TOPIC 5.

GEOGRAPHIC, HISTORIC AND CULTURAL BACKGROUND OF THE ENGLISH

SPEAKING COUNTRIES. DIDACTIC APPLICATION OF THE MOST IMPORTANT

GEOGRAPHIC, HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ASPECTS.

1. - Introduction

2. – Geographic, historic and cultural background of the English

speaking countries.

2.1. - English as a Lingua Franca.

2.1. - United Kingdom of Great Britain.

2.1.1. - Geographic background.

2.1.2. - Historic background.

2.1.3. - Cultural background.

2.2. - United States of America.

2.2.1. - Geographic background.

2.2.2. - Historic background.

2.2.3. - Cultural background.

2.3. - Canada.

2.4. - Australia.

2.5. - Republic of Ireland.

2.6. - New Zealand.

2.7. - Caribbean.

2.8. - South Africa.

3. - Didactic application of the most important geographic, historic

and cultural aspects.

4. - Conclusion.

5. - Bibliography.

1. - INTRODUCCION

Nowadays, there are nearly 500 million native speakers of English

spread all over the world which gives us a good idea of how important

the language is. Indeed, geographically English is the most

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widespread language in the world and it is second in terms of number

of speakers after Mandarin Chinese.

For economic and trading reasons, English is used every day by

millions of non- native speakers in order to buy and sell products, and

not only this, Politics is spoken in English. In this sense, we can state

that English has become a lingua franca since many people use it in

order to communicate with other people who do not speak their own

language.

For example, English is an official language in the following countries:

Kenya, Liberia, South Africa.

USA, Canada, Bahamas,

United Kingdom, Ireland, Gibraltar.

India, Pakistan.

Australia, New Zealand.

The majority of English speaking countries are those that during or

prior to the 19 th century were part of the Great Britain Colonial

Empire.

At the moment, English is used in business and trading, and it is one

of the official languages of UN. In many Western countries, English is

spoken by nearly half the population, especially in the Scandinavian

countries and Holland, because the importance of their own

languages is very small by comparison to English.

We are living in a new international context known as the ‘knowledge

society’ in which speaking foreign languages is a widely accepted

need all over the world. There are different reasons to support this

statement: learning a tool to access knowledge, development of open

minded attitudes, development of learning skills, enjoyment,

opportunities to find a better job, etc. All these reasons are enough to

follow the European Union recommendation to speak two foreign

languages: a language used as an international means of

communication, English, and one of the languages of a nearby

country, for example Portuguese, French, Italian or Arabic in our case.

As a matter of fact, some European countries, for example Finland,

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bilingual education is a reality. In Spain it is one of the new

educational goals proposed by different political parties. In Andalusia,

the Plurilingual Plan is becoming a reality.

According to the Andalusian Educational Act, (Act 17/2007, 10 th of

December) a communicative approach should be implemented in the

teaching learning processes that take place in the Andalusian

educational centres, and in order to do it, not only the foreign

language but the culture it transmits have to be approached in the

EFL classroom. Language is considered the natural means of

communication among human beings. It is through the knowledge of

a language that we can learn about other cultures and countries.

Language and culture are closely related as the first is the reflection

of the second one, and culture could not exist without the language

that represents it.

2. - GEOGRAPHIC, HISTORIC AND CULTURAL FRAMEWORK OF

ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES.

2.1. - English as a lingua franca

A lingua franca can be defined as “a language widely adopted for

communication between two speakers whose native languages are

different from each other’s and where one or both speakers are using

it as a “second” language” (J. Harmer, 2001, p.1). English has become

one of them, the most important one, due to different factors:

historical, economic, etc...

2.2. - United Kingdom of Great Britain.

2.2.1. - Geographic background.

The United Kingdom, in its conventional long form United Kingdom of

Great Britain and Northern Ireland, U.K. in abbreviation, consists of

four geographical, historical parts:

COUNTR

Y

CAPITA

L

LANGUAGE(S) S.PATRO

N

FLOWER

England London English St.

George

Tudor rose

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Scotland Edinburg

h

English and

Scottish

St.

Andrew

Thistle

Wales Cardiff English and

Welsh

St. David Leek/Daffodil

N.

Ireland

Belfast English and Irish St. Patrick Shamrock/

Flax

The United Kingdom is divided into three main geographical areas:

The Highlands (Scotland and the North of England), the Midlands

(valleys and plains) and the Lowlands (the south of the territory).

It is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English

Channel, the Celtic Sea, and the Irish Sea, as well as by the Republic

of Ireland to the south of Ireland. It is a quite flat country with no high

mountains (the Pennines and the Cambrian Mountains). The most

important rivers are the Thames, Humber, Tees, Severn and Wye. As

far as economy is concerned, mineral resources such as iron, coal

and oil, have been very influential in British history. Based on market

exchange rates, the UK is the second largest economy in Europe,

after Germany, and the fifth in the world. Chemical and

pharmaceutical industries are also as well as the financial services

and tourism from the service sector.

The main industrial a commercial areas are the great conurbations,

where about one third of the country’s population lives. The

administrative and financial centre and most important port is Greater

London, which also has various manufacturing industries. London is

Europe’s foremost financial city. Metal goods, vehicles, aircraft

synthetic fibres and electronic equipment are made in the West

Midlands conurbation, which with the addition of Coventry roughly

corresponds to the former metropolitan county of West Midlands. The

industrial Black Country and the city of Birmingham are in the West

Midlands. Greater Manchester has cotton and synthetic textiles, coal

and chemical industries. Leeds, Bradford and the neighbouring

metropolitan districts are Britain’s main centre of woollen, worsted

and other textile production.

3.1.2. - Historical background.

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McDowall (1989) dedicated the first chapter of his History of Britain to

Prehistory and then to the Celts, whose language still survives in

different areas of the country. The Romans occupied Great Britain for

some centuries.

In the 5th century, the island was invaded by the Jutes, the Saxons

and the Angles. Later the Vikings came and the Anglo-Saxon

civilization flourished for some time. Due to the frequent raids of the

Danish invaders, the Danes took the lead and imposed their

consuetudinary system of rules in the 9th century.

After the Danish invasion, the most significant event was the Norman

Conquest in 1066, which gave birth to a new civilization, including a

new language with a lot of Latin influence. William I introduced

Norman style political and military feudalism. The Normans were of

German origin and brought the Gothic art to the island, which was

going to have such an important role in the English history of Art.

After the Norman Conquest England became a powerful and

influential monarchy in Europe. In the early 13th century, a series of

circumstances led to the barons revolt and the "Magna Carta". From

1338 to 1453 it took place the "Hundred Years' War". Almost a

century later, in 1534, King Henry VIII cut England off the Catholic

Church of Rome and made Wales a part of the his kingdom in 1535. It

was the beginning of the British Empire. Ireland was occupied in the

16th century.

In the 19th century it was the biggest empire in the world. Due to the

Industrial Revolution, England became the biggest exporter of cloth,

machine and other products.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, many of the old British

colonies achieved their independence. The UK took part in the First

and the Second World Wars and its predominant role was darkened

by other economical empires. In the mean-while, it has established a

leading and close union with Europe. The end of the 20th century saw

major changes to its governance with the establishment

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of devolved national administrations for N. Ireland, Scotland, and

Wales.

In May, 1.979, the conservatives returned to power under the

leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who set out to reserve the post war

privatizing state- owned industries.

She led the conservatives to victory again in 1.983 and 1.987, the

latter an unprecedented third consecutive general election win.

In 1.990 John Mayor, Conservative Party became leader and Prime

Minister.

In the elections of May, 1.997, Labour won 418 seats in the House of

Commons and Tony Blair became Prime Minister, the same year

Princess Diane, the former wife of Prince Charles was killed in a car

accident in Paris.

Following the devastating September 2.001 terrorist attack in the

USA, the British government became the most visible international

supporter of the Bush administration in its war on terrorism. The

British forces joined the Americans in launching attack against

Afghanistan after the Taliban government refused to hand over

Osama Bin Laden.

The Blair government was, and is, a strong supporter of the USA´s

position in the invasion of Iraq, that began in March 2.003.

3.1.3.- Cultural background.

The culture of U.K. is informed by its history as a political union of four

countries which each have their own preserved and distinctive

heritage, customs and symbolism. As a result of the British Empire,

British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal

systems of many of its former colonies such

as Canada, Australia, India, and the United States.

British people have a strong civil sense and participate in public

issues since childhood. There are thousands of registered volunteer

organizations, which depend on their individuals’ time, money and

skill.

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The contributions of the UK to the world of Arts, Science and culture in

general, greatly exceed the possibilities of this essay. The

architecture of the Gothic, the landscapes of Constable and Turner,

the portraits by Reynolds or the Modern Tate Gallery are just a few

examples of the importance of British Art for the rest of the world. It

would be endless to list the poets, writers and theatre players whose

work has been enjoyed by millions of people all around the world in

the past and in the present times (Shakespeare, Dickens, Jane

Austen, etc.). In addition, one of the most extended traditions in the

British culture is their love for theatre and there has been

extraordinary theatre actors born in the UK. On the other hand,

philosophers and musicians have also taken a part in the history of

the British culture.

In Britain children go to school from age five to 16. they spend six

years in Primary School and then they go to Secondary School. In

Britain, like the USA, there are State Schools which are free and

Private Schools which are paying.

Britain has established an obligatory national curriculum. The national

curriculum is divided into:

Core Subjects.

Foundation Subjects.

Basic Curriculum.

The Central Department of Education and Science in London gives

advice and inspects how the National Curriculum is being taught at

schools. Local Education Authorities which are controlled by the

Education committees of the county and metropolitan district councils

plan and organise education at a local level in England and Wales.

Students who study for two years, from 14 to 16 obtain the

General Certificate of Secondary Education, consisting of five

core exams and with the option to sit further exams.

The next national qualification are called “A” levels or Advanced

Levels and is taken by students who stay at school for two more

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years, from 16 to 18, in order to take qualifications for

University or a professional course.

The University takes three years or even four.

Sport is another shared value by the British. Britain was the first

country to organise sport as a national activity in the 19th century.

Football, tennis, golf or cricket are some of the games exported by

the British. The most popular sport in the UK is soccer, usually

referred to as just “football”.

The most well known festivals celebrated in Great Britain are these:

Guy Fawkes, November 5th

Valentine’s Day, February 14th

Halloween, 31st October

Christmas

3.2. - United States of America.

3.2.1. - Geographic background.

The United States of America is a federal republic composed of a

national government and 50 state governments. There are 48

contiguous states occupying the mid- latitudes of the continent,

together with the State of Alaska at the northwest extreme of North

America and the island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean.

There are two legislative houses:

Senate embodies the federal nature of the Constitution, with

two senators from each state. Each senator is elected at

separate elections.

House of Representatives, has a fixed number of seats and each

state has one seat for each.

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The Senate and the House of Representatives together form the

Congress, which is the law- making body, and no federal taxes can be

collected or money spent without the approval of both Houses. The

President signs the laws. If he refuses, his veto can be overridden by

a two thirds majority in both Houses.

The head of State and government is Barack Hussein Obama. born

August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United

States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama was

the junior United States Senator from Illinois from 2005 until he

resigned following his 2008 election to the presidency. He was

inagurated as President on January 20, 2009

The capital city is Washington D.C. and the monetary unit is the

dollar.

The United States is situated mostly in central North America,

between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. The USA is bordered by

Canada and the Arctic Sea to the North and by Mexico and its Gulf to

the South. In a very broad sense, this huge nation can be divided

geographically into four areas: the East Coast, the Great Plains, the

Rocky Mountains, and the West Coast.

The geographic variety of USA is complete and there can be found

almost any kind of climate and landscape in its territory. The North

has a humid continental climate, but Florida and Hawaii are tropical

and Alaska has a polar climate.

The United States has a capitalist mixed economy, which is fueled by

abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high

productivity. The country is the first largest producer of electrical and

nuclear energy, sulphur, liquid gas and salt, and it is the third largest

producer of oil. Its industrial power makes it lead the manufacturing

field. To their economical power it could be added the large number of

inhabitants that live in the USA. The population of the US has always

been characterized by its ethnic and racial diversity.

The USA is formed by 50 states and the capital city is Washington. It

is a federal constitutional republic. Throughout its history, the USA has

had only two major parties: the Republicans and the Democrats. On the

other hand, the chief of the executive is the President of the USA, elected

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to a four year term. B. Obama was elected as the 44th president in 2008, the

first Afro-American to be in the White House.

3.2.2. - Historical background.

The U.S. is relatively young country that is only 200 years old.

The colonial period (1942-1763) began with the discovery of America

by Columbus and the first British settlements and ends with the war

in which the colonies won their independence from Great Britain.

After 1763 is a change in the administration of the British Imperial

Colonial policy led into revolution in 1775. In 1776, Jefferson made the

Declaration of Independence and the colonies in North America

declared themselves independent of Great Britain (on July 4, 1776).

This caused the Independence War.

In the nineteenth century democracy gradually began to take form.

By 1850, U.S. was the main centre of finance, commerce and

manufacturing. A terrible Civil War took place from 1861 to 1865 and

led to the abolition of slavery. After the Civil War, the USA

experienced a great growth and transformation. Millions of people

arrived from other countries to the land of opportunities, and the

population moved to the Western region as miners, cattle ranchers or

sheep farmers; it was the time of the "Wild West". Meanwhile, the

Native American tribes were moved to lands reserved, which

provoked the "Iridian Wars".

The First War in Europe affected the US interests from the start and

they finally joined the allies in 1917. By 1929 they faced the Great

Depression, a period of recession worldwide. In 1930, President F.

Roosevelt proposed a "New Deal". The USA tried to maintain neutral

in the face of totalitarian regimes in Japan, Italy and Germany. But the

attack at Pearl Harbour forced the US to enter the World War. The

early post-war period was dominated by the Cold War (1947-1991)

due to disagreements between the Soviet Union and the US.

By the 1950s and 1960s the US experienced a boom in births and

economic gains, but not all the Americans could benefit equally as

African-Americans remained segregated. The social changes grew out

an open, fluid and diverse society. The attack on September 11th

2001 was a turning point in the US politics and has had a deep impact

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on their people's self-confidence. The US values of freedom,

democracy and opportunity to all are a legacy since the promulgation

of their Constitution and should be maintained in the future of this

"first universal nation".

3.2.3. - Cultural background.

In general, the culture of United Stated is influenced by the waves of

immigrants, first from Europe and Africa and later from Asia. Overall,

significant cultural influences came from northern Europe. Some have

described American culture as a melting pot in which immigrants

eventually assimilate into a unified American culture that incorporates

contributions from immigrant culture. A key component of American

culture is the American Dream: the idea that, through hard work,

courage, and self-determination, regard-less of social class, a person

can gain a better life.

In spite of its comparatively short history, the USA has been the origin of

several artistic movements, and excellent authors in the field of Literature

were born in the USA, as well as scientific development and discoveries

have their origin in the US. From the field of Science, the deep impact

caused by the NASA, their scientists and engineers when they first step on

the Moon is still considered one of the most important hits in the history of

human race. It was in the USA that some artistic movements took place

since the Naturalism of the Hudson River School in the mid of the 19th

century to the abstract expressionism. In addition, the new technologies

basically created and developed in the US, their web portals, the web

engines, the e-mailing, Blogs and etcetera are promoting a further

proximity among humans all over the world.

Since the late nineteenth century, baseball has been regarded as the

national sport. American football, basketball and ice-hockey are the

country's three other leading professional team sports. Boxing and

horse racing were once the most watched individual sports, but they

have been eclipsed by golf and auto racing, particularly

NASCAR. Soccer is played widely at the youth and amateur levels and

is growing in popularity as a professional spectator sport. Tennis and

many outdoor sports are popular as well.

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In the USA the main festivals are the following ones:

Independence Day, 4th of July.

Thanksgiving Day, 4th Thursday on November.

Halloween, 31st of October.

Accordingly, education standards and requirements differ from state

to state. Some school systems require that a high school student

complete three years of mathematics before graduation. Although,

there is no national curriculum, certain subjects are generally taught

in all state schools systems across the country.

After elementary school children start with their secondary education

at the age of six until the age of 18. This is where children/ young

adults get the education they need. Often the education systems are:

Aged 6- 14 or Elementary School, known as grades 1- 8.

Aged 14- 16. Four years of High School of which two are spend

in Junior High School, and known as grades 9- 10.

Aged 16- 18, the last two are spent in Senior High School,

known as grades 11- 12.

3.3. - Canada.

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America. It was

a British colony until 1931 that it received the independence. Today is

a federal democracy with bicameral parliament: The Senate and the

House of Commons. The constitutional head is the sovereign of the

United Kingdom. In the latter part of the 20th century an increased

immigration from Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia, added to

the culture of native Indians and Inuit, has made Canada more

broadly multicultural. French and English are spoken in different areas

with an important bilingual population.

3.4. - Australia

Australia is the sixth largest country on Earth, but with a small

population. The official language is English. Australia is the largest

wool producer and a major supplier of cereals, dairy products, sugar,

fruit and cotton. It has many mineral resources and an important

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forest industry. Until the World War II almost all immigrants came to

Australia from the British Isles. The aborigines represent a minority of

the population.

3.5. - Republic of Ireland.

The Republic of Ireland occupies the southern part of Ireland.

Economically, the agriculture is important. Beer, lactic products,

cereals, computer software, equipment international services and

tourism are the most important sectors of the economy.

3.6. - New Zealand.

It is situated in the South Pacific, Southeast of Australia. His land area

is above twice the size of England. The country comprises two main

islands, North and South Islands, and a number of little island. The

official languages are English and Maori. It is Unitarian parliamentary

democracy with the British Sovereign as Constitutional Monarch. It

was a British colony, reaching independence in 1947.

3.7. - Caribbean.

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands

(most of which enclose the sea), and the surrounding coasts. The

region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico. These islands were

called the West Indies because when Christopher Columbus landed

here in 1492 believed that he had reached the Indies (in Asia). After

contact, war and disease led to a decline in the Native American

population.

3.8. - South-Africa.

Officially Republic of South Africa, it is the southernmost country on

the African Continent. English and Afrikaans are the official

languages, though the most predominant is English. The population is

heterogeneous, there are white, black, half-caste (black and

Afrikaners) and Asiatic people. Although it has the most unknown and

worse economic situation, is one of the richest in cultures, tradition

and nature.

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4. - DIDACTIC APPLICATION OF THE MOST IMPORTANT GEOGRAPHIC,

HISTORIC AND CULTURAL ASPECTS.

The English Classroom is not limited to learn a foreign language as a

set of strange and lexical items. We, as English teachers, must also

show the elements of the geographical, historical and context

surrounding this language in its natural environment. This

extralinguistic dimension added to the didactic units of integrated

activities presenting linguistic contents at the time. In this way we

develop our student´ s interest in knowing a different way of life and

the sociocultural aspects of the English speaking countries. The

English teaching in Primary Education is based on its communicative

characteristics and the insertion of such cultural elements.

The student must realise that he/ she himself/herself is a cultural

being. Once the student recognizes that people are a product of their

own culture he will be better prepared to accept the behaviour of

people from other cultures without value judgements.

Along with the acceptance of people comes the acceptance of the

language. What, we, the teachers, need to achieve is a perspective of

how language and culture are related and knowing how to

communicate this in the English classroom.

The general aim in Primary Education, as far as socio- cultural

contents, is concerned is to get our pupils to show an understanding

attitude towards and respect for the English language, its speakers

and their culture.

The Royal Decree 1513/2006 states as a general aim in primary

education “to value English and languages in general, as a means of

communication and understanding among people from different

origins and cultures”. The importance of the cultural element is also

admitted in the Andalusian Educational Act (Law 17/2007, December

10th). Consequently, it is expected that learning a foreign language

will contribute to the development of our pupils’ competence as

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citizens as it increases their interest of knowing about the target

culture, it favours the understanding of the differences among

countries and promotes social and cultural tolerance.

The inclusion of cultural contents in the curriculum should avoid

stereotyping. Besides, the linguistic and cultural diversity in our

classes can be indeed a further resource which enables teachers to do

a better job and learners to be more accountable for the culture

learning that takes place in our FL classes.

The Curriculum for Primary Education indicates that the cultural contents

of the target language are to be integrated within the rest of contents of

the English curriculum. In order to promote intercultural communication

and tolerance values, children must have some knowledge of the customs,

characteristics and peculiarities of the English-speaking countries.

There are many enjoyable and effective ways to reach those objectives.

Introducing motivating materials ready for their use in our primary

class-room or producing our own materials is a way to do it.

Literature (tales, comics, rhymes,…), songs (pop songs, traditional

songs, chants,..) games (cooperative games, competitive games, …)

I.C.T. (CALL programmes, presentation programmes, Internet, …)

and other types of materials (wall-charts, flashcards, word cards,

picture cards, realia, flipcharts, chalkboard, flannel-board,

photographs or slides, videos or DVDs, magazines, newspapers, T.V.

programs, transparencies, ..) can help us to include different

ggeographic, historic and cultural elements in our lessons. Creating a

bank of educational resources in which we include all we can find

ready to be used when we need it is a good idea.

All these materials can be applied to specific lessons in the different

levels throughout the school year and others can be worked by all the

school community at a specific moment. We can design different lesson

plans in relation to the festivities (Halloween, Christmas…), we can design

some lesson plans on some aspects of traditions and daily life, we can

focus on a different region every school year or we can even celebrate a

cultural week.

Besides, the Royal Decree 1513 and the Order of 10th of August, we

can show students the sociocultural aspects by means of the fourth

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block of contents. It is called: Intercultural understanding and

sociocultural features. These contents are developed taking into

account:

Knowing English costumes and particularities of English speaking

countries.

Knowing different ways of life.

Promoting tolerance.

Improving interest about other social and cultural expressions.

Showing a respectful attitude towards people from different

cultures.

All these of contents are related to the eight basic competences

that Real Decree 1513 establishes (y las nombrais). In order to

improve our students´ skills we, as English teachers, develop

activities as these:

Visit to the supermarket.

Pen pals.

Role- play.

Classroom decorations.

Films.

Celebrations.

Books.

Recipes.

Postcards.

Magazines.

Folklore.

Historical aspects.

5. CONCLUSION.

To conclude with, we would like to underline the importance of this

topic for teaching English at Primary level. If we, as teachers, are not

aware of the importance English has in the European framework, it

will be difficult to convince pupils to study English.

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Although we have studied the main geographical, historical and

cultural aspect of the English-Speaking countries, such a detailed

knowledge is obviously not expected from our pupils but according to

our Spanish Law and European regulations, we, as English teachers,

need to develop our students’ socio-cultural competence. This means

to face them with other realities, peoples, traditions, places and

language.

Children have a natural curiosity to discover new worlds, places and

people too. Showing them how and where other people live will

improve their attitude towards those communities and their culture

and language. By doing this, we will help our students to develop a

positive attitude towards that culture and therefore towards its

language. We will also help them to develop and open mind and

tolerant attitudes and to increase their curiosity towards the world.

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

BROMHEAD, P. (1986). Life in Modern Britain. Longman.

FARRELL, M: (1995). The World of Eglish. Longman.

FIEDLER, E. & alts. (2004). America in Close-Up. Longman.

THOMSON, D. (1980). England in the Twentieth Century. CUP.

www.great-britain.co.uk

www.usinfo.state.gov

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