The Importance of Teaching English through Armenian Culture

Abstract

Culture and art have always been indispensable parts of language teaching. Cultural texts and various cultural topics have been included in language books and textbooks. However, textbook developers and English teachers give priority to teaching the culture of the target language rather than that of native learners.

In the current paper we would like to state that it is beneficial to teach English through local culture materials as they increase the cognitive, communicative and social understanding of the learners.

Having based on our teaching experience, we can claim that specific topics like Armenian music, dances, customs and traditions, Armenian artists and their art works, the cities and architecture, filming and theatre, holidays and festivals and other culture-related topics are of great interest to Armenian learners of English. These topics are, to some extent, familiar to them, so they enhance the learners’ English communicative skills. Moreover, the learners obtain a full comprehension of Armenian culture and develop certain skills to present it to others.