Innovation in Language Learning

Both language teachers and applied linguists are becoming aware of the importance of addressing the culture of a community while teaching the language of its speakers (Hinkel, 1999).  In Algeria, in the case of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in middle and secondary schools, the four language skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking are the first concern of both teachers and educators. Teaching the foreign culture; however, is rarely taken into account when planning and designing curricula and textbooks for instance. One of the reasons behind this is that it is not yet clear how to teach culture, at what stage of learning the language it should be added and how to make young learners aware of the differences between their own culture and that of the target language. My research investigates the possibility of using educational technologies, specifically Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to raise cultural awareness amongst Algerian middle school learners of English. It aims first at checking the current situation of the target culture in textbooks of English at the level of middle schools; second, identifying the factors affecting the use of ICTs in teaching and learning EFL. Last and most importantly, it aims at finding out how ICTs could be used in teaching the target culture rather than restricting their use to develop the language skills only. I will be using qualitative methods in collecting my data, I will first conduct a textual analysis of the four middle school textbooks of English. Then, I will use questionnaires with Algerian EFL middle school teachers and interviews with inspectors of English, in Algeria as well. Based on the analysis and discussions of my data, I intend to formulate suggestions and recommendations concerning both future use of ICTs in EFL learning and the status of culture in the process of teaching and learning EFL in Algeria.