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for the sender or recipient; so this definition includes
both intentional and accidental behaviour as part of
the overall communication event; we send many
nonverbal messages without realizing that they are
meaningful to others. Non-verbal behaviour that
serves as a silent language, the concept of time, and
the use and arrangement of space.
The understanding of Japanese cultural time is
monochromic, while Indonesians’ is polychronic.
There are differences in talking, touching, distance,
as well as other habits that are connected with
communication. Based on literature studies that have
been conducted, it is necessary to do a research that
confirms that there is a strong relationship between
culture and foreign language learning.
Based on previous explanations that Indonesian
and Japanese have different cultures both verbally
and non-verbally, this study focuses on how the
relationship between the two variables toward the
knowledge of Japanese culture with the ability to
speak Japanese, whether they affect each other or
not.
2 THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND
CULTURE
Culture is not only inseparably related to language,
but also plays an important role throughout the
process of language teaching and learning
(Kumagai, 1994). The question is not whether or
not to teach culture, but, rather, what kind of
teaching can promote students' understanding of the
nature of the language, communication and human
relations. Tucker (1973) stated that the ability to
communicate fully in a second language depends on
the degree of non-ethnocentrism of the learner.
It is impossible to communicate in a language
without understanding the cultural connotations of
its use (Mahoney, 2007). Likewise, it is impossible
to understand a different culture without learning
how different ideas and ways of seeing the world are
expressed through its language. As ‘foreign
languages are not just a code version of English,’8
culture is not just another component to be tacked
onto the end of the code – it is embedded within it
(Liddicoat et al., 2003).
The importance of understanding "culture" in
which the target language is spoken for a foreign
language students has become clear. In a foreign
language classroom, when teachers talk about
incorporating culture into language teaching, it often
means simply introducing typical customs or
traditions of the given society.
Lado (1957) discussed the comparison of
languages and cultures for the purpose of identifying
and describing problems that second-language
learners will encounter. His fundamental assumption
is that individuals transfer forms and meanings, and
the distribution of these, from their native language
and culture to the foreign language and culture. As a
consequence, there occurs miscommunication
between people with different cultural and linguistic
backgrounds (Kumagai, 1994).
For example, in a Japanese language class, a
teacher may introduce some Japanese customs or
social rules such as when you receive a present, do
not open it in front of the giver but instead just put it
aside, or they eat raw fish, and so on. These are, of
course, part of Japanese culture, and may be useful
to know when visiting a Japanese home. Yet, it does
not explain the reasons or beliefs behind all these
social behaviours to which one must be introduced
in order to understand Japanese culture.
Another problem with teaching language from a
cultural perspective is that there is a clear dichotomy
between native and non-native speakers of the
language (Kumagai, 1994).
3 METHODS
3.1 Participants
Respondents in this study were taken purposively at
the Japanese Language Education Department at
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia Bandung,
Indonesia. Respondents were set in a group with
basic level competencies in the Japanese language
with a range of 17 to 19 years old. Respondents
came from undergraduate students who took the
subject of Nihon Bunka (Japanese Culture) academic
year 2017-2018 in a total of 40 respondents, 22
females, and 18 males. Nihon Bunka is a Japanese
cultural introduction course containing Japanese
culture in terms of season and food, festivals /
events, customs, customs, and religion.
3.2 Instrumentation
In this study, the data were collected using the
following instruments:
Discourse Completion Test (DCT): This test kit
is a written questionnaire that makes a brief
description of a particular situation that is intended
to describe the speech acting pattern being studied.
DCT is used to find information on the level of
CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017 - Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology
Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education
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