Culture: What to Teach and How to Teach It in an EFL Class

Abstract

This paper discusses the question of the teaching of culture in an EFL （English as a Foreign Language） class. With the open door policy, an increasing number of people in China are learning English or some other language for various purposes. However, they often experience the frustration of failure in communication with foreigners which can sour relationships or business due to their ignorance of the target culture associated with the language they are learning or have learned. Therefore, teaching culture in foreign language classes and learning a second culture while learning a second language have become new slogans, or to be exact, new tasks in the field of English language teaching in China. But how to teach and what to teach remain problematic. The author holds that ＂central code＂ of a culture, i.e., people＇s way of life should be the focus in EFL teaching. Then choosing appropriate and authentic material containing aspects of culture is of great importance. Greater importance should be attached to mass media and multimedia materials and approaches. At the same time, attention should be paid to the cultural behaviour or belief of EFL teachers so as to make more effective teaching