Keywords

1 Introduction

As a universal tool to express human ideas, languages are inseparable from cultures and societies where they are used (Baker, 2015; Byram, 1997; Liddicoat & Scarino, 2013). It has been widely accepted that languages convey a treasure of cultural values of humankinds; and cultures, in return, reflect the origin and development of languages over the course of history. In the light of this extricable relationship, cultural content has been considered an integral part of language teaching regardless of whether the instructed language is native (mother tongue) or second/foreign to learners. In the field of English language teaching (ELT), a wide range of cultural topics has been integrated into language focus (Canale, 2016; Ho, 2009; Holliday, 2009; Tirnaz & Haddad Narafshan, 2018). In other words, learners are supposed not only to acquire language skills but also to develop cultural competence. As a result, they would use English appropriately in a given context of communication.

In the last few decades, the emergence of English as a global language has impacted both theory and practice of teaching culture in English language education (Baker, 2009; Kramsch, 2014; McConachy, 2018; McKay, 2012; Nault, 2006). That is, culture teaching is no longer grounded in the traditional model whereby learners are taught knowledge about Anglophone countries, such as geography, history, and traditions to name the few. Instead, English has been considered a vehicle for both exploring globally diverse cultures and introducing learners’ own cultures and identities to people from other countries (Forman, 2014; Nguyen, 2014). This way of teaching cultures is known as the intercultural approach, which has been suggested for ELT and second language education (Baker, 2008, 2015; Göbel & Helmke, 2010; Holliday, 2009; Liddicoat & Scarino, 2013). Together with a sociocultural turn in language education today (Johnson & Golombek, 2018; Nguyen, 2017a), learners are expected to engage in culturally rich contexts beyond the classroom. As such, the cultural competence students acquired over the course of English learning would serve various purposes in their life. From the perspective of Bourdieu (2007), learners, when engaging with cultures in an intercultural way, are more likely to develop ‘cultural capital’ in the broad sense or ‘intercultural competence’ in the narrow sense. The concept of ‘intercultural competence’ refers to knowledge, skills, and behaviours which individuals can draw on to gain an advantage in social life in general. For example, graduates can deploy knowledge and skills accumulated from their life experiences and formal education for success in their careers and social life. In this sense, ‘cultural capital’ prepares learners for employability and advancement in social status. That said, the practice of teaching cultures in many education systems, where English is learned as a foreign language (EFL), has not been reformed in response to such a substantial transformation in teaching and learning culture in the field of ELT. As indicated in the research literature, culture teaching in many EFL contexts is still confined to institutional aspects of English speaking countries rather than changing to intercultural focus, namely, knowledge, skills, and behaviours related to various cultures (Baker, 2015; McKay, 2010). Accordingly, it is strongly recommended that more research be undertaken in order to shed light on the current practice of culture teaching in various EFL contexts in the world. Based on the findings, specific actions would be taken for transforming culture teaching in a specific context of EFL education from traditional to intercultural approaches.

As with other education systems of non-English speaking countries, English language has been identified as a major priority for educational and socioeconomic development in Vietnam (Nguyen, 2018). Owing to the important role of English language in Vietnam today, a large proportion of students across all education levels are involved in EFL learning. As can be seen from the EFL curriculum for different levels of learning, cultural knowledge has been combined with language skills (Ho, 2009; Nguyen, 2016, 2017a, 2017b; Tran et al., 2019; Truong & Tran, 2014; Vu & Dinh, 2021). This reflects the perceived relationship between language and culture from the perspective of curriculum developers. However, research should be undertaken to explore how culture teaching is perceived and practiced by practitioners. This chapter, therefore, explores how cultures were perceived and practiced by teachers in a higher education institution in Vietnam. The findings would help to answer the question as to whether the perceptions and practices of culture teaching in contemporary EFL education yield ‘cultural capital’ for students’ employability as well as for their advancement in social life.

2 Literature Review

2.1 The Relationship Between Language and Culture

Language and culture have an extremely complex relationship (Byram, 1997; Kramsch, 2014; Liddicoat & Scarnio, 2013). As Agar (1994) states, ‘culture is in language and language is loaded in culture’ (p. 28). This means that language is an integral part of culture and also an expression of culture. Kramsch (1998) also mentions that language expresses, embodies, and symbolizes cultural reality. Mitchell and Myles (2004) argue that language and culture are acquired together with each supporting the development of the other. Liddicoat, Papademetre et al. (2003) claim that language and culture interact with each other in a way that culture connects to all levels of language use and structures, i.e., there is no level of language which is independent of culture. Specifically, at the lowest level of pronunciation, lexicon, and grammar, language conveys cultural factors manifested accent varieties, vocabularies used in different contexts, and language uses for various purposes and functions. In the middle of the continuum, language includes norms of interactions, pragmatic norms, and genres; cultural elements are found in corresponding language units, including utterances or text structures. At the highest level of world knowledge, language is situated in a sociocultural context. In addition to the points of articulation between culture and language forwarded by Liddicoat et al. (2003), Kramsch (1995) distinguishes three types of links between language and culture through the history of language teaching: universal, national, and local links. She argues that the universal links between language and culture are effectively captured in literature. These links can draw on the universal canon of world literatures to ensure ‘a certain cosmopolitan, at first religious, then aesthetic, view of the world, that various speakers of various languages could share across social and national boundaries’ (Kramsch, 1995, p. 86). The national links between language and culture convey a national perspective in which language teaching was separated from the teaching of literature and the teaching of culture. Subjects like French ‘civilization’, German ‘Landeskunde’, or English ‘culture’ were, therefore, taught separately from language learning. The local links between language and culture place a focus on the pragmatic functions and notions expressed through language in everyday life.

In short, language and culture have an inextricable and interdependent relationship, which is expressed through the way they interact with each other. The relationship between language and culture is made meaningful in language learning as ‘the person who learns language without learning culture risks becoming a fluent fool’ (Bennett et al., 2003, p. 237).

2.2 Approaches to Culture in Foreign Language Education

Culture in language teaching has undergone many changes, each of which can be seen as a reconceptualization of culture and the role of culture in language teaching (Baker, 2015; Crozet, Liddicoat & Lo Bianco, 1999; Kramsch, 2014). Through the history of culture pedagogy, Liddicoat et al. (2003) identify four broad approaches to culture in foreign language teaching and learning.

High culture: This is the traditional way of teaching culture that focuses on an established canon of literature. Cultural competence is measured through the breadth of reading and knowledge about the literature. This approach to culture minimizes the use of language for communication with native speakers and sees culture residing primarily in the text itself.

Area studies: This approach to culture focuses on knowledge about a country, which is often presented as background knowledge for language learning. Culture competence is particularly viewed through the depth of knowledge of the history, geography, and institutions of the target language country. Culture was usually taught separately from language learning on courses such as Landeskunde (in Germany), civilization (in France), and civilita (in Italy) (Kramsch, 1993). Language and culture have a loose connection as language is mainly used for events, institutions, people, and places.

Culture as societal norms: This approach views culture as the practices and values that typify them. Everyday behaviours of members of speech communities are viewed as grounded in the national culture (Kramsch, 2006). Cultural competence is measured by one’s knowledge about things that a cultural group is likely to do and understanding of cultural values by certain ways of acting or beliefs. This view of cultural competence is problematic as the learner observes and interprets an interlocutor’s language and actions from another cultural paradigm. The view of culture in this approach is considered static and homogeneous and easily leads to a possibility of the stereotyping of the target culture (Liddicoat, 2006).

Culture as practice: This approach views culture as sets of practices or the lived experience of the individual (Geertz, 1983). This ‘cultural turn’ as a breakthrough in language pedagogy in the 1990s provided a foundation for intercultural language learning (Risager, 2007). In the culture as practice approach, the learners’ cultural competence is shown in the ability to interact in the target culture in informed ways. This approach to culture engages language learners in developing an intercultural perspective in which their own culture and the target culture are involved. With such a perspective, learners are able to reach an intercultural position where they continuously develop intercultural communicative skills during the process of language learning.

From these four broad approaches to culture, Liddicoat et al. (2003) distinguish two main views of culture: the static view and the dynamic view. The static view of culture assumes that culture contains factual knowledge or cultural artefacts to be observed and learned about. This view of culture does not clearly link language and culture (Liddicoat, 2002) and simply consists of ‘information to be transmitted’ (Crawford & McLaren, 2003, p. 33). The dynamic view of culture, on the other hand, is emphasized in intercultural language learning. This view of culture requires learners to actively engage in culture learning, have knowledge of their own culture and an understanding of their own culturally shaped behaviours. The culture as practice approach is regarded as a dynamic view of culture as teachers can help learners decentre from their own culture (Kramsch, 1993) with sorts of exposure to the target culture and the skills and knowledge they need to achieve decentring (Liddicoat et al., 2003).

Furthermore, culture teaching in the EFL classroom can be approached from two broad perspectives: teaching culture as information and teaching culture as process (Wright, 2000). Teaching culture as information involves the cultural information that the instructor imparts to students through culture learning devices such as culture capsules, culture clusters, culture incidents and assimilators, and culture mini-dramas (Lange, 1998). However, an emphasis on culture as a dynamic set of practices or the lived experience of individuals (Geertz, 1983) leads to greater emphasis on experience and perceptions of culture as a process. Culture learning as a process provides students with opportunities to explore different cultural aspects, reflect on their cultural explorations and create their own relational meanings between their own culture and the target culture (Holliday, 2009; Kramsch, 1993).

Overall, the approaches to teaching culture in ELT or language education are diverse; and the selection of a specific approach or pedagogy depends on various factors, such as the curriculum, teachers’ perception and practice, and available resources (Ho, 2014; Nguyen, 2016). However, the emergence of English as an international language, followed by changes in culture teaching in second language education, learners need to be more engaged in the dynamic view and the process (Doan, 2014; Jon, 2009; Liddicoat et al., 2003; Liddicoat & Scarino, 2013; Mostafaei Alaei & Nosrati, 2018). For this study, the reviewed approaches presented in this section were employed as a theoretical background, on which the study drew to explore the participant teachers’ perceptions and practices of culture teaching in a Vietnamese university.

2.3 Research on Culture Teaching in Vietnam

The status of culture in EFL education has recently been given more emphasis in Vietnam. Through a series of research studies on teaching and learning cultures in EFL education in Vietnam, Ho (2009, 2011, 2014) pointed out the perceived importance of cultural and intercultural knowledge in relation to language aspects. However, these studies indicated that the perception and practice of practitioners were greatly influenced by a traditional approach to culture teaching inherent in an emphasis on Anglophone cultures. In spite of this emerging emphasis on culture in the curriculum and an effort to incorporate interculturality into EFL education in Vietnam, culture teaching and learning practices still have a peripheral status (Doan, 2014; Ho, 2014; Nguyen et al., 2016). As in other Asian countries, most Vietnamese EFL teachers were not confident enough about their skills and knowledge for culture teaching and some of them were even sceptical about the necessity and significance of teaching culture in their language classrooms (Tsou, 2005). In addition, there was also a lack of guidelines for culture teaching and empirical research on culture learning, which made teachers less willing to teach culture in the classroom (Tsou, 2005).

Despite the dominance of the traditional approaches to teaching culture and teachers’ scant attention to cultural or intercultural content in ELT, researchers have, to some extent, brought the issues into focus. Given the emergence of English as an international language, Doan (2014) investigated the curriculum, lecturers’ perceptions, and classroom practices of EFL teacher education programs in four different universities in Vietnam. The findings indicated a tension between monocentric and pluricentric views on culture teaching. In a study that explored EFL teachers’ belief of culture teaching in Vietnam, Nguyen et al. (2016) found that priority was given to knowledge and skills of English and cultural content played a minor role. However, according to the results of a recent study (Vu & Dinh, 2021), EFL students’ perceptions of intercultural communicative competence have become diverse, showing both local features and global trends. In relation to practice, EFL teachers have used their initiative in transforming teaching culture in EFL classes in Vietnam (Nguyen, 2016, 2017b, 2018). For example, Truong and Tran (2014) explored the use of film as an innovative approach to enhancing EFL students’ intercultural competence. Critical incidents were integrated into English language content in order to help university students develop intercultural competence (Tran et al., 2019). The innovative practices have not resulted in a significant reform, but there is an evidence for initial changes in teachers’ perceptions and practice of culture teaching in the ELT context of Vietnam.

3 Research Methodology

3.1 Research Design

The study investigated Vietnamese EFL teachers’ perceptions and practices of culture in language teaching and learning. The study addresses the following research question:

How is culture in language teaching and learning evident in the perceptions and practices of Vietnamese EFL teachers?

A qualitative approach to this study was adopted. By using the qualitative approach, the dynamic nature of events as well as the trends and patterns over time can be better represented (Cohen et al., 2007). The qualitative approach of the study involved classroom observations and teacher interviews.

3.2 Participants

Fourteen Vietnamese tertiary EFL teachers/lecturers at a university in Central Vietnam participated in the study. This university was chosen as a research site because both researchers worked here. As both insiders and outsiders, the researchers had advantages in accessing the site and establishing relationships with the participants. The information about the study was spread to all the teachers/lecturers working in the Department of English language. The criteria for selection were as follows: (1) minimum of five years experience in teaching, (2) interest in the topic under investigation, (3) commitment to the study (participating in both interview, classroom observation, and follow-up activities). After the major steps, 14 teachers/lecturers were selected as participants for the study. The participant teachers obtained their Master’s Degree in TESOL or Applied Linguistics in Vietnam (8 teachers) or abroad (6 teachers). Their teaching experience ranges from 7 years (the youngest) to 25 years (the oldest). Whether educated in Vietnam or overseas, they all took a course in intercultural communication, which laid the foundation for their culture teaching. The ‘overseas’ group also had their advantages in culture teaching as they had been exposed to cultural diversity during their postgraduate studies. At the time of data collection, all of them had more than five years of teaching experience. They mainly taught courses related to cultures and language skills to undergraduate students of the TESOL or English language programs. About five teachers also taught general English to undergraduate students of business and engineering programs.

3.3 Data Collection Methods

The study used the following methods of data collection: classroom observations and teacher interviews. As this research was a classroom-based study, classroom observation was used as a research method to examine the teachers’ culture teaching practices in the natural-setting EFL classroom. Classroom observation was chosen for the study as it helps to gather ‘live’ data from naturally occurring social situations (Cohen et al., 2007). There were twelve classroom observations over two months, including English speaking, General English, and American Culture lessons. Each classroom observation lasted 90 min and was audio-recorded.

Teacher interviews were used to investigate the EFL teachers’ perceptions of culture in language teaching. Sercu (2005) argues that the use of teacher interviews has potential to lead to a better understanding of teachers’ conceptions of the integration of language and culture teaching. The study used a semi-structured interview with a set of pre-prepared guiding questions to encourage the interviewees to elaborate on the issues raised in an exploratory manner (Dornyei, 2007).

3.4 Data Analysis Methods

Thematic analysis was used as the data analysis methods of the study. The qualitative data of the teacher interviews were coded using thematic analysis (Ezzy, 2002) in which themes or patterns were derived directly and inductively from the raw data. Classroom observations used coded observation notes from which the themes and patterns across the lessons were finally teased out to provide a picture of the teachers’ culture teaching practices. Specifically, in relation to the participant teachers’ perceptions of culture in language teaching, three themes were identified from the interview transcripts, including the participants’ awareness of the relationship between language and culture, their beliefs about culture in language teaching, and constraints on culture teaching in their context. Classroom observations resulted in two themes, namely the approaches to culture teaching used by the participants and their self-evaluation of culture teaching approaches. The identified themes were analysed and discussed in combination with the literature on culture teaching in language education, especially the approaches to culture teaching suggested by Kramsch (2006) and Liddicoat et al. (2003).

4 Findings: Teachers’ Perceptions of Culture in Language Teaching

4.1 Awareness of the Relationship Between Language and Culture

Most of the interviewed teachers demonstrated awareness about the relationship between language and culture. They mentioned the inseparability of language and culture in language learning and highlighted the involvement of cultural behaviours in the language learning process. They considered culture learning as a way of behaving in a culturally appropriate manner and a way to learn about people’s daily life through the target language. They believed that culture defines language through its links with customs and lifestyles and acknowledged the relationship between language and culture in communication. Such view can be seen in the following example:

Language is a part of culture. Culture and language are closely connected and related. If language is misused, students cannot understand the target culture and they will fail to use the language in communication. (Interview T2)

As in the quote above, the interviewed participant showed a basic understanding of the relationship between language and culture (Baker, 2015; Byram, 1997; Holliday, 2009; Kramsch, 2014; Liddicoat & Scarnio, 2013). A similar way of understanding or interpreting was found in the interviews with all the participants. In this sense, all the teachers perceived the inseparability between language and culture in EFL teaching.

4.2 Beliefs About Culture in Language Teaching

The teachers’ beliefs about culture in language teaching can be addressed in the following categories: (a) topical dependence; (b) priority of language over culture in language teaching; and (c) inadequate exposure to culture in language courses.

Topic dependence. The teachers stated that topic-based materials tend to involve more culture than skills-based materials that mainly focus on developing language skills. They also mentioned that topic-based materials at low levels tend to be more related to culture than the advanced ones, which usually involve more general knowledge. They argued that it depends on a topic that has culture-embedded meanings or causes culture shock to deal with culture in language teaching such as in the topic ‘manners’. However, cultural content was considered minor in language teaching through the provision of additional cultural topics, rather than being integrated with language teaching:

In the language course, cultural topics need to be added as they are both beneficial and interesting and help change students’ taste in language learning. For example, reading texts related to culture should be chosen to make students gradually perceive the target culture. (Interview T7)

Priority of language over culture in language teaching. The interviewed teachers had different views about culture in language teaching. First, language functions get the priority over culture in language teaching. Some teachers stated that an English speaking material usually focuses on language functions around the types of verbal and non-verbal communication, daily life issues and broader issues such as festivals and traditions, history, geography, and political systems. Therefore, they believed that students need to learn types of communication first before learning about aspects of the target culture as communication is the primary basis and the first goal to achieve in language learning. Secondly, language or culture teaching depends on the goals of the lesson. Some teachers argued that their language teaching did not necessarily involve culture teaching. For example, the lesson on ‘TV firsts’ (e.g., the inventor of TV, the first TV programmes…) was appropriate in terms of language teaching as the goal of the lesson was the use of simple past tense to talk about the past inventions rather than culture teaching. Thirdly, English major students should learn more about culture than non-English major students. For example, it was considered that cultural situations in a lesson on ‘feelings’ would be necessary for English major students, but not for non-English major students who need to focus only on accurate language usage. The specific lessons shared by the participants show that cultures were addressed by providing knowledge and factual information. That is, the ‘area studies’ approach was mainly used and the participant teachers mainly held the static view of culture (Kramsch, 2006; Liddicoat et al., 2003); whereas, the approach of ‘cultures as practice’ as well as the dynamic view of culture were not attended to. In brief, the above views show the teachers’ priority of language over culture in language teaching although they were aware of the relationship between language and culture (Nguyen et al., 2016).

Inadequate exposure to culture in language courses. In response to the question of whether the target culture should be incorporated into EFL classes or taught in separate culture courses, the interviewed teachers argued that it was not sufficient to teach culture in language courses. They believed that culture in language courses was too broad, general, and not deep enough and that it was impossible to address all aspects of the target language culture in language courses. In this way, the participant teachers did not show their proactive role or, at a higher level, their agency in making cultural content embedded in language courses specific, relevant, and in-depth. Due to the inadequate exposure to culture in language courses, it was suggested that culture should be taught in culture courses, particularly at a higher level, for comprehensiveness, depth, logicality, and systematicity of culture learning. Such a view can be seen in the following example:

As culture incorporated in language courses is inadequate, culture courses are still needed. Students have to learn more about culture in culture courses for more effective communication. Separate culture courses are more systematic, deeper and offer a better overview of the target culture. (Interview T4)

4.3 Constraints on Culture Teaching

The teachers’ responses in the interviews also revealed a variety of constraints that restricted opportunities for culture teaching. Amongst these constraints, the following ones were the most common concerns of the teachers, including (a) students’ cultural background knowledge, (b) students’ level of language proficiency, (c) students’ degree of receptiveness to culture learning, (d) teachers’ cultural background knowledge, (e) time allowance for culture teaching, and (f) curriculum, testing, and education policy constraints.

Students’ cultural background knowledge. The interviewed teachers expressed their concerns about students’ limited cultural background knowledge. Some teachers found it hard to teach culture when students did not have enough cultural background knowledge. For example, students found it difficult to match the word cereal with the correct picture of milk as they have never had cereal with milk for breakfast. Because of the lack of cultural background knowledge, students may feel reluctant to learn about culture. It was suggested that it would then be important for teachers to equip students with more cultural knowledge for culture learning.

Students’ level of language proficiency. The interviewed teachers believed that students’ level of language proficiency could restrict opportunities for culture teaching. They argued that the incorporation of culture into language courses needed to be appropriate with students’ level of language proficiency. There was an argument amongst the teachers about the time for students to engage in culture learning from the beginning of language learning or from a higher level of language proficiency:

For beginners, it is not necessary to teach the cultural element as they cannot understand the nature of vocabulary and it may influence the learning process. Incorporating culture should be done whenever students have attained a considerable level of English, for example from the pre-intermediate level onwards. (Interview T9)

Incorporating culture in language courses is inevitable, right from Year 1, through the whole programme, frequently and continuously, to an extent that depends on each specific lesson. (Interview T5)

Students’ degree of receptiveness to culture learning. Students’ degree of receptiveness to culture learning refers to the extent to which students show their willingness for culture learning. The teachers were concerned about students’ degree of receptiveness to culture learning. Some students were interested in culture learning whilst other students were not. Some teachers tried to address culture in the lesson, but some students were only concerned with the language, and did not pay much attention to cultural knowledge. Students’ unwillingness to engage in culture learning was also caused when teachers and students have different goals in language learning.

Teachers’ cultural knowledge. The teachers highlighted the importance of teachers’ cultural knowledge for culture teaching. It was believed that an instructor’s cultural knowledge was a pre-condition to teach culture. In other words, language teachers need to be well-informed, have profound cultural background knowledge, and be able to explore the target language culture themselves. The lack of cultural knowledge could prevent teachers from culture teaching. However, most of the participant teachers argued that the teacher’s cultural knowledge was less important than students’ active engagement in social interaction with speakers of the target language. The importance of students’ intercultural experience in encounters with people from other cultures was emphasized for their culture learning in the classroom.

Time allowance for culture teaching. The teachers’ views about time allowance for culture teaching can be classified into two different categories: satisfactory and dependent on various factors. Some teachers reported that time allowance for their culture teaching was satisfactory and that they did not need to address more about culture in the lessons. Some other teachers also argued that they would deal with culture whenever the lesson was related to culture or whenever it was necessary as time allowance for culture teaching was dependent on various factors such as the course goals, the lesson topic, the lesson content, the teaching methodology, students’ level of language proficiency, students’ interests, teachers’ choices and experience. However, the importance of students’ cultural exploration outside the classroom was highlighted as students could learn more about culture than in the classroom.

Curriculum, testing, and education policy constraints. With regard to whether the curriculum, assessment, and education policies have any impact on the teachers’ culture teaching practices, the interviewed teachers reported that opportunities for their culture teaching in EFL classes were restricted due to the constraints from these sources. The curriculum has a lack of emphasis on the importance of culture in language learning, the separated status, construct, and treatment of culture learning, and the construct of culture as knowledge about a particular culture.

Regarding the constraints of assessment, some teachers stated that students’ cultural knowledge was tested in culture courses rather than in language courses, and therefore, examinations tend to focus on testing students’ language skills, language use, and general knowledge rather than cultural competence in language courses. Because of this, it was believed that the native speaker standard of language proficiency was considered to be the main goal in language testing.

Regarding the constraints of education policy, no teachers were aware of any document that emphasized the importance of culture in language teaching and learning. It was believed that the Vietnamese education policy hardly focused on culture teaching and learning in language courses. The teachers were not concerned with any education policy on a large scale and the mechanism of the current education system caused an unfavourable impact on promoting a new component of culture in EFL classes:

Teachers want to introduce intercultural business communication to students but they have to be more concerned about students’ marks and the assessment within the whole system. This can limit their creativity and flexibility in culture teaching. (Interview T7)

In summary, the teachers’ perceptions and beliefs revealed a predictable priority for language over culture in language teaching. The teachers were also concerned about a wide range of constraints that restricted their opportunities for culture teaching in the classroom.

5 Teachers’ Culture Teaching Practices

5.1 Approaches to Teaching Cultures Used by the Participant Teachers

The teachers’ culture teaching practices can be mainly classified into: (a) teaching of culture as information; (b) teaching of cultural awareness, and (c) other ways of teaching.

Teaching of culture as information. The teaching of culture as information was the most frequent approach in the observed lessons. For example, facts about famous people in the target culture (e.g., John Lennon, Elvis Presley, William Shakespeare, Princess Diana) and in the learners’ home culture (e.g., Ho Chi Minh, Xuan Quynh, Thanh Phuong), or additional cultural knowledge about the target culture (e.g., Union Jack, Boxing Day) were provided in English speaking and General English lessons. In American Culture lessons, students learned facts about American people, languages in the US, and the US geography.

Teaching of cultural awareness. The teaching of cultural awareness was done through cultural comparisons in the lessons. For example, differences in working culture between Vietnam and America were discussed in a speaking lesson on workplaces. The classroom observation showed that the students were taught about cultural awareness; however, they tended to talk more about their own culture. Learners’ cultural awareness was also raised through the use of personal questions in a first business meeting between a Vietnamese and an American. The classroom observations demonstrated that the students were provided with cultural knowledge rather than opportunities to develop their own cultural awareness about the Vietnamese culture and the target language culture.

Other ways of culture teaching. Apart from the most common approaches of culture teaching mentioned above, some less common ways of culture teaching were also mentioned by the teachers in the interviews. These included localization, simulations, and role-plays. Some teachers used a teaching strategy called the rule of localization to make an unfamiliar topic familiar with the students. For example, English table manners (e.g., the placement of cutlery) were brought to a discussion on the use of chopsticks in the Vietnamese culture. This rule of localization facilitated the students’ culture learning about unfamiliar topics. Another way of culture teaching employed simulations or role-plays to engage learners in culture learning. For example, students played various roles in a multinational company where employees are supposed to have culturally diverse backgrounds. This indicates that it is important to engage students in intercultural, job-oriented situations so they can be ready for working in multicultural contexts. These approaches, to some extent, engage students in cultural practice rather than information or societal norms of the target cultures. Although the practices are basic, they reflect the participant teachers’ efforts to teach cultures beyond facts, information, and societal norms (Liddicoat & Scarnio, 2013; Tran et al., 2019; Nguyen, 2016). However, these approaches were used less frequently than the information approach. As such, culture in the participants’ practice is viewed as static rather than dynamic (Liddicoat et al., 2003).

5.2 Teachers’ Self-Evaluation of Culture Teaching Approaches

The interviewed teachers considered that the teaching of culture as information was the most appropriate approach. Some teachers said this culture teaching approach was easily applied, time-saving, and was the most efficient way to provide students with knowledge input. This culture teaching approach was also believed to be suitable for students at a low proficiency level. Other ways of culture teaching using techniques such as exploring cultural values and beliefs, sharing intercultural experiences, or engaging in intercultural workplaces were rarely employed by the interviewed teachers. It was argued that engaging students in intercultural workplaces required a lot of additional material and preparation time and that this form of culture teaching could be used for students at a higher proficiency level. It was also stated that this topic was more suitable with business students. Generally, the interviewed teachers believed that their culture teaching methodologies were efficient and appropriate.

In summary, the teaching of culture as information was the most frequent culture teaching practice of Vietnamese EFL teachers, followed by the teaching of cultural awareness. Other ways of culture teaching were much less frequent and tended to depend on each individual teacher’s teaching experience. The teachers believed that their culture teaching approaches were appropriate, which reflected their beliefs about culture in language teaching.

6 Discussion

6.1 Facts-Oriented Approach as a Dominant Culture Teaching Practice

The teaching of culture as information in the present study was the most frequent approach to culture teaching in the Vietnamese EFL classes. These findings correspond with some previous studies. Sercu et al.’s (2005) survey shows that teachers passed on cultural knowledge rather than providing intercultural skills. Byram and Feng (2004) state that the facts-oriented approach to culture teaching is not entirely abandoned, particularly in language learning situations with limited exposure to otherness such as in the present study. They argue that many critics take this facts-oriented approach to culture as inappropriate as it ignores the fact that culture is ‘a social construct, a product of self and other perceptions’ (Kramsch, 1993, p. 205). Byram and Feng (2004) also state that this facts-oriented approach may well lead to the teaching of stereotypes. The teaching of culture as information is contrary to one of the principles of intercultural language teaching, which considers language acquisition as involving much more than the acquisition of only facts/knowledge (Liddicoat et al., 2003). Teachers should move beyond the teaching of cultural facts and engage students in an exploratory and reflective culture learning (Newton & Shearn, 2010). From the perspective of culture teaching for students’ employability, an emphasis on factual knowledge and information as in the findings of this study is inadequate for multicultural working environments, which require employees to demonstrate three levels of intercultural competence, including knowledge, perception, and behaviour (Sercu et al., 2005).

The classroom observations indicated that the main role that the teachers played in relation to culture teaching was to provide cultural information. As a result, the students were not given opportunities to take the initiative in culture learning. This approach to culture teaching reflects the Vietnamese influence of Confucianism under which the teachers still act as the expert knower of the target language in the role of providing knowledge and making learning occur rather than engaging the students in a learner-centred approach in which the students actively construct their own cultural knowledge through cultural explorations. This innovative approach to culture teaching is deemed a platform for students to engage in a variety of roles and a diversity of intercultural experiences as required for their future jobs. Compared to other institutions as reported in some studies (Nguyen et al., 2016; Nguyen, 2016, 2017b; Tran et al., 2019; Truong & Tran, 2014; Vu & Dinh, 2021) the university as research site in this study has, to some extent, not responded to the changes required for culture teaching. That is, teachers at some colleges and schools have introduced and incorporated intercultural components into their EFL teaching. Although reported as not as sophisticated as the approaches that focus on societal norms and practice, culture teaching and learning in those contexts have shown some initial changes. In contrast, the participant teachers in this study mainly used the information approach, which may be explained by many constraints. However, they also started to change as manifested in teachers’ and students’ involvement in intercultural roles and activities, which showed characteristics of the culture as practice approach (Baker, 2015; Kramsch, 1993; Liddicoat & Scarino, 2013). Such initial changes in their perceptions and practices show personal efforts rather than a systematic change for new approaches like societal norms or practice.

Given the Vietnamese context and also the understandable reasons, the students mainly learned cultural facts due to the lack of contact with speakers of the target language beyond the classroom (Liddicoat et al., 2003; Nguyen et al., 2016). As a result, they were more likely to experience limited language proficiency as a barrier to communication rather than the cultural barrier. This indicates that a lack of students’ awareness of cultural differences in intercultural encounters prevented them from developing intercultural competence. Opportunities to participate in genuine intercultural interactions, therefore, become crucial for students to develop their awareness of cultural differences and consequently intercultural competence (Baker, 2015; Mostafaei Alaei & Nosrati, 2018; Munezane, 2021; Truong & Tran, 2014; Vieluf & Göbel, 2019). Specifically, to enhance students’ employability, intercultural interactions simulated in the classroom should focus on multicultural working environment.

6.2 Constraints on Culture Teaching and Learning

The teachers mentioned a variety of constraints that may restrict culture teaching and learning. Amongst these constraints, the following ones need to be taken into consideration: (a) the students’ level of language proficiency, (b) native speaker standard of language proficiency as the goal; (c) little impact of culture on language learning; (d) students’ receptiveness to culture learning; and (e) the teacher’s expertise in the target language culture.

First, the teachers believed that the students’ level of language proficiency restricted opportunities for culture teaching. This belief assumes that students must attain a reasonable level of language proficiency before engaging in culture learning. This point of view violates a major principle of intercultural language teaching, which integrates language and culture from the beginning (Newton & Shearn, 2010). As Liddicoat et al. (2003) argue, ‘culture is taught from the beginning of language learning and is not delayed until learners have acquired some of the language’ (p. 24). Kramsch (1993) also argues that culture ‘is always in the background, right from day one, ready to unsettle the good language learners when they expect it least, making evident the limitations of their hard-won communicative competence, challenging their ability to make sense of the world around them’ (p. 1). This means that students should start learning the target language culture at the time they start learning the target language so that they will be able to become both linguistically and interculturally competent.

Secondly, the students believed that there should be a primary focus on language over culture in language learning and that the native speaker standard of language proficiency should be considered as the goal of language learning. This belief violates a principle of intercultural language teaching which emphasizes intercultural communicative competence rather than native speaker competence (Baker, 2015; McConachy, 2018; Newton & Shearn, 2010). From this intercultural perspective, native speaker competence has been considered problematic in terms of its conceptualization (Alptekin, 2002; Baker, 2015; Kramsch, 1993) and its applicability as a model for language teachers and learners (Byram, 1997). Native speaker competence is seen as an unrealistic goal for most language learners as they have to ignore their own sociocultural identities and adopt a new one (Byram, 1997; Holliday, 2009; Kramsch, 2006).

Finally, the teachers noted that the lack of the teacher’s expertise in the target language culture and their intercultural experience could restrict culture teaching. This does not reflect an intercultural perspective. The role of the teacher as a cultural expert in the EFL classroom has been reconsidered from an intercultural perspective. Alptekin (2002) argues that the teacher should become a mediator or a ‘gatekeeper’ (p. 58) who gives priority to the development of new attitudes, skills, and critical cultural awareness in students. Kramsch (2004) also introduces the go-between concept that refers to the roles of the teacher as a mediator between languages, learners, and institutions. According to Kramsch, the teacher as a mediator acts in three different roles. The teacher, as a cultural go-between, understands language and culture as a social semiotic and is able to use the language like a native and a non-native speaker. The teacher, as a methodological go-between, mediates between what can be taught and assessed, and what must be taught, but cannot be tested. The teacher, as a professional go-between, mediates between institutional constraints and educational values.

Cultural capital that is partly formed and accumulated during the course of culture teaching prepares students for employability. In this study, the students’ cultural capital was narrowly confined to the knowledge of Anglophone cultures in relation to their own culture. In addition, culture was assumed to have little impact on language learning, so cultural aspects tended to be overlooked, not to say ignored. Instead, both teachers and students adhered to the belief that language competence was sufficient for students to join the workforce. To the teachers, not only was their intercultural expertise adequate but also they did not play three different roles as suggested by Kramsch (2004). As such, culture teaching played a minor role in enriching and diversifying students’ cultural capital and intercultural competence in preparation for employability. The constraints highlighted in this study should be seen as a rationale or motivation for innovations in culture teaching in a way that intercultural competence and cultural capital would make a contribution to students’ employability.

7 Conclusion and Recommendations

This chapter reports a research study exploring how culture teaching was perceived and practiced by teachers in a Vietnamese university. As analysed in the findings, the teachers were aware of the interdependent relationship between language and culture in EFL education. However, their perception was mainly confined to the importance of target cultures, i.e., cultures of English speaking countries. The underlying reason for such a simple perception was the native speaker model in EFL teaching, which posits that instruction needs to adhere to native speaker standards of language proficiency as well as target cultures. The approach to teaching as reported by the participants was fact-oriented rather than intercultural. In addition to providing insights into perception and practice, both groups pointed out a number of constraints on culture teaching in EFL education in their institution. It is apparent that culture teaching in this way is unlikely to develop students’ intercultural competence, which is inclusive of cognitive, affective, and behavioural aspects. In the words, the ‘cultural capital’ accumulated by students during their formal education is limited or only on the surface of culture. As such, there is no surprise that culture teaching as an integral part of EFL education fails to prepare students for employability and other purposes. Based on the findings, we have the following suggestions for transforming culture teaching in EFL education in Vietnam.

Firstly, the EFL curriculum at all levels needs to be revised and innovated in a way that is both congruent with global trends and appropriate for local contexts. In particular, cultural content should be diverse and inclusive rather than dependent on Anglophone cultures. That is, learners are provided with opportunity as well as encouraged to engage with various cultures in relation to their own one. In addition, the cultural content must be expanded to a wide range of issues pertinent to critical thinking and intercultural competence inherent in knowledge, skills, and behaviours rather than simply fact-oriented knowledge.

Secondly, the approaches to culture teaching in general and instructional practices in particular should be intercultural rather than traditional. It is necessary that learners be exposed to various practices of teaching and learning cultures in EFL classes. In order to achieve this objective, teachers must change their perception and practice, followed by a corresponding transformation from students. More specifically, EFL teachers in both initial preparation and continuous professional programs have to be educated to teach culture in accordance with intercultural approaches. Specific guidelines of classroom practices need to be provided for them so that they would have a practical foundation to draw on. For students, teachers have to involve them in a wide range of intercultural practices within and beyond the classroom boundary.

Last but not least, culture teaching should aim at developing intercultural competence and ‘cultural capital’ for students so that they would be well prepared for entering the workforce at both domestic and global levels. More specifically, an emphasis should be placed on communicative, intercultural, professional knowledge, skills, and behaviours. For example, classroom activities in culture teaching may simulate an intercultural workplace whereby students are exposed to a shared multicultural working culture.