INTEGRATING CULTURE INTO THE EFL INSTRUCTION

Presented by:
Muhammad Alfarikki
A1M217019

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

HALU OLEO UNIVERSITY

KENDARI

2020
 ABSTRACT

Language and culture are intertwined and, hence, teaching a language will
include the culture(s) of its speakers. The EFL teachers must facilitate the mastery of
both the linguistic and cultural aspects to enable the students to function appropriately
in English. The facilitation may succeed if the teachers possess adequate knowledge and
set an example of how to behave in the culture of the target language. The intention to
integrate cultural aspects in the teaching and learning process often fall short due to the
inadequate knowledge of the target culture itself and how to integrate it in the language
instruction. This paper provides an overview on some basic concepts of CCU and offers
practical ways of integrating culture into the EFL instruction
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

Dobrovol‘skij & Piirainen (2006), Colson (2008) and Williams (2010) claim that
language is inseparable from its culture. Therefore, teaching any language will inevitably
involve teaching its culture. Only through understanding the culture of the target language will
a language learner be able to function properly in the language s/he is learning. Paradoxically,
English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in Indonesia have to maintain the development
of the students‘ understanding and mastery of the local culture, the local values, and the
national identity (the 2003 Act of the Republic of Indonesia on the National Education System).
Indonesia, which consists of over 13.000 islands, with hundreds of ethnic groups and hundreds
of different cultures, poses a special challenge for an EFL teacher to learn the cultures of all
the students coming from different parts of the country. All these parts of the country practice
and share varied cultures. The implication is that, for the success of the EFL teaching, on the
one hand, the teachers need to have a good understanding of the varied cultures shared by the
community, the Indonesian community. On the other hand, they should be competent in
English as well as the cultures of the speakers of English coming from different cultural
backgrounds.

For the current presentation, this paper will focus on the general concepts of
culture and cross-cultural understanding every EFL teacher should know. Tips are also provided
on how to integrate cultural elements in the teaching and learning process or in the instructional
materials s/he develops.

1.2 Problem statements

1.2.1 What is culture?

1.2.2 What are elements of culture?

1.2.3 How to integrate culture into the EFL instruction

1.3 Purposes

1.3.1 To understand what actually culture is

1.3.2 To know some elements of culture

1.3.3 To comprehend how to integrate culture into the EFL instruction

1.4 Benefits

There are some benefits of this paper, one of those is to provide material for teacher
related to culture that can be implemented in teaching learning process. Besides, this is also
beneficial for students to expand their knowledge about culture understanding.
 CHAPTER II

DISCUSSION

A. Definition of Culture

Linton (in Mesthrie, et al., 2009: 28) defines culture as ―the way of life of its members;
the collection of ideas and habits which they learn, share and transmit from generation to
generation. This means that culture also functions as ―design for living, which gives meaning to
the way and the form of habits considered appropriate and acceptable within a certain
community group, while language is treated as ―a cultural activity and, at the same time, an
instrument for organizing other cultural domains (Sharifian & Palmer, 2007: 1). In this context,
Taylor (in Peoples & Bailey, 2009: 22) define culture as ―complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired
by man as a member of society. In other words, knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws,
traditions and other practices obtained by human beings as part of the community, constitute
cultural components. Peoples and Bailey (2009) conclude that culture is learned, shared and
owned together.

Grant dan Lei (2001: 10-11) claim that ―Cultural differences are the main issues in cross-
cultural education.” Without recognizing differences in traditions and habits among people of
different ethnics, religions, localities, regions, and countries or nations, confusion and
misunderstanding will continually recur in communication with other communities. It is the
ability to recognize these differences, make correct interpretation and react properly to people
or situations in the communication with these communities that constitutes the essence of cross-
cultural understanding. Hence, cross-cultural understanding is needed in communication not
only by people of different nationalities such as the Indonesians and the English or Americans,
but also between the Indonesians coming from different localities and cultures (e.g., the
Sundanese and the Balinese).

In this regard, Sinagatullin (2003: 114) states that the goal of training in cross- cultural
understanding is ‗to help students acquire attitudes, knowledge, and skills needed to
successfully function within their own micro-culture, mainstream culture, and the global
community.‘ This way students will be able to obtain adequate knowledge, internalize attitudes,
and develop skills needed to function appropriately in the culture at all levels: local, national,
and global. Sinagatullin (2003: 83) suggests that this goal would be achieved on the condition
that all the students, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, race, culture, social class, religion,
or exceptionality, have an equal opportunity to learn at school.‘

This required condition shows a resemblance to the concept of the national education, i.e.
education based on Pancasila (the Five Principles) and the 1945 Constitution of the
Republic of Indonesia, rooted on the values of religion, Indonesian national culture, and in
response to the demand of the current era (Article 1 Verse 2 of the 2003 Act on the National
Education System). The Indonesian national culture covers all the local geniuses that have
been accepted as the national heritage shared by the Indonesians. In Anderson‘s words (2002:
6), local genius is ‗cultural artifacts of a particular kind‘. It is the manifestation of the
community‘s personality reflected on the orientation showing the way of life, the value system
and the system of behaviors in respond to the outside world. In addition, in a plural community,
traditions and practices shared and adhered by the local communities are respected and continue
to flourish. Such a condition is made possible in a plural country with plural cultures, in which
all religious belief systems and philosophies are respected and of equal validity (Miller,
D.2003).

This plural culture-based education is a means to improve cultural awareness and cultural
sensitivity in the practice of teaching and learning a foreign language, especially English.
Tanaka (2006: 37) claims that the concept of ‗cultural awareness understanding of different
cultures—has been emphasized as an essential part of English learning and teaching. It
takes time and adequate exposures for the learners to develop this competence Tanaka (2006:
37). The following are the stages learners must go through to achieve this competence: c-c
knowledge, c-c awareness, c-c sensitivity, c-c competence.

1. Cross-Cultural Knowledge (CCK) is a prerequisite for cross-cultural understanding. The

inability to appreciate other cultures often stem from the absence of knowledge about them.
Respect and appreciation of a culture will happen and grow if people are familiar with the
respected characteristics, values, beliefs and behaviors in the culture.
2. With adequate CCK, people will develop Cross-Cultural Awareness (CCA), i.e. they
will show understanding and appreciation, which may be accompanied by changes in
behavior and attitudes towards the culture.

3. Proper CCA will naturally produce Cross-Cultural Sensitivity (CCS), i.e. the ability to read
into situations, contexts and behaviors that are culturally rooted and be able to react to them
appropriately. A suitable response necessitates that people no longer carry their own culturally
determined interpretations of the situation or behavior (i.e. good/bad, right/wrong) which can
only be nurtured through both cross cultural knowledge and awareness.

4. Only through the possession of adequate CCK, CCA, and CCS will people achieve
Cross-Cultural Competence (CCC). CCC is the final stage of cross cultural understanding and
signifies the actor's ability to work effectively across cultures. In Ross and Thornson‘s
words, it is the development of knowledge and skills through experience in cultural differences
to create cultural synergy that leads to the development of cross-cultural competence (Ross &
Thornson, 2008).

B. Elements of Culture

Brown (1995) summarized the elements or visible attributes of culture as follows:

1. Artifacts: the physical things that are found that have particular
symbolism for a culture, or they can also be more everyday objects, such as
the bunch of flowers in reception. The main thing is that they have special
meaning, at the very least for the people in the culture.

2. Stories, histories, myths, legends, jokes, with a typical story to include a bad
guy and a good guy (often the founder or a prototypical cultural member).
There may also be an innocent and a guilty figure, etc. Sometimes the stories
are true, at other times nobody knows.

3. Rituals, rites, ceremonies, celebrations (processes or sets of actions which are

repeated in specific circumstances and with specific meaning). They may be
associated with company events such as the release of a new event.
 4. Heroes or named people who act as prototypes, or idealized examples, by
which cultural members learn of the correct or 'perfect' behavior.

5. Symbols and symbolic action. Symbols, like artifacts, are things which act as
triggers to remind people in the culture of its rules, beliefs, etc. They can also
be used to indicate status within a culture. This includes clothing, office decor
and so on.

6. Beliefs, assumptions and mental models. An organization and culture will

often share beliefs and ways of understanding the world. This helps smooth
communications and agreement, but can also become fatal blinkers that
blind everyone to impending dangers. [Note: In the Indonesian context, this
is particularly true in regard to the distinction between religion and culture.
There are cultural practices all members of the communities participate (e.g.,
syawalan), but there are religious rituals exclusively for the adherers (e.g., Ied
prayers)].

7. Attitudes (the external displays of underlying beliefs that people use to signal
to other people of their membership).

8. Rules, norms, ethical codes, values. The norms and values of a culture are effectively
the rules by which its members must abide, or risk rejection from the culture (which is
one of the most feared sanctions known).

C. Integrating Culture into the EFL instruction

While the materials for the EFL instruction should follow the guidelines provided
by the Board for National Education Standard (BSNP, 2007), there are two modes EFL teachers
can use to integrate culture in the EFL instruction, the explicit mode and the implicit mode.

1. Integrating culture using explicit mode

In the Explicit Mode, teachers can make use prepared materials on knowledge, pattern of
behavior, and artifacts or elements of culture mentioned above as parts of the instructional
materials to introduce culture but which can also be used simultaneously to develop the
language skills.

The first thing to consider is to select suitable texts for instructional purposes. Teachers
may start with a topic on a tradition that may be known in both the learners‘ and the
target language cultures, such as New Year‘s Celebration. This will enable comparison and
contrastive analysis, which make the topic meaningful to the learners. Then they can go on to
other elements of culture, which may extend the learners‘ understanding of the target language
culture as well as those of other countries whose people communicate in English with people
from other countries. Such materials may include thanks-giving day (in USA, in Java, etc.),
wedding parties, independence day, etc. The texts may include the dates, the formal
ceremonies, the celebrations, the carnivals, the clothes worn, the foods served, etc. It would be
more interesting if the discussion tasks for the students include comparison to reveal
similarities and differences to deepen their understanding and internalization of the varied
cultures.

2. Integrating culture using implicit mode

In the Implicit Mode, teachers can make use of any possible means to insert cultural
aspects in the instruction (serving as a hidden syllabus). As a matter of fact, almost on any
occasion, from the very beginning of an elementary course, a teacher can include cross-cultural
understanding in his/her instruction. Providing time reference for morning, afternoon, evening,
and night, for example, as these words are used in greetings, will raise learners‘ awareness on
the different uses of these words from their equivalents in the learners‘ native language. Night is
equivalent to malam in Indonesian, but Good night is not the same as Selamat malam in
Indonesian. The expression Good night is used when the interlocutors are parting and will
not meet again until morning. The equivalent of Good night is Selamat tidur in Indonesian.
Another example, a compliment given by a native speaker of English ―You look great in this
dress!‖ expects a response ―Thank you.‖ However, an EFL learner with Indonesian or Javanese
cultural background might answer ―Oh, no!‖ or ―Come on, are you kidding?‖ – a response that
suggests a form of modesty in the local culture, but can be violating a native speaker‘s
expectation. These are only a small sample of cultural aspects teachers can include in
their language instruction. There are myriads of cultural items that can be dealt with in the EFL
classroom beyond the programmed activities or prepared materials. Resources on the do‘s
and the don‘ts in the American, English, Australian, Asian, or the world‘s culture can be
accessed from the websites on culture grams, culture capsules, and other related topics.
 CHAPTER III

CLOSING

1. Conclusion

The intention to integrate cultural aspects in the teaching and learning process
often fall short due to the inadequate knowledge of the target culture itself and how to
integrate it in the language instruction. It is therefore the task of the EFL teachers to
understand the basic concepts of cross-cultural understanding, aspects of cultures
involved, and ways of integrating them in the EFL instruction so that the EFL learners
in Indonesia are exposed to the situations of real cross-cultural communication. This
way, it is expected that later they will be able to function properly when they
communicate with native speakers and non-native speakers of English.
 REFERENCES

Anderson, B. 2002. Imagined Communities (Komunitas-komunitas Terbayang).

Second Edition. Yogyakarta: INSIST Bekerjasama dengan Pustaka Pelajar.

Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan. 2007. Bahan Sosialisasi Penilaian

Buku Teks Pelajaran Bahasa Inggris SMP/MTs, SMA/MA dan SMK.
Jakarta: BSNP.

Bhaswara, R. 2008. ―Ideologi, gagasan, tindakan, artefak: proses

berarsitektur dalam telaah antropologis‖. Jurnal Teori dan Desain
Arsitektur Vol. 2 No. 2

Brown, A. 1995. Organizational Culture. London: Pitman.

Dobrovol‘skij, D. and E. Piirainen. (2006). Cultural knowledge and

idioms. International Journal of English Studies, 6 (1), 27-41.