TAFL and the teaching/learning of culture: Theoretical perspectives and an experimental module

The main objective of this paper is to explore the issue of the inclusion of culture in TAFL. In achieving this objective the paper sets out to present, first, a wide-ranging review of the literature on the rationale behind the incorporation of culture in language teaching/learning. This review serves the function of properly contextualizing the second component, in which the background to, and the results of, an experimental module on the teaching/learning of Arabic are set out. The whole discussion is underpinned by the premise that language is the medium through which culture is articulated, and, therefore, that culture teaching/learning cannot be divorced from language teaching/learning, no matter how implicit the latter may be. As used in this context, the anthropological sense of culture is regarded as paramount. In dealing with the TL culture from this
perspective, the experimental module utilizes materials derived from proverbs, poetry, advertisements, cartoons and dream divination letters. The paper also proposes a set of goals for culture teaching and learning, emphasizing the importance of imparting cognitive facts in the former and, together with this, underscoring the role of affection and action in the latter.