Introduction
I write this paper because I want to explain about culture in teaching English. Then I will give some examples about Indonesian and American culture. In addition, I will compare about Indonesian and American culture.
The definition and the example of Culture in Teaching English
· The definitions about Culture in Teaching English
Gurito state that: Culture indicates all aspects that members of group share together. Children learn ways of doing things, ways of talking, smiling, laughing, liking and dislikeing things. Culture determines people’s action, their social relationship and their morality (Gurito, 2003: p 1).
Dwyer proposed another definition of culture:
Culure is that which the language learner needs to know in order to understand the meaning of the message in order.
· The example of Culture in Teaching English
Ø In indonesia, karapan sapi as one of celebration in Madura can also be considered as a representationof Madura’s culture.
Ø In America, Rodeo is sometimes considered as representation of American culture, whereas Hallowen is considered as western culture (not only american but also British culture).
The differences between Indonesian and American Culture in Teaching English
If we look back to Gurito’s definition, we can see that there are other kinds of representations of culture. Actually, in our daily life what ever we do is representation of our culture. The way we eat, cook, dress and take a bath are representations of our culture. The way we speak to our friends, to our parents, to our teacher or even stranges people are also represents our culture. Here some examples that make them different:
· The American people eat which uses knife and fork. It is different from the way Indonesian people eat, which uses our hands or just uses a spoon.
· Indonesian people eat the same food every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That is rice. Rice is a main food for Indonesian folk. Even so, they eat it with other foods, likes meats and vegetables. On the other hand, American people eat a variety of foods each day. In particular, they eat breads, sandwiches, pastas, noodles, meats and vegetables without rice, and the feel full without eat rice not like Indonesian people.
· The difference in eating food between the America and Indonesia is the taste of the food. In general, Americans prefer a sweet taste or a little bit salty in their food. In contrast, most Indonesian people like a hot and spicy taste in their food.
· The difference in take a bath, Indonesian’s people take a bath by using a scoop but American’s people take a bath by using a shower.
· For Americans, they have uncle for their father’s or mother’s brother and aunt for their father’s or mother’s sister. Americans do not have differentiate between younger and older brother and sister. However, for Indonesians, especially Javanesse people, they have more names for their father’s or mother’s brother and sister. They have ‘Pakde’ for their father or mother older brother and ‘Bude’ for their father or mother sister. ‘Pakle’ and ‘Bule’are used for younger ones.
· In Indonesian language, we have several words to refer to the speaker and the addressee. They are ‘saya’, ‘aku’ or ‘gue’ to refer to the speaker, and ‘kamu’, ‘anda’, ‘saudara’, ‘kau’, ‘lu’ or ‘Bapak/Ibu’ to refer to the addressee. Each of those words is used depending on the relation between the speaker and the person the speaker is talking to (the addressee). For example, when you talk to your friend, you might choose to use the word ‘aku’ or ‘gue’, to refer yourself and use the word ‘kamu’ to refer to your friend but when you talk to the headmaster in your school, you will choose ‘saya’ to refer to yourself and ‘Bapak/Ibu’ to the headmaster. However, English language, the word ‘I’ and ‘you’ can refer to anybody. ‘I’ and ‘you’ are used when you talk with your friends, your parents, your boss, your teacher or even to strangers people.
· Read the following short conversations:
Ani (Indonesian) : “Wah, bajunya bagus sekali.”
Nina (Indonesian) : “Ah, ini baju jelek dan murah kok”. (blushing)
Susan (American) : “Wow, your dressing is very beautiful.”
Mary (American) : “Thank you.” (smiling)
In the conversation done by the two Indonesian women, Nina’s reaction to Ani’s complement is by denying it. In Indonesian culture, it is common for people to be humble. Nina will be considered to be arrogant if she agrees to Ani’s complement. By denying it she tries to be humble. In contrast to this custom, in American cultture it is common to give and accept compliment. You will not be considered arrogant when you accept a compliment.
My experience about culture in Teaching English
When I was senior high school, my teacher had told about culture. Her name is Mrs. Hindun. She had ever gone to America. She told to me that there are many differences about culture in Indonesian and American. One of them, she told that Indonesian’s people take a bath by using a scoop but American’s people take a bath by using a shower. She felt stange and unsatisfied with the way of took a bath by using scoop because in Indonesia, she always take a bath by using a scoop. Then she went out to buy a scoop but there was nobody sold it. Finally she took a bath by using a bowl. The story was very funny and I still remember her story until now.
Conclusion
In conclusion, It is important to learn about the culture in teaching English. By understanding the culture, the students know what is the definitions and the examples of culture. In the other hand, they know about Indonesian and American culture. Then they can compares between Indonesian and American culture.
Reference
Riyanti, Rahayu Dwi, dkk. 2010. Cross cultural Understanding. Jakarta: Universitas Terbuka.
Gurito, A. 2003. Culture. Unpublished paper.
Dwyer, Davis, Antonia Schleicher and Lioba Moshi. 1996. The role of culture: In the language classroom.
Byram, Michael. 1997. Cultural Studies and Foreign Language Teaching, in susan Bassnett (ed). Studying British Culture. Routledge, Bandung.
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