The Importance of Teaching Culture in English Foreign Language Classrooms

ABSTRACT\ud THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING CULTURE IN ENGLISH\ud FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS\ud by\ud Abeer Abdulrahim Bashaikh\ud Master of Arts in Teaching International Languages\ud California State University, Chico\ud Fall 2011\ud The culture of Saudi Arabia is a mystery to the world and what is known about Saudi Arabia is often what people have surmised through their own culture. Saudi students miss the opportunity to be effective ambassadors for Saudi Arabia and Islam by being unable to change the mistaken impressions until they have learned English well enough to communicate the beauty of the Saudi and Islamic cultures. In this thesis, I identify one of the key reasons that Saudi students are unable to communicate effectively; the American culture is not a part of the language learning process and curriculum in Saudi Arabia. This thesis surveys the scholarly literature of English Language Teaching (ELT) and determines that the lack of culture is the primary reason for students not learning the English language sufficiently to enter university courses despite years of study of the English language. Teaching language without culture is like teaching the alphabet without the vowels; the students will learn some things but not enough to make\ud the language useful. The consensus is clear that culture is the essential element in language learning, and its absence in the Saudi curriculum is why miscommunication continues, preventing the American people a better understanding of and appreciation for Saudi Arabia and Islam.CSU, Chic