Teaching culture, as you all know, is an integral part of teaching a foreign language. Just think about your own learning experience. It was, and still is as has always been, very common to come accross with units in textbooks devoted to christmas, easter, or these kinds of cultural elements. These units included written or and/or audio-visual materials to help students learn about new vocabulary and concepts on the target culture.
Without any debate, we have all accepted that teaching of such cultural elements is of vital importance for learners. This is also relevant to the aims of communicative approach in teaching, as language and culture are insaparable. BUT I AM SURE, NOTHING IS UNQUESTIONABLE FOR BRILLANT TEACHERS LIKE YOU!!! What about dedicating a unit to THE FEAST OF THE SACRIFICE in a textbook for teaching English as a foreign language in Turkey ? Do you think that it is scientific and appropriate for teaching and learning goals?
I am quiet sure you've heard about the term globalism many times, but what about glocalism? What about teaching a foreign language using your own cultural values or signs? Suppose that you have McDonalds in your street, but you can have kebap or kofte beside cheesburger (that is what they have done wihin the last decade following glocalization instead of globalization).
So my friends, please be as critical as possible and comment on this discussion. Should we use native cultural elements in teaching English, or 100% target culture is the absolute solution? Your comments are welcome...
Olcay
Posts
