www.ccsenet.org/ass Asian Social Science Vol. 8, No. 6; May 2012 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 115 Culture-Integrated Teaching for the Enhancement of EFL Learner Tolerance Mohammad Abdollahi-Guilani 1 , Mohamad Subakir Mohd Yasin 1 , Tan Kim Hua 1 & Khadijeh Aghaei 1 1 School of Language Studies and Linguistics, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia Correspondence: Mohammad Abdollahi-Guilani (PhD), School of Language Studies and Linguistics, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia. Tel: 60-16-305-4193. E-mail: abdollahi20@gmail.com Received: December 23, 2011 Accepted: January 20, 2012 Published: May 1, 2012 doi:10.5539/ass.v8n6p115 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ass.v8n6p115 Abstract This paper discusses the significance of learning and teaching culture as an inseparable part of language and invites language teachers to integrate cultural points into the syllabus of language programs. A learner may have a good command of grammar and lexicon, but have difficulty in comprehending the message. Understanding why communication is possible for certain readers but not for others can partly lie in the cultural shades of the words and events. For some nationalities, gestures, names, numbers, and colors are suggestive of ill manners, while in others, they are welcome. This study justifies the importance of including culture in the language teaching programs because familiarity with the cultural features of the target language people can help the learners see the world with open eyes and modify their attitude toward other cultures. This can generally enhance their tolerance not only as a language learner but also as a human being. Keywords: awareness, cultural tolerance, gesture, language learning, social behavior, vocabulary, EFL learners 1. Introduction Language is developed differently in people’s minds and so it is manifested in different shapes. This lies in culture, geography, climate, and even the physiology of their bodies. Based on individuals’ experiences, language is interpreted differently and represented accordingly. Learning a new language means a lot more than the manipulation of syntax and lexicon. According to Bada (2000: 101), ‘the need for cultural literacy in English Language Teaching (ELT) arises mainly from the fact that most language learners, not exposed to cultural elements of the society in question, seem to encounter significant hardship in communicating meaning to native speakers.’ Without the study of culture, teaching the target language is incomplete. Language study seems senseless to the learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) if they know nothing about the people who speak the target language or the country in which the language is spoken. Local and national reservations sometimes prevent many learners from feeling the new language as deeply as they should. Learners should be exposed to other countries’ cultural perspectives so that their preventive obstacles can be softened to welcome the new language more cordially. Overcoming the restrictions of mono-cultural views and reaching the realm of an amalgamated cultural whole can be achieved by studying another culture. Knowledge of the codes of behavior of other people is important if a foreign language student is to communicate fully in the target language. Reviewing a broad range of cultural tips from different nationalities, this paper aims to demonstrate to foreign language teachers why and how they can incorporate the teaching of culture into their foreign language classrooms. This study addresses those countries whose foreign language centers are still monopolistically confined to one culture and it also tries to open up their narrow perspectives towards the foreign language cultures.