Научная статья на тему 'Teaching intercultural competence in EFL classroom'

Teaching intercultural competence in EFL classroom Текст научной статьи по специальности «Языкознание и литературоведение»

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Ключевые слова
CULTURE / EFL / ICC / SOCIOCULTURAL COMPETENCE / CROSS-CULTURAL CONCEPTS

Аннотация научной статьи по языкознанию и литературоведению, автор научной работы — Rakhmatova Nargiza

This article is devoted to teaching intercultural competence in EFL classroom. Foreign language learning is comprised of grammatical competence, communicative competence, language proficiency and cultural competence. Cultural competence is the knowledge of the conventions, customs, beliefs, and systems of meaning of another country.

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Текст научной работы на тему «Teaching intercultural competence in EFL classroom»

material of linguistic and cultural nature, when comparison of cultural realities of different countries makes it possible to remove difficulties in understanding the features of life and the world view of representatives of another culture.

3. Organizational function. Communicative approach in teaching foreign languages involves the use of different game technologies, which are effective means of increasing cognitive and linguistic activity of students and contributing to better learning of lexical and grammatical material, the formation of speech skills. It is more reasonable to explain the rules of new games in student' native language, it will ensure the accuracy of understanding the instructions by all students and will save time for the game [1].

4. Semantic function. As a rule, teachers use students' mother tongue when other methods of explaining of foreign words such as direct demonstration (demonstration or illustrative visibility), synonyms-antonyms, and conjecture on word-building elements (suffixes, prefixes, wordbuilding, conversion), foreign interpretation of the meaning of words (definition) cannot be implemented. In this case, the translation is used for one or two words.

5. Control function. At the stage of improving or controlling the formation of lexical and grammatical skills, so-called "reverse translation" is effective, when students are presented with isolated words, phrases (including idioms), individual sentences (there may be proverbs or sayings) or statements in their native language. Students translate them into a foreign language on their own or in pairs.

References

1. Krashen S.D. (1981). Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning.-

Oxford: Pergamon Press Inc.

2. Tang J. (2002). Using L1 in the English Classroom. -English Teaching Forum.

3. Willis J. (2002). A Framework for Task-Based Learning.-New York: Longman.

TEACHING INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN EFL

CLASSROOM Rakhmatova N.

Rakhmatova Nargiza - Teacher, DEPARTMENT OF THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, UZBEK STATE UNIVERSITY OF WORLD LANGUAGES, TASHKENT, REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN

Abstract: this article is devoted to teaching intercultural competence in EFL classroom. Foreign language learning is comprised of grammatical competence, communicative competence, language proficiency and cultural competence. Cultural competence is the knowledge of the conventions, customs, beliefs, and systems of meaning of another country. Keywords: culture, EFL, ICC, sociocultural competence, cross-cultural concepts.

Language and culture are inseparable. Culture is the foundation of communication. Language itself makes no sense and has no meaning outside the cultural setting in which it is spoken. In the EFL teaching, great attention should be paid to teaching culture of the target language as well as to teaching linguistic knowledge so that learners' intercultural communicative competence (ICC) can be enhanced. Foreign language teachers should be culture teachers [1, P.34]. As learners learn about language, they learn about culture and as they learn to use a new language, they learn to communicate with other individuals from a new culture. The ability to communicate successfully with native speakers depends not only on language skills but also on comprehension of cultural habits and expectations. In the

century of the global communication, the goal of EFL teaching has to be changed and a shift should be made to the cultivation of ICC.

Most language teachers would agree that in order to apply language skills effectively, the knowledge of cultural environment is crucial. Successful intercultural communication means much more than language skills as understanding a foreign language do not ensure understanding the speaker's intentions. It is also a comprehension of cultural habits and expectations.

Moreover, international understanding is one of the basic goals of language education. It is important to understand the differences among the various cultures within which people of different races, religions, political and social beliefs live together. Peace and progress in the world depend on understanding, tolerance, exchange and cooperation. Foreign language study is one of the core educational components for achieving this aim. Furthermore, students themselves may be interested in the people who speak English. EFL students want to know what they are like, how they live and how they are different from themselves. However, student's knowledge of the basic aspects of target culture may be incomprehensive if they have not been provided with systematic cultural knowledge at school or university. Overall, foreign language teaching should help students lay a solid foundation of language and cultivate their cultural awareness so as to meet the needs of social development. English as the medium of international communication at present is called upon to mediate a whole range of cross-cultural concepts. Thus, English language teaching and English culture teaching is coming to the foreground and EFL teachers should not neglect culture and pay due attention to it in the classroom.

It is necessary to learn how to understand and create language that is in accordance with the sociocultural parameters of the specific situation, as EFL students first of all ground communication on the background of their native culture and only then on the culture of the target language [2], which is called intercultural communication. Intercultural communication is interactional data from members of different cultural backgrounds, it is communication across cultures or comparative data and studies of a large number of cultures. Intercultural communication is concerned with unmediated communication between people from different cultural backgrounds. In the 21st century we have no choice about whether to live and communicate in a world of many cultures. Thus, what competence should foreign language learners have to meet the need of communicating appropriately and effectively in such a world? The answer is that EFL teaching should cultivate learners' intercultural communicative competence.

Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is defined as the competence to obtain effective outcomes in intercultural communication situations. Recently ICC has become an important research area in intercultural communication studies. ICC is related to the cultural factors, because they have their reflections in a practical communicative situation. More and more EFL teachers place emphasis upon the improvement of ICC, as well as the linguistic competence at the same time. ICC also implies knowledge of many aspects of society and culture: forms of address, choices of register and style, differences between social and regional dialects, as well as social values attached to these differences.

Cultural awareness teaching should be involved with viewpoints, and with allowing students to gain a perspective through comparison, in the process of which from the two viewpoints there lies the possibility of attaining leverage on both cultures, and thereby acquiring an intercultural communicative competence. Often students do not realize that the teacher is attempting to teach aspects of the target language culture, as very often culture is not considered a fundamental component of the class content. Currently, the most practical approach to testing culture is to test the facts and insight into cultural behavior.

References

1. Lum D. Cultural Competence, Practice Stages, and Client Systems: A Case Study Approach. Cengage Learning, 2004.

2. LustigM.W., Koester J. Intercultural Competence: Interpersonal Communication Across Cultures. Pearson, 2009.

USEFUL INFORMATIONAL COMMUNICATIVE TECHNOLOGIES

FOR DIFFERENT GRADES Rsaliyev A.

Rsaliyev Arman - Teacher, ENGLISH THEORETICAL ASPECTS DEPARTMENT № 3, UZBEK STATE WORLD LANGUAGES UNIVERSITY, TASHKENT, REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN

Abstract: this article is developed in accordance with the emphasis given on lexis and the development of communicative skills during EFL courses. Consequently, it covers vocabulary development and consolidation, the development of speaking and listening, and the development of initial writing and reading. The ICT tools suggested certainly do not comprise an exhaustive list of the web tools available to EFL teachers for these purposes. Keywords: ICT, authenticity, search engines, DVP, OPD.

The implementation of English has brought along the need to establish clear objectives that are different to the ones traditionally assigned to secondary schools. While in secondary schools we still find, in many cases, a teaching based in the formal aspects of the language, grammar; primary school teachers have had to adopt a different approach as the age of the children make the teaching of formal aspects not advisable. As a result of this point of view, the different Educational Departments have decided to establish, as the main purpose of the EFL teaching, the development of the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, the implementation of this approach has not been trouble-free as many teachers insist on asking their children to understand every single word they listen to or read, or expect their pupils to write or speak without making the mistakes normally found in the process of acquiring any language.

Vocabulary and spelling activities

Vocabulary SpellingCity.com

This is an example of a free online tool to reinforce memory retention and recall through the revision of the English alphabet letters and their written forms, and of word spellings. It can facilitate the understanding of minimal pairs by contrasting pronunciation, spelling and meaning. It is also an effective tool for understanding the mechanics of reading in English by analyzing sentences into words and words into letters and sounds. Last, but not least, it exposes young EFL learners to authentic English pronunciation and helps them evaluate their learning progress.

Free Online English Pronunciation Dictionaries (OPD)

Dictionaries of the sort (like 'Howjsay' http://www.howjsay.com/) are offered online to help learners grasp and remember the English pronunciation. Nevertheless, they can be a very good tool for practising the English spelling too. Usually, these tools are very simple in use. Children can type the word in the bar provided by the Dictionary, submit it, mouse over it and hear it pronounced. Teachers may also wish to make them aware of a more demanding process in which they browse through the alphabet, select the letter their word starts with, scan the list of words that appears and select the word they want.

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