EFL CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC CHALLENGES IN HOLDING PROPER CONVERSATIONS

Abstract

This present study aims at identifying, describing and explaining the linguistic and cultural challenges that confront learners of English, especially at conversing with each other or with their teachers at Kasdi Merbah University. It is a study targeting Third Year License students of English. It is also an attempt to look first at classroom interaction in the module of Oral Expression or any lecture where the participants (teacher(s) and learners) hold conversations. In addition, we shall know what relationship there is between language and culture. The study also tackles the maxims of conversation and the violation of these maxims. With an exhaustive review of literature about language and culture in the first chapter, a fine platform is ready to discern the linguistic and cultural challenges in holding conversations after tackling conversation underpinnings in the second chapter. In the third chapter, we will look at the educational background of students in Ouargla. We will account for the English lessons they used to learn in their middle as well as secondary schools. In fourth chapter, we shall analyse the eleven conversations chosen from New Headway. The conversations are of different linguistic and cultural features that will reveal the ability of the students to converse properly. In the last chapter, we shall analyse the students’ questionnaire