Assignment 2

January 17th 2014

Course: Pragmatics
Student: Diana Martinovi
Teaching and culture
In this paper I will focus on cross-cultural issues in classroom context. There are
various definitions of culture. Cutting claims that culture is connected to other elements there is a connection between culture, language learning and politeness. Culture and
language learning is a major variable in differentiating one culture from another along the
lines of politeness and saving face. (Cutting, 1998: 51) Cutting also claims that the use of
indirectness can be understood only in connection with culture. In some cultures, for
example, a lecturer making suggestions to a student directly, bald on record, because of their
status. (Cutting, 1998: 51)
My personal experience has shown that teachers are very important when it comes to
learning about other cultures. In my classroom context as a novice teacher, I had to teach in a
bilingual class with an American student on an exchange programe. When they were supposed
to be reading a short text on the movie Gattaca, the author mentioned a scientist who claims
that the American culture desires this need for genetic perfection and gene manipulation is a
result of this bad influence. This is when culture becomes important and by asking those
learners about their opinions, they share the knowledge which is crucial in understanding how
culture can affect them. However, I did not ask the American learner what their opinion was
and I noticed how important intercultural communication is important. What I noticed was
that the author did not show an objective view of American culture.
Teaching about culture should be a part of the curriculum. Those who wish to
communicate in English, as students and young learners should get introduced to the culture
of the English speaking nations. On a wider level an increasing number of countries include
cultural awareness and intercultural learning as part of their educational and language
teaching policies to promote international understanding and world peace. (Brewster, Ellis &
Girard:2002, 146)
The authors mention the definitions of the two terms mentioned above. Cultural
awareness refers to an awareness that we are affected in our actions by culture. Intercultural
learning refers to the ability to see oneself as part of a larger community, to contrast cultures,

to be aware that a different language is embodying different cultural beliefs, behaviors and
meanings. (Brewster, Ellis & Girard:2002, 146)
Teachers in general should be aware of the importance of learning about culture since
this way a wide range of cultural issues are developed and that this kind of cross-cultural
understanding and tolerance tends to have the effect of making young people more aware of
their own culture. (Brewster, Ellis & Girard:2002, 146)
However, it is interesting to see whether and how teachers introduce culture into
everyday classroom. Starting from young learners, Kubanek and German say that early
learners could be encouraged to take an interest and develop a positive attitude towards
foreign countries and their culture. ((Brewster, Ellis & Girard:2002, 147)
In their contact with the L2, they will often learn a range of details about the target
culture, everyday life, traditional elements of childrens lore, such as songs, rhymes, games,
stories, special festivals, celebrations. ((Brewster, Ellis & Girard:2002, 148)
Since childrens knowledge of culture will be used when they become adults, and
especially in communication, research done by Djigunovic and Vilke may be important. They
claim that with younger learners, it may be more useful to teach communicative strategies. In
creating a model of a successful communication, Djigunovic and Vilke have stressed the
following characteristics: 1. the learner speaks fluently 2. Is able to retell a story 3. Is willing
to elaborate his thought 4. Uses the discourse level (narration) 5. Uses numerous acquisition
and communication strategies 6. Is highly proficient at the comprehension level (both lstening
and reading). (Djigunovic, Vilke:10). What they achieve at this stage of life is going to help
them get to interpretation of a foreign culture and a better understanding of their culture as
well.
To conclude, learners of English should be aware of what it means to belong to a
certain culture, how cultures are different, how to use their current knowledge and develop it
further to complete their knowledge with a wider set of tools at their future work place which
would probably involve both cultural awareness and intercultural learning.

Bibliography
1. Brewster, Ellis & Girard (2002) The Primary English Teachers Guide
2. Cutting, J. (2008)Pragmatics and Discourse: A Resource Book for Students. 2nd ed.
London and New York: Routledge.
3. Mihaljevi Djigunovi, J. & Vilke, M. (2000) Eight Years After: Wishful Thinking vs
Facts of Life In J. Moon & M. Nikolov (eds) Research into Teaching English to Young
Learners, pp 66-86. Pecs: University Press PECS