Abstract :
The concept of culture encompasses the way people live, including their customs, attitudes, lifestyles, traditions, beliefs, norms, and values within their society (Brown, 2007). Members of a group are aware of the rules of proper and impolite behavior and understand how to use language in various social situations based on a shared set of values, beliefs, and norms. Consequently, languages are used differently depending on the culture. This study aimed to explore the perspectives of Vietnamese students studying English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at HCMC College of Economics on how integrating cultural learning into their English language education influences their learning experience. The research seeks to provide valuable insights into the role of cultural integration in English language education for Vietnamese students. To achieve this, the paper employed quantitative research methods to assess students’ perceptions regarding the importance of incorporating cultural aspects of the English language into their learning process. Additionally, the study examined how the integration of cultural learning impacts the English language proficiency of EFL students. Furthermore, to analyze and interpret the results, the paper recommends employing a qualitative approach, utilizing concepts or findings from previous research to support the data. Based on a population size of 168 students who are third-year English major at Ho Chi Minh City College of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City. The analysis results indicate that students positively value the importance of culture learning in English learning. Also, there is a strong correlation between students’ perceptions for cultural learning, their cultural knowledge, and their English learning progress.
Keywords :
EFL students, English language learning, HCMC College of Economics, Learning cultureReferences :
- Brown, H. D. (2007). Principle of language learning and teaching. New York, NY: Pearson Longman.
- Byram, M. (2012). Language awareness and (critical) cultural awareness relationships, comparisons and contrasts. Language Awareness, 21(1-2), 5-13.
- Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
- Choudhury, M. H. (2013) Teaching culture in EFL: Implications, challenges and strategies. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), 13(1), 20-24. Retrieved from http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosrjhss/
- Dlaska, A. (2000). Integrating culture and language learning in institution-wide language programmes. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 13(3), 247-263.
- Kramsch, C. (1998). Language and Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Kramsch, C. (2013). Culture in Foreign Language Teaching. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, 1(1), 57-78
- Kramsch, C. (2014). Language and Culture. AILA Review, 27, 30-55.
- Liddicoat, A. J. (2004). Intercultural language teaching: Principles for practice. The New Zealand Language Teacher, 30, 17-23.
- Liddicoat, A. J. (2005). Teaching languages for intercultural communication in D. Cunningham and A. Hatoss (Eds.), An International Perspective on Language Policies, Practices and Proficiencies (pp. 201-2014). Belgrave, Australia. Retrieved from https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/11036717.pdf.
- Liddicoat, A. (2008). Pedagogical practice for integrating the intercultural in language teaching and learning. Japanese Studies 28(3), 277-290.
- Liddicoat, A., & Scarino, A. (2013). Intercultural language teaching and learning. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118482070.

