RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Dobson, Akemi YR 2001 T1 Teaching of culture within foreign language teaching and its relationship to nationalism JF Australian Review of Applied Linguistics VO 24 IS 1 SP 61 OP 73 DO https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.24.1.05dob PB John Benjamins SN 0155-0640, AB This paper argues that the teaching of culture in second/foreign language classrooms involves more than equipping learners with the knowledge and skills necessary to communicate with native speakers. In the past few decades, the emphasis in second/foreign language teaching has shifted from acquisition of linguistic forms to enhancing communicative competence. In that process the native speaker has been seen as a source of "correctness" in communication behaviour and the target culture, monolithic and homogeneous. Such practice enforces the current nationalism-dominated worldview and may contribute to boundary maintenance between nations as much as, or possibly more than, to cross-cultural understanding and tolerance. This argument is based on the recognition that second/foreign language classrooms act as a location where more than two nations intersect, contributing to formations of cultural identities: both Us and the Other. In the current world of ever-increasing globalisation, national identity, which is embedded in our language and discourse, is more vigorously formed than ever in order to maintain national boundaries. Therefore, it is necessary for the second/foreign language profession to address the implications of cultural contents beyond communication needs and to foster critical attitudes in language learners., UL https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/aral.24.1.05dob