The Impact of Culture on Learning English as a Second Language.

The present research aims mainly to identify the impact of culture on learning English language as a second language at the university level. A second aim is to investigate whether understanding culture engages students to create vigorous relationships with foreign people or not. It also aims to determine if the direct meaning of some expressions without referring to the cultural significations is sufficient for understanding or not. It further aims at identifying if learners of the English language can be proficient in the background, laws, customs, and way of life of native speakers by integrating culture into their process of learning. The sample population is fifty students from different universities in Kurdistan and Iraq. They data were collected after giving a designed questionnaire including 10 statements to be answered regarding the students' opinions about the impact of culture on learning English. The current research paper has found that English language learners care about foreign language culture because it has a great impact on the process of learning English as they use it as a basic element for improving their language skills. It has also been found that understanding the relationship between culture and language helps learners to decide the exact meaning of vague expressions in different contexts and that it reduces the obstacles facing students during the process of communication with foreign language speakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]