作者：宋湛文
　　【摘要】進行跨文化交际是学习第二语言的重要功能与目的之一。语言的学习与文化学习之间存在着联系。作者分别从不同角度探索了语言教学与文化教学之间的关系，对于语言教学中是否自动教授文化进行了探究，分别从否定、中立、肯定三个方面给予了回答，并最终得出文化学习自动存在于语言学习中的结论，强调了二语习得在跨文化交际中的作用。
　　【关键词】跨文化交际 语言教学 二语习得 文化学习
　　1. Introduction
　　Communication， especially intercultural communication， is one of the main functions and aims that learners acquire knowledge of a second language. Thus， it is crucial to study the relationship between language and culture as well as relationship between teaching culture and teaching language.
　　The relationship between culture and language is complicated. According to the recent researches， one of the common results is that language plays such an important role in culture that culture and language are inseparable （Jiang， 2000）. Language can be closely associated with culture. At the same time， there is another statement that “language is/can be culturally neutral”. On the contrary， there is a statement that their relationship can be seen to be separated （but not for long） （Risager， 2005）. Since the relationship between culture and language is so thorny， for L2 teaching and learning， it comes to a question which is “does teaching language automatically entail teaching culture？” From my point of view， the answer is “yes”. This essay aims to explore possible answers to this question and provide my supporting ideas to the answer “yes”. That is teaching language automatically entail teaching culture.
　　In general， the body of the essay will be divided into three parts：first of all， there will be an brief introduction to culture and language and their relationship；the second part will illustrate a variety of statements to the question：“Does teaching language automatically entail teaching culture？” from the recent researches；in the third part， after thinking critically， my positive answer to this question will be stated based on what I have explored. Finally，， there will be a conclusion of the essay.
　　2. Overview of Culture and Language
　　In general， it is quite difficult to define cultural and language and their relationship. Based on a variety of definitions of culture， Spencer-Oatey and Franklin （2009：15） summarizes a few characteristics of culture：1） culture has different kinds of regularities；2） culture is related to social groups （but the totally same cultural features do not exist in two individual groups）；3） human being’s behaviour is influenced by culture；4） culture is structured by people’s communication and interaction. In a narrow sense， the components of culture contain history， literature， ways of life， religion， political issues， manners and customs， work and leisure and so forth. Language is a tool communication. Language used as an instrument of intercultural interaction （communication） is one of the most important functions of teaching and learning a second/foreign language such as English as a Lingua Franca （ELF）.