The Impact of Culture on English Language Learning

Abstract

This paper aims to highlight the impact of culture on English language learning. Language and culture are considered as inseparable couple and can be simply described as two sides of the same coin. Language is not culture-free. If one is to communicate effectively in a foreign/second language, one cannot ignore the cultural context which gives the words broader meanings. There is no argument about the importance of linguistic competency which is constituted with the knowledge of pronunciation, writing system, vocabulary and grammar syntax for the language production. What is often neglected is cultural competency that is a kind of knowledge of all the other systems of ideas and beliefs shared by members of a community and transmitted through language