Importance of Intercultural Language in Foreign Language Education - Coursework Example

Critique of an article Institution: Name: Critique of an article 1. The study explores how the intercultural language is important in foreign language education and it emphasizes the interdependence of culture and language. The author argues that language learners who are looking forward to study or work in multicultural setting should be both interculturally and linguistically competent in order to be effective intercultural communicators. This study reports on empirical study carried on Vietnamese English as a foreign language student’s and teacher’s perception of language learning and teaching and classroom practices from an intercultural perspective. According to the author, culture is a very complex issue and there are various definitions of the term culture. There are three significant concepts of culture to this study. The author uses the three concepts and relates them to language learning and teaching in a multicultural setting (Croker, 2009, p. 19). In the study, the author explores various previous studies on how students and teachers perceive the cultural dimension of language learning and teaching in distinct contexts. It is argues that teachers might find it challenging to teach culture in the same manner they teach vocabulary or grammar. The author further emphasizes that intercultural language learning entails developing with learners an effective understanding of their own culture and language in relation to additional culture or language (Kiet, Ho Si Thang, p. 47). 2. The research design is true experimental and data is qualitatively collected via case study using interviews, questionnaires and observation of teachers and students. There is use of control groups, random selection of the subjects, and random assignments to experimental and control groups. The advantage of true experimental design is that there is greater internal validity and it is possible for the author to investigate all the casual claims. The participants were organized into a controlled group making the process true- experimental. 200 EFL students and 14 EFL teachers drawn from two Vietnam University took part in the study. A high proportion of the teachers who took part have been teaching English for about 10 years. The students who took part in the study, English was their major and they were drawn from first year through to fourth year of study. Eight EFL teachers took part in 12 classroom observations in ten language skills and two American cultures lessons. The American culture lessons American languages, people and USA geographical information. The language skills lessons entailed different aspects of daily life. Systematic observation scheme was used examine every lesson and to ensure reliability. Hence drawing from Nunan 1989, various criteria were out into consideration and they included student role, task goals, teacher role, the task, the kind of task and setting. Structured questions were also used for the purpose of interview and 200 students took part. Focus-group interviews were also used and 53 students took part. In the analysis, the students and teachers interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis while descriptive statistics were used to analyze the questionnaire. One of the advantages of the descriptive analysis is that provide simple analysis about the measures and samples. Hence, the method forms the basis of quantitative analysis of data in addition to summarizing data (Kiet, Ho Si Thang, p. 49). 3. The findings indicate that Vietnamese students and teachers perception on the classroom practices and cultural dimension corresponds with that of previous researches. For instance, it is evident that teachers in most cases prioritize language teaching and does not emphasize on cultural teaching. It is also evident that students do not rank culture in same way in which they rank other aspects of language. However according to Croker (2009, p. 34), it is important for language teachers to have interest in studying culture. This is because teachers have to teach the culture of other countries The author further perceives language as part of culture and vice versa and they cannot be separated. It has been argued that language acquisition has no universal sequence. However, it is different across cultures. Additionally, in order for one to become a competent member of the society, one must be involved language exchanges in particular situation. The author further found out that facts-oriented approach to teaching of culture in the classroom practices of teachers can be advantageous to Vietnamese EFL learners and particularly in a context whereby learners do not interact with others. However, other researchers have criticized this particular approach because the approach does not appreciate the fact that culture is a social construct (Dornyei, 2007, p. 11). This study has clearly provided particular insights on the student and teacher perception in addition to classroom practices. Drawing from the findings, it is evident that Vietnamese EFL students and teachers treat culture learning and teaching as one of the subordinate goal in EFL classes. This is because the students and teachers classroom practices are influenced by their various perceptions of the existing cultural dimension of language learning and teaching (Keith. 2003, p. 64). It is evident that EFL education has various implications which can be drawn from culture needs, and linguistic focus in the language lessons. The author emphasizes the importance of including culture in all of language lessons. Culture needs to be included at the beginning of every lesson in language learning. In order to eliminate the language barriers for English beginners, culture can be addressed using simple ways such as using language daily and through greetings (Nunan, 1992, p. 45). Furthermore, it is important for teachers to move cultural facts transmission and hence explore other alternative strategies for teaching culture and handle issues of culture in a systematic manner. It is important for the teachers to develop an integrated approach of culture learning and teaching. This will enable learners in culture learning not only affectively and behaviorally but also cognitively. Schmitt & Sonbul (2010, p. 34), just like the author states, it is important for teachers to ensure that learners are willing and motivated in culture learning. Additionally, cultural exchanges and social interactions with different cultures need to encouraged in order to enhance the interest and curiosity of other students in learning culture of other people. It is also important to develop the learners’ intercultural skills, which are essential for the learners to portray effective intercultural communication. Nonetheless, further research is still needed to examine the relationship between culture and language and how the two aspects are manifested in learning of a language at different stages of language proficiency. Moreover, it is recommended that there should be further investigation on the correlation between learners’ intercultural competence and linguistic competence. This will make cultural component to be awarded same status as language component. Nunan & Barley (2009, p. 78), supports this and argues that if both intercultural competence and language component are developed, learners are likely to communicate effectively within an intercultural context. 4 The researcher presents various evidence in the study to support all of its conclusions and to some extent the evidence are convincing. We are told that 200 EFL students and 14 teachers took part in the study. The study does not specify the student’s grades, their cultural backgrounds and even the cultural backgrounds of the teachers. It could have been ideal if the researcher could have specified the participants based on gender i.e male and female. Moreover, little information is provided about the participants. The researcher does not inform on the procedure that was used to select the participants. Furthermore, the researcher could have provided additional information on the selected lessons for the study (Halliday, 2007, p. 34). The researcher could have used a control group in gauging teacher’s and student’s perception on language learning and teaching. This could have strengthened the internal validity of the whole research. On the students views and priorities on culture learning, the data analysis used seemed to be complicated for the nonprofessional. The researcher could have used tables and presented the data in percentage particularly when reporting on the priorities of the students in learning English language (Canh, 2002, p. 61). On the priorities of students in language learning, the priorities are grouped into culture, phonetics, vocabulary and grammar. The author analyses the data and uses mean and standard deviation. This data could have been analyzed further and graphs or pie charts used. The author further represents the priorities of the students for topics in language learning. The table shows cultural beliefs and values, daily life and routines and types of verbal communication. This information is well presented because it clearly shows the topics that the students preferred and it is a clear indication that they prefer language learning over culture. Examining the study, there are other issues that need to be taken into consideration to make the claims of the author very convincing. The author could have clearly stated the context of the study and grouped the students into grades. However, despite the shortcomings, the conclusions, the arguments and definition of the term are all justified via the evidence presented. Moreover, the author have clearly defined the term culture and related it to language learning and teaching. The student’s priorities in learning language and culture are clearly shown. Hence, through the conclusion, the author answers his research questions. 5. The author seeks to examine the relationship between culture and language learning and teaching among EFL Vietnamese students and teachers. The researcher uses qualitative research and social constructionism approach. This is a significant approach in language learning and teaching. Furthermore, the research is not only theory oriented but rather on phenomenon, i.e how different kinds of social phenomenon are constructed. However, it has been argued that social constructionism are too unrealistic and superficial and therefore not ideal for studying language and culture (Bock, 2000, p. 90). To some extent the study is objective in that its goal is to provide factual data on the relationship between language and culture. There is assumption that for one to successfully explore a given context, it is possible to prioritize the element of culture as well as language learning and teaching. To some extent, the research is naturalist in that the study is carried within a naturalist context, i.e classroom. The perception is that it is not possible to isolate the aspect of culture from language teaching and learning in order to answer the research questions. Furthermore, it seems that the researcher is emphasizing the fact that it is important to relate whole of the research process to the linguistic context, sociocultural and the participants. The variables are controlled. The assumption is that this will assist the author to arrive at reliable and valid conclusion that make it possible to generalize whole findings to the rest of the population and concluded that culture and language in language teaching and learning are correlated. The author collected the data for the study, hence reliable that could sufficiently answer the research question (Byram, 1997, p. 78). References Bock. G (2000). Difficulties in implementing communicative theory in Vietnam. Teachers edition, 2,24-30. Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Clevedon: multilingual matters. Canh, L.V. (2002). Sustainable professional development of EFL teachers in Vietnam. Teachers edition, 10,32-37. Croker, R. (2009). An introduction to qualitative research, in Juanita Heigham & Robert A. Croker (eds) qualitative research in applied linguistics: a practical introduction, Uk: Palgare Macmillan. Dornyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford: oxford university press. Halliday. M. (2007). Doing and writing qualitative research. Macmillan: London. Keith. R. (2003). Qualitative inquiry in TESOL/. New York: Kiet, Ho Si Thang. (n.d). An intercultural perspective on teaching and learning in the Vietnamese EFL classroom. University of Sydney papers in TESOL. 6, 43-69. Nunan, D & Barley, K.M. (2009). Exploring second language classroom. A comprehensive guide. Boston: Heinle. Nunan, D. (1992). Research methods in language learning. New York: Cambridge university press. Schmitt, N & Sonbul, S. (2010). Direct teaching of vocabulary after reading: is it worth the effort?. Direct teaching of vocabulary after reading. ELT Journal volume 64/3. Read More

Structured questions were also used for the purpose of interview and 200 students took part. Focus-group interviews were also used and 53 students took part. In the analysis, the students and teachers interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis while descriptive statistics were used to analyze the questionnaire. One of the advantages of the descriptive analysis is that provide simple analysis about the measures and samples. Hence, the method forms the basis of quantitative analysis of data in addition to summarizing data (Kiet, Ho Si Thang, p. 49). 3.

The findings indicate that Vietnamese students and teachers perception on the classroom practices and cultural dimension corresponds with that of previous researches. For instance, it is evident that teachers in most cases prioritize language teaching and does not emphasize on cultural teaching. It is also evident that students do not rank culture in same way in which they rank other aspects of language. However according to Croker (2009, p. 34), it is important for language teachers to have interest in studying culture.

This is because teachers have to teach the culture of other countries The author further perceives language as part of culture and vice versa and they cannot be separated. It has been argued that language acquisition has no universal sequence. However, it is different across cultures. Additionally, in order for one to become a competent member of the society, one must be involved language exchanges in particular situation. The author further found out that facts-oriented approach to teaching of culture in the classroom practices of teachers can be advantageous to Vietnamese EFL learners and particularly in a context whereby learners do not interact with others.

However, other researchers have criticized this particular approach because the approach does not appreciate the fact that culture is a social construct (Dornyei, 2007, p. 11). This study has clearly provided particular insights on the student and teacher perception in addition to classroom practices. Drawing from the findings, it is evident that Vietnamese EFL students and teachers treat culture learning and teaching as one of the subordinate goal in EFL classes. This is because the students and teachers classroom practices are influenced by their various perceptions of the existing cultural dimension of language learning and teaching (Keith. 2003, p. 64).

It is evident that EFL education has various implications which can be drawn from culture needs, and linguistic focus in the language lessons. The author emphasizes the importance of including culture in all of language lessons. Culture needs to be included at the beginning of every lesson in language learning. In order to eliminate the language barriers for English beginners, culture can be addressed using simple ways such as using language daily and through greetings (Nunan, 1992, p. 45).

Furthermore, it is important for teachers to move cultural facts transmission and hence explore other alternative strategies for teaching culture and handle issues of culture in a systematic manner. It is important for the teachers to develop an integrated approach of culture learning and teaching. This will enable learners in culture learning not only affectively and behaviorally but also cognitively. Schmitt & Sonbul (2010, p. 34), just like the author states, it is important for teachers to ensure that learners are willing and motivated in culture learning.

Additionally, cultural exchanges and social interactions with different cultures need to encouraged in order to enhance the interest and curiosity of other students in learning culture of other people. It is also important to develop the learners’ intercultural skills, which are essential for the learners to portray effective intercultural communication. Nonetheless, further research is still needed to examine the relationship between culture and language and how the two aspects are manifested in learning of a language at different stages of language proficiency.

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