A Perspective-Based Reading of Culture in English Language Teaching: From the Conventional Perspective to the Intercultural Language Teaching Perspective

Khaled Jebahi

doi:10.4236/ojml.2013.33029

Abstract

This paper reviews culture as perceived in a number of language teaching perspectives. The term “culture” and its relation with language has been a center of interest in different fields of studies. Because the term “culture” is borrowed between disciplines, it is understood differently and altered in the process by the goals and traditions of the borrowers. As such culture remains an elusive concept for the language teacher. Here, I attempt to understand how culture has been understood in different English language teaching perspectives in the last fifty years. This reading helps understand how change in the teaching approach affects how culture is dealt with in class and in teaching materials.

Highlights

This review article is an attempt to survey culture as perceived in a number of language teaching perspectives
Motivated by lack of a clear understanding of the term culture, mainly because of its being borrowed between the disciplines, this study aims at providing an articulate, cogent, and simplified reading of it
Differences and similarities between language teaching and learning perspectives are studied in such a way as to provide a clear and thorough understanding of the concept of culture and a clear analysis of other related key concepts in language teaching such as anthropology, postmodernism, critical applied linguistics, sociocultural theory, etc

Summary

A Perspective-Based Reading of Culture in English Language Teaching

This paper reviews culture as perceived in a number of language teaching perspectives. Because the term “culture” is borrowed between disciplines, it is understood differently and altered in the process by the goals and traditions of the borrowers. As such culture remains an elusive concept for the language teacher. I attempt to understand how culture has been understood in different English language teaching perspectives in the last fifty years. This reading helps understand how change in the teaching approach affects how culture is dealt with in class and in teaching materials

Introduction

Conclusion