Social Context and ESL Acquisition: The Case of a Local Lebanese School.

      Аннотация: English is an international language and has become the lingua franca of the 21st Century. It is the global language through which people communicate with one another. Thus, learning English has become crucial to almost all people. Language and culture are inseparable. To successfully learn a new language, one has to learn it within its cultural context. In this manner, instructors of English language need to teach English through its cultural context. This current study investigated whether a local school in the district of Beirut used cultural activities in teaching English as a second or foreign language. The study was conducted in the summer of 2018, during the months of July and August. Ten English language teachers participated in the study and filled out a survey after the researcher had developed and piloted it. Four observations, which followed the “Protocol for language Teaching Observations” (PLATO), were carried out; moreover, six teachers were interviewed. The data collected and analyzed qualitatively indicated that although the teachers did incorporate cultural activities in their lessons, their learners were unable to apply their knowledge in cultural context.

Ключевые слова: English, Lebanon, ESL/EFL, culture and language