native cultural identity, as long as the FC is selected and presented ''in an appropriate way''. Others pointed out that the learners should first have some grounding in their NC before they venture to learn a foreign one. One teacher explained that the threat exists in case the pupils are directly exposed to the FC, i.e., in its natural environment, not in the school setting. Another one wrote that if the FC was treated as a ''secondary'' target in the FL classroom, it would not constitute a threat to the learners.

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To sum up, the majority of the teachers believe that FL teaching/learning includes teaching/learning about culture, and that the latter should be regarded as an integral part of the language course. Half the respondents think that the cultural component should be given as much attention as the other components, and all of them denied the negative effects of FC learning on identity. However, like their Middle School counterparts, the majority have a circumscribed view of culture and of culture teaching. Section III: Method of Teaching Culture Q15- Foreign language teaching can be associated with several educational aims. Please, order the following aims from most to least important: from1 to 8. a- To develop an awareness of the nature of language and language learning. b- To break down prejudices and encourage positive attitudes to foreign language learning, to speakers of foreign languages and their cultures. c- To promote learning of skills of more general application (e.g., analysis, critical judgement ,memorising, drawing inferences). d- To develop an ability to use language effectively for purposes of practical communication. e- To develop an understanding of oneself and one's own culture. f- To form a sound basis of skills, language and attitudes required for further study or work . g- To offer insights into the culture and civilization of the countries where the target language is spoken. h- To broaden one's general knowledge and to provide enjoyment.

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Table 48: Secondary School Teachers' Ordering of Educational Aims 1st N a b c d e f g h No answer Total 01 01 03 14 03 / / 02 08 32 % 03.13 03.13 09.38 43.75 09.38 / / 06.25 25.00 100 N 01 02 03 04 03 06 04 01 08 32 2nd % 03.13 06.25 09.38 12.50 09.38 18.75 12.50 03.13 25.00 100 N 04 01 04 01 03 05 02 04 08 32 3rd % 12.50 03.13 12.50 03.13 09.38 15.63 06.25 12.50 25.00 100 N 05 03 03 02 01 05 02 03 08 32 4th % 15.63 09.38 09.38 06.25 03.13 15.63 06.25 09.38 25.00 100 N 04 02 04 / 03 02 03 06 08 32 5th % 12.50 06.25 12.50 / 09.38 06.25 09.38 18.75 25.00 100 N 01 09 02 02 04 04 01 01 08 6th % 03.13 28.13 06.25 06.25 12.50 12.50 03.13 03.13 25.00 N 03 03 03 01 04 02 07 01 08 7th % 09.38 09.38 09.38 03.13 12.50 06.25 21.88 03.13 25.00 N 05 03 02 / 03 / 05 06 08 8th % 15.63 09.38 06.25 / 09.38 / 15.63 18.75 25.00

Options

32 100

32 100

32 100

60

We observe that a quarter of the informants (25%) did not answer this question. They may have found it trying and challenging. On the whole, the respondents have discrepant opinions about what to grade first, second,, and last. There is only one instance of significant agreement among 43.75% of the teachers who ranked the aim of developing the learners' ability to communicate as first. The aims pertaining to culture, namely, 'b', 'e' and 'g' are mostly ranked as sixth, seventh or last: the highest percentage for 'b' (28.13%) is in the sixth column, those of 'e' (12.50%) and 'g' (21.88%) are in the seventh one; aim 'g' was the second option (after aim 'h') that was mostly judged least important. How could most of the teachers regard culture as a necessary component of FL teaching/learning (as seen in Section II) and at the same time as one of the least important aims of a FL course? Q16-Which culture(s) should be included in the English classroom? a- The British culture. b- The other English -speaking cultures (the American, the Australian,) c- The Arabic culture. Table 49: Secondary School Teachers' Specification of the Culture(s) to be Included Options a b c ab ac abc No answer Total N 08 05 01 10 04 03 01 32 % 25.00 15.62 03.13 31.25 12.50 09.37 03.13 100

Most of the informants (71.87%=25%+15.62%+31.25%) recommend including English-speaking culture(s) (British and/or other). The Arabic culture should not, in our opinion, be overlooked in the FL classroom, for it does not only promote intercultural teaching, but also reinforces the learners' cultural identity. 21.87%

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(12.50%+09.37%) of the teachers advocate the introduction of one or more of the English-speaking cultures as well as the Arabic one. Q17- To teach about the target culture, should the teacher use: a- The English language. b- The Arabic language. Table 50: Secondary School Teachers' Specification of the Language to Teach about Culture Options a b Total N 29 03 32 % 90.63 09.37 100

The vast majority of the informants (90.63%) opted for the English language to teach about the TC. Only 3 teachers (09.37%) prefer the use of the Arabic language for reasons to be uncovered in Q18. Q18- If ''b'', why? The 3 teachers who answered 'b' to Q17 justified this answer in the following words: -''Using the Arabic language helps the pupils to grasp meanings better.'' -''Because of the level of the pupils.'' -''Sometimes, using the Arabic language to teach about the foreign culture helps the pupils to grasp the exact meaning of words, and helps the teacher to gain time''. A teacher who opted for 'a' in Q17 pointed out that the Arabic language may sometimes be used to explain abstract words. The Arabic language or the pupils' mother tongue should be used ''as little as possible but as much as necessary'' (Hammerly, 1991) to clarify cultural or other meanings. Q19- Do you think teaching about a foreign culture should be programmed right from the beginning levels of foreign language learning? -Yes - No

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Table 51: Secondary School Teachers' Conception of When to Introduce Culture Options Yes No No answer Total N 25 05 02 32 % 78.13 15.62 06.25 100

Table 51 displays that most of the respondents (78.13%) think that the FC should not be delayed to later stages of FL learning. 15.62% do not agree with them. Q20- Please, justify your answer. 04 teachers who are not for teaching about the FC right form the beginning levels of FL learning justified their standpoint as follows: -''Beginners are unlikely to understand the foreign culture. That is why foreign language learning for beginners (children) should be introduced through their native culture.'' -''It is better for the pupil to understand his own culture, then the foreign one.'' -''Focus should be put on language learning, then on learning about culture.'' -''At the beginning levels, learning about a foreign culture may be harmful to the child's developing identity.'' 18 teachers out of the 25 who answered 'Yes' to Q19 explained that introducing the FC from the early levels of FL learning is necessary to train the pupils to use language correctly and appropriately, and to motivate them to learn. One teacher wrote that ''the foreign culture is the core of the foreign language; they go hand in hand''. Thus, teaching language without culture is not feasible. Another participant pointed to the complexity of culture, a fact which entails its early introduction, ''to acquaint the learners with as many cultural aspects as possible''. A third teacher reinforced this point noting that ''to know about another culture, one has to live with its people. Two or three years are not sufficient to learn about a FC''. Another participant added that ''the early introduction of the foreign culture raises its importance for the learners''. Q21- Do you select teaching materials on the basis of their: a- Structural simplicity. b- Cultural context. c- Appeal to learners. d- Other: Please, specify. 363

Table 52: Secondary School Teachers' Criteria for the Selection of Teaching Materials Options a b c ac bc abc bcd abcd Total N 09 06 05 02 04 02 02 02 32 % 28.13 18.75 15.62 06.25 12.50 06.25 06.25 06.25 100

The answers reported in Table 52 reflect divergent views. The three suggested criteria were more or less evenly opted for, independently or in combinations. 50% (28.13%+15.62%+06.25%) of the teachers, it should be noted, do not cater for the cultural aspect when selecting teaching materials. 4 teachers referred to additional criteria: -''availability of materials''; -''adaptability to the learners' level''; -''harmony with the official exam format''; and -''availability and diversification''.

Q22- Which topics or themes should pupils be introduced to? a- Daily life and routines. b- Festivities and customs. c- Beliefs and values. d- History. e- Art. f- Literature. g- The foreign country's significance for Algeria. h- Ethnic relations and racism. i- Stereotypes. j- Other: Please, specify.

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Table 53: Secondary School Teachers' Selection of Cultural Themes Options a b c d e f g h i j Total n 21 16 16 22 09 18 10 11 04 01 128 % 16.41 12.50 12.50 17.19 07.03 14.06 07.81 08.59 03.13 0.78 100

'History' and 'daily life and routines' got the highest rates, 17.19% and 16.41%, respectively; 14.06% of the answers singled out 'literature', 12.50% 'festivities and customs' and an equal percentage 'beliefs and values'. Like their Middle School counterparts, Secondary School teachers confer less importance on intercultural topics ('g', 'h' and 'i'), in spite of their relevance to FL teaching situations, particularly in this era of globalization. 1 teacher added further topics: technology devices (microcomputing, the internet, and mobiles).

The teachers' feedback in this section has disclosed that the informants hold dissimilar standpoints as to the significance of the educational aims associated with FL teaching, and also regarding the criteria for the selection of teaching materials. As to culture, it was granted a secondary position in the first instance, and was even not considered by half the respondents in the second. On the other hand, the majority of the teachers agreed to teach the English-speaking culture(s) from the early learning levels, using mainly the English language, with a focus on both big 'C' and small 'c' cultural topics.

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Section IV: Techniques of Teaching Culture Q23- How much of classroom time should, in your opinion, be devoted to the cultural component? a- An integral part of a language lesson. b- Few minutes at the beginning or the end of a language lesson. c- None. Table 54: Secondary School Teachers' Time Allocation for Culture Options a b c No answer Total N 15 12 03 02 32 % 46.88 37.50 09.37 06.25 100

With the exception of the teachers who did not answer this question, half the respondents (46.88%) think that an integral part of the language lesson should be devoted to the cultural component; the other half do not think so: for 37.50%, few minutes are enough, while for 09.37%, not even a moment of classroom time is to be allocated to culture. Comparing these results with those of Section II, Q8 (see p 356) leads us to say that there are 37.50% (84.38% - 46.88%) of the teachers who contradict themselves in that they regard culture as indispensable, but do not think it is worth an integral part of classroom time. Q24- Please, explain why. 09 out of the 15 teachers who opted for 'a' gave the following reasons: -''This is necessary for culture to be adequately understood.'' -''Language and culture are interrelated.'' -''The cultural element is important.'' -''To raise the learners' awareness as to its importance.'' -''Language is better learned in its context. Teachers should avoid translation.'' -''Few minutes are not enough.'' -''To clarify the relationship language/culture.'' -''It is worthwhile.'' -''We must give it enough time.'' 07 out of the 12 teachers who opted for 'b' claimed that culture is not important:

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-''The lesson is more important than this.'' -''In order not to spend all the time talking about culture, giving no importance to the lesson itself.'' -''The cultural component is just part of the lesson.'' -''It is not as important as the other components. It only helps the learners to get integrated in one part of the lesson.'' -''We teach language not culture.'' -''There is a syllabus to follow.'' -''culture does not represent the whole lesson.'' Only 1 out of the 3 teachers who opted for 'c' explained his/her standpoint stating that culture is to be dealt with ''whenever necessary, not necessarily at a specific phase of the lesson''; this means, in a word, incidental instead of systematic culture teaching. Q25- Do you devise special activities to teach about culture? - Yes - No Table 55: Devising Activities to Teach about Culture at the Secondary Level Options Yes No No answer Total N 11 20 01 32 % 34.38 62.50 03.12 100

Almost two thirds of the teachers (62.50%) stated that they do not devise activities to teach about culture, in spite of the fact that the majority believe that it should not be treated as supplementary optional material (Q8; see p 356), and that there should not be any delay in its introduction in the language class (Q19; see p 363), since it does not constitute a threat to the learners' native cultural identity (Q13; see p 358); for half of them, it is even as important as the linguistic elements (Q10; see p 357). It follows that more than half of the teachers who answered the questionnaire do not have a consistent attitude towards culture. Q26- If ''Yes'', which ones? 10 teachers (out of 11) who answered Yes to Q25 listed what follows: -''songs, anecdotes, useful phrases, idioms''; -''communicative activities'';

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-''matching exercises''; -''studying newspaper articles, listening to songs, describing maps and pictures, cloze passage, reordering a conversation, role plays, paraphrasing proverbs, cultural passages''; -''multiple choice questions, crosswords''; -''texts, dialogues, news reports, newspaper articles, songs''; -''text analysis, essay writing''; -''use of video-tapes, the internet, photos''; -''texts related to culture''; -''teaching language functions''. Q27- Do you design activities to relate the foreign culture to the pupils' cultural environment and background? - Yes - No Table 56: Designing Activities to Relate the FC to the NC at the Secondary Level Options Yes No Total N 18 14 32 % 56.25 43.37 100

56.25%of the teachers said that they do design this kind of cultural activities. Yet, only 34.38% stated before (in Q25; see p 367) that they design activities to teach about culture. Q28- Do you encourage the pupils to reflect upon their own culture in the light of the foreign culture, and to view both cultures critically? - Yes - No Table 57: Reflecting upon Cultures in the Secondary School Language Class Options Yes No No answer Total N 24 07 01 32 % 75 21.88 03.12 100

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Three quarters of the respondents (75%) answered 'Yes'. This means that they encourage the pupils to reflect upon their NC in the light of the FC, and view both cultures critically. Could this be done without designing special activities to teach about culture? (see Q25, p 367).

Q29- Do you make use of media to teach about culture? - Yes - No Table 58: Secondary School Teachers' Use of Media Options Yes No No answer Total N 15 13 04 32 % 46.88 40.62 12.50 100

Approximately half the informants (46.88%) said they make use of media in the language/culture class, and half (40.62%) said they do not. 04 teachers did not answer the question. Q30- What aids are available in your school? a- Pictures, photos. b- Models. c- Maps. d- Magazines, encyclopaedias. e- Tape recorders. f- Videos. g- Projectors. h- CD-ROMs. i- Internet. j- Other: Please, specify

Table 59: Aids Available in Secondary Schools Options a b c d e f n 18 / 16 05 07 04 % 23.08 / 20.51 06.41 08.98 05.13

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g h i j No answer Total

07 05 06 04 06 78

08.97 06.41 07.69 05.13 07.69 100

Table 59 shows that teaching aids that are most available in secondary schools are pictures/photos (23.08%) and maps (20.51%). The other media types were selected with little percentages: for example, 06.41% for magazines / encyclopaedias, but also for CD-ROMs, and 05.13% for videos. 4 teachers pointed out that there are no aids in their schools. Q31- Do you believe a teacher should use: a- Critical incidents. f- Problem solving activities. b- Cultural capsules and clusters. g- Role plays and simulations. c- Group and classroom discussions. h- Songs and poems. d- Culture assimilators. i- Projects. e- Culture quizzes. j- Case studies. k- Other: Please, specify. Table 60: Techniques to Teach about Culture (Secondary Level) Options a b c d e f g h i j No answer Total n 08 01 25 02 09 24 15 17 05 02 01 109 % 07.34 0.92 22.93 01.83 08.26 22.02 13.76 15.60 04.59 01.83 0.92 100

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On the basis of the answers outlined in Table 60, the techniques that should mostly be used by the language/culture teacher are 'group and classroom discussions' (22.93%) and 'problem solving activities' (22.02%). They are followed by 'songs/poems' (15.60%) and 'role plays/simulations' (13.76%). The other culture teaching techniques were selected with very little percentages: for example, 'case studies' were opted for just twice, and 'cultural capsules and clusters' only once, notwithstanding their crucial importance for the presentation and practice of cultural elements. Most of the teachers might not know about that.

To sum up this section, almost half the respondents believe the cultural aspect should be allocated at most few minutes, to begin or end a language lesson, as if it brings in merely secondary optional material. This was not the opinion of the majority of the teachers in Section II. What is equally significant is the revelation of almost two thirds of the teachers that they do not design and use cultural activities. Yet, these teachers answered affirmatively subsequent questions that relate to the design of cultural activities with special foci_another inconsistency on their part. Almost half the respondents reported that they make use of media, but most of them seem to be unfamiliar with some important culture teaching techniques. Section V: The Language Teacher and Culture Q32- Do you think it is the language teacher's duty to teach about the foreign language culture? - Yes - No Table 61: Teaching Culture as a Duty of the Language Teacher (Secondary Level) Options Yes No No answer Total N 17 09 06 32 % 53.13 28.12 18.75 100

53.13% affirmed that it is their duty to teach about culture, while 28.12% do not think so. 18.75% did not answer the question, being, apparently, uncertain about

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it. Thus, almost half the teachers (46.87%=28.12%+18.75%) do not think they are culture as well as language teachers. Moreover, 31.25% (84.38%-53.13%) of the teachers believe that culture teaching is an integral part of language teaching (see Q8, p 356), but it is not for them to assume this responsibility. Who is then supposed to? Q33- Do you consider a language teacher to be: a- A guide and a facilitator of the learning process. b- A source of knowledge about language and culture. c- A cultural mediator able to bridge intercultural gaps. d- Other: Please, specify. Table 62: Secondary School Teachers' Conception of their Role Options a b c ab ac ad abc abcd No answer Total N 14 / 01 05 03 01 05 01 02 32 % 43.75 / 03.13 15.62 09.37 03.13 15.62 03.13 06.25 100

43.75% of the participants conceive of their role as guides and facilitators of the learning process; the remainder ticked different options, as displayed in Table 62. 15.62% of the teachers consider themselves as both guides and sources of knowledge; an equal percentage included the function of cultural mediation. The latter was the least selected option. 2 teachers referred to the language teacher as ''a source of motivation'' and as ''an actor''. Q34- Do you think it is the professional duty of the language teacher to encourage positive attitudes towards the language and the culture? - Yes - No

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Table 63: Attitudes towards the TL and TC (Secondary Level) Options Yes No No answer Total N 27 04 01 32 % 84.38 12.50 03.12 100

The majority of the teachers (84.38%) answered 'Yes' to this question.Q35 will tell us more in this regard. Q35- If ''Yes'', what do you do to achieve this aim? a- To attempt to reflect a positive, idealistic view of the culture. b- To attempt to reflect a realistic, may be negative view of the culture. c- Other: Please, specify. Table 64: Secondary School Teachers' Approach to Encourage Positive Attitudes towards the TL and TC Options a b c ac bc No answer Total N 08 12 02 01 01 04 28 % 28.57 42.86 07.14 14.29 03.57 03.57 100

Almost half the teachers (46.43%=42.86%+03.57%) who answered Yes to Q34 encourage positive attitudes towards the TC through a realistic view of it. Realism, as stressed by scholars in the field, is an indispensable characteristic of proper culture teaching materials. It also provides a basis for empathy and understanding. 32.14% (28.57% + 03.57%) of the teachers seem not to be aware of this fact, since they opted for a positive, idealistic picture of the FC. 4 teachers suggested other ways: -''To view the foreign culture as something different, i.e., not to view it with enmity.'' -''To focus on the values common to both native and foreign cultures.''

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-''To awaken in the learners the spirit of criticism.'' -''To stimulate the pupils to learn about what's foreign.'' Q36- Do you think that you have in-depth knowledge about English-speaking cultures to teach about them? - Yes - No Table 65: Secondary School Teachers' Cultural Knowledge Options Yes No No answer Total N 10 21 01 32 % 31.25 65.63 03.12 100

Almost one third of the informants (31.25%) are satisfied with their knowledge about English-speaking cultures, whereas approximately two thirds are not. Q37- Did your initial training as a teacher adequately prepare you for teaching about the cultural component? - Yes - No Table 66: Secondary School Teachers' Initial Training Options Yes No No answer Total N 13 17 02 32 % 40.62 53.13 06.25 100

A little more than half the teachers (53.13%) stated that their initial training did not adequately prepare them for teaching about the cultural component. 40.62% of them gave a positive answer. Like Middle School teachers, Secondary School teachers might not have been trained similarly. Another possible interpretation is that what some view as 'adequate' is not necessarily viewed as such by others. Q38- What do you feel you need most?

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a- Textbooks and teacher's manuals adequately incorporating the target culture. b- Culture teaching-training programmes. c- Study visits to English-speaking countries to reinforce your cultural experience. d- Other: Please, specify. Table 67: Secondary School Teachers' Needs Options a c ab ac bc abc abd acd abcd No answer Total N 01 09 04 04 04 05 01 01 02 01 32 % 03.13 28.12 12.50 12.50 12.50 15.62 03.13 03.13 06.25 03.12 100

Table 67 shows that there is little agreement among the teachers as to what is needed most to teach culture adequately: 28.12% of them ticked study visits to English-speaking countries; 12.50% included, in addition to study visits, culture training programmes; an equal percentage referred to textbooks and teachers' guides as well as training programmes about culture; 15.62% ticked the three options. 04 teachers specified other needs: -''Enriching school libraries with up-to-date cultural documents.'' -''A clear policy for learning foreign languages.'' -''A clear policy for learning about foreign cultures; books; audio-visual media.'' -''Permanent contact with the target language and culture''. In this section, we have seen that slightly more than half the respondents acknowledged that they are culture as well as language teachers. The remainder (approximately the half) put it clearly that it is not their professional duty to teach about culture. With reference to Section II, it appears that at least 31.25% of them

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believe that culture teaching is an integral part of language teaching, but they do not assume it. Few teachers consider themselves as cultural mediators. In addition, most of the respondents think they should promote positive attitudes towards the FL and FC, but less than half the respondents believe realism is important when teaching about culture. Approximately two thirds of the teachers are not satisfied with their cultural knowledge and would like to improve it. Section VI: Further Suggestions Q39- Do you have any further suggestions or comment? Only 09 teachers had further suggestions. They raised points of several foci. To begin with, the official textbooks used are viewed as inadequate as far as culture teaching is concerned. The syllabus as well is said not to have a cultural component. The teachers wish culture to be included in syllabi and textbooks to make language lessons appealing to the learners. They think themselves unable to teach properly about culture because they were not adequately trained for this purpose. One of them stated that they were just taught about ''American/British history and literature, as pertaining to the past (16th --19th century)''. What adds to their distress is the lack of useful materials to teach about culture. They put it clearly that their cultural knowledge needs to be 'recycled', and that syllabi and textbooks require reevaluation. Concerning the pupils, attention was drawn to the need to prepare them for FC learning, by attempting to reduce the negative attitudes they may have towards the FC bearers and country. ''It is very important for them'', wrote a teacher, ''not to link the other with evil'', to learn how to tolerate difference and to develop objective critical thinking. 02 teachers pointed out that if FL teaching is a difficult enterprise, FC teaching is even more difficult. One of them suggested that culture be ''gradually introduced'' to ensure its gradual acceptance on the part of both pupils and teachers.

The analysis of the first Secondary School teachers questionnaire feedback has revealed analogous results to the previous one. In fact, it has been found that the majority of the teachers think that learning/teaching a FL includes learning/teaching about its corresponding culture (87.50%; Q4; see p 353), that the latter is to be deliberately included in texts and activities (84.38%; Q8; see p 356), and that learning about it should be programmed right from the early levels of FL learning 376

(78.13%; Q19; see p 363), given that it does not threaten one's native cultural identity (100%; Q13; see p 358). Additionally, most of the teachers are for teaching about English-speaking cultures (71.87%; Q16; see p 361), both implicitly and explicitly (75%; Q12; see p 358), and for promoting positive attitudes towards the TC and TL (84.38%; Q34; see p 373). Furthermore, half the informants believe that they are language and culture teachers (53.13%; Q32; see pp 371-372), that they should confer on culture as much care as on the linguistic components (50%; Q10; see p 357), and that they have to reflect a realistic picture of it (46.43%; Q35; see p 373). On the other hand, almost two thirds of the respondents stated that they do not design culture-geared activities (62.50%; Q25; see p 367). Almost all of them do not use some important culture teaching techniques (Q31; see p 370 ). Half of them put it clearly that they do not cater for the cultural component when selecting teaching materials (50%; Q21; see p 364). They see that culture should be allocated at most few minutes of the language class (46.87%; Q23; see p 366). What is more, the majority have a restricted outlook on culture (81.25%; Q6; see p 354) and of culture teaching (100%; Q7; see p 355), and mostly deem cultural aims as less or least important (Q15; see p 361). Approximately two thirds of the teachers stated openly that their cultural knowledge does not qualify them to teach about the FC (65.63%; Q36; see p 374). It can be implied that notwithstanding their awareness of the importance of culture in FL teaching/learning, at least half the Secondary School teachers displayed an incoherent view of the 'what' and the 'how' of teaching about culture. They put it themselves that they need re-training and materials to improve the state of their knowledge in this regard.

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4. Teachers' Questionnaire: The Place of Culture in the Middle / Secondary School Textbooks of English

4.1. Description The second questionnaire is actually an extension or a complement to the first one. It focuses, as clearly put in its title, on the place of culture in the textbooks of English. It has two forms, one adapted to the Intermediate Level, and another to the Secondary Level. As such, it covers all the official textbooks used in the Algerian Middle and Secondary Schools(1), up to the academic year 2004-2005(2). Teachers were again kindly requested to collaborate by ticking the appropriate boxes, and making full statements whenever necessary. This questionnaire (see Appendix II) is made up of six sections: 'General Assessment', 'Approach to Culture ', 'Method of Teaching Culture', 'Techniques of Teaching Culture', 'The Teacher and the Textbooks' Cultural Content', and 'Further Suggestions'. Section I: General Assessment (Q1__Q3) This section is meant to enable teachers to provide an overall evaluation of the textbooks' cultural content, i.e., whether the textbooks include the cultural component of the English language (Q1), whether they are satisfied with this cultural content (Q2) and if not, to explain why (Q3). Section II: Approach to Culture (Q4__Q11) This section inquires into the approach to culture that is adhered to in the books: the type of culture included (Q4); the way culture learning /teaching is implied (Q5); the weight of the cultural component in relation to the other language components (Q6, Q7); the way it is presented (Q8, Q9); and the way it is meant to be learned (Q10). The section ends with a question about whether the coursebooks promote positive attitudes towards the FC (Q11). Section III: Method of Teaching Culture (Q12__Q32) In this section, teachers are asked about the method applied in the textbooks to teach about culture. Focus is first laid on the characteristics of the cultural content
We note that in this study, we are concerned with EFL 2 (English as a Second Foreign Language) textbooks. (2) The academic year 2005-2006 has witnessed the introduction of two new textbooks, one in the Middle School ('Spotlight on English, Book Three'), and another in the Secondary School ('At the Crossroads'). At that time, we were in the final stage of our research. Besides, teachers need time to get acquainted with new textbooks, to be then consulted about them.
(1)

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(Q12) and its suitability to the teaching situation (Q13). Then, there are questions about identifying the culture(s) incorporated (Q14, Q15, Q16), and interpreting the way the intercultural aspect is approached (Q17, Q18, Q19). These are followed by questions about the types of texts opted for (Q20), and the main topics covered (Q21). Teachers are also asked whether the cultural content is given a historical dimension (Q22), whether appropriate explanations of culture-specific items are provided (Q23, Q24), and sub-cultural groups represented (Q25), whether the characters of the book are realistic (Q26), and whether the problematic aspects of the FC are touched upon (Q27). Reference to the standpoint of the authors is considered in (Q28, Q29). Other methodological points are raised, namely, the way the coursebooks are structured (Q30), and the way their cultural content is graded (Q31, Q32). Section IV: Techniques of Teaching Culture (Q33__Q42) In this part of the questionnaire, spotlight is on the techniques suggested by the school books to teach about culture. Teachers are requested to state whether there are activities that promote learning about the FC (Q33), to identify them (Q34), and to categorize them (Q35, Q37). They are presented with a series of cultureoriented activities and asked to single out those used in the coursebooks (Q36). They are further asked whether there are instances of intercultural communicative situations (Q38), and whether the artwork presented is culturally significant (Q39, Q40, Q41, Q42). Section V: The Teacher and the Textbooks' Cultural Content (Q43__Q57) This section is teacher-centred .It invites the informants to point out if they are familiar with the books' cultural content (Q43), whether they find (parts of) it difficult to handle (Q44) or inappropriate to teach (Q45, Q46, Q47, Q48), and whether the books fit in with each other (Q49, Q50). Reliance on the textbooks to teach about culture (Q51, Q52), supplementing them (Q53, Q54, Q55) and the cultural import of the teacher's manual (Q56) are other questions raised in the section. The latter ends with an open question (Q57) that elicits the respondents' suggestions, to improve the coursebooks' cultural content. Section VI: Further Suggestions (Q58) This final question is an opportunity for the teachers to add any other suggestion or comment.

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4.2. Results and Discussion 4.2.1. Middle School Teachers Questionnaire Section I: General Assessment Q1- Do the following textbooks take account of the cultural component of the English language? -Spotlight on English-Book One (1e AM) -Spotlight on English-Book Two (2e AM) -Spring-Book Two (9e AM)

Table 68: The English Language Cultural Component in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 62 01 03 66 1e AM % N 2e AM % N 9e AF % 27.27 57.58 15.15 100

93.94 59 01.51 02 04.55 05 100 66

89.39 18 03.03 38 07.58 10 100 66

At the level of both 1e AM and 2e AM, the majority of the teachers answered that the textbooks take account of the cultural component of the English language (93.94% and 89.39%, respectively). This does not apply to 9e AF, for more than half the teachers (57.58%) think that its textbook does not consider such component.

Q2- If ''Yes'', are you satisfied with the way they cater for the cultural component? -Yes -No

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Table 69: The Teachers' Viewpoint about the Cultural Component in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 54 07 01 62 1e AM % N 2e AM % N 9e AF % 55.56 33.33 11.11 100

87.10 49 11.29 09 01.61 01 100 59

83.05 10 15.26 06 01.69 02 100 18

Most of the teachers who said Yes to Q1 gave a positive: 87.10%, 83.05%, and 55.56%. Q3- If ''No'', please, explain why. At the level of 1e AM, 05 teachers (out of 07) who answered 'No' to Q2 justified their answer, except two of them: -''The cultural part is relegated to the end of the file.'' (02) -''Language and culture are not interconnected in the book.'' (02) -''Culture is not given much importance.'' At the level of 2e AM, 05 teachers gave the same reasons as for 1e AM; 01 teacher added that ''Files are not balanced''. 03 teachers did not give any answer. At the level of 9e AF, 04 teachers (out of 06) teachers gave the following explanations: -''Culture is found in many tasks but not explicitly.'' -''It is a very old textbook.'' -''It requires much time to be understood.'' -''Culture is not given enough attention.'' We note that some of the teachers who answered 'Yes' to Q2, i.e., those who are satisfied with the way the cultural component is treated in the 1e AM and the 2e AM coursebooks, included further comments: -1e AM -''No texts but isolated sentences.'' -''It is not adapted to the learners' capacities.'' -''The learner has to know more about his culture.'' -2e AM -''There are more pictures and colours than words.'' -''It is too difficult for the pupils.''

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In relation to the 9e AF book, some of the teachers who believe that it does not take account of the aspect of English (Q1) added the following comments: -''The 9e AF textbook deals with our native culture.'' -''It does not teach about culture.'' -''It is not up-to-date.'' -''It includes good teaching activities, but concerning culture, it is very limited.'' -''The texts do not provide the pupils with cultural information, except a few of them, like Mme Tussaud's.'' -''Spring Book Two is based on an old syllabus.'' -''Culture is totally absent in the book.'' -''It does not meet the learners' needs.'' -''The 9e AF book is less concerned with culture than those of 1e AM and 2e AM''. The 'General Assessment' section has enabled us to know that the majority of the teachers have a positive general impression about the 1e AM and the 2e AM textbooks, regarding their cultural facet, while more than half the respondents do not think that the 9e AF book caters for the cultural component. The following sections are likely to shed light on these impressions, to confirm or not to confirm them. Section II: Approach to Culture Q4- What is the cultural content of the textbooks about? a- Behaviours, customs, rituals, patterned ways of living. b- Thoughts, assumptions, values and norms. c- Literature and fine arts. d- History, geography, politics, social institutions. e-Other: Please, specify. Table 70: The Nature of the Middle School Textbooks' Cultural Content Textbooks Options a b c d e No answer Total n 49 10 18 25 04 03 1e AM % 44.96 09.17 16.51 22.94 03.67 02.75 n 33 16 26 32 05 06 2e AM % n 9e AF % 09.90 04.39 24.18 30.77 04.39 26.37 100

27.97 09 13.56 04 22.03 22 27.12 28 04.24 04 05.08 24 91

109 100

118 100

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At the level of 1e AM, option 'a', namely 'behaviours, customs, rituals, patterned ways of living' was mostly opted for with 44.96% of the answers. 22.94% went to optiond, that is, 'history, geography, politics, social institutions'. The other options were less selected. At the level of 2e AM, options 'a' and 'd' got similarly high rates (27.97% and 27.12%, respectively), and option 'c', i.e., 'literature and fine arts' was almost equally singled out (22.03%). This result confirms what we stated before (in chapter five), namely that 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Two', do not cater for the cultural 'know why' facet (here option 'b'), in spite of its significance. Options 'a' and 'b' that were mostly selected relate to the cultural 'know what'. It also confirms that book two is particularly focused on big 'C' culture matters. At the level of 9e AF, we note, to begin with, that 24 teachers did not answer the question. They belong to the group of informants (38 teachers) who do not altogether think that 'Spring Book Two' includes the cultural component of the TL (see Q1, p 380). 14 (38 24) teachers answered this question. A possible interpretation is that they did so on account of the fact that the book incorporates a native cultural content(1). Option 'd' was mostly selected (30.77%), followed by 'c' (24.18%), that is, big 'C' cultural 'know what' aspects. The 9e AF coursebook does not deal with 'know why' deep cultural issues; it is mainly tourist-oriented. 4 teachers referred to other types of cultural content: agriculture, tourism, sports, and science.

Q5- How is culture learning/teaching implied in the textbooks? a- Developing knowledge about the foreign culture facts and artifacts. b- Developing understanding of the underlying bases of the foreign culture (values, assumptions, beliefs). c- Developing the ability to behave appropriately in foreign contexts. d- Developing knowledge about oneself.

( 1)

This note applies to all the questionnaire items.

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Table 71: Culture Learning /Teaching as Implied in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c d No answer Total n 32 09 29 23 07 1e AM % 32 09 29 23 07 n 35 09 35 23 07 2e AM % n 9e AF % 19.44 01.39 13.89 27.78 37.50 100

32.73 14 08.18 01 31.82 10 20.91 20 06.36 27 72

100 100

110 100

As expected, the least chosen option at the three levels was 'b', developing understanding of the underlying bases of the FC, i.e., the cultural 'know why': 9% (1e AM); 08.18% (2e AM); and 01.39% (9e AF). At the level of 1e AM, and 2e AM, the teachers mostly chose 'a', developing the cultural 'know what' (32% and 32.72%, respectively). At the level of 9e AF, the highest percentage of answers went to 'd', developing the cultural 'know oneself' (27.78%). This option was also considered as relevant to 1e AM and 2e AM (23% and 20.91%, respectively). This is not surprising, since all Middle School textbooks incorporate a great deal of the pupils' NC, though restricted to surface features. Option 'c', developing the cultural 'know how', was even more selected than 'd' at the level of 1e AM (29%) and 2e AM (31.82%). It should be noted, however, that the cultural 'know how' of these coursebooks (if any) is restricted to the linguistic 'know how'.

Q6- Do you think that the cultural component is considered on equal footing with the other language components? -Yes -No

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Table 72: The Weight of the Cultural Component in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 32 24 10 66 1e AM % 48.49 36.36 15.15 100 N 33 23 10 66 2e AM % 50.00 34.85 15.15 100 N 21 31 14 66 9e AF % 31.82 46.97 21.21 100

Approximately half the teachers in 1e AM (48.49%) and exactly half the teachers in 2e AM think that culture is treated on equal footing with the linguistic components in their respective textbooks. We rather agree with third the respondents who gave a negative answer. Notwithstanding the fact that there is a section devoted to 'Learn about Culture' in the books, culture is actually relegated to a secondary position. This applies to the 9e AF textbook; almost half the teachers (46.97%) think so. Q7- If ''No'', which component(s) is (are) given more importance: a- Grammar. b- Pronunciation. c- Communicative functions. d- Communicative situations. e- Other: Please, specify.

Table 73: Components Given Priority in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c d N 01 01 02 03 1e AM % 04.17 04.17 08.33 12.50 N 03 / 01 04 2e AM % 13.04 / 04.35 17.39 N 09 / 03 03 9e AF % 29.03 / 09.68 09.68

385

e ab ac ad bd cd abc abd acd bcd abcd acde No answer Total

/ 03 / / 02 02 01 01 / 01 04 / 03

/ 12.50 / / 08.33 08.33 04.17 04.17 / 04.17 16.66 / 12.50

/ 01 / / 01 02 01 01 / / 05 / 04

/ 04.35 / / 04.35 08.70 04.35 04.35 / / 21.73 / 17.39

/ 02 03 02 / / 02 02 02 02 / 01 /

/ 06.45 09.68 06.45 / / 06.45 06.45 06.45 06.45 / 03.23 /

24 100

23 100

31 100

Table 73 shows that there is very little agreement among the respondents about the component that is given priority in the textbooks. At the level of 1e AM and 2e AM, the four listed options were chosen together by the highest percentage of teachers (16.66% and 21.73%, respectively). We believe that grammar and language functions are given more importance than pronunciation and communicative situations in 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Two'. In fact, though pronunciation is not overlooked, actual communicative situations are rare in the files which are built upon language structures and functions (as demonstrated in chapter five). At the level of 9e AF, the largest number of teachers (29.03%) think that grammar is given priority. 'Spring Book Two' is, indeed, largely structure-dominated. A teacher referred further to 'vocabulary'. Q8- Is the cultural component: a- Integrated in texts/dialogues. b- Integrated in activities. c- Treated as supplementary optional material.

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Table 74: The Way Culture is Integrated in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c ab No answer Total N 20 14 09 19 04 66 1e AM % N 2e AM % N 9e AF % 24.24 09.09 27.28 15.15 24.24 100

30.30 17 21.21 13 13.64 07 28.79 23 06.06 06 100 66

25.76 16 19.70 06 10.60 18 34.85 10 09.09 16 100 66

Table 74 shows that the teachers are not in agreement regarding the way the cultural component is incorporated in the textbooks. At the level of 1e AM and 2e AM, few of the informants think that culture is treated as supplementary optional material (13.64% and 10.60%, respectively). Yet, the authors of 'Spotlight on English, Book Two' put it clearly that the cultural material of the book is not compulsory, and is simply meant to be entertaining. Most of the teachers can be classified into three more or less equal groups: for the first, culture is embodied in texts; for the second, in activities; and for the third, in both texts and activities. Culture is, indeed, inherent in several texts and activities in 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Two', but it is kept in the background, to serve structural and functional aims. With reference to the 9e AF book, the highest percentage of the teachers who answered the question (27.27%) believe that the FC is treated as extra optional material. That is why, perhaps, it was considered in only three units of the book.

Q9- If ''c'', is it: a- Added at the end of the unit. b- Presented as a separate unit at the end of the textbook. c- Other: Please, specify.

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Table 75: Culture as Supplementary Optional Material in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b No answer Total N 08 / 01 1e AM % 88.89 / 11.11 N 06 01 / 2e AM % 85.71 14.29 / N 09 03 06 9e AF % 50 16.67 33.33

09 100

07 100

18 100

Most of the informants who believe that culture is regarded as extra secondary material explained that it is added at the end of the unit. The 'Learn about Culture' section is in 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Two', near the end of the file; in 'Spring Book Two', 'Relax', which incorporates cultural material, usually in the form of proverbs and songs, is the ending section of the unit. If the cultural aspect is to be properly integrated in a FL coursebook, it should not be relegated to the end of the unit or that of the book. Rather, it should be dealt with as part of the core of the lesson or the unit. Q10- Is culture approached: a- Implicitly. b- Explicitly. c- Both. Table 76: The Middle School Textbooks' Approach to Culture Textbooks Options a b c No answer Total N 14 05 43 04 66 1e AM % N 2e AM % N 9e AF % 24.24 06.06 43.94 25.76 100

21.21 10 07.58 10 65.15 42 06.06 04 100 66

15.15 16 15.15 04 63.64 29 06.06 17 100 66

388

At the level of 1e AM and 2e AM, approximately two thirds of the respondents (65,15% and 63.64%, respectively) see that culture is approached both implicitly and explicitly in the textbooks. In fact, in 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Two', as mentioned previously, there is a special section to 'Learn about Culture', where cultural information is provided. At the same time, the cultural content is implicit given that it is not targeted by most of the activities and questions suggested. It essentially serves as a background for the presentation and practice of language structures and functions. At the level of 9e AF, almost half the teachers (43.94%) think that culture is dealt with in the same way, i.e., in both modes. In our opinion, culture in 'Spring Book Two' is implicit. Most of the time, it is part of the linguistic data used for structural practice. 24.24% of the respondents think so. Q11 - Do the textbooks promote positive attitudes towards English and English-speaking cultures? -Yes -No Table 77: Promoting Positive Attitudes towards the TL and TC in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 57 02 07 66 1e AM % 86.36 03.03 10.61 100 N 55 3 8 66 2e AM % 83.33 04.55 12.12 100 N 23 22 21 66 9e AF % 34.85 33.33 31.82 100

For the majority of the teachers (86.36% at the 1e AM level; 83.33% at the 2e AM level), 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Two' promote positive attitudes towards English and English-speaking cultures. Actually, the books encourage openness to and acceptance of several, not necessarily English-speaking, world cultures. The problem is that the approach followed to achieve this purpose is questionable; it overlooks reference to the less attractive realities of the world (see Q27, p 401). The teachers who answered the question at the level of 9e AF seem not

389

to have defined data to judge upon: they were divided into three nearly equal categories across the Yes, the No and the No answer. This is due to the fact that 'Spring Book Two' is mainly based on the pupils' NC and brings little about the FL culture.

In Section II, most of the teachers stated that the three Middle School textbooks deal exclusively with the 'know what' or the 'know about' cultural facet (with a special focus on big 'C' culture issues, in the 2e AM and 9e AF coursebooks), and are, hence, mainly concerned with developing knowledge about the FC facts and artifacts, disregarding reference to its underlying values and beliefs. They are concerned as well with developing cultural self-awareness (especially at the 9e AF level), and with developing the cultural 'know how', though the latter is not, in our opinion, actually catered for. For approximately half the respondents, culture is treated on equal footing with the other language aspects, and for two thirds of them, it is approached both implicitly and explicitly in the 1e AM and the 2e AM coursebooks; there is little agreement among them, however, on whether it is embodied in texts, activities, or both. For nearly half the informants, culture is not given such importance in the 9e AF coursebook, being merely added at the end of the units. They even find little evidence to judge whether 'Spring Book Two' promotes positive attitudes towards the FC. In our viewpoint, the cultural component is in the three school books subservient to linguistic aims. The following sections are to confirm this statement. Section III: Method of Teaching Culture Q12- Is the cultural content presented: a- Realistic. b- Up-to-date. c- Comprehensive. d- Structured (not fragmented). e- Free of stereotypes and bias.

390

Table 78: Characteristics of the Cultural Content of the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c d e No answer Total n 21 38 27 7 06 06 1e AM % n 2e AM % n 9e AF % 16.67 01.39 04.16 19.44 16.67 41.67 100

20.00 22 36.19 31 25.72 27 06.67 08 05.71 06 05.71 04 98

22.45 12 31.63 01 27.56 03 08.16 14 06.12 12 04.08 30 100 72

105 100

At the level of 1e AM and 2e AM, the characteristics that were mostly opted for are 'b', 'up-to-date' (36.19% and 31.63%, respectively), followed by 'c',

'comprehensive' (25.71% and 27.55%, respectively) and 'a', 'realistic' (20% and 22.45%, respectively). Options 'd', 'structured' and 'e', 'free of stereotypes and bias', were clearly less selected, as displayed in Table 78. With respect to 'd', the analysis of 'Spotlight on English' has demonstrated that the cultural content of book one is, indeed, fragmentary, but that of book two is better structured and more coherent. As to 'Spring Book Two', the teachers find its cultural content especially out-of-date and selective (not comprehensive).

Q13- Is it: a- Suitable to the pupils' level. b- Suitable to the pupils' cultural background. c- Suitable to the curriculum goals.

391

Table 79: Suitability of the Middle School Textbooks' Cultural Content to the Learners and the Syllabus Textbooks Options a b c ab abc No answer Total N 6 14 05 21 07 13 66 1e AM % N 2e AM % N 9e AF % 22.73 10.61 03.03 25.76 / 37.87 100

09.09 05 21.21 12 07.57 04 31.82 20 10.61 13 19.70 12 100 66

07.58 15 18.18 07 06.06 02 30.30 17 19.70 /

18.18 25 100 66

More than half the informants see that the cultural content of the three textbooks is suitable to the pupils' level and/or cultural background (62.12%=31.82% + 09.09%+21.21%, at the 1e AM level; 56.06%= 30.30%+07.58%+18.18% at the 2e AM level; and 59.10%=25.75%+22.73%+10.61% at the 9e AF level), and much less suitable to the syllabus (07.57%, 06.06% and 03.03%, respectively). The fact that the cultural objective is not clearly delineated in the Algerian Middle School syllabuses of English may justify why the majority of the teachers did not opt for 'c' (suitable to the curriculum goals) . They might not have been able to judge whether what is available matches (or not) what is required. Regarding 2e AM, we mentioned before (in chapter five) that the coursebook does not fit the syllabus given that the former has a predominantly culture-general content, while the latter refers to the English language culture. Q14- What does the cultural content of the textbooks reflect? a- The British culture. b- Other English-speaking cultures. c- Culture in general (as a universal human phenomenon)

392

Table 80: The Culture(s) Included in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c ab ac bc abc No answer Total N 13 12 25 05 03 02 03 03 66 1e AM % N 2e AM % N 9e AF % 09.09 10.61 45.45 01.52 04.54 03.03 01.52 24.24 100

19.70 10 18.19 16 37.88 25 07.58 04 04.54 02 03.03 02 04.54 02 04.54 05 100 66

15.15 06 24.24 07 37.88 30 06.06 01 03.03 03 03.03 02 03.03 01 07.58 16 100 66

The highest percentage of the respondents (37.88% at the levels of 1e AM and 2e AM; 45.45% at the level of 9e AF) think that the Middle School books have basically culture-general contents. Indeed, 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Two' embrace several world cultures (not necessarily English-speaking), as well as culture-general topics. The latter characterize particularly book two. Likewise, the 9e AF coursebook is based on general topics; it also deals with the pupils' NC. Q15- If ''b'', which English-speaking cultures are depicted? According to most of the teachers who ticked 'b' in Q14, the English-speaking cultures (other than the British) that are considered in the 1e AM and 2e AM textbooks are ''the American'' and ''the Australian'' cultures. A teacher referred to ''other European cultures''. At the level of 9e AF, reference is only made to the American culture. Q16- Do the textbooks incorporate the pupils' native culture? -Yes -No

393

Table 81: The Pupils' NC in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 56 03 07 66 1e AM % 84.85 04.54 10.61 100 N 50 10 06 66 2e AM % 75.76 15.15 09.09 100 N 54 09 03 66 9e AF % 81.82 13.64 04.54 100

The majority of the respondents (84.85%, 75.76%, 81.82%, corresponding to 1e AM, 2e AM and 9e AF, respectively) gave an affirmative answer. The 'know oneself' cultural facet is clearly one of the targets of the coursebooks. The fact that there are teachers who gave a negative answer (03, 10 and 09, at the three levels, respectively), and others who did not answer (07, 06 and 03, at the three levels, respectively) could show that they did not know well the content of their textbooks. Q17- If ''Yes'', do they bring out similarities and contrasts between what is foreign and what is native? -Yes -No Table 82: Cultural Comparisons in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 51 03 02 1e AM % 91.07 05.36 03.57 N 28 20 02 2e AM % 56 40 04 N 23 30 01 9e AF % 42.59 55.56 01.85

56 100

50 100

54 100

According to the vast majority of the teachers (91.07%) who said Yes to the previous question, 'Spotlight on English, Book One' brings out similarities and contrasts between the FC and the NC. In fact, the analysis of its suggested activities has revealed that they engage the pupils in much comparative work between what is Algerian and what is foreign, though limited to the linguistic 'know how' or to surface

394

matters. Such comparisons are less pointed out in book two; that is why, 40% of the participants opted for a negative answer. This applies to the 9e AF book (55.56%), where very little is brought about the FC itself. Q18- Do the textbooks take into account the mutual representations of native and foreign societies? -Yes -No Table 83: Mutual Representations of Native and Foreign Societies in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 03 46 07 1e AM % 05.36 82.14 12.50 N 05 38 07 2e AM % 10 76 14 N 10 36 08 9e AF % 18.52 66.67 14.81

56 100

50 100

54 100

Most of the teachers who said that the pupils NC is incorporated in the textbooks (82.14%, 76% and 66.67% at the three levels, respectively) do not think that this intercultural dimension (namely, the mutual representation of native and foreign societies) is taken account of in these textbooks. Q19- Do the textbooks refer to the stereotypes of races and cultures? -Yes -No Table 84: Reference to Stereotypes in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 07 50 09 1e AM % 10.60 75.76 13.64 N 07 49 10 2e AM % 10.61 74.24 15.15 N / 46 20 9e AF % / 69.70 30.30

66 100

66 100

66 100

395

Like in Q18, the majority of the respondents (75.76%, 74.24% and 69.70%, at the three levels respectively) gave a negative answer. 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Two' in particular should have catered for this intercultural feature, given that they incorporate several world cultures. Q20-Which of these types of texts do the textbooks contain: a- Dialogues seeded with cultural information or based on situations typical of the foreign culture. b- Cultural narratives (fiction and non-fiction). c- Explanatory cultural notes. d- Songs and poems. e- Jokes and anecdotes. f- Newspaper articles. g- Proverbs, idioms, metaphors. h- Other: Please, specify. Table 85: Texts' Types in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c d e f g No answer Total n 49 13 09 20 19 12 09 07 1e AM % n 2e AM % n 9e AF % 22.22 12.70 05.56 17.46 13.49 17.46 07.14 03.97

35.51 49 09.42 15 06.52 10 14.49 20 13.77 24 08.70 16 06.52 12 05.07 07

32.03 28 09.80 16 06.53 07 13.07 22 15.69 17 10.46 22 07.84 09 04.58 05

138 100

153 100

126 100

Table 85 points out that the text type mostly opted for at the three levels is the dialogue (35.51%, 32.03%and 22.22%, respectively). Other types, namely, songs/poems, Jokes/anecdotes, and newspaper articles were also singled out, but with smaller percentages. The least selected types at the three levels are explanatory cultural notes and proverbs/idioms/metaphors.

396

In 'Spring Book Two', songs, poems and jokes are especially included in 'Relax' files. Only few proverbs can be found in 'Spotlight on English, Book One'. None are included in book two, though it encompasses a variety of text types. It suggests several explanatory notes, but not of the cultural type. Q21- What main cultural topics are covered? At the level of 1e AM, 59 teachers listed the following topics: -Sports -Arts -History and geography -Celebrities -Medicine/health -Food/international dishes -Inventions and discoveries -Countries, nationalities, flags, currencies, monuments -Environmental issues -Games/horoscope -International organizations -Social life, daily life activities, family -Animals -Cartoons

At the level of 2e AM, 59 teachers referred to similar and other topics: -Sports -Songs - Medicine/health -A person's profile -Leisure activities -Celebrities -Music -Arts -Games/crosswords/cartoons -Literature/fiction -History and geography -Social life, daily life activities -Discoveries -Theatre

At the level of 9e AF, only 38 of the respondents cited the following topics: -Arts -Countries, famous cities -Celebrities -Discoveries -History and geography -Plants -Health -Sports -Handicrafts -Technology -Social institutions/social topics

The cultural content of the three textbooks has to do, thus, with both big 'C' and small 'c' cultural facets, but also with culture-general topics.

Q22- Is the cultural content given a historical dimension? -Yes -No

397

Table 86: The Historical Dimension of the Middle School Textbooks' Cultural Content Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 28 25 13 66 1e AM % N 2e AM % N 9e AF % 34.85 37.88 27.27 100

42.42 29 37.88 24 19.70 13 100 66

43.94 23 36.36 25 19.70 18 100 66

Approximately half the informants believe that the cultural content of the 1e AM and the 2e AM textbooks is given a historical dimension (42.42% for book one; 43.94% for book two). A little more than third the respondents (34.85%) think so regarding the 9e AF coursebook. The remainder of the teachers either gave a negative answer or refrained from answering. One possible interpretation is that the books contain little history. This is particularly true for 'Spotlight on English, Book One' and 'Spring, Book Two'. Q23- Are culture-specific items (objects, words, concepts) explained? -Yes -No Table 87: Explanations of Culture Specific Items in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 28 29 09 66 1e AM % N 2e AM % N 9e AF % 30.30 45.46 24.24 100

42.42 27 43.94 30 13.64 09 100 66

40.91 20 45.45 30 13.64 16 100 66

Like in the previous question, a little less than half the respondents answered 'Yes' and the other half answered 'No', or did not answer at all. In our opinion, this

398

means that there are not enough or adequate cultural elucidations to make all or most of the teachers decide as to their being. Besides, the cultural contents of the books are, on the whole, more culture-general than culture-specific. Q24- If ''Yes'', do the explanations given imply value judgements? -Yes -No Table 88: Value Judgements in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 05 23 / 28 1e AM % N 2e AM % N 9e AF % 20 75 05 100

17.86 05 82.14 21 / 100 01 27

18.52 04 77.78 15 03.70 01 100 20

The majority of the teachers who stated that the textbooks suggest cultural explanations see that the latter do not imply value judgements (82.14%, 77.78% and 75%, at the three levels respectively).

Q25- Are different sub-cultural groups (based on age, social class, profession or other) represented in the books? -Yes -No Table 89: Sub-Cultural Groups in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 40 16 10 66 1e AM % N 2e AM % N 9e AF % 53.0 3 22.73 24.24 100

60.61 39 24.24 16 15.15 11 100 66

59.09 35 24.24 15 16.67 16 100 66

399

More than half the teachers see that sub-cultural groups are represented in the books (60.61%, 59.09% and 53.03% at the three levels respectively). We note that these groups do not pertain to an English-speaking culture. In 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Book Two', several world cultures (rather than one culture sub-groups) are targeted. In 'Spring, Book Two', the sub-groups belong to the pupils' NC (rather than to the English language culture). Q26- In what mood are the characters of the books? a- Always happy. b- Happy one moment and sad the other. c- Irritated. d- Angry. e- Racist. f- Tolerant. g- Other: Please, specify Table 90: The Characters of the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c d e f g No answer Total n 38 08 5 2 3 17 2 9 1e AM % 45.24 09.52 05.95 02.38 03.57 20.24 02.38 10.72 n 34 09 06 03 04 17 01 10 2e AM % 40.48 10.71 07.14 03.57 04.76 20.24 01.19 11.91 n 32 03 06 06 03 10 / 18 9e AF % 41.02 03.85 07.69 07.69 03.85 12.82 / 23.08

84 100

84 100

78 100

'Always happy' was mainly selected with 45.24% at the 1e AM level, 40.48% at the 2e AM level and 41.02% at the 9e AF level. The characters are also viewed as 'tolerant' (20.24%, 20.24% and 12.82%, respectively). The remaining options were opted for with very little percentages. This means that the characters do not display feelings and emotions (other than happiness), and are always tolerant. Thus, they 400

are not human like. This confirms our previous statement that the development of characters in the three school books is limited. With reference to 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Book Two', 2 teachers added that their peoples are 'up-todate', 'young' and 'lovely'. Q27- Are negative and problematic aspects of the foreign culture touched upon? -Yes -No Table 91: The FC Negative Aspects in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 08 45 13 1e AM % 12.12 68.18 19.70 N 06 47 13 2e AM % 09.09 71.21 19.70 N 08 40 18 9e AF % 12.12 60.61 27.27

66 100

66 100

66 100

On the basis of the results outlined in Table 91, we can state that two thirds of the teachers (68.18% at the 1e AM level, 71.21% at the 2e AM level and 60.61% at the 9e AF level) negated the statement that problematic aspects of the FC are touched upon in the textbooks, a fact which makes the latter lacking in realism. Q28- Are different perspectives on aspects of the foreign culture presented? -Yes -No Table 92: Availability of Different Perspectives on the FC in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 08 45 13 1e AM % 12.12 68.18 19.70 N 06 47 13 2e AM % 09.09 71.21 19.70 N 08 40 18 9e AF % 12.12 60.61 27.27

66 100

66 100

66 100

401

To this question, we have obtained the same results as in Q27: two thirds of the respondents gave a negative answer, that is, they denied the statement that different perspectives on aspects of the FC are presented. Q29-If ''No'', are teachers and pupils encouraged to consult additional materials on the cultural aspects dealt with? -Yes -No Table 93: Encouraging the Consultation of Other Materials in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No Total N 24 21 1e AM % 53.33 46.67 N 25 22 2e AM % 53.19 46.81 N 02 38 40 9e AF % 05 95 100

45 100

47 100

According to slightly more than half the informants who answered No to the previous question (53.19% and 53.33%), the users of 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Book Two' are encouraged to consult other materials, to view the FC from different perspectives. The pupils are, indeed, encouraged to use books, encyclopaedias and the internet in the framework of 'the project' pedagogy. Nevertheless, the fact that all the projects suggested are not focused on a target FC might have led the remainder of the teachers (46.01% and 46.67%) to disagree with the former. Regarding the 9e AF coursebook, almost all the teachers (95%) gave a negative answer.

Q30- Are the textbooks structured and sequenced according to: a- Grammatical structures. b- Cultural themes. c- Communicative functions. d- Communicative situations. e- Other: Please, specify.

402

Table 94: The Structure of the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c d No answer Total n 32 25 32 27 08 1e AM % 25.81 20.16 25.81 21.77 06.45 n 28 35 27 25 08 2e AM % 22.76 28.46 21.95 20.33 06.50 n 33 15 27 20 13 9e AF % 30.55 13.89 25 18.52 12.04

124 100

123 100

108 100

Table 94 shows that at the 1e AM level, 'grammatical structures' and 'communicative functions' are the options that were mostly chosen, with a percentage of 25.81% each, whether independently or in combination. The 1e AM textbook is, indeed, built upon language structures and functions. The fact that its table of contents displays thematic headings may have misled the rest of the teachers who opted for 'b' ('cultural themes') and /or 'd' ('communicative situations'). At the level of 2e AM, 'cultural themes' are given a slight precedence over the other options (28.46%). The analysis of the 2e AM book has, in fact, revealed that its files are based on cultural topics. Actually, these topics provide the background for the presentation and practice of 'grammatical structures' and 'communicative functions', which are still operating factors in the textbook. That is why, they were considered in 22.76% and 21.95% of the answers. At the level of 9e AF, the coursebook is mostly thought to be grammatically (30.55%) and/or functionally (25%) structured. In our opinion, language structures are given precedence over language functions in 'Spring, Book Two'. This is reflected not only in its units' headings, but also in its suggested activities. Q31- How is the cultural content graded? a- From familiar to non-familiar aspects. b- From observable to non- observable aspects. c- According to linguistic difficulties. d- According to communicative functions. e- Other: Please, specify

403

Table 95: The Grading of the Middle School Textbooks' Cultural Content Textbooks Options a b c d e No answer Total n 06 06 24 37 01 08 1e AM % 07.32 07.32 29.27 45.12 01.22 09.76 n 06 09 23 35 01 09 83 2e AM % 07.23 10.84 27.71 42.17 01.20 10.84 100 n 08 06 13 30 01 19 77 9e AF % 10.39 07.79 16.88 38.96 01.30 24.68 100

82 100

The teachers' answers to this question pointed out above all 'communicative functions' (45.12%, 42.17% and 38.96%, corresponding respectively to 1e AM, 2e AM and 9e AF). In addition, important percentages singled out 'linguistic difficulties' (29.27%, 27.71% and 16.88%, respectively). The cultural content is, thus, thought to be graded mainly according to communicative functions and/or linguistic difficulties. This confirms one of the outcomes of our analysis of the Middle School textbooks, namely that the cultural component is subsidiary to the linguistic ones. Q32- Are previously gained cultural insights reviewed in the course of the textbooks? -Yes -No Table 96: Reviewing Cultural Elements in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 36 18 12 1e AM % 54.55 27.27 18.18 N 36 17 13 2e AM % 54.55 25.76 19.69 N 26 21 19 9e AF % 39.39 31.81 28.79

66 100

66 100

66 100

404

A little more than half the respondents (54.55%) think that cultural insights are re-examined in the course of the 1e AM and the 2e AM books. For more than third of the teachers (39.39%), this applies as well to the 9e AF book. Some of the cultural (as well as the linguistic) elements that are introduced in 'Spotlight on English, Book One' are, in fact, recycled in the same book and in book two. In Section III, the 1e AM and 2e AM textbooks are regarded as having mainly an up-to-date, comprehensive, but fragmentary cultural content, unlike that of 9e AF. The latter is rather seen as out-of-date and selective. More than half the informants deem the content of the three books to be more suitable to the pupils' level and/or cultural background than to the syllabus goals. More than the third link it exclusively to culture-general topics, but the majority affirmed that it does take into account the pupils' NC. 'Spotlight on English, Book One', in particular, brings out similarities and contrasts between the FC and the NC. Other intercultural teaching dimensions such as reference to stereotypes are, according to the majority of the respondents, overlooked in the three books. Less than half the teachers think that the coursebooks embody historical overviews and explanations of cultural items, and more than half see that sub-cultural groups are represented. The characters are depicted as 'always happy', for , according to two thirds of the teachers, no problematic cultural aspects are referred to. They also believe that only one perspective on the FC is presented; the 1e AM and 2e AM pupils are, however, encouraged to consult additional materials on the cultural aspects dealt with. 'Spotlight on English, Book One' is mainly viewed as functionally/structurally built, 'Spotlight on English, Book Two' as more thematic, and 'Spring, Book Two' more structural. Their cultural content is mainly graded according to communicative functions and/or linguistic difficulties. All three books are essentially based on the dialogue text type, and on the cyclical approach, though the latter is not that applicable to the 9e AF level. Section IV: Techniques of Teaching Culture Q33- Are there activities that promote cultural knowledge and understanding? -Yes -No

405

Table 97: Cultural Activities in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 34 23 09 1e AM % 51.51 34.25 13.64 N 32 24 10 66 2e AM % 48.49 36.36 15.15 100 N 17 32 17 66 9e AF % 25.76 48.48 25.76 100

66 100

For approximately half the teachers, 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Two' incorporate activities about culture (51.51% and 48.49%, respectively). The remainder of the respondents either answered 'No' or did not answer the question. We think that this division in opinion is due to the fact that activities with cultural targets are not common in the books (unlike structural ones). Several techniques deemed by professionals as typically cultural are even not considered (see Q36, pp 407-408). At the level of 9e AF, only a quarter of the teachers (25.76%) gave a positive answer. Q34- If ''Yes'', which ones? When asked to identify the cultural activities available in the books, the respondents listed what follows: 1e AM and 2e AM -Learn about culture (heading of a section in the coursebook); -Grammatical exercises with a cultural content; -Activities linked to different cultural themes; -Crosswords, games; -Matching exercises with cultural content; -Multiple choice questions; -Exercises about history and geography; -Pair works, group works; -Projects. 9e AF -Activities based on a specific cultural content (Mme Tussaud's, London); -Activities about history and geography; -Gap filling; -Games; -Grammar exercises.

406

Worth mentioning is that structural exercises based on a given cultural content cannot be said to promote cultural knowledge and understanding. Culture, here, is secondary. Q35- Are these activities: a- Comprehension-oriented. b- Production-oriented. c- Both. Table 98: Categorization of Cultural Activities in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c Total N 10 08 16 1e AM % 29.41 23.53 47.06 N 10 05 17 32 2e AM % 31.25 15.63 53.12 100 N 06 05 06 17 9e AF % 35.29 29.42 35.29 100

34 100

Half the teachers think that the cultural activities suggested in 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Two' are both comprehension- and production-oriented (47.06% and 53.12%, respectively, but for 'Spring ,Book Two', the answers are split in to the three options. Q36- Do the textbooks include: a- Critical incidents. b- Cultural capsules and clusters. c- Group and classroom discussions. d- Culture assimilators. e- Culture quizzes. f- Problem-solving activities. g- Role plays and simulations. h- Culture projects. i- Case studies. j- Other: Please, specify.

407

Table 99: The Incorporation of Special Culture-Teaching Techniques in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c d e f g h i No answer Total n / 02 39 / 21 28 38 55 / 07 1e AM % / 01.05 20.53 / 11.05 14.74 20 28.95 / 03.68 n / 02 37 / 21 27 35 54 / 09 2e AM % / 01.08 20 / 11.35 14.59 18.92 29.19 / 04.87 n / 01 19 / 05 18 24 03 / 20 90 9e AF % / 01.11 21.11 / 05.56 20 26.67 03.33 / 22.22 100

190 100

185 100

It appears that at the level of 1e AM and 2e AM, the technique that was mostly considered is 'the project' (28.95% and 29.19%, respectively). 'Group and classroom discussions' (20.53% and 20%) and 'role plays/ simulations' (20% and 18.92%) were also opted for. We note that the projects found in 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Two' deal predominantly with culture-general topics. We note as well that several exercises are mistakenly called role plays by the authors of the textbooks (as demonstrated in chapter five). The 9e AF book is said to incorporate role plays (26.67%) and group/classroom discussions (21.11%). Yet, we can find no single instance of such activity types in the book. It is possible that the teachers confused what they actually do in class with the learners, with what is available in 'Spring, Book Two'. It is important to point out that the three books are void of culture teaching techniques as 'critical incidents', 'case studies', and 'cultural capsules and clusters'.

408

Q37- Are the pupils supposed to: a- Handle data and facts. b- Compare and critically judge materials. c- Think in an abstract way and understand differences in value systems and mentality. d- Produce language (or behave) appropriately in socio-cultural contexts.

Table 100: What the Middle School Textbooks Expect the Pupils to Do Textbooks Options a b c d No answer Total n 42 20 05 13 11 1e AM % 46.15 21.98 05.49 14.29 12.09 n 45 19 05 12 11 92 2e AM % 48.91 20.65 05.44 13.04 11.96 100 n 34 11 04 11 20 80 9e AF % 42.50 13.75 05 13.75 25 100

91 100

On the basis of the results outlined in Table 100, the pupils are chiefly required to 'handle data and facts' (46.15%, 48.91% and 42.50% at the three levels, respectively). This goes in harmony with the nature of the cultural content of the textbooks, which, as stated in Q4 and Q5, relates mainly to the 'know about' cultural facet. The pupils are also expected to 'compare and critically judge materials' (21.98%, 20.65% and 13.75%, respectively). Although several activities in 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Two' invite the learners to compare between what is native and what is foreign, they do not encourage them to view things critically, for they do not transcend surface matters.

Q38- Are there instances of situations in which an individual with a good mastery of English is not understood because of culture-based differences? -Yes -No

409

Table 101: Intercultural Situations in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N / 56 10 1e AM % / 84.85 15.15 N / 54 12 66 2e AM % / 81.82 18.18 100 N / 49 17 66 9e AF % / 74.24 25.76 100

66 100

The overwhelming majority of the informants gave a negative answer at the three levels, as displayed in Table 101. It can be implied that instances of real life intercultural communicative interactions are not simulated in the coursebooks. Q39-Is there any artwork (pictures, diagrams, maps) in the textbooks? -Yes -No Table 102: Artwork in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 55 03 08 1e AM % 83.33 04.55 12.12 N 53 03 10 2e AM % 80.30 04.55 15.15 N 42 07 17 9e AF % 63.64 10.60 25.76

66 100

66 100

66 100

Most of the teachers answered 'Yes' at the three levels (83.33%, 80.30% and 63.64%). The following questions are purported to elicit more information in this respect.

Q40- If ''Yes'', does it contribute to the understanding of the target culture? -Yes -No

410

Table 103: The Cultural Significance of Artwork in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 46 06 03 1e AM % 83.64 10.91 05.45 N 45 05 03 2e AM % 84.91 09.43 05.66 N 35 06 01 9e AF % 83.33 14.29 02.38

55 100

53 100

42 100

The majority of the respondents find the artwork suggested in the three coursebooks culturally significant, in the sense that it contributes to the presentation and understanding of the TC (83.64%, 84.91% and 83.33%). All three books are, indeed, rich in artwork. Nevertheless, we think that the illustrations included in 'Spotlight on English, Book One' have little cultural implications, though they do supplement its general content. As to the artwork in 'Spring, Book Two', it exclusively portrays general cultural issues, or the pupils' NC, rather than the English-speaking culture(s). Q41- Do you analyze with the pupils the non-verbal ''messages'' contained in pictures and other illustrations?( 1) - Yes - No Table 104: Analysing the Artwork Contained in the Middle School Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 46 11 09 % 69.70 16.67 13.63

66 100

( 1)

we note that in relation to this item,1 AM, 2 AM and 3 AM divisions are not suggested, given that it focuses on the way the teacher handles artwork, whatever the textbook used. Q42 is meant for any specific reference.

411

A little more than two thirds of the teachers stated that they do analyze with the pupils the non-verbal ''messages'' contained in pictures and other illustrations. Q42- If ''No'', why? Only 4 teachers of those who answered 'No' to Q41 justified their answer: -''Both teachers and pupils are not used to do such work.'' -''May be this is possible with pupils at upper levels.'' -''Pictures are clear.'' -These messages are not at the pupils' reach.'' To sum up the section, we can say that nearly half the teachers see that the 1e AM and 2e AM textbooks contain activities that promote cultural knowledge and understanding. A quarter of them believe so as regards the 9e AF coursebook. Some of them, it should be noted, consider grammatical exercises based on a cultural content as activities about culture. At the level of 1e AM and 2e AM, the informants referred mostly to 'projects' but also to 'group discussions' and 'role plays'. At the level of 9e AF, the latter were also pointed out, though they are totally missing form 'Spring, Book Two'. All the teachers agreed that the three books do not include some important culture teaching techniques, as case studies and culture assimilators, and almost all of them stated that no reference is made in the textbooks to instances of intercultural communication background. For a little less than half the respondents, the pupils are essentially required to 'handle data and facts', but not 'to think in an abstract way'. As to artwork, it is viewed by the majority of the informants as culturally significant and is exploited in class by two thirds of them. Section V: The Teacher and the Textbooks' Cultural Content Q43- Are you familiar with the cultural aspects introduced by the textbooks? -Yes -No Table 105: The Teachers' Familiarity with the Cultural Content of the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No N 37 20 1e AM % 56.06 30.30 N 38 19 2e AM % 57.57 28.79 N 36 15 9e AF % 54.54 22.73

412

No answer Total

09

13.64

09

13.64

15

22.73

66 100

66 100

66 100

Half the respondents affirmed that they are familiar with the cultural aspects introduced in the three books (56.06%, 57.57% and 54.54%). Less than third the teachers stated that they are not (30.30%, 28.97% and 22.73%). The remainder (13.64%, 13.64% and 22.73%) gave no answer. Q44-Do you find it 'difficult ' to handle parts of the textbooks' cultural content, and hence need specialized training to use them effectively? - Yes - No Table 106: The Teachers' Difficulty to Handle the Cultural Content of the Middle School Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 44 10 12 % 66.67 15.15 18.18

66 100

Two thirds of the informants admitted that they find it 'difficult' to handle parts of the cultural content suggested, and approved of the idea of specialized training in culture. Q45- Are there types of cultural content that you have found culturally 'inappropriate' or 'embarrassing'? -Yes -No Table 107: Inappropriate Cultural Contents in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No N 21 34 1e AM % 31.82 51.51 N 23 32 2e AM % 34.85 48.48 N 15 33 9e AF % 22.73 50

413

No answer Total

11

16.67

11

16.67

18

27.27

66 100

66 100

66 100

Half of the teachers at the 1e AM and 2e AM and 9e AF levels (51.51%, 48.48%, and 50%, respectively) see that there are no culturally 'inappropriate' or 'embarrassing' contents in the coursebooks. Q46- If ''Yes'', which one(s)? When asked to identify culturally 'inappropriate' or 'embarrassing' parts, only 04 teachers, at the three levels, reported what follows: 1e AM -E-mails from Sally (love); -Celebrities, singers; -Foreign peoples' behaviours and relationships; -New year; the horoscope. 2e AM -Daily routines of Jane Smith (returns at 2.00 in the morning); -Songs, singers; -Peoples' behaviours and relationships; -Cartoon pictures include slang words that are not at the pupils' reach. 9e AF -Wax figures (02); -A wonderful world; -A strange trip. 'A wonderful world' and 'A strange trip' are titles of passages included in 'Spring, Book Two'; we could not figure out what is inappropriate or embarrassing in them. 'Wax figures' are mentioned in 'Mme Tussaud's' passage; the teacher who finds this aspect culturally inappropriate may be alluding to the fact that sculpture is forbidden in the Islamic religion.

Q47- How did you handle them? a- Used them as the coursebook(s) suggested. b- Dropped them altogether. c- Adapted them in some way.

414

Table 108: Handling Inappropriate Cultural Contents in the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c No answer Total N 06 04 10 01 1e AM % 28.57 19.05 47.62 04.76 N 05 06 11 01 2e AM % 21.74 26.08 47.83 04.35 N 04 02 09 / / 9e AF % 26.67 13.33 60

21 100

23 100

15 100

Nearly half the teachers who think that there are culturally inappropriate types of content in the Middle School coursebooks (47.62% and 47.83%, at the 1e AM and 2e AM levels, respectively) stated that they adapted them in some way. More than half (60%) did so at the 9e AF level. The remainder either used them as the coursebooks suggested or dropped them altogether.

Q48- If ''c'', how? (Please explain briefly) Only 06 teachers, at the three levels, explained how they adapted these 'special' cultural contents: -''To draw the pupils' attention to the fact that they are dealing with a foreign cultural context.'' -''To resort to other situations.'' -''To simplify texts and tasks.'' -''To alter embarrassing aspects.'' -''To design new activities.'' -''To include these embarrassing elements implicitly, and to distinguish between what is native and what is foreign''.

Q49- Do the textbooks used at different levels fit in with each other? - Yes - No

415

Table 109: The Middle School Textbooks' Fitness for Each Other Options Yes No No answer Total N 53 07 06 % 80.30 10.61 09.09

66 100

The vast majority of the respondents (80.30%) believe that the textbooks fit in with each other. In our opinion, this is valid only for 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Book Two', which have been conceived in the same philosophical and methodological framework. 'Spring, Book Two' is based on a different cultural philosophy and is, besides, quite old. Q50- If ''No'', why? The 07 teachers who answered 'No' to Q49 did not justify their viewpoint. Q51- To what extent do you rely on the textbooks to teach about culture? a- Completely b- To some extent c- Not at all Table110: The Teachers' Reliance on the Middle School Textbooks to Teach about Culture Options a b c No answer Total N 17 37 5 7 66 % 25.75 56.06 07.58 10.60 100

56.06% of the respondents rely moderately on the coursebooks to teach about the TC, whereas 25.75% completely depend on them for this purpose. 07.58% stated that they do not use them altogether. The teachers are supposed to justify their attitude through the following question. 416

Q52- Why? 08 teachers (out of the 17) who answered 'a' to the previous question gave the following reasons: -''The contents were carefully selected.'' -''The textbooks are useful to teach about culture.'' -''The textbooks are insightful and enriching culturally speaking.'' -''The textbooks cater for all the cultural aspects needed.'' -''We do not have other materials to rely on.'' -''The contents of the books are enough, in my view.'' -''They are related to the objectives of the course.'' -''The coursebooks used at different levels complete each other.''

11 teachers (out of the 37) who answered 'b' justified their answer: -''We should consider the learners and their environment.'' -''To provide the pupils with more information and to introduce variety.'' -''One needs to enlarge the scope of explanations.'' -''To enable the pupils to understand the target elements in the best possible way.'' -''The textbook is just a guide; it is to be adapted.'' -''Parts of what is suggested in the available textbooks are complex, others are boring. The teacher should make them clearer and interesting to the pupils.'' -''Culture is vast.'' -''Some activities are inadequate. So, we try to design better ones.'' -''Complete reliance on the book leads the pupils to have only one perspective on the foreign culture.'' -''Parts of the books, particularly that of the second level, are too difficult for the learners.'' -''The teacher is not the slave of the book. He may change, add, omit , to meet the course objectives.'' 02 teachers (out of the 05) who answered 'c' wrote what follows: -''I prefer to select my own materials, to put in evidence the differences between the foreign culture and the native one.'' -''The teacher must look for means other than the coursebook.''

Q53- Do you design (in addition to what the textbooks offer) materials to supplement teaching with respect to culture? - Yes - No

417

Table 111: Supplementing the Middle School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total 30 29 07 66 45.45 43.94 10.61 100 N %

Nearly half the teachers (45.45%) stated that they design materials to supplement the textbooks with respect to culture instruction, while nearly half (43.94%) do not do so. Q54- If ''No'', why? When asked to say why they do not design supplementary materials, 08 teachers (out of 29) outlined the following reasons: -''There are no materials to supplement teaching.'' (05) -''It is not that easy.'' -''Teachers need materials to do so.'' -''We have no time to design additional materials to teach about culture. We are supposed to go through a defined programme.'' Q55- If ''Yes'', how? 13 teachers (out of 30) explained the way they design supplementary materials in the following words: -''Use of tape recorders, videos, projectors, the internet.'' (03) -''Use of pictures, gestures, realia, maps.'' -''Use of personal materials, new ideas.'' (02) -''Resorting to a variety of cultural contexts.'' -''Presenting extra materials about cultural customs, religion, '' -''Providing mainly historical information about the foreign culture country; studying poems and songs.'' -''Use of visual aids, design of further culture-geared activities.''(02) -''Providing texts with a cultural content.'' (02) Q56- Do the teachers' manuals provide further information about the target culture, and guidance as to how to present it to the pupils? -Yes -No

418

Table 112: The Middle School Teachers' Guides Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 16 47 03 1e AM % 24.24 71.21 04.55 N 16 47 03 2e AM % 24.24 71.21 04.55 N 10 48 08 9e AF % 15.15 72.73 12.12

66 100

66 100

66 100

The majority of the informants at the three levels (71.21%, 71.21% and 72.73%) think the teachers' guides of no help, as far as culture teaching is concerned. In fact, no methodological notes or further information about the cultural items to be taught can be found in these manuals. Q57- What do you suggest to improve the textbooks' cultural content? 31 teachers suggested what follows: -''More texts: 'Spotlight on English' includes only dialogues.'' -''Providing more aids.'' (05) -''Simplified texts: those provided are complex and do not fit the pupils' level.'' (03) -Contents should be more realistic.'' (03) -''We need more cultural contexts.'' (02) -''The inclusion of more activities about culture in the coursebooks.'' (03) -''The Islamic culture should not be overlooked.'' (02) -''Providing audio-visual materials: CDs, slides, pictures, films, '' (02) -''Providing books about English-speaking cultures.'' (03) -''Cultural contents should be relevant to the pupils' cultural background.'' -''To make available games, poems, short stories, historical accounts about the foreign culture.'' -''Focus should be on the positive points of foreign cultures.'' -''Teachers must learn about the English culture themselves.'' (03) -''To provide the teachers with materials about cultural studies; to enable them to take part in the elaboration of the textbooks they use with the learners.'' In Section V, approximately half the informants stated that they are familiar with the Middle School textbooks' cultural content, but two thirds of them find it difficult to handle parts of it. For the majority, the accompanying teachers' manuals are of no help in this regard. Half the teachers stated that they do not completely depend on what is available in the coursebooks, and design supplementary materials to teach about culture. They pointed to the need for more teaching aids (books, 419

audio-visual materials), to be able to present their pupils with simple, varied and realistic cultural passages and activities. Section VI: Further Suggestions Q58- Do you have any further suggestion or comment? In this final section, 17 teachers raised several points: -Undertaking teachers' in-service training; -Adapting the textbooks' contents to the pupils' level(s) and background(s); -Providing teachers with the necessary means (visual, audio, and audio-visual) to teach adequately about culture; -Reconsidering the importance of the English language (and culture) in the Algerian Middle School. The results of the second Middle School teachers' questionnaire may be summarized in the following points: -The Middle School textbooks are mainly concerned with the 'know what' cultural facet (Q4; see p383). The cultural 'know oneself' is not disregarded, unlike the 'know why' and the 'know how' aspects (Q5; see p 384); -The cultural component is (more than not) thought to be considered on equal footing with the other language components (Q6; see p 385 ), and approached both implicitly and explicitly (Q10; see p 389 ), particularly in the 1e AM and 2e AM the coursebooks. The latter are viewed as promoting positive attitudes towards English and Englishspeaking cultures (Q11; see p 389); -'Spotlight on English, Book One and Book Two' are mostly regarded as up-to-date, comprehensive but fragmentary; 'Spring, Book Two' is rather out-of-date and selective (Q12; see p 391); -The cultural content of the three books is more or less suitable to the pupils' level and/or cultural background, but not to the syllabus goals (Q13; see p 392, Q57; see p419); -It is more linked to culture-general (rather than culture-specific) topics (Q14; see p 393), but the pupils' NC is largely incorporated (Q16; see p 394); -Intercultural teaching is not adequately catered for, even in 'Spotlight on English' (Q18, Q19; see p 395); -At the micro-social level, the books' characters are not depicted as human-like (Q26; see pp 400-401);

420

-At the macro-social level, though some historical overviews are included (Q22; see p 398), the problematic aspects of the TC are not touched upon (Q27; see p 401); different perspectives on the FC aspects are not presented (Q28; see p 402); -The cultural content is graded according to communicative functions and/or linguistic difficulties (Q31; see p 404); -The cultural activity that is mostly available at the level of 1e AM and 2e AM is 'the project' (Q34; see p 406); culture teaching techniques as case studies, culture assimilators, cultural capsules and clusters are totally missing from the books (Q36; see p 408); no instances of intercultural communication breakdown are depicted (Q38; see p 410); -The artwork is viewed as culturally relevant (Q40; see p 411); -The majority of the teachers find it difficult to handle parts of the cultural content suggested (Q44; see p 413), and are not assisted to do so by the teachers' manuals (Q56; see p 419); -The teachers need further materials about the FC to be able to teach it adequately (Q51; see p 416, Q53; see p 418, Q57; see p 419, Q58; see p 420). After going through the questionnaire items, we wonder if the teachers would keep the 'very positive' impression they had about the books when they completed the introductory 'General Assessment' section (Q2; see p 381). 4.2.2. Secondary School Teachers Questionnaire Section I: General Assessment Q1- Do the following textbooks take account of the cultural component of the English language? -My New Book of English (1e AS) -The New Midlines (2e AS) -Comet (3e AS) Table 113: The English Language Cultural Component in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No N 19 09 1 AS % 59.38 28.12 N 05 19
e e e

2 AS % 15.62 59.38 N

3 AS % 68.75 28.13

22 09

421

No answer Total

04

12.50

08

25

01

03.12

32 100

32 100

32 100

More than half the teachers answered that the 1e AS and 3e AS textbooks take account of the cultural component of the English language (59.38% and 68.75%, respectively), while that of 2e AS does not (59.38%). Q2- If ''Yes'', are you satisfied with the way they cater for the cultural component? -Yes -No Table 114: The Teachers' Viewpoint about the Cultural Component in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 10 09 / 1 AS % 52.63 47.37 / N 02 03 /
e e e

2 AS % 40 60 / N

3 AS % 50 45.45 04.55

11 10 01

19 100

05 100

22 100

The teachers are divided into approximately two equal halves: one gave a positive answer (52.63%, 40% and 50%, at the three levels, respectively), the other a negative one (47.37%, 60% and 45.45%). In other words, among the teachers who believe that the English cultural component is incorporated in the textbooks, half are satisfied with the way it is handled and half are not.

Q3- If ''No'', please, explain why. At the level of 1e AS, the 04 teachers (out of 09) who answered 'No' to Q2 justified their answer: -''Only one passage deals with the British culture, 'The British Isles'. The other texts have nothing to do with the British culture.'' -''There are no pictures or photos to illustrate the topics dealt with.'' -''It does not directly deal with culture.'' -''There are few cultural elements in the book.''

422

At the level of 2e AS, only 01 teacher (out of 03) wrote what follows: -''The New Midlines includes nothing about the foreign language culture.'' At the level of 3e AS, 07 teachers (out of 10) referred to the following reasons: -''The texts express native cultural components.'' -''Comet deals with general topics (e.g. pollution) which have no relation with the English culture.'' -''Only one unit deals with life in English-speaking countries.'' -''There are few cultural elements in the book.'' (02) -''The textbook deals with the academic programme, not with culture.'' -''Insufficient cultural material is included in Comet.' We note that some teachers who answered 'No' to Q1 included the following comments: 1e AS -''The texts are old and difficult.'' -''The texts do not really point out the English cultural component.'' -''The units are mainly functionally organized.'' -''We need new designed textbooks that take into account the cultural component as well as the learners' age and needs.'' -''Most of the selected texts are not authentic.'' 2e AS -''The texts are out-of-date and uninteresting.'' -''The texts are related to the local culture.'' -''Nothing about the English culture is mentioned in this book.'' -''The passages are based on universal, scientific themes.'' -''The textbook deals with general topics (e.g. scouts).'' 3e AS -''The texts are old'' -''Only Units 1 and 2 have a cultural content that is relevant to the English language.'' -''The units are too general.'' -''The themes are not adequately selected. Only one unit is relevant to the English culture.'' It appears from the beginning that at least half the teachers who answered the questionnaire do not approve of the cultural content of the books. The following sections are meant to justify this disapproval, and to elucidate, in details, the way culture is catered for in the books. Section II: Approach to Culture Q4- What is the cultural content of the textbooks about? a- Behaviours, customs, rituals, patterned ways of living. b- Thoughts, assumptions, values and norms. c- Literature and fine arts. d- History, geography, politics, social institutions. e-Other: Please, specify.

423

Table 115: The Nature of the Secondary School Textbooks' Cultural Content Textbooks Options a b c d e No answer Total n 17 04 01 16 01 09 1 AS % 35.42 08.34 02.08 33.33 02.08 18.75 n 06 01 04 06 01 21
e

2 AS % 15.39 02.56 10.26 15.39 02.56 53.84 n

3 AS % 36.54 21.15 05.77 25 / 11.54

19 11 03 13 / 06

48 100

39 100

52 100

Table 115 shows that options 'a' and 'd', namely, 'behaviours, customs, rituals, patterned ways of living' and 'history, geography, politics, social institutions' were mostly opted for (35.42% and 33.33%, at the level of 1e AS; 15.39% and 15.39%, at the level of 2e AS; and 36.54% and 25%, at the level of 3e AS). This means that the coursebooks are mainly concerned with observable behaviours, facts and artifacts (cultural 'know what'), and much less with their underlying beliefs and assumptions (cultural 'know why'). The latter are drawn attention to in the final year, however (21.15%). The 3e AS book, as pointed out in chapter five, encourages discussion of and reflection on cultural matters, unlike its predecessors. A respondent specified another type of cultural content at the 1e AS and 2e AS levels, that is, 'technical, scientific topics'. We note that at the level of 2e AS, 21 teachers did not answer the question. Most of them (19 teachers) do not altogether think that 'The New Midlines' incorporates the cultural component of the English language (as seen in Q1; see p 422). Thus, all the options do not, in their opinion, fit the textbook.(1)

( 1)

This note applies to all the questionnaire items.

424

Q5- How is culture learning/teaching implied in the textbooks? a- Developing knowledge about the foreign culture facts and artifacts. b- Developing understanding of the underlying bases of the foreign culture (values, assumptions, beliefs). c- Developing the ability to behave appropriately in foreign socio-cultural contexts. d- Developing knowledge about oneself. Table 116: Culture Learning/Teaching as Implied in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c d No answer Total n 13 05 05 05 11 1 AS % 33.33 12.82 12.82 12.82 28.21 n 06 01 03 02 21
e e e

2 AS % 18.18 03.03 09.09 06.06 63.64 n

3 AS % 35 12.50 07.50 12.50 32.50

14 05 03 05 13

39 100

33 100

40 100

As expected, the most chosen answer, at the three levels was 'a', 'developing knowledge about the foreign culture facts and artifacts' (33.33%, 18.18% and 35%), that is, developing the cultural 'know what' or 'know about' facet. Promoting the cultural 'know why', 'know how' and 'know oneself' (i.e., options 'b', 'c', and 'd', respectively) were opted for with small, more or less equal percentages. The number of teachers who did not answer the question is notable at the three levels (11, 21, and 13, respectively). A possible interpretation is that these informants do not think the four options suitable to the coursebooks. In fact, although culture teaching/learning in the books is basically linked to the cultural 'know what', the TC is not necessarily the FC as suggested in the question. This point is to be further clarified in Section III, Q14 (see p 434). Q6- Do you think that the cultural component is considered on equal footing with the other language components? -Yes -No

425

Table 117: The Weight of the Cultural Component in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 03 28 01 1 AS % 09.38 87.50 03.12 N 02 26 04 32
e e e

2 AS % 06.25 81.25 12.50 100 N

3 AS % 18.75 78.13 03.12 100

25 25 01 32

32 100

The overwhelming majority of the respondents (87.50%, 81.25%, and 78.13%, at the three levels, respectively) believe that the cultural component is not given as much care as the other language components. Q7- If ''No'', which component(s) is (are) given more importance: a- Grammar. b- Pronunciation. c- Communicative functions. d- Communicative situations. e- Other: Please, specify. Table 118: Components Given Priority in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c d ab ac ad bc N 07 01 02 03 01 06 01 / 1 AS % 25 03.57 07.15 10.71 03.57 21.43 03.57 / N 09 / 01 / / 04 03 /
e

2 AS % 34.62 / 03.85 / / 15.38 11.54 / N

3 AS % 12 04 08 12 04 04 / 08

03 01 02 03 01 01 / 02

426

cd abc abd acd abcd No answer Total

01 01 01 02 01 01

03.57 03.57 03.57 07.15 03.57 03.57 /

/ / 03.85 15.38 07.69 07.69

03 / 02 01 02 04 25

12 / 08 04 08 16 100

01 04 02 02

28 100

26 100

At the levels of 1e AS and 2e AS, more than half the informants think that grammar and/or communicative functions are given priority (53.38%=

25%+07.15%+21.43%, and 53.85%= 34.62%+03.85%+15.38%, respectively). At the level of 3e AS, there is little agreement among them: 12% opted for grammar, an equal percentage for communicative situations, and for communicative

functions/communicative situations; the rest suggested other combinations. 'Comet' is in reality built along thematic lines. The cultural component is, thus, not disregarded in it. Q8- Is the cultural component: a- Integrated in texts/dialogues. b- Integrated in activities. c- Treated as supplementary optional material. Table 119: The Way Culture is Integrated in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c ab No answer Total N 18 02 04 02 06 1 AS % 56.25 06.25 12.50 06.25 18.75 N 05 02 10 03 12
e

2 AS % 15.63 06.25 31.25 09.37 37.50 N

3 AS % 62.50 / 28.13 06.25 03.12

20 / 09 02 01

32 100

32 100

32 100

427

More than half the teachers think that the 1e AS and the 3e AS textbooks embody the cultural component in their suggested passages/dialogues (56.25% and 62.50%, respectively). At the 2e AS level, those who answered the question mostly think that this component is rather treated as supplementary optional material (31.25%). Q9- If ''c'', is it: a- Added at the end of the unit. b- Presented as a separate unit at the end of the textbook. c- Other: Please, specify. Table 120: Culture as Supplementary Optional Material in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c ab Total N / 03 01 / 04 1 AS % / 75 25 / 100 N 07 02 01 / 10
e e e

2 AS % 70 20 10 / 100 N

3 AS % 22.22 22.22 33.34 11.12

02 02 03 02

09 100

At the 1e AS level, 03 teachers (75%) see that culture is presented as a separate unit at the end of the book. 'My New Book of English' has, indeed, a final file entitled 'the Light Side', which contains proverbs, riddles, songs and fairy tales. For another teacher, culture is rather 'incidental' in the book. At the level of 2e AS, according to most of the teachers (70%), culture is added at the end of the unit. As mentioned in chapter five, each unit in 'The New Midlines' ends with 'Reading for Leisure', which is based on passages that are sometimes more culture-seeded than those suggested in the core of the unit. The 2e AS book includes at its end a collection of authentic passages. That is why, 20% of the respondents ticked option 'b'. One teacher wrote that culture is 'implicit' in the book. At the level of 3e AS, some teachers (22.22%) think that culture is included at the end of the unit in 'Time for a Song' and 'Reading for Leisure'. Others (22.22%)

428

see that it is presented at the end of the book, through a collection of texts and a list of proverbs. 11.11% opted for both options. 33.34% see that culture is rather 'implicit'. Q10- Is culture approached: a- Implicitly. b- Explicitly. c- Both. Table 121: The Secondary School Textbooks' Approach to Culture Textbooks Options a b c No answer Total N 20 04 08 / 1 AS % 62.50 12.50 25 / N 15 / / 17
e

2 AS % 46.87 / / 53.13 N

3 AS % 46.88 15.62 25 12.50

15 05 18 04

32 100

32 100

32 100

Culture is thought to be approached implicitly in the 1e AS coursebook by more than half the respondents (62.50%), in the 2e AS coursebook by all the teachers who answered the question (46.87%), and in the 3e AS book by nearly half the respondents (46.87%). We have found out in chapter five that 'Comet' is more culture-oriented than 'My New Book of English' and 'The New Midlines', in that it is focused on understanding and discussing its cultural content, rather than on developing linguistic skills. It is not viewed as such by half the teachers may be because it treats culture-general topics and does not suggest enough

communication- and culture-geared activities.

Q11 - Do the textbooks promote positive attitudes towards English and English-speaking cultures? -Yes -No

429

Table 122: Promoting Positive Attitudes towards the TL and TC in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 19 08 05 1 AS % 59.38 25 15.62 N 08 10 14 32
e e e

2 AS % 25 31.25 43.75 100 N

3 AS % 53.12 40.63 06.25 100

17 13 07 32

32 100

According to more than half the teachers (59.38%), 'My New Book of English' promotes positive attitudes towards English and English-speaking cultures. It does so, it should be noted, through a tourist-geared approach. At the 2e AS level, those who answered the question are divided into two groups: one opted for an affirmative answer (25%), and the other for a negative one (31.25%). This division in opinion is probably due to the fact that 'The New Midlines' does not target English-speaking cultures. In a like manner, at the 3e AS level, the informants seem not to have defined data to judge upon: slightly more than half the teachers (53.12%) answered 'Yes', and less than half (40.63%) answered 'No'. 'Comet' contains little about the British culture, and this little is positive.

In Section II, most of the teachers linked the content of the Secondary School textbooks to the cultural 'know what'. It is only in the final year that some attention is drawn to the cultural 'know why'. The vast majority of the teachers think that culture is not treated on equal footing with the other language components in the three books. At the level of 1e AS and 2e AS, priority is given to grammar and/or communicative functions, according to more than half the informants. The cultural component is thought to be dealt with implicitly in the three books, being exclusively included in texts/dialogues, as in the 1e AS and 3e AS coursebooks, or merely treated as supplementary optional material, as in the 2e AS coursebook. Even though 'Comet' is thematic and more culture-oriented than 'My New Book of English' and 'The New Midlines', half the teachers could not see such a distinction, for all three books offer 430

little about the English speaking culture(s). Accordingly, the respondents did not on the whole agree on whether the textbooks promote positive attitudes towards the FL and FC. Section III: Method of Teaching Culture Q12- Is the cultural content presented : a- Realistic. b- Up-to-date. c- Comprehensive. d- Structured (not fragmented). e- Free of stereotypes and bias. Table 123: Characteristics of the Cultural Content of the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c d e No answer Total n 12 02 04 12 / 10 40 1 AS % 30 05 10 30 / 25 100 n 02 01 03 10 / 18 34
e

2 AS % 05.88 02.94 08.83 29.41 / 52.94 100 n

3 AS % 34.21 10.53 07.90 23.68 / 23.68 100

13 04 03 09 / 09 38

The cultural content presented in 'My New Book of English' is mostly thought to be 'realistic' (30%) and/or 'structured' (30%). In our opinion, it is rather idealistic for it is tourist-oriented. We suppose that the teachers who opted for 'a', 'realistic', did so because the textbook incorporates authentic passages. Option 'e', 'free of stereotypes and bias' was not selected at all. Does this mean that the content in question is stereotypical and biased? How could it be at the same time, realistic? The characteristic that was more chosen than the others with respect to 'The New Midlines' is 'd', 'structured' (29.41%). Yet, the analysis of its units has demonstrated that their cultural content is on the whole fragmentary, given the fact that it serves the target functions and structures.

431

As to 'Comet', it is mostly depicted as having a 'realistic' (34.21%) and/or 'structured' content (23.68%). Worth noting is that the three books are viewed as 'outof-date' and 'selective'. Worth noting as well is the fact that a number of teachers did not answer this question (10, 18 and 09 teachers at the three levels, respectively). A possible interpretation is that all the options listed do not, according to these teachers, fit the Secondary School textbooks. Q13- Is it : a- Suitable to the pupils' level. b- Suitable to the pupils' cultural background. c- Suitable to the curriculum goals. Table 124: Suitability of the Secondary School Textbooks' Cultural Content to the Learners and the Syllabus Textbooks Options a b c ac bc No answer Total N 07 02 07 05 / 11 1 AS % 21.88 06.25 21.88 15.62 / 34.37 N / 03 10 01 / 18 32
e

2 AS % / 09.37 31.25 03.13 / 65.25 100 N

3 AS % 09.37 06.25 37.50 12.50 06.25 28.13 100

03 02 12 04 02 09 32

32 100

21.88% of the informants see that the content of the 1e AS book is suitable to the pupils' level. For an equal percentage of teachers, it fits the curriculum goals. For 34.37%, no option was selected, implying, perhaps, that no option is appropriate. At the 2e AS level, almost two thirds of the teachers (65.25%) did not tick any box. This fact may mean that the textbook's cultural content does not match the three options listed. 31.25% of the respondents think that it suits the syllabus goals. It should be pointed out again that the 1e AS and the 2e AS syllabi do not make reference to culture. In the Secondary School curriculum of English, all that is mentioned is a vague reference to the ability to communicate in English. How can

432

one, then, weigh up the correspondence of the textbooks' cultural content with the curriculum? At the 3e AS level, 37.50% of the teachers consider what is presented in 'Comet' in harmony with the curriculum goals. Our analysis of the book has uncovered, however, that it does not meet the literary stream syllabus requirements. Q14- What does the cultural content of the textbooks reflect? a- The British culture. b- Other English-speaking cultures. c- Culture in general (as a universal human phenomenon) Table 125: The Culture(s) Included in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c ac bc abc No answer Total N 09 03 04 06 02 01 07 1 AS % 28.13 09.38 12.50 18.75 06.24 N 01 06 10 02 02
e

2 AS % 03.13 18.75 31.25 06.25 06.25 03.12 31.25 100 N

3 AS N 28.13 12.50 31.25 09.37 09.37 / 09.38 100

09 04 10 03 03 / 03 32

03.12 01 21.88 10 32

32 100

Table 125 shows that there is little agreement among the respondents regarding the identification of the culture(s) reflected in the coursebooks. At the 1e AS level, 28.13% of the teachers opted for the British culture, 12.50% for culture in general, 18.75% for both; 21.88% refrained from answering. At the 2e AS level, 31.25% pointed to culture as a universal human phenomenon, and 18.75% to other English-speaking cultures; 31.25% did not answer the question. At the 3e AS level, the informants are also dispersed: 31.25% singled out culture in general, 28.13% the British culture, and 12.50% other English-speaking cultures.

433

We think that this discrepancy in opinion is due to the fact that (very) little is incorporated about the FC (whether British and/or other) in the coursebooks that are basically culture-general, particularly those of 2e AS and 3e AS. While some teachers take into account what is provided about the FC (even if meagre), others do not. Q15- If ''b'', which English-speaking cultures are depicted? According to the teachers who ticked 'b' in Q14, the American culture is the English-speaking culture that is considered in the textbooks, in addition to the British culture. Q16- Do the textbooks incorporate the pupils' native culture? -Yes -No Table 126: The Pupils' Native Culture in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 16 14 02 1 AS % 50 43.75 06.25 N 18 10 / 32
e

2 AS % 56.25 43.75 / 100 N

3 AS % 40.62 59.38 / 100

13 19 / 32

32 100

On the basis of the results obtained in Table 126, we can state that this question halved the group of teachers: one half gave an affirmative answer, the other a negative one. In our opinion, this is attributable to the fact that the NC is referred to in the textbooks in a slight, cursory manner.

Q17- If ''Yes'', do they bring out similarities and contrasts between what is foreign and what is native? -Yes -No

434

Table 127: Cultural Comparisons in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No Total N 02 14 1 AS % 12.50 87.50 N 06 12 18
e

2 AS % 33.33 66.67 100 N

3 AS % 30.77 69.23 100

04 09 13

16 100

According to most of the respondents who said Yes to the previous question (87.50%, 66.67%, 69.23%) the textbooks do not emphasize the similarities and contrasts between the FC and NC. Q18- Do the textbooks take into account the mutual representations of native and foreign societies? -Yes -No Table 128: Mutual Representations of Native and Foreign Societies in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No Total N / 16 16 1 AS % / 100 100 N 01 17 18
e e e

2 AS % 05.56 94.44 100 N

3 AS % 38.46 61.54 100

05 08 13

For almost all the teachers (100% at the 1e AS level and 94.44% at the 2e AS level), 'My New Book of English' and 'The New Midlines' do not cater for this intercultural dimension (namely, the mutual representation of native and foreign societies). For more than third the respondents (38.46%), 'Comet' does cater for it.

Q19- Do the textbooks refer to the stereotypes of races and cultures? -Yes -No

435

Table 129: Reference to Stereotypes in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No Total N 06 26 1 AS % 18.75 81.25 N 06 26 32
e

2 AS % 18.75 81.25 100 N

3 AS % 37.50 62.50 100

12 20 32

32 100

Like in Q18, the majority of the respondents (81.25%) gave a negative answer at the levels of 1e AS and 2e AS, and more than the third (37.50%) an affirmative one at the 3e AS level. The latter probably based their answer on Unit 9, devoted to human rights and racial problems, where instances of interculturalism are portrayed. Q20-Which of these types of texts do the textbooks contain: a- Dialogues seeded with cultural information or based on situations typical of the foreign culture. b- Cultural narratives (fiction and non-fiction). c- Explanatory cultural notes. d- Songs and poems. e- Jokes and anecdotes. f- Newspaper articles. g- Proverbs, idioms, metaphors. h- Other: Please, specify. Table 130: Texts' Types in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c d e f g Total n 02 30 01 12 02 14 13 1 AS % 02.70 40.54 01.35 16.22 02.70 18.92 17.57 n 09 09 / 09 08 10 09 54
e

2 AS % 16.67 16.67 / 16.67 14.81 18.51 16.67 100 n

3 AS % 10.35 13.79 01.72 39.66 05.17 12.07 17.24 100

06 08 01 23 03 07 10 58

74 100

436

Table 130 points out that the text type mostly opted for at the 1e AS level is 'cultural narratives' (40.54%). 'Newspaper articles' (18.92%), 'proverbs'/'idioms' (17.57%) and 'songs'/'poems' (16.22%) were also selected, but with smaller percentages. At the 2e AS level, all the text types listed got more or less equal percentages, except 'explanatory cultural notes', which was not opted for at all. At the 3e AS level, 'songs'/'poems' was more singled out than the other options (39.66%). In each one of Comet's units, there is, indeed, a song. However, the most common text type in the three Secondary School coursebooks, especially at the 2e AS and 3e AS levels, is the expository passage. Q21- What main cultural topics are covered? At the 1e AS level, 24 informants listed the following topics: -General cultural topics; -The geography of the British Isles; -Narratives; -Greetings; initiating a conversation; -Beliefs about marriage; -Describing people and places. At the 2e AS level, 24 teachers referred to what follows: -The American Indians' way of life; -Biographies of famous people; -General culture; -Scientific issues; -Describing job requirements; -The solar system; -Giving advice. At the 3e AS level, 24 informants cited the following topics: -Famous places and monuments in London (Speaker's Corner); -Racial questions; immigration; -Communication; media; -Pollution; -Development; -General cultural topics. It is noted that the teachers listed more culture-general than culture-specific topics. 08 teachers did not answer this question, at the three levels. Q22- Is the cultural content given a historical dimension? -Yes -No

437

Table 131: The Historical Dimension of the Secondary School Textbooks' Cultural Content Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 17 13 02 1 AS % 53.13 40.62 06.25 N 14 13 05 32
e e e

2 AS % 43.75 40.62 15.63 100 N

3 AS % 31.25 62.50 06.25 100

10 20 02 32

32 100

Approximately half the participants think that the cultural content of the 1e AS and the 2e AS coursebooks is given a historical dimension (53.13% and 43.75%, respectively); 40.62% do not think so. Regarding the 3e AS book, nearly two thirds of the respondents (62.50%) gave a negative answer. A possible interpretation of this discrepancy in viewpoint is that the coursebooks contain little history. This is particularly true for 'Comet'. Furthermore, the historical material brought out in the books is not linked to contemporary society, as mentioned in chapter five. Q23- Are culture-specific items (objects, words, concepts) explained? -Yes -No Table 132: Explanations of Culture-Specific Items in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No Total N 10 22 1 AS % 31.25 68.75 N 07 25 32
e e e

2 AS % 21.87 78.13 100 N

3 AS % 31.25 68.75 100

10 22 32

32 100

Most of the teachers (68.75%, 78.13% and 68.75, at the three levels, respectively) answered 'No', as shown in Table 132. It means that there are few if not no explanations of culture-specific items in the textbooks. This is not surprising given the predominantly culture-general nature of their content.

438

Q24- If ''Yes'', do the explanations given imply value judgements? -Yes -No Table 133: Value Judgements in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No Total N 03 07 10 1 AS % 30 70 100 N 02 05 07
e

2 AS % N

3 AS % 30 70 100

28.57 03 71.43 07 100 10

The majority of the informants who stated that the coursebooks contain cultural explanations see that the latter do not imply value judgements (70%, 71.43% and 70%).

Q25- Are different sub-cultural groups (based on age, social class, profession or other) represented in the books? -Yes -No Table 134: Sub-Cultural Groups in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 06 25 01 1 AS % 18.75 78.13 03.12 N 06 22 04 32
e

2 AS % 18.75 68.75 12.50 100 N

3 AS % 09.37 84.38 06.25 100

03 27 02 32

32 100

Most of the respondents (78.13%, 68.75% and 84.38%, at the three levels, respectively) answered 'No'. The textbooks are, in fact, far from being representative of the FC population.

439

Q26- In what mood are the characters of the books? a- Always happy. b- Happy one moment and sad the other. c- Irritated. d- Angry. e- Racist. f- Tolerant. g- Other: Please, specify.

Table 135: The Characters of the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c d e f g No answer Total n 03 / 02 04 / / 10 14 1 AS % 09.09 / 06.06 12.12 / / 30.30 42.43 n 01 01 / / 03 01 10 18 34
e

2 AS % 02.94 02.94 / / 08.83 02.94 29.41 52.94 100 n

3 AS % 02.71 05.40 05.40 / 10.81 / 27.03 48.65 100

01 02 02 / 04 / 10 18 37

33 100

The results outlined in Table 135 demonstrate that Q26 is found irrelevant to the Secondary School textbooks, for approximately half the participants did not answer it (14, 18, and 18 teachers, at the three levels, respectively), and nearly one third of the answers (30.30%, 29.41% and 27.03%, respectively) pointed out (in 'g') that no characters are referred to in the books, and that general topics are tackled instead.

Q27- Are negative and problematic aspects of the foreign culture touched upon? -Yes -No

440

Table 136: The FC Negative Aspects in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 02 29 01 1 AS % 06.25 90.63 03.12 N 02 20 10 32
e

2 AS % 06.25 62.50 31.25 100 N

3 AS % 43.75 53.13 03.12 100

14 17 01 32

32 100

Almost all the teachers (90.63%) denied the statement that problematic aspects of the FC are raised in the 1e AS book. Nearly two thirds of them (62.50%) did so as regards the 2e AS book. At the 3e AS level, the informants are partly for a negative answer (53.13%), partly for an affirmative one (43.75%). Some of the sociopolitical/socio-economic problems are, indeed, discussed in 'Comet', but they pertain to general human concerns, rather than to a specific English-speaking culture. That is why, perhaps, not all the informants agreed on the same one clear-cut opinion. Q28- Are different perspectives on aspects of the foreign culture presented? -Yes -No Table 137: Availability of Different Perspectives on the FC in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 04 28 / 1 AS % 12.50 87.50 / N 02 20 10 32
e e e

2 AS % 06.25 62.50 31.25 100 N

3 AS % 31.25 65.63 03.12 100

10 21 01 32

32 100

441

To this question, we have obtained nearly the same results as in Q27 (with more negative answers at the 3e AS level). Thus, at least two thirds of the respondents (87.50%, 62.50% and 65.63%) do not think different perspectives on aspects of the FC are presented in the school books. Q29-If ''No'', are teachers and pupils encouraged to consult additional materials on the cultural aspects dealt with? -Yes -No Table 138: Encouraging the Consultation of Other Materials in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 01 27 / 1 AS % 03.57 96.43 / N / 18 02 20
e e e

2 AS % / 90 10 100 N

3 AS % 04.76 95.24 / 100

01 20 / 21

28 100

According to the overwhelming majority of the teachers (95.43%, 90% and 95.24%), the users of the coursebooks are not encouraged (by the authors) to consult additional materials to view the TC from different perspectives. Q30- Are the textbooks structured and sequenced according to: a- Grammatical structures. b- Cultural themes. c- Communicative functions. d- Communicative situations. e- Other: Please, specify. Table 139: The Structure of the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b n 19 04 1 AS % 35.85 07.55 n 23 02
e

2 AS % 45.10 03.92 n

3 AS % 29.17 29.17

14 14

442

c d e Total

21 09 /

39.62 16.98 /

18 08 / 51

35.29 15.69 / 100

13 06 01 48

27.08 12.50 02.08 100

53 100

Table 139 shows that at the 1e AS level, 'grammatical structures' and 'communicative functions' were mostly selected (35.85% and 39.62%, respectively). This applies to 2e AS (45.10%and 35.29%, respectively). In other words, 'My New Book of English' and 'The New Midlines' have as cornerstones and organizing units language structures and functions. The cultural component is subsidiary. In 'Comet', the three aspects are given more or less equal weight (29.17% for 'grammatical structures'; 29.17% as well for 'cultural themes'; and 27.08% for 'communicative functions').In our viewpoint, the 3e AS book is more thematic: in the same one unit built around a particular theme/topic, several functions are expressed and different structures are used. For one of the teachers, 'Comet' is structured according to ''technical themes'' (and not cultural ones). Q31- How is the cultural content graded? a- From familiar to non-familiar aspects. b- From observable to non- observable aspects. c- According to linguistic difficulties. d- According to communicative functions. e- Other: Please, specify. Table 140: The Grading of the Secondary School Textbooks' Cultural Content Textbooks Options a b c d No answer Total n 08 06 09 19 02 1 AS % 18.18 13.64 20.45 43.18 04.55 n 04 05 09 17 07 42
e

2 AS % 09.52 11.90 21.43 40.48 16.67 100 n

3 AS % 15.38 12.82 15.38 28.21 28.21 100

06 05 06 11 11 39

44 100

443

At the 1e AS and 2e AS levels, the answers singled out above all 'communicative functions' (43.18% and 40.48%), but also 'linguistic difficulties' (20.45% and 21.43%). The cultural content of 'My New Book of English' and 'The New Midlines' is, thus, thought to be graded mainly according to communicative functions and/or linguistic difficulties. This provides further evidence that the cultural component is subordinate to the linguistic and functional components. At the 3e AS level, all listed options were more or less equally chosen, with 'communicative functions' being given some precedence over the others (28.21%). In addition, a number of teachers (11) did not answer the question, implying, perhaps, that all the suggested factors are not appropriate. In our viewpoint, the cultural content of 'Comet' is arbitrarily graded. Q32- Are previously gained cultural insights reviewed in the course of the textbooks? -Yes -No Table 141: Reviewing Cultural Elements in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No Total N 09 23 1 AS % 28.12 71.88 N 06 26 32
e

2 AS % 18.75 81.25 100 N

3 AS % 15.62 84.38 100

05 27 32

32 100

The vast majority of the informants (71.88%, 81.25% and 84.38%, corresponding to 1e AS, 2e AS and 3e AS) do not think that the cyclical methodology is applied to the cultural material of the books.

In Section III, the Secondary School coursebooks are depicted as having a realistic, structured, but out-of-date and selective cultural content. Approximately a third of the informants deem it suitable to the curriculum goals. The teachers did not on the whole agree on the type of culture(s) incorporated, but most of them affirmed that the textbooks do not promote intercultural teaching, particularly at the 1e AS and the 2e AS levels. Nearly half the participants believe that the cultural content of My 444

New Book of English and The New Midlines is given a historical dimension, but only one third believes so regarding Comet. All three books, according to most of the teachers, do not embody explanations of culture-specific items, do not present different perspectives on aspects of the FC, and do not encourage the pupils to consult additional materials, to compensate for this lack. What is more, they are not peopled with characters representative of the TC, let alone catering for sub-cultural groups. Reference to the less attractive cultural realities is also overlooked; less than half the teachers see that this aspect is touched on in 'Comet', though pertaining to no specific culture. The cultural content of the books is mainly graded according to communicative functions and/or linguistic difficulties, especially at the 1eAS and 2eAS levels, and for the majority of the teachers, it is not approached in a cyclical manner.

Section IV: Techniques of Teaching Culture Q33- Are there activities that promote cultural knowledge and understanding? -Yes -No Table 142: Cultural Activities in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 06 22 04 1 AS % 18.75 68.75 12.50 N 06 16 10 32
e

2 AS % 18.75 50 31.25 100 N

3 AS % 18.75 68.75 12.50 100

06 22 04 32

32 100

More than two thirds of the respondents (68.75%) at the 1e AS and 3e AS levels, and half (50%) at the 2e AS level see that the textbooks do not incorporate activities that promote learning about culture. Less than fifth the teachers (18.75%) think that they do. Q34- If ''Yes'', which ones? When asked to identify the cultural activities available in the books, the teachers listed what follows (at the three levels): -Identifying true/false statements;

445

-Matching exercises; -Role plays; -Map, chart, dialogue completion; -Multiple choice exercises; -Paraphrasing proverbs; -Conversing; -Class discussion.

Q35- Are these activities: a- Comprehension-oriented. b- Production-oriented. c- Both. Table 143: Categorization of Cultural Activities in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c Total N 01 01 04 1 AS % 16.67 16.67 66.66 N 01 01 04 06
e

2 AS % 16.67 16.67 66.66 100 N

3 AS % 16.67 16.67 66.66 100

01 01 04 06

06 100

Two thirds of the teachers who think that there are cultural activities in the books (66.66%) categorize them as both comprehension- and production-oriented. Q36- Do the textbooks include: a- Critical incidents. b- Cultural capsules and clusters. c- Group and classroom discussions. d- Culture assimilators. e- Culture quizzes. f- Problem-solving activities. g- Role plays and simulations. h- Culture projects. i- Case studies. j- Other: Please, specify.

446

Table 144: The Incorporation of Special Culture Teaching Techniques in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c d e f g h i j No answer Total n / / 10 01 02 10 11 / 01 07 07 1 AS % / / 20.41 02.04 04.09 20.41 22.45 / 02.04 14.28 14.28 n / / 06 01 01 08 10 / / 07 08 41
e e e

2 AS % / / 14.64 02.44 02.44 19.51 24.39 / / 17.07 19.51 100 n /

3 AS % / 03.28 32.79 01.64 01.64 14.75 13.11 06.56 01.64 11.48 13.11 100

02 20 01 01 09 08 04 01 07 08 61

49 100

It appears that at the 1e AS level, three major techniques were considered: 'group and classroom discussions' (20.41%); 'problem-solving activities' (20.41%); and 'role plays/simulations' (22.45%). They were also highlighted at the 2e AS level (14.64%, 19.51% and 24.39%, respectively). At the 3e AS level, more emphasis is laid on 'group and classroom discussions' (32.79%). 'Critical incidents', 'cultural capsules and clusters', 'culture assimilators', 'culture quizzes', 'culture projects' and 'case studies' are lacking in the three books. 7 teachers wrote in 'j' that the books are wanting in all the activity types listed. Q37- Are the pupils supposed to: a- Handle data and facts. b- Compare and critically judge materials. c- Think in an abstract way and understand differences in value systems and mentality. d- Produce language (or behave) appropriately in socio-cultural contexts. 447

Table 145: What the Secondary School Textbooks Expect the Pupils to Do Textbooks Options a b c d No answer Total n 24 01 04 05 07 1 AS % 58.54 02.44 09.76 12.19 17.07 n 24 03 02 04 10 43
e

2 AS % 55.81 06.98 04.65 09.30 23.26 100 n

3 AS % 48.94 10.64 17.02 10.64 12.76 100

23 05 08 05 06 47

41 100

On the basis of the results outlined in Table 145, the pupils are chiefly required 'to handle data and facts' (58.54%, 55.81% and 48.94%, respectively). This is not surprising given the fact that the cultural content of the textbooks (as seen in Q4 and Q5, see pp 424-425) is mainly concerned with the 'know what' cultural facet. Q38- Are there instances of situations in which an individual with a good mastery of English is not understood because of culture-based differences? -Yes -No Table 146: Intercultural Situations in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No Total N 03 29 1 AS % 09.38 90.62 N 03 29 32
e

2 AS % 09.38 90.62 100 N

3 AS % 12.50 87.50 100

04 28 32

32 100

The vast majority of the respondents see that instances of intercultural communicative situations are not presented in the three books (90.62% at the levels of 1e AS and 2e AS, and 87.50% at the 3e AS level). The pupils are not, thus, trained to behave appropriately (verbally and non-verbally) in cross-cultural contexts.

448

Q39-Is there any artwork (pictures, diagrams, maps) in the textbooks? -Yes -No Table 147: Artwork in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 16 10 06 1 AS % 50 31.25 18.75 N 25 01 06 32
e

2 AS % 78.13 03.12 18.75 100 N

3 AS % 25 53.13 21.87 100

08 17 07 32

32 100

At the 1e AS level, half the informants (50%) gave an affirmative answer. The other half either opted for a negative reply (31.25%) or did not altogether answer the question (18.75%). This is possibly due to the fact that artwork in 'My New Book of English' is quite limited. At the 2e AS level, most of the teachers (78.13%) answered 'Yes', whereas at the 3e AS level, more than half (53.13%) answered 'No'. Artwork in 'The New Midlines' is, in fact, varied; in 'Comet' we can state that there is no artwork at all. Q40- If ''Yes'', does it contribute to the understanding of the target culture? -Yes -No Table 148: The Cultural Significance of Artwork in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 03 12 01 1 AS % 18.75 75 06.25 N 06 19 / 25
e e e

2 AS % 24 76 / 100 N

3 AS % 25 62.50 12.50 100

02 05 01 08

16 100

Most of the participants (75%, 76% and 62.50%, corresponding to 1e AS, 2e AS and 3e AS, respectively) find the artwork suggested in the three coursebooks 449

culturally insignificant, in the sense that it does not contribute to the presentation and understanding of the TL culture. That of 2e AS, for instance, portrays basically general and technical things. Q41- Do you analyze with the pupils the non-verbal ''messages'' contained in pictures and other illustrations? - Yes - No Table 149: Analysing the Artwork Contained in the Secondary School Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N %

17 53.13 09 28.12 06 18.75 32 100

Slightly more than half the teachers stated that they do analyze with the pupils the non-verbal 'messages' contained in pictures and other illustrations. Q42- If ''No'', why? 7 teachers of those who answered 'No' to Q41 justified their answer in the following words: -''Pictures are not always relevant.'' -'' It is rather boring.'' -''Reliable pictures do not exist in the textbooks.'' -''Pupils cannot grasp the cultural element, because they are not very good in the language.'' -''There are no pictures especially in 'Comet'. Throughout the book, you only see writings on white or green pages.'' -''The illustrations are rare if not lacking.'' -''Pupils are too limited in the language. Time allocated does not allow us to study pictures.'' To sum up, less than fifth the teachers see that the Secondary School textbooks contain activities that promote learning about culture. Reference is made particularly to 'discussions', 'role plays' and 'problem-solving activities'. 'Case studies', 'culture capsules', 'culture quizzes' and other culture learning/teaching techniques are said to be totally lacking in the coursebooks. Besides, almost all the participants

450

affirmed that the latter do not present instances of intercultural communication breakdown; the pupils are merely required to 'handle data and facts' rather than 'think in an abstract way' or 'behave appropriately in socio-cultural contexts'. The artwork is on the whole limited and culturally insignificant. Section V: The Teacher and the Textbooks' Cultural Content Q43- Are you familiar with the cultural aspects introduced by the textbooks? -Yes -No Table 150: The Teachers' Familiarity with the Cultural Content of the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 23 09 / 1 AS % 71.87 28.13 / N 14 08 10 32
e e e

2 AS % 43.75 25 31.25 100 N

3 AS % 59.38 37.50 03.12 100

19 12 01 32

32 100

Most of the respondents (71.87%) stated that they are familiar with the cultural content introduced by 'My New Book of English'. 43.75% stated so with respect to 'The New Midlines', and 59.38% as regards 'Comet'. Q44-Do you find it 'difficult ' to handle parts of the textbooks' cultural content, and hence need specialized training to use them effectively? - Yes - No Table 151: Teachers' Difficulty to Handle the Cultural Content of the Secondary School Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 10 14 08 32 % 31.25 43.75 25 100

451

A little less than half the teachers (43.75%) gave a negative answer. The remainder either opted for a positive answer (31.25%) or refrained from answering (25%). In our opinion, more teachers do not find it difficult to deal with the cultural content of the textbooks, as it is predominantly of the general type. Q45- Are there types of cultural content that you have found culturally 'inappropriate' or 'embarrassing'? -Yes -No Table 152: Inappropriate Cultural Contents in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 04 21 07 1 AS % 12.50 65.62 21.88 N 02 20 10 32
e

2 AS % 06.25 62.50 31.25 100 N

3 AS % 09.37 68.75 21.88 100

03 22 07 32

32 100

Nearly two thirds of the informants (65.62%, 62.50% and 68.75%, corresponding to 1e AS, 2e AS and 3e AS, respectively) see that there is no such type of cultural material in the coursebooks. 4 teachers gave an affirmative answer at the 1e AS level, 2 at the 2e AS level, and 3 at the 3e AS level. Q46- If ''Yes'', which one(s)? When asked to identify culturally 'inappropriate' or 'embarrassing' parts, only 1 teacher reports what follows: Superstitions (1e AS); Blackfoot Indians' customs and way of life (2e AS); and Emigration (3e AS). We wonder why these topics are associated with what is 'inappropriate' or 'embarrassing'. Q47- How did you handle them? a- Used them as the coursebook(s) suggested. b- Dropped them altogether. c- Adapted them in some way.

452

Table 153: Handling Inappropriate Cultural Contents in the Secondary School Textbooks Textbooks Options a b c No answer Total N 01 / 03 / 04 1 AS % 25 / 75 / 100 N 01 / / 01 02
e e e

2 AS % 50 / / 50 100 N / / 03 / 03

3 AS % / / 100 / 100

A teacher pointed to 'a' at the 1e AS and 2e AS levels, that is, s/he used the material as the coursebooks suggested. 3 teachers selected 'c' at the 1e AS and 3e AS levels, i.e., they adapted the material in some way. Q48 is meant to inform us how they did so. Q48- If ''c'', how? (Please explain briefly) The 3 teachers explained how they adapted these 'special' cultural contents in the following words: -''Use of additional materials.'' -''Devising more appropriate activities.'' -''Use of a different and up-to-date source.''

Q49- Do the textbooks used at different levels fit in with each other? - Yes - No Table 154: The Secondary School Textbooks' Fitness for Each Other Options Yes No No answer Total N 14 17 01 32 % 43.75 53.13 03.12 100

453

Slightly less than half the teachers (43.75%) think that the coursebooks fit in with each other, whereas a little more than half (53.13%) do not think so.The latter are purported to justify their answer through Q50. Q50- If ''No'', why? Only 5 (out of 17) teachers justified their answer: -''There is no harmony between the three books as well as between their corresponding syllabi.'' -''The authors are different. Some of them are inspectors who left Algeria at the present time, and 'their' textbooks are still in use.'' -''The themes suggested at the three levels are not complementary.'' -''Some themes are dealt with twice; others are not tackled at all.'' -''The topics are not interrelated.'' Actually, after going through the three textbooks, one does not sense a linking thread or logic of continuation. Besides, they offer, all together, little about the culture(s) of English-speaking people. Q51- To what extent do you rely on the textbooks to teach about culture? a- Completely b- To some extent c- Not at all Table 155: The Teachers' Reliance on the Secondary School Textbooks to Teach about Culture Options a b c Total N 05 19 08 32 % 15.62 59.38 25 100

More than half the informants (59.38%) partly rely on the official textbooks to teach about culture. The remainder either do not use them at all (25%), or totally depend on them for this purpose(15.62%). Q52- Why? The 5 teachers who answered 'a' to the previous question did not justify their answer. 8 teachers of those who opted for 'b' explained that the textbooks may lack the appropriate or adequate means to teach about target cultural aspects:

454

-''The textbooks can't contain all the cultural aspects to be taught.'' -''In most of the texts, the cultural component is absent. There is a need to vary the situations and the materials.'' -''Sometimes, what is suggested is not up-to-date, or not suitable to the learners' level. One needs to look for extra material.'' -''There are many missing aspects in the book.'' -''There are other interesting materials to be exploited in class.'' -''Not all what is provided in the textbooks is appropriate to the pupils' needs.'' -''I prefer to present up-to-date texts to the pupils. I usually use internet resources.'' -''To introduce new topics to the pupils.'' 3 (out of 8) teachers who chose 'c' expressed their belief that the coursebooks are void of culture or of up-to-date material: -''The books do not contain anything about culture.'' -''From the cultural viewpoint, the textbooks are very poor, and can be of no help to the learners.'' -''They are not up-to-date.'' Q53- Do you design (in addition to what the textbooks offer) materials to supplement teaching with respect to culture? - Yes - No Table 156: Supplementing the Secondary School Textbooks Options Yes No Total N 17 15 % 53.13 46.87

32 100

53.13% of the teachers stated that they design materials to supplement the textbooks with respect to culture instruction, while 46.87% said that they do not do so. Q54- If ''No'', why? Only 3 teachers (out of 15) justified why they do not complement the textbooks: -''Primary focus should be on language learning.'' -''We have a programme to finish. Time allocated is not sufficient. Besides, other materials are not available.'' -''We are not required to do so according to the syllabus.''

455

Q55- If ''Yes'', how? 10 teachers (out of 17) explained the way they complement the textbooks: -''Selecting appropriate texts from the internet, and designing teaching units accordingly.'' -''Selecting appropriate texts form different sources, adapting them to the learners' level, and devising appropriate tasks.'' -''Choose culturally relevant texts (British culture).'' -''Use records and CDs.'' -''Bring extra texts.'' -''Use pictures, handouts, drawings, magazines'' -''Asking for help from colleagues.'' -''Design appropriate activities; use pictures, maps, songs.'' -''Using newspaper articles, TV programmes and other sources of authentic materials.'' ''Make the pupils reflect upon different cultural situations.'' Q56- Do the teachers' manuals provide further information about the target culture, and guidance as to how to present it to the pupils? -Yes -No Table 157: The Secondary School Teachers' Guides Textbooks Options Yes No No answer Total N 05 26 01 1 AS % 15.62 81.25 03.13 N 03 27 02 32
e

2 AS % 09.37 84.38 06.25 100 N

3 AS % 12.50 75 12.50 100

04 24 04 32

32 100

The majority of the respondents at the three levels (81.25%, 84.38% and 75%) think the teachers' guides of no help to them to supplement teaching about culture.

Q57- What do you suggest to improve the textbooks' cultural content? 10 teachers put forward the following suggestions: -''Culture learning and language learning should be given equal shares in the textbooks.'' -''We should have further texts. Those available are inadequate.'' -''Shorter texts, clearer and more attractive pictures, more maps of English-speaking countries, more dialogues and games.''

456

-''Up-to-date materials, authentic and carefully selected texts, model culture teaching lessons, guided projects related to culture.'' -''We need the help of native speakers and the use of modern teaching techniques.'' -''To modify the contents of textbooks so as to include themes relevant to culture and modernity.'' -''To adapt parts of the textbooks to the level of the pupils.'' -''To include more illustrations and activities for the presentation and practice of cultural elements.'' -''Textbooks should be designed by professionals.'' -''Culture should be adequately integrated in textbooks.'' In Section V, one third of the teachers or so affirmed that they are familiar with the Secondary School textbooks' cultural content, and nearly half of them find no difficulties to handle it, may be because of its basically non-specific cultural nature. According to more than half the respondents, the books include no 'culturally' embarrassing material, but no progression or complementarity is sensed in what they suggest at the three levels. The teachers stated that they rely only partly on them to teach about culture, and resort to further supplementary contents. They pointed to the need to integrate the FL cultural component in the coursebooks' passages, activities and artwork, to facilitate their task as FL and FC teachers. Section VI: Further Suggestions Q58- Do you have any further suggestion or comment? 12 teachers answered this question. They stated that the available textbooks are not useful to teach about culture. Some of them use different sources as the internet, in search of up-to-date, culture-related material. Others put it frankly that they teach English to pupils merely to prepare them for the BAC exam. They expressed their hope that the cultural objective would be included in the official syllabus, and that new textbooks be designed to integrate culture on equal footing with the linguistic aspects. Some teachers pointed to the need for in-service training to keep abreast of novelties in the field of teaching FLs. A teacher wrote that the availability of other means such as magazines, the internet, language laboratories can only facilitate language and culture teaching/learning. The results of the second Secondary School teachers' questionnaire may be summarized in the following points:

457

-Like their Middle School counterparts, the Secondary School teachers textbooks are chiefly concerned with the cultural 'know what'. It is only in the final year (3e AS) that some attention is drawn to the cultural 'know why' (Q4; see p 424, Q5; see p 425); -The cultural component is thought to be treated not on equal footing with the other language components (Q6; see p 426); it is approached implicitly (Q10; see p 429), and is even regarded as supplementary optional material at the 2e AS level (Q8; see p 428); -Given their scanty input as regards the FC, the textbooks cannot be said to promote positive attitudes towards it (Q11; see p 430); -Their cultural content is on the whole realistic and structured, but out-of-date and selective (Q12; see pp 431-432); -It is considered as suitable to the curriculum goals by few teachers (one third), and to the pupils' level and background by even fewer teachers (Q13; see pp 432-433 ); -It pertains to no particular culture (Q14; see pp 433-434, Q16; see p 434), and does not promote intercultural language teaching, particularly at the 1e AS and the 2e AS levels (Q18; see p 435, Q19; see p 436); -At the micro-social level, the books are not peopled with characters, let alone representing the FC people and sub-cultural groups (Q25; see p 439, Q26; see p 440); - At the macro-social level, though some historical overviews are included (Q22; see p 438), no reference is made to problematic cultural realities, especially in the 1e AS and the 2e AS books (Q27; see p 441). What is more, the three coursebooks do not offer more than one perspective on the FC aspects presented (Q28; see p 442); -The cultural content is, like in the Middle School manuals, graded according to communicative functions and /or linguistic difficulties, particularly at the 1e AS and the 2e AS levels (Q31; see p 444), and is not approached in a cyclical way (Q32; see pp 444-445); -Few teachers (one fifth) think that there are activities that promote cultural knowledge and understanding in the coursebooks (Q33; see p 445), but all of them affirmed that techniques as culture assimilators, cultural capsules and clusters, culture quizzes and others are totally missing from them (Q36; see p 447). Besides, no instances of intercultural communication breakdown are depicted (Q38; see p 448);

458

-The artwork is on the whole limited and culturally insignificant (Q40; see pp 449450); -The teachers rely only partly on the coursebooks to teach about the FC, and are in need for other more adequate materials (Q51; see p 454, Q53; see p 455, Q57; see pp 456-457, Q58; see p 457 ).

Conclusion This chapter has been concerned with the following hypotheses: -The socio-cultural component is either not incorporated or not adequately dealt with in the textbooks for English used in the Algerian schools. -Most of the Algerian teachers of English at the Intermediate and Secondary Levels are not conscious of the importance of incorporating the cultural component in FL teaching, and do not design activities to integrate it in their lessons. The analysis we have undertaken in terms of field investigation, using the teachers' questionnaires allows us to confirm the first hypothesis and to partly confirm the second one. The second teachers' questionnaire results have revealed that the textbooks of English used in the Algerian Middle and Secondary Schools more or less include the socio-cultural component of the TL; most of them are rather based on a culturegeneral content. The results have also uncovered that even the newly designed, culture-oriented coursebooks meant for 1e AM and 2e AM, that is, 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Book Two' do not approach the cultural component in an adequate way. In all the books, the cultural content is predominantly restricted to the 'know what' facet, and is on the whole subservient to functional / linguistic elements. Some important culture-geared techniques are completely overlooked, even in 'Comet', the 3e AS coursebook, which is less concerned with linguistic skills and more focused on the cultural content. The present findings corroborate the ones obtained in the previous chapter. The first teachers' questionnaire results have demonstrated that most of the teachers (whether at the Intermediate or the Secondary Level) are aware of the importance of the cultural aspect in FL teaching. Nevertheless, at least half of them do not have a clear view of what this awareness implies in terms of classroom procedures and time management. At times, they even showed inconsistent attitudes

459

as to what should be done to teach about culture in an appropriate way. They admitted that they do not devise activities that promote cultural knowledge and understanding, and put it clearly that they need training and materials to improve themselves, in terms of the 'what' and the 'how' of culture teaching. Thus, our second hypothesis is partly confirmed and partly not: the majority of the Middle and Secondary School teachers are conscious about the importance of culture in the FL classroom, but at least half of them do not translate this consciousness into practical classroom activities. In the following chapter, attention shifts to the pupils, the other no less important agents in the language and culture learning / teaching process.

460

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE CULTURAL TRAINING OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS:

AN EXPERIMENT

Introduction

1. Research Design

1.1. Participants 1.2. Procedures 1.3. Data Analysis

2. Results and Discussion

Conclusion

513

Introduction This chapter reports on an experiment conducted in the framework of this study to test the fourth hypothesis: if teachers to be had cultural training, they would be more likely to include the cultural component in their language lesson plans. Although teaching about another culture is often mentioned as a benefit of FL teaching / learning, culture is not explicitly and systematically considered in FL classrooms. Many FL teachers see culture teaching as a non-essential element of the curriculum. Merely teaching a FL does not automatically lead to cultural understanding. In this part of our research work, we attempt to investigate the question of pre-service teacher training, and the role it can play to promote the integration of the cultural aspect in language lesson(s) (plans).

1. Research Design 1.1. Participants 59 fourth year 'Licence en Anglais'

(1)

students participated in this study. They

were selected as our experimental sample given the fact that we had easy access to them, being their teacher of T.E.F.L (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), at the Department of Letters and Languages, Larbi Ben M'hidi university centre, Oum el Bouaghi, Algeria. The study took place in the course of the second semester of the 2004-2005 academic year. The students were allocated to two groups: one was randomly selected as the experimental group (29 students), the other as the control group (30 students). The two groups are even in gender: there are 22 female and 7 male students in the experimental group, 27 female and 3 male students in the control group. They are also even in terms of achievement test results in the precedent levels, namely the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year university levels. Tables 190 and 191 display the students' pass marks in these levels, and whether it was in the normal session (NS) or make up session (MS).

(1)

i.e., B.A in English

514

Table 190: Control Group Pass Marks in the 1st, 2 nd and 3 rd Year Levels Student 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1st year 10.10 (MS) 10.69 (MS) 10.49 (NS) 10.13 (MS) 10.03 (MS) 10.12 (MS) 10.13 (MS) 10.39 (MS) 12.60 (NS) 11.27 (NS) 10.21 (NS) 10.80 (MS) 10.00 (MS) 11.30 (MS) 10.76 (MS) 10.19 (MS) 10.40 (MS) 10.57 (NS) 10.00 (MS) 11.49 (MS) 11.18 (NS) 10.86 (MS) 10.00 (MS) 10.00 (MS) 12.24 (NS) 11.62 (MS) 10.75 (MS) 10.76 (MS) 10.89 (NS) 10.42 (MS) 2nd year 10.57 (MS) 10.14 (MS) 10.77 (NS) 10.19 (MS) 10.89 (NS) 10.44 (MS) 10.09 (MS) 11.33 (NS) 12.05 (NS) 11.69 (NS) 11.07 (NS) 11.37 (NS) 10.53 (NS) 10.04 (MS) 10.09 (MS) 11.24 (MS) 10.12 (MS) 11.23 (NS) 10.30 (MS) 10.52 (MS) 11.30 (NS) 10.00 (MS) 10.00 (MS) 10.13 (MS) 11.29 (NS) 11.58 (NS) 10.30 (NS) 10.40 (MS) 10.17 (MS) 10.09 (MS) 3rd year 10.28 (MS) 10.58 (MS) 11.26 (NS) 10.04 (MS) 11.03 (NS) 10.38 (MS) 10.74 (MS) 10.41 (MS) 12.18 (NS) 12.07 (NS) 10.74 (NS) 10.95 (NS) 10.35 (NS) 10.31 (NS) 10.47 (MS) 10.23 (NS) 10.05 (MS) 11.15 (NS) 10.67 (MS) 10.46 (MS) 12.31 (NS) 10.00 (MS) 10.89 (MS) 10.51 (MS) 11.09 (NS) 11.56 (NS) 10.33 (MS) 10.56 (MS) 10.00 (MS) 10.31 (MS)

515

Table 191: Experimental Group Pass Marks in the 1st, 2 nd and 3 rd Year Levels Student 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 1st year 10.15 (NS) 11.53 (MS) 10.00 (MS) 10.00 (MS) 10.35 (NS) 13.01 (NS) 10.00 (MS) 12.49 (MS) 10.21 (MS) 10.10 (MS) 10.75 (MS) 10.01 (MS) 10.19 (MS) 10.33 (MS) 10.00 (MS) 10.56 (MS) 10.02 (MS) 10.00 (MS) 10.00 (MS) 10.22 (MS) 10.79 (MS) 10.60 (MS) 10.10 (MS) 10.83 (MS) 10.47 (NS) 10.21 (NS) 11.18 (MS) 11.82 (MS) 10.21 (MS) 2nd year 10.06 (MS) 11.58 (NS) 10.00 (MS) 10.23 (MS) 10.00 (NS) 12.73 (NS) 10.00 (MS) 11.75 (NS) 10.99 (NS) 11.33 (NS) 11.86 (NS) 10.04 (MS) 10.11 (NS) 10.01 (MS) 10.35 (MS) 10.58 (MS) 10.18 (MS) 10.59 (MS) 10.01 (MS) 10.13 (MS) 10.62 (MS) 11.28 (NS) 10.74 (MS) 10.09 (MS) 12.07 (NS) 10.39 (MS) 11.67 (NS) 11.08 (NS) 10.49 (NS) 3rd year 10.07 (MS) 10.48 (NS) 10.00 (MS) 10.35 (MS) 11.02 (NS) 11.96 (NS) 10.24 (MS) 11.65 (NS) 11.04 (NS) 10.48 (NS) 11.23 (NS) 10.00 (MS) 10.19 (MS) 10.28 (NS) 10.00 (MS) 10.59 (MS) 10.22 (MS) 10.06 (MS) 10.26 (MS) 10.54 (MS) 10.00 (MS) 10.59 (NS) 10.05 (MS) 10.00 (MS) 12.48 (NS) 10.00 (MS) 11.64 (NS) 11.35 (NS) 10.75 (NS)

On the basis of these results, students can be classified into two categories, according to whether they passed in the normal or the make up session.

516

Table 192: Categorization of Students in the Control Group Level 1st year Session N* % NS 8 26.67 MS 22 73.33 Total 30 100 N*: Number of students Table 193: Categorization of Students in the Experimental Group Level 1st year Session N* % NS 5 17.24 MS 24 82.76 Total 29 100 2nd year N* % 13 44.83 16 55.17 29 100 3rd year N* % 13 44.83 16 55.17 29 100 2nd year N* % 13 43.33 17 56.67 30 100 3rd year N* % 14 46.67 16 53.33 30 100

Figure 10: Categorization of Students According to their Pass Marks

25
N* (number of students)

20 15 10 5 0
1st year 2nd year 3rd year 1st year 2nd year 3rd year
normal session make up session

Control Group

Experimental group

Tables 192, 193, and Figure 10 show that the number of students who went through the MS of exams is approximately the same in the two groups, in the three levels. This number outstrips each time and in both groups that of the students who passed in the normal session.

517

Another statistical way to prove the equivalence of the control and the experimental group is to calculate the mean ( X ) and the standard deviation ( s ) of the students' pass marks of the three years. These calculations are outlined in Table 194 and represented graphically in Figures 11 and 12. Table 194: Students' Pass Marks Mean and Standard Deviation Control Group students 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 X
1

X1 10.32 10.47 10.84 10.12 10.65 10.31 10.32 10.71 12.28 11.68 10.67 11.04 10.29 10.55 10.44 10.55 10.19 10.98 10.32 10.82 11.60 10.29 10.30 10.21 11.54 11.59 10.46 10.57 10.35 10.27 10.69 0.54

Experimental Group Students 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 / X

2

10.09 11.20 10.00 10.19 10.46 12.57 10.08 11.96 10.75 10.64 11.28 10.02 10.16 10.21 10.12 10.58 10.14 10.22 10.09 10.30 10.47 10.82 10.30 10.31 11.67 10.20 11.50 11.42 10.48 / 10.63 0.67

s1

s2

518

X=

x
N

s=

(x X )
N 1

x : individual score (pass mark)

N : number of students

Figure 11: Graphs of the Control Group Pass Marks and their Mean

14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29

Pass Marks and their Mean

1st year 2nd year 3rd year Mean

Students

519

Figure 12: Graphs of the Experimental Group Pass Marks and their Mean

14

12

10 Pass Marks and their Mean

1st year 2nd year 3rd year Mean

0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 Students

The fact that X

(the control group pass marks mean) and X

(the

experimental group pass marks mean) are approximately equal (10.69 10.63) and so are

s 1 (the control group pass marks standard deviation) and

s2

(the

experimental group pass marks standard deviation) (0.54 0.67, i.e., 1 out of 20) indicates that the students in the two groups have approximately the same level. Thus, any difference in results at the end of the experiment is due to the experimental treatment (i.e., the course on culture). In fact, we assume that other variables which might have an effect on the eventual work of the students, such as intelligence or aptitude, exist in equal quantities in both the experimental and the control groups and therefore cancel one another out. Lest the results obtained might be affected by contamination (Nunan, op.cit), we decided to consider another control group. The latter had no contact with the experimental group given that it belonged to another university, namely, Mentouri University, Constantine. It included 21 fourth year university students.

520

1.2. Procedures The control and experimental groups had a common 90-minute T.E.F.L class, once a week, about teaching in general, and FL teaching in particular. The experimental group had an extra 90-minute weekly session, for two months (April and May), devoted to a course on culture. This course is designed as a pre-service teacher training seminar. In other words, it is intended for graduate students who are likely to be future teachers of English in the Secondary School, and in certain cases, the Middle School. It aims at drawing their attention to the importance of the cultural component in FL teaching / learning, to the fact that language teachers are not just teachers of language but of culture as well. Through this course, teachers to be are supposed to increase their awareness about culture and learn ways to pass this awareness on to their prospective pupils, in the framework of FL pedagogy. They are also supposed to learn the necessary professional terminology to reflect upon teaching practices. The course is concerned with both theory and practice in that it combines a reflection on theoretical insights with practice -oriented tasks. The first part introduces the learners to theories about culture, culture learning and teaching, drawing on insights from relevant disciplines as anthropology and intercultural studies. It lays special emphasis on the interrelationship of language and culture, and the way the cultural context shapes communicative interactions at both verbal and non-verbal levels. The second part involves the learners in active task-based experiential training, linking theory to practice. The theoretical part of the course was presented to the students in the form of lectures based on exemplification and discussion. The practical side was tackled in a more student-centred procedure: learners were invited to work in groups on a set of tasks linked to culture. Table 195 shows the aim(s) and outline of each course lesson.

521

Table195: Aims and Outlines of the Culture Course Lessons Lesson T H E O R E T I C A L Three Culture, Language and Communica tion Two Characterist ics -To deepen One Heading Aim(s) introduce to Outline the -Definition of the the Concept of Culture . What Culture Is Not . What Culture Is the -Characteristics of 90 mn Timing

Definition of -To Culture

students

concept of culture.

and students'

knowledge Culture 90 mn

Elements of about culture through -Cultural Elements Culture a reference to its and

characteristics elements. -To point out

the -The Interrelationship of Language and Culture

interrelationships

language/culture and -The Linguistic Relativity language/culture/com munication. Hypothesis - The Interrelationship of Language, Culture and Communication -Culture and Non-Verbal 90 mn

P A R T Four The

communication Place -To throw light on the - The Place of Culture in

of Culture in place of culture in the the Foreign Language Foreign Language Teaching foreign course. language Course . Against Culture Teaching . For Culture Teaching -Culture or Cultures in the Foreign Language Course? -The Role of Culture in Language Teaching Approaches and Methods 90 mn

522

Five

Principles of -To Culture Teaching

introduce

the -The Culture

students to principles Teaching/Learning of culture Process Rationale -The Intercultural Approach to Language Teaching -Questions about Culture Teaching 90 mn

teaching/learning.

Six

Integrating

-To

teach how

the -Integrating Culture into to Lessons on: 90 mn

Culture into students Language Lessons

integrate culture into . The four Skills lessons on language . Grammar and skills, grammar and Vocabulary vocabulary, literature. . Literature -Listing Cultural

P R A C T I C A L

Seven

Task-Based Culture Teaching (Part I)

-To involve the

students in active task Elements based experiential learning about culture -To introduce them to techniques to teach about culture. -Cultural Analysis of Proverbs -Reflecting on Behaviours across Cultures -Situational Exercise 90 mn

Eight

Task-Based Culture Teaching

-To involve the

students in active task -Critical Incidents based experiential learning about culture -To introduce them to techniques to teach about culture. (culture assimilator) -Culture Capsule and Cluster 90 mn

P A R T

(Part II)

The participants in the experimental and the two control groups were asked to prepare (at home) a lesson plan about an English lesson, both before and after the treatment period (i.e., the instructional period on culture). The aim is to see to what extent the cultural component is taken into account when preparing language lesson 523

plans, and whether pre-service cultural training (i.e., the independent variable) results in more attention be drawn to this component. We informed the students that both lesson plans counted toward their final grade, and so does the course on culture for the experimental group, to ensure serious work on the part of everyone involved. At the end of the project (the 9th week), the students in the experimental group were asked to state their opinion about the course they had on culture, namely, whether they thought it to be of any benefit to them, as future teachers of English, and whether they recommended it for pre-service teachers of English.

1.3. Data Analysis All the students handed in two lesson plans, one before the instructional period on culture, and the other after it. These lesson plans were analysed with reference to the following points: - Language aspect / skill in focus: grammar; vocabulary; pronunciation / listening; speaking; reading; writing; - General objective: structural; functional; communicative; cultural; - Nature of the suggested passage cultural content: culture-general; culture-specific; - Activity types: culture-oriented activities or other. Such analysis enabled us to assess lesson plans as positive (+) or negative (-), according to whether the cultural component of the English language was taken account of or not.

524

2. Results and Discussion Tables 196, 197, 198, and 199 outline the results obtained before and after the instructional period, for the control and the experimental group, respectively. Table 196: Control Group Lesson Plans Evaluation Before the Treatment Period Evaluation + + Student 1 Lesson Plan Suggested Language Text Aspect / General Objective Cultural Activity Types Skill Content listening -understand a piece cultureof literary discourse specific -use conditional clauses correctly -transform to and from the passive form -describe illnesses / ( 2) / -transferring /application of new information (1) - text reconstruction - drills (3) - drills

2 3

grammar grammar

vocabulary

5 6

listening reading

7 8

grammar reading

grammar

10 11

reading grammar

-use the language cultureof greeting specific -understand a story culturespecific but not Englishspeaking -express obligation / - drills - word building -know about the culture-transferring / application role of media general of new information - summarizing -transform to and / - multiple choice questions from the passive form -describe a culture-transferring / application conflictual situation general of new information -express similarity, / - drills difference and - paragraph writing equality

- drills -transferring /application of new information - fill in gaps - supplying punctuation -transferring /application of new information

Transferring and application of new information activities denote activities as filling in a chart, a table, drawing a graph, organizing main ideas, matching pairs, and answering comprehension questions. (2) / means that no passage is used. (3) Drills can be of different types: mechanical, transformational, or communicative.

(1)

525

12 13

grammar reading

-use the past tense / correctly -know more about culturemedia general -know about life in space -know about 'numberscopes' -use the future simple correctly -re-tell a story culturegeneral culturegeneral

- drills -transferring / application of new information -transferring /application of new information - drills

14 15

listening speaking

16 17

listening listening

18 19

reading writing

20

listening

21

grammar

22 23

grammar reading

culturegeneral -know more about culturethe danger of general pollution -decode a piece of culturewritten discourse general -summarize culture-write an interview general -write a prcis -become aware of culturethe danger of general pollution / -transform to and from the passive form -express / comparison express similarities cultureand differences general -transform to and / from the passive form describe scout's life culturegeneral

- drills - discussion

-transferring /application of new information - controlled and free writing activities -transferring / application of new information - text reconstruction - drills

- drills -transferring / application of new information - drills

24

grammar

25

speaking

26 27 28

listening grammar listening

29 30

reading grammar

-understand a culturesequence of events general -express obligation / -describe a place culturespecific but not Englishspeaking -describe people culture-transferring / application -use the past tense general of new information -express / - drills comparison 526

-transferring /application of new information - discussion -transferring / application of new information - drills -transferring / application of new information

Table 197: Control Group Lesson Plans Evaluation After the Treatment Period Evaluation + + Lesson Plan Suggested Language Text Aspect / General Objective Cultural Activity Types Skill Content speaking grammar listening -understand proverbs -use articles correctly -distinguish sounds and sounds sequences -take notes -write a biography -use the past simple correctly culturespecific / culturegeneral -discussion -riddles - fill in gaps -transferring / application of new information

Student 1 2 3

writing

vocabulary

6 7 8

listening reading grammar

listening

10

reading

11 12

grammar grammar

13

writing

14

listening

culturespecific but not Englishspeaking -know about culturevocabulary words general as relevant to school -describe people culturegeneral -skimming and culturescanning specific / -transform to and from the passive form -know more about culturethe computer and general its function -express viewpoints cultureabout means of general communication -use conditional / clauses correctly -express similarity / and contrast -write a comparative paragraph -write a culturecomparative general paragraph -know about life in culturespace general

-transferring /application of new information -paragraph writing

-transferring /application of new information -responding non-verbally -drills -passage writing -transferring / application of new information -drills

-transferring / application of new information -transferring / application of new information - text reconstruction - drills - drills - guided paragraph writing

- guided paragraph writing

-transferring /application of new information

527

15

reading

16 17

grammar listening

-know about a culturesignificant historical specific event: the defeat of the Spanish Armada by the English -form the plural of / nouns correctly -describe a place culturegeneral -describe people nonauthentic
(1)

-transferring / application of new information

- drills -transferring /application of new information - discussion -transferring / application of new information - controlled and writing activities free

18

listening

19

writing

20

listening

21

listening

22 23

reading reading

24

grammar

25 26 27 28

grammar grammar listening reading

-summarize -write an interview -write a prcis -become aware of the danger of pollution -understand narrative discourse -become conscious of the problem of racism in Britain -know about the danger of pollution -express viewpoints on the issue of development -transform to and from the passive form -use comparative adjectives correctly -ask questions -describe job requirements describe a place

culturegeneral culturegeneral

-transferring / application of new information -transferring / application of new information -text reconstruction

culturespecific

culturegeneral culturegeneral /

-answering comprehension questions -transferring / application of new information - drills

- drills - drills -transferring / application of new information -transferring / application of new information -text reconstruction

29 30

reading reading

/ culturegeneral culturespecific but not Englishspeaking -describe people culture-use the past tense general -analyse a piece of culturewritten discourse specific

-transferring / application of new information -transferring / application of new information

(1) Non-authentic passages / texts are clearly written to illustrate the language function / structure upon which is based the lesson.

528

Table 198: Experimental Group Lesson Plans Evaluation Before the Treatment Period Evaluation + + + + Student 1 Lesson Plan Suggested Language Text Aspect / General Objective Cultural Activity Types Skill Content grammar -transform to and / from the passive form -construct / conditional clauses -know more about cultureimmigrants general -transform to and from the passive form -know more about and develop attitudes towards pollution -use the past tense correctly -know more about the British Isles / -drills

2 3

grammar reading

-drills -transferring / application of new information -discussion -drills

grammar

reading

culturegeneral

-transferring / application of new information

6 7

grammar reading

/ culturespecific

-drills -transferring / application of new information -discussion -drills -transferring / application of new information -discussion -transferring / application of new information - drills -transferring / application of new information -discussion -transferring / application of new information -discussion -transferring / application of new information -word building -transferring / application of new information

8 9

grammar listening

10 11 12

reading grammar listening

13

reading

-construct / conditional clauses -recognize the cultureimportance of general computers -describe people nonauthentic -use prepositions / correctly -know about cultureEnglish as an general international language -describe a place culturespecific -global and detailed comprehension of a text -talk about someone's life culturespecific culturespecific

14

reading

15

reading

529

16

reading

17 18

grammar reading

-know more about transportation means -use the past tense correctly -know more about immigration -recognize the danger of pollution -know about new inventions and discoveries -know about new inventions and discoveries -describe people

culturegeneral / culturegeneral culturegeneral culturegeneral culturegeneral

-transferring / application of new information -structural exercises -drills -transferring / application of new information -discussion -transferring / application of new information -transferring / application of new information -discussion -transferring / application of new information -paragraph writing -transferring / application of new information

19 20

reading listening

21

listening

22

listening

23

reading

24 25 26

grammar listening pronunciati on grammar

27

28 29

listening reading

culturespecific but not Englishspeaking -describe parts and culture-transferring / application the whole general of new information -structural exercises -form the plural of / - drills nouns correctly -describe a process culture-transferring / application general of new information / - drills -distinguish between the vowels of English -use the present non-drills continuous tense authentic correctly -describe function culture-transferring / application and use general of new information comprehend a text culture-transferring / application general of new information

530

Table 199: Experimental Group Lesson Plans Evaluation After the Treatment Period Evaluation + + + + + + Student 1 Lesson Plan Suggested Language Text Aspect / General Objective Cultural Activity Types Skill Content listening -know about culturedevelopment general -use relative / pronouns correctly -understand a piece cultureof oral discourse specific -transform to and / from the passive form -know about cultureimmigrants in specific France but not Englishspeaking -use the simple / past tense correctly -know about the culturegeography of the specific UK -construct / conditional clauses -know about the cultureOlympic games general -describe people nonauthentic -use prepositions / correctly -comprehend the culturecontent of a letter specific -describe a place culturespecific -use conditional cultureclauses specific appropriately -express opposition culturespecific -transferring / application of new information -summarizing -drills -transferring / application of new information -discussion -drills

2 3

grammar listening

grammar

reading

-transferring / application of new information

6 7

grammar reading

-drills -transferring / application of new information -discussion -drills -transferring / application of new information -transferring / application of new information -text reconstruction - drills -transferring / application of new information -transferring / application of new information -discussion -drills -riddles -jokes -drills -communicative activities -games

8 9 10

grammar listening listening

11 12 13

grammar reading reading

14

grammar

15

grammar

531

16

grammar

17

listening

18 19

grammar reading

-transform to and from the passive form -describe the amenities of a small town -locate places on a map -use relative pronouns correctly -write a biography

culturespecific

-transferring / application of new information -structural exercises -transferring / application of new information

culturegeneral culturespecific culturespecific

-drills -transferring / application of new information -text reconstruction -drills -communicative activities

20

grammar

21

reading

22 23

listening grammar

24 25 26

grammar listening listening

-talk about recent events -use the present perfect tense correctly -global understanding of a passage -describe a famous person -use appropriate conjunctions to express the future -construct correct conditional clauses -describe a process -describe people

culturespecific culturespecific /

-transferring / application of new information -text reconstruction -transferring / application of new information -drills

+ -

/ culturegeneral nonauthentic

- drills -transferring / application of new information -transferring / application of new information -text reconstruction -transferring / application of new information -fill in gaps -discussion -transferring / application of new information -text reconstruction

27 28 29

listening reading listening

-describe a process

culturegeneral -know more about culturepollution general describe people culturespecific

(-) means that the cultural component is not incorporated in the lesson plan in question. (+) signifies that the former is considered in the suggested passage and / or activities. By cultural component we refer to the culture of any English-speaking country. Other culture-specific contents as well as culture-general ones are not counted. 532

The lesson plans suggested by the second control group are tackled following the same procedure. They are delineated in Tables 200 and 201. Table 200: Second Control Group Lesson Plans Evaluation Before the Treatment Period Evaluation + punctuation Lesson Plan Suggested Language Text Aspect / General Objective Cultural Activity Types Skill Content reading -decode a philosophical piece of discourse about freedom -recognize nouns, their types and functions -understand a piece of literary discourse culturegeneral -transferring / application of new information

Student 1 2

grammar

listening

culturespecific

-transferring /application of new information -follow up writing activities - drills

grammar

5 6 7 8 9

grammar grammar writing pronunciati on listening

-transform from and into the passive form -use the present tense correctly -use adverbs correctly -use punctuation marks correctly -detect rise and fall in intonation -know about Paris -understand a piece of spoken discourse

/ / / /

- drills - drills -supplying marks - drills

10 11

grammar grammar

12

grammar

13

pronunciati on

culture- multiple choice questions specific but not Englishspeaking -use the possessive / -drills case correctly -use the present / - drills continuous tense correctly -understand and / - drills use conjunctions correctly -use stress / - drills correctly

533

14 15

writing reading

-use punctuation / marks correctly -use the language cultureof measurement general correctly -report on experiences -recognize sound patterns easily -understand main ideas of a text about education -use already acquired knowledge -better express one's ideas -distinguish between sentence types -express oneself freely -develop realistic attitudes towards America culturespecific culturegeneral culturegeneral culturegeneral

-supplying punctuation marks -transferring /application of new information -guessing game - vocabulary exercises - fill-in gaps - multiple choice questions -transferring / application of new information -vocabulary exercise -discussion -guided writing activity

16 17 18

reading pronunciati on reading

+ -

19

writing

20

grammar

-identifying sentence types

21

speaking

culturespecific

- discussion

Table 201: Second Control Group Lesson Plans Evaluation After the Treatment Period Evaluation + + Student 1 Lesson Plan Suggested Language Text Aspect / General Objective Cultural Activity Types Skill Content listening -know about cultureShakespeare specific -transferring / application of new information -discussion -identifying sentence type

grammar

pronunciati on

-distinguish / between a phrase, a clause and a sentence -recognize sound culturepatterns and specific intonation patterns

-transferring /application of new information -discussion

534

4 5

grammar writing

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

grammar reading grammar listening writing speaking pronunciati on writing writing writing writing pronunciati on grammar

-distinguish between tenses -express opinions about a scientific topic -use tag questions correctly -know about diving expeditions -use the present tense correctly -understand oral discourse -write a coherent paragraph -learn how to show the way recognize sound patterns -use punctuation marks correctly -write a letter -use punctuation marks correctly -develop the skill of taking notes recognize sound patterns easily

/ culturegeneral / culturegeneral / culturegeneral / culturegeneral nonauthentic / / / / /

- drills - guided writing activity

-identifying and matching forms -transferring /application of new information - drills - drills - guided paragraph writing activity - guided dialogue building - drills -supplying punctuation marks -guided writing activity - giving examples / - drills

18

19 20

grammar writing

21

speaking

-transform from and / into the passive form -form the plural of / nouns correctly -describe one's culturefamily specific but not Englishspeaking - describe an object culture(TV set) general

- drills

- drills - parallel writing activity

- guided oral expression

The results obtained are represented graphically in Figures 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18. They are synthesized in Tables 202 and 203, and in Figures 19, 20.

535

Figure 13: Control Group Lesson Plans Evaluation Before The Treatment Period
+ Culture; 6.67%

+ Culture - Culture

- Culture; 93.33%

Figure 14: Control Group Lesson Plans Evaluation After The Treatment Period
+ Culture 16.67%

+ Culture - Culture

- Culture 83.33%

Figure 15: Experimental Group Lesson Plans Evaluation Before The Treatment Period
+ Culture 13.79%

+ Culture - Culture

- Culture 86.21%

536

Figure 16: Experimental Group Lesson Plans Evaluation After The Treatment Period
+ Culture 41.38%

+ Culture - Culture

- Culture 58.62%

Figure 17: Second Control Group Lesson Plans Evaluation Before The Treatment Period

+ Culture 14.29%

+ Culture - Culture - Culture 85.71%

Figure 18: Second Control Group Lesson Plans Evaluation After The Treatment Period
+ Culture 9.52%

+ Culture - Culture - Culture 90.48%

537

Table 202 : Synthesis of the Results Obtained before the Treatment Period Group Evaluation + Culture - Culture Total Control Group N* 02 28 30 % 06.67 93.33 100 Experimental Group N* 04 25 29 % 13.79 86.21 100 Second Control Group N* % 03 14.71 18 85.71 21 100

Figure 19: Lesson Plans Evaluation Before the Treatment Period

30 25 20 Students 15 10 5 0 1

28 25

18

+ Culture - Culture

4 2

2 Groups

Table 203: Synthesis of the Results Obtained After The Treatment Period Group Evaluation + Culture - Culture Total Control Group N* 05 25 30 % 16.67 83.33 100 Experimental Group N* 12 17 29 % 41.38 58.62 100 Second Control Group N* % 02 09.52 19 90.48 21 100

538

Figure 20: Lesson Plans Evaluation After the Treatment Period

25
25

20

19 17 12
+ Culture - Culture

15 Students

10

5
5

2 1 2
Groups

It is noted that before the treatment period, few students included culture in their lesson plans: 06.67% in the control group, and 13.79% in the experimental one. This may be interpreted by the fact that, at this stage, the majority of these teachersto be are not aware of the importance of culture in FL teaching. After the treatment period, an increase in percentages is observed particularly in the experimental group: 41.38% of students took account of the cultural component. We can state that the independent variable (i.e., the course on culture) caused more students (namely 27.59%) to consider the cultural aspect when designing language lesson plans. In the control group, an addition of 10% is discerned. It may have resulted from contamination. In fact, the second control group results show that the percentage of students who considered culture in lesson plans remained low (14.29% ; 9.25%). An appropriate statistical procedure to test the relationship of variables in this case (frequency data) is the Chi-square test (Hatch and Lazaraton, 1991) x =
2

( f0 fe )2
fe

539

f 0 : observed frequencies = 5 for the control group; 12 for the experimental group; and 2 for the second control group. f e : expected frequencies = 2 for the control group; 4 for the experimental group; and 3 for the second control group.

f e are elaborated in harmony with the null hypothesis (Ho) according to which cultural training does not affect pre-service teachers when designing lesson plans. x2 =

(5 2)2 + (12 4) 2 + (2 3)2

2 4 3

= 4.5 + 16 + 0.333 = 20.833 To obtain the degree of freedom df, we use N-1, where N is the number of groups. df = 3-1 =2 We select a probability level of .001. This means that there is one chance in 1000 that a hypothesis is accepted when it should be rejected. If we compare the observed x 2 value with the tabulated critical value (found in the intersection of the column for the probability level and the row of the appropriate df), we find that the former (20.833) is greater than the latter (13.816). Hence, we feel great confidence in rejecting the Ho. It is important to point to the fact that in the experimental group, the students who had their first lesson plans evaluated as positive (+), namely no 7, 13, 14, 15 (see Table 198), had similar evaluation for their second lesson plan (see Table 199). This does not necessarily apply to the control groups: only one student in the control group (no 1, see Tables 196, 197), and also one student in the second control group (no 3, see Tables 200, 201), took account of culture in both lesson plans. It can be implied that the cultural training that the experimental group hand served to not only to raise awareness about the relevance of culture to language teaching, but also to reinforce such awareness in some students. To tackle the question of how culture was taken account of in the lesson plans designed by the students, spotlight was put on the language aspect / skill that was in focus in each plan. Such analysis yielded the following results.

540

Table 204: Aspect / Skill in Focus in the Control Group Lesson Plans Before the Treatment Period Language Aspect/Skill Grammar Pronunciation Vocabulary Listening Speaking Reading Writing Total Culture N* 11 / 01 08 02 07 01 30 % 36.67 / 03.33 26.67 06.67 23.33 03.33 100 + / / / 02 / / / 02 % / / / 06.67 / / / 06.67 11.00 / 01.00 06.00 02.00 07.00 01.00 28.00 % 36.67 / 03.33 20.00 06.67 23.33 03.33 93.33

Table 205: Aspect / Skill in Focus in the Control Group Lesson Plans After the Treatment Period Language Aspect/Skill Grammar Pronunciation Vocabulary Listening Speaking Reading Writing Total Culture N* 08 / 01 09 01 08 03 30 % 26.67 / 03.33 30.00 03.33 26.67 10.00 100 + / / / 01 01 03 / 05 % / / / 3.33 3.33 10.00 / 16.67 08 / 01 08 / 05 03 25 % 26.67 / 03.33 26.67 / 16.67 10.00 83.33

Table 206: Aspect / Skill in Focus in the Experimental Group Lesson Plans Before the Treatment Period Language Aspect/Skill Grammar Pronunciation Vocabulary Listening Speaking Reading Writing Total Culture N* 09 01 / 07 / 12 / 29 % 31.03 03.45 / 24.14 / 41.38 / 100 + / / / / / 04 / 04 % / / / / / 13.79% / 13.79% 09 01 / 07 / 08 / 25 % 31.03 03.45 / 24.14 / 27.59 / 86.21

541

Table 207: Aspect / Skill in Focus in the Experimental Group Lesson Plans After the Treatment Period Language Aspect/Skill Grammar Pronunciation Vocabulary Listening Speaking Reading Writing Total Culture N* 12 / / 10 / 07 / 29 % 41.38% / / 34.48% / 24.14% / 100 + 03 / / 04 / 05 / 12 % 10.34 / / 13.79 / 17.24 / 41.38 09 / / 06 / 02 / 17 % 31.03 / / 20.69 / 06.90 / 58.62

Table 208: Aspect / Skill in Focus in the Second Control Group Lesson Plans Before the Treatment Period Language Aspect/Skill Grammar Pronunciation Vocabulary Listening Speaking Reading Writing Total Culture N* 08 03 / 02 01 04 03 21 % 38.09 14.29 / 09.52 04.76 19.05 14.29 100 + / / / 01 01 01 / 03 % / / / 04.76 04.76 04.76 / 14.29 08 03 / 01 / 03 03 18 % 38.09 14.29 / 04.76 / 14.29 14.29 85.71

Table 209: Aspect / Skill in Focus in the Second Control Group Lesson Plans After the Treatment Period Language Aspect/Skill Grammar Pronunciation Vocabulary Listening Speaking Reading Writing Total Culture N* 06 03 / 02 02 01 07 21 % 28.57 14.29 / 09.52 09.52 04.76 33.34 100 + / 01 / 01 / / / 02 % / 04.76 / 04.76 / / / 09.52 06 02 / 01 02 01 07 19 % 28.57 09.52 / 04.76 09.52 04.76 33.34 90.47

542

The results outlined in Tables 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209 can be synthesized as follows: Table 210: Aspect / Skill in Focus in All Suggested Lesson Plans Language Aspect/Skill Grammar Pronunciation Vocabulary Listening Speaking Reading Writing Total n*: number of lesson plans Figure21: Aspect/Skill in Focus in All Lesson Plans Culture n* 54 07 02 38 06 39 14 160 % 33.75 04.37 01.25 23.75 03.75 24.38 08.75 100 + 03 01 / 09 02 13 / 28 % 01.88 00.62 / 05.63 01.25 08.13 / 17.50% 51 06 02 29 04 26 14 132 % 31.88 03.75 01.25 18.13 02.50 16.25 08.75 82.50

Writing 8.75% Reading; 24.38% Grammar; 33.75%

Pronunciation; 4.38%

Grammar Pronunciation Vocabulary Listening Speaking Reading Writing

Speaking; 3.75% Listening; 23.75%

Vocabulary; 1.25%

543

Figure 22: Detailed Lesson Plans Evaluation

60 50 40 Students 30 20 10 0
Gra mm ar Pro nun cia tion Vo cab ula ry Sp eak ing Lis ten ing Re adi ng Wr itin g

+ Culture - Culture

Table 210 and Figure 21 reveal that most of the lesson plans deal with 'grammar' (33.75%), or one of the receptive skills 'reading' and 'listening' (24.38% and 23.75%, respectively)..Culture was catered for only in 17.50% of the overall number of lesson plans, mostly in those concerned with reading and listening. A larger percentage of the latter (i.e., 18.13% + 16.25% > 5.63% + 8.13%) did not integrate the cultural component, however. This can be clearly seen in Figure 22. This leads us to say that for many teachers-to be, teaching English means above all teaching grammar, listening or reading comprehension, without necessarily including the English-speaking culture. Another possible inference is that the participants find grammar and the receptive skills easy to teach compared to the other components (such as the cultural). An additional issue that deserves attention is that a large number of lesson plans (i.e., 95 lesson plans out of 160 = 59.37%) are based on materials available in the official Middle or Secondary School textbooks. Given that most of the textbooks used in Algerian schools are not actually culture-oriented (as demonstrated in chapter four), so are the lesson plans elaborated on their basis. It follows that if the FC is to be integrated in the FL course, it should be integrated in the designed textbooks, for the latter seem to be the primary (if not the unique) source prospective teachers use to prepare their lessons. That is one reason why, perhaps, the only culture-geared activity provided in the lesson plans is discussion. Activities as culture 544

assimilators, culturgrams, critical incidents and culture quizzes are not available in the Algerian textbooks of English, and are not as well easy to devise. It is fair to state that though there are more lesson plans that embody the cultural component in the experimental group, after going through the two-month course on culture, the 'gain' remains, in our opinion, scanty. More than half of the total number of students in the experimental group (exactly 58.62%) did not incorporate culture in their second lesson plans. This fact may be linked to a number of factors. To begin with, there is widespread consensus that theory is not easily translated into practice. Students in the experimental group may have grasped the course on culture and its aims, but this does not guarantee proper application in classrooms. We note that our course had a practical as well as a theoretical part (as explained in section 1.2). Fourth year students are perhaps in need for more focus on practice, or for a lengthier course. Two months may not be sufficient a period to raise future teachers' awareness about the necessity to embrace culture in language lessons. By the end of the experiment, all the students expressed their satisfaction about the course, particularly its practical side, and even recommended it for future fourth year students. Many of them wrote about its ''great effect'', ''positive effect'', ''great benefit''; others qualify it as ''very important'' or ''effective''. Nevertheless, many of them seemed to have completely forgotten it when they had the first opportunity to work out a lesson plan. Another probable interpretation is that these students find it easier, more interesting or more important to lay stress on the linguistic components when teaching a FL. The fact that many of them resorted to ready-made materials provided in textbooks leads us to say that they either lack other appropriate means to do their task, or they simply lack creativity or motivation. Some of them handed in the same lesson plan, with minor changes in form, before and after the cultural training.

545

Conclusion The experimental programme about culture has proved to be successful, for 41.38% of the students in the experimental group considered culture in their designed lesson plans. The Chi square test is used to confirm the relationship between the independent variable (cultural training) and the dependent variable (including the cultural component in language lesson plans). It is found out that the observed x 2 (=20.833) is higher than the tabulated critical value (=13.816), with 2 df, hence the rejection of the Ho. An undeniable fact is that for 58.62% of the students in the experimental group, culture is still a non-essential element in their lesson plans. This leads us to think that a lengthier or a more practice-oriented course on culture is required. Another equally important implication of this work is that if the FC is to be integrated in FL lesson plans, and hence FL classrooms, it is imperative to consider it in textbooks. Indeed, students turned to the current Middle or Secondary School English coursebooks to prepare 59.37% of the lesson plans provided. After all, that is what their teachers of English used to do with them in schools. In many teaching settings, textbooks specify to a great extent what is presented in classrooms, hence their significance.

546

CHAPTER NINE PEDAGOGICAL RECOMMENDATIONS

Introduction

1. Syllabus Design and Textbook Development

2. The Professional Development of Teachers

3. Dealing with the Learners

Conclusion

547

Introduction In the previous chapters, we have dealt with three cornerstones of FL/FC pedagogy: the textbook, the teacher and the learners. Firstly, the analysis of the textbooks used at the Intermediate and Secondary Levels has shed light on drawbacks that make of the textbooks more or less inadequate sources to teach about the TL cultural component _ a finding that has been corroborated by the second teachers' questionnaire. Secondly, the analysis of the first teachers' questionnaire feedback has shown that though aware of the importance and relevance of culture to their profession, at least half the teachers do not deliberately include it in their lessons, at both levels. Besides, experimental results have pointed out that the cultural training of pre-service teachers leads nearly half the trainees to incorporate the English language cultural ingredient in their lesson plans. Thirdly, the learners' survey has revealed that most of the Middle as well as the Secondary School pupils care more about learning the linguistic components of the English language. The present chapter seeks to suggest guide-lines, courses of action, purported to bring a salutary change in FL/FC education in Algeria. They are grouped in three main categories: 'Syllabus Design and Textbook Development', 'The Professional Development of Teachers' and 'Dealing with the Learners'.

1. Syllabus Design and Textbook Development As outlined above, culture teaching is not an important objective of FL pedagogy in the Algerian context. The first demand is undoubtedly on the syllabus and the textbook, given that they dictate to a considerable extent the content and form of teaching. In fact, our experience in teaching at the Secondary level allows us to state that even 'veterans' can be over-dependent on textbooks. Further, the experiment elaborated in the framework of this research work has shown that teachers-to be resort to the available school books in quest of materials. In Algeria, the curriculum for English is prescribed at the national level by the Ministry of Education. As seen in chapter five, all the Middle School as well as the Secondary School syllabuses for English refer only vaguely to the cultural component of the language. Cultural objectives are not formulated, and even the type or the nature of the culture to be presented is not specified. Some Secondary School 548

teachers raised this point through the questionnaire 'Further Suggestions' section, claiming the right to have a clear understanding of the policy applied with respect of FCs. We suppose that if the cultural component had been duly taken account of by the syllabus designers, it would have been better considered by both teachers and learners. It seems imperative to accurately define culture and refer to it explicitly in the syllabus. It is to be recognized as an important goal from the early stages of language instruction onward, with all that this implies in terms of textbook design, teacher training, classroom procedures and tests. The cultural content to be taught is to be organized on the basis of the gradually increasing competence of the language learners, and all culture areas are to receive appropriate attention at the proper time, in an adequate manner. In other words, both big 'C' and small 'c' cultural facets should be targeted, with reference to the 'know what', 'know why', 'know how', and 'know oneself' dimensions. At the Intermediate Level, the curriculum of English should, in our viewpoint, be more concerned with small 'c' cultural features, given that they appeal to young learners, are easy to assimilate, and stand for what a culture actually is. Big 'C' culture, especially 'Literature', seems more suitable to advanced levels, when the learners would have acquired the necessary linguistic skills to understand and appreciate it. The educational aims of FL teaching should not only include the encouragement of seeking insight into the FC but also developing positive attitudes towards it. The place of the learners' NC should also be clarified. Those who advocate the exclusive adoption of the NC in FL teaching programmes think that this would seal the learners off from outside influences. A more realistic approach is to encourage critical thinking vis--vis what is native as well as what is foreign.

All the points mentioned above equally apply to textbooks. In Algeria, teachers have no choice as to which book to use. This is also decided on by the Ministry of Education, at the level of which coursebooks are designed to be used in all schools of the country. As it appears in the currently used ones, the cultural ingredient of the English language is either totally overlooked (on behalf of a culture-general content) or dealt with in an inadequate way (as subservient to language functions and /or structures). Algerian textbook authors are, thus, urged to reconsider their position vis-vis culture. 549

No textbook which purports to represent how a TL is actually used in communicative contexts can be produced without due consideration to the cultural dimension. Besides, teachers find it easier to integrate culture in their language lessons, if they are assisted with a culturally sensitive material. What is more, for many of them (nearly half, according to this study), the textbook remains the major source of cultural content, mainly because in their situation, supplementary materials are simply not available.

For culture to be adequately catered for in the Algerian textbooks for English, there should be a consideration of the following points:

-The cultural component of the English language should be viewed as an integral part of the English lesson rather than as supplementary optional material.

-It should be considered on equal footing with the other language components, that is, the representation of the FC should be regarded of equal importance with the provision of means to teach the linguistic elements.

-The English-speaking culture(s) should not be removed on behalf of the learners' NC, other cultures, or general culture. The former is (are) more relevant and more useful to acquire the TL.

-It should not be shown in partial stereotypical glimpses. It would be absurd to require that all socio-cultural aspects be reflected, yet, significant features of life in (an) English-speaking country (ies) are not to be left unrepresented or misrepresented.

-The cultural content suggested should be realistic. The coursebook author needs to do more than encourage positive attitudes through the presentation of an idealistic image of the TC. S/he should depict it as it is actually lived, with its negative as well as positive facets. S/he needs to portray credible characters, who are happy one moment, sad the other. The cultural content should also be up-to-date and structured.

550

-It should be concerned with both small 'c' and big 'C' aspects: on the one hand, it should portray a variety of socio-cultural situations, reflecting daily life, routines, festivities and rituals; on the other hand, it should deal with Literature and Art (particularly at advanced classes), and provide some knowledge of the history, geography and politics of the target country.

-It should make reference to 'deep' as well as 'surface' cultural matters, namely to facts, artefacts, institutions, landscape, but also to thoughts, attitudes, values and assumptions.

-Culture is to be integrated in texts, but also in activities. Catering for the cultural dimension does not merely mean providing for culture-seeded passages under a 'Learn about Culture' heading. There should most importantly be culture-oriented activities and tasks that broaden knowledge, develop intercultural skills, and support reflective learning. A communicative activity that places the learners in situations which require them to react according to the socio-cultural norms of the situation is one type of these recommended activities. It is devised not only on the basis of linguistic criteria (grammar, phonology, semantics), but equally on socio-cultural contexts that reflect the reality of the TL society. Other culture immersion activities invite the learners to take in the other's perspective, to investigate the TC from within. Reference is made to role plays, culture assimilators, critical incidents, case studies, most of which are totally lacking in the available coursebooks. Activities that focus on foreign communicative styles, including non-verbal communicative behaviour, and the way they differ from the learners' NC are no less important. The textbook author may wish to include, further, exercises that explore the cultural aspect inherent in the language system itself (grammar and vocabulary), or activities that raise to a conscious level the learners' stereotypes and negative attitudes.

-Textbooks should address cross-cultural issues and strengthen cultural dialogue and tolerance.

-Last but not least, the cultural insights provided in the coursebook are to be expanded in the teacher's manual, which has to suggest, further, methodological

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notes to help especially experienced teachers, to tackle this 'unfamiliar' aspect of FL teaching.

2. The Professional Development of Teachers Algerian teachers are reluctant to teach about culture, just as any instructor might be uneasy about teaching a subject without any in-depth knowledge or training. Most of the teachers in our study sample put it plainly that their knowledge about the FC does not qualify them to teach about it. The natural consequence of this lack of knowledge and its accompanying uneasiness is to grant the subject in question lower priority, or to ignore it completely. The second demand is, thus, on the teacher's professional competence. If the cultural dimension is to be an integral part of teaching, the interested authorities should think of 'training (and retraining) teachers of language and culture' rather than merely 'language teacher training'. This issue has been pointed out by the findings of the experiment elaborated in the framework of this research, according to which nearly half the trainees who had a two month-course on culture did not fail to consider it when asked to design a language lesson plan. To begin with, this training has to be interdisciplinary. Teachers should benefit from some training in social sciences and cultural studies, just as some ESP teachers need a background in science and technology. Additionally, this training has to be concerned with both theory and practice, that is, combining a reflection on theoretical insights with practice-oriented activities. Teachers, whether trainees in initial courses or those with many years of experience, need to be introduced to the concepts of 'culture', 'culture learning theory', 'intercultural competence' and 'intercultural language teaching'. If they were more conscious of 'intercultural competence' in the way that many are now conscious of 'communicative competence', culture would be better treated in their classes. Teachers should also be involved actively in their training through a task-oriented experiential learning approach. This is very important in that, on the one hand, it is of direct relevance to what they are supposed to do with the learners in class; on the other hand, it helps them to develop intercultural competence themselves. In fact, they need to have as good knowledge of the TC as that of the TL. It is high time the FC (big 'C' as well as small 'c' culture) was granted a decent place in the degree which FL departments offer. Teachers are not merely 552

purported to amass a body of information about the TC facts and artefacts, beliefs and values, but also to develop skills of gathering data, analysing meanings, and assessing self and other in a critical way. Organizing field work that enables contact with members of the TC is recommended when possible. Study visits to an English-speaking country may be planned, even if on behalf of a limited number of teachers, selected form different parts of the country, who would then report on their 'adventure' to their colleagues. Reflection on attitudes and experiences is to be encouraged for it leads to selfevaluation and eventually to improvement and progress. It is also worthwhile to bring in training specialists from the TC, to benefit from their expertise in the field, but also to have another perspective on the TC, that of the 'insider'. What is more, teachers should learn ways to promote intercultural learning. They should be able to design language lessons with culture built into them. They are supposed to provide their learners with authentic experiences in the TC, in the framework of a systematic approach and a proper methodology. Accordingly, they do not just need to know what to do with respect to the cultural component, but also how to do it. They equally need to know how to test cultural learnings. Another important area is the evaluation of teaching materials as regards the presentation and practice of cultural elements. The dominant role that a textbook plays in FL/FC teaching makes its analysis and evaluation a crucial enterprise. It is doubtless too optimistic to presume that the teachers' attitudes would change, and their knowledge and skills develop by only one training programme. Nevertheless, the latter would undeniably enable them to learn some insights and tools that will make them deal confidently with culture teaching. It would also develop their metalanguage in this field, a fact which encourages reflection and further research, and gives a sense of achievement. Furthermore, such training would be an opportunity for teachers of different languages and cultures (and not necessarily exclusively teachers of English) at different teaching levels (the Intermediate and the Secondary) to exchange experiences and viewpoints.

In the following lines, we have included various recommendations for teachers to improve their cultural knowledge, to help improve that of their learners and to maximize the effectiveness of the coursebooks they use.

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-It is widely agreed upon that media do enhance teaching, form non-mechanical aids such as pictures all the way up to sophisticated aids such as computers. They bring a slice of real life into the classroom. Teachers should exploit the endless resources offered by satellite television, for instance, in the area of culture awareness. It may provide valuable materials that can be used in teaching contrastive and comparative analyses of cultural systems. Video tapes and computer disks CD-ROMs are frequently accessible to many language teachers and learners; their value in the FL/FC classroom cannot be stressed enough. Other available materials as pictures and photos are too often ignored, when in fact they could be ideal sources of culture.

-The teachers who are interested in widening their own cultural knowledge, and who wish to implement a cultural component in their classes have to consider themselves as co-learners. They should encourage questions and work together with the class to find answers, by consulting documents such as encyclopaedias. Other possible sources of culture include: . Subscribing to some of the FC journals and periodicals; . Reading and analysing the FL literature; . Attending conferences and taking part in workshops dealing with this subject; . Cooperating with colleagues at the local, national and international levels, through the exchange of culture documents and instructional materials.

It is useful to keep abreast with the FC novelties using all the resources available: books, magazines, web sites, foreign friendships, and more common mass media as radio and television.

-The teachers should always remember that the textbook is just a resource, a set of materials from which the most appropriate items will be chosen. Supplementary materials are often necessary because the textbook is unlikely to cover everything. The teachers should do more than add cultural notes to what is supplied in it. They may need to add new texts or delete some, adapt or change the management, input or output of the tasks, design completely new ones, depending on the learners' needs and interests. With respect of 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Book Two', the teachers are particularly required to design cultural awareness-raising activities,

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and to provide explicit cultural explanations, with a special focus on the cultural 'know why'. Regarding all the other coursebooks, the teachers need, in addition, to bring in passages that relate more to English-speaking cultures.

-Asking questions about the cultural content of the textbooks may be a very useful procedure to encourage critical thinking. The teacher is to ask questions, and is supposed to encourage the learners to do so, especially at advanced levels. In other words, both should take a reflective and ethnographic stance when tackling the coursebooks' cultural content and the cultural processes involved in learning a FL. There should be, furthermore, an identification of the major issues to be discussed in relation to a particular topic, so that the classroom debates would be deep, leading to new knowledge, new insights and new understanding. Without this deep engagement, critical thinking cannot occur.

One would say that all this is easier said than done. It is, indeed, particularly, in the Algerian context, where teachers tend to be overworked and underpaid. One cannot expect them to do more efforts. Yet, to accept the task of teaching a FL means also to accept the task of teaching something about the culture in which it is spoken, to link together language and culture.

3. Dealing with the Learners In chapter seven, it has been found that the connection of language learning and culture learning is not self-evident to the pupils at both levels, the Intermediate and the Secondary. Hence, one of the important tasks of the FL teacher and textbook author is to make them see that just as the FL is a key to the FC, so is the FC to the FL; they should be learned together. The pupils need to realize that a good command of the English grammar, lexis and phonology is necessary but not sufficient for a successful communicative use of the language. They should be helped to recognize that such elements as the significance of silence, the appropriacy of language forms or of the topic of conversation to the situation, the interlocutor's assumptions and expectations are equally important, and are different across cultures. They need to view their textbook of English and other materials more than linguistic objects. 555

It is of great benefit for the learners to be provided with explicit information, whether in English or in Arabic, about the interconnectedness of language and culture. Techniques should be planned and implemented to show them how elements of the FC are embedded in the FL itself. The selection and use of authentic material, the presentation of instances of intercultural communicative interactions through case studies, culture assimilators, critical incidents, the introduction of audio and audio-visual media in the FL classroom can all serve to make the pupils see the relevance of culture to the task of language learning. When possible, organizing visits to an English-speaking country for the elite can be a golden opportunity to restructure their views of language and culture. The pupils should get acquainted with modern technology, namely computers and internet webs, which could provide unlimited possibilities for learning language in its cultural context. Moreover, much time should be invested to encourage them to read all kinds of authentic materials, to develop their intercultural communicative competence. It should be noted that before introducing the learners to the FC, their awareness of their NC should first be raised, i.e., making them take cognizance of the fact that they are themselves products of a culture. This step paves the way to cross-cultural understanding, since it prepares them to approach the new culture with open minds, and helps them to overcome stereotypes and prejudices. Raising their self-awareness is also important to reinforce their cultural identity. They need to recognize the significance of foreign behaviours and attitudes, but they are not supposed to follow them. Some may have mixed feelings about or negative attitudes towards ''Western cultures'', and these cultures, therefore, should be presented in an objective and careful manner.

Conclusion Culture remains the weakest component in the Algerian FL class due to its uneven treatment in the coursebooks, lack of familiarity, among teachers, with culture itself and with the techniques needed to teach it, and the learners' unawareness of its relevance to the ''essential'' business of learning a language. However, culture is always present in the background as something indissociable from language itself. If it is taken into account by syllabus designers, textbook writers, teacher trainers, 556

teachers and learners, teaching/learning a FL can be a meaningful experience through which both parties enjoy and benefit from a flow of information that contributes to their personalities and achievement.

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CONCLUSION

Throughout this thesis, our main concern has been the way the cultural component is viewed and handled in the Algerian Middle and Secondary Schools, in relation to three important factors: the textbook, the teacher, and the learner.

We have set about the work with an overview of basic issues that pertain to culture, the relationship culture, language and communication, the place of culture in foreign language teaching, and teaching / learning about culture (chapters one, two, three and four). This has served to convey the background of the field of foreign language / foreign culture education, and to set the context for our research.

We have proceeded to the analysis of the cultural content of the Algerian textbooks for English used at the Intermediate and the Secondary Levels (chapter five). In the light of this analysis, the first hypothesis which underlies this research, namely that the socio-cultural component of the English language is either not incorporated or not adequately dealt with in the coursebooks, has been confirmed. In fact, this component is found to be totally overlooked in the school books that have a mainly culture-general (at times purely technical) content, mostly those of the Secondary School. It is also not given due care in the coursebooks that have a multicultural character, mostly those of the Middle School. At first sight, the newly introduced Middle School coursebooks, 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Book Two', seem quite acceptable for teaching / learning about culture. Thorough analysis has uncovered, however, their inadequacies. In all the textbooks analysed (except that of 3e AS), the cultural dimension is subordinate to language structures and / or functions, the fact which led to fragmentary cultural contents. At best, cultural topics are only touched upon; no further explanations or actual culture-immersion activities are suggested.

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On the basis of the examination of the data collected from the teachers' questionnaire, 'Approach, Methods and Techniques of Culture Teaching', (chapter six), we have come to the conclusion that the majority of the teachers, whether at the Intermediate or the Secondary Level, are aware of the relevance and importance of the cultural aspect in foreign language teaching. Yet, at least half of them do not have a clear view of what this awareness implies in classroom terms, and do not devise activities that promote cultural knowledge and understanding. Moreover, most of the informants put it openly that they do not have in-depth knowledge about English-speaking cultures to teach about them. It follows that hypothesis two, which conjectures that most of the Algerian teachers of English, at both the Intermediate and Secondary Levels, are not conscious of the importance of incorporating the cultural component in FL teaching, and do not design activities to integrate it in their lessons, has been partly confirmed, and partly not.

The analysis of the feedback of the teachers' questionnaire, 'The Place of Culture in the Middle / Secondary School Textbooks of English' (same chapter, six), has confirmed further hypothesis one. It has pointed out the teacher's dissatisfaction with the way the cultural component is treated in the books, especially those used at the Secondary Level.

In chapter seven, we have come to the conclusion that at least three quarters of the pupils at the Intermediate Level, and at least two thirds of the pupils at the Secondary Level define English learning mostly in linguistic terms, notwithstanding their awareness of the importance of learning about FCs. This finding acts as a confirmation of the first part of hypothesis three, namely that the learners of English in the Algerian Middle and Secondary Schools are more interested in learning about the linguistic aspect (grammatical and phonological structures) than about the cultural one. Nevertheless, the second part of the hypothesis, that they have negative attitudes towards English-speaking cultures, has not been substantiated, for only USA was pointed out negatively in less than half the pupils' answers at each level.

The results obtained in chapter eight have corroborated hypothesis four which stipulates that if teachers-to be had cultural training, they would be more likely to include the cultural component in their language lesson plans. Indeed, the

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experimental programme about culture has proved to be successful, given that about half the fourth year students in the experimental group considered culture in their designed lesson plans.

It is hoped that the teachers will be better trained to focus on culture and to integrate it in their language lessons. It is high time for them to consider themselves not only teachers of language, but of culture as well. It is, we believe, their responsibility to get the learners to think about the cultural issues relevant to learning to learning a foreign language. It is equally their job to supplement the cultural content of the coursebooks, and to adapt it to their level and interests. For this salutary change to take place, the teachers need to be provided with the necessary material and incorporeal means. They should at least be assisted with coursebooks in which the English language and the Anglo-American culture are interrelated, and have the same level of importance. The recommendations included in chapter nine are by no means comprehensive, but are intended to bring some ideas on the subject to the attention of practitioners and decision makers.

Despite all the ink that has been expended on the topic, the teaching of culture continues to be one of the most challenging aspects of foreign language education. Theories about culture learning are still to be investigated. Assessment of cultural learnings is another area which requires further research. Meanwhile, we have to consider seriously the role culture plays in the foreign language teaching stage, and give up regarding grammar as the main actor.

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Textbooks and Syllabus Books

Achour, K. and M., Salmi (1997) The New Midlines IPN (2e AS). _______ (2003) "Spotlight on English, Book One, Teachers Handbook. Belkaid, M., Belgaid, N., Belhouchet, F.Z., Boualem, A., Guedoudj, W., Kaci, F., Rabet, L. (1985) Spring An English Course for Beginners, Book One IPN (8eAF). _________________________________________________________________ __________ (1986) Spring An English Course for Beginners, Book Two IPN (9eAF). _________________________________________________________________ __________ (1986) Guidelines A Methodology Guide for Basic School Teacher IPN. Benzian, A., Bouakkaz, H., Hadjadj, B.S. (1997) Comet IPN (3 eAS). Bereksi, K.E.S (1997) My New Book of English IPN (1eAS). Kisserli, A. (1981) New Lines Pupils Book IPN (1eAS). Menasseri, H., Tahar Bouchet, S., Asselah, Y. Kadi, R., Haniche, F., Hamdad, N. (1985) "Midlines Pupils Book IPN (2eAS). ____________ Alim, S., Boufedji, G., Chick Belhadj, H., Hakiki, F., Z., Mederreg, M. (1987) New Skills Pupils Book IPN (2eAS). _________________________________________________________________ ____________ (1988) Think it Over Students Book IPN (3 eAS). Merazga, L., Guedoudj, O., Mekaoui, Achour, K., Ameziane, H., Bouhadiba, F., Riche, B., Tambrabet, L. (2003) "Spotlight on English, Book One ONPS (1eAM). _________, Bouhadiba, F., Guedoudj, W., Torche, Z., Berdad, T. (2004) "Spotlight on English, Book Two" ONPS (2eAM). ___________________________________________________________ (2004) "Spotlight on English, Book Two, Teachers Guide" ONPS. Syllabuses for English (1995) Ministry of Education Programme Of English as Second Foreign Language Ministry of National Education, May 2003. Document dAccompagnement des Programmes de la 2me anne Moyenne 2003''.

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ERRATA
Page Line 4 8 9 10 32 34 39 44 47 48 48 57 89 94 100 101 105 105 109 116 121 128 136 137 144 166 178 188 201 27 11 15 24 23 24 6 1 4 1 18 7 last 1 1 30 3 26 11 8 30/ 32 2 2021 17 21 5 14 7 11 (cultural training), a target language (TL) She maintains that OSallivan et al.(op.cit:69) when members in that it may be social ranking developed the habit is dealt with in a culture the value orientations approach aims Brooks list (1968) has a way of life people do not talk Beneke (2000:62) a Japanese too informal culturally biased Italian cultures reshaping ones patterns but also to motivate them FL teaching in Kramsch, 1993 foreign and second language contexts even if the learners even the fact of living (Crystal, 1997:368) a variety of techniques should be born in mind being likely to cause Instead of

(cultural training). a target languages TL She maintains OSallivan et al.(ibid:69) when member in that is may be social raking developed habit is dealt with in culture the value orientations approach aimed Brooks list (1968) had a way life people de not talk Beneke (2000) Japanese too in formal culturally based Italians cultures reshaping their patterns but also do motivate men FLT in Kramsch, ibid. FL and SL contexts even if the latter even he fact of living (Crystal, ibid:368) variety of techniques should also be born in mind being are likely to cause

221 222 234

23 8 1718 7 28 1920 33 5 5

Affective and Cognitive Factors from the TC with reference to its texts, activities and artwork but should also consider 1e AM programme designers to reinforce structural and functional objectives the first FL in Algeria the capital of England Mid Lines was designed for the 2eAS Academic Stream and New Skills for the Occupational Stream for example, Unit 2 To sum up, the 3 AM coursebook in Section II they got grouped together 10.45% half the informants said not its allocated time from the early language learning stages A little less than half the respondents justified their answer 04 teachers (out of 06) gave Spotlight on English, Book One and Two do not cater Options a and d In fact, it is considered in only three units
e

Affective Factors from TC whether the reference is made to its texts, activities or artwork but also to consider 1e AM designers to reinforce structural and cultural objectives the first FL of Algeria the capital of Great Britain New Skills was designed for the 2eAS Academic Stream and Mid Lines for the Occupational Stream for example, Unit 22 To sum up the 3eAM coursebook in section one they got grouped together, they got the 10.45% the half said not the allocated time form the early language learning stages A little less than the half justified their answer, except two of them 04 teachers (out of 06) teachers gave Spotlight on English, Book One and Two, do not cater Options a and b That is why, perhaps it was considered in only three units

237 247 251 284 285 298

298 306 315 335 339 339 341 342 351 381 381 383 383 387

5-6 6 18 21 2324 last 9 4 20 13 19 8 9 22

388

1011

The Learn about Culture section is, in Spotlight on English, Book One and Two, they do not know well communication breakdown 04 teachers (out of 09) (96.43 %, 90% and 95.24%) only one third of the teachers or so affirmed that they are not familiar cultural content; nearly half of them the Secondary School textbooks The Signification of Learning We note that these pupils

The Learn about Culture section is in Spotlight on English, Book One and Two they did not know well communication background the 04 teachers (out of 09) (95.43 %,90% and 95.24%) one third of the teachers or so affirmed that they are familiar cultural content and nearly half of them the Secondary School teachers textbooks 1eAM, 1 eAM, 1 eAS, 1eAS The Significance of Learning We note that the pupils more than half of the teachers Only two teachers wrote The Signification of Learning to the Palestinians hand served to not only to form non-mechanical aids to learning to learning a foreign language

394 412 422 442 457

13 20 24 17 11

457 458 463 467 469 472 484 487 501 540 554 560

12 1

fig.9 2eAM, 3eAM, 2eAS, 3eAS 7 28

9-10 more than half of the pupils 28 24 4 25 1 7-8 Only two pupils wrote The Signification of Learning English for the Palestinians had served not only to from non-mechanical aids to learning a foreign language

REPORT
1. Introduction

I would like at the beginning to acknowledge my gratitude to my supervisor, Pr. Farida ABDERRAHIM, for her help and encouragement at various times during the preparation of this study.

I would like also to express my appreciative thanks to Pr. Hacene SAADI, Pr. Faiza BENSEMANE, Pr. Zahri HAROUNI and Dr. Nacera HOUCINE, for having given of their time to read this thesis. Their comments and questions will doubtless enrich it further.

2. Title of the Study

This research work is entitled The Place of Culture in the Teaching of English in the Algerian Middle and Secondary School. Why culture? Because it penetrates all the corners of language education. What is culture? St Augustine said that he knew what time was until someone asked him to define it. May be everybody feels somewhat the same about culture. Culture consists of a shared experience and outlook with regard to all life aspects; in the words of Raymond Carroll (1988:3):

my culture is the logic by which I give order to the world. And I have been learning this logic little by little, since the moment I was born, from the gestures, the words, and the care of those who surrounded me; from their gaze, from the tone of their voices; from the noises, the colors, the smells, the body contact; from the way I was raised, rewarded, punished, held, touched, washed, fed; from the stories I was told, from the books I read, from the songs I sang; in the street, at school, at play; from the relationships I witnessed between others, from the judgments I heard, from the aesthetics embodied everywhere, in all things right down to my sleep and the dreams I learned to dream and recount. I learned to breathe this logic and to forget that I had learned it. I find it natural. Whether I produce meaning or apprehend it, it underlies all my interactions.

3. Delimitation of the Problem

Foreign Language

teaching has always been associated with foreign culture

teaching. What is language if not a means of communication operating in a defined socio-cultural context. According to our experience as a teacher of English at the University (and before, at the Secondary School), the majority of the Algerian learners of English find tremendous difficulties to communicate in English, even after several years of study, and even after they pass the Baccalaureate exam. General dissatisfaction with English language teaching in Algeria, particularly at the Middle and the Secondary School has led us to wonder whether the cultural component is adequately taken account of in the English class at these levels. This questioning entails reference to various relevant concerns:

-How much of the English-speaking culture is (and should be) embedded in the syllabi and manuals for English?

-What cultural content is (and should be) taught to learners who do not have close contact with the native speakers of the target language, and have little opportunities to see how these foreigners think, feel, and interact -the case of Algerian learners of English?

-Is culture acquired unconsciously or is it to be taught and learned explicitly and systematically?

-Is it the professional duty of the Algerian teacher of English to teach about and to encourage positive attitudes towards English-speaking cultures?

-Is culture teaching (and should it be) introduced at an early stage of language learning, or at a later stage, when the learners would have developed cultural selfawareness?

-Does raising the learners' awareness of English-speaking cultures have any effect (positive or negative) on their native culture and native cultural identity?

-Is the English language (and could it be) taught within an Algerian cultural mould for fear of a foreign 'cultural invasion'?

-How do the Algerian pupils conceive of the whole matter of learning English and learning about English-speaking cultures?

4. Aims of the Study

Through this study, we aim at having a better understanding of culture teaching within foreign language education. We aim in particular at assessing the weight of the English language cultural component as incorporated in the Algerian textbooks of English that are currently used in the Middle and Secondary Schools. We also aim at investigating the teachers' understanding of culture teaching, and the way they actually deal with culture in their classrooms. Another aspect of this study is the analysis of the learners' views and perceptions of foreign language / foreign culture learning, and of their attitudes towards English-speaking cultures. The information collected will serve to make recommendations as to how best to teach about the target language cultural dimension in the Algerian context.

Further, this work sets out to design a culture training programme intended for prospective teachers of English, and to test its effectiveness in raising consciousness about the importance of culture in language teaching.

5. Hypotheses

To give insight in the problems raised in this study, the following hypotheses have been elaborated. The first one focuses on the textbooks; the second one pertains to the teachers; the third one is concerned with the learners; and the fourth one has to do with the training of pre-service teachers.

Hypothesis One We hypothesise that the socio-cultural component of the English language is either not incorporated or not adequately dealt with in the textbooks of English used in the Algerian schools.

Hypothesis Two We hypothesise that most of the Algerian teachers of English at both the Intermediate and the Secondary Levels are not conscious of the importance of incorporating the cultural component in foreign language teaching, and do not design activities to integrate it in their lessons. Hypothesis Three We hypothesise that the learners of English in the Algerian Middle and Secondary Schools are more interested in learning about the linguistic aspect (grammatical and phonological structures) than about the cultural one, and have rather negative attitudes towards English-speaking cultures.

Hypothesis Four If teachers to be had cultural training, they would be more likely to include the cultural component in their language lesson plans.

6. Research Means and Procedure

The hypotheses enunciated above entail the resort to several means of data collection. To begin with, this research work is led through a qualitative analysis that is underlain by 'a Textbook Evaluation Guide', elaborated by the researcher on the basis of published literature in the field of culture teaching and textbook evaluation. This textbook evaluation guide focuses on the treatment of the cultural content. It incorporates the following sections:

TEXTBOOK EVALUATION GUIDE TREATMENT OF CULTURAL CONTENT

1. General Descriptive Information - Name of textbook - Intended learners' level - Author(s) - Publisher - Year / place of publication - Number of pages 2. Rationale -What is the rationale for the textbook (goals, underlying approach, targeted skills)? -Is the goal for cultural instruction explicitly stated? Is it secondary to other goals? What is the goal of the presentation of cultural content? (to develop knowledge about the FC facts and artifacts: know about; to develop understanding of the underlying bases of the FC, that is its values, assumptions, beliefs: know why; to develop the ability to behave appropriately in foreign socio-cultural contexts: know how; and to develop knowledge about one's NC: know oneself, but also to develop positive attitudes towards the FC community). -What type of textbook does the book represent? (Traditional, Communicative, or Cultural / Linguistic, as identified by Damen, 1987)? Is the cultural component integrated in the course or is it treated as supplemental or optional material? Is it hidden (implicit) or secondary to linguistic skills? Is it given equal importance as the other language components?

3. Content 3.1. General Analysis - On which basis are the textbook units organized (functions, situations, structures, topics)? Does information on the TC form part of the core of the unit or is it added at the end of every unit or even presented in a separate unit at the end of the book? Does each unit address a different aspect of the TC?

- What cultural items are covered, big 'C' culture (i.e., what relates to literature, fine arts, social institutions, history, geography, technology and politics) or small 'c' culture (i.e., aspects of lifestyle or patterns of daily living, including the thought processes, beliefs and values of a given people)? Are the cultural items thematic universal (i.e., culture-general, relating to universal human problems and focusing on the general understanding of the nature of culture and culture learning) or thematic specific (i.e., culture specific, providing information about a specific TC, its components and patterns)? - What are the main topics covered? -How well are stereotypes, factual inaccuracies, oversimplification, omission and bias avoided? - Is the cultural content up-to- date? - Is it suitable to the learners' age, level, cultural background and interests? Are there types of cultural content that may be considered as 'unacceptable' or 'inappropriate'? - Is the cultural content suitable to the curriculum goals?

3.2. Micro-Social Analysis - Are the characters of the book credible? Are they presented as average (ordinary) personalities or as individuals? Do they display emotions? In what mood are they: always happy? Happy one moment, sad the next? Irritated, angry, aggressive, racist, tolerant? Does the textbook refer to intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships? -What cultural or social groups are represented? Are they representative of the TC people with regard to their age, social class, interests, mentality, family situation? Is there a reference to sub-cultural variation (i.e., sub-cultural groups based on age, social class, profession or other)? Does the textbook introduce the learners to famous TC figures? -What type of situations and interactions do the characters engage in? Are the characters portrayed in situations representative of a range of social interactions? Are they varied, interesting, basic, authentic, or not varied, uninteresting, trivial and artificial (limited as is often the case to consumer or tourist-oriented situations)? What image is depicted?

3.3. Macro-Social Analysis -What broad social facts about the TC are given, and on what basis are they selected? Are they selected arbitrarily? Is the amount of information adequate or limited? -Does the textbook include a description of some of the TC institutions? -Is the cultural content given a historical dimension (allowing a broader analysis and a more complete view)? Is historical material related to contemporary society? -Does the textbook provide adequate knowledge of the geography of the country in question? -Is there information on socio-political and socio-economic problems such as unemployment, immigration, crime ?

3.4. Intercultural Analysis - Is information presented in relation to one culture or is it presented in a comparative frame of reference? - Does the textbook offer an authentic reflection of the multicultural character of the foreign society? - Do cultural incidents occur? Do situations occur in which someone with a good mastery of the FL is not understood because of differences in culture-specific frames? - Is there a reference to the learners' NC? Does the textbook bring out similarities and contrasts between what is native and what is foreign? Does the textbook deal with the mutual representations of native and foreign societies? Does it avoid or relativize stereotypes ? Does it promote intercultural tolerance and understanding ? - Is there a reference to several TL-speaking cultures? To what extent does the textbook distinguish between British, American and other English-speaking cultures? - Is there any fragmentation in the presentation of data from different cultures?

3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Author (s) - Does the textbook contain general anonymous detached commentaries about the TC (more an outsider's view), or personal factual information contained in talk by the textbook characters (more an insider's view)?

- Is the cultural content presented with evaluative comment, either direct or implied? Is there any critical analysis of cultural matter on the part of the textbook author or any encouraging the learners to do so? (examples). - Are teachers and learners encouraged to consult additional material on the topics dealt with or do(es) the textbook author(s) present information in the book as the true and only picture of the FC? - How is the overall image one gets of the FC after going through the textbook units: a royal (perfect) image or a realistic one? Does the material only present a tourist (marginal) point of view, or does it give a fair, balanced picture of life in the FC? - Do(es) the textbook author(s) promote positive attitudes towards the TC? - Is the textbook free from ideological tendencies?

4. Techniques of Presentation of content - Is culture integrated in texts, dialogues and exercises? - By what techniques is the cultural content of the textbook presented? Are these techniques geared to comprehension (e.g., explanations, case studies) or production (e.g., role plays, problem solving activities), or both? - Is the cultural information provided in context and in a structured way or in the form of fragmented isolated facts? - What types of texts does the textbook contain? (dialogues, narratives, explanatory notes, songs, jokes, anecdotes, newspaper articles, proverbs, idioms, metaphors). - What does the textbook expect of learners and what does it offer to them? What opinion do(es) the textbook author(s) hold on the comprehension ability of the learners? Can learners only handle data and facts or should they be able to compare and judge materials? Should learners be able to think in an abstract way and understand differences in value systems and mentality? Do activities prepare learners to behave adequately when in contact with members from other cultures? Do activities invite learners to take in a foreign perspective?

- Have the cultural elements taken from the text and used in follow-up activities been carefully selected? (The elements popping up in exercises are often the only ones learners will remember. They may reinforce certain over-simplified judgements and distort the more diversified message of the text)

- Are insights that have been gained previously re-used in the course of the textbook? Is there progression? How is the cultural content graded? (from familiar to non-familiar; from observable to non-observable; according to linguistic difficulties; according to communicative functions). - Is the cultural content reprinted from original sources without change (authentic), reprinted with adaptation, or written for this textbook? - Are specific cultural items 'explained'? Would additional information or explanation be necessary? Is the descriptive vocabulary appropriate, unbiased? Is the language in the textbook authentic, not stilted, artificial or old-fashioned? Is it correct for the persons and relationships for which it is used? Does it (or not) imply value judgements and opinions? - Are there illustrations? Are they appropriate? Would any specific group be offended by any illustration(s)? Do they supplement the content effectively? Would learners need additional hints from the teacher to understand the cultural implications of the illustrations? Are there any photographs of people, places? (Black and white or coloured? Up-to-date or not?) Are there any drawings, cartoons, maps, diagrams? To what extent is the artwork unbiased (free of stereotypes), yet accurately and authentically conveying the cultural content? 5. Complements - How does the textbook fit in with the other textbooks? - Would a teacher using this book need specialized training? - Is a teacher's guide available? What assumptions are made about the teachers' awareness of the cultural context portrayed in the course material? What information is given about the culture items to be taught and what guidance is given about handling them? Are there any helpful notes about possible problems?

General Descriptive Information: it has to do with the name or title of the book, intended level, name of the author, year of publication.

Rationale: it is about the textbook goals, underlying approach, targeted skills. Furthermore, the type of the textbook is determined at this stage, on the basis of a taxonomy suggested by Damen (1987), Traditional, Communicative, or

Cultural/Linguistic, accordig to whether the cultural component is or not integrated in the course. Content: content deals with the core of the analysis. It subdivides into five subsections: General Analysis: it throws light on the structure of the units/files( whether based on functions, situations, structures, topics), the type of cultural items covered in these units (big C vs small c culture), and their suitability (to the pupils and the curriculum). Micro-Social Analysis: it looks closely at the characters that inhabit the book (whether credible or not, whether representative or not). Macro-Social Analysis: it relates to broad social facts about the target culture, its institutions, its history and geography, and socio-economic / socio-political problems. Intercultural Analysis: in this sub-section, reference is made to the inclusion of the pupils native culture or other target language-speaking cultures, and the way data from different cultures (if any) are handled. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Author: this sub-section draws attention to the author(s) attitude vis--vis the target culture, if reflected in the book. In the final section, Complements, the textbooks used at different levels are viewed in relation to each other. The teachers guide, if available, is also examined.

The textbook evaluation guide was applied on the following textbooks: -Spotlight on English, Book One (1e AM) -Spotlight on English, Book Two (2e AM) -Spring, Book Two (9eAF) -My New Book of English (1e AS) -The New Midlines (2e As) -Comet (3e AS).

To inquire into the teachers' beliefs and viewpoints about the approach, method and techniques of culture teaching, as well as the place of culture in the official textbooks,

questionnaires are designed and adapted to the targeted levels. The same research means is suitable when surveying the learners, to throw light on their views and attitudes as regards learning English and learning about English-speaking cultures.

On the other hand, the experimental (or quasi-experimental) design is adopted to test the fourth hypothesis. To enable the researcher to demonstrate the effectiveness of the independent variable (cultural training), different groups of subjects (pre-service teachers) who receive different opportunities are compared.

The control and experimental groups had a common 90-minute T.E.F.L class, once a week, about teaching in general, and FL teaching in particular. The experimental group had an extra 90-minute weekly session, for two months (April and May), devoted to a course on culture.

This course is designed as a pre-service teacher training seminar. In other words, it is intended for graduate students who are likely to be future teachers of English in the Secondary School, and in certain cases, the Middle School. It aims at drawing their attention to the importance of the cultural component in FL teaching / learning, to the fact that language teachers are not just teachers of language but of culture as well. Through this course, teachers to be are supposed to increase their awareness about culture and learn ways to pass this awareness on to their prospective pupils, in the framework of FL pedagogy. They are also supposed to learn the necessary professional terminology to reflect upon teaching practices.

The course is concerned with both theory and practice in that it combines a reflection on theoretical insights with practice -oriented tasks. The first part introduces the learners to theories about culture, culture learning and teaching, drawing on insights from relevant disciplines as anthropology and intercultural studies. It lays special emphasis on the interrelationship of language and culture, and the way the cultural context shapes communicative interactions at both verbal and non-verbal levels. The second part involves the learners in active task-based experiential training, linking theory to practice. The theoretical part of the course was presented to the students in the form of lectures based on exemplification and discussion. The practical side was tackled in a more student-centred procedure: learners were invited to work in groups

on a set of tasks linked to culture. The following table shows the aim(s) and outline of each course lesson. Aims and Outlines of the Culture Course Lessons Lesson T H E O R E T I C A L Three Culture, Language and Communica tion Two Characterist ics -To deepen One Heading Aim(s) introduce to Outline the -Definition of the the Concept of Culture . What Culture Is Not . What Culture Is the -Characteristics of 90 mn Timing

Definition of -To Culture

students

concept of culture.

and students'

knowledge Culture 90 mn

Elements of about culture through -Cultural Elements Culture a reference to its and

characteristics elements. -To point out

the -The Interrelationship of Language and Culture

interrelationships

language/culture and -The Linguistic Relativity language/culture/com munication. Hypothesis - The Interrelationship of Language, Culture and Communication -Culture and Non-Verbal 90 mn

P A R T Four The

communication Place -To throw light on the - The Place of Culture in

of Culture in place of culture in the the Foreign Language Foreign Language Teaching foreign course. language Course . Against Culture Teaching . For Culture Teaching -Culture or Cultures in the Foreign Language Course? 90 mn

-The Role of Culture in Language Teaching Approaches and Methods Five Principles of -To Culture Teaching introduce the -The Culture

students to principles Teaching/Learning of culture Process Rationale -The Intercultural Approach to Language Teaching -Questions about Culture Teaching 90 mn

teaching/learning.

Six

Integrating

-To

teach how

the -Integrating Culture into to Lessons on: 90 mn

Culture into students Language Lessons

integrate culture into . The four Skills lessons on language . Grammar and skills, grammar and Vocabulary vocabulary, literature. . Literature -Listing Cultural

P R A C T I C A L

Seven

Task-Based Culture Teaching (Part I)

-To involve the

students in active task Elements based experiential learning about culture -To introduce them to techniques to teach about culture. -Cultural Analysis of Proverbs -Reflecting on Behaviours across Cultures -Situational Exercise 90 mn

Eight

Task-Based Culture Teaching

-To involve the

students in active task -Critical Incidents based experiential learning about culture -To introduce them to techniques to teach about culture. (culture assimilator) -Culture Capsule and Cluster 90 mn

P A R T

(Part II)

7. Assumptions
This study is underlain by two major assumptions:

Assumption One Culture as related to language can lend itself to pedagogical considerations, i.e., can be accurately defined, sub-divided into teachable units, selected, graded, taught and tested.

Assumption Two It is also assumed that effective communication is more than a question of language proficiency. It presupposes, in addition, an awareness of the cultural aspect of the language.

8. Results
The analysis of the cultural contents of the textbooks of English used in the Algerian Middle and Secondary Schools has shown that the cultural component is either not incorporated, or not adequately dealt with in the coursebooks. This acts as a confirmation of the first hypothesis which underlies this research work.

In fact, the socio-cultural component of the English language is overlooked in the textbooks that have a mainly culture-general (at times purely technical) content, mostly Secondary School textbooks. Unlike culture-general textbooks, Culturespecific ones have the advantage of providing a range of clearly identifiable situations for the presentation and practice of language and culture items. They also lend themselves for the conception of characters who appear regularly throughout the course, conferring a sense of continuity to the material and of security and motivation to the learner who may identify with one or more of them. The TLassociated culture is also not given due care in the coursebooks that have a multicultural character, mostly Middle School textbooks. The task of understanding and relating to several cultures portrayed in the same coursebook that is meant for beginners is too great for any likely benefit accruing to justify it.

Additionally, the cultural component is, in all the books analyzed (except that of 3e AS), subservient to the structural and / or functional components. This fact has resulted in arbitrary cultural selections and fragmentary cultural contents, particularly in 'Spotlight on English Book One' (1e AM) and ' The New Midlines' (2e AS). The overall image the pupils get about the FC remains limited and far from being balanced and realistic. A further corollary is that cultural items are not spotlighted in most of the designed activities, but are left in the background to serve as context for the practice of structural and / or functional targets. Even the 3e AS coursebook, 'Comet', which encourages discussion of cultural facts and phenomena, is in need for more culture-oriented activities. In all the books we have viewed, there is no single instance of 'critical incidents', 'culture assimilators', 'cultural clusters' or 'case studies'. 'Spotlight on English Book One and Book Two' have a special section to 'Learn about Culture' which paradoxically includes none of the above mentioned activities. In book two, all that the culture section caters for is a passage, at times with no accompanying activity, to be 'optionally' read by the pupils, just for pleasure. Though both books are based on the 'project' pedagogy, the projects suggested are not likely to develop the pupils' knowledge about the FC, as they are related to culture-general topics.

Another point worth mentioning is that small 'c' deep cultural facts are not pointed out in the coursebooks. This is unfortunate, for many scholars believe that small 'c' culture stands for what a culture really is. Thus, by the end of 3e AS, the pupils would at best develop knowledge about some surface cultural matters, rather than true understanding of 'the other' and the 'other's' worldview and way of life.

The first teachers' questionnaire results have demonstrated that most of the teachers (whether at the Intermediate or the Secondary Level) are aware of the importance of the cultural aspect in FL teaching. Nevertheless, at least half of them do not have a clear view of what this awareness implies in terms of classroom procedures and time management. At times, they even showed inconsistent attitudes as to what should be done to teach about culture in an appropriate way. They admitted that they do not devise activities that promote cultural knowledge and understanding, and put it clearly that they need training and materials to improve themselves, in terms of the 'what' and the 'how' of culture teaching. Thus, our second hypothesis is partly

confirmed and partly not: the majority of the Middle and Secondary School teachers are conscious about the importance of culture in the FL classroom, but at least half of them do not translate this consciousness into practical classroom activities.

The second teachers' questionnaire results have revealed that the textbooks of English used in the Algerian Middle and Secondary Schools more or less include the socio-cultural component of the TL; most of them are rather based on a culturegeneral content. The results have also uncovered that even the newly designed, culture-oriented coursebooks meant for 1e AM and 2e AM, that is, 'Spotlight on English, Book One and Book Two' do not approach the cultural component in an adequate way. In all the books, the cultural content is predominantly restricted to the 'know what' facet, and is on the whole subservient to functional / linguistic elements. Some important culture-geared techniques are completely overlooked, even in 'Comet', the 3e AS coursebook, which is less concerned with linguistic skills and more focused on the cultural content. The present findings corroborate the ones obtained in the researchers analysis of the textbooks.

The analysis of the data collected from the pupils' questionnaire has revealed that at least three quarters of the pupils at the Intermediate Level, and at least two thirds of the pupils at the Secondary Level define English learning mostly in linguistic terms. In addition, it has uncovered that less than half the pupils' answers, at each level, pointed out USA as a country where they would least like to be, mainly on the grounds of political issues. It follows that the hypothesis we formulated in relation to the learners of English is partly confirmed and partly not: most of the Algerian Middle and Secondary School pupils do, indeed, regard the linguistic components as more important than the cultural one in English learning, but they do not on the whole have negative attitudes towards English-speaking cultures. As mentioned above, only one English-speaking culture (USA) was negatively highlighted, and not by all or most of the pupils. Besides, the majority of the learners think it worthwhile to learn about the English culture(s). It remains for them to see the relevance of culture to the language learning process itself, that is, to better visualize the interconnectedness of language and culture.

The experimental programme about culture has proved to be successful, for 41.38% of the students in the experimental group considered culture in their designed lesson plans. This is shown in the following graphs and tables:

Synthesis of the Results Obtained before the Treatment Period Group Evaluation + Culture - Culture Total Control Group N* 02 28 30 % 06.67 93.33 100 Experimental Group N* 04 25 29 % 13.79 86.21 100 Second Control Group N* % 03 14.71 18 85.71 21 100

Lesson Plans Evaluation Before the Treatment Period

30 25 20 Students 15 10 5 0 1

28 25

18

+ Culture - Culture

4 2

2 Groups

Synthesis of the Results Obtained After The Treatment Period Group Evaluation + Culture - Culture Total Control Group N* 05 25 30 % 16.67 83.33 100 Experimental Group N* 12 17 29 % 41.38 58.62 100 Second Control Group N* % 02 09.52 19 90.48 21 100

Lesson Plans Evaluation After the Treatment Period

25
25

20

19 17 12
+ Culture - Culture

15 Students

10

5
5

2 1 2
Groups

The Chi square test is used to confirm the relationship between the independent variable (cultural training) and the dependent variable (including the cultural component in language lesson plans). It is found out that the observed x 2 (=20.833) is higher than the tabulated critical value (=13.816), with 2 df, hence the rejection of the Ho.

In terms of which language aspect/skill was in focus in all lesson plans, the analysis yielded the following results:

Aspect / Skill in Focus in All Suggested Lesson Plans Language Aspect/Skill Grammar Pronunciation Vocabulary Listening Speaking Reading Writing Total n*: number of lesson plans Culture n* 54 07 02 38 06 39 14 160 % 33.75 04.37 01.25 23.75 03.75 24.38 08.75 100 + 03 01 / 09 02 13 / 28 % 01.88 00.62 / 05.63 01.25 08.13 / 17.50% 51 06 02 29 04 26 14 132 % 31.88 03.75 01.25 18.13 02.50 16.25 08.75 82.50

Aspect/Skill in Focus in All Lesson Plans

Writing 8.75% Reading; 24.38% Grammar; 33.75%

Pronunciation; 4.38%

Grammar Pronunciation Vocabulary Listening Speaking Reading Writing

Speaking; 3.75% Listening; 23.75%

Vocabulary; 1.25%

Detailed Lesson Plans Evaluation

60 50 40 Students 30 20 10 0
Gra mm ar Lis ten ing Pro nun cia tion Vo cab ula ry Sp eak ing Re adi ng Wr itin g

+ Culture - Culture

It is revealed that most of the lesson plans deal with 'grammar' (33.75%), or one of the receptive skills 'reading' and 'listening' (24.38% and 23.75%,

respectively)..Culture was catered for only in 17.50% of the overall number of lesson plans, mostly in those concerned with reading and listening. A larger percentage of the latter (i.e., 18.13% + 16.25% > 5.63% + 8.13%) did not integrate the cultural component, however. This can be clearly seen in Figure 22. This leads us to say that for many teachers-to be, teaching English means above all teaching grammar, listening or reading comprehension, without necessarily including the Englishspeaking culture. Another possible inference is that the participants find grammar and the receptive skills easy to teach compared to the other components (such as the cultural).

An undeniable fact is that for 58.62% of the students in the experimental group, culture is still a non-essential element in their lesson plans. This leads us to think that a lengthier or a more practice-oriented course on culture is required. Another equally important implication of this work is that if the FC is to be integrated in FL lesson plans, and hence FL classrooms, it is imperative to consider it in textbooks. Indeed, students turned to the current Middle or Secondary School English coursebooks to prepare 59.37% of the lesson plans provided. After all, that is what their teachers of

English used to do with them in schools. In many teaching settings, textbooks specify to a great extent what is presented in classrooms, hence their significance.

9. Overview of the Thesis

This thesis is made of a theoretical part including the first four chapters and a practical part subsuming the next five chapters.

Chapter one definition of 'culture' - examines anthropological and literary approaches to the concept of culture, and highlights the various shifts in significance that it witnessed over the course of time. The chapter also points to the diversity of cultures and their interaction.

Chapter two deals with the relationship culture, language and communication. It endeavours to demonstrate that language and culture are so intimately interwoven that they cannot be separated without losing their essence. This interweaving is particularly spotlighted in patterns of communication. The chapter surveys the principle trends in the study of language in context, and throws light on the cultural studies of communication.

Chapter three is a logical continuation of chapter two. It addresses the thorny issue of the place of culture in the language classroom. It describes different types of culture and shows their relevance to foreign language teaching / learning. It also presents an overview of the way the cultural component has been handled in the major language teaching approaches and methods. Chapter four is complementary to chapter three. Its aim is to argue for the systematic teaching of culture, and to demonstrate how foreign language teachers can incorporate it in their lessons. It features sections about the 'why', 'what', 'when' and 'how' of culture teaching, drawing on the works of prominent scholars in the field. Chapter five is devoted to the analysis of the cultural content of the textbooks of English used in the Algerian Middle and Secondary Schools. It seeks to test

hypothesis one. The analysis is based on a textbook evaluation guide that synthesizes several textbook evaluation models presented at the beginning of the chapter. Field investigation is the central focus of chapter six. It provides the context for testing hypotheses one and two. It explores the teachers' knowledge, views, and perceptions of foreign culture teaching in theory and in practice, as applied in relation to the coursebooks of English.

Chapter seven is also based on field work. It describes the pupils' impressions about learning the English language and learning about English-speaking cultures; it throws light on their feelings and attitudes towards these foreign cultures and their peoples. As such, it paves the way for testing hypothesis three.

Chapter eight reports on an experiment conducted in the framework of this study to test hypothesis four. It considers the question of pre-service teacher training, and the role it can play to promote the integration of the cultural aspect in language lesson(s) (plans). Chapter nine is based on the outcomes of the previous chapters. It outlines pedagogical implications in the form of suggestions and recommendations to syllabus designers, textbook writers, teacher trainers and teachers, to attempt to remedy the shortcomings associated with teaching about culture in the Algerian educational context.

CHAPTER ONE

DEFINITION OF CULTURE

Introduction

1. Approaches to Culture 1.1. What Culture Is Not 1.2. What Culture Is a Historical Account 1.3. Characteristics of Culture 2. The Structure of Cultures 2.1. Cultural Elements 2.1.1. Beliefs 2.1.2. Values 2.1.3. Assumptions 2.1.4. Behaviours 2.1.5. Rituals and Superstitions 2.1.6. Symbols and Myths 2.1.7. Taboos 2.1.8. Stereotypes and Prejudices 2.2. Cultural Dimensions 2.2.1. Cultural Differences and Similarities 2.2.1.1. Cultural Differences 2.2.1.2. Cultural Similarities 2.2.2. Cultural Conceptual Frames 2.2.2.1. Hofstede's Dimensions 2.2.2.2. Hall and Hall's Dimensions 2.2.2.3. Other Sets of Dimensions 3. Interaction of Cultures 3.1. Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous Cultures 3.2. Dominant vs. Minority Cultures 3.3. Culture Shock 3.4. Cultural Globalization or Cultural Imperialism? Conclusion

CHAPTER TWO

CULTURE, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

Introduction

1. A SocioCultural View of Language 1.1. Language and Context 1.1.1. Disciplines that Study Language in Context 1.1.2. Types of Context 1.2. Language and Culture 1.2.1. Original Interest in the Relationship Language / Culture 1.2.2. Nature of the Relationship 1.2.3. Illustrations 1.2.4. The English Language and Culture 1.3. The Linguistic Relativity hypothesis 1.3.1. Definition 1.3.2. Illustrations 1.3.3. Criticism 1.4. Language, Culture and Identity 1.4.1. Nature of the Relationship Language, Culture and Identity 1.4.2. IdentityRelated Issues 2. A Socio-Cultural View of Communication 2.1. Communication and Culture 2.1.1. Communication as a CultureSpecific Act 2.1.2. Culture in CrossCultural Communicative Interactions 2.1.3. Instances of CrossCultural Communication Breakdown 2.2. Cultural Studies of Communication 2.2.1. Ethnography of Communication 2.2.2. Intercultural Communication Studies 2.3. Beyond Communicative Competence 2.4. Culture and NonVerbal Communication 2.4.1. Culture and Kinesics 2.4.2. Culture and Proxemics Conclusion

CHAPTER THREE

THE PLACE OF CULTURE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Introduction

1. Approaches to Culture in Foreign Language Teaching 1.1. Against Culture Teaching 1.2. For Culture Teaching 1.2.1. Culture and Language Teaching 1.2.2. Arguments For Culture Teaching 1.2.2.1. Interdependence of Culture and Language 1.2.2.2. Interdependence of Culture and Communication 1.2.2.3. Culture and Learning Motivation 1.2.2.4. Intercultural Understanding 1.3. Our Viewpoint

2. Culture in the Most Common Language Teaching Approaches / Methods 2.1. The Grammar Translation Method 2.2. The Direct Method 2.3. The Audio-Lingual Method 2.4. Communicative Language Teaching 2.5. The Intercultural Approach

3. Culture or Cultures in the second/ Foreign Language Classroom? 3.1. Culture as Content 3.2. Culture of Communication 3.3. Culture of Learning 3.4. What Culture to Consider?

Conclusion

CHAPTER FOUR

TEACHING CULTURE

Introduction

1. Why Teach Culture 1.1. Rationale 1.1.1. Nature of the Culture Teaching / Learning Process 1.1.2. Principles of the Teaching of Culture 1.2. Objectives 1.2.1. Types of Objectives 1.2.2. How Much Culture to Teach

2. What and When to Teach 2.1. What Culture to Teach 2.1.1. Aspects of Culture to be Included 2.1.2. Criteria of Selection of Content 2.1.3. Progression 2.2. When to Teach Culture

3. How to Teach / Evaluate Culture 3.1. How to Teach Culture 3.1.1. Methods of Teaching Culture 3.1.2. Classroom Techniques 3.1.2.1. Common Techniques 3.1.2.2. Activities for Young Learners 3.1.2.3. Recommendations 3.1.3. Integrating Culture through the Four Skills 3.1.3.1. Listening Comprehension 3.1.3.2. Speaking 3.1.3.3. Reading Comprehension 3.1.3.4. Writing 3.1.4. Integrating Culture through Grammar and Vocabulary Lessons 3.1.5. Integrating Culture through Literature 3.1.5.1. Culture and Literature 3.1.5.2. A Cultural Approach to Teaching Literature 3.1.5.3. Culture in Literary Genres 3.1.6. Integrating Culture through Media

3.1.6.1. Importance of Media in the Language and Culture Classroom 3.1.6.2. Criteria of Selection of Media 3.1.6.3. Methodology of Presenting Culture through Media 3.2. How to Evaluate Cultural Learnings 3.2.1. Importance of Evaluating Cultural Learnings 3.2.2. Activities to Evaluate Cultural Learnings

4. Teacher's and Learners' Role 4.1. Teacher's Role 4.2. Learners' Role 4.2.1. Learners' Attitudes 4.2.1.1. Impact of Attitudes on Learning 4.2.1.2. Factors Shaping Attitudes 4.2.1.3. Improving Attitudes 4.2.2. Learners' Native Culture

Conclusion

CHAPTER FIVE THE PLACE OF CULTURE IN THE ALGERIAN TEXTBOOKS FOR ENGLISH

Introduction 1. Textbook Evaluation 1.1. Criteria of Textbook Evaluation 1.2. Textbook Evaluation Models 1.2.1. Skierso's Model 1.2.2. Byram and Escarte-Sarries' Model 1.2.3. Sercu's Model 1.2.4. Cortazzi and Jin's Model 1.2.5. Damen's Model 1.3. Textbook Evaluation Guide 2. Evaluation of Middle School Textbooks of English 2.1. Spotlight on English (1e AM) 2.1.1. General Descriptive Information 2.1.2. Rationale 2.1.3. Content 2.1.3.1. General analysis 2.1.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 2.1.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 2.1.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 2.1.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors 2.1.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 2.1.5. Complements 2.1.6. Recapitulation 2.2. The Second English Coursebook (2e AM) 2.2.1. General Descriptive Information 2.2.2. Rationale 2.2.3. Content 2.2.3.1. General Analysis 2.2.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 2.2.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 2.2.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 2.2.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors 2.2.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 2.2.5. Complements 2.2.6. Recapitulation 2.3. Spring (9e AF) 2.3.1. General Descriptive Information 2.3.2. Rationale

2.3.3. Content 2.3.3.1. General Analysis 2.3.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 2.3.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 2.3.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 2.3.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors 2.3.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 2.3.5. Complements 2.3.6. Recapitulation 3. Evaluation of Secondary School Textbooks for English 3.1. My New Book of English (1e AS) 3.1.1. General Descriptive Information 3.1.2. Rationale 3.1.3. Content 3.1.3.1. General Analysis 3.1.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 3.1.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 3.1.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 3.1.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Author 3.1.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 3.1.5. Complements 3.1.6. Recapitulation 3.2. The New Midlines (2e AS) 3.2.1. General Descriptive Information 3.2.2. Rationale 3.2.3. Content 3.2.3.1. General Analysis 3.2.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 3.2.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 3.2.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 3.2.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors 3.2.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 3.2.5. Complements 3.2.6. Recapitulation 3.3. Comet (3e AS) 3.3.1. General Descriptive Information 3.3.2. Rationale 3.3.3. Content 3.3.3.1. General Analysis 3.3.3.2. Micro-Social Analysis 3.3.3.3. Macro-Social Analysis 3.3.3.4. Intercultural Analysis 3.3.3.5. Analysis of the Standpoint of the Authors 3.3.4. Techniques of Presentation of Content 3.3.5. Complements 3.3.6. Recapitulation Conclusion

CHAPTER SIX TEACHERS IN ACTION: FIELD INVESTIGATION

Introduction

1. Means of Data Collection

2. The Sample

3. Middle and Secondary School Teachers' Questionnaire: Approach, Methods and Techniques of Culture Teaching 3.1. Description 3.2. Results and Discussion 3.2.1. Middle School Teachers' Questionnaire 3.2.2. Secondary School Teachers' Questionnaire

4. Teachers' Questionnaire: The Place of Culture in the Middle / Secondary School Textbooks of English 4.1. Description 4.2. Results and Discussion 4.2.1. Middle School Teachers' Questionnaire 4.2.2. Secondary School Teachers' Questionnaire

Conclusion

CHAPTER SEVEN PUPILS IN ACTION: FIELD INVESTIGATION

Introduction

1. The Sample

2. Middle and Secondary School Pupils Questionnaire

2.1. Description of the Questionnaire

2. 2. Middle School Pupils Questionnaire

2.3. Secondary School Pupils Questionnaire

Conclusion

CHAPTER EIGHT THE CULTURAL TRAINING OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS: AN EXPERIMENT

Introduction

1. Research Design

1.1. Participants 1.2. Procedures 1.3. Data Analysis

2. Results and Discussion

Conclusion

CHAPTER NINE PEDAGOGICAL RECOMMENDATIONS

Introduction 1. Syllabus Design and Textbook Development 2. The Professional Development of Teachers 3. Dealing with the Learners Conclusion

IN ARABIC

! . ) ( . . :

600

 : .1 . . .2 . . . : .3 . . . . . ............................: .4 . . . . . ............................: .5
..... . . . . . . ) ( . .

601

 : .6 .7 "" ........................................................... .8 ""

..................... . . . . . . . .

.9 .10 "" .................................. .11 .12 "" . . . . . ............................: .13

602

 .14 . . . : .15 .16 "" ....................................................... .17 ..... ........................................................................................ .18............................................................................ .19 ................................................ .20............................................................................ .21 ................................... .22............................................................................ .23 ............................... .24............................................................................ : .25 ......................................................... ........................................................................................ ........................................................................................ ........................................................................................ ........................................................................................ ........................................................................................

603

APPENDIXES

-APPENDIX I: Teachers' Questionnaire: Approach, Methods and Techniques of Culture Teaching. -APPENDIX II: Teachers' Questionnaire: -The Place of Culture in the Middle School Textbooks of English.

-The Place of Culture in the Secondary

School Textbooks of English. -APPENDIX III: Justifications for the Conception of the FC as a Threat to one's Native Cultural Identity (Middle School Teachers' Questionnaire; Q14). -APPENDIX IV: Justifications as to When to Introduce the FC (Middle School Teachers' Questionnaire; Q20). -APPENDIX V: Justifications as to How Much Time to Devote to the Cultural Component (Middle School Teachers' Questionnaire; Q24). -APPENDIX VI: Middle School Pupils' Questionnaire in English and in Arabic. -APPENDIX VII: Secondary School Pupils' Questionnaire (version in Arabic).

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APPENDIX I

MIDDLE AND SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS' QUESTIONNAIRE

APPROACH, METHODS AND TECHNIQUES OF CULTURE TEACHING

Dear teacher: This questionnaire is part of a research work. It aims at investigating the teacher's understanding of culture teaching, and the way culture is actually dealt with in foreign language classrooms. The information collected will serve to make recommendations as to how to teach, not only the English language, but also the culture(s) of English-speaking people. You are kindly requested to answer the following questionnaire. Please, tick the appropriate box (or boxes) () and make full statements whenever necessary. Your answers will be valuable for the completion of this work. May I thank you in advance for your collaboration.

MERROUCHE Sarah Department of Languages Faculty of Letters and Languages University of Constantine

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Section I: General Information 1-Status: a- Titulaire. b- Stagiaire. c- Supplant(e).

2- How long have you been teaching English? . ... 3- At which level? a- Middle school. b- Secondary school. Section II: Approach to Culture Teaching 4- Does learning / teaching a foreign language include learning / teaching about its corresponding culture? - Yes - No 5 If ''Yes'', for which reason? (Please tick the reason you think is most important.) a- Language and culture are interconnected. b- The cultural context is important in communication. c- Cultural knowledge motivates the pupils to learn the language. d- Cultural knowledge broadens the pupils' general knowledge. e- Cultural knowledge promotes attitudes of empathy and tolerance.

f- Other: Please, specify. .......... 6- What does '' culture '' mean to you? a- A set of behaviours, customs, rituals, patterned ways of living. b- A system of thoughts, assumptions, values and norms.

c- Literature and fine arts. d-Other: Please, specify. ... 7- What does culture teaching mean to you? a- Providing the pupils with information about the foreign culture facts and artifacts b- Developing the pupils' understanding of the underlying bases of the foreign culture (values, assumptions, beliefs ). c- Promoting the pupils' positive attitudes towards the foreign culture community

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d- Developing the pupils' ability to behave appropriately when in contact with a foreign culture. e- Enhancing the pupils' cultural self awareness. f- Other: Please, specify. ... 8- Is culture to be treated as: a- Supplementary optional material (i.e., to be dealt with when it incidentally occurs in texts and activities).

b- An integral part of language learning (i.e., to be deliberately included in texts and activities).

9- If ''a'', why? ................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................................ 10- If ''b'', should the cultural component be considered on equal footing with the other language components? - Yes. - No.

11- If ''No'', why?................................................................................................................. ... 12-Should culture be taught /learned: a- Implicitly b- Explicitly c- Both

13- Do you think that learning about a foreign culture is a threat to one's native cultural identity? - Yes - No

14- Please, justify your answer Section III: Method of Teaching Culture 15-Foreign language teaching can be associated with several educational aims. Please, order the following aims from most to least important: from1 to 8. a- To develop an awareness of the nature of language and language learning. b- To break down prejudices and encourage positive attitudes to foreign language

564

learning, to speakers of foreign languages and their cultures . c- To promote learning of skills of more general application (e.g., analysis ,critical judgement ,memorising, drawing inferences). d- To develop an ability to use language effectively for purposes of practical communication. e- To develop an understanding of oneself and one's own culture . f- To form a sound basis of skills, language and attitudes required for further

study or work . g- To offer insights into the culture and civilization of the countries where the target language is spoken . h- To broaden one's general knowledge and to provide enjoyment.

16-Which culture(s) should be included in the English classroom? a- The British culture. b- The other English -speaking cultures (the American, the Australian,) c- The Arabic culture. 17- To teach about the target culture, should the teacher use : a- The English language. b- The Arabic language.

18- If ''b'', why? ... . 19- Do you think teaching about a foreign culture should be programmed right from the beginning levels of foreign language learning? -Yes - No

20- Please, justify your answer .. 21- Do you select teaching materials on the basis of their: a- Structural simplicity. b- Cultural context.

c- Appeal to learners. d- Other: Please, specify .. .......

565

22- Which topics or themes should pupils be introduced to ? a- Daily life and routines. b- Festivities and customs. c- Beliefs and values. d- History. e- Art. f- Literature. g- The foreign country's significance for Algeria. h- Ethnic relations and racism.

i- Stereotypes. j- Other: Please, specify. Section IV : Techniques of Teaching Culture 23- How much of classroom time should, in your opinion, be devoted to the cultural component? a-An integral part of a language lesson. b -Few minutes at the beginning or the end of a language lesson. c-None.

24- Please, explain why . .. 25- Do you devise special activities to teach about culture? - Yes - No

26- If ''Yes'', which ones?................................................................................................... 27- Do you design activities to relate the foreign culture to the pupils' cultural environment and background? - Yes - No

28- Do you encourage the pupils to reflect upon their own culture in the light of the foreign culture ,and to view both cultures critically? - Yes - No

566

29- Do you make use of media to teach about culture? - Yes - No 30- What aids are available in your school? a- Pictures, photos. b- Models. c- Maps. d- Magazines, encyclopaedias. e- Tape recorders.

f- Videos. g- Projectors. h- CD-ROMs.

i- Internet. j- Other: Please, specify..

31- Do you believe a teacher should use :

c- Group and classroom discussions. d- Culture assimilators. e- Culture quizzes.

a- Critical incidents. b- Cultural capsules and clusters.

f- Problem solving activities. g- Role plays and simulations. h- Songs and poems. i- Projects.

j- Case studies. k- Other: Please, specify..

Section V: The Language Teacher and Culture 32- Do you think it is the language teacher's duty to teach about the foreign language culture? - Yes - No 33- Do you consider a language teacher to be: a- A guide and a facilitator of the learning process. b- A source of knowledge about language and culture.

c- A cultural mediator able to bridge intercultural gaps. d- Other: Please, specify . . . 34- Do you think it is the professional duty of the language teacher to encourage positive attitudes towards the language and the culture? - Yes - No 35- If ''Yes'', what do you do to achieve this aim? a- To attempt to reflect a positive, idealistic view of the culture.

b- To attempt to reflect a realistic, may be negative view of the culture. c- Other: Please, specify .. .

567

36- Do you think that you have in-depth knowledge about English-speaking cultures to teach about them ? - Yes - No

37- Did your initial training as a teacher adequately prepare you for teaching about the cultural component ? - Yes - No

38- What do you feel you need most? a- Textbooks and teacher's manuals adequately incorporating the target culture. b- Culture teaching-training programmes. c- Study visits to English-speaking countries to reinforce your cultural experience. d- Other: Please, specify .. . Section VI: Further Suggestions 39- Do you have any further suggestions or comment? . ......................................................................................................................................... . . .

568

APPENDIX II

TEACHERS QUESTIONNAIRE

-THE PLACE OF CULTURE IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS OF ENGLISH

-THE

PLACE

OF

CULTURE

IN

THE

SECONDARY

SCHOOL

TEXTBOOKS OF ENGLISH

569

TEACHERS' QUESTIONNAIRE

THE PLACE OF CULTURE IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS OF ENGLISH

Dear teacher: This second questionnaire is part of the same research work. It aims at assessing the weight of the cultural component as incorporated in the textbooks of English that are currently used in the Algerian Middle School. The information collected will serve to make recommendations for an effective use of these textbooks to teach about culture. You are kindly requested to answer this questionnaire. Please, tick the appropriate box (or boxes) () and make full statements whenever necessary. May I thank you in advance for your collaboration.

MERROUCHE Sarah Department of Languages Faculty of Letters and Languages University of Constantine

570

Section I: General Assessment 1- Do the following textbooks take account of the cultural component of the English language? Textbooks Spotlight on English-Book one (1e AM) Spotlight on English-Book two (2 e AM) Spring-Book two (9e AM) 2- If ''Yes'', are you satisfied with the way they cater for the cultural component? Textbooks 1e AM 2e AM 9e AF 3- If ''No'', please, explain why. - 1e AM......... - 2e AM. - 9e AF .. Section II: Approach to Culture 4- What is the cultural content of the textbooks about? Options Textbooks 1e AM
2 AM
e

Yes

No

Yes

No

9 AF

a- Behaviours, customs, rituals, patterned ways of living. b- Thoughts, assumptions, values and norms. c- Literature and fine arts. d- History, geography, politics, social institutions. e-Other: Please, specify 5- How is culture learning/teaching implied in the textbooks? Options Textbooks
1 AM
e

2 AM

9 AF

a- Developing knowledge about the foreign culture facts and artifacts. b- Developing understanding of the underlying bases of the foreign culture (values, assumptions, beliefs). c- Developing the ability to behave appropriately in foreign socio-cultural contexts. d- Developing knowledge about oneself.

571

6- Do you think that the cultural component is considered on equal footing with the other language components? Textbooks 1e AM 2e AM 9e AF Yes No

7- If ''No'', which component(s) is (are) given more importance: Options a- Grammar. b- Pronunciation. c- Communicative functions. d- Communicative situations e- Other: Please, specify.. 8- Is the cultural component: Options a- Integrated in texts/dialogues. b- Integrated in activities. c- Treated as supplementary optional material. 9- If ''c'', is it: Options a- Added at the end of the unit. b- Presented as a separate unit at the end of the textbook. c- Other: Please, specify.. 10- Is culture approached: Options a- Implicitly. b- Explicitly. c- Both. 11 - Do the textbooks promote positive attitudes towards English and English-speaking cultures? Textbooks
1 AM
e

Textbooks

1 AM

2 AM

9 AF

Textbooks

1 AM

2 AM

9 AF

Textbooks

1 AM

2 AM

9 AF

2 AM

9 AF

572

Textbooks 1 AM 2e AM 9e AF
e

Yes

No

Section III: Method of Teaching Culture 12- Is the cultural content presented: Options a- Realistic. b- Up-to-date. c- Comprehensive. d- Structured (not fragmented). e- Free of stereotypes and bias. 13- Is it: Options a- Suitable to the pupils' level b- Suitable to the pupils' cultural background. c- Suitable to the curriculum goals. 14- What does the cultural content of the textbooks reflect? Options a- The British culture. b- Other English-speaking cultures. c- Culture in general (as a universal human phenomenon) 15- If ''b'', which English-speaking cultures are depicted? - 1e AM......... - 2e AM. - 9e AF .. 16- Do the textbooks incorporate the pupils' native culture? Textbooks 1 AM 2e AM 9e AF
e

Textbooks

1e AM

2e AM

9e AF

Textbooks

1 AM

2 AM

9 AF

Textbooks

1 AM

2 AM

9 AF

Yes

No

573

17- If ''Yes'', do they bring out similarities and contrasts between what is foreign and what is native? Textbooks 1 AM 2e AM 9e AF 18- Do the textbooks take into account the mutual representations of native and foreign societies? Textbooks 1e AM 2e AM 9e AF 19- Do the textbooks refer to the stereotypes of races and cultures? Textbooks 1 AM 2e AM 9e AF 20-Which of these types of texts do the textbooks contain: Options Textbooks
1 AM
e

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

2 AM

9 AF

a- Dialogues seeded with cultural information or based on situations typical of the foreign culture. b- Cultural narratives (fiction and non-fiction). c- Explanatory cultural notes. d- Songs and poems. e- Jokes and anecdotes. f- Newspaper articles. g- Proverbs, idioms, metaphors. h- Other: Please, specify.. 21- What main cultural topics are covered? - 1e AM - 2e AM.. - 9e AF

574

22- Is the cultural content given a historical dimension? Textbooks 1 AM 2e AM 9e AF 23- Are culture-specific items (objects, words, concepts) explained? Textbooks 1e AM 2e AM 9e AF 24- If ''Yes'', do the explanations given imply value judgements? Textbooks 1 AM 2e AM 9e AF 25- Are different sub-cultural groups (based on age, social class, profession or other) represented in the books? Textbooks 1e AM 2e AM 9e AF 26- In what mood are the characters of the books? Options Textbooks a- Always happy. b- Happy one moment and sad the other. c- Irritated. d- Angry. e- Racist. f- Tolerant. g- Other: Please, specify.. Yes No
e e

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

1 AM

2 AM

9 AF

575

27- Are negative and problematic aspects of the foreign culture touched upon? Textbooks 1 AM 2e AM 9e AF 28- Are different perspectives on aspects of the foreign culture presented? Textbooks 1 AM 2e AM 9e AF 29-If ''No'', are teachers and pupils encouraged to consult additional materials on the cultural aspects dealt with? Textbooks 1e AM 2e AM 9e AF 30- Are the textbooks structured and sequenced according to: Options a- Grammatical structures. b- Cultural themes. c- Communicative functions. d- Communicative situations. e- Other: Please, specify. 31- How is the cultural content graded? Options a- From familiar to non-familiar aspects. b- From observable to non- observable aspects. c- According to linguistic difficulties. d- According to communicative functions. e- Other: Please, specify.. Textbooks
1 AM
e

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Textbooks

1e AM

2e AM

9e AF

2 AM

9 AF

576

32- Are previously gained cultural insights reviewed in the course of the textbooks? Textbooks 1 AM 2e AM 9e AF Section IV: Techniques of Teaching Culture 33- Are there activities that promote cultural knowledge and understanding? Textbooks 1e AM 2e AM 9e AF 34- If ''Yes'', which ones? - 1e AM - 2e AM .. - 9e AF 35- Are these activities: Options a- Comprehension-oriented. b- Production-oriented. c- Both. 36- Do the textbooks include: Options a- Critical incidents. b- Cultural capsules and clusters. c- Group and classroom discussions. d- Culture assimilators. e- Culture quizzes. f- Problem-solving activities. g- Role plays and simulations. h- Culture projects. i- Case studies. j- Other: Please, specify... Textbooks
1 AM
e

Yes

No

Yes

No

Textbooks

1 AM

2 AM

9 AF

2 AM

9 AF

577

37- Are the pupils supposed to: Options a- Handle data and facts. b- Compare and critically judge materials. c- Think in an abstract way and understand differences in value systems and mentality. d- Produce language (or behave) appropriately in socio-cultural contexts. 38- Are there instances of situations in which an individual with a good mastery of English is not understood because of culture-based differences? Textbooks 1 AM 2e AM 9e AF 39-Is there any artwork (pictures, diagrams, maps) in the textbooks? Textbooks 1 AM 2e AM 9e AF 40- If ''Yes'', does it contribute to the understanding of the target culture? Textbooks 1 AM 2e AM 9e AF 41- Do you analyze with the pupils the non-verbal ''messages'' contained in pictures and other illustrations? - Yes - No
e e e

Textbooks

1 AM

2 AM

9 AF

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

42- If ''No'', why ?.. Section V: The Teacher and the Textbooks' Cultural Content 43- Are you familiar with the cultural aspects introduced by the textbooks? 578

Textbooks 1 AM 2e AM 9e AF
e

Yes

No

44-Do you find it 'difficult ' to handle parts of the textbooks' cultural content, and hence need specialized training to use them effectively? - Yes - No 45- Are there types of cultural content that you have found culturally 'inappropriate' or 'embarrassing'? Textbooks 1e AM 2e AM 9e AF 46- If ''Yes'', which one(s)? - 1e AM - 2e AM .. - 9e AF 47- How did you handle them? a- Used them as the coursebook(s) suggested. b- Dropped them altogether. c- Adapted them in some way. Yes No

48- If ''c'', how? (Please explain briefly) ....

49- Do the textbooks used at different levels fit in with each other? - Yes - No

50- If ''No'', why? .

51- To what extent do you rely on the textbooks to teach about culture? a- Completely b- To some extent c- Not at all

579

52- Why?............................. . 53- Do you design (in addition to what the textbooks offer) materials to supplement teaching with respect to culture? - Yes - No

54- If ''No'', why?................................................................................................................. 55- If ''Yes'', how? . . 56- Do the teachers' manuals provide further information about the target culture, and guidance as to how to present it to the pupils? Textbooks 1 AM 2e AM 9e AF
e

Yes

No

57- What do you suggest to improve the textbooks' cultural content? .. ... ... Section VI :Further Suggestions 58- Do you have any further suggestion or comment?................................................ ... ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................

580

TEACHERS' QUESTIONNAIRE THE PLACE OF CULTURE IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS OF ENGLISH

Dear teacher: This second questionnaire is part of the same research work. It aims at assessing the weight of the cultural component as incorporated in the textbooks for English that are currently used in the Algerian Secondary School. The information collected will serve to make recommendations for an effective use of these textbooks to teach about culture. You are kindly requested to answer this questionnaire. Please, tick the appropriate box (or boxes) () and make full statements whenever necessary. May I thank you in advance for your collaboration.

MERROUCHE Sarah Department of Languages Faculty of Letters and Languages University of Constantine

581

Section I: General Assessment 1- Do the following textbooks take account of the cultural component of the English language? Textbooks My New Book of English (1eAS) The New Midlines (2eAS) Comet (3eAS) Yes No

2- If ''Yes'', are you satisfied with the way they cater for the cultural component? Textbooks 1e AS 2e AS 3e AS Yes No

3- If you think that there are inadequacies in the way the cultural component is catered for, where do you think they lie (Please explain briefly) - 1e AS......... - 2e AS. - 3e AS ..

Section II: Approach to Culture 4- What is the cultural content of the textbooks about? Options Textbooks 1e AS
2e AS 3 AS
e

a- Behaviours, customs, rituals, patterned ways of living. b- Thoughts, assumptions, values and norms. c- Literature and fine arts. d- History, geography, politics, social institutions. e-Other: Please, specify

5- What does culture learning/teaching mean to the textbooks' authors?

582

Options

Textbooks

1e AS

2e AS

3 AS

a- Developing knowledge about the foreign culture facts and artifacts. b- Developing understanding of the underlying bases of the foreign culture (values, assumptions, beliefs). c- Developing the ability to behave appropriately in foreign socio-cultural contexts. d- Developing knowledge about oneself. 6- Do you think that the cultural component is considered on equal footing with the other language components? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS
e

Yes

No

7- If ''No'', which component(s) is (are) given more importance: Options a- Grammar. b- Pronunciation. c- Communicative functions. d- Communicative situations e- Other. 8- Is the cultural component: Options a- Integrated in texts/dialogues. b- Integrated in activities. c- Treated as supplementary optional material. 9- If ''c'', is it: Options a- Added at the end of the unit. b- Presented as a separate unit at the end of the textbook. c- Other: . Textbooks
1 AS
e

Textbooks

1 AS

2 AS

3 AS

Textbooks

1 AS

2 AS

3 AS

2 AS

3 AS

583

10- Is culture approached: Options a- Implicitly. b- Explicitly. c- Both. 11 - Do the textbooks promote positive attitudes towards English and English-speaking cultures? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS
e

Textbooks

1 AS

2 AS

3 AS

Yes

No

Section III: Method of Teaching Culture 12- Is the cultural content presented : Options a- Realistic. b- Free of stereotypes and bias. c- Accurate. d- Up-to-date. e- Structured (not fragmented). f- Comprehensive. 13- Is it: Options a- Suitable to the pupils' level b- Suitable to the pupils' cultural background. c- Suitable to the curriculum goals. 14- What does the cultural content of the textbooks reflect? Options a- The British culture. b- Other English-speaking cultures. c- Culture in general (as a universal human phenomenon) Textbooks
1 AS
e

Textbooks

1 AS

2 AS

3 AS

Textbooks

1e AS

2e AS

3 AS

2 AS

3 AS

584

15- If ''b'', which English-speaking cultures are depicted? - 1e AS......... - 2e AS. - 3e AS ..

16- Do the textbooks incorporate the pupils' native culture? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS 17- If ''Yes'', do they bring out similarities and contrasts between what is foreign and what is native? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS 18- Do the textbooks take into account the mutual representations of native and foreign societies? Textbooks 1e AS 2e AS 3e AS 19- Do the textbooks refer to the stereotypes of races and cultures? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS 20-Which of these types of texts do the textbooks contain: Options Textbooks
1 AS
e

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

2 AS

3 AS

a- Dialogues seeded with cultural information or based on situations typical of the foreign culture. b- Cultural narratives (fiction and non-fiction).

585

c- Explanatory cultural notes. d- Songs and poems. e- Jokes and anecdotes. f- Newspaper articles. g- Proverbs, idioms, metaphors. h- Other 21- What main cultural topics are covered? - 1e AS......... - 2e AS. - 3e AS .. 22- Is the cultural content given a historical dimension? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS 23- Are specific cultural items explained? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS 24- If ''Yes'', do the explanations given imply value judgements? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS 25- Are different sub-cultural groups (based on age, social class, profession or other) represented in the books? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS
e e e e

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

586

26- In what mood are the characters of the books? Options Textbooks a- Always happy. b- Happy one moment and sad the other. c- Irritated. d- Angry. e- Racist. f- Tolerant.

1 AS

2 AS

3 AS

27- Are negative and problematic aspects of the foreign culture touched upon? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS 28- Are alternative perspectives on aspects of the foreign culture presented? Textbooks 1e AS 2e AS 3e AS 29-If ''No'', are teachers and pupils encouraged to consult additional materials on the cultural aspects dealt with? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS 30- Are the textbooks structured and sequenced according to: Options a- Grammatical structures. b- Cultural themes. c- Communicative functions. d- Communicative situations. e- Other Textbooks
1 AS
e

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

2 AS

3 AS

587

31- How is the cultural content graded? Options a- From familiar to non-familiar. b- From observable to non- observable. c- According to linguistic difficulties. d- According to communicative functions. Textbooks
1 AS
e

2 AS

3 AS

32- Are previously gained cultural insights reviewed in the course of the textbooks? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS
e

Yes

No

Section IV: Techniques of Teaching Culture 33- Are there activities that promote cultural knowledge and understanding? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS 34- If ''Yes'', which ones? - 1e AS......... - 2e AS. - 3e AS .. 35- Are these activities: Options a- Comprehension-oriented. b- Production-oriented. c- Both.
e

Yes

No

Textbooks

1 AS

2 AS

3 AS

36- Do the textbooks include:

588

Options a- Critical incidents. b- Cultural capsules and clusters. c- Group and classroom discussions. d- Culture assimilators. e- Culture quizzes. f- Problem-solving activities. g- Role plays and simulations. h- Songs and poems. i- Culture projects. j- Case studies. 37- Are the pupils supposed to: Options a- Handle data and facts.

Textbooks

1 AS

2 AS

3 AS

Textbooks

1 AS

2 AS

3 AS

b- Compare and critically judge materials. c- Think in an abstract way and understand differences in value systems and mentality. d- Produce language (or behave) appropriately in socio-cultural contexts. 38- Are there instances of situations in which someone with a good mastery of English is not understood because of culture-based differences? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS 39-Is there any artwork (pictures, diagrams, maps) in the textbooks? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS 40- If ''Yes'', does it contribute to the understanding of the target culture? - Yes - No
e e

Yes

No

Yes

No

589

41- Do you analyze with the pupils the non-verbal ''messages'' contained in pictures and other illustrations? - Yes - No

42- If ''No'', why ?.. Section V: The Teacher and the Textbooks' Cultural Content 43- Are you familiar with the cultural aspects introduced by the textbooks? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS 44-Do you find it 'difficult ' to handle parts of the textbooks' cultural content, and hence need specialized training to use them effectively? - Yes - No 45- Are there types of cultural content that you have found culturally 'inappropriate' or 'embarrassing'? Textbooks 1e AS 2e AS 3e AS 46- If ''Yes'', how did you handle them? a- Used them as the coursebook(s) suggested. b- Dropped them altogether. c- Adapted them in some way. Yes No
e

Yes

No

47- If ''c'', how? (Please explain briefly) .... 48- Do the textbooks used at different levels fit each other? - Yes - No

49- If ''No'' why? .

590

50- To what extent do you rely on the textbooks to teach about culture? a- Completely b- To some extent c- Not at all 51- Do you design (in addition to what the textbooks offer) materials to supplement teaching with respect to culture? - Yes - No

52- If ''No'', why?................................................................................................................. 53- If ''Yes'', how? . . 54- Do the teachers' manuals provide further information about the target culture, and guidance as to how to present it to the pupils? Textbooks 1 AS 2e AS 3e AS
e

Yes

No

55- What do you suggest to improve the textbooks' cultural content? .. ... ... Section VI :Further Suggestions 56- Do you have any further suggestion or comment ?................................................ ... ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................

591

APPENDIX III
Justifications for the Conception of the FC as a Threat to ones Native Cultural Identity ( Middle School Teachers' Questionnaire; Q14) Affirmative Answer: 1. There is a link between learning about a foreign culture and ones native cultural identity (2). 2. The teacher should be careful when selecting cultural material (2). 3. This type of learning is clearly a threat to ones native cultural identity. 4. The pupils may imitate foreign behaviours, putting by so doing ones native culture on the margin. 5. Learners have a great ability to acquire what is new. 6. Pupils should rather learn more about what surrounds them. 7. A foreign culture means a foreign society, foreign behaviours, foreign traditions. Negative Answer: 1. It is a good thing to know about other cultures. 2. To have a view of a foreign civilization. 3. Learners will learn something new in addition to their native culture. 4. The aim is to learn how to communicate (2). 5. It rather broadens the learners general knowledge. 6. Our native culture is distinct from the English one. 7. Learning a foreign language opens up the learners to the world and broadens their general knowledge (2). 8. Pupils should learn about what is positive in other cultures. 9. Learning about a foreign culture means learning more about the world. 10. Learning about a foreign culture enables us to know more about other cultures and compare them with our own (2). 11. One must know about all cultures and languages. 12. Learning about something is different from acquiring it. 13. We need to know more about other cultures. 14. It is not a threat since the learners have already learnt about what is native'' (3). 15. To learn about a foreign language means to learn a foreign culture. 16. Learning about a foreign culture is rather a positive thing.

592

APPENDIX IV
Justifications as to When to Introduce the FC (Middle School Teachers' Questionnaire; Q20) Right from the Beginning Levels of FL Learning: 1. To enable the pupils to have a good level in the language and the culture (2). 2. Language and culture should be interconnected (2). 3. In order to motivate the learners to read, to do research, to ask questions. 4. Its better for pupils to learn a foreign language and a foreign culture when they are young (2). 5. To achieve our aims; to enable the pupils to reach a high level in English (2). 6. This would help pupils be familiar with the foreign language and foreign culture from their early age (4). 7. From easy to difficult. 8. To train teachers and learners to deal with it progressively (2). 9. The beginning is the most important and most difficult step. 10. It motivates the pupils and provides enjoyment (2). 11. Cultural knowledge should start in early age to be easily assimilated. 12. To raise the learners awareness about the foreign culture and make them distinguish between theirs and the foreign one (2). 13. A foreign culture needs long years to be assimilated (long-term goals). 14. To enable the pupils to assimilate the target language. 15. Teaching a foreign culture at beginning levels provides the pupils with useful knowledge needed in later stages of foreign language learning/teaching (2). 16. This would facilitate the learning/teaching process''. 17. Pupils must have a solid basis in the language and the culture, right from the beginning (2). At Later Stages of FL Learning: 1. Its difficult for 11 year-old kids to deal with the foreign culture. 2. There should be a kind of progression in teaching about a foreign culture (2). 3. Learning a foreign language is not based on learning a FC. At the beginning pupils should learn grammar. 4. In beginning levels, we teach the pupils how to speak, read and write (basis of the language).

593

APPENDIX V
Justifications as to How Much Time to Devote to the Cultural Component (Middle School Teachers' Questionnaire; Q24) An Integral Part of a Language Lesson: 1. Enough time should be devoted to culture. 2. Culture cant be dealt with in few minutes, Teachers have to explain, illustrate and analyse learners feedback. 3. Culture is an integral part of language. 4. As referred to in the syllabus. 5. Time is an important factor in teaching. 6. Enough time is needed if pupils are to grasp cultural targets. 7. Culture cannot be separated from language (4). 8. The Cultural component is basic in language learning. 9. Culture is difficult to teach. Few minutes are not enough (2). 10. To provide the pupils with a comprehensive picture of the foreign culture. 11. Two hours are devoted to culture in each textbook file. Few Minutes at the Beginning or the End of a Language Lesson: 1. Culture is not a basic element for foreign language learners. 2. Culture is to be conceived as a lead-in or a game (2). 3. As beginners, learners must not be bored or annoyed by the cultural component. One has to be brief in teaching the cultural component. 4. In order not to waste time. 5. Few minutes are enough to introduce a cultural point during a lesson. 6. Learners are not in need to know all what is related to culture. 7. Learners need to learn the language not culture. 8. There are other skills to teach. 9. This is in harmony with the official programme according to which one must teach more grammar than culture. 10. Pupils need to learn about culture progressively.

594

APPENDIX VI

MIDDLE SCHOOL PUPILS QUESTIONNAIRE

(IN ENGLISH AND IN ARABIC)

595

MIDDLE SCHOOL PUPILS' QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear pupil,

This questionnaire is part of a research work. You are kindly requested to answer it. Please, tick the appropriate box (or boxes) () and make full statements whenever necessary (in English or in Arabic). May I thank you in advance for your collaboration.

MERROUCHE Sarah Department of Languages Faculty of Letters and Languages University of Constantine

596

Section I: General Information 1- Sex: - Male. - Female. 2- Level: - 1e AM. - 2e AM. - 9e AF.

Section II: Language Learning 3-Are you learning English because: a- It is the language of technology and scientific research. b- You like this language and you want to know more about its speakers and their culture(s). c- Its mastery is required to get a good job. d- It is a compulsory school subject. e- Other: Please, specify .. 4- What does learning English mean most to you? a- Learning how to build words and sentences. b- Learning the meanings of words and sentences. c- Learning how to pronounce words and sentences. d- Learning about the culture(s) of English-speaking people. e- Other: Please, specify.

5- What activities are, in your opinion, most effective to learn English? a- Word-building and sentence completion exercises. b- Vocabulary exercises (searching for synonyms, antonyms). c- Transcription (pronunciation) exercises. d- Role plays. e- Classroom or group discussions. f- Problem-solving practice. g- Watching and analysing foreign films. h- Other: Please, specify. .

Section III: Culture Learning 6- Do you think that it is important to know about the culture(s) of English-speaking people, their way(s) of life, their worldview(s)? - Yes. - No.

597

7- If '' No'', why?............................................................................................................. . .. 8- If ''Yes'', about which topics would you like to know more? a- Daily life and routines. b- Festivities and customs. c- Beliefs and values. d- History. e- Art. f- Literature. g- The foreign country's significance for Algeria. h- Other: Please, specify... ...

9- Do you think that learning about the culture(s) of English-speaking countries will have negative effects on you? - Yes. - No.

10- If ''Yes'', in what way? .. ........................................................................................................................................ 11- Do you find your English textbook useful to learn about the culture(s) of English speaking countries? - Yes. - No. 12- If ''No'', what would you like to be added to it? a- (More) texts about culture. b- (More) activities to practise cultural learnings. c- (More) photos, pictures. d- (More) songs, poems .

e- Other: Please, specify .. .. 13- Does your English teacher deal with the culture of English-speaking countries? - Yes - No 14- How much of the foreign culture do you think you have learned up to now? a- Much b- Little c- Very little

598

Section IV: Attitudes towards English and English-Speaking Cultures 15- Do you generally enjoy your English class? - Yes - No

16- If ''No'', why?....................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................................ ........................................................................................................................................ 17- If you were to have foreign friends, which nationality would you most like them to be?............................................................................................................................... 18- Why?..................................................................................................................... . .............. 19-Which nationality would you least like them to be?............................................ 20- Why?...................................................................................................................... .. 21- If you imagine living in a developed country, where would you most like to be? .. 22- Why? .. .. 23- Where would you least like to be?..................................................................... 24- Why? .. ........................................................................................................................................ Section V: Further Suggestions 25- Do you have any further suggestions? .. ..

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APPENDIX VII

SECONDARY SCHOOL PUPILS' QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear pupil,

This questionnaire is part of a research work. You are kindly requested to answer it. Please, tick the appropriate box (or boxes) () and make full statements whenever necessary (in English or in Arabic). May I thank you in advance for your collaboration.

MERROUCHE Sarah Department of Languages Faculty of Letters and Languages University of Constantine

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Section I: General Information 1- Sex: - Male. - Female. 2- Level: - 1e AS Scientific. - 1e AS Literary. - 2e AS Scientific. - 2e AS Literary. - 3e AS Scientific. - 3e AS Literary.

Section II: Language Learning 3-Are you learning English because: a- It is the language of technology and scientific research. b- You like this language and you want to know more about its speakers and their culture(s). c- Its mastery is required to get a good job. d- It is a compulsory school subject. e- Other: Please, specify ..

4- What does learning English mean most to you? a- Learning how to build words and sentences. b- Learning the meanings of words and sentences. c- Learning how to pronounce words and sentences. d- Learning about the culture(s) of English-speaking people. e- Other: Please, specify. 5- What activities are, in your opinion, most effective to learn English? a- Word-building and sentence completion exercises. b- Vocabulary exercises (searching for synonyms, antonyms). c- Transcription (pronunciation) exercises. d- Role plays. e- Classroom or group discussions. f- Problem-solving practice. g- Watching and analysing foreign films. h- Other: Please, specify.

Section III: Culture Learning 6- Do you think that it is important to know about the culture(s) of English-speaking people, their way(s) of life, their worldview(s)? 605

- Yes. - No.

7- If '' No'', why?.............................................................................................................. . .. 8- If ''Yes'', about which topics would you like to know more? a- Daily life and routines. b- Festivities and customs. c- Beliefs and values. d- History e- Art. f- Literature. g- The foreign country's significance for Algeria. h- Other: Please, specify... ...

9- Do you think that learning about the culture(s) of English-speaking countries will have negative effects on you? - Yes. - No.

10- If ''Yes'', in what way? .. .. 11- Do you find your English textbook useful to learn about the culture(s) of Englishspeaking countries? - Yes. - No. 12- If ''No'', what would you like to be added to it? a- (More) texts about culture. b- (More) activities to practise cultural learnings. c- (More) photos, pictures. d- (More) songs, poems .

e- Other: Please, specify .. .. 13- Does your English teacher deal with the culture of English-speaking countries? - Yes - No 14- How much of the foreign culture do you think you have learned up to now? a- Much b- Little c- Very little

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Section IV: Attitudes towards English and English-Speaking Cultures 15- Do you generally enjoy your English class? - Yes - No

16- If ''No'', why?....................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................................ ........................................................................................................................................ 17- If you were to have foreign friends, which nationality would you most like them to be?............................................................................................................................... 18- Why?..................................................................................................................... . .............. 19-Which nationality would you least like them to be?............................................ 20- Why?...................................................................................................................... .. 21- If you imagine living in a developed country, where would you most like to be? .. 22- Why? .. .. 23- Where would you least like to be?..................................................................... 24- Why? .. ........................................................................................................................................ Section V: Further Suggestions 25- Do you have any further suggestions?

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RESUME
Lobjet de cette thse est lincorporation de lenseignement de la culture dans les classes de langues trangres. Laccent est mis sur la manire dont est trait laspect culturel dans les manuels danglais de lcole algrienne, du moyen et du secondaire. Un essai est en outre labor afin dvaluer les enseignants en terme de comprhension de la culture et enseignement de la culture, la faon dont ils sy prennent en classe, et leur opinion concernant sa place dans les livres quils utilisent. Il est galement important dexaminer comment les lves peroivent la langue trangre et lapprentissage de la culture, et voir leurs attitudes lgard de Parler Cultures - Anglais. Enfin, un programme de formation sur la culture, dstin aux futurs enseignants danglais, est labor et son efficacit est teste. Le travail est bas sur une analyse qualitative ncessitant un guide valuatif, deux questionnaires pour les enseignants, un questionnaire pour les lves et une exprience. Le guide valuatif concerne le traitement du contenu culturel dans le manuel danglais. Les questionnaires / Enseignants explorent leurs connaissances et leurs opinions sur lenseignement de la culture trangre en thorie et pratique selon son application en relation avec les livres scolaires. Le questionnaire / Elves met la lumire sur leurs opinions et leurs attitudes en face de la langue trangre et lapprentissage de la culture trangre. Lexprience permet de cerner la question de la formation de futurs enseignants et son rle pour promouvoir lintgration de la culture dans les leons de langues. Les rsultats obtenus rvlent que laspect culturel dans les manuels scolaires est soit nglig, soit considr dune faon inadquate; quau moins la moiti des enseignants ne lincluent pas dans leurs leons de langues, soient-ils conscient de sa valeur ; et que la plupart des apprenants donnent plus dimportance aux lments linguistiques alors que leurs attitudes face Parler Cultures Anglais ne sont pas ngatives. Le programme exprimental a t positif pour environ la moiti des participants. Des recommandations sont donc suggres aux directeurs de programmes, aux auteurs de livres et aux enseignants, en vue de remdier au dficit et de rformer lenseignement de la culture lcole algrienne.


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