The importance of socio-cultural factors in language learning

The importance of socio-cultural factors in language learning

I chose the topic The importance of socio-cultural factors in language learning. As the following articles state, culture and language are inseparable, and teaching a language should always incorporate teaching its culture, in order to train more effective language learners. Furthermore, the articles pay special attention on the presence and the absence of socio-cultural factors and how these elements affect the language learning abilities. Moreover, the articles’ conclusion demonstrate that if one has some knowledge or understanding of social and cultural features of the target language, there is the possibility to be a more effective language learner in that particular language.

Zhang, J. (2006). Sociocultural Factors in Second Language Acquisition. Sino-US English Teaching, 3(5), 42-46. Retrieved from http://www.dewalika.yolasite.com/resources/ELT_5102/Culture.pdf

Zhang in his article states that the relationship between culture, cultural familiarization and language affect the outcome of foreign language proficiency. Due to the differences of languages, cultural confrontation between the native and second language is inevitable at some points in language learning. While learning the foreign language, internal and external factors count, such as personality, self-esteem, attitude or the external factors, namely, social and cultural conditions. These internal and external elements play an important role in the final outcome of the foreign language.

As Zhang states, through language one can understand culture or maintain one’s cultural identity since language is a medium to convey thoughts and ideology. Cultural factors are always reflected in our daily and professional communication; that is the reason why language cannot be separated from culture. Therefore, teaching language inevitably implies teaching culture implicitly; it is impossible to learn a foreign language without studying the culture and behaviour of the people it represents. Consequently, one who learns a foreign language will also meet its culture. Moreover, if the native and the foreign language are similar it will be easier and will take less time to learn the target language. To effectively learn the language, students must undergo a socializing process, such as removing cultural blinders or stereotypes. Apart from these principles, most importantly, the amount of cultural information should be equivalent of the learners’ goal in the target language.

As the article states, culture and language learning are really a core principle of effective foreign language learning process. Therefore, there is correspondence between culture and language, as language represents its people.

Long, C. (n.d.). The Effect of Social Factors on English Language Acquisition. 65-78. Retrieved from http://www.tohoku-gakuin.ac.jp/research/journal/bk2011/pdf/bk2011no04_05.pdf

Long states, as communication is a social interaction, social factors and usage should not be ignored during language acquisition. Furthermore, interpretation of a given meaning in communication is context related which includes social and cultural factors. He states that all languages are ambiguous by nature, so, for example, translators face a great challenge to faithfully translate and interpret the given foreign text. Consequently, it is important to be acquainted with the target culture, as well as its phraseology in social contexts. Also, he argues that a strong relationship exists between cultures and languages since there are situations where no appropriate translation exists; moreover, there are cases when one utterance is normal in the first but inappropriate in the second language. To avoid misunderstandings, as well as to understand conversation situations of the target language, one must have previous knowledge of the customs of the given foreign culture. This also emphasizes the importance of socio-cultural factors in language learning.

As Long previously argued, language is clearly ambiguous in all different levels, but knowing the contextual information between words helps to arrive to an appropriate interpretation of communication. He interprets contextual information as a vast array of information regarding social norms, expectations and values. Therefore, Long’s conclusion is that the understanding of social actions like requests, greetings and gratitude are crucial in the usage and acquisition of language. Moreover, these are necessary to second language learners to interpret and use utterances in context. He also acknowledges that much work remains to be done to incorporate social practices into education.

Long in his article argues, that social factors cannot be disregarded, due to the fact that communication is a social interaction, consequently, language learners obliged to be familiar with the social context of the target language.

Aidinlou, N. A., & Kejal, D. A. (2012). Socio-cultural Factors and Teaching a Foreign Language. International J. Soc. Sci. & Education, 2(2), 139-143. Retrieved from http://www.ijsse.com/sites/default/files/issues/2012/Volume%202%20Issue%202%20,%20%202012/Paper-14/Paper-14.pdf

Aidinlou and Kejal start their article with the statement that those language teaching activities that do not incorporate teaching the culture along with the new language experience problems. Consequently, they consider cultural constituents of the target language relevant in learning the new language. They express their view on the significance of socio-cultural factors and their application in the classroom, since those learners who got acquainted with the basic socio-cultural elements of the target language learnt more easily and successfully than those without these factors. In fact, when these factors were not applied, negative consequences like misunderstandings have been reported. On the other hand, nowadays, more and more EFL programs try to incorporate socio-cultural ideas into their program to train more effective language users.

Furthermore, they state that it is not just the teachers’ responsibility to be familiar with the culture of the target language, but also course book designers should be aware of the cultural characteristics of the target language and incorporate those in their books during the development procedure. Also, they express their views about how to be a successful learner and interlocutor of the target language. One choice is to live in that particular society for a while, but this is not an option for every language learner. The other choice is to establish comprehensive communication skills that incorporate communication strategies, social-contextual and cultural factors, as well. At the end of the article they did some research on the efficiency of students who use the Internet or watch television in order to have more information of the target language. Their result shows that increased information about the target culture made students learn that language more easily and faster.

As it is seen, the article I cited makes a clear statement about language and culture; any language is embedded in a particular culture. Therefore, incorporating basic cultural characteristics of the target language is crucial to make language learning effective. According to my sources, socio-cultural factors play a great importance in language learning; one can learn more effectively the target language if there is background knowledge about its socio-cultural elements.