© Université de Mostaganem, Algérie 2006
Culture Issues in FL Teaching Towards the
Fostering of Intercultural Awareness
Souryana Yassine Universit y of Tizi-Ouzou, Al geria Résumé :
L'enseignement des langues ét rangères pose t ouj ours le problème de la cult ure surt out quand cet enseignement int ervient dans un cont ext e plurilingue. Les concept eurs de programmes et de manuels scolaires sont souvent part agés ent re un désir d'encult urat ion car soucieux de préserver l'ident it é nat ionale des apprenant s et un vouloir s'ouvrir à l'aut re cult ure et donc de prôner l'int ercult uralit é. Ce dilemme caract érise et se ret rouve dans les dif f érent s manuels conçus pour l'enseignement de la langue anglaise en Algérie.
Mots-clés :
langues, plurilinguisme, int ercult uralit é, manuels, Anglais.
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Cult ure in Foreign Language Teaching (FLT) mat erials has of t en been subj ect t o discussion among prof essionals and t eachers f or many years because it involves t he "uncomf ort abl e" quest ion of t he relat ion of t he Self t o t he Ot her. In many cont ext s, t he int ricat e relat ionship bet ween language and cult ure does act ually st and as a problemat ic issue t hat det ermines and shapes t he design of t eaching mat erials. If designers hardly disagree about t he import ance of cul t ure as a component of FLT mat erials, t hey do not always agree about which cult ure best f it s as a cont ext of int roducing a new language mainly at t he earl y st ages of t his process. And of t en, t he choice of t he cult ural cont ent bot h ref lect s and result s on at t it udes hol d t owards t he t arget cul t ure whet her assumed or only implied.
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int ernat ional and cross-cult ural t olerance and underst anding. Our aim in t his paper is t o examine t he developing at t it udes of Algerian English t ext book designers t owards t he t arget cul t ure and t o show how t he t eaching mat erials st ep t owards f ost ering and developing learners’ int ercult ural awareness. Sharing H. E. Palmer’ s view t hat "it is t he early lessons which are going t o det ermine t he event ual success or f ailure of t he course" (Palmer 1995: 52) we have opt ed f or t he analysis of t wo t ext books meant f or Algerian learners at t heir f irst years of English st udy; Spring One and Spot light on English.
These t wo t ext books mirror t he changing and developing at t it udes hold by t he Algerian designers t owards bot h t he nat ional and t he t arget cult ures. These at t it udes seem t o range f rom reluct ance t o accept ance of int ercult uralit y. In ot hers words, t he designers seem t o gradually move t owards an int ercult ural perspect ive t hat t akes care of t he local cult ure and t he f oreign ones as well depart ing f rom t he previously hel d t endency t hat t ranslat ed a kind of reluct ance t owards t he f oreign cult ure.
1 - Culture, Interculturality and Intercultural Awareness:
All of t he concept s of cult ure, int ercult uralit y and cult ural awareness are of great relevance when dealing wit h FLT mat erials. In f act , language is a cult ural phenomenon t hat is best underst ood and t ransmit t ed wit hin t he scope of t he cult ure t hat shapes it .
1. Cult ure:
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societ y’ s cult ure consist s of what ever it is one has t o know or believe in order t o operat e in a manner accept able t o it s members, and t o do so in any role t hat t hey accept f or anyone of t hemselves. That knowledge is socially acquired; t he necessary behaviors are learned and do not come f rom any kind of genet ic endowment . (Goodenough cit ed in Wadhaugh 1992: 216).
If , as shown in t hese t wo def init ions, cult ure f or Kramsch and Goodenough involves accept able int eract ion wit hin t he group it def ines, f or Chris Rose (2004) it is rat her what makes t his group. In her t erms, cult ure is a way of lif e, a set of social pract ices, a syst em of belief s and a shared hist ory or set of experiences.
2. Int ercult uralit y:
Int ercult uralit y is best conceived as an act ive process of int erchange, int eract ion and cooperat ion bet ween cult ures emphasising t he similarit ies and considering t he cult ural diversit y as an enriching element . It promot es t he coexist ence bet ween several groups of dif f erent cult ures. Wolf gang Welsch (2000) when deal ing wit h t he not ion of int ercul t uralit y in his art icle "Transcult uralit y - t he Puzzling Form of Cult ures Today" rat her emphasizes t he ways in which cult ures get on wit h, underst and and recognize one anot her.
Taken in t he f ield of language t eaching, int ercult uralit y allows f or t he development of t he learners’ int ercult ural awareness, which is considered by recent pedagogy of paramount import ance t o successf ul learning.
3. Int ercult ural Awareness:
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at t it udes and skills among which Chris Rose (2004) list s t he f ollowing:
Observing, ident if ying and recording Comparing and cont rast ing
Negot iat ing meaning
Dealing wit h or t ol erat ing ambiguit y Ef f ect ively int erpret ing messages
Limit ing t he possibilit y of misint erpret at ion
Def ending one’ s own point of view while acknowledging t he legit imacy of ot hers
Accept ing dif f erence.
Seen as a compet ence, int ercult ural awareness is more t han a set of knowledge about various and dist inct cult ures t hat language l earners need t o mast er. It is rat her "an at t ribut e of personal out look and behavior… it emerges as t he cent ral but diversely const it ut ed core of int egrat ed curriculum". (Crawshaw: 2004).
2 - Culture Issues and FLT Materials:
Teaching mat erials cannot be value-f ree or neut ral. They t oo of t en ref lect on t heir designers’ assumed or implied at t it udes t owards cult ural cont ent . Furt hermore, t hey provide insight s about t he ideologies and t he paradigms t hat underlie t he choice of a specif ic approach t o FLT. The set of social and cult ural values which are inherent t o t he make-up of t eaching mat erials and which are somet imes only indirect ly communicat ed by t hem is what Cunningswort h (1995) ref ers t o as t he "Hidden Curriculum".
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consciously held but which nevert heless inf luence t he cont ent and image of t he t eaching mat erial and indeed t he whole curriculum. A curriculum (and t eaching mat erials f orm part of t his) cannot be neut ral because it has t o ref lect a view of social order and express a value syst em, implicit ly or explicit ly. (Cunningswort h, 1995: 90).
When aiming t o depict t his hidden curricul um, t he st udy and analysis of t eaching mat erials, hence, can provide valuabl e inf ormat ion about t he designers’ at t it udes t owards t he nat ional and t he t arget cult ures. In what f ollows, we are going t o at t empt t he analysis of t wo Al gerian Engl ish t ext books in order t o sort out t he dif f erent at t it udes t hey enclose and t o see how t hese at t it udes develop.
3 - Algerian English Textbooks:
As demonst rat ed above, t ext books can inf orm about t he ideologies and t he paradigms t hat underlie t eaching approaches choice. In f act , "Foreign language t eaching t ext books no longer j ust devel op concurrent ly wit h t he development of f oreign language pedagogy in a narrow sense, but t hey increasingl y part icipat e in t he general cult ural t ransmission wit h t he educat ional syst em and in t he rest of t he societ y". (Risager in Cunningswort h 1995: 90).
Thus aiming t o examine t he development of Algerian t ext book designers’ at t it udes t owards t he inclusion of f oreign and cult ural component s as part s and cont ext s of t he t eaching / learning process, we are int erest ed in t wo English t ext books: Spring One and Spot light on Engl ish. As st at ed in t he int roduct ion, we have opt ed f or t hese t ext books mainly because t hey are meant f or beginners believing t hat t he early cont act wit h t he f oreign language is of det erminant consequences t o t he success of any language course.
1. Descript ion of t he Text books:
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English t hat const it ut e t he main mat erials of our st udy. - Spring One:
Spring One is t he English t ext book conceived f or t he beginners and issued in (1900). It is int ended f or all t he pupils in t heir f irst year of English language st udy in t he Basic School. It cont ains t went y unit s. The t ext s of t he unit s are present ed in f orms of dialogues, int erviews and personal account s. Dif f erent sort s of act ivit ies and pract ices are relat ed t o t hese t ext s. Through t he t went y unit s Raf ik, t he main charact er, is present ed in dif f erent sit uat ions t hough const ant ly evolving in a t ypicall y Algerian cont ext .
The cont ent is organized around six main language f unct ions: Descript ion, Narrat ion, Socializing, Inst ruct ing, Quest ioning, and Planning. Each unit comprises seven sect ions: Input , Communicat e, Consolidat e, Read, Underst and, Writ e, and Relax.
The chief aim of t he t ext book being t o develop t he communicat ive abilit ies of t he pupils and make t hem f luent in English.
- Spot light on English:
Spot light on English is t he of f icial t ext book designed by t he Minist ry of Educat ion f or t he pupils in t heir f irst year of English st udy in t he Middl e school . The manual is a pedagogical document t hat handl es t he new of f icial syllabus adopt ed wit hin t he f ramework of t he recent Educat ion Ref orm.
The syllabus is communicat ively orient ed and t hemat ically organised. It is developed t hrough a pre-f ile f ollowed by seven f iles: Hello, Family and Friends, Sport s, In and Out , Food, Invent ions and Discoveries, Environment . Each f ile is present ed wit h varied colourf ul illust rat ions.
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Check and Your Proj ect .2. The Text books’ Cul t ural Cont ent s:
The evaluat ion of t he t ext books cult ural cont ent is based on Ferit Kilickaya’ s (2004) "Guidelines t o Evaluat e Cult ural Cont ent in Text book" (see appendix 1). A cont rast ive st udy of t he t wo t ext books reveals many result s t hat are summed up in t he f ollowing.
- Analysis Result s:
The designer’ s not es: t he designers’ f ore word in Spring One consist s of a short t ext in English t hat describes t he obj ect ives of t he t ext book. It does not include any explicit or implicit ref erence t o t he manual’ s cult ural cont ent . There is no indicat ion t o t he way t he t ext book woul d be used. On t he cont rary, in Spot light on English t he f ore word consist s of a relat ively long t ext in Arabic addressed t o t he l earners explaining t o t hem t heir act ive role in t he learning process. It overt ly deals wit h t he not ion of cult ure set t ing it wit hin an int ercult ural perspect ive. - Cult ure:
While Spring One includes exclusively nat ional cult ure in Spot light on English t he perspect ive is rat her one of int ercult ural scope. In t he f irst manual all t he set t ings and charact ers are made up Algerian. There is hardly a ref erence t o a f oreign charact er. But Spot light on English adopt s an int ercult ural perspect ive. Ref erence is made bot h t o t he learners’ f irst cult ure and t o a set of ot her f oreign cult ures. It point s t o t he parallels t hat are t o be drawn among vari ous world cult ures. Int ernat ional communicat ion t oo is present t hrough Int ernet chat .
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principles of t he Compet ency-based approach of f ers t hrough t he proj ect s more opport unit ies t o t he learners t o int eract using t he English language.
- Support ing Text s:
The aut hent ic t ext s in Spring One are rare and generally relat ed t o scient if ic subj ect s or t o int roduce prominent scient ist s. They t ry mainly t o present specif ic subj ect s t he learners st udy elsewhere so as t o f el icit at e t heir underst anding. The aim of such t ext s is mainly t o reinf orce t he idea of st udying English as a means t o gain access t o scient if ic cont ent . However, in Spot light on English t he aut hent ic t ext s deal wit h a varied set of t opics relat ed t o dif f erent cult ural f acet s such as music and f ood. There are also port rait s of art ist s.
- Discussion:
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place of f oreign languages in general and t hat of English in part icular are f ar f rom being set t led.
However, t he change in t he adopt ed paradigm in t he cont ext of t he recent Educat ional Ref orm can explain t he emerging of posit ive at t it udes t owards t he f oreign cult ure which is no longer seen as a t hreat . The move f rom a st ruct ural approach t o a communicat ive and even t o compet ency-based paradigms can account f or f ost ering of a cert ain int ercult ural awareness. In f act , t he compet ency-based t eaching relies basically on proj ect works, problem-solving sit uat ions and t ask-based-t eaching or pract ices t hat require more int eract ion and call f or cult ural compet encies t o cope wit h new sit uat ions and negot iat ions. It is t hen f or t he sake of int ercult ural awareness t hat Al gerian t ext book designers have included an import ant amount of t he nat ional cult ure besides t o t he ot hers cult ures wit hin t he mat erials f or t he t eaching of f oreign language. This may explain t he recent "cult ure-sensit ive" approach t o ELT which needs et hnographic act ion research t o be successf ul.
Throughout t he analysis of t he t wo t ext books and t he examinat ion of t heir hidden curricula it comes clear t hat t he at t it udes t owards t he f oreign cult ure are becoming more posit ive. More import ant t han t his, it st ands plain t hat t he perspect ive is one of f ost ering int ercult ural awareness. The pupils are guided t owards t his int ercult ural perspect ive in order t o gain sel f -est eem and t o learn t he respect of t he ot hers, in ot her words, t o be more t olerant .
Bibliography:
1 - Ansary, H. and E. Babaii (2002): "Universal Charact erist ics of EFL/ ESL Text books: A St ep Towards Syst emat ic Text book Evaluat ion", in The Int ernet TESL Journal, Vol. VIII, No. 2, February 2002.
2 - Byram, M. , Talkingt on, B. and Lengel, L. (2004): "Set t ing t he Cont ext , Highlight ing t he import ance, Ref lect ions on Int ercult uralit y and Pedagogy", in (www. lang. lt sn. ac. uk).
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Modern Language Courses in t he UK", in (www. lang. lt sn. ac. uk). 4 - Durant i, (1998) Linguist ic Ant hropology. Oxf ord Universit y Press.
5 - Kerr, P. (2004): "Thinking about Cult ure in Language Teacher Educat ion", in (elt . brit coun. org. pl).
6 - Kramsch, C. 1993: Cont ext and Cult ure in Language Teaching. Oxf ord Universit y Press.
7 - Kramsch, C. 1998: Language and cult ure. Oxf ord Universit y Press. 8 - Rose, C. (2004) "Int ercult ural Learning", in t eachingenglish. org. uk.
9 - St ern, (1983) Fundament al Concept s, in Language Teaching. Oxf ord Universit y Press.
Pour citer l'article :
Souryana Yassine : Cult ure Issues in FLT Towards t he Fost ering of Int ercult ural Awareness, Revue Annales du pat rimoine, Universit é de Most aganem, N° 05, 2006, pp. 47 - 56.
