The Role Of Teachers In Embedding Culture Within The New Learnt Language In The Translation Subject-matter: A Case Study Of Second Year Students Of English
Keywords:
Culture, discourse, language, learning, teachingAbstract
It has been known in the teaching profession that learners do not need the rules of language only; they also need to know how to put language in its appropriate social and cultural contexts. Since this is the focal point in „communicative language teaching‟, this study focuses on the importance of culture and discourse in teaching language taking into consideration the factors that make languages overlap and differ at the same time. This paper casts light on the role of teachers in embedding culture in language teaching It aims to help language learners interact with speakers of other languages on equal terms, without forgetting making them aware of their own identities and those of their interlocutors. So, it is hypothesised that: If students are taught languages carefully, they will be aware of the main role of cultural and intercultural dimensions. To test the validity of this hypothesis, a test, composed of two tasks, was given to eighty (80) second-year students of English to test their ability to understand and translate some idiomatic expressions. Results revealed that students succeeded in translating the first task, which is composed of a number of simple idiomatic expressions; however, they failed in filling the gaps with appropriate idiomatic expressions. This may refer to the fact that students are unable to relate between the English language and its culture. Thus, it is recommended for teachers to try to design a series of activities to enable learners discuss and draw conclusions by themselves. This helps them know about the target culture through their own experience as a result of what they have heard or read.
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