Should language teaching programmes include information about cultural matters ?

As Michael Gove said “Learning a foreign language and the culture that goes with it , is one of the most useful things we can do to broaden the empathy and Imaginative sympathy and cultural Outlook of children” with that being said  , learning a new language has to be accompanied  a broad background about that culture . leaning about the new culture will allow you to compare it with your culture thus with your mother tongue . this would make language learning much easier . one of the most common reasons why some one would learn a certain language is the admiration and affection to that culture for example , my friend  really admires and loves Persian people that why he learnt that language and quickly . Japanese is a difficult langue because we are not familiar with its grammar and characters but thousands of people from various nationalities learn Japanese and Korean due to their rich culture and amazing cities .

 

Learning the target language culture would make it easier to understand its idioms and metaphors because sometimes they don’t even make any sense for starters . we had a Canadian instructor back when I was a senior in college . when that instructor talks about his daily life and their traditions , I see students listen with great attention and ask questions which is a proof that culture gives a great motivation to learn a language . Language is a major part of a culture of community  and studying the culture makes  one easily know the basics of the social meanings and how to use words and narratives  patterns of the  language being studied , But to study or learn it as a new language, it is not a necessity. To be honest English is taught as a foreign language by local people of non-English speaking countries who don’t have any  cultural background of the English speaking  .

 

people usually learn English for academic purposes such as reading documents , stories novels or to communicate with English speaking people from various countries , but sometimes one don't need any cultural background especially when studying pure scientific subjects , non-fiction books , such as math , chemistry and even physics .

 

knowing the target language culture would make a lot of traditions and daily habits make more sense when listening to two natives speaking  . to summarize , Learning the target culture depends on the purpose of teaching , whether if one is learning to study pure scientific non-fiction subjects or to live , communicate and blend with that society .