Portfolio
Portfolio
Portfolio
Grade 2014/2015
0
INDEX
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 2
SECTION A: Culture. ................................................................................................................................ 3
1. Culture......................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Intercultural. ............................................................................................................................... 5
3. Culture in the English-speaking countries................................................................................. 14
SECCIÓN B: Cultural Competence: Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters. ................................. 32
• Option 1: fill your AIE straight away using the pdf document. ...................................................... 32
SECCIÓN C: Culture and language learning........................................................................................... 33
1. Marco epistemológico: El lugar de la cultura en el Marco Común Europeo de Referencia para
las Lenguas: aprendizaje, enseñanza, evaluación. ............................................................................ 33
2. Marco normativo: La cultura en la normativa educativa de aplicación en la Comunitat
Valenciana. ........................................................................................................................................ 34
SECCIÓN D: Proposal of a lesson plan ................................................................................................... 34
ANNEX ................................................................................................................................................... 35
Annex 1: The iceberg concept of culture .................................................................................. 35
Annex 2: Contract and MY PREFERENCES+YOUR PREFERENCES=CONFLICT? .......................... 36
Annex 3: Information about intercultural dialogues. ............................................................... 37
Annex 4: Sociocultural themes ................................................................................................. 37
Annex 5: Planning Checklist ...................................................................................................... 37
Annex 6: video about the differences between Great Britain, England and UK. ..................... 37
Annex 7: American Empire video .............................................................................................. 37
Annex 8: USA activity ................................................................................................................ 38
Annex 9: Ireland activity ........................................................................................................... 39
Annex 10: Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters. ............................................................ 40
Annex 11: Lesson Plan............................................................................................................... 41
1
INTRODUCTION
Among the many difficulties that a teacher of foreign language may have when is teaching,
the most important is the teaching of culture of the countries where the language is spoken,
because despite that the language reflects the culture, sometimes materialize it in the
classroom is almost imperceptible.
For these reasons, the cultural aspects of a language are fundamental and should be
integrated into the teaching of a foreign language. The main argument is because societies
receive the cultural heritage of the past through its language. In this sense, popular
creation, art and social action are transmitted with language. Therefore, it is necessary to
incorporate in the process of learning of languages some socio-cultural factors of the
countries, to get that our pupils acquired a more complete understanding of the elements
that have contributed to the formation and evolution of the language they are learning, as
well as the current configuration of the language.
The importance of culture in the teaching of foreign languages has been the key issue and
the starting point of this subject and this portfolio, because in based of it we have
developed theoretical and practical content, classroom activities, debates and reflections
that let us to assess the place of culture in the process of teaching and learning and
specifically teaching and learning in foreign language - in this case, English.
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SECTION A: Culture.
1. Culture.
During the first day of class, Carmen explained to us how it was going to be organized the
subject and the activities that we were going to do during the term. Right after, the teacher
presented us several questions about culture and we had to answer those questions from
prior knowledge we had.
What’s culture?
From the concept of culture we worked a picture called: “The iceberg concept of culture”,
which mention all fields that the term encompasses. (See Annex 1)
This document is also worked in different activities.
Appropriately. Valued rules, norms, and expectations of the relationship are not
violated significantly.
Effectively. Valued goals or rewards (relative to costs and alternatives) are
accomplished.
In interactions with people from foreign cultures, a person who is interculturally competent
understands the culture-specific concepts of perception, thinking, feeling, and acting.
In class we also added that cultural competence refers, in concrete terms to: respect,
openness, understandings, intention of learning, ability to communicate, ability to share,
awareness and be conscious with other culture’s existence.
Both terms are important for children because they should know how other cultures behave
and believe, and what kind of tradition they have. Introducing culture in the EFL class,
children can learn faster and more easily, they can understand life and culture intertwined,
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it is easier for them to learn language in context, to foster growth, to enhance
communication and definitely, to understand the language.
One day we started working with "Bloom's Taxonomy" to learn the classification of the goals
of educational activities that serve as a starting point for designing learning objectives.
These objectives have to be classified in three “domains” according to the dimension to
which correspond: cognitive, affective and psychomotor.
The first activity that was proposed to us was that we had to find a similar verb to each level
of the pyramid.
Our solution was the following:
When we put in common with the rest of the class we added other verbs we considered
suitable to each level of the pyramid of bloom. For example:
1. Remembering: memorise, sort, define, identify, reproduce, repeat, list, copy…
2. Understanding: interpret, explain, classify, match, translate, summarise…
3. Applying: do/make, complete, use, distinguish, link…
4. Analysing compare, distinguish, outline, organize…
5. Evaluating: argue, correct, judge, choose, justify…
6. Creating: compose, build, plan, design, draw, develop, imagine, share…
This was a usefull activity because we could learn a sum of verbs that will serve to establish
the objectives of our students’ activities.
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2. Intercultural.
At the beginning of the class, Carmen told us the documents we could find in the “Aula
virtual” which would serve us to do correctly our portfolio and the criteria that she will take
into account to evaluate our work. She also talked to us about the KWL method whose
acronyms in English are Know, Want to know and What I Have Learned. However, it will be
in the next classes when we put it in practice and when we work it in depth.
To work multiculturalism, the teacher made an activity that required us we left the
classroom. Five students were in class with her and upon entering, we handed out pieces of
paper with names of different objects. When we entered into the classroom, they told us to
look among peers that we shared the same group and then there were some people,
including myself, who did not belong to none. It was at this time when we reflect on how it
feels to a person not belonging to a group and the importance of having a common culture.
That was the method used by the teacher to determine the working groups that we will
have to maintain throughout the term.
The next activity was intended to learn more about the group. And for that, she told us to
write five sentences with these three beginnings: I am, I have and I should.
- I am Eva Alcahuz.
- I am 20 years old.
- I am from Valencia, Spain.
- I am an animal lover.
- I am a very sociable person and a hard worker.
- I have a dog.
- I have a house in the beach.
- I have an older brother.
- I have a small family.
- I have to improve my English and study more.
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Once each member had answered every sentence we put them together to learn more
about the others partners. And as the groups that had been created were going to be
permanent for the whole course, Carmen handed us some documents that we had to
complete to see if we had ways of working and characters in common. (See Annex 2)
For this activity, the teacher used an alternative learning system called the Puzzle of Aaron.
This method consists in that each member of the group has to group with other partners
from other groups to work specifically different sections of intercultural competence. When
you've made the main ideas of your paragraph you return to your group to put in common.
In this way, each member of the group has worked some of the text and eventually we all
have all worked parts of the text.
The summary that resulted from this activity was the following:
As a consequence of globalization we are much more connected with other cultures from a
common language: English. Educators have more resources to bring the intercultural
experience for children. Teachers should identify career goals for students to communicate
effectively, not only to be made to understand, but to accept and to be able to integrate the
behaviour and culture. It’s necessary to rethink the way to reach the objectives, to design
and to prepare students courses. The teacher should be dormant over student learning (be
the guide).
The intercultural communicative competence is the skill that serves to act effectively and
appropriately when some people interact with others who are linguistically and culturally
equal. Effectively is related to the viewpoint of a person when speaks a second language
and appropriately is when we are perceived by others correctly.
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- The ability to communicate with minimal loss or distortion.
- The ability to collaborate in order to accomplish something of mutual interest or
need.
3. Four Dimensions: Knowledge, attitudes/affect, skills and enhanced.
4. Proficiency in the host language: Knowledge of a second language helps us change
the way we see the world and the way we express ourselves. To do this, you must
purchase a high level in L2.
There are three steps to evaluate the ICC from a practical point of view.
When you introduce yourself in a culture you go through different stages. These stages
depend on the person and the reasons that lead to know that culture.
Based on what we had working in class, our teacher demand us to investigate about
intercultural dialogues (See Annex 3).
Teaching
One day in class, the teacher began telling us about her experience in an Italian school. He
explained the differences between the Italian education system and the Spanish educational
model. She also told us that in Italy every two years and when they complete primary
education, students have an exam, and then in the Spanish ESO, they do an exam to move
from 2nd to 3rd. She also said that in Italy is very important to teach very young English
language and to work oral expression. However, in Spain most of the exams are written
rather than oral, it is why in Italy speak English better than the Spanish people.
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After its introduction of other educational system, Carmen proposes two questions to
comment with our group and then put them in common.
1. Do you think that audio, video and images will be useful for teaching culture?
We think that these resources are very useful because with them we can help students in
their process of learning culture and they promote motivation increasing of learner’s
interest. We think it is the easiest way of learning.
Language focus: We can do activities as the students listen to a song, and then sing it and
pronounce it. We can also focus on shorter videos or shorter songs for lower levels with a
shorter amount of language. We can also show them a video and the teacher tells them to
focus in a specific word that it is said: the word thirty, the phoneme /f/, etc…
Meaning focus: We show the students a sequence of images and they have to tell us what is
happening in the story.
Fluency building: We propose a debate about the importance of learning languages. This
activity would be for the advanced courses of primary.
Learning styles and strately building: We tell a story to the students in different ways, we
sing it, we recite it, we tell it on the way back, etc… With this activity, they can work out
different useful learning strategies.
2. What do you think the roll teachers and students are doing when they see this?
Teachers: to adopt the contents and be willing to interact with the students, choose the
product o process oriented, create, guide, adapt.
Students: will interact with the teacher; take notes, guess and pay attention. The students
also have to be active and the teachers will have to evaluate its activity in the classroom. To
do this, there are two methods: bottom-up approach and top-down approach. The first one
consists of learning from the smallest concept to the biggest one. And in the second occurs
exactly the contrary. The learning goes from the biggest concept to more specifics
concepts.
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Class about multiculturalism
In our first class with Teo Salistean, we talked about some general aspects of the subject
and then we introduced ourselves because she wanted to know a little bit more about us.
Later, she started talking about multiculturalism and some concepts that are connected
with this term. (See Annex 4)
The teacher showed us a presentation about multiculturalism and the first idea was that this
concept had a double meaning:
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Religious groups
Religious groups for example are in the U.S: The Mormons, Amish, Catholics, Jews and so
forth.
Linguistic groups
IMMIGRANTS: who move to a country whose language is different from their mother
tongue.
NATIONAL MINORITIES: groups that have settled in the country for a long time but
do not share the same language with the majority.
- Territorially concentrated.
- They usually demand a high degree of autonomy.
Groups which identify themselves as different from others because of the specific
geographical area in which they are located. Their habits, traditions, customs, etc… are not
necessarily different.
Race groups
Race: a socially constructed concept i.e: it is the result of individuals giving social
significance to a set of characteristics, they consider that stands out in a person´s
physical appearance, such as skin colour, eye colour, hair colour, bone/jaw structure,
etc…
Racial cultural diversity: is not simply the existence of different physical
characteristics. These different physical characteristics must entail a sense of
common identity which, in turn, is socially perceived as something that differentiates
the members of that group from others.
MULTICULTURALISM AS A POLICY
- To address the different demands of cultural groups, for example, to correct the
disadvantages that some individuals are victims of and that result from these
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individual´s cultural identity. For example, addressing the problem of Muslims who
live in a Christian country and demand different public holidays.
- To provide groups the means by which individuals can pursue their cultural
differences, for example, it aims at the preservation, allowance or celebration of
differences between different groups.
Next, we talked about the parts that must contain our lesson plan and we started to work
on it basing in a document called “Planning checklist” that Teo gave us. (See Annex 5)
- ACTIVITY 1
Before playing the video, the teacher gave us some questions that we had to answer after
seeing it. The video talked about a teacher that wanted to work the representation of
dances from different countries with her class. She proposed the project and then the
students had to represent whatever they considered that was relevant of the dances of the
country.
1. How does the teacher incorporate students’ interest into the lesson?
- The teacher wants to wake up in their students the interest of the different dances
in the world, the interest to make research about something and finally the interest
in dancing and moving. She wants them to work as group projects.
2. What can you learn from this teacher about organizing research projects?
- I can learn from this teacher the way in which she research projects and the way that
she use to assess the previous knowledge of the students for later focus her work on
them in an appropriate way considering their shortcomings.
3. Notice how students reflect on this lesson what have they learned?
- I think the students have created a project by their own way using internet and other
information and in a very cooperative form. This has enabled them to feel confident
and that they were able to do better than they though. With this project, we are
drawing near other customs to the students and teaching them to respect other
cultures of the world.
Followed, we shared our opinions and ideas with the rest of the class. And to finish, the
teacher informed us that she had uploaded to “Aula Virtual” some helpful web links that we
could visit and consult to improve our knowledge of teaching culture. “What is the
difference between the UK and Great Britain?” is an example that she showed to us in class
and on which we propose a debate. (See Annex 6)
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- ACTIVITY 2
With this activity the teacher tried to make a debate about the importance of watch videos
in class and the possible options that exist and that can be used with children based on
digital resources.
In my opinion, videos are one of the most important educational resources nowadays, and
with a pedagogical use, it serves to facilitate teachers the knowledge transfer and to
students their assimilation of the contents. The current ease of show videos allows students
develop their ideas and solutions, as well as innovate and make effective practices.
However, I consider that teachers should be use the videos as support for the explanation of
the content and not to use it as a content itself, so then the teacher should be which
accompanies the video with explanations and reasoning and allow students to assimilate
information. The video has to have exercises before, during and after it; and it has to have
questions for the students to answer.
Coming up next, she put us two videos and we discuss together what we think about them.
To continue, the teacher explained a theoretical material, which she considered important
to work, about adapted and authentic materials and the advantages and disadvantages that
both have.
ACTIVITY 3
In this activity we saw a video called “Holidays and seasons” which was about a German
class with English students. We had to answer to the following questions while we were
watching it:
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1. How the teacher scaffolds activities so that students take more responsibility
throughout the lesson?
- The teacher always starts and finishes the class with a song. So, the scaffolds
activities are songs and exercises in couples. She makes activities where she is the
model and then she let their students make the same that she does with another
example.
3. Students are very young. How does she tackle the attention span of the students?
- The teacher tackles their attention making short and dynamic exercises and also
connecting them with emotions so in this way they will remember much better what
they are learning. A good activity that she makes is ask them to tell a riddle and
someone of the class has to guess it, in this manner they review vocabulary and
word order they have already learned.
5. What cultural practices are explored and how is the cultural lesson integrated with
the overall theme of the lesson?
- In the video appeared two cultural practices: sentence building and questioning for
information. In both exercises the students work with culture contents. In the first
they have to put together parts of a sentence that talks about months and the
festivities of each one. And in the second one they have five questions pertaining to
weather, seasons, months… and they have to guess what the other students have as
a festivity. In this activity students practice listening comprehension and the
production of the language.
6. How does the Venn´s diagram help students compare the culture aspects between
USA and Germany?
- They use Venn´s Diagram to compare two festivities from different countries. In the
video the teacher put each festivity in each of the circles. In the sections where the
circles don’t touch she put different characteristics of each and in the middle, all the
things both have in common. In this way, students work listening comprehension,
reading comprehension and speaking, analysing, comparing, summarizing…
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To finish the class they sing a song called “Mother Earth” and they introduce “Father Time”
so that boys and girls can take part. The teacher inspires them to love the language playing
and having fun.
- ACTIVITY 4
One day we were going to watch a video called “Rooted in culture” but the teacher had
some problems with the computer and she only could make us the questions that we should
have answered after see it.
- How do teachers integrate culture in the instruction? Consider the school calendar
and try to imagine as you watch the video, how they integrate cultural events within
the calendar?
- Think if a cultural question comes up and you are not able to answer.
- What do you think the limitations of the materials are and how do you overcome
them?
- How do products and perspectives go to the fact lingua?
- Why is easier working culture in class with Arti facts?
- How could you face stereotypes?
- History - Fashion
- Language - Literature
- Government - Art
- Traditions - Food
- Lifestyle - Music
- Geography
However, at the end we only focus on these areas: geography and wildlife, history, tourism,
customs, habits and lifestyle and entertainment.
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As the teacher explained to us at the beginning of the semester the existence of KWL
method, we consider appropriate to put it in place to begin our work of the culture of
Australia. To remember, the KWL method tries to determine what I already know, what I
want to know and finally what I have learned. So, firstly we wrote individually the aspects
that we knew of the culture of Australia and then the issues that we wanted to know.
Personally, what I knew about Australia were the types of animals that coexist in the
country, the most common activities there use to do, the kind of geography that they have,
the language that they spoke and the currency.
What we want to know was related with education, traditions, lifestyle, type of English
accent and more history.
Since the aspects that we wanted to know, we made a brainstorm of questions that we
wanted to solve in our work. The questions were:
- Where is Australia?
- How can we go to Australia?
- What kind of cartoons do the people see?
- What is the most famous dish in Australia?
- Who is the queen?
- What kind of activities they practice?
- Australian actors and actress.
- What age do they start school?
- What’s the meaning of the flag?
- Who are the aborigines?
- Which are the special days in Australia?
- How do they drive?
- What types of sports are most famous?
- What are the most famous animals?
- What currency do they have?
- Which are the most famous monuments?
Carmen also told us some questions that can be useful for us for our presentation in class:
- Why do students learn?
- How do students learn?
- Why do I want them to learn something?
- How do I integrate culture in class?
- What would it be the easiest topic o way?
- What would be the resources needed for teaching that?
- Would they be easy to bring to class?
- What could I relate to other areas?
In the final part of the class the teacher put a video (See Annex 7) about USA and its complex
state formation. This video tells the evolution of the US since it was composed by thirteen
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states until nowadays that it is made up by 48 states plus Alaska and Hawaii, and it is still
growing. Furthermore it talks about how this continent is governed and how maintains the
order of all their states. We can say that America has become a major world power for many
reasons. Although the most obvious is its large size also it has a powerful economic
influence.
After seeing it the teacher asked us a question to make us reflect about the theme: why do
we talk about the American Empire?
Talking about USA is not necessary but it’s important for our general culture. I mean, USA is
the most powerful, developed and influential country on the world. It is the first economic
power and the main axis of the development of today's world. The country has a creative,
productive, economic, social, educational, military, natural and technological potential. Our
lives today are developed in a better way in most of the things we do because of the
amount of contributions that generate the United States. So, I think that, in some way, it
should at least know as a country with so many states achieves a governmental order and
an economic, cultural and technological powerful progress. Furthermore, I consider that if
we want that students learn about other cultures first teachers need to know and learn how
they work.
Expositions countries
1. Australia
SITUATION
Australia is located on the south east of Oceania and it has 7.692.024 square kilometers of
occupation. In the centre of the country we can find a big desert and many rocks, and the
population is concentrated in the big cities as Perth, Camberra (capital) or Sidney situated
on the west of the country.
The Aboriginals known as “The first” or “The first known” were the first inhabitants in
Australia. The British took the aboriginals territories and nowadays there are more than 400
aboriginal towns in Australia. They have the lowest positions in sanitary and economic
fields.
The Queen of Australia is Elizabeth II. Australia belongs to the Commonwealth and that´s
why in its flag it has the British one. Australia is a Constitutional Monarchy. Each star of the
Australian flag has seven points in order to represent the colonies.
CURRENCY
1A$ = 0, 70€
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MAIN TOURISTIC ACTIVITIES
LANGUAGE
Australian people speak English, however there are different varieties of the language and
they are famous for its accent and expressions.
MATE DIGGER
OH MY GOD STRUTH
They are friendly and helpful people with a great sense of humor.
Australian television: the SBS channel has lots of good programs and documentary.
Australian people are compulsive buyers and Fishing in Australia is one of the most common
activities.
EDUCATION SYSTEM
Primary school starts at 5 years and students stay until 20 years old at school. Primary and
Secondary school are based on the student´s age. Students with problems are placed in
special classes.
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SPECIAL DATES
For this subject of the exposition, 12 volunteers took a little paper in which they had written
a special date for every month of the year. I took June and in this month, Australian people
celebrate the Queen´s birthday.
Australian most popular dish is called “Pavlova”. It is a mix between “meringue cake” and
“meringue with fruit”. It is very easy to make.
Australia is a big country which most of its citizens have established on the east coast. If you
want to travel to Australia you have some tips to take in account:
- In the distance between cities you may not find a gas station.
- Be aware of kangaroos.
Rugby (Australian Football League AFL, National Rugby League NRL, Rubgy Union League
RUF)
Surf one of the beach most popular sports due to the climate and culture.
2. USA
SITUATION
USA is located in the center of North America and it is formed by 50 states including Alaska
and Hawaii.
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We can highlight the Grand Canyon as one of the most important physical features in the
USA. The Grand Canyon is not the deepest canyon in the world. Scientists don´t know yet
how it was formed. As a curiosity, we can say that it snakes are pink.
The Rocky Mountains form a massive mountain range that stretches from Canada through
new Central Mexico.
CLIMATE
There are many different climates in the same country because is enormous. Hurricanes like
Katrina, Sandy devastated this country in 2012.
LANGUAGE
USA does not have a national official language. English is the most used language with a 79%
of the population using it. Spanish is the second most spoken language with 13% of the
population speaking it. Other languages like Chinese of French are also spoken in the USA.
DISCOVERY
Before 1492, the first North American was Vikings. In 1942, Cristobal Columbus discovers
this country and arrives to San Francisco. The 13 first colonies were created and in 1776 the
Independence War takes place.
In 1787 the New Constitution of the United States is signed and between 1861 and 1865 the
American Civil War takes place. This war was known as simply the Civil War and it was
fought to determine the survival of the Union or independence of the Confederacy.
The flag of the United States consists of thirteen equal horizontal red and white stripes and
a blue rectangle on the upper left bearing fifty small, white stars which represent the 50
states of the United States of America. The bald eagle is both the national bird and the
national animal of the United States of America.
The White House and the Statue of Liberty are two of the most known icons and symbols
from the States. The crown of this statue represents freedom and liberty. These two words
are also represented on the National anthem and on Uncle Sam song.
In the USA, the most famous traditions and festivities are: New Year´s Day, President´s Day
and Mother´s Day.
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FILMS AND LITERATURE
Citizen Cane and Jurassic Park are two of the most important american films. Friends,
Cheers, Beverly Hills 90210 and Breaking Bad or True Detective are famous american series
from the nineties and from the current years respectively.
EDUCATION
Each American State controls their Schools and Universities. The schools are formed by:
RELIGION
The two religions that have more supporters are Protestantism and Catholicism. Protestants
don´t believe in the Virginity of Maria, in Saints and Eucharist, in the Pope, the purgatory
and the images.
Other kind of religion such as the Unitarian Universalism represents their faith by the figure
of the Good Samaritan. Scientology considers Homosexuality as a perversion and a disease
and they have a Galactic sovereign called Xenu. And finally, the Amish reject technology,
their language is German and their lifestyle is very traditional with earth working and
livestock.
ACTIVITY
(See Annex 8)
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3. UK
SITUATION OF THE COUNTRY
The United Kingdom is located off the north-western coast of the continental Europe. It has
a total area of approximately 243.610 square kilometers.
According to the 2011 census, the total population of the United Kingdom was around
63,182,000.
The United Kingdom is formed by: England which capital is London, Wales which capital is
Cardiff, Scotland which capital is Edinburgh and Northern Ireland which capital is Belfast.
TYPICAL SYMBOLS
PATRIMONY
The most representative patrimony of the United Kingdom can be summarized in these 4
sites spread out around the UK:
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- The University of Oxford (informally Oxford University or simply Oxford) is a
collegiate research university located in Oxford, England. It the oldest university in
the English-speaking world, and the world's second-oldest surviving university. Harry
Potter was filmed in this University.
UK GOVERNMENT
The reigning monarch in the UK is Queen Elizabeth II whose main residence is Buckingham
Palace in London. Although titled as a kingdom, the UK is in fact a democracy with its seat of
Government situated in the capital city London at the Houses of Parliament.
The Government is divided into two levels known as houses — the House of Commons and
the House of Lords. The head of the Government is the Primer Minister David Cameron who
leads the House of Commons.
Over the centuries, Britain has welcomed people from all over the world both as residents
and as tourists. Having embraced people of different ethnic origin and religion. The
population of Britain is nowadays 60 million inhabitants.
WEATHER
The temperature in the UK varies between 9º and 18º in summer and 2º and 7º in winter. In
the north of the UK the temperatures are lower than in the South, and the rainfalls are
lower in the East than in the South.
RELIGION
The main religion is Christianity and Catholicism is the second most important. 33 million
people practice it. Other religions are accepted and welcomed: Muslim, Hinduism, Buddish,
Jewish…
COLONIALISM
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other
territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It was originated with the overseas
possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th
centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the
foremost global power.
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FASHION
British fashion is different from the fashion that comes from different countries around the
world. Often the shape of the clothes is a bit more aggressive.
The UK has many markets but Candem is one of the most popular. Candem is made up of
many different markets. The first market was called Camden Lock because it was next to the
canal. It first opened in 1972 and is now one of the largest markets in the UK. Half a million
people visit Candem market each week. But Candem is best known for fashion and famous
for punk.
Punks created their own cheap fashion with torn clothes, safety pins and spiky hair. Punk
fashion is still here today and it´s still about rejecting ordinary fashion and standing out, but
there are lots of ways of looking different.
However, Candem is not the only place for fashion. London Fashion Week, held twice a
year, is a great place to see clothes by British designers and the latest new fashion trends.
SPORTS
Cricket, Football, Rugby, Golf Basketball and Horse Racing are the most important sports in
the UK:
- Football is one of the most important sports in the UK. The English League has 42
professional clubs. In contrast with Spain, they don't have a national team.
- Rugby. American football is based on Rugby. Some time ago, it was only played by
rich people but nowadays it's popular around the world.
- Basketball. Three million people play basketball. There are two important leagues:
the BLL trophy and the BLL cup.
- Golf is very important in Scotland. There are 42 courses only in that country.
- -Horse racing gives 3 billion pounds to the British economy. There are meetings each
day during a year.
There are two Education Systems, the one held in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that
emphasizes education above all. And another different one in Scotland that emphasises
amplitude.
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A curiosity from the Education System in Scotland is that in Primary School, children change
their course level each two years, not each one as we are used to here in Spain.
There are two types of school which are State Schools free to all children between the ages
of 5-16, and Independent Schools (Private/Public Schools) in which parents pay for their
children education.
CURRENCY
The pound sterling (£) commonly known simply as the pound, is the official currency of
the United Kingdom.
- The first one is bread. A slice of bread is as elemental as the fork or the knife in
Spain.
- Serviette/Napkin: We have the necessity to clean our mouth when we are eating,
but this is not important for British people.
- Water: Some British people drink water when they are eating, but this is not usual.
The majority drink other drinks such as juice, beer or soft-drink (refresco).
- Table talk: The Spanish table talk is sacred. Even, at the holiday days, the table talk
can extend until the dinner.
- 3 p.m. time for lunch: The Spanish time to eat is at 3 p.m. At this time, there is no
one on the street because everyone is eating. However, in the UK, the time to eat is
between 12pm and 14 pm.
- Another Spanish tradition is eating while watching the news at 3 p.m.
FOOD
- Tea is drunk sometimes with milk. Marmalade is similar to jam but made only from
bitter oranges from Spain or Portugal.
- Take-away meals are very popular and most towns have a selection of Indian,
Italian, Chinese and Greek restaurants.
- Fish and chips is the classic English take-away food and is the traditional national
food of England. Traditionally, it was eaten straight out of the newspaper which they
were wrapped in, however, nowadays is served in more hygienic paper.
- Pies are very popular in England and they are a baked dish consisting of a filling such
as chopped meat or fruit enclosed in or covered with pastry (a mixture of flour and
butter). Yorkshire pudding is eaten as a starter.
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However, vegetable and salad oils have largely replaced the use of butter.
- Roast beef is still the national culinary pride. It is served with roasted potatoes,
Yorkshire pudding, two vegetables, a good strong horseradish, gravy, and mustard.
- British cheeses: blue cheese, cheddar, red Leicester, Cheshire cheese, White
Stilton cheese prepared with blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, among others.
LITERATURE
The most famous British children literature can be summarized in three main very famous
characters such as:
- Peppa Pig created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker, is one of the most loved
cartoon series from children all over the world.
- Teletubbies is a BBC TV program with baby and preschool children oriented contents
produced from 1997 until 2001 by Ragdoll Productions.
Finally, Thomas the Tank Engine is a small fictional steam locomotive in The Railway Series
books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher. He became the most
popular character in the series, and is the titular character in the accompanying television
spin-off series, Thomas & Friends.
The most popular groups of music of the United Kingdom are Oasis, The Beatles, The Rolling
Stones…
Some popular films are Harry Potter, Love actually, Notting Hill…
HUMOUR
Two of the most famous British humorists in the UK are Benny Hill and Mr.Bean.
BRITISH EXPRESSIONS
British people have particular ways of speaking and typical expressions that must be
mentioned:
- Apple doesn’t fall far away from the tree: De tal palo tal astilla
- Between the devil and deep blue sea: Entre la espada y la pared
- Don’t give that jazz!: ¡No me vengas con cuentos!
- For God’s sake!: ¡Madre del amor hermoso!
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4. Canada
EDUCATION
Education is a provincial responsibility under the Canadian constitution, which means that
there are differences between the education systems of the different provinces and
standards across the country are uniformly high.
Canadian children attend kindergarten for one or two years at the age of four or five on a
voluntary basis. All children begin Grade One at about six years of age.
The school year normally runs from September through the following June but in some
instances, January intake dates are possible.
English: the English which is spoken in Canada it is similar as USA. Although there are some
influences of French and some singularities of Canada.
French: the most important way to speak French in Canada is Quebecoise, it is mean, the
speaking of Quebec. The dialect spoken in the Canadian province comes from the popular
French spoken in the streets of Paris between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The Quebecoise is a dialect which people speak in this area.
Canada is divided in 10 regions:
• English: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan Yukon, Northwest and Nunavut.
• French: Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nuevo Brunswick, Nueva Escocia, Prince Edward
Island, y Terranova y Labrador.
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RELIGION
The Catholics are the majority, and after them, we have the Orthodox.
MUSIC
Canadian music genres: metal, classical, rock, blues, hip hop, jazz, country, traditional, folk,
industrial, punk…
CANADIAN GOVERNMENT
The political system of Canada is the Westminster system, which was established in the
British parliament through the Constitutional Act of 1867, but the federal model and the
power division were established by the Canadian politicians.
The queen Isabel II is the formal head of state of Canada. The general governor represents
the queen in Canada and exercises as the head of state.
CANADIAN CARTOONS
LIFESTYLE
- Food: Canadian bacon (which is different from American and Spanish bacon),
maple syrup, cheese, cheese, and more cheese (especially cheddar).
- How they greet and act around each other: Canadians greet each other with a
simple smile, a nod of the head, a brief hello.
- Equality, tolerance and openness: Canada is quite an open and class-free
society were all of its nationalities feel that everyone has the same rights, no
matter their sex, race, religion or culture. They are known for their openness
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and tolerance, they have encouraged immigration for centuries and celebrate
Pride Day.
- Humour: Canadian humour is based on jokes that seem to mock the
idiosyncrasy. For example, cultural comparisons with the United States.
5. India
SITUATION
It is located in South Asia and it is the seventh-largest in the world by area and the second-
most populous with over 1.2 thousand million people.
India is a pluralistic, multilingual, and a multi-ethnic society.
GEOGRAPHY
The country is formed by the main territory, the Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands and
Laquedivas Islands. It is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.
ECONOMY
Its economy is one of the richest in the world; the seventh-largest nominal GPD (PIB)
although there is still a lot of people in state of poverty.
TAJ MAHAL
Taj Mahal is one of the most famous buildings around the world. It is influenced by different
culture, such as the turkish, islamic and persian.
The most remarkable differences is how marriages are arranged. In the most part of Europe,
people is free to choose who they want to marry. That does not happen in India. Here, the
“father” of the family arranges the marriage.
The bride has to provide a dowry or, at least, she had to. In the past, women could not
receive any sort of heritage, so this tradition has kept going on with the time.
In public and religious sites, the Indian women label clothing prevents exposure of skin and
wear transparent or tight clothes. “Showing skin” is thought as an offense.
Man clothing: Dhoti Lungi, kurtas, pajamas,
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GREAT STUPA
Great Stupa is one of the oldest structures of India. It is built over the relics of the Buddha
and it is crowned by the Chatra, a parasol-like structure symbolizing high rank which is
intended to honor and shelter the relics.
SPANISH VS. INDIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
Indian’s educational system is pretty similar to the Spanish old one. It has three stages:
preschool, primary and secondary. Indian’s preschool stage only has one difference
compared to the Spanish one: it is not obligatory. People can choose if they want their
children to go.
Indian’s primary stage is extended until the students are 14 years old, like Spain’s old
system. India’s secondary stage is grouped with our bachillerato, so they study there 4 years
(14 to 18).
Here the course begins at the end of June or July and finish in Mars or April.
INDIAN THEATRE
In the Indian theatre, a lot of mythological stories are included, as well as religious
references and celebrations or rituals. The act has a lot of dance on it.
The Natya Shastra is a typical Indian play. It talks about the origin of drama. The Sage
Baratha wrote this play with his 100 children and described how the theatre will be, the
feelings, the gestures, the metrical patterns, the styles…
Is a meditation Hall near Gorai, in the North-west of Mumbai, India. It was inaugurated in
2009 by the President of India. People come here to get peace and harmony. It has been
built out of gratitude to the Buddha.
Traditional Indian dances. For us is a physical expression of art, dedication and devotion. It is
much older than you could imagine, it’s 5000 years old. It is thought it was created by
Brahma to give joy in life to the gods. Classical dances have been modified and redefined
from time to time. But we really work on is in the classical dances Bharata Natyam,
Kathakali, Kathak, Manipuri, Kuchipudi and my favourite Odissi.
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INDIAN WRITING SYSTEM
Earliest known writing systems came from India. Unfortunately, we can't read the Harappan
writing yet. The writing was in pictographs, like Egyptian hieroglyphs. After the Aryan
invasion, the Harappan writing was forgotten, and nobody in India could write at all for the
next thousand years.
When people did start to write again, it may have been an idea they got from seeing
Persians write. But the Indians did not use Persian script. Instead, they used an alphabetic
writing called Sanskrit. One of the first things they wrote down was a poem called the Rig
Veda.
TYPICAL FOOD
Traditional meals: Roti, a type of bread. This is made without flavor and using ghee, the
most common butter in India. It is usually eaten with curry and vegetables and is typical
from the north of India.
Traditional south meal: rasam.
It is a soup that could be cooked in different ways but the most traditional is those in which
is made with tomatoes, tomato juice, lentil, vegetables, spices, rice, warm water and
pepper, and tamarinds.
Tifferent celebrations such as the Independence Day, the republic day, the workers day, and
also the Gandhi jayanti which commemorates the Mahatma Gandhi born and the Dree,
Dree is one of the tribal festivals of India which is celebrated by Apatanis Ziro valley of
Arunachal Pradesh, which is the state in eastern tip of India.
6. Ireland
GEOGRAPHY
Ireland is also called EMERALD ISLE. It has 4 different regions and a lot of Counties. It is
situated in the North Atlantic separated from the west coast of Great Britain by the North
Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. It is the second-largest island of the British
Isles after Great Britain, the third-largest in Europe and the twentieth-largest on Earth.
Landscapes are located at the southwestern edge of the Burren region in County Clare,
Ireland. The cliffs and from atop the tower, visitors can see the Aran Islands in Galway Bay,
the Maumturks and Twelve Pins mountain ranges to the north in County Galway, and Loop
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Head to the south. The cliffs rank amongst the top visited tourist sites in Ireland, and receive
almost one million visitors a year.
The Shamrock represents the Holly Trinity Father, the Holly Spirit and the Son. The Celtic
cross connects the Earth World with the Spirit World. The heart from the Claddagh Rings
represents Love, the hands represent Friendship and the crown represents Loyalty.
The Leprechaun represents Magic, Rainbow, Gold and Luck.
FESTIVITIES
The main festivities in Ireland are St. Patrick´s day which is celebrated on the 17th of March.
Halloween which is based on a celebration called Samhain.
The Twelfth which is only celebrated on the 12th of July and de Pan Celtic Festival.
HISTORY
There was a famine period during 1740 and 1741 from which Irish people could survive
because of potatoes.
In “The Troubles” there was a conflict between the two bands Unionists and Republican.
GOVERNMENT
LANGUAGE
In Northern Ireland, people normally speak Enlighs, however in Southern Ireland, signals are
normally written in Irish. Hello! In English is equivalent to Dia dhuit! In Irish.
If they ask us What´s the craic? That it is the same as How do you do? We could answer
“The craic is Mighty”.
EDUCATION
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LIFESTYLE
Beer is one of the most common drinks in Ireland, if not the most, and there are several
kinds: ALE, STOUT and CIDER.
Scones are also much known, they are like little muffins.
There are also a lot of musical instruments, Irish music is very well-known. The instruments
are: the harp, the bag-piper, the violin, the accordion, the whistle… One important Irish film
is “Angela´s Ashes” from Michael Collins.
SPORTS
Rugby is a very important sport in this country. But also HURLING which is played with a
kind of stick.
LITERATURE
RELIGION
There are many practiced religions in Ireland like Christianism, Buddism or people without
religion among others.
In Northern Ireland, people are mostly Protestants and in Ireland, most of them are
Catholics.
ACTIVITY
(See Annex 9)
• Option 1: fill your AIE straight away using the pdf document.
(See Annex 10)
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SECCIÓN C: Culture and language learning.
The place of culture in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages:
learning, teaching, assessment
In this class, we carried out an activity of the Common European Framework of Reference
for Languages. We found information on the website of the Virtual Centre Cervantes and
then we focused on sociolinguistic and pragmatic competence. For groups we had to think
about activities related with these competences intended for a class of primary school
students and how we would perform them in class. Regarding my group, our activities about
sociolinguistic competence were:
The linguistic markers of social relations: daily repetition and application/use in
activities.
The rules of courtesy: explanatory video and flash-cards.
The expressions of popular wisdom: theatres and tales.
Differences in the registers: roles adapted for children.
Dialect and accent: listening’s and songs.
- Gamification (game) is also a very useful resource in class: class games and activities will be
carried out in pairs should be short to avoid dispersion. Through games you have more
control over them, so they can follow and accept the rules that you want to teach.
Once we have done in class a brainstorm about the activities of the sociolinguistic
competence, we return to the image "The iceberg concept of culture". If we analyse it
carefully we see two distinct parts of the culture. A part that is on the surface and
encompasses the fields of arts, literature, drama, popular music, games, cooking… and
another one that is under the visible surface and that includes concepts such as the notions
of modesty, conceptions of beauty, ideals governing child raising, relationship to animals ...
Then, the teacher started talking us about the SAL method created by Albino Fantini. This
method establishes three facts: Socio facts, Lingua facts and Arti facts. From these facts we
can teach children a new language based on Arti facts and society because we are
accustomed to teach the language to students only from the Lingua facts. And with this way,
we will help children to understand the language that they are learning.
In the last few minutes of class, Carmen played us a video about how a teacher taught
children the difference between a boy and a girl. 24 minutes had passed and the students
still did not know if they were boys or girls and although the teacher had used dynamic and
striking activities, she had only used the Lingua facts and had forgotten the Social and Arti
facts.
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2. Marco normativo: La cultura en la normativa educativa de aplicación
en la Comunitat Valenciana.
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ANNEX
35
Annex 2: Contract and MY PREFERENCES+YOUR
PREFERENCES=CONFLICT?
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Annex 3: Information about intercultural dialogues.
(http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/dialogue/intercultural-dialogue/)
(http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/intercultural/concept_EN.asp)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10
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Annex 8: USA activity
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Annex 9: Ireland activity
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Annex 10: Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters.
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Annex 11: Lesson Plan
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