People living in different areas of the world have different cultural backgrounds and use different languages. Although language and culture appear, on the surface, to be two distinct fields, they have an intertwined relationship and affect each other mutually.
Gleason (1961) and Kim (2020) state that languages are not only products of cultures, but are also symbols of cultures. The development of a language frequently affects its associated culture, and cultural patterns of cognition and custom are often explicitly coded in language. Learning a new language will also involve the notion of culture in relation to language.
Students cannot truly master a new language until they have mastered the cultural context in which the new language occurs. This means that understanding a new culture is an important element in achieving the success in a second language acquisition. In fact, the learning of a language and the learning of a culture can be compared with a child’s first experiences with the family into which he or she is born, the community to which he or she belongs and the environment in which he or she lives (Lu 1998).
The perception that teachers have of a student’s culture may have a positive or negative effect in the learning process of a second language (Kuo & Lai 2006). Cultural perception and intercultural training is very important for the teacher of a second language. If children are given cultural knowledge, immersed in a culturally rich environment, and exposed to culturally basic material, they may learn the second language with more ease because their background knowledge about the second-language culture will make comprehension less difficult.
Second language learning involves a number of different dimensions, including grammatical competence, communicative competence, language proficiency and cultural understanding (Thanasoulas 2001). However, teaching second language is not simply learning syntactic structures or new vocabulary, but should also incorporate cultural elements. This would include the usage of cultural learning material which may help students engage in real cultural experiences. This material can include videos, television shows, web sites, printed or digital material or even gastronomy menus and recipes, which focus on cultural aspects of the second language country. Of course, those resources have to be adapted to the age and the second language linguistic proficiency of students. The integration of carefully selected cultural material can strengthen students’ images of the target culture and enhance their second language learning. What is more, it can challenge them to find out similarities and/or differences with the cultural background of their homeland and involve in discussions about them.
It is obvious that culture and language should be learned together in order higher linguistic competence to be achieved. After all, the more cultural concepts people learn, the more language knowledge they gain. And the more language they acquire, the more competitiveness they have. Inspired by this important interrelation, the POEME project aspires to contribute and assist teachers and learners in their efforts towards the acquisition of a second language.
Picture source: https://www.offlinepost.gr/2020/12/30/kataktisi-mias-ksenis-glossas-anakalupsis-enos-kainourgiou-kosmou/
References
Gleason, H. S. Jr., (1961), an Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics. New Delhi: Oxford and IBH Publishing Company
Kim, D. (2020), ‘Learning Language, Learning Culture: Teaching Language to the Whole Student’, ECNU Review of Education. 3. Retrieved on November 17, 2021 from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343238113_Learning_Language_Learning_Culture_Teaching_Language_to_the_Whole_Student
Kuo, M., Lai, C. (2006), ‘Linguistics across Cultures: The Impact of Culture on Second Language Learning’. Journal of Foreign Language Instruction v1 n1
Lu, M. (1998), ‘Language learning in social and cultural contexts’. Eric Digest. Retrieved August 11, 2015 from http://www.ed.gov.databases/ERIC_Digests/ ed423531.html
Thanasoulas, D. (2001), The importance of teaching culture in the foreign language classroom. Retrieved on November 20, 2021 from http://radicalpedagogy.icaap.org /content/issue3_3/7-thanasoulas.html
