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English classes in Korea have concentrated on grammar and translation from English into Korean not as a medium of communication but as a means of social success. Korean students have tended to develop better command of grammar and reading than that of communicative skills in English. The students' reticence should be personal traits peculiar to Korea. The knowledge of cultural backgrounds is an important part of communication since culture is inseparable from language. Therefore, this article describes the importance of cultures in the EFL classroom. Native teachers will entice the quiet classroom into a live one and improve students' communicative competence, but they often continue to remain monolingual and monocultural. Thus, team-teaching by a native teacher and a Korean teacher is regarded as an effective means of providing students with opportunities to improve their communicative competence as well as to understand English culture. Team-teaching can encourage teachers and students to interact with one anther and resolve the difficulties that students will face owing to different cultural backgrounds of the interlocutors. Two teachers can contribute greatly to students' communicative competence, since they complement each other. All in all, it seems that teachers should have a good understanding of both the mother and target cultures to succeed in EFL education. EFL education should be a cultural one. |
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