The effect of culture on language

Abstract EN

It is believed that culture plays an important role in the ELF classroom activities (Al- Mutawa, & Kilani, 1989:87).

It is important for the teacher to recognize potential negative (culturally based) perceptions of their learners.

In Iraq, for instance, it is not.

Uncommon to meet silent expressionless students that arc supposedly English language learners.

It is possible for the beginner to interpret this negatively as a lack of interest in the study of English.

This interpretation may play a harmful role in the classroom methodology.

An instructor has to be intercultural competent to be an effective teacher.

It will be more effective if the instructor adopts a consistent style of instruction to allow learners to adapt within the bounds of their own personalities without being forced to behave outside their own cultural values.

The FL teacher‟s task is to reduce the various kinds of communicative gaps that may result from poor grammatical structure and from misinterpretation because of contextual ambiguity and cultural unawareness.

Lyons (1968: 122) stresses that prefect knowledge of FL implies not only the knowledge of its grammar rules and vocabulary, but also an ability to employ a large variety of spoken and written registers.

Speaking and FL is a skill that has to be supported and nourished throughout the learners‟ lifetime.

That leads to the assumption that what the FL learners pursue, is a mythical native speakers-like linguistic competence.

Many would agree that it will also involve such skills as the ability to recognize allusions, understand jokes or decode newspaper headlines.