Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 637

2021 International Conference on Education, Language and Art (ICELA 2021)

The Influence of Cultural Learning on Second

Language Learning
Xi Luo1,*,†, Sitong Ren2,*,†, Qianru Zhang3,*,†
1
Xianda College of Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, Shanghai, China
2
School of Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China
3
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, Shanghai, China
*
Corresponding author. Email: [Link]@[Link], 2 2914660597@[Link], 3 357977942@[Link]
†
Those authors contributed equally.

ABSTRACT
Culture is important for language learning, but culture in language education has not been given much attention in
China. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the inseparable relationship between culture and language, and to
explore how cultural education plays a role in China's language teaching system. The data collected through
questionnaires and interviews in this paper suggest that Chinese university students still place a relatively high value
on culture and recognize the importance of cultural education for language learning.

Keywords: Cultural education, Language learning, Chinese educational background

interviews and questionnaires and then, using several

1. INTRODUCTION
models and theories, analyzing the results. Data will be
As a result of globalization, the importance of collected and literature reviewed in order to identify the
understanding culture in language learning is becoming influence of culture in second language acquisition and,
apparent and this is causing concern for teachers who on this basis, to provide some suggestions for learning
teach languages and students who learn languages. In and teaching.
China, students are used to blindly following the
teacher's mechanical system of grammar, reading, 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
listening and grammar training day in and day out. The
teachers' aims are also aligned with the students' 2.1 Research on cultural teaching in western
demands, and language learning is ultimately about Second language Teaching
passing exams and going on to higher education. When a
language is taught for its educational value, it is From the perspective of the development of western
significant to understand the cultural content associated language teaching, cultural teaching is closely related to
with that language [1]. Therefore, in the context of this language teaching. As early as the middle age, European
worldwide trend towards cross-cultural communication language teaching has been universal culture teaching, to
and in the context of exam-oriented education in China, introduce students to the history and geography of the
we believe that it is essential to integrate more cultural Roman Empire. Since the 19th century, many linguists
knowledge in the second language classroom. This paper have realized the influence of cultural factors on
will discuss the inseparable relationship between culture language acquisition and the close relationship between
and language and to explore how cultural education can language and culture. After investigating the relationship
play a role in China's language teaching system. between language and national culture, customs and
beliefs, Sapir, an American linguist, concludes that
There has been much debate about the integration of "language has a base... Language does not exist without
culture into the school curriculum. In this paper we culture, that is to say, it does not pass down from
review the existing literature in order to build on it and society..." [2]. German linguist Humboldt (Humboldt,
conduct further research. This paper will examine the B.V.W.) believes that a nation's language and thought are
relationship between language and culture by collecting inseparable, each nation will inevitably put some unique
data from foreign language university students through cultural awareness into their own language, and in their

Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.

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 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 637

own language form a special kind of "world view", the 3. METHOD

"world view" activities, in turn, will restrict people's
words [3]. Research has provided adequate evidence for us to
analyze a variety of functions of culture during the
With the outbreak of the Second World War, people process of second language acquisition. Considering the
pay more attention to the cultural differences between pertinence of the survey, students who major in foreign
different countries and regions, and the studys of language are the best choice, for they have common goal
sociolinguistics, pragmatics and cross-cultural which is gaining a job related to their second language.
communication theory develop rapidly. Many scholars Linguistically, error analysis and acculturation model
have also proposed that foreign language should no will help to parse our data.
longer be an independent discipline, but should be
combined with political science, history, geography and
3.1 Participants
literature of a particular region to form an
interdisciplinary group [4]. Seen from the standards for The key research question of our study is how
Foreign Language Teaching in the 21st Century issued cultural factors influence second language acquisition in
by the US Department of Education in 1996, cultural classes. To analyze this question, participants consist of
teaching covers all the standards in the syllabus and undergraduate and graduate students, and present
becomes the central task of language teaching [5]. From different versions of questionnaire and interview. Among
the current research situation, The Concept of Cultural them, some undergraduate students are participating the
Teaching Practice by Patrick R.M, an American scholar, 2+2 joint tertiary study programs, while graduate
is a relatively authoritative book that systematically students have the experience of studying abroad or the
discusses language and culture teaching, and makes a goal of working abroad or in multinational corporation.
comprehensive and profound summary and study of the
basic theories [6]. In addition, many scholars have 3.2 Acculturation
proposed a multi-faceted and specific approach to teach
language and culture, which has been gradually Acculturation refers to changes that arise from
systematised. sustained first-hand contact between individuals of
differing cultural origins [12]. Using the “Acculturation
2.2. Cultural studies in Second language model” to frame the study can better explain what the
Teaching in China respondents said. What is mentioned most by
undergraduate students is the exam-oriented education
Cultural teaching in China starts late, and a majority before college, causing rare exposure to cultural learning.
of it are to directly absorb western research results. In the When they have more and more classes related to culture,
actual teaching process, teachers are relatively cautious culture shock happens, especially to those who join the
and not systematic, and there is a lack of corresponding 2+2 study programs. Students who have studied abroad
teaching materials covering intercultural communication. explain they can maintain contact with the people of
The attention of the Chinese language and culture targeted language society and get more linguistic as well
teaching originated in the eighty s of the 20th century, as cultural knowledge. In this process, they realize that
Mr. Xu Guozhang's speech on the Cultural Connotation some of their behaviors gradually change, which means
of Words and English Teaching [7] is a sign that Chinese that his original culture is changed by the influence of
people begin to attach importance to cultural factors in other cultures. from data, all mention that acculturation is
foreign language teaching (Hu Wenzhong). Prior to this, an indispensable step for future employment and cross-
China had mainly translated a large number of foreign cultural communication.
classics and studied foreign works, such as Hall's The
Silent Language[8] and Intercultural Communication and 3.3 Procedure
Learning[9] (Hu Wenzhong). Chinese scholars have
concentrated on integrating a great deal of theoretical We send questionnaires to undergraduate and
and practical knowledge of cultural factors, producing a graduate students majoring in foreign language, and
series of specific approaches to teaching foreign select special participants to have interview. Participants
language and culture suitable for China, such as Chen are required to express their views toward the ideas
Shen's Language and Culture Teaching Strategies [10] mentioned in each item by choosing the point on the
and Hu Wenzhong and Gao Yihong's Foreign Language scale, which is reflected their level of agreement. Also,
Teaching and Culture [11]. But on the whole, the they can write down their own opinions in the short-
teaching theories of foreign language culture in China answer questions. Privacy will be assured. Respondents
need to be enriched, and the professional practice of can also update their ideas after the research. All the
teaching methods need to be improved. answers are then collected to be analyzed by the research
team.

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4. QUESTIONNAIRES as 86.89%. Other types of cultural content also almost

exceed 50%.
Adapted from WeChat English culture learning and
its impact on language learning, the ten-item Theme 2: The importance of cultural learning in
questionnaire utilized in this study aims to assess these language learning.
themes: (1) Target language learning includes cultural We are concerned about this topic. Therefore, we
learning (Item 1,2), (2) The importance of cultural have designed many related questions, and the results
learning in language learning (Item 3,4,5,6,7) and (3) obtained are more in line with our expectations. In the
The position of cultural learning in language learning. minds of the interviewees, cultural learning is still very
(Item 8). The first theme of the questionnaire aims to important to their target language.
investigate whether the teaching of the target language
includes cultural teaching. The second theme is Table 2: Do you think the cultural content in the
concerned with the attitude change in the participants textbook is helpful in learning a foreign language?
towards the target culture. The last theme assesses the
status of target language cultural learning in China. Response %

Theme 1: Target language learning includes cultural Yes 96.72

learning
textbooks or courses are becoming increasingly No 3.28
abundant and diverse, in 2 table below, the participants Table 3: Do you think foreign language culture learning
expressed that cultural content is common in foreign is important?
language learning.
Response %
9%
Yes 80.33

Not so important 19.67

91% No 0
Yes No
More than 95% of the participants clearly state that
Figure 1: During your study of a foreign language, is cultural learning is helpful to language learning, and
there any content in the foreign language textbooks that everyone who participates in this questionnaire believes
involves cultural learning? that foreign language and cultural learning is necessary.
It is the only option in our questionnaire that does not
Table 1: If so, what cultural content is included in the have a candidate.
material you are studying？ [Multi-choice questions]
Theme 3: The position of cultural learning in
language learning.
Response %
Compared with the previous ones, the last topic of
Habits 86.89 our questionnaire is relatively simple with a subjective
question. However, this is enough to reflect some facts:
Values 67.21 most of the language culture content is still insufficient.

The way of thinking 60.66

15%
Diet 60.66

Religion 40.98

History 54.1 85%

Yes No
Literature 50.82
Figure 2: Do you think the foreign language textbooks
Cultural traditions 52.46 should strengthen the study of cultural content ？
Not only do almost all the textbooks contain cultural
content, but also the types are very rich. Among them, Certainly, we also add an open question at the end of
living habits account for the largest proportion, as high our questionnaire. Many participants give their own
answers, and some are very representative.

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Do you think that in the context of Chinese language “renaissance”, we all know that it has the meaning of
education, cultural learning is necessary for the study of revival, regeneration. But if you know something about
its language and why？ [Short answer] the Renaissance, you will immediately realize that
renaissance can be used as a proper term, referring to the
The last item in this questionnaire is the only open
Renaissance. Or when the teacher introduces relevant
item. When we ask them whether they find it necessary
content about Renaissance, you can quickly accept this
to strengthen the importance of cultural learning in their
concept and visualize in your mind. We also mention
language learning. The answer can be divided into six
that however course books provide real life situations,
points. Next, we'll deal with these points and discuss
learners, lacking insights about the target culture, have
them with some participants' answers in the introduction
difficulty in associating these situations with real people
respectively.
[15]. Participants say that culture learning is an
Point 1: Language is a part of culture, and language extremely efficient way of learning, so they regard
cannot exist independently without culture. cultural learning as a tool and method for learning the
target language, so that they can better master it.
I think it is necessary. Language is a part of a
nation’s culture and a way of disseminating culture. Point 3: Mastering the grammatical framework does
After the introduction of the Direct Method into the not mean mastering the language.
English Language teaching, cultural elements begin to be
The importance is not the grammatical structure but
regarded as an important aspect of language learning.
the change in the way of thinking. While discussing the
Nowadays, cultural background knowledge is accepted
language proficiency, linguists often make a distinction
as a necessary place for language teaching. As Edward
between linguistic competence and linguistic
Sapir (Language) points, there is something behind the
performance. Chomsky defines linguistic competence as
language and language cannot exist without culture. The
what one knows about the language while linguistic
so-called culture is the summation of inherited habit and
performance is one’s actual language use [15]. Many of
belief, which can determine our living organization.
our participants say that in addition to being able to take
[Link] states the history of language and the
exams, the biggest purpose of their language learning is
language of history are complement to each other. They
to communicate. The ability of communicating is very
can assist and enlighten each other. Language does not
important in two directions. One is the language itself,
exist in a vacuum so that language learners should
that is, its structure, grammar, etc. And the other is the
understand the background, they should also learn about
way of expression, cultural competence falls in the
the target culture. In this respect, Crystal well supports
category of expression. This likes the learner thinking
this statement: “Language has no independent existence:
from the cultural perspective of the target language and
it exists only in the brains and mouths and ears and hands
expressing it according to the native speaker’s thinking
and eyes of its user” [13]. Some participants in this
mode. This thinking mode is influenced by many aspects,
questionnaire are clearly aware of the importance of
such as religion, customs, social structure, etc., which are
culture and believe that culture and language are
all covered by culture. Lado argues that lack of cultural
inseparable.
competence in the target language will surely lead to
Point 2: Cultural learning contributes to its language transfer from the native language to the target language
learning [5]. This is why there is such a saying as Chinglish,
which is imposing the Chinese model on English, this
Knowing the cultural background can make people
kind of English can be understood by Chinese people as
understand the language better. The main problem in
soon as they listen, but native English speakers generally
teaching culture in the foreign language classroom is on
have to guess. Therefore, even though the grammatical
the uncertainty of the meaning of the culture itself
structure may be correct, the locals cannot understand
(Furstenberg, 2010). Although there have been teaching
what it means. The participants here are clear that being
activities which are devoted to culture teaching and
more exposed to cultural learning can enhance their
textbook materials have included the cultural dimensions,
communication skills.
there is still a constant need to redefine the concept of
culture that is meaningful in language classroom, which Point 4: Cultural teaching does not fit the Chinese
is the first place that students encounter with another education system
language [14]. Therefore, whether in China or in other
I do not think it is necessary, it may be more
countries, cultural teaching has always been full of
important for students who need to go abroad. As the
uncertainty. However, the process of language learning is
exchanges between countries around the world become
a relatively abstract concept. Many interviewees said that
closer and closer, in order to adapt to the development of
cultural education is more like a background introduction
globalization, many students choose to study abroad, but
for them. This is a process of concretizing the original
it is obvious that a larger part of the students do not
abstract concept, and it will gradually make them form a
consider this path. Therefore, for them, even if they do
picture in their mind. For example, the word
not deny the importance of culture to language learning,

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they still think it is unnecessary. As far as the current [7] Xu guozhang. (1999). The Cultural Connotation of
situation is concerned, China’s education model is still Words and English Teaching.
relatively mechanical, so does language teaching.
[8] Hall R.B. (1991). The Silent Language, Shanghai
Teachers are accustomed to strengthening students’
People's Publishing House.
grammar system, that they teach grammatical rules over
and over again, and students do it over and over again. [9] Hu Wenzhong (1988). Intercultural Communication
Of course, both the content of the textbook and the and Learning, Shanghai Translation Publishing
teacher's words will involve some cultural knowledge, House.
but we are more accustomed to using it as a moderator,
which is an additional content that is free from rigid [10] Chen shen (2001). Evolution and development of
courses. So, in the end we will return to the environment western Language and Culture teaching at
of the Chinese education system. It is precisely because Newcastle University.
of this restriction that the participants have voices of [11] Hu Wenzhong, Gao Yihong (1997) Foreign
opposition. Language Teaching and Culture Changsha, Hunan
Education Press.
5. CONCLUSION
[12] Redfield, R., Linton, R., & Herskovi, M. J. (1936).
Cultural learning is to deepen the understanding of Memorandum for the study of acculturation.
the language, which is very helpful to language learning.
Even if the cultural content involved in our textbooks or [13] Crystal (2003). English as a Global Language.
teaching is not sufficient, in fact, many students regard [14] International Journal of Instruction, October 2020 •
cultural learning as an important part of language Vol.13, No.4
learning. And they also use their own methods to absorb
cultural knowledge. The results of our questionnaire [15] Bilal Genc and Erdogan Bada (2005) Culture in
have already shown that people still value cultural language learning and teaching.
learning. Cultural learning and language learning are
inseparable and interacted. Cultural learning is helpful to
our language learning, and can strengthen the expressive
ability as well. But if it is just to pass the exam, it is
another matter. Therefore, according to the current
situation, there is no doubt that cultural learning is
necessary. But if it is under China’s education system, as
the results of this article, there is still no conclusive
conclusion.

REFERENCES
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[5] Standards for foreign language learning in the 21st
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