영미 문화에 대한 이해가 의사소통능력 신장에 미치는 영향

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to show the necessity of teaching and learning the target culture in the language classroom and to demonstrate the effects of comprehension of the target culture on improvement of English communicative competence. Culture includes several factors such as customs, beliefs, art, attitude, and way of life that people in a particular group or society share. A language itself reflects various aspects of its society. Therefore, appropriateness of a particular utterance needs to be judged in the social context in which language is used. Communicative competence includes linguistic knowledge as well as sociocultural knowledge. So, the understanding of different sets of culturally determined rules is beneficial for successful communication. Understanding the target culture will motivate learners to understand and use the target language appropriately in social contexts. The 7th curriculum of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Development of the Republic of Korea emphasizes the importance of introducing foreign culture into the language classroom. It is assumed that the lack of target culture information impedes successful communication. Korean students have been learning English in an EFL situation, and most Korean students and teachers of English is exclusively dependent on English textbooks to acquire the cultural factors of English. In this thesis, firstly, the relationship between culture and foreign language teaching is discussed. Secondly, several ways to promote English communicative competence through the learning of language-related culture in the classroom are proposed. Finally, healthy attitudes of teachers and students toward other cultures are suggested for the effective learning of a language's culture and thereby of the language itself.