“Redefining The Role of Culture in Language Education Programs in South East Europe” - subtitle "Shall We Consider Culture as the Fifth Skill in Language Education?"

“Redefining The Role of Culture in Language Education Programs in South East Europe” - subtitle "Shall We Consider Culture as the Fifth Skill in Language Education?"

POSHKA, Agim

In the field of language education there are 4 basic skills that are essential in the process of teaching and learning. These are: reading, writing, listening and speaking. In many teaching methodology publications, all these skills are integrated in one particular learning context. However, in the curriculum of the many newly formed countries in the Balkan Peninsula Macedonia although the reality is multicultural there is an element that shadows almost every learning/teaching material and that is the cultural aspect. What this study aimed to investigate and reflect upon is the importance and the need to treat culture as a fifth skill in order to widen the horizon of teaching foreign languages in the majority of the multicultural states in the South East Europe. Introducing these cultural contexts in educational curriculums might be interesting and thorny at the same time. The study reflects also on a number of studies conducted by United Nations local offices and a joint project of the South East European University and the University of Columbia conducted in 2012. Besides the literature review and the research work conducted in Macedonia this paper provided a list of some well known teaching techniques and practices that occurred to be successful in the western world educational practices.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2013

3576