social values behind the teaching of culture: pedagogical...
TRANSCRIPT
UNIVERSIDAD DE JAÉN
Centro de Estudios de Postgrado
Trabajo Fin de Máster
Trabajo Fin de Máster
Social Values behind the Teaching of Culture:
Pedagogical Dimension of the Communicative, Socio-Cultural and Intercultural
Competences in the Second Language Classroom
Alumno/a: Pérez Galaso, Daniel
Tutor/a: Prof. D. Mª de la Cinta Zunino Garrido
Dpto: Filología Inglesa
Octubre, 2015
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................4
KEY WORDS ..............................................................................................................................4
RESUMEN .................................................................................................................................5
PALABRAS CLAVE ......................................................................................................................5
1. INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................6
2. HYPOTHESIS .........................................................................................................................7
3. OBJECTIVES ...........................................................................................................................8
4. METODOLOGY ......................................................................................................................8
5. CULTURE AS AN INSEPARABLE UNIT OF SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING ...............................9
6. SOCIOLINGUISTICS: COMMUNICATIVE, SOCIO-CULTURAL AND INTERCULTURAL
COMPETENCES........................................................................................................................ 11
6.1. What does Sociolinguistics mean in terms of teaching culture in a second language? ... 11
6.2. Communicative Competence ........................................................................................ 12
6.3. Socio-cultural Competence ........................................................................................... 15
6.4. Intercultural Competence ............................................................................................. 19
7. IMPLEMENTATION OF CULTURAL CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING IN SECOND LANGUAGE
TEACHING ............................................................................................................................... 20
8. FINAL REMARKS .................................................................................................................. 22
9. DIDACTIC UNIT .................................................................................................................... 24
9. 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 24
Justification ............................................................................................................. 24
Temporal distribution and relationship to other didactic units ................................. 24
9.2. Background information & contextualisation ................................................................ 25
Characteristics of the group ..................................................................................... 25
9.3. Key competences ......................................................................................................... 26
9.4. Objectives .................................................................................................................... 28
9.5. Contents....................................................................................................................... 31
Linguistic awareness and reflection upon the language ............................................ 32
Socio-cultural aspects and intercultural awareness .................................................. 33
9.6. Transversality, Interdisciplinary and Cross-curricular Items ........................................... 33
9.7. Activities ...................................................................................................................... 34
9.8. Attention to Diversity and Complementary Activities.................................................... 36
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9.9. Evaluation .................................................................................................................... 43
Evaluation criteria.................................................................................................... 43
Assessment tools ..................................................................................................... 43
Marking criteria ....................................................................................................... 44
9.10. Materials and Resources............................................................................................. 45
Teacher’s bibliography: ............................................................................................ 46
10. CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................... 64
11. BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................. 65
11.1. Bibliography of the didactic unit ................................................................................. 67
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ABSTRACT
The present project is a study of the importance of socio-cultural factors in the
teaching-learning process of a second language culture. Particularly, it aims at raising
consciousness of systems of meaning ― beliefs, attitudes and values ― behind the
teaching of regular cultural topics and notions of a foreign country. In order to do that,
we have analysed some pedagogical approaches which consider that a foreign
language cannot be explained without an understanding of the socio-cultural context
reality of the different groups of people that use such language. In this sense, these
approaches suggest that second language learners must take into account that people
from different countries have a particular vision of their customs that can differ from
that of theirs.
As a starting point, we pay attention to the concept of ‘Sociolinguistics’ to introduce
the idea that the use of language varies according to the social environment of its
users, which affects the way they think and act. Research on this field of study resulted
in the approaches that we have referred before, and which are the communicative,
socio-cultural and intercultural competences. Applied linguists and language teachers
have increasingly followed them as they represent a new pedagogical trend in a world
where globalisation is constantly increasing and, as result, so does cultural diversity.
In this regard, our project includes a practical didactic unit which pretends to use the
communicative, socio-cultural and intercultural competences to transmit to the
students certain values that American and British people share and that influence on
how they perceive their culture. All this is under the still active legislative framework
regulated by the Organic Law 2/2006, 3 May, of Education.
KEY WORDS
Second language, Sociolinguistics, competence and performance, cultural diversity,
communicative competence, socio-cultural competence, intercultural competence,
socio-cultural consciousness, social values, social factors.
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RESUMEN
El presente proyecto es un estudio de la importancia de factores socioculturales en el
proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje de la cultura de una segunda lengua. En especial,
su objetivo consiste en crear conciencia sobre los sistemas de significado, como
creencias, actitudes y valores, que subyacen en la enseñanza de los temas y nociones
habituales sobre la cultura de un país extranjero. Para tal fin, hemos analizado algunos
planteamientos pedagógicos que consideran que una lengua extranjera no puede
explicarse sin entender la realidad del contexto sociocultural de los distintos grupos de
personas que la usan. En este sentido, dichos planteamientos sugieren la idea de que
los aprendices de una segunda lengua deben tener en cuenta que las personas que
viven en distintos países tienen una visión particular de sus costumbres que puede
diferir de la suya propia.
Como punto de partida, prestamos atención al concepto de ‘Sociolingüística’ para
introducir la idea de que una lengua puede variar en función del entorno social de sus
usuarios, lo cual afecta su forma de pensar y actuar. La investigación en este ámbito de
estudio provocó que aparecieran otros planteamientos pedagógicos, como a los que
hemos hecho referencia antes y que en este caso son: la competencia comunicativa, la
competencia sociocultural y la competencia intercultural. Cada vez más expertos en
Lingüística Aplicada y profesores de lengua están siguiendo estas competencias, ya que
representan una nueva tendencia pedagógica en un mundo cada vez más globalizado
y, por ende, con mayor diversidad cultural.
A este respecto, nuestro proyecto incluye una unidad didáctica que pretende utilizar
las competencias comunicativa, sociocultural e intercultural para transmitir a los
estudiantes ciertos valores que las personas de Estados Unidos y Reino Unido
comparten y que influyen en la manera que tienen de percibir su cultura.
PALABRAS CLAVE
Segunda lengua, Sociolingüística, competencia y función, diversidad cultural,
competencia comunicativa, competencia sociocultural, competencia intercultural,
conciencia sociocultural, valores sociales, factores sociales.
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1. INTRODUCTION
The study of the present Master’s Final Project deals with the importance of giving to
the students of a second language the gist of meaningful knowledge of other cultures.
In particular, it seeks to make the students be conscious of positive social values such
as tolerance and respect towards cultural diversity. As a practical example of this
theory, the project is fitted with a didactic unit which works on the following features:
iconic symbols ― national flags, anthems and relevant historic people ― of the United
States of America and Great Britain within a social and political context.
Although the learning of the typical “four Fs”; i.e., “foods, fairs, folklore, and statistical
facts” (Hinkel, 1999: 5), in a culture lesson is likewise appropriate, the latest trends in
language teaching have highly supported the idea that the students must understand
that the term ‘culture’ has a broader and deeper meaning. They state that teaching the
culture of a second language also implies the study of values and beliefs that
characterise the society of the countries in which that language is spoken. Those
aspects are developed in the field of Sociolinguistics.
In view of the fact that a language is the tool that people use to express what they feel,
it is fairly well understood that so much research has been done on how influential a
society can be regarding language usage. That is what Sociolinguistics is about: to
analyse the purpose for which people use the language. Derived from Sociolinguistics
is the concept of ‘communicative competence’, which is the core of other fundamental
approaches within our project: socio-cultural and intercultural competences.
Montes Granado (1996: 162) thinks that “*R+educing communicative competence to
the mere acquisition of skills is equal to being blind to the fact that learning a language
should involve the construction and comprehension of appropriate socio-cultural
meaning”. This statement comes from the original Chomsky’s distinction between
‘competence’ and ‘performance’. According to Ohno (2002: 25-26), Chomsky, on one
hand, described competence as the knowledge of the set of rules governing the
language. On the other hand, performance is the action of applying that knowledge to
the actual language use. The communicative competence focuses on the performance
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part, and its application in the Compulsory Secondary Education (CSE) curriculum has
already proven to make the students have a broader perspective of culture.
In the case of this project, the practice application proposed for all of the theory,
which has just been explained, intends to transmit the following free of prejudice
values: pride, sacrifice, love, respect and tolerance towards other countries, their
people and their customs. At the beginning of the introduction, it has also been
indicated that the context used to transmit such values are symbolic relevant icons of
the United States and Great Britain. Flags, anthems and historic people have been
chosen because of what they represent to both British and Americans. These people
feel extremely proud of their flags and anthems as they consider them symbols of fight
towards freedom, union and greatness. The same feelings are represented in historic
characters such as Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King, among others, who
preached the union of people of different ethnics under the same flag and anthem.
Chomsky’s competence part of language, or linguistic rules, are also covered by means
of working with the students the use of the Infinitive, Present Simple, Past Simple and
Present Perfect forms. In addition, linking words are checked so that the students can
create oral and written coherent and cohesive sentences. Altogether, this is a project
which seeks to study a contemporary teaching trend, taking into account the
objectives, competences and contents established in the current Spanish education
curriculum, especially in the one of CSE.
2. HYPOTHESIS
In the introductory section, it has been pointed out that this project deals with socio-
cultural awareness within the teaching of a second language in the CSE. Scholars, such
as Hinkel (1999), Kramsch (2012), Nostrand (1989)1 or Montes Granado (1996),
support the idea of instilling social context in the students’ minds. As a result of
expression and meaning co-evolving when people talk or write, they think that culture
and language co-evolve in the same way. This is done by fostering the communicative,
socio-cultural and intercultural competences among the students.
1 As cited in Kramsch (2012: 177).
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Therefore, the idea of this project is to demonstrate that the implementation of socio-
cultural awareness in the second language classroom will allow the students to value
other cultures in a less stereotyped way.
3. OBJECTIVES
The objective of the project is to demonstrate that the implementation of the
communicative, socio-cultural and intercultural competences in the second language
classroom of CSE serves to make the students acquire valuable social skills that will let
them be more responsible, caring and tolerant towards different cultures. To do so,
the project focuses on the following sections:
Explanation of culture as an inseparable unit of the language.
Importance of implement socio-cultural values in the second language
classroom of CSE.
Significance of communicative, intercultural and socio-cultural competences for
implementing socio-cultural values in the second language classroom of CSE.
Didactic projection of the socio-cultural awareness through a Didactic Unit
which deals with American and British iconic symbols.
4. METODOLOGY
The project follows a theoretical and practical methodology. In other words,
theoretical fundamentals have been, first, searched in order to, later, put them on
practice within a didactic unit made for the 4th year of CSE.
Within the theoretical part of the project ― besides some of the educational curricular
aspects regulated by the Organic Laws 2/2006 of 3 May (known as ‘LOE’ in Spanish)
and 8/2013 of December 9 (‘LOMCE’) ― for each field of study, ideas have been taken
from both renowned academic references, such as the Oxford (2010), Cambridge
(2015), Merriam-Webster (2015) Dictionaries, the Cervantes Virtual Institute, and
several professional authors.
For the part of the importance of teaching culture in the second language
classroom, focus was centered on the works from Risager (2006), Kramsch
(2012), Thanasoulas (2001) and Hinkel (1999).
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To introduce and explain the concept of Sociolinguistics, we have mainly
followed the works of Moreno Fernández (2009) and Hinkel (Ídem, ib.).
For doing the same with the concepts of communicative competence, socio-
cultural competence and intercultural competence, we have mainly followed
the works of Thanasoulas (2001), Kramsch (Íbidem), Celce-Murcia, Dörnyel
and Thurrell (1995), and J. Moeller and Nugent (2014).
In the following section, in which we develop the implementation of cultural
consciousness-raising among learners of second language, we have mainly
followed the works of Peck (1984), Hinkel (Íbidem), and Leveridge (2008).
As to conclude, for the Didactic Unit part, we have consulted the legislative
framework of the already cited Organic Law 2/2006 of 3 May. Hence, we have
developed a Didactic Unit taking into consideration the blocks presented in
the curriculum, as well as the following sections: An introduction with the
justification of the Didactic Unit and the temporal distribution of its sessions;
key competences; objectives; contents; activities (also complementary ones);
evaluation; attention to diversity; transversality, interdisciplinary and cross-
curricular items; and materials and resources.
As for the practical part, the didactic unit that has been made consists of six sessions of
approximately 50-55 minutes each2. They have activities in which the five skills
proposed by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2002:
219) are worked on. Such skills integrate the sociolinguistic competences that have
been mentioned before. In addition, apart from the social values, the students are
expected to develop some linguistic functional aspects mainly through these grammar
points: Past Simple, Present Perfect and linking words.
5. CULTURE AS AN INSEPARABLE UNIT OF SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING
Let us start by setting out the definition of ‘culture’. Some of the main English
monolingual dictionaries, such as the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2010:
370), the web version of the Cambridge Dictionary (2015) and the web version of
Merriam-Webster (2015), share the idea that a culture is defined by the customs,
2 With the exception of the sixth one, because in that session the students have to present their final
assignments and it could take longer than 60 minutes.
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beliefs and way of life that a group of people share. It should also be noted that
Merriam Webster (Ídem) adds “a way of thinking *…+”, which is interesting because a
language ― written, oral or with sings ― is used to embody our thoughts and feelings.
It is, therefore, right to think of a language as part of a culture.
Risager (2006: 166) notes that “*O]ver time, first-language users have developed
lexicalisations that have made possible precise references to elements in the contexts
in which the language was used”. Along these lines, Kramsch (2012: 47) cites a French
linguist called Charaudeau (1983), who gives an interesting analysis of the role of
culture within a language:
*…+ shows how every speech act, rather than being the production of a message by
one sender to one receptor (the way most language learners imagine communication
to be), is in fact a dialectic encounter between four participants: an addresser, an
addressee, a communicator and an interpreter.
Therefore, every message, apart from being a set of articulated vowel and consonant
sounds, is also the meaning that the speaker gives to those sounds. This is the reason
why learning a language and its different variations also implies learning the culture of
the countries where it is spoken. While learning English, for instance, one can focus on
the British variation; however, when that person comes to the United States of
America, he or she cannot expect Americans to use the same type of English. Risager
(Ídem, ib.: 167) indicates, regarding this issue, that “it is important to underline that
there is no determining relation between linguistic practice in a particular language
and its potential to refer to specific cultural and social conditions”.
Despite what has just been stated, Thanasoulas (2001: para. 9) reports that the
teaching of culture used to ― and somehow still happens ― be limited to the study of
facts rather than meanings. This teaching inclination is linked to the so-called
‘grammar-translation method’, in which language is reduced to grammar. It was the
arrival of the ‘cognitive theory’, first, and the ‘communicative language teaching’, later,
what changed the vision of what ‘real culture’ means. Thanasoulas (Ídem, ib.: para. 10)
also makes a difference between ‘Cuture with a Capital C’ and ‘culture with a small c’
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to distinguish the mere teaching of facts ― Capital C’ ― from behavioral and valuable
patterns (small c).
At this point, to recapitulate, it seems clearly acceptable that a language has its
particular culture, which varies depending on the social context. It is important to give
credits to the scholars that have made possible the evolution of culture perspective
within the teaching of a second language. It is thanks to their research that students
can nowadays deal better with the shock between academic and social cultures.
Fortunately, as Hinkel (1999: 2) points out, “applied linguists and language teachers
have become increasingly aware that a second or foreign language can rarely be
learned or taught without addressing the culture of the community in which it is used”.
6. SOCIOLINGUISTICS: COMMUNICATIVE, SOCIO-CULTURAL AND INTERCULTURAL
COMPETENCES
In the previous chapter, it has been briefly described how significant is the social
context in which a language is being used. Now a broader idea of how the social
context works will be explained in this chapter.
6.1. What does Sociolinguistics mean in terms of teaching culture in a second
language?
To start with a definition of the term ‘sociolinguistics’, Moreno Fernandez (2009: 22)
defines it as the variation of the language due to social factors. In this regard, Coseriu
(1981)3 determines that the variation of the language is due to geographical, social
grouping and situational factors. Such a description implies that the social context,
whether it refers to geographical location, age, ethnic or social rank, has a real effect
on how we use the language. In addition, in words of Hinkel (Íbidem, ib.: 3), it has to
do with “*…+ the way of life of a [sic] people, the social constructs that evolve within a
group, the ways of thinking, feeling, believing, and behaving that are imparted to
members of a group in the socialization process”.
From this point of view, it can be argued that the study of Sociolinguistics can make it
possible to enable the students be aware of different social realities behind groups of
3 As cited in Moreno Fernández (2009: 96).
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people that share a same language. This means that they can learn the way different
people, and therefore cultures, perceive the world around them. In short, it affects
“*…+ their learning, understanding, production, and interaction in a second language
and a second culture” (Íbidem: 2). As Stewart (1972: 16)4 explains rightly:
The typical person has a strong sense of what the world is really like, so that it is with
surprise that he discovers that ‘reality’ is built up out of certain assumptions
commonly shared among members of the same culture. Cultural assumptions may be
defined as abstract, organised, and general concepts which pervade a person’s outlook
and behavior.
6.2. Communicative Competence
The communicative competence is one of the key concepts within the study of second
language acquisition. This is how the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2010: 301)
defines ‘communicative competence’: “A person’s ability to communicative
information and ideas in a foreign language”. The Cervantes Virtual Institute (n.d.:
para. 1) also indicates that this ability implies behaving responsibly and efficiently.
Hymes (1971: para. 2, own translation)5 sums it as it follows: “Communicative
Competence relates to know how to use language in specific contexts, taking into
account the topic, the addresser and the addressee of the message”. Cenoz Iragui
(2004: 449, own translation) completes the definition indicating that it is a concept
which tries to answer the following questions:
What does acquiring a language consist of?
What knowledge, capacities and skills are necessary to speak a language?
What is the goal of teaching languages (native and second ones)?
These questions look for answers that involve the matter that we are constantly
addressing: the social context. The three questions have a connotation linked to the
idea of developing socio-cultural meanings. The knowledge of conventions, customs,
beliefs and feelings behind cultural topics such as flags, geography, sport, food or
4 As cited in Hinkel (1999: 5).
5 As cited in the Dictionary of SFL key concepts (Cervantes Virtual Institute, n.d.: para. 2).
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cultural diversity ― among many others ― is seen as an integral and inseparable part
of foreign language learning.
Although scholars, such as Kramsch (2012: 34), consider that foreign language
pedagogy has been increasingly aware of the need to teach language in context, they
also think that it is not always clear what teachers mean when they purport to teach
language ‘in its social context’. According to Thanasoulas (2001: 2)6 “*…+ what most
teachers and students seem to lose sight of is the fact that ‘knowledge of the
grammatical system of a language [grammatical competence] has to be complemented
by understanding (sic) of culture-specific meanings [communicative or rather cultural
competence+’”. However, due to the continued research on implementing the
communicative competence in the teaching curriculum, it seems that we are little by
little blazing the trail.
A good example of the engagement for transmitting the communicative competence
has been the establishment of the last two educational laws in Spain: The Organic Laws
2/2006 of 3 May (known as ‘LOE’ in Spanish) and 8/2013 of 9 December (Known as
‘LOMCE’ in Spanish). These two laws refer to some interesting points with regards to
cultural and social abilities. The following are some examples taken over some sections
of the LOE:
In Article 1 of Chapter I, within the Preliminary Point (2006: 17165, own
translation): “Principle for the effective exercise of citizenship and active
participation in economic, social and cultural life through both a critical
and responsible attitude and the ability to adapt to the changing
situations that are common in a knowledge-based society”.
In Article 16, within the general principles of the Primary Education stage
(2006: 17168, own translation): “The purpose of Primary Education is to
offer to all the boys and girls an education which enable them to develop
*…+ basic cultural abilities *…+, as well as social abilities”.
In Article 17, within the objectives of the Primary Education stage (2006:
17168, own translation): One of the objectives is “*…+ to know,
6 Thanasoulas makes reference to Byram, Morgan et al. (1994: 4).
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understand and respect different cultures and the people that follow
them”.
In Article 23, within Chapter III (2006: 17169, own translation): Another
objective is to “*….+ value and respect the basic aspects of culture, its
history, its artistic and cultural heritage and the people who follow such
culture”.
Some more examples, this time from LOMCE’s Royal Decree 1105/2014 of 26
December, are presented below:
In Article 10, within the General Principles in Chapter II (2014: 176, own
translation): “The purpose of Compulsory Secondary Education consists
of making the students acquire basic cultural elements, especially
regarding humanistic, artistic, scientific, and technological aspects”.
In Article 11, within Chapter II (2014: 177, own translation): The
students are expected “to know, value and respect basic cultural
aspects, as well as cultural history, heritage and people”.
In the chapter of teaching a second language, within the Annex I (core
subjects) (2014: 422, own translation):
In real communication contexts and situations, language is used to make
actions with different purposes. Therefore, the curriculum incorporates the
oriented approach based on that of the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages of the Council of Europe, which describes what the
students will be able to do with a second language in various real
communicative contexts. The effective use of foreign languages necessarily
leads to an open and positive vision of the relations with other people. This
vision is put into practice with attitudes of valuing and respect towards other
languages and cultures.
It should also be noted that within the key competences that the Order ECD/65/2015
of 21 January proposed for all of the stages of the Spanish education system, there are
three key competences which relate to the topic of communicative competence:
Competence in Linguistic Communication (2015: 6991, own translation):
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It is *…+ the result from communicative action within certain social practices, in which
one person acts along with other people *…+. This vision of the linguistic
communication competence is linked with certain social practices and it offers an
image of the person as a communicative agent who not only receives messages, but
also produces them with different purposes.
Social and civic competence (2015: 6988, own translation):
It implies *…+ the ability and capacity to use the knowledge and attitudes about
society. Fundamental elements of this competence include the development of
certain skills: the capacity of communicate in a constructive manner within different
social and cultural environments.
Cultural and artistic competence (2015: 7001, own translation):
This competence entails “to know, learn, respect and value ― with an open and
respectful attitude ― the different cultural and artistic manifestations. The students
will do so using such manifestations as a source of cultural enrichment and will also
consider them as part of the people’s rich cultural heritage. The knowledge of this
competence is necessary for applying thinking, perceptive and communicative skills.
It is a fact that the study of the communicative competence has an extensive coverage.
More in-depth knowledge about the concept made by the scholars has led to new
fields of investigation. To keep explaining the interaction between sociolinguistics and
culture, we will now focus on two of those new fields of investigation: The socio-
cultural competence and the intercultural competence.
6.3. Socio-cultural Competence
This competence, as it has been mentioned before, emerged from the communicative
competence. Therefore, the socio-cultural theoretical frame is based on that of the
communicative competence. The difference that Celce-Murcia, Dörnyel and Thurrell
(1995: 11) indicate between the two concepts is that the communicative competence
is composed of sub-competences ― including the socio-cultural competence itself ―,
so it deals with the interaction between sociolinguistics and culture in a much broader
and complex way than the socio-cultural competence does. Thus, while the
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communicative competence studies the variation of the linguistic grammar structures,
the meaning of the messages, the geographical and social characteristics, as well as
the degree of speaking and writing formality, the socio-cultural competence focuses
on the variation of the messages’ meaning taking into account social contextual
factors.
Celce-Murcia, Dörnyel and Thurrell (íbidem. id.: 23) detect four main elements within
the socio-cultural competence: the participants in the interaction and the
communicative situation; stylistic appropriateness factors (field-specific registers);
socio-cultural background knowledge of the target language community; and non-
verbal communicative factors. Concerning the participants in a communicative
interaction, it is important to know their country (also region and even neighborhood),
age, gender, office and social status.
The stylistic appropriateness factors have to do with the characteristics that have just
been mentioned. For example, nowadays, young people have developed a
communication mode that is used in the social networks (Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, etc.) and that defines their social context: the ‘hashtag’. It consists of a
word or group of words that are written together with the pound sign (#). The
following are some examples taken from the Twitter of a couple of classmates. They
have already given their consent:
Hashtags used in a picture in which a girl is on the beach (2015): “#preferia
#Nerja #vacaciones #summer #holidays #sunny. Those words indicate that this
person is on summer vacation and that she will soon go to a fair.
Hashtags used in a picture in which the boy is in the park (2015): #Santiago
#Galicia #familia #holidays. In this case, it can be assumed that this person is
also on holidays and that he is spending them in Santiago de Compostela with
his family.
This is a code that is generally dominated by young people, because they are the most
regular users of social networks. The social contextual factor that, therefore, is
highlighted here is the age of the language users. Another good example of a social
contextual factor is the location of the language users. There are nations like the
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United States of American and Great Britain where their citizens have a terrific sense
of patriotism and, thus, they love their national symbols. In Spain, on the other hand,
the social context regarding patriotism is quite different. A majority of Americans and
British respect and feel proud of their flags and national anthems because they
consider them as iconic symbols of effort, sacrifice freedom and union. Their historic
social context differs from the Spanish one because they have experimented different
social issues throughout history.
The example of the American and British iconic symbols can be also applied to socio-
cultural background knowledge of the target language community because, as Celce-
Murcia, Dörnyel and Thurrell (íbidem.: 24) point out, that type of knowledge involves
social and institutional structure, social conventions and rituals, major values, beliefs,
norms, taboo topics, historical background and literature and arts.
Finally, non-verbal communication factors, as it name suggests, have to do with the
use of body gestures and non vocal noises to transmit a message. Second language
acquisition students must be careful with these communication factors. The Spanish
private news agency EuropaPress (2015) has gathered 15 gestures with different
meanings depending on the country where they are used:
Thumbs up: In both Spain and English-speaking countries, it is used to
transmit a positive massage (‘ok’). However, in other cultures the
meaning is totally different. In countries such as Iran, Greece or Russia
it is used as an obscene insult.
EuropaPress (2015)
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To cross our fingers: In the majority of Western countries, it means
‘good luck’. In other countries, such as Vietnam, it refers to the female
genitals.
The ‘V sign’: It means ‘victory’ or ‘peace’ in some countries like the
United States, but it is an insult in Great Britain, New Zealand and
Ireland.
Being conscious of these aspects will definitely help the students to better interact
with people of other cultures. Still, Celce-Murcia, Dörnyel and Thurrell (Íbidem.: 25)
suggest that further implication is necessary to do so. As a possible remedy for this
issue, he cites Marsch (1990), who “*…+ proposes that teachers should conduct a
‘cultural needs analysis’ among the students using a questionnaire format to select the
relevant ‘cultural rules’ to be taught”. The following table, made by Celce-Murcia,
Dörnyel and Thurrell (Íbidem.: 24), could serve as a guideline:
6.3. Intercultural competence
19
6.4. Intercultural Competence
For an introduction to this competence, it is first of all appropriate to explain the term
‘globalisation’. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2010: 659) defines it as “the
fact that different cultures and economic systems around the world are becoming
connected and similar to each other because of the influence of large multinational
companies *…+”. It is true that many products from international companies are
internationally known, and that has made that globalization actually affects the way
people relate to each other.
In the preceding section, it has been explained that social networks have changed the
way young people use the language. The example which has been is the use of the so-
called hashtag, and one of the interesting things about it is that people have got used
to write many of them in English. Within the two examples that have been seen of my
classmates’ hashtags, words like ‘holidays’, ‘summer’ and ‘sunny’ were used. If we
check twitter, facebook or instagram profiles on the internet, many more hashtags
written in English will be seen. It is a trend that globalisation has unleashed. The
reason is that English language, in words of Páez Rodríguez (2013: 62, own translation)
“*…+ has become, par excellence, the international communicative code”. Graddol
(2000: 2, own translation) adds that “English is the main language used in books,
newspapers, air traffic, international business, academic seminars, science,
technology, sports, pop music and advertising”. Having stated that, it is clear that
globalisation has created an intercultural world.
Globalisation effects have caught the attention of educators. The intercultural
competence creates a possibility for the students to adequately deal with situations in
which they have to communicate to people of different cultures. There has been a
growing recognition for the need for an intercultural focus in language education.
“Moloney and Harbon (2010: 281)7 note that within the context of language
classrooms intercultural practice ‘asks students to think and act appropriately within a
growing knowledge of the culture within language”. But, how can teachers successfully
move students towards intercultural competence?
7 As cited in J. Moeller and Nugent (2014: 2).
20
There are currently two main approaches to prepare students to engage and
collaborate in this global society: the Social Skills Approach and the Holistic Approach.
Both approaches follow the methodology of the socio-cultural competence, which has
been examined in section 6.2., as they pretend to make the students be aware of the
different social constructs that can define a particular cultural group. However, these
approaches have a special point, which is that they seek to emphasise the affective
and emotional aspects that define a cultural group; i.e., to understand the feelings that
the social groups have towards their culture. Even though both approaches have
emerged from the socio-cultural competence, as it has just been indicated, the Holistic
Approach focuses more on sensibility and empathy with other cultures’ customs. The
Social Skills Approach, on the other hand, also highlights the linguistic variation of the
language when we want to get in touch with people from other cultures.
Recent research has developed a pedagogic process to implement the Social Skills and
Holistic approaches in the second language teaching classroom. It consists of three
phases (Cervantes Virtual Institute, n.d.: para. 4):
Monocultural level: Students get to know the foreign culture as they were
similar to their own culture.
Intercultural level: Students take an intermediate position between the
foreign culture and their own culture.
Cross-cultural level: Students finally understand that to learn a foreign
culture implies understand the social factors that identify it.
7. IMPLEMENTATION OF CULTURAL CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING IN SECOND
LANGUAGE TEACHING
The theoretical approach of Sociolinguistics and the communicative competence
provides the students with a set of linguistic and social resources and strategies so that
they can communicate and interact with different groups of people in also different
cultural contexts. Moreover, at the end of section 6.3., we have also taken into
account that there is a holistic approach, within the intercultural competence, that
stresses the idea of empathizing with other cultures’ customs. In this chapter, we
continue developing that last idea.
21
In the foreign language teaching section of the CSE curriculum (2006: 741-750, own
translation), among the contents proposed in the fourth block for all of the years of
CSE, the following aspects are identified:
Customs and everyday life shared characteristics of other countries and
cultures.
Knowledge of some historic and geographic features of the countries where
the foreign language which the students are learning is spoken.
Value of the personal enrichment provided by the relation with people from
different cultures.
In addition, the evaluation criteria for learning a foreign language at this stage (2006:
749, own translation) include the respect towards values and behavior of other
cultures, overcoming, thus, certain cultural stereotypes.
Therefore, the backwash from teaching using the native language cultural assumptions
must be examined before proceeding. As happens with language variation, beliefs and
feelings vary from culture to culture, as well. Regarding this fact, Leveridge (2008:
para. 7) states that “*…+ language teachers entering a different culture must respect
their cultural values”. He also cites a famous sociologist, Englebert (2004)8, who argues
that “*…+ to teach a foreign language is also to teach a foreign culture, and it is
important to be sensitive to the fact that our students, our colleges, our
administrators, and, if we live abroad, our neighbours, do not share all of our cultural
paradigms”.
What underlines the teaching of social cultural customs codes could be defined as the
‘human side of culture’. Peck (1984: para. 18) calls it ‘attitude’ and also ‘cultural
consciousness-raising’. He believes that attitude is another factor in language learning
that leads to cross-cultural understanding. In fact, he declares that there are studies
which “*…+ indicate that attitudinal factors are clear predictors of success in second
language learning” (Íbidem, ib: para. 19). The main reason for what we want to
emphasise its importance for the students of a second language is because they could
face a powerful culture shock when they visit other countries. Peck (Íbidem: para. 19)
8 As cited in Leveridge (2008, para. 7).
22
cites an article made by Helen Wilkes (1983) ― A Simple Device for Cultural
Consciousness Raising in the Teenaged Student of French ― in which she suggests that
from the very first day of school the foreign language teacher should require their
students to divide their notebooks into four sessions: Vocabulary, Exercises, Grammar,
and ‘A little of everything’. This last part is thought to also include symbols associated
with customs and traditions. This is a suitable method for letting the students raise
some consciousness about the cultural values that can transmit regular cultural
symbols ― flags, monuments, food or sports, for instance ― and what do they mean
to different groups of people.
Another linguist that uses the term attitude like Peck does is Geertz (1973)9. He defines
culture as a “historically transmitted semiotic network constructed by humans and
which allows them to develop, communicate and perpetuate their knowledge, beliefs
and attitudes about the world”. The transmitted semiotic network Geertz writes about
has to do with ‘conceptual thinking’. Hinkel (1999: 31) explains that conceptual
thinking is determined by concepts which “*…+ govern every facet of our daily activities
*…+”, and Lakoff and Johnson (1980: 3)10 add that “*…+ ‘structure what we perceive,
how we get around in the world, and how we relate to other people”. “Shore (1996:
47) *…+ contends that concepts have their origins in two primary sources, personal
mental models and cultural models”. With regards to social consciousness on cultural
valuing, from both cultural and personal models, the one that interest us are the
cultural models. The reason is that cultural models represent the conventionally
constructed and shared cognitive beliefs that a community of people has about their
traditions and customs. Their study would demonstrate the importance of applying
those models in the curriculum of a second language subject.
8. FINAL REMARKS
To conclude the theoretical part, it is appropriate to reiterate the importance to take
into consideration social factors of the societies in which the second language that we
are learning is used. We have seen examples which demonstrate that despite using the
same language, there are societies which do not share the same social conventions
9 As cited in Hinkel (1999: 30).
10 As cited in Hinkel (Íbidem: 31)
23
and rituals. Culture has often been considered as mere information conveyed by the
language and not as a feature of language itself. Fortunately, thanks to new trends like
the communicative competence, that perception has been changing to a reflection on
understanding real meanings behind cultural topics that have been stereotyped for a
considerable time. To make the students conscious of this fact can let them be able to
avoid future culture shocks for a better integration in other social communicates.
Evidently, the acquisition of grammar competence is necessary for second language
learners in order to communicate, but it always should be applied to the social
contexts that define the culture of the countries where it is used.
Teachers can achieve this goal through the implementation of the communicative
competence in their classrooms. In fact, it seems that efforts to carry this out are
under the way, as we can see within the objectives, key competences, contents,
pedagogic methods and evaluation criteria of the curriculum. To exemplify a possible
way to implement communicative competence and its cultural implications in a second
language lesson has been the goal of the Didactic Unit which we have developed in the
second part of this Master’s final project.
24
9. DIDACTIC UNIT
9. 1. Introduction
Justification
This is the first of a sequence of 5 didactic units which are dedicated to present to
the students several idiosyncratic cultural topics of the United State of America
and Great Britain. This set of didactic units has been developed to be part of the
English subject matter Scheme of Work for the 4rd year of Compulsory Secondary
Education (CSE). The central issues covered are American and British iconic
symbols; in this case, flags, anthems and significant historic people. The intention
is to present them to the students not only as mere formal academic contents, but
also as a way to raise consciousness about respect and tolerance to other cultures,
their people and their customs.
Along with the cultural aspect, this didactic unit seeks to mainly carry out the
following functions: to describe and explain images, ideas, feelings and emotions;
to know how to make and describe present and past actions with affirmative,
negative and interrogative sentences; to know how to connect ideas; to give
opinion and justification; and to take the initiative in interaction. In order to
develop these functions, the students will review the use of the Present Simple,
the Past Simple, and the Present Perfect, as well as some useful linking words.
These contents are present in all blocks of the curriculum, since “*…+ teaching and
learning a foreign language implies a continuous, integrated use of both
productive and receptive skills” (Ortiz Lobato, Angelini Doffo, Carrió Pastor, Martín
Martínez, and Snachís Caparrós, 2013: 15).
Temporal distribution and relationship to other didactic units
This didactic unit will be developed in 6 sessions of approximately 50 to 55
minutes each ― with the exception of the last session, which might last more than
60 minutes because of the duration of the final assignments ―, at the beginning
of the month of October; i.e., in the second month of the first term of the
academic year. It is the second unit that the students will work on, because it aims
to review and consolidate what the students have learned in the first didactic unit
25
of the Students’ Book. The basic contents of this unit have been already dealt with
in the previous grades of CSE. As mentioned before, it is the first of a set of
didactic units which are dedicated to compare cultural aspects of two big Anglo-
Saxon territories such as the United States of America and Great Britain. Below is a
table with the topics that the other four didactic units focus on:
“Being the second unit in our scheme of work, taught at the beginning of the
course, and of the second stage of CSE, the achievement of its objectives will
contribute positively to establish a basic cornerstone for communication in the
foreign language” (2013: 15).
9.2. Background information & contextualisation
The high school to which this didactic unit is addressed is a public secondary school
called IES Jándula. It is located in Andújar, within the province of Jaén, and placed in a
populated working class neighbourhood with a medium socioeconomic level.
The center consists of one main building with three floors containing typical classes,
two Information Technology classes and two laboratories: Physics, Chemistry and
Sciences, a specific class for Music, one auditorium and one gym.
There are 17 departments with 54 teachers in total; the English one is made up by 7
teachers, one of them being the head of the Department. English is a compulsory
subject for all the groups of Secondary Education and it is taught one hour a week.
As for the students, there are a number of 720 distributed in 180 from the stage of
Non-Compulsory Education and 540 from the stage of CSE.
Characteristics of the group
The target group of this Lesson Plan is composed by English as Foreign Language
students from the third year of Compulsory Secondary Education. This year, there
are around 25 students in each English class, aged 15-16 years old. All of them are
Second Didactic Unit Third Didactic Unit Fourth Didactic Unit Fifth Didactic Unit
Food and monuments
Festivities and sports Movies and theatre Literature and History
26
heterogeneous, because girls, boys (both Spanish and from other countries) are
mixed up in the same classes.
In this target group, out of the 25 students, there is one girl who shows a slight
hearing defect and who also will be taken into account during the development of
the activities. To do so, Non-significant Curriculum Adaptation will be applied.
9.3. Key competences
A competence is the ability to combine the knowledge, skills and attitudes acquired in
a way which is appropriate to use it in the different contexts developed in this didactic
unit. Our educative system establishes that there are eight competences that our
students must acquire to face their personal and working challenges; nevertheless, we
are going to focus on:
Competence in linguistic communication
This competence presupposes the use of language as a means of oral and
written communication and as a learning tool. It contributes to the
development of a constructive relationship with others and with the
environment; that is, what we want to promote by studying the different
cultural aspects presented in this unit.
To work this competence with the students is one of the main aims of the unit,
because to achieve a global comprehension of oral and written messages and
be able to produce them is in the core of the learning process of a foreign
language, according to the Andalusian Order for the CSE curriculum (2007: 48-
50).
In this Didactic Unit, the teacher boosts the students’ use of the communicative
competence by a variety of exercises in which they talk and write about present
and past ideas and actions. Moreover, for a better involvement by the students,
the teacher uses images videos and games as input.
27
Digital competence and information treatment competence
The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is integrated in all
of the sessions of this Unit as it serves to help the students to deal better with
the exercises. Besides this, during the Unit, the students will work with a blog,
created by the teacher, which will also contribute to provide them some digital
competence.
Social and civic competence
It implies being aware of the social reality of the world we live in. As the Decree
231/2007 (BOJA, 2007) ― which regulates the curriculum of CSE in Andalusia ―
states in some of it pages, it is indispensable to influence the students to
embrace supportive, tolerant and respectful attitudes towards other countries’
customs. The Decree also suggests that to try to teach this will overcome
cultural prejudices, giving the chance to get the students take advantage of
what other cultures can offer to them.
Cultural and artistic expression competence
The didactic unit offers information about some cultural topics of the United
States and Great Britain, and the students have to actively work on those
topics. In addition, as mentioned in the last competence, they will get
stimulated to respect those cultures. That is the reason why the students are
also engage in this competence.
Competence on learning to learn and competence on autonomy
The use of strategies, resources and techniques of intellectual work are
encouraged and required so that the students are aware of their own abilities
and knowledge. All of the activities proposed ― individual and cooperative
activities ― in this Didactic Unit foster the students to get an attitude of taking
risk by guessing, accepting their mistakes and thinking by their own. In addition,
at the end of the Unit, a reflection on the quality of the sessions and the way
they are develop will take place, so the students will use it to be aware of the
outcome of their learning process.
28
9.4. Objectives
Objectives are understood as the intentions that orient this lesson plan for reaching
the major educational aims. The objectives of the CSE in Andalusia are listed in the
Royal Decree 1631/2006, December 29 (BOE, 2007: 679) and in the Decree 231/2007,
July 31 (BOJA, 2007: 10):
General objectives of the stage (Royal Decree 1631/2006)
a) To assume their duties responsibly, get to know and exercise their
rights respecting the others; to practice tolerance, cooperation and
solidarity and to utilise the dialogue in order to consolidate human
rights as the key principles of a pluralistic and democratic society.
b) To get into the habit of working individually and cooperatively, of
showing effort and becoming responsible in one’s studies and to
recognize these as necessary variables to succeed in school tasks and as
a means of personal growth.
c) To assess and respect both the differences between sexes and the
principle of equal rights and opportunities between them. To reject any
kind of stereotyping that might imply man-woman discrimination.
d) To develop affective capacities within all possible spheres of their
personality and social relationships, together with attitudes completely
opposed to any kind of violence, prejudices and sexist stereotypes, and
favouring a peaceful resolution of conflicts.
e) To develop a number of basic skills when using different sources of
information in order to, with critical awareness, acquire new
knowledge. And also, to build up basic skills in order to use the new
technologies of information and communication.
f) To envisage scientific knowledge as an integrative one, structured in
distinct disciplines. Then to make use of scientific methods to identify
problems within the different fields of knowledge and experience.
i) To acquire a basic communicative competence in, at least, one foreign
language in order to understand and produce FL messages.
29
j) To get familiarized with and appraise the elements and basic traits of
both their natural, social, historical, cultural and artistic heritage and
also that of others.
General objectives of the stage (Decree 231/2007)
a) To develop skills in order to get into touch with other people and take
part in group activities showing tolerant and supportive attitudes, rid of
inhibitions and prejudices.
c) To analyse the mechanisms and values which govern contemporary
democratic societies, especially those ones related to the rights and
duties of citizens.
General objectives of the English subject: Foreign languages
1) To comprehend global and specific information from oral texts
intended for diverse communicative situations, adopting an
attitude of respect and cooperation.
2) To be able to produce oral texts and interact in the course of familiar
communicative events not only comprehensibly and adequately but
also with certain degree of autonomy.
3) To comprehend written texts previously adapted to students’
proficiency level, interests and needs with the idea of scanning and
skimming through them, appreciating their value as sources of
information, enjoyment and pleasure, and also personal growth.
4) To produce brief and simple written texts aimed at different purposes
and built upon distinct topics, making use of the appropriate cohesive
and coherent devices.
6) To develop learning-to-learn strategies; to be able to apply L1
knowledge and communicative skills when trying to learn a new
language. To reflect upon one’s own learning processes.
30
Didactic objectives
The following are the didactic objectives that are expected to be reached by
the students in this unit:
To recognise flags and anthems of the British countries, Great Britain
itself and the United States of America.
To know how to use the proper demonyms for the people of these
countries and, in a more outlined way, their geographic and
demographic data.
To learn about American and British iconic people who have to with
values such as freedom, pride, sacrifice, tolerance and respect.
To respect other countries’ national symbols, such as the American and
British flags and anthems, as well as their people.
To identify and properly use the Present Simple, the Past Simple and
the Present Perfect.
To understand and produce oral and written present and past
situations, actions or ideas focusing on the use of the verb tenses
mentioned above.
To use the proper linking words to connect ideas in a comprehensive
and cohesive way.
To work on the five skills proposed by the Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages (2002: 219) the for learning a
foreign language:
To transfer the structures and vocabulary learned to personal output.
31
9.5. Contents
Listening, Speaking & Interacting Reading & Writing
Speaking and interacting
Proposition of a guessing game to
talk about the flags of the United
States and the British countries.
Planning of oral contributions to
make a discussion and offer an
opinion about what the national
anthem can symbolize for a country
and its residents.
Interacting in groups among each
other by speaking as they were
British and American people of
different ethnics. Students will share
feelings of experiences that they
have lived in those countries.
Being able to pronounce correctly
while speaking in English.
Being able to pronounce correctly
the “-ed” ending in the preterit form
of the verbs.
Speaking and interacting among the
students along with the teacher
about one of the following cultural
topic: 1) General aspects that
characterise the United States and
Great Britain; 2) general description
of American and British flags; 3)
general description of the British and
Reading
Encouragement of the students
to participate using the Past
Simple, the Present Perfect and
linking words by reading
sentences that feature the United
States and Great Britain.
Reading of explanations to
understand the use of the Past
Simple and the Present Perfect.
Reading and comprehension of
the American and British
anthems.
Reading and comprehension of a
text about the origin of the
American anthem.
Reading about some statements
made by American and British
people.
Reading of the dictionary to look
up the meaning of some verbs.
Reading of web sources provided
by the teacher for doing the final
assignments.
Writing
Use of adjectives to describe
people and things from the
United States and Great Britain.
32
American anthems; 4) inter-ethnic
and multicultural aspects of the
United States and Great Britain; 5)
data about relevant historic British
and American people.
Listening and understanding
Listening and comprehensiveness of
some past actions made by
American and British people.
Respect of the classmates’ speaking
times, as well as those made by the
teacher.
Respect of the ideas given by the
classmates.
Listening of both the American and
British anthems.
Listening of a video of Martin Luther
King: “I have a dream”.
Listening of the classmates’
presentation about their final
assignments.
Writing of regular and irregular
verbs in their Infinitive, Present
Simple, Past Simple and Present
Perfect forms.
Writing and practice of the Past
Simple and Present Perfect forms
out of context and also within the
context of the cultural aspects
worked on this Unit.
Use of linking words within the
cultural context worked on this
Unit.
Use of the blackboard to write
verbs and the computer to write
the text of the final assignments.
Linguistic awareness and reflection upon the language
Functions Grammar
To create sentences with
coherence and cohesion.
To express opinions.
To talk and write about recent,
and not so recent, past actions.
Past Simple and Present Perfect.
Adjectives to denominate people
and things from the United States
and Great Britain.
Linking words.
33
To take the initiative speaking
and writing interaction.
Vocabulary Phonetics
Vocabulary from activities
about the American and British
flags.
Vocabulary from videos and
texts about the American and
British national anthems.
Vocabulary from one video and
some texts about relevant
historic American and British
people.
Vocabulary from the final
assignments.
Correct pronunciation of “-ed”
ending in regular verbs: /d/, /t/,
/id/.
Sentence rhythm.
Socio-cultural aspects and intercultural awareness
Appreciation of the use of the foreign language as a means to communicate
with people from different origins.
Identification of some remarkable cultural features about the United States
of America and Great Britain.
Respect towards other countries’ customs and languages.
9.6. Transversality, Interdisciplinary and Cross-curricular Items
This Unit is focused on cultural aspects of foreign countries, so great emphasis is place
on aspects related to coeducation, intercultural education, moral and civic education,
and education of peace. Additionally, the contents of the Unit have to do also with
subjects such as Spanish Language and Literature, History or Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT). Spanish Language and Literature because that the
students work on reading comprehension, oral and written expressions. Regarding
History, the students get to know some relevant American and British historic people.
As for ICT, the students handle tools like an online blog, web-based dictionaries and
parallel texts, as well as Microsoft PowerPoint. These are the transversality,
34
interdisciplinary and cross-curricular points that have been agreed to be developed
within the School’s Educational Project.
9.7. Activities
SESSIONS CONTENTS DEVELOPMENT
1ST Session (approx.
50 - 55 minutes).
Description of the American flag, as well as the
British ones.
Use the following adjectives in past sentences:
“English”, “American”, “British”, “Welsh”,
“Northern Ireland”, and “Scottish”.
Use of the Past Simple and the Present Perfect
forms.
Explanation of the difference between the use
of the Past Simple and the Present Perfect.
First presentation of George Washington and
Winston Churchill.
Homework: To find in the class blog what type
of linking words have been seen in this session.
35
2nd Session (approx.
50 - 55 minutes).
Correction of the linking words seen in session
1.
Warm up discussion about the term “national
anthem”.
Work with linking words, the Past Simple and
the Present Perfect in sentences related to a
video of the American anthem.
Capture of verbs within the video of British
anthem.
Writing and proper pronunciation of the
Preterit and the Present Perfect forms of the
verbs captured in the video of the British
anthem.
Homework: To go to the class blog and
download the correct version of the British
anthem translation so that the students can
bring it for the next session.
3rd Session (approx.
50 - 55 minutes).
Discussion of any query concerning the use of
the class blog and the translation of the British
anthem.
Game about verbs within the lyrics of part of
the American anthem.
Discussion of the subject matter of both
anthems.
Use of linking verbs in four statements made
by American and British people of different
ethnics.
Homework:
Check in the blog the linking words
used in session 3.
To indicate what the Present Perfect
verbs are in activity 3,
To fill the gaps, using the proper verb
forms, of a text which explains the
origin of the American anthem
(optional).
36
4th Session (approx.
50 - 55 minutes).
Correction of session 3 homework.
Role play: In groups, the students will speak as
they were the people of activity 3 (session 3).
Activity with verbs from a video of Martin
Luther King.
5th Session (approx.
50 - 55 minutes).
Return of the texts, already corrected,
explaining the origin of the American anthem.
Game: “The Dace of History”.
Explanation of the final assignments.
9.8. Attention to Diversity and Complementary Activities
Attention to diversity will be realised by means of reinforcement and consolidation
activities addressed at those students whose abilities and interests require a step
further into the contents of the Unit. Some proposals for complementary activities are:
Session 1
Reinforcement activities (for students who stay behind the average
level):
o Describe the colours of the flags using the colours of the box:
For example:
Blue red white green
This flag is blue and white.
This flag is ………… and ……………..
37
o Activity: Choose an adjective of the box and match it with the
correct person:
For example:
This flag is…………….., ………………..
and …………………….
This flag is ……………………,
…………….. and ……………….
This flag is ………………….,
……………….. and ……………….
He is American
English American British Welsh Northern Ireland Scottish
He is …………………
She is …………………
38
o This activity will be done in pairs. One couple will be “Team recent
action” and will use “has” and “have” in the sentences. The other
couple will be “Team not a recent action” and will use the Past
Simple of regular verbs in sentences. The verb form that has to be
used will be indicated, in brackets, at the end of each sentence.
“I *visit+ my American friend yesterday” (Past Simple).
“I *take+ a typical English taxi” (Present Perfect).
“He *go+ to an international party” (Past Simple).
“We *meet+ some British people today” (Present Perfect).
Supplementary activities (for faster students):
o Write three sentences using the adjectives of the box and which
contain, at least, two verbs in Past Simple and Present Perfect.
o Try to guess what the linking words which are used in activity 2.1.
are.
They are………………..
We are…………………………….
English American British Welsh Northern Ireland Scottish
39
Session 2
Reinforcement activities
o Look up in the dictionary the Spanish translation of the following linking
words: because, but, even though, eventually, while, besides, as, likewise,
while, as long as.
o Complete these sentences (to better understand the sentences, you have
the Spanish translation):
Beyoncé ha cantado el himno Americano.
Beyoncé has sung the (………………..) anthem.
La gente ha aplaudido al final de los dos himnos.
People have (……………..) *applaud+ at the end of both anthems.
Los ciudadanos estaban orgullosos de sus himnos.
Citizens (……………….) *to be+ proud of their anthems.
Supplementary activities
o Use the verbs and linking words of the table to make three sentences in
past tense. Then, in pairs, exchange those sentences with your classmate
and read them.
Verbs Linking word
To go
To go for a walk
To eat
To have
To watch
To make
To give
To talk
Because
Even though
For example
Eventually
But
And
While
However
Translate into Spanish the verbs that you find in the British anthem.
40
Session 3
Reinforcement activities
o Match the verbs taken from the British and American anthems with their
correct form:
o Change the present form of the following verbs into Past Simple and Present
Perfect:
“I love my English friends”.
“I am in Northern Ireland”.
“I appreciate how people accept and respect each other in this
country”.
Supplementary activity
o In pairs or groups, with one mobile phone, record a fictive dialogue
describing how you feel living in the US or in Great Britain.
Session 4
Reinforcement activity
o Underline the linking word(s) in each sentence (you have the Spanish
translation to help you):
En Estados Unidos conviven personas de distintas etnias y culturas. Por
lo tanto, es un país multicultural.
see watched hailed was has/have given wave has/have saved lived
Infinitive
(Present)
Past Simple
Present
Perfect
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“There are people of different ethnics and cultures who live in the
United States. Therefore, it is a multicultural country”.
Anna es de China y ama Inglaterra porque la gente la respeta.
“Anna is from China and she loves England because people respect her”
Aunque Martin Luther King vivió en una sociedad racista, luchó contra
todo tipo de racismo.
“Although Martin Luther King lived in a racist society, he fought against
all kind of racism”.
Supplementary activity
o Create an entry in the class blog as it was a magazine that deals
with tolerance to people of different ethnics.
Session 5
Reinforcement activity
o In pairs, each couple will play a hangman with the names of the
historic people seen in this session. One student will show to
his/her partner a picture of one of the people and he/she has to
guess the name.
42
Supplementary activity
Match the characteristic utterance with the correct historic person.
For example:
Apart from reinforcement and supplementary activities, Ortiz Lobato, Angelini Doffo,
Carrió Pastor, Martín Martínez, and Snachís Caparrós (2013: 24) state that:
for students having auditory, sight or motor problems, who have been medically
diagnosed as ‘Special Educational Needs’, significant curricular adaptations will be
designed, taking into account the appropriate curricular goals for the abilities and
circumstances of each student, in coordination with the Department of Orientation
and support teachers.
For students showing a less significant handicap, the teacher will propose non-
significant curricular adaptations. In the case of this Unit, it has been already
mentioned that there is a girl who shows a slight hearing defect. In order to help this
student, the teacher will raise his or her voice when the instructions are given in order
to get her engaged and involved in all the activities proposed. The teacher will also
take into account to get close to her during the class, so that they can communicate
more easily. In addition, as some of the activities are thought to be done in groups, the
students will learn to work cooperatively with her. Finally, in the listening activities
within the sessions, she will sit down as close as possible to the speakers so that she
can understand the audio properly.
Freedom of the United
States
Struggle and resistance for
Great Britain
Elisabeth I
Abraham Lincoln
George Washington
Martin Luther King
Winston Churchill
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9.9. Evaluation
Evaluation criteria
To understand general and specific information from the oral and written
texts proposed in this Unit.
To engage in whole class, grouping and pair brief discussions.
To look over the use of the Infinitive and Present Simple forms.
To properly identify and use the Past Simple and the Present Perfect forms.
To be able to use correctly the Past Simple and the Present Perfect within
the context of this Unit; i.e., with regards to the cultural topics which have
been addressed about the United States and Great Britain.
To identify and learn some of the main linking words in English.
To write and talk, in a controlled and guided way, with coherence and
cohesion using the grammar aspects worked on the Unit.
To respect turns to speak and the different ideas suggested by the
classmates and the teacher.
To use ICT resources, with the teacher’s help, as an additional tool to boost
the students’ interest on their use.
To identify the most relevant cultural aspects of the English language
speaking countries. In this case, especially attention is paid to iconic
symbols of the United States and Great Britain and the social values that
they connote.
Assessment tools
In order to carry out the assessment of the didactic unit, the teacher will take
into account:
Direct observation of the students’ class work and participation in the
process of teaching-learning.
Classroom notebook in which the teacher will note positive and
negative marks. It will be frequently reviewed.
Engagement while working on the different activities.
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Final assignments.
Students’ feedback through formal observation with a questionnaire
similar to the following example:
Marking criteria
Respectful classroom behavior: 20%
Class participation and engagement: 15%
Positive marks for extra engagement: 15%
Final assignments: 50%
Harmer (2004: 48)
Marking criteria
Respectful classroom behaviour
Class participation and engagement
Positive marks for extra engagement
Final assignments
45
9.10. Materials and Resources
General
A classroom provided with one board and one projector compatible
computer with access to the internet.
A projector and a screen to see what the projector shows.
Speakers for the listening activities.
Medium-sized bilingual dictionaries; e.g., Cambridge University Press,
Collins, etc.
The classroom blog.
o Graphic idea of the classroom blog:
o Summaries of all the grammar aspects which are seen in the Unit and
which can be found within the blog:
Past Simple and Present Perfect:
46
Linking words:
Dictionaries and parallel texts:
o Bilingual dictionaries:
WordReference (2015). http://www.wordreference.com/
Merriam-Webster: http://www.spanishcentral.com/
Reverso: http://dictionary.reverso.net/spanish-english/
o Parallel texts:
Linguee: http://www.linguee.es/
Proz : http://www.proz.com/search/
The Students’ Book (as this Unit complements the first Didactic Unit of the
Students’ Book).
Teacher’s bibliography:
BIOGRAPHY.COM (2015). People. Retrieved July 1, 2015, from: http://www.biography.com/people.
HARMER, Jeremy (2004) (3rd ed.). “Describing learners”. The Practice of English Language Teaching. London: Longman, 48.
MRANDILOPE (2013). Martin Luther King Jr: “I have a dream”. Retrieved June 20, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw1R_JBuHEQ.
ORTIZ LOBATO, Maniel, Mª Laura ANGELINI DOFFO, Mª Luisa CARRIÓ PASTOR, Cristina MARTÍN MARTÍNEZ, and Vicente SNACHÍS CAPARRÓS (2013). Cenoposiciones: Madrid.
RBS 6 NATIONS (2013). God save the Queen sung by the English team before England vs. Italy. Retrieved June 20, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cEa2KPtsxM.
THE AMERICAN NATIONAL PARK SERVICE (n.d.). Francis Scott Key. Retrieved June 29, 2015, from: http://www.nps.gov/fomc/learn/historyculture/francis-scott-key.htm.
47
THE NEW YORK TIMES (2013). Beyoncé sings the National Anthem at the 2013 Obama Inauguration. Retrieved June 20, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-DSFrGnQrk.
UKMATT89 (2007). British Anthem, God Save the Queen. Retrieved June 20, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN9EC3Gy6Nk.
WIEGERS, Wendy, Julie SCHAUL, Justine BRASKICH, Marita DECKER, and John SCHAUL (2005). The star Spangled Banner: The Story of our National Anthem. Retrieved from: https://www.google.es/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Wendy+Wiegers%2C+Julie+Schaul%2C+Justine+Braskich%2C+Marita+Decker+and+John+Schaul+(2005).
9.11. Schedule of sessions
1st session
Activity 1
1.1. (5 minutes): What do you think these pictures have in common?
The teacher starts the lesson by showing the students some pictures which have to do
with the flags of the United Kingdom and its different countries, as well as the flag of
the United States. Through these pictures, the teacher pretends to see whether the
students can recognise, distinguish, and eventually match each flag to its respective
country.
48
1.2. (5 minutes): How about if I write these names of English-speaking countries? Any
idea?
United States of America, United Kingdom, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern
Ireland.
This question is thought to be asked in the case that the students have not previously
guessed that the pictures represent the flags of the countries which have been already
mentioned above. The teacher, thus, uses the question as a clue to help the students
try to come up with the right answer.
Activity 2
2.1. (15 – 20 minutes): You will hear twice to some sentences related to the pictures of
activity 1. Please, write them down on your notebook. Each sentence has one gap that
you have to fill using the words which are in the box.
Lisa has just made some cookies with the colors of the (………………………) flag
because she celebrates the Independence Day.
Andrew is a huge fan of the England football national team. In fact, he painted
his face with the colours of the (…………………….) flag to watch the football game
yesterday.
I eventually decided to book two tickets for the concert of the
(………………………..) rock band The Rolling Stones.
To conclude the Springfield’s International Festival, groundskeeper Willie have
spoken to the students about some (…………………………) customs.
Even though his wife doesn’t like it, Archie has just bought a fancy hat with the
dragon of the (……………………) flag.
The study of the British flags has already affected me. For example, today, the
red hand of the traffic light has reminded me that of the (……………………............)
flag.
English American British Welsh Northern Ireland Scottish
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2.3. (15 minutes): Catch the “happy ball” and try to get the correct answer regarding
the verb’s tense. If you get it right, you will be rewarded.
In this activity, the teacher throws a little sponge ball to the students who first raise
the hand and then they will have to decide whether the verbs ― the ones from the
previous activity ― are in Past Simple or Present Perfect forms. After one student gets
right or fail the answer, he/she will pass the ball to another student and so on.
Every time one student gets the answer right, he/she receives one candy. On the one
hand, if the answer is incorrect, former and first president of the United States, George
Washington, will appear notifying the mistake. On the other hand, Sir Winston
Churchill will be the one who will appear with the explanation of the correct answer.
Apart from looking forward to letting the students learn some Anglo-Saxon history, the
teacher seeks to use these two historic people mainly because they represent some
social values that this didactic unit pretends to transmit to the students. In addition,
during the next sessions, the students will meet four more iconic historic characters
who also are a symbol of cultural values that American and British people share ―
such as tolerant, free from bias attitudes ― which are actually within the Decree
231/2007 that currently regulates the Compulsory Secondary Education in Andalusia.
The following is an example of how the students would see the corrections of the
verbs forms:
50
At this point, the teacher will clear up any doubts with regards to the difference in use
between both tenses.
To conclude the first session, the teacher will use the last 10 to 15 minutes, firstly, to
explain to the students that there is a blog he/she has made to share with the class.
There, the students will have brief summaries of all the grammar aspects which are
seen in this Didactic Unit. The blog will serve as an additional tool to better deal with
the different lessons.
Secondly, as homework, the first thing the teacher will demand the students to do in
the blog is to find the linking words in activity 2.1. Once they have found them, they
also have to define whether they are linking words for adding, comparing, contrasting,
etc. To do so, there will be a post in the blog with a brief summary of the main linking
words. Besides, the students will be quickly informed about the following session (2nd
session) in which they will have to bring the lyrics of the American and British anthems.
The students can find them in the blog. The final thing the teacher will ask the students
51
is to prepare for the next session an answer to four simple questions about the topic
“national anthems”, and which are in the class blog. It is not mandatory, but the
students who offer to answer them in the next class will have a positive mark for
participation, attitude and daily work, which is a part of the final grade of the Unit.
2nd session
Activity 1 (5 minutes)
Correction of the linking words in exercise 2.1. of session 1: The teacher will let the
students, one after another, read the sentences of exercise 2.1. using the correct
linking word. The students who offer to correct them will get a positive mark.
Activity 2 (15 minutes)
Warm up discussion to introduce session 2: In session 1, the teacher encouraged the
students to answer some questions about the topic “national anthems”. He/she also
pointed out that the students who participate would get a positive mark. The
questions proposed are based on those proposed by the website Breaking News
English (2014) in its Lesson Plan, which is called “National Anthem”. The teacher will
look forward to seeing if the students are able to argue using the linking words that
they already know.
What do you think of when you hear the term “national anthem”?
Have you ever listened to the British or the American national anthem?
Do you think that the national anthem is part of the country’s culture?
Are you proud when you hear your national anthem played?
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Activity 2 (20 minutes)
Watch the following two videos of the American and the British national anthems and
complete the subsequent sentences saying both the correct linking words and verb
tenses.
What other cultural icons has/have you (see) besides/as/but the anthems?
In Beyoncé’s video, there (to be) many proud Americans or/for/ as well as
American flags.
In Beyoncé’s video, the anthem have/has (sound) while/likewise/such as the
American flag (wave) in the US Capitol.
In the British anthem, people has/have (sing) finally/along with/because the
female singer.
At the beginning/ at the end/ as long as of both videos, British and Americans
have/has (applause) because/thus/however they (feel) very proud of their
nations.
Apart from reviewing the preterit and present perfect tenses, as well as some linking
words to make the sentences coherent, the intention here is to make the students be
aware of the patriotic value that American and British citizens share behind the
national anthems of the United Kingdom and the United States. Therefore, we pretend
that the students consider and estimate the effort and fight towards freedom that
these nations made without losing heart.
THE NEW YORK TIMES (2013). Beyoncé sings the
National Anthem at the 2013 Obama
Inauguration. Retrieved June 20, 2015, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-
DSFrGnQrk.
RBS 6 NATIONS (2013). God save the Queen
sung by the English team before England vs.
Italy. Retrieved June 20, 2015, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-
cEa2KPtsxM.
53
Activity 3
Activity 3.1 (less than 2 minutes): Now, you will listen to a longer version of the British
anthem.
Activity 3.2. (10 - 15 minutes): This time, while you listen again to the longer version
while watching to its lyrics, you will have to say “stop” every time you see a verb in the
video. After that, you will have to say the name of the verb, go to the blackboard and
write it along with its Preterit and Present Perfect tenses. The students who say and
write the verbs correctly will have a positive mark.
With this activity, the students will practice to identify common useful verbs and how
to write and pronounce them ― also their Past Simple and Present perfect forms ―
properly.
Before finishing the lesson, the teacher will explain to the students that they will have
to bring, for the next session, the translation of the part of the British anthem that
they have listened to. As there will be two versions of the British anthem translation
within the blog, the students will have to download the correct one. In order to help
the students to compare the two translations, some web-based parallel texts and
dictionaries will be added to the blog.
3rd session
At the beginning of the session, the teacher will ask the students whether they have
been able to download and bring to class the translation of the British anthem.
Furthermore, the teacher and the students will revise and clarify any doubt or problem
about the use of the class blog.
UKMATT89 (2007). British Anthem, God Save
the Queen. Retrieved June 20, 2015, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN9EC3
Gy6Nk.
54
Activity 1 (20 minutes)
For this activity, the students will play a short game. First, they have to divide into two
teams. One side of the class will be “team A” and the other side will be “Team B”.
While they listen again to the video of the American anthem and look to the lyrics,
Team A has to point out four present tense verbs and Team B four past simple ones.
Afterwards, the students, one after another, will go to the blackboard and write one
verb. Once all the ten verbs are written, the teacher then will show the students a slide
with the present tense verbs circled in blue and the past simple ones circled in red. The
team which gets more verbs right will be the winner and its members will have a
positive mark for participation, attitude and daily work.
Activity 2
Activity 2.1. (5 minutes) Chose the correct answer and explain why it is the correct
one. The American anthem makes reference to:
a) Abraham Lincoln, the 16th
President of the United States
b) the American kids
55
2.1. Read the following text about
Activity 2.2. (less than 2 minutes) Watch and listen again to the video of the British
anthem from the previous session. This time do it along with both its lyrics and its
translation in Spanish.
Activity 2.3. (less than 5 minutes) Now, try to complete the following sentence: The
British Anthem praises the figure of…
Activity 3. (15 minutes)
Use the appropriate linker from the box in each of the following statements. These
statements have been made by some British and American people of different ethnics.
d) an American war c) the American bourgeoisie
a) the British Queen b) the British literature c) the British war heroes
because in short for instance however
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Homework: first, the students will have to look up on the blog what kind of linking
words are those of activity 3. The students will also indicate what the present perfect
verbs are in that same activity. Finally, the teacher will give the students a sheet of
paper with a text of the origin of the American anthem. The students will be
encouraged to fill the gaps within the text in which they will decide whether they use
the past simple or the present perfect tense.
Alice (Indian descent): I love my English friends
(……..) they have always treated me very well.
Carlos (Spanish descent): I have been in Northern
Ireland for just 1 year, (………..), I feel like it has
been may more years. People here have been very
kind with me.
Arianna (African descent): I have spent a
wonderful July 4th day! (………), I enjoyed it a lot!
Aaron (Chinese descent): I like many things in the
United States. (……………………), I appreciate the
way people accept and respect each other.
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Text about the origin of the American anthem:
The Star-Splangled Banner
Every American citizen knows how to sing the American anthem, but very few
know its origins. Have you ever (……………..) *to think+ of its story? It has
(…………..) *to be+ really overlooked since Scott Key, a lawyer in the state of
Maryland, (……………..) *to write+ it. The context (……………..) *to take+ place in
1814, during the war between Great Britain and the United States with regards
to the Canadian colonies. The British king at that time, George III (……….) *to
want+ to conquer American Fort Mchenry because, as I have just (………) *to
read+, it (………….) *to be+ an important international seaport. Regarding this, I
have (………………..) *to find+ that Mister Key, one day, (…………………….) *to
experience] a heavy bombing in that fort. The next morning, Mister Key
(…………………..) *to wake up+ and he (……………………….) *to see+ that the
American flag (……………….) *to be+ untouched. Some sources have (………………..)
*to state+ that Mister Key then (…………………….) *to decide+ to write a poem
about that experience. Years later, the 28th president of the United States, Mr.
Woodrow Wilson, (………………) *to announce+ to make the poem the National
anthem. Scholars (……………………) *to conclude+ that Mr. Woodrow Wilson
(………………………..) *to see+ Mr. Key’s poem as a strong, patriotic vision of the
Nation.
(This text has been written based on these web sources: The American National
Park Service (n.d.); Wendy Wiegers, Julie Schaul, Justine Braskich, Marita
Decker and John Schaul (2005).
Session 4
Activity 1 (10 - 15 minutes)
It will be dedicated to correct the homework from session 3. The texts of the origin of
the American anthem will be turned in and the teacher will correct them at home.
He/she will give them back to the students in session 5.
58
Activity 2. (5 - 10 minutes)
In groups of 4, represent the role of the people of the activity 3.1. of session 3. In this
activity, each student of the group will be one person (Alice, Carlos, Arianna or Aaron)
and read to the rest of the group classmates what he or she says.
Activity 3. (25 - 30 minutes)
“I have a dream”: In pairs, watch and listen to the video of Martin Luther King’s famous
speech and say the word “stop” every time you watch either a past simple verb or a
present perfect one.
To encourage the students to participate in the activity, the teacher will give a positive
mark for participation, attitude and daily work to those who mention a verb. In
addition, the students who first find the translations of the verbs will also have the
chance to get a positive point. To do that, the teacher will give a dictionary to each pair
of students.
Before the lesson finishes, the teacher will tell the students that, for the next session,
they all will meet in the Information Technology class.
Session 5
As mentioned in session 4, this session will be developed in the Information
Technology class. The reason is that the students will start to work on the assignments
that they will make for the last session of the didactic unit.
To start the fifth session, the teacher will return to the students the texts of the origin
of the American anthem corrected. The students then will ask the teacher the doubts
MRANDILOPE (2013). Martin Luther King Jr: “I
have a dream”. Retrieved June 20, 2015, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw1R_JBuH
EQ.
59
they might have about the corrections. This part of the session will take up no longer
than 15 minutes.
Before starting to talk about the final assignments, the sessions’ block of activities will
finish with a game called “The dace of History”.
The dace of History (15 - 20 minutes)
Through all these past sessions, the students have learned some cultural values ―
primarily avoiding the typical stereotypes on cultural learning using the teaching of
respect to other national emblems, disapproving ethnic prejudices, as well as showing
the appraise feeling the people of those countries proudly share ― on American and
British political and social contexts. For that purpose, the teacher has presented to
them six relevant people who, somehow, have been involved with such values. Apart
from an interdisciplinary historical point of view, in this activity, the teacher pretends
to give a real gist of such values.
The activity itself consists of a game in which the class has to split into 5 groups of 5
students each. One group will roll the dace and depending on the number it gets, the
group will have to match one person with his or her correct piece of text, and so on.
60
Historic people’s pieces of texts:
Martin Luther King: “I was born in 1929. I spent my childhood in Atlanta
(USA). My father has fought against racism for many years. I studied
sociology at the University. The studies on human beings have influenced me
as I consider that we have to share tolerance and respect among all of us”
(http://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-king-jr-9365086#the-
southern-christian-leadership-conference).
Elizabeth II: “I was born in London (England). When I was a child, I did
dancing and singing. My family has always been very important in Great
Britain. Now, I still live in England, in a palace”.
George I: “I was born in 1660, in Germany. In that country I was a Prince.
Now I live in Great Britain and I have an empire. I have recently visited
America because it is part of my Empire. There I realised that Americans
would like to become an independent country”.
Winston Churchill: “I was born in 1874, in Woodstock (England). I have
worked as a historian and a journalist. Now, I am a well recognised politician.
I took a very important role in both the first and second World Wars. In the
second one, I helped the British army to weaken the Nazi army”.
Abraham Lincoln: “I was born in 1864, in Hardin County (USA). I decided not
to combat in the war between the Native Americans and the pilgrims. I have
always loved talking to all type of people. I am a politician, now, and I defend
that black people should be free”.
George Washington: “I was born in 1732, in Westmoreland (Virginia). I have
served as a general and commander-in-chief of the colonial armies during
the American Revolution and I later become the first president of the United
States”.
Picking up on the final assignments, the students, split in groups of five, will be
assigned with one topic that they will present on a PowerPoint. These are the topics:
1) General description of The United States and Great Britain: Geographical position;
number and name of states that compose the United States; number and name of the
61
countries that compose the Great Britain; the continents to where they belong to;
number of people living in both territories; how those people are called depending on
the country they live; languages that can be found spoken.
2) General description of the flag of the United States, as well as the British flags:
Physical description of the different flags; brief explanation of the story of the flags;
the importance that they generate for the people in their countries concerned.
3) General description of the British and the American national anthems: When were
they written? What are they about?; brief explanation of the origin of both anthems;
historical people involved in the anthems; the importance that they generate for
American and British people.
4) Inter-ethnic and multiculturalism tolerance and respect in the United States and in
Great Britain: An overview of how people of different ethnicities live together in those
territories and share a feeling of mutual respect, not only among them but also to the
country and its traditions. The students can name American or British people who have
fought against racist stereotypes.
5) Relevant historic British and American people: The students can work on the six
characters we have seen in the Didactic Unit. Do a brief biography; what type of
influence have they had for the history of Great Britain or the United States?
Rules for doing the assignments:
They must be in English
The letter font of the text in the PowerPoint must be clearly understandable.
Section headings and subheadings must be different from the body text.
Images, videos or both must be used.
Students must use, at least, five verbs using the past simple and the present
perfect tenses. This does not mean five verbs in one tense and another five in
the other tense. Students can use five verbs mixing both tenses.
Students must use, at least, five linking words.
62
The five members of the group are required to speak.
Presentations must be interactive; i.e., each group has to make the classmates
participate during their presentations.
The teacher has uploaded several web sources in the class blog. Students will
use them to collect information about their topics.
Groups will have 1 week to prepare the presentations.
Students can send emails to the teacher with any query while doing their
assignments.
Students can make appointments with the teacher to look through any query
while doing their assignments.
Presentations must no last longer than 15 minutes.
Once the presentations have finished, the students themselves and the teacher
will vote for the winner group. The prize will be 1 extra point in the final grade
of the Didactic Unit, as well as one diploma.
The teacher will give advice to the students in the IT class on how to use PowerPoint.
He/she will address any query about the web sources information or the PowerPoint
tool.
Session 6
Activity 1 (60 minutes)
The groups will present their assignments. The teacher will be able to have the
students’ final grades in no more than one week.
63
As a way to measure the students’ satisfaction of this didactic unit, the teacher will
upload on the class blog a short questionnaire based on this one proposed by Harmer
(2004: 48):
The feedback that it can provide will serve for future upgrades of the didactic unit. This
is how the class questionnaire would be like:
Have you found the didactic unit useful for your English language learning?
Have you liked the topics that you have seen about the American and British
culture?
What topics have you liked the most?
What topics have you liked the least?
Have you found the different activities appropriate to work on the topics
developed?
What activities have you liked the most?
What activities have you liked the least?
Do you prefer to work individually or to work along with other classmates?
Have you found your teacher useful when you have required his/her support?
Do you think 6 sessions are ok for working well on the aspects that we have
seen?
Would you have preferred to do an exam instead of doing the final
assignments?
From 0 to 10, please, chose your level of satisfaction with regards to this unit.
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10. CONCLUSION
Due to the effect of globalization, frontiers have opened and it has resulted in a rapidly
growing multicultural society. In the recent years, this issue has caught the attention of
researchers and education practitioners. They have determined that the students need
to acquire a skill that gets them to properly deal with different groups of people from
other countries and their customs. In order to do that, much work has emerged aiming
for promoting functional and pragmatic approaches within the second language
teaching process.
The major objective of this Master’s Final Project has been to analyse the main
examples of such functional and pragmatic approaches. Through the study of the
Communicative, Socio-cultural and Intercultural Competences, we have found that the
use of a language is influenced by some social factors, such as the age, race, gender,
social class, place of residence or education, that characterise the language users.
These factors are the basic pillars on which a community of people stands. In addition,
they also affect the way people normally act, so they influence their beliefs, attitudes,
habits and personal values. To let the students be aware of those social factors and,
hence, the social context of the language users, is essential for developing a
consciousness of respect, tolerance and solidarity towards other cultures.
In this regard, in the second part of our project we have made a Didactic Unit which
pretends to be an example that to learn culture is not just to learn a mere language
skill like reading, writing, listening and speaking, but also a knowledge which enables
us to understand the social reality of people from other countries. Thereby, through
topics ― flags, national anthems and historic relevant characters ― which are laid out
within the contents of the curriculum of CSE, we have sought to transmit certain
values, such as pride, sacrifice, love, respect and tolerance, which people from the
United State and Great Britain not only seem to share, but also appreciate. As they are
the main destinations for people who are learning English, we have considered that it
can be very important and useful for students of English to get that kind of knowledge.
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11. BIBLIOGRAPHY
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GRADDOL, David (2000): “Overview”. The Future of English? 2° ed. London: The British Council, 2-3.
HINKEL, Eli (1999). Culture in Second Language Teaching and Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
KRAMSCH (2012). Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Second Language Teaching”. In María Sandra Peña Cervel & Juana M. Liceras (Eds.) RESLA 11: 157-169.
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ORTIZ LOBATO, Manuel, Mª Laura ANGELINI DOFFO, Mª Luisa CARRIÓ PASTOR, Cristina MARTÍN
MARTÍNEZ, and Vicente SNACHÍS CAPARRÓS (2013). “Didactic Unit 2: I Saw it Happen”. Lengua Extranjera: Inglés. Madrid: CenOposiciones, 15-26.
PÁEZ RODRÍGUEZ, Alba (2013): «La (no) traducción como estrategia publicitaria: qué se cuela entre las grietas de la lengua con el (ab)uso de la lingua franca?», Estudios de Traducción 3, 57-70.
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