Cultural diversity and its influence on english teaching and learning in an EFL context

Abstract

The main concept of foreign language education is that communication is a social interaction rather than a linguistic exchange. Despite a strong interconnectedness between language and culture in foreign language learning, learning of culture has not been integrated into the curricular goals. Designed in a descriptive case study, this study was conducted to discover the influence of cultural diversity on English teaching and learning process in an EFL class. The main research quetion was how the cultural diversity existing in the class was influencing the lecturer and students in their teaching and learning English. Data were collected through interview and questionnaire. Interview data were compiled from an English native speaker lecturer of a university class where the students came from different cities in Indonesia. Then, questionnaire was distributed to the students to know their cultural experiences in learning English and their perception of the role of cultural knowledge and understanding in their English language learning. The findings show that both the lecturer's and students' native culture do interfere with teaching and learning process. The implication of the findings underlines the importance to provide the opportunities for non-native English students to use the target language in its pragmatic functions through the selection of learning materials and classroom activities that can enhance their cultural knowledge and awareness.