VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES *************** NGUYỄN THỊ THÚY HẰNG AN INVESTIGATION INTO CULTURAL ELEMENTS VIA LINGUISTIC MEANS IN NEW HEADWAY TEXTBOOKS (Nghiên cứu các yếu tố văn hóa thông qua phương tiện ngôn ngữ trong bộ giáo trình New Headway) M. Minor Programme Thesis FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS CODE: 60.15 HÀ NỘI – 2010 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES *************** NGUYỄN THỊ THÚY HẰNG AN INVESTIGATION INTO CULTURAL ELEMENTS VIA LINGUISTIC MEANS IN NEW HEADWAY TEXTBOOKS (Nghiên cứu các yếu tố văn hóa thông qua phương tiện ngôn ngữ trong bộ giáo trình New Headway) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS CODE: 60.15 SUPERVISOR: PHAN THỊ VÂN QUYÊN, M.A HÀ NỘI – NĂM 2010 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Declaration. iii Table of contents.
iv List of tables. vi PART A: INTRODUCTION. Aims of the study. Scope of the study.
Methods of the study. Design of the study. 4 Chapter 1: Theoretical Background. Elements of Culture.
Interrelationship between Language and Culture…………………………………. Cultural dimension of English language learning and teaching…………………. Materials under investigation…………………………………………………… 17 2. The context of the study………………………………………………………….
Data collection procedures………………………………………………………. 20 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com v Chapter 3: Findings and Discussions. Identifications of British cultural elements in New Headway textbooks. Identifications of American cultural elements in New Headway textbooks………31 3.
Implications for incorporating culture teaching into English language teaching……39 3. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study .42 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.textbooks vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The frequency of occurrence of British cultural elements in New Headway textbooks. Table 2: The frequency of occurrence of American cultural elements in New Headway textbooks. Table 3: The comparison of frequency of occurrence between British and American cultural elements in New Headway Textbooks.
TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.textbooks 1 PART A: INTRODUCTION This part consists of rationale, aims of the study, research question, scope of the study, methods of the study and design of the study. Rationale As we know, language and culture are interdependent and interactional. Culture affects the way language is used and language may reflect many factors of culture in turn. In addition, what is right one culture may not be accepted in another culture.
As people from one country to another , cultural differences become apparent to them. and Davies, E (1998:99-111) when discussing culture and language use have come to the conclusion that if learners do not acquire some familiarity with the cultural norms of native speakers of their target language, they will meet difficulties in communicating these ones. Thus, cultural knowledge is obviously a vital key for Vietnamese students for success in learning English because second language learning is second culture learning. Without the study of culture, foreign language instruction is inaccurate and incomplete.
Clearly, if you do not understand about culture of a community, you cannot understand and express fully meanings in the context of that communication; therefore you will not be able to gain a successful communication. English – the popular language in international communication, has played a crucial role in many fields. It has been taught in Vietnam for decades. Nowadays, English has become a compulsory subject in schools, colleges and universities in Vietnam.
Therefore, different kinds of English teaching and learning materials are available now in Vietnam. However, the main emphasis on structural rules and forms often serves as the principal method of teaching English. Most Vietnamese teachers tend to focus on teaching grammar, vocabulary, language skills without paying much attention to cultural background knowledge. The students may get difficulties in achieving contextual, situational and cultural appropriateness in communication.
For foreign language students, language study seems meaningless if they know nothing about the people who speak that language or the country in which that language is spoken. Foreign language learning is also foreign culture learning. So, language learners need to be aware, for example, of the culturally appropriate ways to address people, make requests or invitations, suggestions or express gratitude to someone, etc. To communicate successfully, language TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.textbooks 2 learners need to understand that language use must be associated with other culturally appropriate behavior.
Understanding a language involves not only knowledge of grammar, phonology and lexis but also of certain features and characteristics of the culture. For the aforementioned reasons, the author has decided to choose “Cultural Elements via Linguistic Means in New Headway Textbooks” as the topic for this thesis. Aims of the study This research was carried out to serve the following purposes: - To identify British and American cultural elements revealed in the New Headway Textbooks. - To raise the teachers‟ and students‟ awareness of the importance of cultural knowledge in cross-cultural communication as well as in mastering English language.
- To give suggestions for incorporating culture teaching into language teaching so that English learning and teaching become more interesting and effective. Research question This research is carried out to find the answer to the research question: What are the cultural elements that can be found in New Headway Textbooks? 4. Scope of the study - Pointing out British and American cultural elements revealed in the New Headway Textbooks such as norms, values, attitudes and communication styles. - New Headway Textbooks at Elementary, Pre-intermediate, and Intermediate levels are under investigation.
Methods of the study - This study used quantitative method in order to quantify British and American cultural elements such as norms, values, attitudes and communication styles in New headway Textbooks. - Data was collected by means of descriptive analysis and statistic. TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Designs of the study This research consists of 3 parts: INTRODUCTION, DEVELOPMENT, AND CONCLUSION.
This part discusses rationale, aims of the study, research questions, scope of the study, methods of the study, and designs of the study. Part B: DEVELOPMENT This is the focus of the study which is divided into 3 chapters. Chapter 1: Theoretical Background. This part discusses the culture, elements of culture, British and American culture, language, interrelationship between language and culture, and cultural dimension of English language learning and teaching.
Chapter 2: Methodology It consists of materials under investigation, the context of the study, research question, research methods, and data collection procedures. Chapter 3: Findings and discussions This part focuses on analyzing cultural elements such as norms, values, attitudes and communication styles revealed in the New Headway Textbooks. Then, give discussions. Part C: CONCLUSION To sum up the major findings, give implications for incorporating culture teaching into English language teaching and then, give suggestions for further research.
TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.textbooks 4 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND This chapter consists of theoretical background such as culture, elements of culture, British culture, American culture, language, interrelationship between language and culture, cultural dimension of English language learning and teaching. When referring to culture, we often relate to art, music, history, geography , literature, architect, religions, customs and traditions and social relationship…. Up to now, the term “Culture” has been understood and defined in many ways. Each author gives different ideas.
There are many particular definitions and conceptualizations of culture. “ Culture , in its broadest sense , is what make you a stranger when you are away from home. It includes all beliefs and expectations about how people should speak and act which have become a kind of second nature to you as a result of social learning. When you are with members of a group who share your culture , we or you do not have to think about it, for you are all viewing the world in pretty much the same way and you all know , in general terms, what to expect of one another” ( Phillip K.
Bock, 1970: ix) Levine and Adelman ( 1993) asserted that “Culture is a shared background ( for example, national, ethnic, religious) resulting from common language and communication style , customs, beliefs, art, music and all the other products of human thought made by a particular group of people at a particular time. It also refers to the informal and often hidden patterns of human interactions, expressions and view points that people in one culture shared”. Levine and Adelman compared culture with an “iceberg”. The visible part of an iceberg or culture consists of appearance, food, language, tradition and customs… and the invisible part includes values, beliefs, attitudes and communicative styles, perceptions, etc.
the visible part of culture is a small part of a much bigger whole. Therefore, people cannot see the significant influence of culture on an individual behavior and interaction with others. Culture makes people bind together. Culture is all the accepted and patterned ways of behavior of a given people.
It consists of a group‟s way of thinking ,feeling, and acting and patterns for doing certain things in certain ways…. All in all, “ Culture is everything that people have, think and do as a member of a society” TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. The concept of culture, therefore, involves the way people from a particular cultural background think, feel, act ,make friends, worship and behave in a community. Culture distinguishes one human group from others.
It also distinguishes human being from animals. Culture is shared, learned symbolic system of values, beliefs and attitudes that shapes and affects people‟s behaviors, norms, values, attitudes, customs, lifestyle, perceptions, taboos and communicative styles, art, history , geography, economics and political systems…. Elements of culture. There are many ways of understanding and defining about the culture.
So each author gives different definitions of cultural elements. Some authors define and classify elements clearly, but others have not classified them clearly, only give some suggestions about them or only list some of typical elements of culture. In this part, I only list some classifications of cultural elements from some famous authors such as Stephen Moore, Stephen Dahl, Saville-Troike, Tomalin and Stempleski, Gail Robinson, Nelson Brooks and UNESCO organization. According to Stephen Moore (1985:4 as cited by Do Mai Thanh & Dao Thu Trang , 2006: 5-6) culture consists of the following elements: Beliefs, values, norms, roles, role conflict, and status.
Beliefs: are general, vague opinions held about the world and about the nature of society. They vary by society and sometimes by subcultures, eg. God created the earth in seven days, or that Jesus was the son of God. Values: are vague beliefs about what is right and correct in the world.
They imply that there are certain appropriate forms of action which ought to be taken, eg. Life is precious therefore, it is wrong to kill anybody. Norms: are socially expected patterns of behavior. Not talking out loud during a play, wearing black clothes to a funeral.
Roles: social roles are patterns of behavior expected of certain people according to the occupation or position they hold in society. The role of clergyman is to be sympathetic, well-mannered, well-spoken, religious, and charitable. A swering, heavy-drinking, perty-going clergyman would be regarded with astonishment by most people. TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.textbooks 6 Role conflict : There are innumerable social roles- father, mother, child, shopkeeper, etc.
All of us occupy a number of roles, which are generally complementary, but sometimes they may conflict, for instance, …. Status: refers to the position of a person or a social role in society according to the amount prestige received from others. In different societies or cultures, status varies. In Britain those with the highest status are the best educated and the rich , although this will obviously vary within subcultures.
In traditional Japan, it was the samurai warriors who received the greatest prestige, after the Emperor.