Investigating Teachers and Learners’ Perspectives towards the Incorporation of Culture in TEFL

Abstract

The present research investigates teachers and learners‟ perspectives towards the incorporation of culture in the EFL teaching/learning process. As EFL Teachers tend to direct more attention to the linguist aspects of the language over the cultural content, culture becomes a minor subject in the curriculum. Therefore, it is hypothesized that teachers‟ awareness concerning the importance of the target culture in teaching EFL classes would make culture better incorporated in the educational curriculum. For the research aims to be realized and the hypothesis to be verified a quantitative descriptive methodology is followed, through which two questionnaires are administered, one addressed to first year Master students and another addressed to teachers of English at the department of English at the University of 8 Mai 1945-Guelma. According to the obtained data and despite teachers‟ and learners‟ consciousness about the importance of culture teaching, the implementation of cultural elements in EFL classes seems not to have a primary focus. Restrictions and limitations including teachers‟ limited knowledge about the target culture and their lack of cultural training are among the major constraints that hinder the integration of culture in TEFL process. At the end of this work some pedagogical recommendations and implications are proposed for a better culture integration in EFL classes and curriculum.