ABSTRACT
Language, as a reflection of cultural norms, can sometimes lead to communication issues when people speak in an L2 but think in their L1. This can be illustrated with the relevant word teacher, which in vertical societies is a respectful form of address; in more horizontal cultures, it might sound impersonal. Thus, the focus here is on the intersection of EFL students’ native language and culture, as expressed in their English.
Students explain the implications in their society for where student and teacher are “placed” on the social scale.
The teacher then elicits students’ cultural knowledge regarding how teachers are addressed in their native country.
Students can then explain the rationale for this term of address, as well as the teacher explaining the same within his/her country.
Having had a joint cultural and linguistic discussion, students and teacher are both able to understand the implications of a common word in terms of how it is used in outside cultures. This exercise thus acts as a clear illustration of the importance of pragmatic, and not just syntactic, competence, a means to reveal language use which might require students to think in a foreign culture as they speak a foreign language.
