Article 10: Reflections on language and culture in foreign language teaching

Abstract

In any foreign language teaching, teachers emphasize linguistic knowledge rather than approaching socio-cultural aspects. There are several reasons that make it difficult to include cultural competence in the courses: limited classroom hours, pre-established and delimited contents, textbooks that do not allow adequate work, teachers who do not have knowledge about culture, lack of orientation on which aspects of culture are relevant etc. But to think that it is possible to dissociate the cultural aspects of linguistic knowledge in the teaching of foreign languages "‹"‹is to take a naive view of the process of teaching language learning, since every individual is an integral part of the culture of their community or society. The student who does not have access to such knowledge tends to develop verbal and non-verbal behaviors unsuitable for native speakers. Knowing that attitudes are appropriate in each situation of communication is as important as knowing the linguistic structures that should be valued in these situations, therefore it is fundamental in foreign language teaching to consider the cultural aspects from its use.