Presenter: Thi Minh Thu, Bui Affiliation: Faculty of Foreign Languages, Banking Academy, Hanoi, Vietnam INCORPORATING TARGET, LOCAL, AND INTERNATIONAL CULTURE INTO THE VIETNAMESE EFL TERTIARY CURRICULUM

Outline 1. Introduction 2. Concept definition 3. Overview of the Vietnamese EFL tertiary context 4. Discussion of the issue 5. Suggestion for the issue 6. Critical reflections 7. Conclusion

1. Introduction Language acts as social and cultural practices (Kramsch, 1998). Through the use of language, we “construct meanings” and our identity is “communicated, extended, confirmed, constructed, negotiated, and reconstituted” (Hall, 1997, p. 1; Phan, 2008, p. 25). Language teaching cannot be separated from culture teaching (Kramsch, 1998; Hall, 1997, Woodwards, 1997).

1. Introduction Question: What kind of culture should be exploited in EFL learning materials so that language learners can achieve communicative competence? Main argument: There should be a combination of local, target and international cultures in the Vietnamese EFL tertiary curriculum.

2. Concept definition Local culture: students’ native culture Target culture: the culture where the target language is used as a first language like American, British, or Australian culture International culture: different varieties of the culture from both English and non-English speaking countries such as France, Spain, Venezuela, etc. Cortazzi and Jin (1999) describe three possible types of culture that are presented in the curriculum

3. Overview of the Vietnamese EFL tertiary context In Vietnam, English replaced Russian as the main foreign language at schools in the early 1990s (Pham, 2011) Regarding materials for English learning, tertiary EFL teachers have more flexibility in choosing materials for their teaching in contrast with secondary school EFL teachers. On the whole, Vietnamese EFL tertiary curriculum sees the greatest power of the target culture

4. Discussion of the issue Dominant position of the target culture EFL learning materials Vietnamese EFL teachers’ mindsets

4. Discussion of the issue Most of English textbooks are from American, British, Canadian, or Australian publishers. These authors intentionally or unintentionally pass on their beliefs, customs, values, lifestyles, etc. to the non- native language learners (Alptekin, 1993). EFL learning materials

4. Discussion of the issue To many teachers, the target culture and language embody the “standard English” These teachers often suppose that what is given in inner circle textbooks is better than their locally-designed textbooks (Phan, 2008). Vietnamese EFL teachers’ mindsets

4. Discussion of the issue Arising problems promotion of native speakerism, (Canagarajah, 1999; Harmer, 2007) students’ low achievement and lack of interest in learning (Alptekin, 1993; Canagarajah, 1999)

5. Suggestion for the issue Incorporating target, local, and international culture into our EFL curriculum

5. Reasons for the incorporation culture-specific schema theory, which proves the connection between students’ learning success and their prior experience (Alptekin, 1993) Students take an active part in presenting their own cultural customs, values and beliefs to the outside world 1. Facilitate foreign language learning and students’ self-expression

5. Reasons for the incorporation diminish the singular power of the target culture in EFL materials reflect the changing identities of English speakers 2. Help celebrate local and global identities

5. Reasons for the incorporation Not being limited to a rigid range of learning materials that features only the target culture Make EFL lessons better fit into the socio-cultural context of Vietnam 3. Provide teachers with a vast repertoire of cultural contents when selecting and designing teaching materials

5. Reasons for the incorporation As Sercu (2004) claims, an intercultural speaker should have the ability to gain an insight into others’ cultures and at the same time being able to inform other speakers about their own culture. Multicultural knowledge allows learners to have a contrastive perspective, in which knowledge about “the other” can be linked and compared with “the Self”’s cultural background (Wandel, 2003). 4. Promote students’ intercultural competency by giving students opportunities to reflect on cultural differences

6. Critical reflections Appreciate the importance of English and at the same time value their own national identities Have clear guidelines regarding material development and textbook design In terms of the country’s national language policy

6. Critical reflections culture teaching should be implemented in the language classroom culture teaching is not limited to the mere presentation of cultural facts a sole reliance on the textbook is not always recommended learning materials should be selected and presented in a principled and logical way teaching culture-in-language is not a short-term matter In terms of the Vietnamese EFL teachers

7. Conclusion English language teaching is not a neutral issue. A balanced combination of target, local, and international culture in the Vietnamese EFL tertiary curriculum can help regain voices of our national identity while recognizing the importance of English. Language learners need to be equipped with a good sense of cultural awareness, which can help them communicate beyond their own cultural boundaries (Crozet & Liddicoat, 2000).

References Alptekin, C. (1993). Target-language culture in EFL materials. ELT Journal, 47(2), doi: /elt/ Canagarajah, A. S. (1999). Resisting linguistic imperialism in English teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Clarke, M., & Pittaway, S. (2014). Exploring and contesting curriculum. In M. Clarke & S. Pittaway (Eds.), Marsh's becoming a teacher (pp ). NSW: Pearson Australia. Cortazzi, M., & Jin, L. (1999). Cultural mirrors: Materials and methods in the EFL classroom. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Culture in second language teaching and learning (pp ). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hall, S. (1997). Introduction. In S. Hall (Ed.), Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices (pp. 1-11). London: SAGE. Harman, G., Hayden, M., & Pham, T. N. (Eds.). (2010). Reforming higher education in Vietnam: Challenges and priorities. Dordrecht: Springer. Harmer, J. (2007). The practice of English language teaching. England: Pearson Education Limited. Jiang, S. (2011). A new interpretation of culture in teaching English as an international language In Y. Wang (Ed.), Education and educational technology (pp ). Berlin: Springer.

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