Impact of integrating local culture into language materials on communicative ability of Malaysian lower secondary learners

The importance of culture in learning a language is widely acknowledged even if the integration of culture into language learning and teaching materials has seen various opinions and approaches. Bearing in mind the ultimate aim of learning a language is for communication it is important materials...

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Main Authors: Radha M K Nambiar, Ruzy Suliza Hashim, Ruhizan Mohammad Yassin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2018
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15882/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15882/1/28856-91314-1-PB.pdf
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author Radha M K Nambiar,
Ruzy Suliza Hashim,
Ruhizan Mohammad Yassin,
author_facet Radha M K Nambiar,
Ruzy Suliza Hashim,
Ruhizan Mohammad Yassin,
author_sort Radha M K Nambiar,
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The importance of culture in learning a language is widely acknowledged even if the integration of culture into language learning and teaching materials has seen various opinions and approaches. Bearing in mind the ultimate aim of learning a language is for communication it is important materials developed for language learning consider content knowledge and linguistic knowledge. This paper discusses the impact of a supplementary reading module designed to improve communicative ability and cultural awareness with the integration of local culture. Focus group interviews were run over a three -year period with lower secondary students and English language teachers to elicit their perspectives on the value of the module and the benefits in helping to develop better communicative ability. Both teachers and students were asked similar questions about their opinions of the module, opinions about the lessons and on the use of English to teach the module. The responses matched with both claiming the module was interesting, attractive and varied in approach with a range of activities in each lesson that fostered communicative and collaborative skills. The findings imply improved cultural knowledge and awareness of local content did provide learners with ideas to harness which subsequently leads to improved communicative ability.
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spelling oai:generic.eprints.org:158822020-12-01T02:17:28Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15882/ Impact of integrating local culture into language materials on communicative ability of Malaysian lower secondary learners Radha M K Nambiar, Ruzy Suliza Hashim, Ruhizan Mohammad Yassin, The importance of culture in learning a language is widely acknowledged even if the integration of culture into language learning and teaching materials has seen various opinions and approaches. Bearing in mind the ultimate aim of learning a language is for communication it is important materials developed for language learning consider content knowledge and linguistic knowledge. This paper discusses the impact of a supplementary reading module designed to improve communicative ability and cultural awareness with the integration of local culture. Focus group interviews were run over a three -year period with lower secondary students and English language teachers to elicit their perspectives on the value of the module and the benefits in helping to develop better communicative ability. Both teachers and students were asked similar questions about their opinions of the module, opinions about the lessons and on the use of English to teach the module. The responses matched with both claiming the module was interesting, attractive and varied in approach with a range of activities in each lesson that fostered communicative and collaborative skills. The findings imply improved cultural knowledge and awareness of local content did provide learners with ideas to harness which subsequently leads to improved communicative ability. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2018 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15882/1/28856-91314-1-PB.pdf Radha M K Nambiar, and Ruzy Suliza Hashim, and Ruhizan Mohammad Yassin, (2018) Impact of integrating local culture into language materials on communicative ability of Malaysian lower secondary learners. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 24 (4). pp. 13-26. ISSN 0128-5157 http://ejournals.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/1152
spellingShingle Radha M K Nambiar,
Ruzy Suliza Hashim,
Ruhizan Mohammad Yassin,
Impact of integrating local culture into language materials on communicative ability of Malaysian lower secondary learners
title Impact of integrating local culture into language materials on communicative ability of Malaysian lower secondary learners
title_full Impact of integrating local culture into language materials on communicative ability of Malaysian lower secondary learners
title_fullStr Impact of integrating local culture into language materials on communicative ability of Malaysian lower secondary learners
title_full_unstemmed Impact of integrating local culture into language materials on communicative ability of Malaysian lower secondary learners
title_short Impact of integrating local culture into language materials on communicative ability of Malaysian lower secondary learners
title_sort impact of integrating local culture into language materials on communicative ability of malaysian lower secondary learners
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15882/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15882/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15882/1/28856-91314-1-PB.pdf