VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
****************
PHẠM THỊ HUYỀN TRANG A STUDY ON TEACHING CROSS-CULTURAL ELEMENTS IN ENGLISH
SPEAKING CLASSES TO VIETNAMESE STUDY-MAJORED STUDENTS
AT SAO DO UNIVERSITY

(Nghiên cứu việc dạy các yếu tố giao văn hóa trong giờ học nói tiếng Anh
cho sinh viên chuyên ngành Việt Nam học, Đại học Sao Đỏ) M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.01.11 Hanoi - 2014


DECLARATION

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled
A STUDY ON TEACHING CROSS-CULTURAL ELEMENTS IN ENGLISH SPEAKING
CLASSES TO VIETNAMESE STUDY-MAJORED STUDENTS
AT SAO DO UNIVERSITY
is the result of my own research for the course of post-graduate education at ULIS,
VNU. I confirm that this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees. Student’s signature Phạm Thị Huyền Trang



ABSTRACT

In recent years, many language teachers are aware of the importance of
culture in educational circles. It is important for foreign language teachers to
integrate culture in their classes so as to primarily raise the awareness of their
students about the differences between cultures, then help them to be culturally
competent and convey communication in the society of the target language. The
importance of gaining communicative competence and maintaining intercultural
interaction has fostered the necessity of integrating cultural elements into language
instruction. Any language acquires value and meaning when it is integrated with
cultural elements, thereby learning cultures may shed a light to
communication/interaction with different cultures. This paper discusses various
research findings and opinions on the integration of cross-culture into the teaching
of foreign language teaching. The discussion aimed to highlight the important roles
of cross-cultural elements, the problems during the education process integrating
these elements into the English teaching speaking classes. Furthermore, this study
aims at suggesting some practical techniques for cross-culture teaching at FTF,
SDU.
2.2.2. Data collection instruments 16
v

CHAPTER III: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 19
3.1. Data collection from the survey questionnaires 19
3.2. Data collection from the quiz 25
3.3. Discussion of the findings 26
CHAPTER IV: FURTHER DISCUSSIONS 28
4.1. Suggested framework for cross-culture teaching in English speaking class 28
4.2. Suggested techniques for teaching cross-culture in the EFL classroom 32
4.3. Practical tips 35
PART C: CONCLUSION 38
1. In a nutshell 38
2. Limitations of the study 39
3. Recommendations for further research 39
REFERENCES 41
APPENDIX 1 I
APPENDIX 2 III
APPENDIX 3 V
APPENDIX 4 VII
APPENDIX 5 VIII

Figure 6: ross-cultural elements taught in conversation class

1
PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
In our global world, where many people from a variety of cultures have to
communicate in a way, understanding different cultures have become significantly
important to convey the meaning in conversations. Therefore, culture is considered
as an essential field in education, especially in language education. It can be said
that foreign/ second language learning is comprised of several components,
including grammatical competence, communicative competence, language
proficiency, as well as a change in attitudes towards one
As a result, in recent years, many foreign/ second language teachers have been
aware of the importance of teaching the culture of the target language.
t

recognize that when the cultural aspects are included in the language teaching

one form or another, culture has, even implicitly, been taught in the foreign/ second
language classroom. K
Culture in language learning is not an expendable fifth skill, tacked on,
so to speak, to the teaching of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. It
is always in the background, right from day one, ready to unsettle the
good language learners when they expect it least, making evident the
limitations of their hard-won communicative competence, challenging
their ability to make sense of the world around them. (Kramsch, 1993: 1)
It is undeniable that culture plays an important role in language education.
Therefore, with an effort to improve the language A study on
teaching cross-cultural elements in English speaking classes to Vietnamese study-
majored students at Sao Do University” is chosen as the topic for my study.

class are investigated. In addition, the problems that the students face in studying
cross-culture in class are analyzed along with the cultural aspects in language

3
teaching. The most important issue is the discussion of methods and techniques for
assisting cross-cultural teaching.
5. Methods of the study
In order to achieve the aims stated, an action research is carried out which
employs qualitative methods as main methodologies. All the considerations and
conclusions are largely based on the analysis of the statistic data and references.
The major approaches are:
- Survey questionnaires
- Semi-structured interviews
- Consultations with supervisor
- Personal observations
6. Design of the study
The thesis consists of three parts:
Part A: INTRODUCTION
This part includes the rationale, aims, scope of the study, methods and design
of the study.
Part B: DEVELOPMENT
This part is divided into three chapters
Chapter I: THEORETICAL PRELIMINARIES
In this chapter, theories of culture, cross-culture, process of communication,
need for cross-culture teaching, and principles for cross-culture teaching are
critically discussed.
Chapter II: RESEARCH DESIGN
In this chapter, the context as well as the method and procedure of the study
are clearly indicated.
5
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL PRELIMINARIES
1.1. What is culture?
Culture is often thought of as shared behavior and beliefs, but in any society,
even the simplest one, all individuals never think and act exactly the same. Different
authors have different definitions of culture.
In the first place, UNESCO (1996:108) launches the formal definition
Culture is a set of symbolic systems
which regulate the behaviour and enable the mutual communication of a plurality
of people, establishing them into particular and instinct community
According to Block (2001        
you a stranger when you are away from home. It includes all beliefs and
expectations about how people should speak and act which have become a kind of
second nature to you as a result of social learning. When you are with members of a
group who share your culture, we or you do not have to think about it, for you are
all viewing the world in pretty much the same way and you all know, in general
terms, what to expect 
Ferrando (1996:18) considers Culture 
possession, perception and action: Culture is everything that one has, thinks, and
does as a member of a society.
Table 1: Ferrando’s definition of culture


esthetic standards, and linguistic expressions, patterns of thinking, behaviour norm
and style of communication which a group of people has developed to assure its
survival in a particular physical and human environment.
It can be seen from the definition that culture is viewed as a process of
transaction rather than as a body of facts, which puts forth a convincing argument
for introducing culture into second, or foreign language teaching. The writer is
personally interested in this definition as among different cultural descriptions,
those factors clearly shown to affect intercultural and cross - cultural
communication are absolutely the main concerns of classroom practices in second
and foreign language.
1.2. What is cross-culture?
Cross-
across the political boundaries of nation- sch, 1998: 81). The term
- y
are predicated on the equivalence of one nation-one culture-one language and on the
   -      

7
boundaries. Cross-culture seeks ways to understand the other on the other side of
the border. Acc-cultural communication is an
exchange of ideas, 
There are more problems in cross-cultural communication than in communication
between people of the same cultural background. Each participant may interpret the
 expectations. If
the cultural conventions and misunderstandings can easily arise, even resulting in a
total break down of communication. This has been shown by research into real life
situations, such as job interviews, doctor-patient encounters and legal
  -cultural communication is the exchange and
negotiation of information ideas, feelings and attitudes between individuals who
come from different cultural backgrounds.

happen in the interaction. These factors, if not controlled, may lead to feelings of
uneasiness, discomfort or even rejection towards target the culture or the person
with a different culture.
When people communicate with each other, they exhibit a style that is
strongly influenced by their culture. Communicative style refers to several
characteristics of conversations between individuals, according to Barnlund (1989):
(1) the topics people prefer to discuss, (2) their favorite forms of interaction in
conversation, (3) the depth to which they want to get involved with each other, (4)
the communication channels (verbal or nonverbal) on which they rely, and (5) the
level of meaning (factual versus emotional) to which they are most attuned.
Naturally, people prefer to use their own communicative styles. Issues about
communicative style rarely arise when two people from the same culture are
together because their styles generally agree. Most people are as unaware of their
communicative style as they are of their basic values and assumptions. In English
speaking classes, students should have some certain knowledge about culture in
communication style of the target language speaking countries.
9
1.4. Need for cross-culture teaching
Learning a foreign language is required to attain intercultural communication
between people of different cultural backgrounds. Because it is important for
learners to be involved in communicative acts as well as in the reality of the target
culture, they are required to understand the cultural references and meanings of the
native speakers. Seelye (1993: 26) argued that the language teachers should
consider certain goals when introducing culture in the language class: 1. Attitudes
toward other cultures and societies, 2. Interaction of language and social variables, 3.
Cultural connotations of words and phrases, 4. Conventional behavior in common
situations, 5. The sense or functionality of culturally conditioned behavior, 6.

maintain a better understanding of it (Saluveer,2004). The topic-based approach
concentrates on more general and cross-sectional topics which involve bringing life
to class and develops a more holistic and integrated view of the target culture
(Wisniewska-Brogowska, 2004). The problem-oriented approach aiming to get
learners to be interested in the target culture encourages them to do some research
on their own. Seelye (1993) sees the teacher's role in defining the problem that
interests learners. The task-oriented approach is characterized by co-operative tasks
based on learners' own research. Learners work in pairs or small groups on different
aspects of the target culture (Tomalin & Stempleski 1993). The skill-centered
approach is different from the above-given approaches because it is more practical
and might be useful for students who need to live in the country where target
language is spoken. The aim is to develop learners' skills, which help them manage
the problems of (mis)communication between cultures/societies (Saluveer 2004).
One or more of these latter mentioned five approaches can be chosen by the
teachers to integrate into their culture instruction according to the objectives of the
class. If the aim is to help students live in the target country and maintain effective
communication in the society, the skill-centered approach can be followed. On the
other hand, if the aim of the lesson is to raise consciousness about the target
language culture, then, topicbased or the theme-based approaches can be followed
during the instruction. In my case, I am applying the approach of topic-basing,

11
which is so practical and useful for students to experience the cross-sections in
communication and develop their language competence as well.
1.5.2. Practical techniques for teaching cross-culture in the EFL classroom
It can be seen clearly that there are a range of practical techniques that we
found to be successful in culture-based courses that can help to make the teaching
of culture a better experience for both teachers and students.
According to Lili Dai (2011), the teachers can adopt an effective method on
cultural texture in order to make a better cultural acquisition from language teaching.

Newspapers, magazines

12
Background information b. Activity types
 Quizzes
We have found that quizzes are one of the more successful activity types.
Quizzes are useful in learning new information. We can apply this type in pairs or
groups, so that students can share their existing knowledge and common sense to
give answers. It is not important whether students get the right answer or not, but by
the predicting, students will become more interested in finding out the right answer.
In addition, we can also ask students to quiz their partner about readings or other
materials. Quizzes offer a high-interest activity that keeps students involved and
learning.
 Selecting authentic materials
Lili Dai (2011) considered selecting adaptive materials to be an essential
factor for students to improve their comprehension ability. A selection of authentic
foreign material should be used, especially dialogues, because it is more authentic
and reflects cultural behavior followed by speakers. Authentic materials can
frustrate students lacking sufficient cultural and social knowledge of the target
language, and therefore teachers should carefully select suitable materials to
motivate their learning interests. Teachers should explain cultural factors
encountered in the material. Students now have easier access to visual aids such as
films and videotapes. It is generally agreed that what helps in cultural acquisition is
to be shown regularly about cultural background. Dialogue is a large proportion of
authentic listening materials. It provides a wide range of western culture, such as
customs, habits, social manners, life style. Therefore, it is quite necessary for
teachers to give students an introduction to help them understand well native

find information on any aspect of the target-culture that interests them., compile that
material into a booklet and give a presentation in the following class. Students can
explain to the teacher or their group what they have learned and answer any
questions about it. This can lead to poster-sessions or longer projects. For some
students, it can even lead to a long-term interest in the target-culture.

14
Some other types of activity that have been found useful include the
following: games, role play, field trips, reading activities, listening activities,
writing activities, discussion activities, singing and so on, but with a bit of thought,
most standard EFL activities can be easily adapted for use in the culture classroom.
The most important point is to ensure that the students are actively engaged in the
target culture and language.
c. Positive classroom interactions
According to Lili Dai (2011), classroom interaction can provide different
selling points to create a positive cultural learning environment, such as: a wide
diversity of opinions, references, values, many different experiences and cultural
background. As Cullen, selling points for culture means the feature of classroom
teaching activities that make it attractive to students. In order to create cultural
texture, teachers must be careful not to portray the culture as monolithic, nor to only
teach the pleasant aspects. In othe different views of
the culture to their students. Introducing deliberate contrasts within a culture can be
useful (Cullen, 2004). These are some different teaching activities which are
contrasted.
 Attractive vs. Shocking
 Similarities vs. Differences
 Facts vs. Behaviors
 Historical vs. Modern
 Old people vs. Young people
 City life vs. Country life


16
CHAPTER II: RESEARCH DESIGN
2.1. The context
First year Vietnamese-study major students at FTF, SDU, aged from 19 to 21,
both male and female, have learnt English for at least four years, three years at high
school and nearly one year at the university. Many of them have learnt English
since they were grade 6 students. However, their level of English proficiency is still
quite low because they come from different countryside surrounding Hai Duong
where there is lack of favorable English learning conditions. Furthermore, during
years at schools, a majority of the students did not have chances to know about what
-
The fact is that although the students have learnt English for several years,
along with their difficulties in acquiring any effective language skills at university,
their cultural background knowledge is still very poor. Moreover, while students in
English language major are taught with the course of cross-culture communication,
there is no cross-culture communication course in the curriculum of Vietnamese-
study major students. Actually, they just study about Vietnamese culture, so there
are certainly difficulties for them in communicating appropriately in English.
2.2. Method and Procedure
2.2.1. Selection of participants
The subjects who participated in this research are 30 students in Vietnamese-
study major at FTF, SDU. The 30 students under investigation are in the second
terms of the first year of the academic training program. They are supposed to be at

down in the observation checklist after each lesson.
Cultural knowledge quiz
The quiz (see appendix 2 and 3) was conducted among 30 first year students
for the first time at the beginning of the second term to   
knowledge about certain aspects of cross-culture. After a term of teaching speaking
in which cross-cultural elements was integrated, the quiz was delivered again
among these students in order to discover how their cross-cultural knowledge be
changed.