Confronting Local Dialect and Culture Issues in the EFL Classroom

Abstract

This article describes the experience of preparing Venezuelan EFL students at Lower Intermediate level to perform a Trinidadian dialect play before an international audience during a short course. The exercise was used to teach local culture in relation to the native culture of the students and also to teach functional and grammatical relations between the local Standard and Creole varieties. It also served to enhance a focus on pronunciation, stress and intonation. The process was enthusiastically pursued by the entire group, bringing them to a greater communicative awareness than might have been achieved by other means in equivalent time. The use of local drama for the purposes outlined is recommended in the broader context of a need to equip twenty-first century students with the tools to manipulate the international variety(ies) most pertinent to their specific situation and needs.