Chinese School Teachers’ and Teacher Trainers’ Perceptions of Culture Teaching in ELT: A Case Study in Xinjiang

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Han Hui

Abstract

This paper investigates the perceptions of secondary school teachers and teacher trainers from Normal Universities and Teacher Training Colleges in Xinjiang Province of culture teaching in English language teaching (ELT): How they define culture; what they think the objectives of culture teaching are; and, how important they view culture teaching in ELT. The findings show that the teachers define culture in a very broad sense, such as traditions and beliefs, while the teacher trainers think that literature is a major channel to expose students to foreign cultures and tend to adopt an elevated form of Culture in the classroom (Culture with a big C). The study also reveals the teachers’ and trainers’ positive attitudes towards the integration of cultural information in their application, and their understanding of culture teaching objectives in the language classroom.

Key words: Culture teaching, English Language teaching, teachers’ perceptions,
cultural awareness, curriculum

Article Details

How to Cite
Hui, H. (2014). Chinese School Teachers’ and Teacher Trainers’ Perceptions of Culture Teaching in ELT: A Case Study in Xinjiang. Journal of Studies in the English Language, 6. Retrieved from https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jsel/article/view/21855
Issue
Vol. 6 (2011)
Section
Articles
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Author Biography

Han Hui

Han Hui is a professor in the School of Foreign Languages of Zhejiang Agricultural and Forestry University, Donghu
Campus. She has taught English at college level for 25 years. She obtained her PhD from Durham University, UK. Her
research interests are in teacher education; English education and intercultural studies. She has published over 20 papers in
academic journals. She can be reached at hanhellen@163.com.