The Effect of Cultural Background Knowledge on EFL Learners Reading Ability Case Study: First Year LMD Students

Hiba, Bensalah; Noureddine, Guerroudj

مجلة الآداب واللغات
Volume 15, Numéro 1, Pages 199-212
2017-02-04

The Effect Of Cultural Background Knowledge On Efl Learners Reading Ability Case Study: First Year Lmd Students

Authors : Hiba Bensalah . Noureddine Guerroudj .

Abstract

Reading comprehension occupies a vital position as one of the skills in teaching and learning English as a foreign language. The ability of EFL learners in reading comprehension module requires interpretation of texts through making an accurate connection between the linguistic representation or meaning of words and sentences and their intended outcomes within a particular context. Thus, one of the burdens of English foreign language learners is to capture the intended meaning of any reading text easily. In this respect, EFL learners knowledge of form alone is insufficient; they also require a relative degree of background knowledge of a text to understand what is stated, and make the intended inferences. The fact of belonging to different cultures brings different systems of background knowledge to the comprehension process. As a result of such diversity of cultures, EFL learners tend to make incorrect assumptions when reading unfamiliar texts. In TEFL in general and the subject of reading comprehension in particular; it is crucial to find conducive ways to raise and improve EFL learners’ ability to understand texts related to native speakers (e.g British context). The present research aims at introducing the significance of cultural background knowledge, if there is any, and the fact of adopting such perspective in the process of reading comprehension.