Essay On The Importance Of Teaching Foreign Language

The Importance of Teaching (Scottish) Culture in the Foreign Language Classes

Abstract
This essay focuses on teaching and learning culture, especially Scottish culture, in foreign language classes. It has long been assumed that language and culture are strongly linked to each other and an important aspect of learning a foreign language is learning its culture, even if it was deprived –in our case in Scotland-some centuries ago. The reason why I have chosen Scottish culture to teach was that I think nowadays globalization spreads all over the world and traditional values disappear, hence it is necessary to draw the students’ attention to the secular traditions, beliefs and values of each nation. By giving some practical examples as well, my

To stimulate students’ intellectual curiosity about the target culture and encourage empathy towards people (p. 48)

We should keep these ‘seven goals of cultural instructions” in mind as we do our lesson planning, consequently one of the most important aims of culture teaching is to help the learners gain an understanding of the native speaker’s perspective. According to Stern, an understanding of cross-cultural institutions is more likely to occur at an intermediate level. (Stern, 1992, p. 234) but younger learners should be engaged by simple activities which will enable them to experience the target culture in their mother tongue.
There is no question that culture, at least on paper, forms part of most language curriculums. In Britain it is called ‘background studies’, which immediately defines its position as subordinate to language. In France it is often referred to as ‘civilization’. In Germany where the concept probably originated, it is more usual nowadays to describe culture teaching as ‘Landeskunde’ (area study) rather than “Kulturkunde”. Whatever it is called, there has been a continuing history of this aspect of language teaching dating back at least to the early 1950s and even further to the beginning of the