Perceptions of Libyan English Language Teachers towards Teaching the Target Culture

Abstract

This study examines the perceptions of 20 Libyan teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) at Sebha University towards teaching EFL culture inside Libyan EFL classrooms. It seeks to find out whether Libyan EFL teachers hold positive attitudes towards the use of the target language culture as oppose to the students' first language (L1) or not. In this study, a quantitative approach was used. The participants were asked to give their responses to a total of 7 multiple choice questions on Likert scale. The responses of the participants were analysed using descriptive statistics of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The results of the study showed that the majority of the participants hold positive attitudes towards the integration of EFL culture in teaching English language in Libya. Introduction When speakers of the same language interact, they tend to refer to various sociocultural aspects that are common in their society. The term " socio-cultural " (Kramsch, 1996, p. 2) refers to the place an individual belongs to and the social community to which he or she is connected. The sociocultrual aspects are so unique that only the people in the same community are able to understand and interpret. All languages work this way and no language is spoken without referring to the cultural context in which it is used. Moreover, when learning any foreign language, culture plays a very significant role in the process of learning that language. Culture is now considered to be one of the elements that are said to be inseparable from language. Culture is reflected through language and language is formed through culture. (Jiang, 2000). Moreover, any foreign language learner, besides the necessity of studying the linguistic aspect of the language, needs a good deal of exposure to that language's culture in order to be able to speak it appropriately at different situations. Learners' willingness and enthusiasm to learn the target language as well as have some knowledge about the target environment increases more when they are taught the culture. (Genc & Bada, 2005). This study seeks to explore the perceptions of Libyan EFL teachers regarding teaching EFL culture to their students. It aims to answer the question of whether Libyan EFL teachers hold positive attitudes towards teaching EFL culture or not.