Integrating Local Culture into English Language Teaching: A Study on Students’ Language Competence and Cultural Understanding

Abstract

This study investigates the integration of local culture into English language teaching and its contribution to students’ language competence and cultural understanding. The study employed a qualitative approach with a case study design in a secondary school English as a Foreign Language context. Participants included English teachers, students, and a curriculum coordinator selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and document analysis, and were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings show that the integration of local traditions, folklore, traditional food, arts, historical places, community practices, and cultural values created more contextual and meaningful English learning experiences. Familiar cultural content activated students’ prior knowledge, facilitated idea generation, supported vocabulary development, improved sentence construction, and encouraged more confident speaking and writing. The findings also indicate that local culture strengthened students’ cultural understanding by enabling them to identify, interpret, and communicate the meanings and values embedded in their communities. Moreover, students developed greater awareness of their cultural identity while learning to compare local and other cultural perspectives. The study concludes that local culture functions as a pedagogical resource that simultaneously supports communicative language competence, cultural identity, and intercultural understanding in English language education