a)

This excerpt says that the fundamental relationship of language and culture is widely

recognised, and the ways in which the patterning of communicative behaviour and that of other cultural systems interrelate are of interest both to the development of general theories of communication and analysis of communication within specific speech communities. Although there is some debate regarding the extent to which language shapes and controls the thinking of its speakers or merely reflects their world view, there is little doubt that there is a connection between at least the vocabulary of a language and the beliefs, values and needs present in the culture of its native speakers. In ESL context in Malaysia, except in scientific and technological terms many English words do not mean the same thing as their translation equivalents. ESL students for example, may find colour terms in their lessons and quickly memorize (blue, yellow, red and so on), but apply them to slightly different segments of the colour spectrum than do native speakers of English. Further, they are unlikely to learn what psychoaesthetic values English speakers culture attributes to colours (yellow is cheerful, black is depressing, white represents purity). The concept of ESL learning in Malaysia is now that of concentration in what the learners learn or want to learn rather than what is to be taught. As the focus on ESL now is more learner-centered, it can be assumed that the attitude and initiatives of the learners side will be more prominent. Since a person is shaped by ones culture and local setting, we can assume that the importance of cultural context in language teaching will grow as learning becomes more learner centered and there appear a growing awareness of the role played by culture in the ESL classroom. This fundamental mutual relationship between language and culture may be the key we need to unlock the ESL teaching methodologies of the future. Which is why when we learn a new foreign language like English, we need to adopt the culture of the language to a certain extent because the cultural aspect becomes merged with the language. The Malaysian ESL learners have their own set of cultural experiences of using the language. They have their own cultural merger which has to be addressed during ESL learning process to make it meaningful and relevant to the learners. So it is inevitable to say that integration of culture and context is to be expected while learning English.

b)

In his study, Cultural in ESL Instruction: An Analytic Framework, Mark James

proposed that there should be three components that can address the issue of culture in an ESL Program. One of the component is (a) the balance between a focus on a learners cultures with
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a focus on the L2 culture. On this aspect, work states that awareness of and attention to learners culture in the multicultural ESL classroom helps instructors to activate their prior knowledge as well as to know when and how to build background knowledge. Another is (b) the development of cultural awareness. Here Mark James states that we should look at culture in a deeper way so that it can help raise the learners general cultural awareness. He further states that such awareness would be valuable to a learner who is from a society that is culturally diverse. The last component is (c) empowering learners. Here he states that it is important to ask what cultural messages are being communicated, either implicitly or explicitly, during the instructional process as this means that learning English that is contextualized in their experiences and in solving problems. In another study on language and culture, Mohammad Zohrabi and Parilah Mohd Shah, also touches on those aspects in ESL learning. Their paper entitled Culture-free and Culturebound English Language Classes stresses the importance of culture in English teaching context. In their paper, they discussed the various aspects and relationship between language and culture. Among those aspects is contextual shaping where they concluded that in an ESL context, the direct contact between culture and social norms enhance language learning and teaching. On the aspect of cultural competence, the paper states that in order to function appropriately, ESL learners need to acquire linguistic, communicative as well as cultural competence. To do that, learners need to be provided with enough opportunities inside and outside the classroom to experience other viewpoints and consequently reflect on their own culture and intercultural competence. So it can be concluded that the focus on lexical or grammatical items can help ESL learners to understand the importance of cultural context in ESL. (749 words)

PART II a) No. Word/Phrase Local Equivalent 1. Mobile phone or handphone (Malay)

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Cultural Distinction For English speaking countries, mobile

cell phone

phone (British) or cell phone (American) is a common word referring to a hand phone. But in Malaysia, it is always referred to as a handphone. For English speakers the word reverse is associated the way one reverse, especially in the context of driving motor vehicle. But in among Sarawakians, they pronounced it as gostan. To English speakers, the idiom Its a piece of cake means something that is easy. But for most Malaysians they translate it as sepotong kek, which literally means a piece of cake to be eaten. To English speakers, a frankfurter is a word to describe a long thin sausage often eaten inside a long thin bread roll. But among Malaysians, it is always referred to as a sausage. To English speakers photocopy refers to the action of copying document(s) using a photocopier. Among Malaysians however, that action is referred to as fotostat as in I want to fotostat these documents.

2.

Reverse

Gostan (Iban/Malay)

3.

Its a piece of Sepotong kek (Malay) cake.

4.

Frankfurter

Sausage (Malay/Iban)

Photocopy

Fotostat(Malay/Iban)

b) (i) There will occur a great deal of cross-cultural misunderstanding when the meanings of word or phrases being used by L2 speakers are interpreted in a radically different ways. Some may seem humorous, as in a situation when a native English speaker wants to borrow a L2 speakers hand phone and refers to it as a cell phone or mobile phone. In another example on grammatical item, Asian L2 speakers share an interpretation of passive formation in sentences which could cause serious misunderstanding in English. The passive is used in English for a

number of purposes, including emphasizing the object, de-emphasizing the agent, focusing on the completed state of the action, or merely stylistic variation. For example: Simon washed that car. That car was washed by Simon. To many Asian L2 speakers however, the tow sentences have different meanings, since the subject of a passive sentence is understood to be the victim of the action. Thus, the first sentence would be merely a statement of fact, whereas the second would imply that the subject did a bad job. It can thus be seen that the meaning of lexical, grammatical, or discourse structures is largely random and depends on the native English speakers as to their symbolic value. L2 speakers of a language may become quite skilled in the use of verbal forms without sharing all the cultural aspects of meaning those forms convey to L1 speakers. The extent to which they come to share cultural meaning with L1 speakers depends in large measure on the social contexts of their language acquisition and on the opportunity and innovation for language use. L2 language learners who have the opportunity to interact with native English language speakers are likely to have the opportunity and need to learn much of the cultural meaning that the language forms convey in that community.

( ii ) A paper on Sociolinguistic Competence and Malaysian Students English Language Proficiency highlights the importance of sociolinguistic competence to ESL learners in Malaysian schools. Sociolinguistic competence is the knowledge of sociocultural rules of language and of discourse. This requires an understanding of the social context in which language is used: the rules of the participants, the information they share, and the functions of the interaction. For ESL learners, having a good sociolinguistic competence mean that they will know an infinite number of combinations of roles, tasks, contexts, and feelings that govern what is appropriate in any given situation. This will greatly reduce or eliminate problems that
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may arise due to the cultural differences between the first and the second language. In the paper, another way to reduce the problem is for ESL learners to know about Malaysian English (ME) which reflects the multilingual traits of the country. ESL learners should know how to differentiate between ME and the English language. One common ME is Its mean which does not make sense and grammatically wrong, but look at It means. Thats better and the meaning is now clear. The paper also outlines several ways in order for ESL teachers to improve cultural differences between the first and second language. Among them is to learn how to perform particular speech acts in both formal and informal settings, learning particular ways of speaking, like story telling, narratives, joke-telling, simply learning to chitchat, all important in learning how to speak proficiently. Another paper entitled Exploring English Language Learning And Teaching In Malaysia also supports the discussion that cultural differences causes ESL learners to face problems in learning English. Researchers of the paper reveal that amongst others, the teaching and learning of English is seen as learning a subject, focusing on the mechanics of the language without making connections to how it is used in real communicative events. Though some of the grammatical rules are presented in a dialogue form, these dialogues are mainly used to practise the language functions taught in the lesson. These common classroom practices suggest that the teaching of English literacy neglects the sociocultural elements of language learning. In a related study that looks at language anxiety among ESL learners in universities, the majority interviewed reported that they are very nervous when speaking and face great difficulty in expressing themselves in English. More importantly, a number of studies also reveal that language anxiety experienced by the learners originates from the learners themselves, school instructional practices and social and cultural influence putting them linguistically and psychologically isolated from English language use. (735 words)

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