The Importance of Teaching Culture to Develop EFL Learners' Communicative Competence The Case of Third Year Learners in Secondary Education

Abstract

The ultimate goal for learning English as Foreign Language (EFL) is to be able to communicate effectively. This requires the ability to know how to use language accurately and appropriately in different contexts. Since culture and communication are interrelated, we hypothesize that adequate exposure to culture will help EFL learners, precisely third year learners in secondary education, to develop their communicative competence. The present research aims to investigate the importance of integrating culture in EFL classes to enhance learners' communicative competence. It also examines to what extent the cultural content is included in the textbook of the third year, "New Prospects " adopting the descriptive method. To answer the main questions of the study, the cultural content of "New Prospects" is evaluated and a questionnaire is delivered to thirty (30) EFL teachers selected randomly from different secondary schools in Tebessa. The evaluation of the cultural content of "New Prospects" reveals that its cultural content is still poor to provide learners with adequate cultural knowledge. The data collected from the questionnaire confirm the hypothesis. It is hoped that this study will help EFL teachers and textbook designers to stress on the significance of teaching culture as the latter offers massive advantages to language classes and plays a significant role in developing EFL learners' communicative competence