Vol. 6, Issue 11, Part B (2020)

In recent years, the role of culture in English Language Teaching (ELT) has been more valued. When considering its significance, it becomes imperative to incorporate cultural components into the curriculum. The present article aims to explore how cultural differences impact ESL classrooms. It begins with an introduction that defines culture and discusses its relevance to language learning. Later, it explores cultural elements in art, literature, film, music, etc. and the potential for incorporating them into language instruction. Integrating cultural aspects into language teaching poses challenges. This essay alerts language instructors and provides suggestions for overcoming these challenges. Then, the benefits of cultural immersion in language instruction are discussed. Exposing students to different cultural aspects and practises is a substantial way of developing students’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC). The learners can communicate effectively in multilingual and multicultural settings if given cultural awareness training. In a nutshell, this paper highlights the value of cultural elements in the English language classroom, hidden obstacles, strategies for overcoming them, and the proactive role of teachers in creating an inclusive learning environment for students from diverse cultural backgrounds.