Exploring The Impact Of Context And Culture On English Language Learning

Abstract

Culture, as conceived in this study, is the power that shapes the identity of the person and his society. Its components are arts, letters, manners, behavior, beliefs, knowledge, values and shared tradition which make a society different from other societies and color the action and thought of its members. Different cultures, accordingly, have different attitudes, traditions and upbringing, and what might be perceived in one culture as an adequate personal space might be seen in another culture as another person’s space. Cultural barriers, in this respect, affect the learning experience and the whole atmosphere of the class. An urgent question that comes to the scene of introducing a foreign language to the learners of a different culture is how to avoid or overcome the cultural barrier. During the process of language learning some crucial cultural factors may be notified, seriously hindering the effective learning process, and commonly known as cultural barriers. Effective language learning among different cultures is especially challenging, due to the different ways of thinking, seeing, hearing, and interpreting the world provided by cultures. Cultural barriers are considered as those traditions which become hurdles in path of understanding or teaching/learning different languages, among which body language, religious beliefs, etiquette and social habits are noteworthy. The present study is mainly focused on the positive and negative impacts of cultural barriers on English language teaching/learning process.