Do We Need to Teach Culture and How Much Culture Do We Need?

Abstract

The educational policy of the European Union stresses the need for special treatment of culture in the school systems. European citizens should be aware of their national identity, but also open and tolerant towards other cultures. However, teaching cultural content on English language courses involves decisions related to the choice of topics and perspectives. On the one hand, the issue poses a question of what to teach, whose culture is to be taught and how to avoid stereotyping. On the other hand, it may be debatable whether culture should be taught at all, considering the current uses of English as an international language and as a lingua franca. The present chapter addresses the above-mentioned issues postulating a distinction between teaching English on adult courses and at schools. While the teaching of English as an international language should limit the cultural content, at schools the emphasis on the socio-cultural knowledge and intercultural skills should lead pupils towards achieving a level of socio-cultural competence. Results of a survey are discussed, comparing and contrasting the beliefs of Polish teenagers from various backgrounds with the beliefs of in-service and pre-service teachers of English concerning the teaching of culture. At the end, implications are presented for teacher training and construction of ELT materials.