Culture Shadow on Language Learning for ESL Students

劉慧慧

Introduction

Culture and language are always two of the heated topics in educational field. Whether culture has effect on language learning is also concerned by educators and scholars， especially for ESL students. I want to examine cultural differences in this paper， to explore the importance of teaching culture.

The Relationship between Language and Culture

Language is a part of culture. Culture can be defined as a learned system of value， beliefs and /or norms among a group of people. （Greepy， 1994， as cited in Kuo， M & Lai， C， 2006， p5） The certain group of people share their identities， values， thoughts and languages， etc. All these factors form their common background which is called culture. When we trace back to the long history of human beings， language as a communication tool resist for a long time， no matter it is an oral form or a written form. The written form becomes literature， documentaries which are parts of culture later and also reflect the culture. So language and culture are inseparable.

Language is a tool for people to express their own opinion in their mind； and culture is a container which is including all the thoughts. Without language， people cannot raise their voice to exchange their ideas amongst a certain group of people. Culture is always linguistically mediated membership into a discourse community， that is both real and imagined. Language plays a crucial role not only in the construction of culture， but in the emergence of cultural change. （Kramsch， C. 1995， p3）

The importance of culture in English Learning

Culture can help students to explore language learning and to apply language in real life. Cultural knowledge is crucial in achieving linguistic proficiency. （Kuo， M & Lai， C， 2006， p5） Learning a language should be completed by a sustained and ethnographically structured encounter with the languages culture. （Roberts etal， 2001， as cited in Holme， R. 2002） Learning language is not only learning vocabulary and grammar， but also learning the context and implicit meaning. Bobda & Augustin， S （2009） argued that culture helps ESL students understand the correspondences between conceptual domains in metaphorical language， and other figurative uses of the language. Without culture guidance， sometimes students cannot get the real meaning of the sentences. For instance， “I am beat.” which means “I am tired.” But if you ask the students who is not living in English speaking country for a long time， most of them will be very confused and get the wrong meaning of this sentence. Such a proverb is one example which reflects that culture play an important role in language learning. If we separate language from culture， a lot of idioms， proverbs that we may not get the real meaning of the sentences， let alone to use in real life. On the contrary， if ESL students can get more guidance from teacher， culture can play a positive role in language learning. When we acquire a new language， we also need to ingest the new cultures nutrients. Thus， culture is important for ESL students to explore language learning. Knowing culture and language means that you are not only speak language in your own way which may be totally different from the language where it is from. After students have better understanding of culture， they can apply the language in the real life without misunderstanding.

Culture can help ESL students to enhance their confidence and accomplish language proficiency. Without culture understanding， even an ESL student grasps all the vocabulary， has a good knowledge of grammar； it may still lead him to cultural misunderstanding. When someone from English speaking country says： “She is the last one I want to visit.” Chinese students will interpret it as “she is the last one that you will go to visit.” instead of “she is the person you dont want to visit most.” according to Chinese culture background. Dealing with the issue of language and culture， it is necessary that giving more guidance to ESL students which can lead them “shuttle” between different cultures.

References：

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[6]Kuo，M & Lai，C（2006）Linguistics across Cultures：the Impact of Culture on Second Language Learning Journal of Foreign Language Instruction 1（1）10.