UNIT 5 GEOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL BACKGROUND

OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES. DIDACTIC APPLICATION OF THE

MOST RELEVANT GEOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL
ASPECTS.
1. INTRODUCTION
2. ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
3. GEOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL BACKGROUND
OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES.
4. DIDACTIC APPLICATION OF THE MOST RELEVANT
GEOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ASPECTS.
5. CONCLUSION
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. INTRODUCTION
One of our most important features as society is our ability to
understand each other and the society in which we live thanks to
language. It is an essential and characteristic part of being human .
Learning about our own language provide us the knowledge of a new
culture and reality. At teaching a foreign language at schools, we
contribute to broaden our students’ mind because Michael Gove
(2013) said, “learning a foreign language, and the culture that goes
with it, is one of the most useful things we can do to broaden the
empathy and imaginative sympathy and cultural outlook of children.”
When in both the first concretion level of our educative legislation,
LOE 2/2006, modified by LOMCE in 2013 and the second level Decree
198/2014 is established as one of the Primary Education aims that “it
is compulsory for pupils at the end of the primary education to
achieve the communicative competence in at least one foreign
language, in which they can express and understand simple
messages and react to daily life situation”. As each language is
related to society and their geographical, historical and cultural
characteristics. Without at least a brief knowledge of these attributes
no one can be communicative competence in a language.

Indeed, as Rita M. Brown said “Language is the road map of a

culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are
going.” Knowing geographical, historical and cultural features of
English-speaking countries we can understand better the world in
which we live in.
Having said this, we are going to state some of most representative
aspects related to geography, history and culture of the most
relevant English-speaking countries worldwide.
Firstly, we mention what was the origin of the English language and
how was its expansion until the language we have already known.

2.GEOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL BACKGROUND OF

ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES.

2.1. THE UNITED KINGDOM

The United Kingdom or UK is political term which includes
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is a member of the
Commonwealth and the European Economic Community with a
population of 57 million and an area of 244 Km2. The capital city is
London and the currency are the pound sterling (=100 pence).
The country is a constitutional monarchy. The head of state is
the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II who is also the Head of the Church
of England and the Commander-in-chief of all the armed forced. But
the head of government is the Primer Minister (PM). The current PM
is Theresa May. The UK is governed by Parliament with two
Legislative houses: The House of Lords (unelected assembly) and the
House of Commons (an elected assembly).
A referendum was held on Thursday 23 June, to decide whether
UK should leave or remain in the European Union. Leave won by 52%
to 48%. Opinions are sharply divided over the long-term effects of
leaving the EU.
PHYSICAL ASPECTS.
The British Isles is the geographical name of a set of islands
situated in the northwest of the European continent. The main island,
Great Britain or Britain, is a long and narrow land where England,
Scotland and Wales lie. England has the biggest extension of the
three.
The North and West of Britain are mountainous and hilly. In
Scotland we can find the highest peak, Ben Nevis (1343m.). the main
British rivers are the Thames, The Severn, The Trent, the Wye and
the Tay.
 Much of the South and East is fairly flat and they have better
agricultural conditions. These always have been the most populated
part of the island and had the most political power.
Although London is the capital city it is also the capital of
England and each country has its own capital: Edinburgh is the
capital of Scotland, Cardiff the capital of Wales and Belfast the capital
of Northern Ireland. Each country is also divided into counties with its
own local authority.
Other important cities are: Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow,
Liverpool, Manchester and Bristol.

3.1. HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK

Britain’s history and its strong national sense have been
sharped by the fact that it is an island.
A) CELTICS (700BC)
This group of people came to Britain around the year 700BC.
They are the ancestors of many of the people in Highland
Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Cornwall. Today Celtic languages
are still spoken (Gaelic).
B) ROMANS (1ST CENTURY)
The Romans called the island Britannia and from the first
century until the fifth century AD they established a Roman-
British culture across the Southern half of Britain. They left
roads and important towns which where the basis of Roman
administration and civilization. One of these town was London,
and it became an important town for commerce.
C) The ANGLO- SAXON invasion (5th century)
In the fifth century AD, the Saxons began to raid Britain and
started to settle there. The invaders came from Germanic
tribes, The Saxons, the Angles and Jutes. They established
several kingdoms: Essex, Sussex, East Anglia, …
The Anglo-Saxon migration gave the larger part of Britain its
new name England, which means “the land of the Angles”. The
influence of Anglo-Saxon culture and language was very
important. Latin disappeared when these tribes invaded Britain.
D) THE VIKINGS (8TH CENTURY)
By the end of the eighth century. The Vikings started to raid
Britain. They came from Norway and Denmark. The Anglo-
Saxon kingdom could not keep them out, and soon the Vikings
conquered Britain and started to settle.
E) THE NORMANS (11TH CENTURY)
In 1066, William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, defeated
the Anglo-Saxon king Arnold in the battle of Hasting. William
marched to London, burning and destroying villages outside the
city. He was crowned William I, king of England in Westminster
Abbey.
In 1275 Eduard I created what later became the House of
Commons containing a mixture of gentry made up knights,
merchants and wealthy freemen. This institution influenced
Britain’s political and social development later on.
F) THE 18TH CENTURY (1485- 1603)
The Tudor century is often thought of as the most glorious
period in England history. Henry VII built the foundations of a
wealthy nation. He based royal power on good business sense.
He understood sooner than most that England’s future wealth
would depend on international trade.
Henry VIII had six wives and executed two of them, as well as
several of his ministers and leading churchmen. Two of them
was his Lord Chancellor, Thomas Moore and Thomas Cromwell.
In 1531, the king persuaded the bishops to make him Head of
the Church of England.
Elisabeth, I carried out the same foreign policy as her
grandfather Henry VII, encouraging merchant expansion.
English ships used to attack Spanish ships as they returned
from America loaded with silver and gold. These seamen were
traders as well as pirates and adventures. The Queen
encouraged English traders to settle abroad and create colonies.
This policy led to the British colonial empire in the 17 th and 18th
century, and thus the expansion of the English language.
G) THE STUARTS (17th CENTURY)
From 1649 to 1660 Britain was a republic, but it wasn’t
successful because Oliver Cromwell and his friends created a
government that proved to be more severe than the one runs
by the king.
 In 1707, Scotland and England completed their Union by Act of
Parliament. From that moment, both countries no longer had
two parliaments, the new name of the state was Great Britain.
Scotland however, kept its own legal and judicial system, and
its own Church.
H) The 18TH CENTURY
The development of industry began in this century: a greater
demand for goods, better transport and money all came
together to revolutionize Britain’ industry. By the early 18 th
century simple machines had been invented for basic jobs. The
industrial revolution turned Britain into the most advanced
economic force in the world.
I) THE 19TH CENTURY
The extent of Britain’s colonial possessions doubled during this
century. During the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901),
Britain’ colonial expansion reached its zenith. Although Canada
and Australia were gradually granted independence.
J) The 20th century
At the beginning of this century, Britain was the greatest world
power, but by the end of the 1970s it had lost it all. One of the
reasons was the cost of Two World Wars, another was the cost
of keeping up the Empire.
In 1973, the United Kingdom joined the European Economic
Community, although the government decided not to adhere to
the single currency system in 1999.

3.2 CULTURE
A) LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
The Old English language was the earliest form of English. The
poem Beowulf which was written in the 7 th century it is the first
English epic poem and its author is unknown.
Geoffrey Chaucer was the greatest poet during the Norman
period and his famous Canterbury Tales were written at the end of
the 14th century.
Oxford and Cambridge were the intellectual leaders of the
country during the middle ages. Christopher Marlowe, Ben Johnson
and William Shakespeare filled theatres with their plays.
 In the 18th century, the common man was the protagonist of
the books because the urban middle class made up of merchants and
wealthy families increased its power.
Charles Dickens in the 19th century was influenced by the
economic situation and attacked the rich and powerful for their
cruelty towards the weak and poor people.
B) BRITISH FESTIVALS
From Scotland to Cornwall, Britain is full of customs and traditions,
some of which are famous all over the world. Here are some of them:
February. St. Valentine’s Day. People send cards and presents to
their lovers or friends.
Pancake day. On Shrove Tuesday, people cook pancakes and
participate in races with them.
October. Halloween. The name is from the old word for “Hallow
evening”, the night before “All Saints’ Day”. According to tradition,
ghost and witches are set free on that night. People were afraid of
them and stayed at home.
November. Guy Fawkes’ Day. 5th November. Guy Fawkes tried to kill
king James I on that day in 1605. He put a bomb under the Houses of
Parliament in London. The King’s men discovered his plan, took Guy
Fawkes to the Tower of London and cut his head off. Today people
build bonfires in their gardens, make a guy with straw and put it on
top of each bonfire.
December. Christmas and the New Year. In the 19 th century began
the tradition of Christmas cards in Britain. The first Christmas tree
also dated from that time it’s a German tradition of decorating the
tree on Christmas Eve. Father Christmas brings the children gifts and
the most important meal is Christmas dinner on 25 th December. This
meal consists of roast turkey, carrots, potatoes, Brussels sprouts and
gravy and Christmas pudding and crackers which arrived from China
in the 19th century.
C) BRITISH WAY OF LIFE
FOOD AND DRINK
The English breakfast. This is a cooked breakfast with fried eggs,
bacon, sausages, tomatoes and mushrooms, as well as toasts and
marmalade in case you are still hungry.
Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. This is a traditional Sunday lunch
and it is possible to eat in pub around Britain. As a curiosity Yorkshire
pudding is not sweet.
Fish and Chips. The original British fast-food. The fish is usually cod in
batter, and it is served with a pile of chips.
Tea. It is the favourite drink for British people. There is also an
afternoon meal called “cream tea”, which consists of sandwiches and
scones with cream
PUBS
The word “pub” comes from “public house”. People meet in pubs to
talk, eat and drink. They are open at lunchtime and again in the
evening. Pub names often come from the 13th or 14th century.
LIVING ACCOMMODATION
Most people in Britain live in houses, only 20 percent of the
population live in flats. There are three main types of houses:
terraced or town houses (several houses joined together in a row or
terrace), semi-detached (a pair of houses joined together) and
detached (a single house, completely separate from any other)
slopping tiled roofs, brick-built walls and front and back gardens are
some of their characteristics.
D) EDUCATION
In Britain there are state schools, publicly-maintained schools and
private schools (are called public schools). State and publicly-
maintained schools are funded by the government.
Compulsory schooling begins at the age of 5 and the minimum
leaving age for all pupils is 16.
There are different types of secondary schools: comprehensive,
grammar, modern and technical schools. Comprehensive schools
offer a general education for all children in the age group and take
them on without a test of ability. In other types of secondary schools,
children are selected according to their level of academic
achievement.
At the age of 16, pupils take the GCSE exam (General Certificate of
Secondary Education). Two years later, pupils take some exams
called A-levels. Entrance at university depends on the results of these
exams.
3.2. THE IRISH REPUBLIC
A) Physical facts.
The Irish Republic is an island lying west of Great Britain, with 3.5
million inhabitants it is also called the Emerald Island and one of the
greenest parts of Europe. It is a beautiful land of mountains, rivers,
lakes and green fields. The highest peak is Carrantouhill with 1044
metres and the River Shannon is the major one.
The Irish Republic (Eire) has to legislative houses: The Senate and
House of Representatives. The current president is Michael D. Higgins
and the Head of government is the Primer Minister Enda Kenny,
instead of Primer Minister is called Taoiseach. The capital city is
Dublin and Cork is another important city and the monetary unit is
the euro.
The Northern Ireland is part of the UK and its capital is Belfast.
Irish people are reputed to have a charm character and they love
music. Folk musicians are well known. Irish language is recognised by
the Constitution as the first official language and English as the
second. Although the use of Irish is restricted to small areas.
Ireland was a British colony until 1921 in which an independent Irish
state was set up. The Republic of Ireland was established in 1949.
From that time on, Irish government have favoured peaceful
reunification with Northern Ireland. At the same time, more militant
groups, in particular, the provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA),
have tried to achieve Irish Unity by force.
In 1998 the Prime Minister Tony Blair, signed a historical treaty for
the pacification in Northern Ireland and an Irish Autonomous
Government was constituted in December 1999.
The 95 percent of Irish people is Roman Catholic. Religion has always
been important for them and much of the history of the country has
been the history of the fight for its faith.
History
The first great victory for the Irish was when Catholics were allowed
to become MPs (members of Parliament) in 1829.
But then Ireland suffered a great disaster: the potato crop failed
(potato was the main food of the poor people). Many of them died of
hunger and others left the country and settled in the United States.
Literature
Yeats was a great poet whose main concern was to honour the nature
and character of Ireland. Another Irishman James Joyce created a
completely new style of writing in “Ulysses” breaking the usual rules
of description, speech and punctuation a style later described as
“interior monologue”. Oscar Wilde was a celebrity famous for his
dazzling wit and mocked for this flamboyant behaviour and love of
aestheticism. He wrote the Happy Prince, the importance of Being
Earnest. The Picture of Dorian Grey.
Education
In 1926 Primary School was compulsory between the ages of 6 to 14.
And secondary school were only for fee paying students. For forty
years, the National School seemed a representative of an
authoritarian system that enforced the ideals of nationalism, religion
and language.
In 1970 the age of leaving school was 15 and a year later
government encourage children to go to Secondary school with free
transport and grants.
There are two universities in Ireland: Trinity College or University of
Dublin and National University of Ireland with colleges at Dublin, Cork
and Galway.
3.3 THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The USA is the fourth largest country in the world. We can
distinguish several regions in the continental area: the east of the
USA contains the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the Appalachian
Mountains with the tick forests; in the interior, the lowlands and in
the west the Western Cordillera and the Western Intermontane
Plateaus. There are deserts in Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico
limited by the Rocky Mountains. Limiting Canada, we can find the
Great Lakes.

The main rivers are Mississippi, Missouri, Rio Grande, Arkansas,

Colorado and Columbia and the Mount McKinley in Alaska is the
highest point in the country with 6.194 metres.

The country is a Federal Republic made up of 50 states. Only

two of them do not border any other Alaska at the Northwest
extreme of North America near the Artic Circle and Hawaii in the
tropical part of the Pacific Ocean.
 The capital city is Washington DC and the monetary unit is the
dollar. There are two legislative houses: The House of
Representatives and the Senate. The current President is Donald
Trump, after historical presidency of Barack Obama, the first African-
American president in the history of the USA
The USA has over 290.000.000 inhabitants. The Atlantic coast
is more populated than the Pacific coast. The main cities are New
York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle or San Francisco.
One of the most outstanding features of American society is
that it has been formed by different nations and cultures. Until the
XIX century most of the population was from European origin (white
Anglo-Saxon Protestant). Nowadays the 85 % of the population is
white and 12% black. The Hispanic population is growing very
quickly, and it reaches 7%. We can find other groups such as Asians,
American Indians, Eskimos and Pacific Islanders.
There is a wide range of religions believes: protestant, Roman
Catholics, Jews, Eastern Orthodox or non-religious.
HISTORY
A) THE FIRST COLONIZERS (16TH CENTURY)
The Spaniards reached Florida in 1513. Later in 1565 Spanish
settlers founded St. Augustine there, the first permanent European
settlement on the mainland of North America. In 1607 Jamestown
became the first permanent British settlement.
B) PURITAN NEW ENGLAND (17TH CENTURY)
In 1620, a small group of English people sailed across the Atlantic
because they wanted to find religious freedom in America. They
were called Pilgrims. The pilgrims’ ship was the Mayflower. Before
arriving in Plymouth, the wrote an agreement to work together for
the good of all. This is the first important document in the history
of democratic government in America.
C) AMERICAN COLONIES IN THE 18TH CENTURY
By the year 1733, the English had thirteen colonies along the
Atlantic coast. The colonies stretched from New Hampshire in the
North to Georgia in the south.
D) FIGHTING FOR INDENPENDECE
At first, the colonies accepted British rule because Britain rarely
interfered in colonial affairs. But in 1765 Britain raised the money
to pay for the defence of the colonies.
British and American went to war (the War of Independence). On
July 4th, 1776, America declared her independence. They issued
the Declaration of Independence, the most important document in
American history. It was written by Thomas Jefferson. Those men
had a new definition of democratic government: government
should consist of representatives elected by the people, and
governments existed to protect the rights of individual citizens.
George Washington was the first President.
E) CIVIL WAR (19TH CENTURY)
In 1861, with Abraham Lincoln as President the United States
began a Civil war between the North and the South. The South
wanted to preserve slavery (black people who worked in plantation
without salary). Two years later, the southerners were defeated,
and slavery was abolished.

F) AN AMERICAN EMPIRE (20TH CENTURY)

In 1898 The United States wanted to gain control over the former
colonies of Spain in Caribbean and Pacific. Spain and the USA went
to war and Spain lost Cuba and the Philippines. The USA
international status is so important. Their entry in the WWI was
decisive with the Allied victory.
In 1929 when the stock market crashed, and the Great Depression
began. President Roosevelt set up economic and social policies to
help the nation recover from the Depression. But full recovery was
never achieved until WWII. The United States quickly became the
main supplier of weapons to the countries fighting Hitler. The
Allied victory in 1945 rendered the USA leader of the western
world but embroiled it in a cold war with the Soviet Union, and a
space race.
The 1990s were characterized by the end of the cold war and the
disintegration of the Soviet Union and its satellite countries.
Nowadays, the USA is still one of the first economic and military
power. in the twenty first century the USA policy has been
determined by the presidency of George W. Bush and Barack
Obama, the terrorist attack to the Twin Towers and Afghanistan
and Iraq wars.
CULTURAL FRAMEWORK
A) Language and Literature
American culture has produced many outstanding writers. The 19 th
century was dominated by names such as Mark Twain, Walt
Whitman, Henry James, etc. Amongst the great American writers
of the 20th century we find Ernest Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald,
William Faulkner and poets such as Ezra Pound and T.S. Elliot.
American English presents some differences with British English.
The language of immigrants who arrived in the USA from Europe
influenced this variety of English.
a) Lexical differences
Elevator, gas, movie, resume, cookies, truck (Am)
Lift, petrol, film, curriculum, biscuits, lorry (Br.)
b) Spelling
Traveler, theater, color, dialog, center, marvelous, (Am)
Traveller, theatre, colour, dialogue, centre, marvellous (Br)
c) Phonological differences
In general Am. English is prone to nasalization of sounds and to
lengthen stressed vowels.
/r/ is always pronounced in American English, whereas in British
English it is only pronounced before a vowel.

B) THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE

The USA has become a major exported of influences in the 20 th
century. In many areas of life American popular taste and
attitudes have conquered the world. This influence can be seen in
many aspects
a. Entertainment
One of the country’s most popular and internationally influential
art forms has been filmmaking. American films have been filling
the cinema screens of the world since the 1920s
In music, the process of Americanization can be seen in the
huge international popularity of rock
b. Habits
The Americanization of popular taste and habits can also be
seen in the popularity of hamburgers, fried chicken, pizzas and
other “fast food” all over the world. Blue jeans and t-shirts have
 Americanized the dress of people on every continent.
Supermarkets have changed the shopping habits of many
people in the world. Their huge variety of food and goods give
shoppers a much wider range of choices.
c. Cities
Skyscrapers are another feature of American cities. During the
1880s in Chicago began to rise these buildings because they
need more working and living space in places where the cost of
the land was high.
C) AMERICAN HOLIDAYS
Most American festivals are Anglo-Saxon, although they are
commemorated in a distinctly American way: St. Valentine’s,
Easter, Halloween and Christmas… However, there are two
holidays that are typically American
July 4th American Independence Day. Americans remember their
triumph over their British sovereign. The fourth of July is a day of
picnic, barbecues, parades, outdoor concerts, family reunions and
fireworks.
Thanksgiving Day. Every, year, on the fourth Thursday in
November is that holiday. The first people to celebrate that day
where the pilgrims, they shared their joy at having survived the
hardships of living in a new land. They sat down to eat together
and to give thanks to God. Local Amerindians joined the pilgrims
in their feast, since the Indian people had shared corn with them
and shown them the best places to catch fish. The meal is the
focal point of Thanksgiving Day. A traditional menu is the feature a
stuffed turkey, mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes,
cranberry sauce, squash, and pumpkin pie for dessert.
Thanksgiving is also commonly known as Turkey Day.
D) EDUCATION
There are two types of schools in the USA: state schools (public
schools) and private schools, which are fee-paying. The school
system involves different stages: kindergarten (for children up to 6
years old), elementary (6-12) junior (12-15) and senior (15-18).
There is no fixed school leaving age, but all states require pupils to
attend school between 6 and 16.

3.4 CANADA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.

 CANADA
Canada is twenty times as big as Spain and is the second largest
country in the world after Russia.
Canada has half the lakes of the world, islands as large as
European countries, great mountains and vast extension of prairies.
A great part of this huge country still remains in its natural state.
Canadian live along a strip of land 300 kilometres wide, which
run parallel to the USA. People from Canada not only share the
border with the United States, they also share a common European
heritage, a common language and a common economical system.
But Canada is not a homogeneous nation. 40 percent of the
population is English-speaking, whereas 30 percent is French-
speaking. The remaining 30 percent is made up of European
immigrants. The Amerindians and Inuit’s (Eskimos) is the people
who lived in this country before the arrival of European explorers,
but they only make up 1 percent of the population.
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
Both countries were discovered in 1642 by a Dutch explorer
Tasman, but it was in 1768 when the British arrived. They met the
native inhabitants, the Maori people and found new animals and
plants (kangaroos, eucalyptus, kiwi).
The first colonists in Australia were convicted people who were
sent there as a punishment. But the end of the 19 th century there
were six colonies. They claimed self-government from Britain and
succeeded. The capital is Canberra, some of the biggest cities are
Melbourne, Sidney and Perth.
New Zealand was colonized much later. The first colonist
arrived in 1840 and twelve years later they attained self-government
like Australia. The capital is Wellington.
The cultural background of these two British ex-colonies is
mainly European. There is only a slight Maori influence on art design
and music.

4. DIDACTIC APPLICATION OF RELEVANT GEOGRAPHICAL,

HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ASPECTS.

As we stated in the introduction of this topic the English teacher

must introduce relevant knowledge about the countries where
 English is spoken and the people who speak it, so the students can
develop their socio-cultural competence.

The way to share this cultural knowledge would be through

materials and activities that are closely related to our students’
interests.

4.1 GEOGRAPHICAL ASPECTS.

This includes the knowledge of the main English-speaking

countries, capitals and cities, weather… these are also cross-
curricular activities, since they are related to other subjects such
as Sciences and Geography.

We can use the following resources to teach geographical

aspects:

a. Maps. The use of maps is very useful to locate capitals,

towns and cities, as well as for finding the main English-
speaking countries. In high levels students can locate
main rivers and mountains in the USA, Britain or Ireland.

b. Flags. Students can match nationalities and countries of

English-speaking countries with their flags.

c. Puzzles of Britain or the USA.

d. Quizzes. We can make a quiz competition about English-

speaking countries.

e. Listening. Listening about the weather forecast in Britain

while completing a map.

4.2 HISTORICAL ASPECTS

Students can learn about relevant British and American
characters or event using these resources.
a. Comics. Students can use comics about outstanding
British kings and Queens and famous character from
Britain and the USA (King Arthur, Henry VIII, Queen
Elisabeth I, Queen Victoria, Robin Hood, Daniel Boone,
the Normans…)
 b. Texts. Students can read texts about a past event, such
as Guy Fawkes’ plan to blow up the Parliament in London,
Pilgrims or Thanksgiving Day.

c. Videos. Children can watch films of historical backgrounds

such as Pocahontas, King Arthur and the Round Table.

d. Songs. These are useful to introduce historical elements

such as :

1 British sea power: British sailor have helped Britain

for centuries and their contribution to the building
of the British Empire has been considerable. Sailors
often sang sea shanties when working on the ships.

2 Far West Life. Cowboys sang songs filled with a

desire for home, a girl and peace from the long
day’s hard work. “Oh! Susanna”

3 Plantations and slavery. In the Southern States of

America, where farming or large plantations formed
the main industry, negro slavery became
widespread and profitable. Much of the plantation
work was accompanied by the singing of spiritual
“Kumbaya”. These songs have a deep religious
feeling.

4.3 CULTURAL ASPECTS.

In Primary, cultural aspects include a variety of topics: social
conventions, schools, food and drinks, houses, money, English
names, festivals, music, monuments, TV programmes and sports. We
can use the following activities:
a. Role play. In a role play each student has a role in a
specific situation. Role plays are useful to practice social
conventions, greetings, asking for something, thanking or
shopping.
b. Projects. Students must work on a topic, using the
knowledge they already have and by finding out more
about it. They can compare British and Spanish culture:
schools (timetable, subjects, uniforms) food (breakfast,
lunch, dinner, supper, brunch, eating hours) houses (look
like, rooms distribution) cities (downtown, skyscrapers,
 houses) Also projects about monuments, sports,
television.
Projects are very good for integrating skills.
c. Realia. The use of real objects motivates students
towards the culture behind the objects. We can use realia
in communicative activities, projects, role-plays…
Some examples are: tickets (bus, cinema…) English and
American money, postcards from English-speaking cities
or monuments, seasons’ greetings cards, Christmas
crackers, decoration, storybooks, magazines, labels, food
and drinks.
d. Recipes. Cooking recipes are useful to practise food and
drink. They are also connected to celebrations. Children
can write out the ingredients and the steps to follow. They
can add cultural information about each dish. Pancakes,
Christmas pudding, birthday cakes, tea, turkey.

e. Celebration in class. We can celebrate British or American

festivals in class.

1 In Halloween children can decorate the class with

scary decorations, dress up, play trick or treat,
decorate a pumpkin.

2 At Christmas, children can decorate a Christmas

tree, sing carols, send Christmas cards in English,
make a paper snowman.

3 St. Valentine. Children can write love letters and

read each other’s letters.

4 Easter. Children can decorate Easter eggs, eat

chocolate or draw an Easter bunny.

f. Jokes. They transmit cultural elements: British humour,

habits. They can be taken from magazines, newspapers
or from strips.
g. Pen clubs. With children from English-speaking countries.
h. Stories. “The Snowman” is an example of how stories can
transmit attitudes and ways of life in Anglo-Saxon culture.
the story of a boy who is friend of a snowman he made in
 his garden. The cultural background is British Christmas,
weather and British houses.

5. CONCLUSION.

Teaching a foreign language implies the teaching of the cultural

background of that language in order to improve the competence in
that language. As teachers, it is essential to introduce relevant
knowledge of the countries where English is spoken. This knowledge
will encourage our students’ interest, affection, understanding and
tolerance with English-speaking citizens.
Linguistic competence in at least a foreign language is one the
aims of our current educational law and it is acquired by using
language accurately and fluently. As teachers our role is to find out
the way our students learn as Gardner said, “anything that is worth
teaching can be presented in many different ways.”

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Brewster, J et al.: The Primary English Teacher’s Guide. Penguin.
2002
Crystal, D.: The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language. Cambridge
University Press
Gove, M. The Gove Revolution: Transforming England’s Schools. 2013
McDowall, D.: An Illustrated History of Britain. Longman. 1991
O’Callaghan, B.: An illustrated History of the USA. Longman 1991
Harmer, J.: The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman. 4th
edition. 2007
Organic Law 8/2013, 9th December for the improve of the educative
quality (LOMCE)
Organic Law 2/2006, 3rd May Education
Royal Decree 126/2014, 28th February where the curriculum for
Primary Education is established.
Decree 198/2014, 5th September where the curriculum for Primary
Education in the Region of Murcia is established.