Foreign Language Learning: Communication and Cultural Awareness

Posted on Feb 19, 2025 in Other civil servant exams

UNIT 4: Assessment of the knowledge of the foreign language as a means of communication among people and nations. Generation of interest in Linguistic diversity through the knowledge of another language and culture.

This essay aims to argue the importance of teaching culture in the foreign language classroom. For this purpose, I will divide the topic into two main sections. First, I will study the way a foreign language can act as a barrier to international communication. Some methods have been proposed to reduce the problem: foreign language learning fosters mutual international understanding. Secondly, I will demonstrate interest in language diversity by getting to know a new language and its culture. Then, I will consider the implications of incorporating culture into the English Foreign Language classroom. Next, I will conclude by providing some ways to develop our pupils’ cultural awareness. Finally, I will compile the main conclusions and the bibliography used to develop this topic.

As far as foreign language learning is concerned, the legal framework is the Organic Law 2/2006 of Education, 3^rd May, modified by the Organic Law for the Improvement in Educational Quality, 8/2013, 9^th December. Section XII of its preamble establishes that “the command of a second or third language has become a priority in the Education field, as a consequence of the globalization process we live”.

One of the most relevant aspects of the Organic Law for the Improvement in Educational Quality is related to the Order ECD/65/2015, 21^st of January, which establishes the relation among the key competences, contents, and evaluation criteria in Primary Education.

On the other hand, the Royal Decree 126/2014, 28^th of February, establishes the Minimum Teaching Requirement for Primary Education and it states in article 7, Objective F “to acquire basic communicative competence, in at least, one foreign language to enable expression and comprehension of simple messages and survive in everyday situations”.

In addition, the Order EDU/519/2014 17th of June, modified by the Order EDU 278/2016 8^th of April, which establishes the minimum contents for Primary Education in the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León.

Bearing in mind all these legal references, I will start by mentioning:

1. Language as a Means of Communication

This implies that the teacher informs students of the value of being fluent in a common language.

1.1. Why Should We Learn a Foreign Language?

Foreign language should be promoted at school because of the incorporation of Spain into the European community, which generates a new communicative context and cultural exchange. Also because students’ communicative competence is improved by the acquisition of new linguistic codes, new concepts, strategies, abilities, and attitudes. In addition, children can express their notions in their mother language but also in other languages, and this helps in the development of their cognitive capacity. Moreover, the levels of auditory and phonological competence are greater in children: their oral understanding and pronunciation are better. What is more, children’s spontaneity comes when learning a second language. But during adolescence, factors as shame, shyness, or fear come up. This can interfere with the learning of other languages.

1.2. English as a Lingua Franca

Nowadays, the language used as a lingua franca is English. Since the 19^th century, English has progressively gained status as an international language. Several factors have contributed to it: It is the language of business and the language used in literature, cinema, music, television, and radio, for example, the BBC. From the Second World War onwards, English became the language of scientific and technological advances as well. In addition, 80 percent of the information stored in computers is in English. Related to education, millions of children study English in Primary Education.

1.3. Advantages and Drawbacks of a Lingua Franca

The disadvantages are that the language suffers from linguistic variations because of the diverse cultural grounds. For people who do not speak English, it is very difficult to communicate. In this case, the English language can be a barrier. But there are also many positive sides. For example, the lingua franca facilitates international relationships; it favors tolerance and respect towards a cultural identity different from one’s own. Moreover, learning a language broadens the mind, and it increases self-confidence. Besides, it contributes to placing value on the mother language.

1.4. Foreign Language as a Means of Communicating

We will study now how to help our students to see the value of a foreign language as a means of communicating. The Communicative Approach is based on providing the student with enough communicative activities to develop oral and written skills to use the language with accuracy and appropriateness. It has been influenced by three linguistic theories:

The Generative grammar by Chomsky.
The Functional grammar by Michael Halliday.
The Communicative Competence described by Dell Hymes as what a speaker needs to know in order to be communicatively competent in a speech community.

On the other hand, Canale and Swain established four subcompetences: grammatical competence, discursive competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence. These four skills are complemented by socio-cultural competence.

To achieve that the language appears attractive to children, teachers should encourage pupils. Thanks to new technologies, it is very easy for teachers to show cultural aspects and traditions to their students. Therefore, students have the possibility of discovering new festivities such as Halloween, Christmas, or April Fool’s Day in a motivating way.

Communicative Activities

Communicative activities refer to tasks and exercises that students carry out for real communication. The Communicative Approach believes that the practice of communicative activities will produce an unconscious learning of the structures of the language. A communicative activity must be interactive, unpredictable, within a context, and authentic. There are two types of activities:

Functional communication activities, for example, following directions, comparing pictures, completing information, and solving problems.
Social interaction activities such as role-play, dialogues, and debates.

We can also classify communicative activities into:

Oral activities: consensus activities, following instructions, information gap, role-play, problem-solving, personal experiences, communicative games.
Written activities: writing letters, completing application forms, looking for written information, and project work.

2. Linguistic Diversity: How to Know a New Language and Its Culture?

2.1. Differences Between English and Spanish

In English, there is:

Obligatory use of the subject.
Use of auxiliaries to ask, to deny, etc.
A more rigid order of elements than in Spanish.
The adjective is placed before the noun; it also lacks gender and plural.
Use of contractions.
Omission of the article in generalizations, naming games and sports.
Different spelling rules.
Different punctuation signs.

To avoid these errors, the teacher should check that the structure has been practiced sufficiently and explain that they don’t have to translate word by word.

2.2. Socio-cultural Aspects of the English Language

It is important to highlight that the purpose of teaching language is to acquire communicative competence, and one of the subcompetences derived from this is socio-cultural competence. In Primary Education, the teacher will give information close to the children’s world, so they become interested in the new culture. This knowledge can be classified into three parts: social aspects, cultural aspects, and geographical aspects.

Social Aspects

The teacher should insist on colloquial expressions used in everyday language such as “Happy birthday!”, “Good luck!”, or “Bless you!” As well as social habits like eating timetables, how people live in houses rather than in flats, and the monetary system with dollars, euros, and pounds.

Cultural Aspects

The teacher should teach the highlighted festivals, types of music, and the main monuments like the Big Ben or the Statue of Liberty. In History, students should be familiarized with William Wallace, Queen Victoria, or William Shakespeare, as well as knowing which sports are important, like rugby, cricket, football, basketball, golf, or baseball.

Geographical Aspects

It is important that students use maps to locate the main English-speaking countries like Great Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia, and the main cities, or the British weather.

2.3. Learning to Discover Another Culture

Students can practice activities such as:

Songs and rhymes
Projects
Role-play
Quizzes
Celebration of traditional festivals
Looking for information
Stories or realia materials

The teachers can provide the children with socio-cultural materials: For example, related to the visual aids, maps, flags, or postcards are very motivating for them. If we talk about auditory materials, songs and dialogues could be very good for teaching the cultural aspect. And realia material like tickets, money, magazines, or stories will also contribute to bringing the students closer to the Anglo-Saxon culture.

3. Conclusion

I would like to say that learning a foreign language is a necessity in society, and it promotes mutual understanding, respect for the cultural values of others, and international relationships. The development of positive attitudes towards the language and culture provides them with a wider vision of reality and greater tolerance. Furthermore, it improves their communicative competence, which is the main aim in our current educational law.

The bibliography used to develop this unit includes:

COUNCIL OF EUROPE. (2003). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
EMMER, E.T. & GERWELS, M.C. (2002). Cooperative Learning in elementary classrooms: Teaching practices and lesson characteristics. The Elementary School Journal.
GARDNER, H. (2001): Reformulated Intelligence. Multiple Intelligences in XXI Century. Buenos Aires: Paidós.
HARMER, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching. London: Longman, 2008 (4th ed.)
NUNAN, D. (2010): Language Teaching Methodology. University Press.

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