This article was downloaded by: [Flinders University of South Australia]

On: 27 December 2014, At: 00:05

Publisher: Routledge
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House,
37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

The Language Learning Journal

Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rllj20

‘Cultural awareness’ as vocabulary learning

a
Michael Byram
a
University of Durham
Published online: 06 Aug 2007.

To cite this article: Michael Byram (1997) ‘Cultural awareness’ as vocabulary learning, The Language Learning Journal, 16:1,
51-57, DOI: 10.1080/09571739785200291

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09571739785200291

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained
in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no
representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the
Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and
are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and
should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for
any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever
or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of
the Content.
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic
reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any
form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://
www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions
 Language Learning Journal, September 1997, No 16, 51-57

'Cultural awareness' as
vocabulary learning
Michael Byram
University of Durham
Downloaded by [Flinders University of South Australia] at 00:05 27 December 2014

INTRODUCTION learning are represented as in Figure 1.

This model involves, first, language learning in
The term 'cultural awareness' has gained promi- the sense of skill acquisition, as evident in much
nence in foreign language teaching in Britain since 'communicative language teaching', and this is
its introduction into the National Curriculum for then enriched by the study of the nature of language
England and Wales in 1991. It was explained in as a social and cultural phenomenon (Language
some detail in the report of the Working Group Awareness). Second, the study of language is in
which was set up to make recommendations for the turn combined with the study of culture, both of
new National Curriculum: these being carried out with comparative tech-
niques using the learners' L1. Thirdly, the direct ex-
"A growing awareness of the culture of the peo- perience of selected aspects of the foreign culture
ple who speak the language of study is intrinsic from the viewpoint, and from within the ethnic
to the learning of it (...) Without the cultural di- identity, of the foreign peer group takes place in the
mension, successful communication is often dif- foreign language, and this in turn contributes to the
ficult: comprehension of even basic words (...) learning process.
may be partial or approximate, and speakers and This somewhat personal introduction is justi-
writers may fail to convey their meaning ade- fied, I hope, because it demonstrates how closely
quately or may even cause offence. (...) compar- the two phrases, 'cultural awareness' and 'language Figure 1
isons between the learner's own way of life and
that of the other language community are an es-
sential means to better understanding of
both."(DES, 1990: 37)
Not long before that I had argued that the notion of
'cultural awareness' could be developed by analogy
with language awareness (Byram, 1989: 142), that
both involve a reflection on the nature of what is
being experienced and learnt, and both require a
comparative methodology leading to a better un-
derstanding of learners' own language and culture
as well as that of another language community.
I suggested a model of language and culture
teaching where both L1 and FL are to be used. The
former is for comparative analysis of own and for- %
eign meanings. The latter is the medium of experi-
ence of foreign cultural phenomena. The
introduction of learners' own language into the for-
eign language classroom is anathema for many
_o~
people, but is the means of crystallising the devel-
oping awareness of the nature of language (lan- %
guage awareness) and the nature of culture (cultural
awareness). The relationships between different
components and media of language-and-culture

No 16 September 1997 51
 M BYRAM

awareness', are related, and more importantly, be- fore language training has not only a logical and
cause it demonstrates that language and culture intellectual value; it has an aesthetic and artistic
cannot be treated separately in the discussion of value." (Leathes Report, 1918: 86)
language teaching theory and practice. The purpose
The contemporary argument for attention to the dif-
of this article is to examine more closely the nature
ferent 'modes of thought' expressed in a language
of the relationship, its significance for language
is more likely to be in terms of a contribution to in-
teaching, and how it can be dealt with in classroom
tercultural communication. In an introduction to
practice.
'intercultural language learning', Doy6 makes this
point after reviewing new concepts of 'lan-
deskundlichen Lernens':
L A N G U A G E A N D CULTURE
"Ubergeordnetes Ziel des Landeskundeunter-
The nature of the relationship between language richts ist die Befiihigung der Lernenden zu in-
and culture or language and the way of thinking terkultureller Kommunikation,..." (Doyr, 1992:
about the world shared by a particular social group, 6)
does not need to be discussed at length here. Hfillen The communicative and the poetic are clearly not
(1992) suggests that the relativist hypothesis that
Downloaded by [Flinders University of South Australia] at 00:05 27 December 2014

mutually exclusive and the challenge of the rela-

each language expresses a different view of the tivist hypothesis is significant for both. We need
world was first put forward by Humboldt therefore to ask how valid the hypothesis is.
(1836/1988). The hypothesis was brought to the at- Recently, comparative linguistic studies by
tention of linguists in this century by Whorl (1956). Wierzbicka (1992) have provided evidence to sup-
Together these views suggest an inescapable rela- port the hypothesis in a moderate form. Wierzbicka
tionship between language and culture, or language argues that some areas of language reflect a culture -
and thought. In the definition of culture which I as- although she does not argue that language constrains
sume here, - the framework of ideas, values, and thought, as Whorf did. For example, in her discus-
shared knowledge common to a particular social sion of the universality of emotions and the ways
group and the manifestations of them in behaviour these are expressed in different languages, she says:
and artefacts, - the relativist hypothesis links lan-
guage and culture as two sides of one coin. "English has no word for the feeling encoded in
One effect of the relativist hypothesis on lan- the Polish word tesknic. Does this mean that na-
guage teaching is to make it clear that language tive speakers of English do not know (never ex-
learning requires careful attention to the specificity perience) the feeling in question? Not
of each language and the thought and culture it ex- necessarily. Individual speakers of English have
presses. In a report on the teaching of languages in no doubt experienced this feeling. But the Anglo-
Britain in 1918, the only national report ever done, Saxon culture as a whole has not found this feel-
this was seen as central to the educational aims of ing worthy of a special name." (1992: 123)
language teaching:
Wierzbicka's approach is as a linguist. She is inter-
"Language teaching in schools has and should ested in all aspects of language, and starts from
have a disciplinary and educative aim. It should grammatical items as well as from vocabulary. I
train the mind, the taste and the character. Lan- shall concentrate here on vocabulary only, although
guage is a means of expressing thought, and the there is no reason in principle why learners should
study of a foreign language reveals the anatomy not be introduced to the analysis of the link be-
of thought. Each language has its own modes of tween grammatical structures and culture-specific
expression, and the contrast and comparison of phenomena.
different modes of expression leads to a more As learners become more advanced and inde-
accurate sense of logical processes and a closer pendent in their learning, it is above all in the ac-
observation of the finer shades of meaning." quisition of new vocabulary in new areas of
cultural and linguistic experience which is crucial.
Although the style is different from the language of Furthermore, the members of a social group are
government reports today, this statement is in tune sometimes aware of key words or 'rich' items (see
with contemporary conceptions of linguistic and Agar quoted below) which express their beliefs and
cultural awareness. It goes on to remind us that this values, whereas they are less likely to be aware of
phrase should also include a sensitivity for the po- or able to explain the subtleties of language-culture
etic dimension of language: links at the level of syntax or morphology.
"But there is more in language than logic. The
laws of language are sure and valid, but they are
revealed in speech and writing as the laws of na- INVESTIGATING VOCABULARY -
ture are revealed in living beings - in a delicate "DICTIONARY METHODS"
harmony of balanced forces and blended quali-
ties. The elements can be recognised, but the The essence of understanding the cultural content
harmony itself defies ultimate analysis. There- of words is in their connotations. Particular words
52 Language Learning Journal
 'CULTURALAWARENES'AS VOCABULARYLEARNING

express the culture of a group and maintain their equations of 'family' with 'Familie' or 'famille' as
identity as a group because they share (some of) the bilingual dictionary seems to suggest.
the connotations of those words. I shall suggest In this way students recognise that there are lin-
three approaches to investigation which are rele- guistic manifestations of cultural values and shared
vant for different ages and stages of language knowledge which can be investigated. They are
learning. thus acquiring both the item of vocabulary and its
The first, I will call 'dictionary methods'. The connotations, rather than attaching their own con-
purpose is to analyse the meanings and connota- notations to the foreign word.
tions of words in the foreign language and compare Such an approach requires a good knowledge of
them with what appear to be the same words in the language, at intermediate level in upper sec-
learners' own language. For example in a textbook ondary schools for example. It also pre-supposes
written for teaching German in the United States analytical skills and a stage of cognitive develop-
(Behal-Thomsen et al., 1993) there is a process of ment which is not likely to be present in younger
comparing different associations with the words and less experienced learners. In the latter case, a
'private' and 'public', which refers to the particular more concrete method is needed. Zarate in her
contrast between American English and German. book on the teaching of culture (1986) takes the ex-
American students are asked to write down what ample of 'fromage' and gives three representations
Downloaded by [Flinders University of South Australia] at 00:05 27 December 2014

words they associate with 'private' and 'public', of when and how cheese is eaten and with what it is
and to compare them with those of other students associated.
in their class, in the anticipation that there will be Zarate is careful to say that the associations are
some in common. They are then asked to produce a 'for certain categories of French people', to avoid
list of words related to the two key words, such as over-generalisation, and the same point must be
'privacy' or 'to publish', and as a third stage to made as above in order not to produce stereotypes.
look up the translations of the words they have list- Where a class has a partner class in the country of
ed in a bilingual dictionary and then the meanings the language they are learning, individuals or pairs
given for the translations in a German monolingual of learners produce their own grid and spider dia-
dictionary. Thus they are led to an awareness of the gram of associations, which are then exchanged
connotations and associations in their own lan- with the partner class. They can then compare and
guage and then to contrast them with associations contrast the different diagranls and grids, looking
in German. The process is further developed by for common ground but noticing variations, before
giving students examples of the German words comparing and contrasting with the practices and
'privat' and '6ffentlich' in a variety of contexts. associations of ideas in their own culture. Once
Eventually this is linked with texts about differing more, although the words are more concrete in
attitudes to private and public spaces in German meaning, as is the method used, the purpose is for
and American society. learners to acquire the meanings and associations
The aim of this kind of work is to build up an of the word 'fromage', and not to assume it means
understanding of native-speaker interpretations of 'cheese'. At the same time they have acquired a
such keywords, and to contrast them with learners' technique of investigation, which is as important as
own, unconscious connotations. There is however the example on which it has been demonstrated. "There is an
an obvious danger of over-generalisation and A second kind of dictionary method is made obvious danger
stereotyping here, and this approach has to be possible by corpus linguistics and the analysis of of over-
linked with a method which draws attention to the very large amounts of data by computer. In a recent generalisation and
variety of connotations within learners' own soci- paper Channell (in press) demonstrates how cur- stereotyping"
ety. This can be done within the group of learners rent dictionaries fail to give learners an under-
themselves. The purpose is to show that there is a standing of the connotations of words. For example
core of common ground that everyone recognises, she takes the word 'carnivore' which is, she says,
even though not everyone conforms to the beliefs "a nice development of meaning for a word which
and values implied. For example, the word 'family' has been in the vocabulary for a long time, and
evokes images of two parents and two or more chil- which reflects oppositions in contemporary British
dren living together as one group. Even though this culture". In a corpus of 200 million words she finds
may no longer be the most common practice, un- 11 citations where the word is used to refer to hu-
derstanding of the nuances of the word start from mans who eat meat, where the contrasted item is
this shared perception, a perception which under- 'vegetarian'. She shows that the use is far from
lies television advertisements featuring a family at neutral. It has a "jokey, ironic perhaps critical qual-
mealtimes, for example, or a BBC 'sitcom' of fam- ity", she says, and gives a few examples from the
ily life entitled "Two Point Four Children". It is of corpus (see Figure 2).
course also true that the connotations of 'family' The software programme used to analyse such a
may already reflect changing social practices, and large corpus cites the word in question and a few
it is evident that among a group of learners from words to each side appearing in the text from
several different cultural backgrounds, the conno- which it is taken. It is usually surprisingly easy to
tations will differ. All this is true of other societies infer the context and the connotations from this ci-
and their languages too, and there are no simple tation, as will be evident from the example.

No 16 September 1997 53
 M BYRAM

(LebensgefiihI), that rests on the basic ironic

need to be full. If you are a carnivore, try the Errazuriz Panquehus
remain convinced that CarlJng is a carnivore. Even his mum Pare admitted premise that things aren't what they seem, what
throat of even the most committed carnivore. If you are at all squeamish or they are is much worse, and all you can do is
to satisfy the most dedicated carnivore, to say nothing of the laugh it off. Such an attitude is hardly unique to
win over the most hard-hearted carnivore. Many are run on a very Vienna. What is unique to Vienna, perhaps, is
pale and anaemic in a way no hearty carnivore ever should. Kinnaird replied
that the world-view, with all its complicated
we are a vegetarian, fishetarJan, or carnivore, there are certain foods which are
and that Denis Lear,/(professional carnivore, nicotine addict, health-freak strands, is puttied into a single piece of lan-
would tempt even the most resolute carnivore. Not only do they have that guage, and that the rich piece of language is, in
neighbouring taverna caters to the carnivore and cravings for ouzo, cigarettes turn, used as a badge of self-identification. ( ..... )
seeking an alternative to their carnivore diet. Recipes range from the The analysis of Schmiih tapped deeply into the
world of Viennese discourse. At its highest level,
Figure2 Extractfrom a As a dictionary-maker, Channell says these con- Schmiih as 'life-feeling' feeds back down into
LinguisticCorpus;1 notations have to be introduced into definitions. As many other details, ways of speaking and hear-
'Carnivore' ing, or writing and reading. Sehmdh began to
a teacher, I can see this data being used in the class-
room with learners who do their own analysis and pull me into a different way of being, one that
make their own dictionaries. It is possible to buy has made it easier to be in Vienna and use Austri-
corpora and programmes for analysis which will an German and more difficult to return and use
Downloaded by [Flinders University of South Australia] at 00:05 27 December 2014

work on personal computers, and which though not American English." (p. 178-179)
200 million words in size, are nonetheless suitable
for analysis by intermediate and advanced students. In another example, a research project at Thames
If the material is analysed by the teacher first and Valley University, London, for advanced language
the citations carefully chosen, it may also be possi- learners studying in a country where the language
ble to adapt this approach to learners in the early is spoken, we trained language students as ethnog-
stages. raphers. Before spending their 'Year Abroad',
which is an obligatory part of their course, they had
a module entitled 'Introduction to Ethnography' in
which they were given a practical training in the
INVESTIGATING VOCABULARY- techniques of gathering data and an introduction to
ETHNOGRAPHIC METHODS theoretical concepts in anthropology which would
help them analyse their data for a research report
The second approach, I call 'ethnographic meth- they wrote during their stay. Whilst in the foreign
ods'. The purpose is again to analyse the connota- country they carried out ethnographic investiga-
tions of words, but this time the data are collected tions, and often focused on the meanings of words.
by ethnographers going out and talking to people. For example, one student in Spain decided to study
For example, Agar has explained how he and his the role of dancing in daily life of Seville. She stud-
students collected data in Austria about the Austri- ied the Sevillanas. This is how she describes the
an German word 'Schmfih'. focus she chose:
Like Wierzbicka, Agar (1991) argues that some
parts of a language are particularly 'rich' carriers of "The thing is there's so much pressure to dance
cultural meanings, and therefore are the more diffi- because everybody, from what I ' v e found
cult to grasp for speakers of another language. He through my participant observation, was that
suggests that the concept of a Whorfian 'wall' be- you'd be watching a roomful of people dancing
tween languages should be thought of rather as Sevillanas and yet y o u ' d be watching two cou-
Whorfian Alps, where some frontiers are easier to ples and one couple would attract you so much
traverse than others, 'a mountain range with plenty and yet the other wouldn't."
of valleys and trails and a few vertical cliffs' (p.
176). These 'rich' parts emerge from comparisons When she talked to people about this they said that
between languages, but they are also areas which such couples 'have grace' (a literal translation), and
native speakers recognize and then disagree over. so the whole of her project was written about what
Such parts are, says Agar, 'puttied' into the lan- this phrase means. Another student who went to
guage so that when they are lifted up, they bring Germany discovered that the word 'Auslgnder' was
with them all kinds of strands and pieces which are used about her and about other foreigners in quite
stuck to them. One such 'rich' item is the word different ways depending where they came from.
'Schmgh'. It was investigated in three ways: a sys- So she began to investigate how people use the
tematic interview placing the concept in the centre word in everyday conversation, how it is used in
and asking questions to elicit connotations and rela- formal and official documents, and so on. Again,
tionships; a collection of anecdotes somewhat like her project was an investigation of the connotations
"the connotations
ethnographers' fieldnotes; an informal interview of this word and what it tells her about contempo-
are historical as
which encourages native speakers to discuss rary German society.
well as contem-
'Schm~h' in any way they choose. Agar sums up Grace Susay (1992) begins by explaining how
porary"
the results as follows: her research began:

"Schmiih is a view of the world, a 'life-feeling' "Ich unterhielt mich mit einem Pal~istinenser
54 Language Learning Journal
 'CULTURALAWARENES'AS VOCABULARYLEARNING

und einer Perserin, die auch auf meinem Stock Example of an ethnographic
im Studentenheim wohnten. Sie vertrauten mir
interview
als Ausl~inderin und waren sehr aufgeschlossen.
Sie haben tiber ihre Erfahrungen als ausl~indis- St6phane's account of a 'gr/~ve au lyc~e'
che Studenten in Deutschland gesprochen, ins- Extracts from an interview with St6phane, lycSe
besondere fiber die Spannungen und die student:
Interaktion mit den Deutschen. Sie glaubten, dab "Quand on s'est rSuni le premier jour, on s'est
sie immer als AuslRnder angesehen wfirden. In- r6uni dans le plus grand lycSe et alors on a
folge unserer Gespr~iche habe ich fiber meine demands qu'il y ait un reprSsentant par classe
eigene Lage und Behandlung in Deutschland qui vienne dans une salle. Un repr6sentant a 6tS
nachgedacht, und hatte das Gefiihl, dab ich an- et lh on a Slu le chef comme il y avait cinq
ders als diese Studenten, insbesondere die Stu- lycSes qui avaient h peu pros une cinquantaine
denten aus Asien, Afrika und dem Nahen Osten de classes en tout, c'est une cinquantaine de
behandelt worden war. Warum ftthlte ich mich personnes. On Slit cinq autres personnes qui
im Gegensatz zu ihnen nicht wie eine Ausl~in- reprSsentaient les cinq lycSes, une personne par
derin in Deutschland? (....)Deutsche Studenten lycSe. Et apr~s ces cinq personnes ont demands
schienen ausl~indische Studenten in bestimmten 5 des Slaves assez corpulents de venir faire une
Downloaded by [Flinders University of South Australia] at 00:05 27 December 2014

Gruppen zu kategorisieren. Ich wollte heraus- milice. Pour Sviter des dSbordements comme il
finden, aus welchen Grfinden sie kategorisieren, y avait ?t Paris, nous avons fait une esp~ce de
und wovon es abh~ingig ist, in welche Kategorie petite police. C'Stait repSrable avec des
sie gesteckt werden." bandeaux. Et c'est eux qui nous encadraient. Je
pense quand on est passS dans la rue piStonne, ~t
Grace investigates the language of the German Aus-
Brive, il y avait des marchands qui exposaient
liindergesetz, and she interviews German students,
leurs marchandises, et il en Stait simple de
foreign students and representatives of the
voler et h rien faire voir. Et ~t ce moment-lh,
Akademisches Auslandsamt. She identifies a num-
la milice s ' y mettait entre nous et les marchan-
ber of permanent categories which foreign students
dises, si fait qu'il n ' y a eu aucun vol, aucun
cannot escape, such as physical appearance or coun-
dSbordement, aucune bagarre, aucun bien
try of origin, and other variable factors, such as lan-
hebdommagS. Et je pense qu'?t Paris ils ont dfi
guage proficiency or relationships with the opposite
faire qa pour 6viter que leurs manifestations
sex, in which foreign students change and are there-
tournent aussi au mal. Parce que il faut faire
fore categorised differently by German students.
voir aux flics .... I1 y a la police qui a foncS sur
Foreign students are perceived as less 'foreign' as
les manifestants, e t a matraqu6 un peu ceux
they adopt German behaviour and values and ac-
qui passaient.." ( ......... )
quire greater proficiency in the German language.
In a different project, for intermediate learners
(Interviewer): "C'est.. Je peux vous demander
of French studying in their own classroom in Eng-
de parler un peu personnellement, comment
land (Byram Morgan et al, 1994: 94-104), the data
vous avez vu tout ~a? Quel 6tait votre r61e?"
collection had to be done by those who wrote the
material. For example, an interview with a French
school pupil described how he and his friends had "Oh, je n'ai pas eu de r61e du tout. Moi, j'&ais
gone on strike to protest about conditions at school. une personne dans la foule, qui criait ses
The English learners were first asked to think about opinions, qui criait pour avoir de 1' argent. Moi,
what they would do if they wanted to protest. The je pense que ceux qui ont 6tS au coeur ont eu du
word 'strike' was used only jokingly by the pupils courage parce que le premier jour il faisait
as they talked about going to complain to the head- •vraiment froid. I1 pleuvait. Quand on arrivait h la
teacher, asking their parents to protest and so on, sous-prSfecture on Stait tons trempSs, on Stait
and when the teacher explored with them what they serrSs les uns contre les autres pour essayer
associated with strikes, it was industrial action d'avoir chaud et pourtant on Stait 1L On y restait.
only. They then read and analysed the interview Et apr~s on est revenu apr6s les vacances
with the French pupil, and by the end of the lesson puisqu'on croyait h ce qu'on voulait. Et on
they had begun to see that one of his connotations voulait obtenir de l'argent pour l'6ducation."
with '6cole' was indeed 'gr~ve'. Furthermore, he
explained how his parents could not criticise him (Interviewer): "Et comment vos parents ont
for going on strike from school as they themselves r6agi?"
had been part of the student strikes and revolution
of 1968 in Paris; the connotations are historical as "Euh, mes parents avaient fait mai soixante-huit,
well as contemporary. By the end of the lesson, the aussi ils comprenaient la gr6ve mais ce qui 6tait
English learners of French had begun to under- un peu amusant, c'est qu'en mai soixante-huit,
stand the meaning of the word 'Scole' and to see mes parents demandaient moins de surveillants,
that its connotations are different from the word et plus de libert6. C'est un peu le sujet (de notre
'school'. gr~ve) qu'ils ne comprenaient pas trop."

No 16 September 1997 55
 M BYRAM

INVESTIGATING VOCABULARY - choose? How to focus the selection of text extracts

HISTORICAL A N D LITERARY and other materials?' It is not possible or desirable
to delve into the meanings and connotations of
METHODS
every word learners acquire. As we saw earlier
Wierzbicka argues that the areas which are most
The third approach I call 'historical and literary
likely to reflect the living culture are those parts
methods'. There is a considerable tradition of using
that have to do with the relationship between
literary texts to gain insight into the culture of a soci-
speaker and addressee. Forms of politeness are an
ety, (cf. two classics of this tradition: Goldman,
obvious example, and are given special prominence
1955, Williams, 1958) The adaptation of this work
in the second edition of the specification of what
for language learners has been well represented in
learners need in order to cross a threshold of com-
Germany by Kramer and others (Kramer, 1990). It is
munication in English, published by the Council of
currently being actively developed in a new empha-
Europe (van Ek and Trim, 1991: 105), which will
sis on 'British Cultural Studies' in the university sec-
doubtless also be influential on other languages as
tor in many countries, and is gradually also
was the first edition. The examples I have given
influencing textbooks for English as a Foreign Lan-
however have been key nouns or adjectives, and an
guage. In a journal designed to facilitate this devel-
obvious starting point for deciding which words are
opment, British Studies Now, Alan Pulverness
Downloaded by [Flinders University of South Australia] at 00:05 27 December 2014

crucial to an understanding of contemporary and

(1995) supports the idea of an integrated English lan-
historical aspects of British society is Raymond
guage and cultural study being based on ethnograph-
Williams' collection of Keywords (1976). It would
ic methods in a British setting, but says that where it
be an interesting project in the preparation of mate-
is not possible for learners to spend time in the coun-
rials for advanced learners of English as a foreign
try, an alternative is the literary text. He is no doubt
language to select some of Williams' keywords and
right that literary texts can give insight into "the tex-
combine his accounts of them with literary texts,
ture of life in contemporary Britain", but we should
ethnographic reports and computer analysis of cor-
in fact be looking for a combination of literary and
pora of language from contemporary usage.
ethnographic texts, the latter either in the form of
There would always be two aims to such a pro-
ethnographic data as I described earlier or in the
ject: first to introduce learners to a specific word, its
form of ethnographic reports, such as Nigel Barley's
associations, its history, and its meanings and con-
Native Land (1989), which is written for the general
notations in contemporary society. In the course of
public, or even ethnographies written for profession-
this they would acquire the word and its meanings,
al readers. There are some very good ethnographies
and other associated words. The second aim would
of life in contemporary British schools for example.
be to teach learners to carry out their own data col-
Extracts from these are much more interesting than
lection and analysis, whether from their reading,
diagrams of the education system, and provide more
their attention to radio and television, or by ethno-
insight into fife in school as it is actually experienced.
graphic methods. For, after all, any selection how-
For learners of French for example Vie quotidienne et
ever well founded, remains a selection. Pupils and
rapports sociaux dans une petite ville de province
students need to learn the methods, and the methods
(Bozon, 1984), though a professional report has some
need to be an explicit part of the teaching, and not
very readable short quotations which give advanced
just remain implicit in the teacher's approach.
learners insights into aspects of French life. Two
other books exist in French and English and provide
insights into daily life in different social classes
(Carroll, 1987/1990; Le Wita, 1988/1994). CONCLUSION
The use of literary texts also opens up the histor-
ical dimension, and the possibility of tracing In a definition of intercultural communicative com-
changes in the use of vocabulary over time. It might petence which is to be the basis of proposals for as-
be possible for example to take the historical refer- sessment, we have identified four dimensions, or
ences for a particular word from the Duden Ety- savoirs:
mologie or the OED and produce a teaching unit
which shows the word in use in different extracts. savoir ~tre: an ability to abandon ethnocentric
Of course, this pre-supposes a level of language attitudes towards and perceptions of other cul-
proficiency which does not develop until upper sec- tures, and to see and develop an understanding
ondary, but since learners in some Upper Sec- of the differences and relationships between
ondary courses are introduced to the classics and to one's own and a foreign culture; this involves
contemporary fiction, the language demands in an affective and cognitive change in learners,
ethnographic report are not beyond their capacity. savoir apprendre: an ability to observe, collect
data and analyse how people of another lan-
guage-and-culture perceive and experience their
SELECTING KEY W O R D S world, what beliefs, values and meanings they
share about it; this involves practical skills and a
One question has been begging an answer through- readiness to decentre and take a different per-
out the previous paragraphs: 'Which words to spective,
56 Language LearningJournal
 =CULTURALAWARENES'AS VOCABULARYLEARNING

- savoirs: the knowledge of aspects of a culture, a Behal-Thomsen, H et al. (1993) Typisch deutsch ? Arbeitsbuch
system of reference points familiar to natives of zu Aspekten deutscher Mentalitiit, Berlin, Langenscheidt.
Bozon, M (1984) Vie quotidienne et rapports sociaux clans
the culture, which helps the natives to share be-
une petite ville de province, Lyon, Presses Universitaires de
liefs, values and meanings, and to communicate Lyon
without making explicit those shared assump- Byram, M (1989) Cultural Studies in Foreign Language Edu
tions, cation, Clevedo, Multilingual Matters.
- s a v o i r f a i r e : the ability to draw upon the other Byram, M (1997) 'Cultural Studies and Foreign Language
Teaching'. In S. Bassnett (ed) Studying British Cultures.
three savoirs and integrate them in real time and
London, Routledge.
interaction with people of a specific language- Byram, M, Morgan, C et al. (1994) Teaching-and-Learning
and-culture. Language-and-Culture, Clevedon, Multilingual Matters
(Adapted from Byram and Zarate, 1994). Byram, M and Zarate, G (1994) Definitions, Objectives andAs-
sessrnent of Socio-cultural Competence, Strasbourg, Council
of Europe.
The proposals in this article are means of devel-
Carroll, R (1987) Evidences invisibles: Amdricains et Franfais
oping learners' s a v o i r s , their knowledge of key au quotidien, Paris, Seuil. Translated as (1990):Cultural
words, rich items, but just as importantly, learners Misunderstandings: the French-American experience.
should be aware of the methods they are using to Chicago, University of Chicago Press
analyse the language-and-culture in question. This Channell, J (1994) 'Cultural assumptions and shared knowl-
Downloaded by [Flinders University of South Australia] at 00:05 27 December 2014

edge in English dictionaries', Paper presented at the BAAL

is a transferable skill which will be useful to them
Conference.
not only in the particular language they are learn- DES (Department of Education and Science) (1990) Modern
ing, but also in their engagement with other lan- Languages f o r ages 11 to 16, London: HMSO.
guages and other cultures, their s a v o i r a p p r e n d r e . Doy~, P (1992) 'Neuere Konzepte landeskundlichen Lernens',
Furthermore, the application of the suggestions in Der Fremdsprachliehe Unterricht 26, 7, 4-7.
this article to learners' own language, and compari- Goldmann, L (1955) Le Dieu CachE. Paris: Gallimard. "learners should be
Hfillen, W (1992) 'Interkulturelle kommunikation - was ist aware of the meth-
son with the foreign language would be part of a das eigentlich?' Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht 26, 7,
larger scale development of their c r i t i c a l cultural 8-11.
ods they are using
awareness (Byram, 1989 and 1997), i.e. their abili- Humbolt, W. von 1836/1988, On Language, Cambridge, Cam- to analyse the
ty to gain a new perspective on themselves and bridge University Press. language-and-
their society and a new critique of its nature and
Kramer, J (1990) Cultural and Intercultural Studies, Frankfurt culture in
a.M, Peter Lang. question"
meaning for themselves as members of it. Their Leathe's Report (1918) Modern Studies, being a report of the
heightened awareness not only of other languages, committee on the position of modern languages in the educa-
cultures and peoples, but also of themselves as cul- tional system of Great Britain. London: HMSO.
tural beings is a major contribution of language Le Wita, B (1988) Ni rue ni connue: approche ethnographique
de la culture bourgeoise, Paris, Fondation de la Maison des
teaching to their education.
Sciences de l'Homme. (Translated as (1994) French Bout
geois Culture, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.)
Pulverness, A (1995) 'English as a Foreign Culture?' ELT and
NOTES British Cultural Studies, British Studies Now 6, 13-14.
Susay, G (1992) Die Kategorisierung ausliindischer Studenten
lThis material is taken from the Bank of English, developed by durch ihre deutschen Kommilitonen. Ein ethnographischer
Collins Cobaild and the University of Birmingham and owned Bericht, Thames Valley University, School of Europear~ and
by Cobuild Limited. The Bank of English is available to scholar- International Studies.
ly researchers through JANET. van Ek, J A and Trim, J L M (1991) Threshold Level 1990,
Slxasbourg, Council of Europe.
Whorl B J (1956) Language, thought, and reality, New York,
Wiley.
REFERENCES Wierzbicka, A (1992) Semantics, Culture and Cognition New
York, Oxford University Press.
Agar, M (1991 ) 'The biculture in bilingual'. Language in Soci- Williams, R (1958) Culture and Society London, Chatto and
ety 20, 167-8l. Windus.
Barley, N (1989) Native Land. The bizarre rituals and curi- Williams, R (1976) Keywords, London, Fontana.
ous customs which make the English English, Harmond- Zarate, G (1986) Enseigner une culture ~trangOre, Paris, Ha-
sworth, Penguin Books chette.

j !LABelE No 16 September 1997 57