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THE IMPORTANCE OF ENGLISH IN AZERBAIJAN: TEACHING LANGUAGE THROUGH CULTURE

2023    Afsana KAZİMOVA

A language is a system of communication that consists of a set of sounds and written symbols that are used by the people of a particular country or region for talking or writing. Intercultural communicative competence is defined to be at the heart of foreign language education more than communicative competence nowadays. In the Soviet Union, the teaching of English as a foreign language was based on ‘grammar-translation’, also called ‘the classical method’. This method focused on learning grammar rules, memorizing vocabulary in isolation, translating from English, the foreign language, into learners’ first language (L1), and vice versa. After a while, intercultural communication started to be used when communication was not sufficient, as students needed to learn about the cultures of different countries. This study is expected to contribute to the discussions about cultural and intercultural analysis of ELT coursebooks used in middle schools in Azerbaijan.

In this study, content analysis will be used. After reading textbooks, all passages, exercises, stories will be analyzed. Then they will be analyzed and discussed. In the study, it was investigated which aspects of culture are presented in ELT textbooks and whether idioms and proverbs are taught through culture.