Culture and Language Acquisition

Paper Summary:

The paper evaluates the literature on the subject of culture acquisition in the language classroom and its importance. The paper shows how a sociocultural perspective is crucial to the success of language acquisition efforts since learning styles have a cultural component. The paper concludes that encouraging cultural acquisition must stand as an important component in the language classroom.

From the Paper:

"Culture plays an important part in any educational setting, though its effects are particularly noticeable in the language classroom. Traditionally language acquisition is simply considered to be a matter of memorizing vocabulary and learning new grammatical structures. But language is much more complex than this, and true proficiency in a language requires a more sophisticated understanding of the underpinnings of the language being taught. In particular, research has repeatedly confirmed that language and culture and intricately linked with one another (Giambo et al., 2006). In order to become proficient in a new language, instructors must take into account cultural considerations when teaching to students of various cultural backgrounds."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Abu-Rabia, S. (1996, October). Factors affecting the learning of English as a second language in Israel. The Journal of Social Psychology, 136(5), pp. 589-594.
• Berghoff, B., Harste, J., and Leland, C. (1997, May). Whole language: are we critical enough? Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 20(2), pp. 99-106.
• Bower, B. (1994, September 3). Spanish survives bilingual challenge. Science News, 146(10), pp. 148-149.
• Copeland, A.P. (1995, February). Helping foreign nationals adapt to the U.S. Personnel Journal, 74(2), pp. 83-85.
• Dunn, R. (1997, April). The goals and track record of multicultural education. Educational Leadership, 54(7), pp. 74-77.

More papers on Culture and Language Acquisition:

• Research Paper # 149704 : "Culture and Language"
• Essay # 32686 : "Theories of Second Language Acquisition"
• Article Review # 147221 : "Gardner on Motivation and Language Learning"

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