Pica, T.  (1994).  Questions from the language classroom:  Research perspectives.  TESOL Quarterly, 28.  pp.49-79.

8. How necessary to learning another language is the learner's cultural integration?
 

• Research findings indicate a lack of proficiency can be found both in learners who are culturally integrated and those who are not.

 
• A study by Meisel, et al (1981) showed that while word order followed a set path of acquisition, inflections and functors could be correlated with aspects of adjustment to the L2 culture.

 
• What is meant by culture and acculturation varies between learners:  some want to learn a language for some instrumental purpose, some to integrate into the society, others because of the prestige associated with the language, while still others are affected by their friends, peers or members of their own ethnic group.

 
• Attitudes toward learning a language in an academic setting also vary between learners.

 
• Determining the role of culture in language learning "will require an understanding of the intricate and often elusive connections between both the L2 culture and those cultural values that students bring to their learning experience."

 

References
Meisel, J., Clahsen, H., & Pienemann, M.  (1981).  On determining developmental stages in natural second language acquisition.  Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 3(2), 109-135.

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