Linguo-cultural Competence of Learners and Language Teaching
Aisulu Kinjemuratova, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Aisulu Kinjemuratova has been a language teacher for more than 12 years. She began her job as an English teacher at an Academic Lyceum in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan, teaching students aged about 15.Then continued her job as a university lecturer at the Uzbek State World Languages University, where she taught English, Stylistics and Text Linguistics. Currently, she works as a lecturer at Westminster International University in Tashkent. Her main areas of research interest are methods of teaching foreign languages, language and culture, speaking and writing skills. E-mail: akinjemuratova@wiut.uz.
Menu
Introduction
Background
My classes
Findings
Conclusion
Reference
Currently, consideration of correlation between language and culture is regarded as one of the central issues in the process of learning foreign languages. This urges teachers to be aware of learners’ cultural background and knowledge. The effective interaction between a foreigner and a native speaker is built on possession of specific cultural information that includes knowledge of traditions, customs and values, symbols and ways of living. According to Krasner (1999), “linguistic competence alone is not enough for learners of a language to be competent in that language” (p. 80). Therefore, it is impossible to fully master a second language without proper knowledge of its culture. Whenever, English as a second language educator implicitly integrates culture norms in language teaching, s/he enables learners to acquire the language more effectively.Usually, the words in a literary text carry figurative and symbolic cultural associations leading to creation of images. An image is a form of figurative expression used to produce a certain impression based on subjective description of an object (Galperin, 2010). A problem arises when a learner while reading a text encounters images and comprehends their meanings wrongly due to unawareness of foreign language culture. This article is based on my experience while teaching English to my Karakalpak learners; and reveals how some English words and expressions can bear totally different meanings in Karakalpak due to cultural differences. The final part is devoted to re-emphasising the impact of cultural differences and how it should be taken into consideration while teaching a foreign language.
The Karakalpaks are one of the smallest Turkic groups in Central Asia. About eighty per cent of the population lives in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the others are located in various parts of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The Republic of Karakalpakstan is an autonomous republic within Uzbekistan and is located in the northwest of that country near the Aral Sea. Most of the population speak Karakalpak. Karakalpak is a Turkic language, very close to the Kazakh language and has also been very much affected by Uzbek. The script used to be Arabic, then changed to Cyrillic and now Latin is mostly used. Notwithstanding vast deserted areas, people possess a colourful and exciting culture. Their works of art are known to many eastern and western countries of the world. As the language is a reflection of culture, the Karakalpak language carries also cultural features, values and norms.
Being a foreign language teacher, I considered the fact that in the process of learning English, the learners could find similarities and differences between the two cultures. In many parts it did happen; however, misunderstanding or misinterpretation also occurred when learners encountered those words or expressions that carried completely different meanings in their own language while reading English texts. Therefore, I felt it was essential to implicitly incorporate culture in teaching English, because “learners need to become familiar with how they can personally engage in linguistic and cultural diversity.” (Scarino and Liddicoat, 2009, p.21) As the peoples’ worldview has a linguistic determination based on fixed images of language units, the language reflects mythological, religious views of nation, social-historical, moral, practical and life experience of people. Mostly, national-cultural originality of language is demonstrated in image-bearing means of language (Maslova, 2001). Image-bearing means include a wide range of tropes (a trope is a figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression (Oxford University Press, 2016) and their study from the position of Linguoculturology (Maslova, 2001) is considered as the elements of national language picture of the world. Overall, images reflect peoples’ cultural-historical experience.
My learners were Karakalpak students of academic lyceum aged 15. Generally, most of them started learning English as a school subject at the age of seven. At the lyceum, they were involved into deep learning of English to develop all necessary skills for further communication and study in Higher Education. The period of my teaching Karakalpak learners enabled me to integrate culture of English and reveal how it could become an entry point into more effective foreign language acquisition. For the same reason, when the lesson was targeted at developing reading skills and vocabulary, I involved students into reading different authentic materials. As Moeller et al. (2009, p.6) underline, the authentic materials “provide an appropriate sociocultural context for language learning and allow students to read, see, and feel language purposefully”. While reading, Karakalpak learners encountered the vocabulary that had national-cultural peculiarities; and they found it difficult to comprehend, as sometimes a range of connotative meanings of words in the target language did not coincide in their own language. In these cases, I explained what was being taught. It is of utmost importance to explain the specific meanings of some words and expressions, because as Sun (2011) emphasizes, the cultural difference is clearly demonstrated on the vocabulary, and the explanation of vocabulary leads to the reflection of the nation’s culture.
As it was mentioned above, I integrated culture component in language teaching through involving my learners into activities related to reading authentic texts. In the process of reading, it was vivid that there was a direct link between culture and language, and my choice of an appropriate teaching method could influence the correct perception and comprehension of the concepts. I found that students could better understand the peculiarities of a foreign language text if the teacher prepared beforehand PowerPoint slides, handouts and video materials which supplied with necessary information on spiritual and psychological associations made with foreign language words and expressions. Moreover, organization of post-reading small group discussions were beneficial, as students could interact and share their views and thoughts on the meanings and use of certain images comparing with other meanings familiar to them.
According to language material analysis, stylistically marked language units possess high national-cultural potential. Their explicit imagery representations of language culture form national cultural-historical consciousness of a person and reflect the peculiarities of national world vision and world understanding of the definite language. In language teaching, it is significant to consider national-cultural specificity of image-bearing means, as the perception of imagery in various languages is different. This, initially, relates to the languages of different systems, such as English and Karakalpak. While teaching, it is important to explain the origin, meaning and the reason of using the definite image to avoid interference in the process of text interpretation. The gradual development of learners’ linguo-cultural competence leads to gaining not only the English language vocabulary, but also an extensive amount of the target language cultural information essential for further effective interaction and communication.
As in the lessons I motivated students to read different reading passages from printed and online materials, I analysed various sources to explore how images were expressed, what meanings they had and how they were differentiated from the images used in the mother tongue. As one example, differences of image-bearing means in English and Karakalpak, and their national-cultural specificity are clearly demonstrated in cases when colour is used.
In the process of language teaching, it is critical to take into account that a large amount of cultural phenomena cannot be properly comprehended without knowing the connotative meanings of the colours. Colour, for instance, has a very significant role in many cultures. Specifically, Karakalpak people associate the red colour with happiness and marriage, but they perceive the blue or green colour as a sign of sadness and death. People get offended if a person, who does not know these associations, presents them, for example, with blue or green scarf, kerchief or dress. Therefore, knowing about them can be quite helpful in learning about the culture of the foreign country whose language we are teaching/learning. Other research has also proven that colour is one of the key categories of culture that reflects “different national and historical background, the different traditions and habits, the different peoples’ life experience, and aesthetic psychology of culture” (He, 2009, p.160). As people’s perception of colours is subjective, the definite colour may reflect the peculiarities of a nation. The linguo-cultural knowledge of a colour can assist in revealing the historical, intellectual and social data of a specific nation. From the ancient times, people have used definite colours to symbolize happiness, life, sadness, or evil and these colours have communicated specific messages to people of different cultures. The images used with the definite colour may reveal the national vision of people and their attitude towards this colour and associations; in this case, the language aids to deliver the features of national mentality.
To illustrate my point more clearly, here I have chosen the following colours: black and brown. The denotative meaning of these colours is similar in both languages, but the connotative meaning, taking into consideration linguistic and extra-linguistic factors, is different.
In English, the following images are used with the lexeme Black– as black: as a crow, as a crow’s wing, as a raven, as a raven’s wing, as coal, as ebony, as ink, as jet, as my hat, as your hat, as night, as soot, as the ace of spades, as your boots, as hell, as midnight, as pitch, as print, as the grave, as sin, as thunder, as a thunder cloud (Kunin, 2005).
For example: I thought I’d never get my feet clean; they were as black as ink (Maugham, 2002).
For Karakalpak, there is a different vision in describing black colour.
Қара (black): қызыл жынғылдың көмириндей (as black as ashes of jingil (tamarisk), ғарғаның аяғындай (as black as a crow’s leg), or туйениң аяғындай (as black as a camel’ leg).
For instance: Анасы басқа исин қойып, қызының қасына отыра сала оның қызыл жынғылдың көмириндей қара, бестен таллап өргенликтен ҳәр қайсысының ени бир сүйем, қос бурымын сыйпады (Leaving all other things, mother took a seat near her daughter and stroke her thick, five-strand, black as ashes of tamarisk braids) (Kaipbergenov, 1980).
The first difference is English has many phraseological units which present the perception of black. The second – realia “black as ashes of tamarisk” is widely used in the Karakalpak language and defines the national – cultural specificity of the given image. Tamarisk grows in Central Asia and from the earliest times, it has been used as firewood material; therefore, this is a very relevant type of cliché in the context.
The colour Brown can also be regarded as a single feature, but different images are used in two languages. In English, we can say nut-brown, coffee-brown, brown as a berry, brown as leather, characteristic for describing the person’s skin. For example:
“That’s just like him,” remarked the nut-brown one, leaning against the table (Henry, 1972).
The professor had come back from vacation brown as a berry, bright-eyed, and eager to explain cell-structure again to his classes (Thurber, 1996).
In Karakalpak, the lexeme Бийдай (wheat) often appears in such expressions. Бийдай рең болған Жумагул анасына жүдә уқсап кетер еди (Being brown as wheat, Jumagul looked like her mother) (Kaipbergenov, 1980).
As the use of colour indication in English and Karakalpak is characterized by national-cultural specificity, the expressions nut-brown, coffee-brown, brown as a berry, brown as leather are not used in the Karakalpak to describe dark complexion, because in a Karakalpak learner’s consciousness, they carry different associations. For instance, the lexeme nut can be used to describe a person’s attractive nose. However, the lexeme wheat, being “yellow gold” of the Karakalpaks, is accepted to imply darkness. This is conditioned by nations’ various perceptions of colour. Thus, according to the above-mentioned examples, even the perception of one and the same colour can be different in English and Karakalpak.
Next, in the process of reading texts, learners come across images denoted by zoo-morphisms (attributing animal characteristics to humans) and they experience difficulties while interpreting their meanings in comparison with the associations existing in their own language. For example, in English, the image expressed by zoomorphism goose is used to indicate stupidity.
As stupid as a goose
As silly as a goose (Kunin, 2005)
Goosey – foolish, stupid
“You goose!” … He thought her a silly goose (Cobuild, 1992).
However, in Karakalpak, this image carries a totally different feature. Analogical lexeme Ғаз(goose) is used to indicate the beauty of a person’s walk and femininity.
For instance, Жумагүл оларға қарсы ҳәш нәрсе демей шәнгил қабағын алып, аяғын ғаз-ғаз басыўы менен еплеп суўатқа түсти (Jumagul, without any arguments, took her calabash, and like a goose went down the canal) (Kaipbergenov, 1980).
One more image that I have selected is, one of the celestial bodies – the moon. In English, the single image expressed by the lexeme Moon is used to mean drowsiness, dreaminess and absent-mindedness. For example,
as the Moon- to behave in an idle, dreamy or abstracted way, as when in love;
moony - dreamy; listless
Nevertheless, in Karakalpak, the image expressed by the lexeme Ай (Moon) signifies the feminine beauty of the face.
Өзиңди билмейсен базда өзлерин,
Бояўсыз-ақ сулыў айдай жүзлериң. (Yusupov, 1999)
(You do not realize sometimes, without cosmetics, your face is beautiful as the Moon).
The examples indicate that the perception of one and the same object can be different in English and Karakalpak. The similar use of this image is characterised by national-cultural specificity. If a teacher and language materials designer do not consider these differences, it can lead to wrong interpretations of the expressions among learners that can demolish their understanding of the message. Timely clarification of national-cultural differences of expressions assists in developing linguo-culturally competent language learners.
The analysis of examples from literary texts of English and Karakalpak allowed me to reveal peoples’ specific national vision of the world on the multifarious cultural background, and with diverse associations.
Pedagogically, it is essential to consider cultural content of the target language and the cultural background of learners while preparing and designing language materials. As the primary goal of a teacher is to deliver lessons focusing on the development of learners’ communication in the foreign language, culture can be implicitly incorporated as an essential component of language learning. In the lessons, if a teacher stimulates learners to read different texts and work on the vocabulary of the target language, s/he can achieve culture integration into language teaching. As the knowledge of vocabulary is critical to knowing much more about culture of a country whose language we are teaching, it is essential for language teachers, course book writers and material designers to take this into consideration. Hence, the process of language materials preparation can include the selection of appropriate vocabulary useful for learners to develop not only their knowledge of language but culture awareness as well. To conclude, being culturally aware in the process of teaching and learning foreign languages is important, because culturally marked words and expressions reflect the peculiarities of national life style familiarizing learners with cultural values, customs and beliefs of the definite society.
Cobuild, C., (1992) English language dictionary, Glasgow: HarperCollins Publishers.
Galperin, I.R., (2010) Stylistics, 5th edition, Moscow: Librokom, 336.
He, G., (2009) English and Chinese cultural connotation of colour words in comparison. Asian Social Science, 5(7), 160-163.
Henry, O., (1972) The skylight room and other stories, Moscow: Higher school publishing house.
Kaipbergenov, T., (1980) Karakalpak daughter, Nukus: Karakalpakstan (in Karakalpak).
Krasner, I., (1999) The role of culture in language teaching. Dialogue on language instruction, 13(1-2), 79-88.
Kunin A.B., (2005) Big English-Russian phraseological dictionary, Moscow: Russian Language - Media.
Maslova, B.A., (2001) Linguoculturology, Moscow: Academy (in Russian).
Maugham, W.S., (2002) The razor’s edge, Moscow: Manager.
Moeller, A.K. et al., (2009) The essentials of vocabulary teaching: from theory to practice. Faculty Publications: department of teaching, learning and teacher education,171, 1-16. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/teachlearnfacpub/171.
Oxford University Press (2016). Oxford Living Dictionaries. Retrieved from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/trope.
Scarino, A. &Liddicoat, A., (2009) Teaching and learning languages: A guide, Melbourne: Curriculum Corporation.
Sun, X., (2011) Analysis on the function of cultural connotation in vocabulary teaching and learning of English majors. Theory and practice in language studies, 1 (9), 1207-1212.
Thurber, J., (1996) University days. In: Nadell, J. et al., (eds.) The Macmillan reader, 4th edition, Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 239-245.
Yusupov, I., (1999) Life, I am in love with you..., Nukus: Karakalpakstan (in Karakalpak).
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