English-Speaking Countries: A Sociocultural Framework for Language Learning
Topic 5
1. Geographic, Historic, and Cultural Framework of English-Speaking Countries
1.1. The United Kingdom
Geography
History
Culture
1.2. The United States
Geography
History
Culture
2. Didactic Application of the Most Significant Geographic, Historic, and Cultural Aspects
2.1. Sociocultural Aspects in the Curriculum
2.2. A Practical Application
Introduction: Learning a foreign language means developing both communicative skills and sociocultural knowledge. This enlarges the mind of our pupils, providing them with a more varied view of the world, where there is a place for a globalized world.
This topic studies these aspects because we as teachers have to include sociocultural aspects in our planning and in our classroom. This topic is linked to the following stage foreign language objective established in the Order of March 17th, 2015:
7) Value the foreign language as a way of communication between people of different cultures and show a positive attitude towards the cultural diversity.
1. Geographic, Historic, and Cultural Framework of English-Speaking Countries
1.1. The United Kingdom: The full name of this country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (GB). It includes four countries – England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. It is 245,000 km2 in size and has about 60 million inhabitants. Its capital is London. GB is a constitutional monarchy and the head of state is the Queen. The head of government is the Prime Minister, who works with a two-chamber Parliament for passing laws. Since 1973, GB has belonged to the European Union.
Geography
The two most important rivers are the Thames in London and the Severn in Bristol. Wales is a mountainous area, the highest point being called Snowdon with 1085 meters. Scotland has a mountainous area, called Highlands, and is the highest mountain in GB.
History
The primitive inhabitants of the British Isles were the Celts. Romans built a stone wall called Hadrian’s Wall, to separate the south from the Celts in the North. Due to many invasions, including Viking invasions, the Celts retreated to the northern regions.
Since the 1970s, the situation in Northern Ireland has become chaotic, with Catholics fighting to join the Republic of Ireland and Protestants fighting to remain part of GB. In 1997, with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a process of negotiations started, which led to the abandonment of terrorism.
Culture
During the last 100 years, there has been much immigration into Britain, for example, Jews, Poles, French, and people from the Commonwealth countries. All these aspects have enriched British society.
The most important holidays in GB are the following:
- Halloween (31st October)
- Valentine’s Day (14th February)
- Christmas Day (25th December) and Good Friday (Friday before Easter Sunday)
- In GB, there are special “Bank Holidays”. The August Bank Holiday is the most popular. The same comes from the fact that Banks were closed on specific days.
1.2. The United States
The United States of America (USA) is a federal republic, led by a President. The USA has two legislative chambers who pass laws. The capital is Washington and the population is around 300 million.
Geography
USA has a huge geography, ranging from the tropical island of Hawaii in the Pacific to Alaska inside the Arctic Circle. The highest peak of the country is in Alaska and it is called Mount McKinley with 6194 meters. The most important river is the Mississippi.
History
In 1776, independence was proclaimed and George Washington became the first President. With the exception of the Great Depression in the 1920s, the USA has enjoyed economic growth.
Barack Obama was the first Afro-American president elected in 2008. He was followed by the controversial election of Donald Trump in 2016.
Culture
America is a melting pot due to the mix of nationalities in the country. Although these groups keep their traditions and culture, they all learn English and have become adapted to the American way of life.
The most important holidays in the USA are the following:
- Independence Day (4th July): they celebrate the day of the independence from Britain.
- Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday in November): They give thanks for the first harvest of the Europeans landing in the USA centuries ago.
2. Didactic Application of the Most Significant Geographic, Historic, and Cultural Aspects
2.1. Sociocultural Aspects in the Curriculum
Teaching English is not just confined to learning a foreign language as a group of structures and grammatical elements. Other elements such as the geographical, historical, and cultural context should be introduced.
In addition, the Order of March 17th, 2015 lays down the specific goal for the first foreign language area, emphasizing the value of language as a tool of communication between people of different origins and cultures.
2.2. A Practical Application
In order to integrate culture, geography, and history, we as teachers should organize, for example, a cultural week in school to include all of these aspects. I am going to explain it better with the following example:
The aim of this cultural week is to show the importance of English, motivate pupils to learn, and show how teachers and parents can collaborate together.
I will describe the workshop about food as an example:
- My pupils will prepare wall charts with typical British and American dishes and their names.
- I will show a video about typical meals at Christmas, Easter, and so on.
- We will create a menu for the school’s dining room in English.
The objectives of this cultural week are:
- To increase the pupils’ interests in learning English
- To provide real situations
- To adopt a respectful attitude
- To develop a positive attitude
- To develop curiosity
There are also objectives for teachers:
- To encourage coordination between different teachers
- To plan activities outside the classroom
- To develop the collaboration of all teachers in working teams
Conclusion
We as teachers must be very sensitive, especially in promoting a positive attitude toward other cultures without losing our own identity. We need to promote values of tolerance and develop in our pupils an interest in knowing about other ways of life.
This topic is specially linked to one of the key competences (“Cultural awareness and expression”) established in the R.D 126/2014 and Decree 97/2015:
To sum up, we should keep in mind all these aspects and they must be present in our planning, giving priority to the pupil’s interests.