EFL Student’s Cultural Awareness and its Interference on their Oral Performance. Case Study: Second year English Students at Chadli Ben Djedid University.

Abstract

Current research involves the influence of cultural awareness on speech production. The core of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of social and cultural knowledge of foreign languages in improving the oral performance and reducing the difficulty of second level students of English in the Department of Foreign Language at Chadli Ben Djedid El-Tarf University's. The first chapter is devoted to the theoretical aspects of cultural concepts and oral skills. First, we introduced the unique cultural concepts proposed by different researchers, and while considering the cultural elements that determine the social and cultural knowledge shared by a given human group, we discussed their characteristics. In addition, we clarified the connections that exist between culture, communication and language. We also analyzed some important concepts, such as culture shock and acculturation. However, the second part deals with the various components of EFL speaking. We have started with the definition of spoken language skills and identified its different functions and characteristics. Then, we introduced the linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge required to produce successful speech. This chapter has discussed and explained the concept of speaking ability. Finally, we considered the problems of the EFL oral class and the activities in the classroom to reduce these problems. The analysis of the data obtained from the responses of students and teachers draws four main points. First of all, LMD English learners in the second year realize the importance of cultural background knowledge in EFL learning, but their ability in this important part of the language is very limited. as well, because they do not understand the social and cultural aspects of the language, they often misunderstand and abuse certain vocabulary and sublingual features related to English culture; they even misread certain words and expressions. Besides that, improving the cultural awareness of LMD students can improve their speech skills and reduce their speech barriers. On the other hand, the teaching culture in the Departement of Foreign Languages at El Chadli Ben Djedid University faces certain teaching and material problems. In the end, these results confirmed our research hypothesis. Therefore, our research goal was achieved. However, we should realize that our research work is limited to Algerian EFL students from Arab and Tamazite cultural backgrounds. In addition, due to time constraints and a large number of second-year students, the research sample was deliberately limited to simple choices.