Professional Documents
Culture Documents
materials
culture
in EFL
Cem Alptekin
Introduction
Schematic and
systemic
know/edge
136
the very process of language learning. For example, while a child from
the Anglo-American world will normally think of a dog as mans best
friend, Middle Eastern children are likely to perceive it as dangerous and
dirty. Similarly, whereas the image of the secondary-school teacher in
Japan is one of an intelligent, high-status, authoritarian, and humble male,
the image of the typical Anglo-American teacher does not necessarily
match these traits. It follows that when learners confront uses of the
foreign language they are acquiring, their natural inclination is to
interpret them in reference to this established association (Widdowson,
1990: 110).
The role of
schematic
knowledge in
language
acquisition
137
materials, the practical and theoretical rationale for the use of such
elements, and the social and psychological problems which ensue.
Following the discussion, certain suggestions concerning the use of
different types of schematic input in English language teaching are
offered, with a view to facilitating the language learning process.
Elements of the
target-language
culture in EFL
materials
Rationale
for
using elements
of
the targetlanguage culture
Commercial
considerations
One reason for EFL textbooks focusing on elements about the American
or British culture stems from the fact that it is generally not cost-effective
for publishers to set materials in the learners society, as such a decision
would cause other learners from other societies not to make use of the
materials in question on account of their irrelevance to their own cultures.
Furthermore, the schematic focus on the target-language culture may
offer a lucrative deal to the writer(s) as well as the publisher in those cases
where the textbook is made use of in both EFL and ESL contexts.
138
Cem Alptekin
Author
preference
Target language in
its own culture
Apart from such mundane matters that affect the determination of the type
of schematic input in EFL materials, one witnesses theoretical claims
about the necessity of teaching the target language in relation to its own
culture. In fact, various sources on the subject repeat the orthodox yet
unsubstantiated notion that language and culture are inextricably tied
together, and that it is impossible to teach a foreign language without its
culture base. Stewart (1982), for instance, regards the target-language
culture as an essential feature of every stage of foreign language learning,
and asserts that teaching the formal aspects of the foreign language while
referring to the native culture of the learner is virtually useless. Valdes
(1986: 121) considers the use of the native culture in foreign language
teaching a trap, leading to a gross misfit or an impasse. Besides, she
claims that it is virtually impossible to teach the foreign language without
its cultural content. Byram (1988) generally supports the belief that a
language cannot be taught separately from its culture. If this is done, he
says, it would lead to a denial of a purported fundamental purpose of
language learning, namely, giving learners the opportunity to cope with
experience in a different way.
Problems with
the rationale
Lack of experience
Alien modes of
behaviour
139
Acknowledgement
of learners needs
140
Cem Alptekin
Pedagogic
implications
141
as reference
Alptekin,
C. 1981. Sociopsychological
and
pedagogic considerations
in L2 acquisition.
TESOL Quarterly 15/3: 275-84.
Alptekin, C. 1988. Chinese formal schemata in ESL
composition.
British Journal
of Language
Teaching 26/2: 112-15.
Alptekin, C. 1990. A look into the use of nativespeaker teachers in EFL programs. TEFL Turkey
Reporter l/l: 5-9.
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Cem Alptekin
143