Communication has been main aim in teaching English as an international
language. Cross-cultural exchanges occur as people are striving to perceive
the world deeply and therefore they will have chances to learn better different
cultures. According to McKay (2002), a teacher of EIL should establish a
'sphere of intercultural', in which learners can reflect on their own culture as
well as the target culture. This kind of reflection helps the students look for the
.medium that could possibly lead to better understanding cultural differences
The notion TEIL itself contributes to motivation among learners as they will
likely desire exploring diversity of cultures not just the culture of the USA or
England. When they aware of the fact that now English is being taught as an
international language they may also think that that their own culture could be
a subject matter to a particular group of learners somewhere around the
world. This factor shows how teaching English will be interesting when it is
.taught as an international
Living in a global village, it is necessary to learn cultures in different parts of the
world when we are learning or teaching English as an international language. And it is
equally important for us, both as learners and teachers, to establish a proper attitude
towards different cultures. We should make it clear to our students that there are no
good or bad cultures, or right or wrong cultures, there are just different cultures. No
culture is superior or inferior to others. Cultural awareness can help us to minimize
misunderstandings in communication to some degree.
(According to Maslow, all human beings shared five basic needs and people in
different parts of the world satisfied their specific needs via various ways and thus
formed different cultures. )
The notion of teaching English as an international language has real world
implications when preparing our students for the cross cultural exchanges due
to the fact that the whole teaching-learning process takes a different turn.
There has to be a change in methodology and strategies as well as the
approach the teacher takes in his classes in terms of culture. An example of
what a different approach would mean is what Kramsch’s (1993, as cited in
McKay, 2002) points out. He says that there should be a reflection on one’s
culture so as to understand the target language culture and more than that, it
would mean understanding foreignness and otherness. Also, McKay, (2002)
says that in teaching English as an international language, the language
belongs to the students using it in that intercultural environment. It is
interesting to notice McKay’s assertion that language under this ideology is
learned to communicate aspects of one’s own culture to others.
Consequently, the teacher has to take a particular perspective regarding
language learning, and therefore adapt his teaching practice to suit better the
students’ needs considering English as an international language. This way,
the teacher would have to use information which deals with the target culture
but also from their own culture as well as from other non English speaking
countries’ cultures as Cortazzi and Jin, (cited by McKay, 2002) state. In short,
the teaching practice would have to be adapted to seek effective
communication in cross-cultural exchanges
Teaching English as an international language does have real world
implications for the preparation of students for the cross-cultural
exchanges needed for effective communication. These implications
are related to what and how students are taught. Implications for
what students are taught include materials design and selection of
target culture content to be included in the teaching materials. This
means that the teaching materials for my students should include
cultural information covering different aspects of the target
language culture. Following Adaskou, Britten and Fahsi (1990,
quoted in Mackay, 2002, p. 82), the teaching materials can include
cultural information covering one or all of the following: the
aesthetic, sociological and pragmatic aspects of the target language
culture. Information on the above cultural aspects will help my
students gain knowledge of what target culture people do (their
cultural behavior) and what they make (cultural artifacts) (Spradley
1980, quoted in Mackay 2002, p. 82).
Implications for how students are taught are related to teaching
methods. This means teaching culture is not just a matter of
passing information on the target culture to my students, but to
encourage them to reflect on their own culture in relation to the
other culture. This reflection will raise my students’ awareness of
similarities and differences between their own culture and the
target language culture. Once they are aware of these similarities
and differences a ‘sphere of interculturality’ can be established
(Kramsch 1993 quoted in Mackay 2002, pp. 82, 83). This ‘sphere
of interculturality’ will provide a healthy context for intercultural
interaction, which is essential for effective communication.
Jamal Mohamed