Title: The Generation and Integration of First Language Culture in Foreign Language Acquisition: Cultural Bridge and Deep Soil
Authors: Hongyan Zhang, Xiaoquan Pan
Volume: 10
Issue: 2
Pages: 20-26
Publication Date: 2026/02/28
Abstract:
This study critically examines the traditional pedagogical paradigm in foreign language acquisition that marginalizes the first language culture. It argues for the crucial generative role of first language culture as a cognitive substrate, value referent, and identity anchor. Drawing on Socio-Cultural Theory and Cognitive Linguistics perspectives, this study reveals that first language culture continuously participates in the internalization of target language knowledge through cognitive schema transfer, affective value filtration, and identity tension construction. Foreign language acquisition is fundamentally characterized by the dynamic synergy of first language culture and target language culture, manifested as bidirectional intercultural interaction. Learners undergo dialectical reconstruction of cultural concepts (progressing from superficial mapping to deep integration), multidimensional expansion of intercultural perspectives (shifting from a singular viewpoint to pluralistic horizons), and negotiated reconstruction of cultural identity. Consequently, the research proposes a paradigm shift in educational practice towards a culturally synergetic approach. By implementing comparative analysis methods, cross-cultural translanguaging training, and dual-focus task design, pedagogical interventions can transform first language culture into a constructive resource facilitating intercultural competence development, ultimately fostering learners' cultural integration capacity and intercultural literacy.