영미문화 교육에 대한 교사의 인식 연구

English teachers" perception of teaching English culture

  The purpose of this study is to investigate what English teachers think about what and how to teach culture, as a way of helping students build relevant background knowledge and enhance their motivation in learning English. A total of 300 teachers completed a self-report questionnaire in four areas: (ⅰ) their understanding and liking of English-spoken countries, (ⅱ) their use of materials and tools for teaching culture, (ⅲ) their consciousness of teaching culture, and (ⅳ) their needs for culture learning in the teacher-training program. The results show that (ⅰ) they think American culture is dominant in EFL but they are much interested in British culture; (ⅱ) they rely on internet most for their cultural experience while they think students get much of the cultural information from textbooks; (ⅲ) they are very much conscious of the importance of teaching culture for improving students" English proficiency; (ⅳ) they want to learn in the teacher training program more about cultural practice, which can be subsumed under the so called "small c". The findings suggest that (ⅰ) textbooks need to include contents to promote students" cultural awareness and foster intercultural competence, (ⅱ) teachers should use authentic materials with appropriate adaptation, and (ⅲ) a teacher training program should cover a wide range of contents and skills for teaching culture.