The Effects of Cultural Instruction on Foreign Language Learning

Abstract

Many elementary EFL teachers in Taiwan have concerns in integrating target culture teaching into their language classrooms for reasons such as teachers’ limited knowledge of the target culture, lack of time, lack of methods and materials. In order to persuade more language teachers to teach target language culture, guidelines about designing an applicable cultural instruction and evidence about its effects on language learning are needed. In the study, the combination of an anthropology process and task-oriented approach were applied to conduct the culture lessons. Culture instruction was implemented within two elementary EFL classrooms for one semester to see the effects of culture instruction on foreign language learning. When culture lessons were integrated into EFL instruction, students’ language proficiency was significantly improved. In addition, they had better interests in language learning.