Culture teaching in EFL classes: Teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, and classroom practices

Lucky Amatur Rohmani, Erna Andriyanti

Abstract


It is inevitably believed that culture teaching is the pivotal feeling of integrating culture into the teaching of a language, including in the EFL setting. This study aims to explore the English teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, and the reflection of their beliefs and attitudes on the teaching syllabi. The sequential explanatory mix-methods design was applied in junior high schools in Ngawi. The data were obtained from 144 English teachers’ answers to a questionnaire and interviews with six teachers. Then, the data were analysed by using descriptive statistics, the independent sample T-test, and the Mann-Whitney test. The results indicated that the majority of junior high school English teachers believed in the importance of incorporating culture into their teaching of the language taught and students’ learning process. Moreover, both state and private junior high school English teachers showed similar beliefs and attitudes related to culture teaching. When they taught English, the culture associated with that language had also been taught so that the misconception of learning the language can be minimized. The result of teachers’ practices strongly indicates that the English teachers in Ngawi had implemented the teaching of culture and inserted various cultural elements in the process of their teaching and learning in the EFL classes.


Keywords


attitude; belief; culture teaching; English teacher

Full Text:

PDF

References


Adaskou, K., D. Britten, & B. Fahsi. (1990). Design decisions on the cultural content of a course for Morocco. ELT Journal, 44(1), 3-10. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/44.1.3

Ajzen, I. (1988). Attitudes, personality, and behavior. Dorsey Press.

Al-Rifa’i, F. K., Al-Majdawi, A. M. C., & Karam, H. G. (2021). Teaching culture strategies in EFL classroom. Journal of Education College, 2(25), 1665–1686.

Aydemir, E., & Mede, E. (2014). Integrating target culture in EFL classrooms. Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry, 5(1), 13-38.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. Freeman.

Bennett, J., Bennett, M., & Allen, W. (2003). Developing intercultural competence in the language classroom. In D. L. Lange & R. M. Paige (Eds.), Culture as the core: Perspectives in second language learning (pp. 237-270). Information Age Publishing.

Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (1998). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theory and methods. Ally & Bacon.

Brown, H. D. (1987). Principles of language learning and teaching (2nd ed.). Prentice-Hall.

Brown, H. H. (2000). Principles and language learning and teaching (4th ed.). Addison Wesley Longman.

Byram, M. (1989). Cultural studies in foreign language education. Multilingual Matters.

Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Multilingual Matters.

Çakir, I. (2015). Opinions and attitudes of prospective teachers for the use of mobile phones in foreign language learning. Contemporary Educational Technology, 6(3), 239-255. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/6152

Chen, D., & Yang, X. (2016). Culture as the core: Challenges and possible solutions in integrating culture into foreign language teaching. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 7(1), 168-177. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0701.19

Choudhury, M. H. (2013). Teaching culture in EFL: Implications, challenges, and strategies. Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 13(1), 20-24. https://doi.org/10.9790/0837-1312024

Civitillo, S., Juang, L. P., Badra, M., & Schachner, M. K. (2019). The interplay between culturally responsive teaching, cultural diversity beliefs, and self-reflection: A multiple case study. Teaching and Teacher Education, 77(1), 341-351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.11.002

Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Sage Publications, Inc.

Dogruer, N., Meneviş, I., & Eyyama, R. (2010). EFL Teachers’ beliefs on learning English and their teaching styles. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 3. 83-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.07.015

Ehsan, N., Tavakoli, M., & Izadpanah, S. (2021). Investigating EFL learners’ knowledge of vocabulary and idiomatic expressions in a culture-based instructional environment. Studies English Language and Education, 8(3), 1080-1093. https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v8i3.22543

Ellis, R. (2008). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford University Press.

Fellegi, I., P. (2010). Survey methods and practices. Minister of Industry.

Gilakjani, A. P. (2017). A review of the literature on the integration of technology into the learning and teaching of English language skills. International Journal of English Linguistics, 7(5), 95-106. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v7n5p95

Halliday, M. A. K. (1999). Small culture. Applied Linguistics, 20, 237-264.

Hammar, M. (2013). Culture in the EFL classroom - which cultures dominate the classroom? [Unpublished bachelor’s thesis]. Göteborgs University.

Hogg, M. A., & Vaughan, G. M. (2018). Social psychology (8th ed.). Pearson Education Limited.

Huber, J., & Reynolds, C. (2014). Developing intercultural competence through education. Council of Europe Publishing.

Idris, M. M. (2020). Assessing Intercultural Competence (IC) of state junior high school English teachers in Yogyakarta. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 9(3), 628-636. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v9i3.23213

Jabeen, F., & Shah, S. K. (2011). The role of culture in ELT: Learners’ attitude towards the teaching of target language culture. European Journal of Social Sciences, 23(4), 604-613.

Jayadi, I. (2004). ELT in Indonesia in the context of English as a global language. In B. Y. Cahyono & U. Widiati (Eds.), The tapestry of English language teaching and learning in Indonesia (pp. xi-xxi). Universitas Negeri Malang.

Karanezi, X., & Rapti, E. (2015). Teachers’ attitudes and perceptions: Association of teachers’ attitudes toward traditional and modern teaching methodology according to RWCT as well as teachers’ perceptions for teaching as a profession. Creative Education, 6, 623-630. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2015.66061

Kim, H., & Elder, C. (2002). Understanding aviation English as a lingua franca. Australian Review on Applied Linguistics, 32(2), 23.1-23.17. https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.32.3.03kim

Kitao, K. (2000). Teaching culture in foreign language instruction in the United States (ED330214). ERIC. https://ncu.libanswers.com/asc/faq/190220

Kramsch, C. (2002). Language and culture: A social semiotic perspective. ADFL Bulletin, 33(2), 8-15. https://doi.org/10.1632/adfl.33.2.8

Kramsch, C. (2013). Culture in foreign language teaching. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, 1(1), 57-78. https://doi.org/10.1590/2176-457333606

Larzén‐Östermark, E. (2008). The intercultural dimension in EFL‐teaching: A study of conceptions among Finland‐Swedish comprehensive school teachers. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 52(5), 527-547. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313830802346405

Le, B. T. (2007). A cross-cultural study: Politeness in issuing English and Vietnamese spoken invitation [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Vietnam National University.

Liton, H. A., & Madanat, T. A. A. (2013). Integration of culture into ESL/EFL classroom: A pedagogical perspective. English for Specific Purposes World, 14(39), 1-13.

Marlina, L. (2013). Learning English as foreign language in Indonesia through English children’s literature. The International of Literacies, 19, 41-49. https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-0136/CGP/v19i04/48801

Munandar, M. I., & Ulwiyah, I. (2012). Intercultural approaches to the cultural content of Indonesia’s high school ELT textbooks. Cross-cultural Communication, 8(5), 67-73. https://doi.org/10.3968/j.ccc.1923670020120805.975

Nation, I. S. P., & Macalister, J. (2010). Language curriculum design. Routledge.

Paige, R. M., Jacobs-Cassuto, M., Yershova, Y.A., & DeJaeghere, J. (2003). Assessing intercultural sensitivity: An empirical analysis of the Hammer and Bennett intercultural development inventory. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 27, 467-486. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0147-1767(03)00034-8

Park, Y. (1991). Evaluation of Korean English textbooks at secondary level. IOWA State University.

Pickens, J. (2005). Attitudes and perceptions. In N. Borkowski (Ed.), Organizational behavior in health care (pp. 43-76). Jones and Bartlett Publishers

Pishghadam, R., Rahmani, S., & Shayesteh, S. (2017). Compartmentalizing culture teaching strategies under an emotioncy-based model. Kasetsart Journal of Sciences, 38, 359-367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kjss.2016.08.017

Purba, H. (2011). The importance of including culture in EFL teaching. JET (Journal of English Teaching), 1(1), 44-56. https://doi.org/10.33541/jet.v1i1.51

Puspita, D., & Pranoto, B. E. (2021). The attitude of Japanese newspapers in narrating disaster events: Appraisal in critical discourse study. Studies in English Language and Education, 8(2), 796-817. https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v8i2.18368

Richardson, V. (1996). The role of attitudes and beliefs in learning to teach. In J. Sikula (Ed.), Handbook of research on teacher education (2nd ed., pp. 102-119). Macmillan.

Risager, K. (2006). Language and culture: Global flows and local complexity. Multilingual Matters.

Saddhono, K. (2015). Integrating culture in Indonesian language learning for foreign speakers at Indonesian universities. Journal of Language Literature, 6(2), 349-353.

Sellami, A. B. (2000, March 14-18). Teaching towards cultural awareness and intercultural competence: From what through how to why culture is? [Paper presentation]. The Annual Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2/content_storage_01/0000000b/80/23/53/f8.pdf

Selye, H. (1993). History of the stress concept. In L. Goldberger & S. Breznitz (Eds.), The handbook of stress (2nd ed.). The Free Press.

Sen, S. (2010). A profile of EFL teachers’ knowledge of the target culture from their epistemological sources to classroom application [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Hacettepe University.

Shinde, M., & Karekatti, T. K. (2012). Pre-service teacher’s beliefs about teaching English to primary school children. International Journal of Instruction, 5(1), 69-86.

Spielberger, C. D. (2004). Encyclopedia of applied psychology. Elsevier, Inc.

Sudartini, S. (2012). Inserting local culture in English language teaching to promote character education. Jurnal Pendidikan Karakter, 2(1), 45-54.

Sumardi, Anisa, K. D., & Aniq, L. N. (2020). Oral peer feedback in a flipped speaking job interview class: Practice and learners’ attitude. Journal of English Education and Linguistics Studies (JEELS), 7(2), 245-268. https://doi.org/10.30762/jeels.v7i2.2001

Taylor, F., & Marsden, E. J. (2014). Perceptions, attitudes, and choosing to study foreign languages in England: An experimental intervention. The Modern Language Journal, 98(4), 902–920. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12146

Thanasoulas, D. (2001). The importance of teaching culture in the foreign language classroom. Radical Pedagogy. https://radicalpedagogy.icaap.org/content/issue3_3/7-thanasoulas.html

Tran, T. Q., & Dang, H. V. (2014). Culture teaching in English language teaching: Teachers’ beliefs and their classroom practices. Korea TESOL Journal, 11(1). 1-13.

Tseng, Y. H. (2002). A lesson in culture. ELT Journal, 56(1), 11–21, https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/56.1.11

Udu, T., T. (2021). Teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards reading and writing: Do they correlate to students’ achievement in English? Studies English Language and Education, 8(1), 143-156. https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v8i1.17524

Wang, X. (2008). Reflection on the notion of culture teaching. US-China Foreign Language, 6(1), 49-53.

Williams, M., & Burden, R. (1997). Psychology for language teachers: A social constructivist approach. Cambridge.

Wolfson, M. C. (1989, October). Inequality and polarization: Is there a disappearing middle class in Canada? [Paper presentation]. Analysis of Data in Time: The Statistics Canada Symposium, Ottawa, Canada.

Xu, L. (2012). The role of teachers’ belief in the language teaching-learning process. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(7), 1397-1402. https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.2.7.1397-1402

Yunus, W. N. M. W. M., (2020). A case study on the role of sociocultural factors in ESL-service teachers’ beliefs and practice. Journal of English Education and Linguistics Studies (JEELS), 7(2), 321-345. https://doi.org/10.30762/jeels.v7i2.2182

Zacharias, N. T. (2003). A survey of tertiary teachers’ beliefs about English language teaching in Indonesia with regard to the role of English as a global language [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Assumption University.

Zheng, H. (2009). A review of research on EFL pre-service teacher’s beliefs and practices. Journal of Cambridge Studies, 4(1), 73-78. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.1579




DOI: https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v9i1.21834

Article Metrics

Abstract view : 0 times
PDF - 0 times

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Print ISSN: 2355-2794, Online ISSN: 2461-0275

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.


View Journal Stats