Teachers' and Learners' Perceptions towards Culture Teaching in the EFL Classroom The Case of First Year Pupils at El Arbi Djemil Secondary School, Sédrata, Souk-Ahras

Abstract

Abstract |The current descriptive study is concerned with probing EFL teachers' and learners' perceptions towards culture teaching in the EFL classroom at El Arbi Djemil Secondary School in Sédrata, Souk-Ahras. To confirm or refute the main hypothesis that suggests that the cultural aspect of the language is not taken on equal footing with the other language skills. The researcher opted for a mixed methods approach to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Firstly, a questionnaire was administered to 98 first year pupils. Another questionnaire was administered to 20 EFL teachers from Sédrata, Souk-Ahras, and Sidi Fradj. The final stage of the research involved two in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with 5 teachers selected randomly, and 7 pupils selected conveniently. The gathered data have illustrated that theoretically the value of culture appears to be appreciated by both participants; however, in practice, no time is allocated to culture teaching, and both teachers and pupils focus more on the linguistic competence rather than intercultural competence to achieve language proficiency. On the basis of these findings, which seem to run in the opposite direction of what has been endorsed in the literature and previous researches, recommendations are suggested to the Ministry of National Education, EFL teachers and learners.