Teaching Culture in EFL: Implications, Challenges and Strategies

Abstract

Language and culture have an inextricable and interdependent relationship. Learning a foreign language without learning the culture can only produce a " fluent fool, " that is someone who speaks the language well but does not understand the social or philosophical context in which it exists. In this era of technology, globalization, immigration and mass media, it is even more imperative for EFL teachers to equip students with high level of intercultural communicative competence. This paper addresses some challenges faced by EFL teachers while teaching target culture and reinforces importance of incorporating culture in teaching English as Foreign Language and suggests how and which components of culture should be taught.