Tema 5 PDF

Temario
LENGUA EXTRANJERA
INGLÉS
5
Marco geográfico, histórico y cultural
de los países de habla inglesa.
Aplicación didáctica de los aspectos
geográficos, históricos y culturales
más significativos.
12-27001-13
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1. SOCIOCULTURAL COMPETENCE: GEOGRAPHICAL,

HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ASPECTS OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES
1.1. THE UNITED KINGDOM
1.2. THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
1.3. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
1.4. CANADA
1.5. AUSTRALIA
1.6. THE COMMONWEALTH
2. METHODOLOGY
3. APPLICATION TO THE CLASSROOM
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INTRODUCTION
English is the second most widely spoken language in the world, only
behind Mandarin Chinese. It is widely spoken in all the six continents,
where it has a strong and also different influence depending on the re-
gion. English is the main language in some countries like Great Britain,
the United States of America and Australia, whereas in others like India,
Canada, Nigeria or Pakistan, although it shares its importance with other
languages, it is also an official one and the English-speaking community
is large and solid. It has also great repercussions on other languages like
Spanish or French, which have absorbed a lot of English expressions and
terms, incorporating and mixing them with their own vocabulary.
In this unit, we are going to focus on different English-speaking regions,
all of them important and relevant in the global world context. In or-
der to adapt ourselves to time restrictions, we are going to provide an
outline of their most significant geographical, demographical, historical
and cultural characteristics, with the purpose of presenting a general
overview of their situation and most distinctive features. After this, we
will study the concept of socio-cultural competence in order to apply all
these notions to the foreign-language classroom.
Remember that according to the Royal decree 126/2014, of 28th February,

where the basic curriculum of the Primary Education is established, one of
the competences which must be acquired by the pupils is that of cultural
conscience and expression.
This unit is related to Units 6, 13, 14, 18, 22 and 25 since it deals with the
theme of methodology.
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1 SOCIOCULTURAL COMPETENCE: GEOGRAPHICAL,

HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ASPECTS
OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES
It is formed by England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its full name is the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland but from now on, we will refer
to it using the official abbreviation: the UK. It is a founding member of the Com-
monwealth and has been part of the European Union since 1973.
England, Wales and Scotland form Great Britain. The United Kingdom is the union
of these three countries plus Northern Ireland. The national capital of the UK is
London, in the south-eastern corner of England, by the River Thames.
The most important feature of the UK’s landscape is its low elevation. Most of its
territory is lower than 200 m. However, it has an uneven landscape, mainly for-
med by gently sloping hills. At the same time, it is also a very varied territory, so it
was affected by three orogenies (Caledonian, Hercynian and Alpine) that created a
complex and diverse relief.
The territory within the estuaries of the rivers Tees and Exe is known as the Lowlands.
The northern sector is called the Highlands and it is composed by ancient and
cracked material blocks, influenced by glaciation, erosion and faults. Lowland ma-
terials are much newer.
Caledonian orogeny marked the landscape’s orientation from northeast to
southwest whereas Alpine orogeny defined it.
Massifs (from North to South):
Highlands: In the Northeast (north-western area, Scotland).
Grampian Mountains: Separated from the Highlands by the Great Glen Fault,
where Loch Ness is. Down the Grampian Mountains, we find a depressed area
known as the Midland Valley.
If we continue to the south, we find the Southern Uplands.
After them, the Pennine Mountains appear.
The Cambrian Mountains are the most important geographical feature in Wales.
The Lowlands were very important sediment deposits that Alpine orogeny defor-
med and folded up. Erosion has created a landscaped characterized by soft hills
also known as ‘The Chalk’ .
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Depressed territories such as the London area received Tertiary period sediments
that progressively filled these zones. During the Quaternary, most parts of the UK
were covered with ice. This ice is responsible for most of the forms of British to-
pography today. It rounded off the tops, produced cirques (rounded and depres-
sed areas) lakes, and glacial valleys. All these events favoured the creation of lake
groups such as the Lake District (in the Cumberland Valley opposite the Isle of
Man) and fiords.
The UK seaboard is very steep and sawn off, due to the northeast fiords and the
sea, which rose and encroached on the lower parts of the rivers to form estuaries.
In Scotland, we find four important firths (estuaries) grouped together: Moray, Lor-
ne, Forth and Clyde. This phenomenon also occurs in certain southwest regions.
Vegetation in the UK is poor, for only around the 10 percent of the territory can be
considered forest. From this percentage, approximately 50 percent are deciduous
species and 25 percent conifers.
The climate in the UK is temperate for a number of reasons. The effect of the At-
lantic Ocean, the marine currents coming from the Caribbean and the different air
masses affecting the islands create moderate temperatures but they also provide
high humidity levels across the whole territory. Temperatures may vary depending
on the region, ranging between the annual averages of 13 °C in England and 10 °C
in Scotland. Rain is also an important phenomenon in the country.
The UK’s hydrography is not very important and is composed mainly of small ba-
sins. The most important ones are the Thames and the Severn, in the south. Other
significant hydrographical accidents are the Ouse, the Trent, the Tweed, the Forth,
the Tay…
Today, the UK population numbers more than 60 million people. Data from 2010
estimates it at 62-63 million inhabitants. Global population density in its territory is
close to 258 inahabitants/km2 one of the highest in the European Union.
Population growth in the UK (and almost all the industrialised countries) now falls
within what is known as the modern demographic regime: that is, slow growth,
and low birth and mortality levels. These are estimations of some relevant current
demographic data:
Birth rate: 1.1%.
Mortality: 0.93%.
Child Mortality: 0.46%.
Natural Population Growth: 0.55%
Life Expectancy:
a) Men: 77.7 years.
b) Women: 81.9 years.
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Now we are going to take a look at the distribution of this population by country:
England has about 80 percent of the UK population, with a very high density of
population with differences between the North shires, with lower demographic
rates and the London conurbation with a high percentage of inhabitants per km2.
Six of the seven conurbations in the UK are in England:
−− Tyneside conurbation (centre of population Newcastle).
−− Yorkshire conurbation (centre Leeds).
−− Lancashire conurbation (centre Manchester).
−− Merseyside conurbation (centre Liverpool).
−− Midlands (centre Birmingham).
−− London area (centre London).
Other important cities are: Middlesbrough, Nottingham, Bristol, Brighton and
Portsmouth.
Scotland: Here, we find the seventh conurbation, Glasgow, although the politi-
cal centre is Edinburgh. Most of the Scottish population, which numbers more
than 5 million, lives near the coast.
Wales: the population numbers almost 3 million people. The most inhabited
part is the South with Cardiff as its most important city.
Northern Ireland: has a population of about 2 million people (1.800.000 inha-
bitants approx.). The East Coast, the Down Shire, is the most populous area, with
Belfast as its most important city and the capital.
The growth of the UK population has been due to historical factors. Migratory cu-
rrents have had a huge impact on the UK’s demography. People from different
parts of the world and different centuries have been going to the British Isles, some
for political or religious reasons, others for economic ones. After 1945, large num-
bers of European refugees settled in UK. Emigrants from the West Indies and South
Asia arrived in the 1950’s and 60’s. In the 1970’s, immigrants from Latin America
and Asia also sought refuge in Britain. People from the old Commonwealth (India,
Pakistan and Bangladesh) make up more than one half of the total ethnic minority.
Immigration has contributed to population growth; in fact, it meant that half the
population increased in the final years of the 20th century.
Most of the emigrant population lives in urban areas. The growth in ethnic minori-
ties has enriched the cultural fabric of Britain but also added social tensions.
Early English history, like most European countries, is characterised by invasions.
Romans were the first invaders in the 1st century. The Nordic tribes (Angles, Saxons
and Jutes) in the 5th century were the next invaders, followed by the Vikings until
the arrival of Normans who conquered England in 1066. The arrival of William of
Normandy brought the French language which was used for centuries and in-
fluenced the native language.
Ireland was conquered by the English king, Henry II (1154-1189). His son John
(1199-1216) was compelled to grant the nobles the first Magna Carta (1215). His
successor, Edward I, conquered Wales and established the first parliament.
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Scotland has been under the influence of the English since the 11th century but it
was in 1707 that they assented to the Act of Union. Ireland signed its Act of Union
in 1801, but the continuous differences between the two countries led to revolu-
tionary disorders that culminated in 1921 with the concession of dominion status
to the Irish State. After the Second World War, it became the independent Republic
of Ireland. Northern Ireland, the six counties that historically formed Ulster, remai-
ned in the United Kingdom.
Under the reign of George III, in 1783, American colonies won independence and
in this way the British Empire diminished. But in the 19th century, during Queen
Victoria’s reign, Britain’s colonial expansion reached its zenith, despite of Canada
and Australia’s achievement of independence (the former in 1867, and the latter in
1901). The Industrial Revolution took place in the first half of the 19th century and
gave rise to the industrial cities as we know them today.
In World War I and World War II, the United Kingdom came into war fighting against
German and Japanese forces. After World War II, Northern Ireland became a pro-
blem because of the differences between Catholics, who wanted union with the
Republic of Ireland, and Protestants, seeking to remain in the United Kingdom.
In 1990, Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister. Her monetary policy, her
cutting back on social services and education, the economic situation with high
rates of inflation and interest and her decision to send British forces into the Gulf
to participate in the United Nations task force against the Iraq government divided
the country.
The question of integration into Europe was another problem for the Conservati-
ve government. In 1973 the UK joined the European Economic Community with
great resistance, as we can see from the response to the Maastricht Treaty or cu-
rrent resistance to joining the European monetary union. In 1990, the Thatcher
Era came to an end. The main achievement of the Iron Lady was, for many British
people, the restoration of British pride after the Falklands victory.
John Major was elected Prime Minister with the intention of keeping alive the
same program as Margaret Thatcher and keeping the Conservative party in power.
But the reaction against Europe, economic problems, and the indecisive leaders-
hip of John Major swept the Labour Party to power in 1997.
The Labour Party won the 2001 and 2005 General Elections. During these years the
country’s expansion continued until the September 11th attacks in the United States.
The fight against international terrorism (the so-called War on Terror), the conflict
in Afghanistan with British troops supporting the Americans and the invasion of
Iraq supported by Tony Blair, increased the terrorist attacks against the UK. On
7th July 2005, four bomb explosions struck London’s public transport system. 52
people were killed.
In 2007 Gordon Brown was elected leader of the Labour Party and became Prime
Minister. The economic crisis of 2008 and subsequent years meant an end to credit,
a reduction in consumption and the deprecation of sterling, which fell 25 percent
against the euro and also brought an increase in import costs.
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The economic situation, with the UK in recession until the end of 2009, resulted in
the Conservative Party led by David Cameron winning the largest number of seats
since 1974 and forming with the Liberal Democrats the first coalition government
since the end of World War II.
Finally, the current conservative prime minister, Theresa May, faces the process of
great uncertainty generated after the Brexit.
The UK’s is the oldest and most influential of the English-language cultures in the
world. All its different fields and features have inevitably affected not only the ones
we will mention later, but probably most of the artistic expressions we know.
The UK has produced some of the world’s finest literature and prolific writers. If
we group together the different literary traditions of the four parts of the country
this gives us one of the richest and most significant literary outputs in history. The
UK’s novel genre encompasses all the topics and styles we can imagine. From the
earliest writers like Daniel Defoe to Joseph Conrad and William Golding, along with
the 19th-century authors like Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, the UK’s literary fra-
mework has given us some of the major works we all recognize: Oliver Twist, Pride
and Prejudice, Robinson Crusoe, The Lord of the Flies, The Heart of Darkness… But it
would be unfair not to mention other writers and works which also marked the de-
velopment of world’s literature. Robert Louis Stevenson (Treasure Island), H. G. Wells
(The War of the Worlds), George Orwell (1984), Arthur Conan Doyle (the Sherlock Hol-
mes series), Lewis Carroll (Alice’s adventures in Wonderland), Virginia Woolf (Orlando),
Aldous Huxley (Brave New World)… If we focus on the UK’s poetic output, the va-
riety and quality is almost the same. The first great and renowned poets appeared
in the 16th century during the English Renaissance. The finest exponents from this
first wave of poets included Thomas Wyatt and Sir Phillip Sydney. These authors
laid the foundations for subsequent trends and movements which include poets
like Percy Shelley, John Keats and William Butler Yeats. This tradition culminated in
a strong generation of poets in the 20th century. The most important name here is,
no doubt, the Nobel Prize winner (and also renowned short-story writer) Rudyard
Kipling (Barrack-Rooms Ballads, The Five Nations).
British drama is probably as important as its literary output. The best-known British
writer within this field is, obviously, William Shakespeare. Some of his most impor-
tant works are Hamlet, Othello and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. But we must not
forget other playwrights like Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde (although both were Irish,
they wrote most of their works in the UK) and Harold Pinter, who created gems
like Pygmalion, Salome and The Caretaker. Nowadays, British theatre is following the
same path as the USA and turning to the musical genre. Shows like Cats, Evita and
We Will Rock You are been, or have been, performed there, achieving a great success.
UK cinema has provided Hollywood with great actors and directors. The past and
present cinema framework cannot be understood without the contribution of some
British artists. Among the actors, we have to mention pioneers like Charles Chaplin,
Cary Grant and present Hollywood stars like Sean Connery or Anthony Hopkins.
The most famous British director is Alfred Hitchcock. His collaborations with the
Hollywood film industry gave us titles like Strangers on a Train, Vertigo and The Birds.
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But some titles created on British soil have also achieved great success and had
worldwide repercussions. This is the case of films like Lawrence of Arabia, Chariots of
Fire and The Piano.
The UK’s music has covered a wide variety of styles. Notable British composers are
Henry Bishop, William Walton and, most recently, Mike Oldfield. Orchestras have
also played an important role, headed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and
the London Symphony Orchestra. However, the best-known artists from the UK
come from the field of pop and rock music. Among them, we find outstanding
groups like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Clash and The Police. Singers like
David Bowie and Elvis Costello are also British. Nowadays music is also influenced
by a wave of British bands. This group include such big names as Coldplay, Muse
and Radiohead.
The Republic of Ireland is one of the largest islands in Europe and its physical lands-
cape has diverse features. In the north and west of the country, we find some of
its most important mountains, such as Errigal (752 m) or Croagh Patrick (765 m) or
the country’s highest peak, Carrantuohill (1,041 m). The centre of the country is a
vast plain, interrupted and surrounded by different mountain chains and hills. In
the coast, the most relevant features are the cliffs (Moher, for example), which are
one of the most important ones in Western Europe.
Climate in Ireland is mild and equable, with low temperature ranges throughout
the country. Although it is a wet territory, rainfall is much heavier in the west part of
the country. This feature is easy to prove if we compare the 3,000 mm year average
in Kerry, Mayo or Donegal with the 780 mm in Dublin.
Due to its continuous precipitations, Ireland has varied vegetation, from conifers
and mixed forests (least important now after the massive cuttings during the 17th
century) to vast plains, farmlands and extensive grass formations.
The most important river in the country is River Shannon, 340 km in length.
Ireland has a population of around 4.600.000 inhabitants. The island is divided into
four provinces, Connacht, Munster, Leinster and Ulster, although the latter is ‘sha-
red’ both by the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. Its most important
cities are Dublin (the capital), Galway, Cork and Belfast.
Irish history is marked by two major events. The first one was the different inva-
sions that the country had to suffer, first by the Vikings and subsequently by the
Normans and the English. This last invasion led to the second period of Irish his-
tory: British dominance. This situation continued until the rise of nationalism fight
(headed in first place by Daniel O’Connell) provoked the partition of the country,
which, with the signature of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921, was divided into the
Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, a region under UK’s control. This social
context was the reason for constant political fights and terrorist attacks by the IRA
during the second half of the 20th century. In 1998, both parties signed the Belfast
Agreement and violence stopped. Both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ire-
land are part of the European Economic Community since 1973.
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Ireland has provided many important artists and works to popular culture. Despite
the Gaelic inheritance, Irish literature and drama main works are written in English.
These genres have their main exponents in writers such as James Joyce (Ulysses,
Dubliners…), Jonathan Swift (Gulliver’s Travels) and Nobel Prize winners, George
Bernard Shaw and the aforementioned Samuel Beckett. But its contribution to cul-
ture goes even further, with relevant contemporary musicians such as Van Morri-
son or painters such as Jack Yeats or William Orpen. Irish film industry is not a very
strong one, however, the country is the birthplace of important past-and-present
Hollywood stars such as Maureen O’Hara, Peter O’Toole, Daniel Day-Lewis or Liam
Neeson.
The United States of America is one of the most powerful and important countries
in the world in many aspects. From now on, we will refer to it using two different
abbreviations: the USA or US.
The sheer size of the country makes it very difficult to generalize about its geo-
graphical relief. The USA’s physical geography can be divided into several sectors
which we are going to analyze next. It is important to say that there is another relief
unit known as the Laurentian Uplands, which is mainly part of the Canadian Shield
but also dips into the USA through the Great Lakes region. The area in US territory
is formed by continental ice sheets that covered the northern part of the land du-
ring the Cenozoic era. The southern part of this area is formed by a line of terminal
moraines that goes from East Long Island in the west to the Rocky Mountains in
the east. The northern region is covered with glacial materials, so Alaska and the
mountains in the northwest of the USA were heavily eroded and had extensive
mountain glaciers. In this sector we can also find important glacial lakes such as
the Great Salt Lake, Lake Bonneville and Lahontan Lake.
Let’s start now with the seven other sectors:
The East and the Gulf Coast: The Atlantic-Gulf Coastal Plain extends along the east
and southeast coasts of the United States; Cape Cod and the islands off southeast
Massachusetts are also part of this region. The Atlantic Coastal Plain narrows in
the north but widens in the south, where it merges with the Gulf Coastal Plain in
Florida. The Atlantic and Gulf coasts are essentially coastlines of submergence, with
numerous estuaries, islands, sandpits, and barrier beaches backed by lagoons. The
best example of this lagoon-line is the great delta of the Mississippi River.
The Atlantic Coastal Plain rises in the west to the rolling Piedmont, a hilly zone that
serves as a transitional point that leads to the Appalachian Mountains. In East New
England, the Appalachians extend in a few places to the Atlantic Ocean, creating
a rocky, irregular coastline. The Appalachians and the Adirondack Mountains of
New York (geologically related to the Canadian Shield) include the most important
highlands in the East United States; Mt. Mitchell (2,037 m), in the Black Mountains
of North Carolina, is the highest point in East North America.
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The Plains and Highlands of the Interior: The Interior Plains stretch for more
than 1,610 km, from the Appalachians to the Rocky Mountains. They lie between
Canada (in the north) and the Gulf Coastal Plain (in the south) and are underlain by
sedimentary rock. Almost the whole region is drained by one of the world’s grea-
test river systems: the Mississippi-Missouri. The Interior Plains may be divided into
two different parts: the fertile central lowlands, which are the agricultural engine
of the United States, and the Great Plains, a treeless area that rises from the central
lowlands to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
The Interior Highlands are located in the western area of the Mississippi River. This
region is formed by the rolling Ozark Plateau in the northern area and the Ouachita
Mountains in the east.
The Western Mountains and Great Basin: West of the Great Plains we find the
Rocky Mountains. This geologically young system extends into the northwest of
United States from Canada and runs south into New Mexico. The Rocky Mountains
can be subdivided into four sectors: the Northern Rockies, the Middle Rockies, the
Wyoming Basin and the Southern Rockies. They are formed by numerous high
peaks like Mount Elbert (4,399 m).
The Intermontane Region is a territory between the Rocky Mountains and the high
ranges in the west. It is an arid expanse of plateaus, basins, and ranges. The Colum-
bia Plateau, in the north of the region, was formed by volcanic lava and is drained
by the Columbia River and its affluent, the Snake River. The enormous Colorado
Plateau, an area of sedimentary rock, is drained by the Colorado River and its tri-
butaries which have formed the Grand Canyon. West of the plateaus is the Basin
and Range province, a wide, semi-desert area. Here we find the lowest point in
North America, Death Valley, which is 86 m below sea level. The largest basin in
the region is the Great Basin, an area with important hydrographical features such
as the Humboldt River and the Great Salt Lake. Between the Intermontane Region
and the Pacific Ocean lies the Pacific Mountain System formed by faulting and vol-
canism. The Cascade Range extends south from Southwest Canada, first into North
California, and from there on to the Sierra Nevada, a great fault block. Here we find
Mount Whitney (4,418 m), the highest peak in this sector of the USA.
The Pacific Coast, Alaska, and Hawaii: West of the Cascades and the Sierra Ne-
vada, separated by a structural trough, we find the Coast Ranges, which extend
along the USA Pacific coast. The Central Valley in California, the Willamette Valley in
Oregon, and the Puget Sound lowlands in Washington are part of this trough. The
San Andreas Fault, a fracture in the earth’s crust, mimics the trend of the Coast Ran-
ges from South-eastern San Francisco Bay to North-western Mexico; earthquakes
are common throughout this area. The Pacific Coastal Plain is narrow, and in many
cases, the mountains plunge directly into the sea.
Alaska can be divided into four physiographic regions. From north to south, they
are: the Arctic Lowlands (the coastal plain of the Arctic Ocean); the Rocky Moun-
tain System, of which the Brooks Range is the northernmost section; the Central
Basins and Highlands Region, and the Pacific Mountain System, which spreads
parallel to Alaska’s southern coast and includes Mount McKinley (6,194 m),
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North America’s highest peak. The islands in the southeast region of Alaska
and those of the Aleutian Islands chain are partially submerged portions of the
Pacific Mountain System and are frequently subjected to volcanic activity and
earthquakes. Finally, and also in the Pacific Ocean, we find the volcanic-origin
Hawaiian Islands.
We have briefly mentioned some of the most important hydrographical features
in the United States. However, these were just a part of a wide inland waterway
system, much of which has been improved for navigation and to prevent flooding.
The Mississippi-Missouri river system (c. 3.890 mi/6,300 km long), is the longest in
the United States and the second longest in the world. With hundreds of impor-
tant tributaries such as the Red River, the Ohio, and the Arkansas, the Mississippi
basin drains more than half of the nation. The Yukon, the Columbia, the Colorado,
and the Rio Grande also have huge drainage basins.
The Great Salt Lake and Alaska’s Iliamna are the largest US lakes after the Great
Lakes and Lake of the Woods, which are shared with Canada.
The climate in the USA is very different depending on the region, varying from
the tropical rainforest of Hawaii and the tropical savannah in South Florida to the
subarctic and tundra climates of Alaska. East of the 100th meridian (the general
dividing line between the dry and humid climates) we find the humid subtropical
climate of the south-eastern US and the humid continental climate in the nor-
theast.
In the southwest part of the US we can find the deserts of the Basin and Range
province, with the hottest and driest spots in the United States. Along the Pacific
coast there appears a Mediterranean-type climate that affects southern Califor-
nia. If we continue to the north, we find a marine West Coast climate and one of
the wettest parts of the USA. Finally, the highest areas in the country have typical
highland climates.
The USA’s vegetation is as varied as its climate. In Northern Alaska, we find the
tundra, formed by mosses, lichens, low shrubs and flowering plants. Inland, and
to the south, appears the taiga, a forest mass with conifers, spruces and firs that
goes into New England and the Great Lakes region. Forest reaches its prime in
the North Carolina and Tennessee area. As we continue to the south, this density
starts to decrease. So, due to climate and soil conditions, the Gulf of Mexico area
cannot allow this kind of vegetation. Instead of this, we find pine trees, cypresses
and mangroves, whereas in the Florida region there are tropical and subtropical
species. Density is also scant in the regions west of the Appalachian Mountains.
The lush hardwood forests of the Mississippi Valley slowly become smaller in size
and density and give way to isolated stands of oak and grass prairies. Further west,
the climate becomes drier, leading to grass vegetation first and ending with desert
territories.
This emptiness is broken by the ranges of the Rocky Mountains, where we can
find relatively important vegetation masses. This group finishes when we enter the
Pacific States. Although we can find small vegetation masses, most of the territory
is desert with the cactus ‘forest’ from the Mojave Desert being its most important
feature.
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The US population is mainly focused on urban areas. More than the 80 percent of
its population lives in cities and demography in rural areas seems to be stationary
or even decreasing. According to 2010 data, more than 273 conurbations have
more than 100.000 inhabitants, 9 were above 1 million and 4 (New York, Chicago,
Los Angeles and Houston) had more than 2 million.
Immigration has played a huge role in the demographic framework of the US since
the beginning. After the settlement of the first European white colonies in the 14th
century, different migratory waves have affected the country. A large number of
Africans were transported to the country to work as slaves on the Southern plan-
tations. During the demographic expansion to the West, a new wave of European
immigration affected the USA, and Irish and Germans became the predominant
group. After the Civil War, the European tendency changed, and the most impor-
tant groups of immigrants came from Eastern countries. During the peak years of
immigration, between 1890 and 1924, more than 15 million immigrants arrived in
the United States. The immigration law of 1924 meant heavy restrictions for the-
se movements, creating a blockade which lasted until the mid-1960’s. Since the
1980’s, large numbers of new immigrants have arrived. In 2000, the proportion of
foreign-born people in the US population reached 11.1 percent the highest since
the 1930 census; more than 40 percent of the more than 31 million foreign-born
people had arrived since 1990.
According to these historical features, is easy to deduce the multicultural fra-
mework of the USA. Its population nowadays is around 313.000.000 inhabitants,
with European descendents being the most important group (approx. 80 percent
of the total number). Today’s most important minority is the Hispanic community,
which represents approximately 15 percent of the total population. African-Ame-
rican people account for 13 percent of the inhabitants, followed in importance
by people of Asian descent which are more than 3.5 percent of the total number.
Finally (and excluding less important communities such as Pacific Islanders) we
find the Native American group, which only represent approximately 1 percent of
the US population. This diversity also implies the presence of a huge variety of lan-
guages in the country. About 82 percent of the people speak English and about 12
percent speak Spanish as their first language. There are large numbers of speakers
of many other Indo-European and Asian languages, and most languages of the
world are spoken somewhere in the United States.
History of the US is short but full of events. Before America declared its indepen-
dence in 1776 a good number of countries had attempted to build their empires
in North America. First, the Spaniards reached Florida in 1513; the French explored
the Mississippi in 1673; the Russians reached Alaska in 1741; and the British settled
in 1607 in Jamestown and the ‘Pilgrim settlement’ took place in 1621 at Plymouth.
After the British defeated the French in 1763, the fight against the British policy and
government broke out in 1775. America declared its independence and won the
war against the British army in 1783.
Articles of Confederation were created to govern the new nation and after these
proved inadequate a new Constitution was drawn up, ratified and took effect in
1789. George Washington was the first President.
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The conquest of new west territories and the difference between the industrial
North and the agricultural South, which was based on slavery, created differences
and difficulties. The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, who advocated the pro-
hibition of slavery, led South Carolina to secede. Within a year, ten more Southern
states had joined South Carolina. The result was the Civil War which ended in 1865
but this did not heal the wounds and, in fact, segregation continued for almost a
hundred years.
The involvement of the United States in foreign affairs began with the war against
Spain and can still be seen today in the conflicts with Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan… in its
quest for world prominence. This desire for prominence led it to enter World War I
where it played a decisive role in the Allied victory.
The decade that followed the war was a period of prosperity that came to an end
in 1929 with the stock market crash and the start of the Great Depression.
The election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt heralded the beginning of a period of
recovery. His New Deal legislation revolutionised the country and full economic
recovery was achieved with the massive production on the eve of World War II. The
Allied victory in 1945 gave the United States the leadership of the Western world
but the beginning of a new war, the Cold War, with the Soviet Union.
The Cold War led to American intervention in Korea (1950-1953) and Vietnam
(1961-1973). Opposition to the Vietnam War and the fight for basic civil rights cau-
sed a moral crisis in the United States.
The economic problems, inflation and unemployment in the 1970’s, gave way to
an era of economic prosperity in the 1980’s. The 1990’s brought a change in eco-
nomic relationships with the emerging countries, Japan and Germany, and the
disintegration of the Soviet Union.
In response to the attack by Islamic terrorists on the World Trade Centre and the
Pentagon on September 11th 2001, George W. Bush, with the support of NATO
and the international community, launched Operation Enduring Freedom to
overthrow the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. In March 2003, President Bush, in an
alliance with other countries, including Spain, ordered the invasion of Iraq which
led to the overthrow and capture of Saddam Hussein.
The lack of popularity of this policy and the global economic recession led to the
election of Barack Obama, the first African-American president, on November
4th 2008, later suceeded by the republican president Donald Trump.
US culture is the most influential nowadays. Its current literature, cinema and thea-
tre are probably the best known worldwide.
US literature, although one of the most recent, has been really important and
given the world with excellent writers and works, especially from the 19th cen-
tury onwards. America’s first best-seller, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin
brought to light an excellent generation of novelists such as Edgar Allan Poe, Was-
hington Irving, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, Henry James
and others who left us works such as Moby Dick, The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn
and Daisy Miller.
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The 20th century was so prolific that it should be divided into at least in two parts.
In its early period, we find authors such as Edith Wharton, William Faulkner, John
Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway and Francis Scott Fitzgerald. These authors created
a varied body of magnificent literature that deals with many different topics and
includes classics such as The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, As I Lay Dying and
A Farewell to Arms. The second stage of this century produced a new generation
of authors, some of them still with us, who mainly reflect American post-war and
current reality, describing different aspects of American society, like immigration,
poverty, death and consumerism. This wide range of writers includes well-known
figures such as Saul Bellow, J. D. Salinger, John Updike, Philip Roth, E. L. Doctorow
or the most recent Don DeLillo and Thomas Pynchon, who are the main exponents
of the 21st century’s new literary wave. Among their works, we find novels that
have already become classics, like Updike’s ‘Rabbit’ series, Herzog, American Pasto-
ral, The Catcher in the Rye and White Noise.
We cannot forget to mention American’s poets and essayists. Some of the leading
figures of American poetry include Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot and, of course, the father
of American poetry, Walt Whitman (Leaves of Grass). Among the second writing
style, we should underline two 19th-century writers: Henry David Thoreau and Ral-
ph Waldo Emerson.
US theatre is also an important part of the world’s culture today. Although there
were previous important authors and works. US drama reached its peak during
the period between World War I and World War II. This period saw the appearance
of major figures such as Paul Green and George S. Kaufman who created works
like In Abraham’s Bosom or Guys and Dolls. This generation led to a new one in the
post-WWII period, headed by authors like Arthur Miller or Tennessee Williams with
Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Recently US theatre has moved towards the musical genre. Musicals like The Lion
King, Beauty and the Beast, and West Side Story remain audience hits, and have been
adapted and performed in many other countries.
Hollywood is the largest and most influential film industry in the world. It is based
in Los Angeles, California, and its movies form the history and the present of the
industry and include past and present directors and actors such as Alfred Hitch-
cock, Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Steven
Spielberg, George Clooney, Jack Nicholson, Woody Allen…, who have transcen-
ded screen frontiers. The public has them to thank for such legendary titles as The
Apartment, Annie Hall, E. T., Casablanca, Gone with the Wind…, which had an impact
on generations past and present and will probably do the same with the future
ones.
The US has also been the cradle of several important music styles. It has brought us
genres such as jazz, blues, country and, more recently, hip hop. It has also provided
major artists from other genres, such us Rock and Roll, as well as singer-songwri-
ters. Most of today’s most important mainstream singers are also American, and its
pop songs and performers are at the top of the hit parade worldwide.
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1.4. CANADA
With a wider territory than that of the United States, Canada covers most part of
the North-American continent. Its topography is extremely varied. In the east, the
mountainous maritime provinces have an irregular coastline on the Gulf of St.
Lawrence and the Atlantic. The St. Lawrence plain, covering most of southern Que-
bec and Ontario, and the interior continental plain, covering southern Manitoba
and Saskatchewan and most of Alberta, are the principal cultivable areas. West-
ward toward the Pacific, most of British Columbia, the Yukon, and part of western
Alberta are covered by parallel mountain ranges, including the Rockies. The Pacific
border of the coast range is ragged with fjords and channels. The highest point in
Canada is Mount Logan (19,850 ft; 6,050 m), which is in the Yukon. The most impor-
tant river systems are the Mackenzie and the St. Lawrence river.
Canada’s climate is not as cold all year around as some may believe. In winter, tem-
peratures fall below freezing point throughout most of the country, but the south-
western coast has a relatively mild climate. Along the Arctic Circle, mean tempe-
ratures are below freezing for seven months a year. During the summer months,
southern provinces often experience high levels of humidity and temperatures
that can surpass 30 degrees Celsius regularly. Western and south-eastern Canada
experience high rainfall, but the Prairies are dry with 250 mm to 500 mm of rain
every year. This difference in its weather conditions implies a high flora diversity,
including broadleaf and rainforests in the southern and western areas, deserts and
badlands in certain regions and arctic plains in the northern part of the country.
Canada has an estimated population close to 34 million inhabitants. Its most im-
portant cities are Toronto, with a population above 5 million people, Vancouver
and Montreal, both with more than 3 million people. The capital of the country is
Ottawa, with barely more than 1 million inhabitants in its metropolitan area.
Canada’s history is marked by intermittent and provisional settlements. Different
tribes and people occupied and left the territory until the first important and per-
manent French settlement in the 17th century, which created a colony known as
New France. In 1642, the Frenchs founded Montreal. But the English were also in-
terested in Canada and this rivalry will mark the next centuries in Canada’s history.
Between 1756 and 1763, both countries fought in the Seven Years War. The British
won, but the political situation in the country remained unstable until the establis-
hment of a Canadian central government in 1867 which was ruled from Ottawa,
the new capital. The end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century were
prosperous years for Canada, with a strong growth of its population and economy.
This situation changed during the 30’s, but Canada’s economy recovered after the
Second World War and during the 50’s and the 60’s, it has experienced a great
boom. Since then, the country has suffered more or less serious recessions, but
nowadays it has confirmed itself as one of the most important economic powers
in the world.
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Due to the different nationalities and influences composing its background, Cana-
dian culture is really diverse and prolific. Although not being as famous as that of
its neighbouring country, Canada has provided important artists and works in very
different genres. Some of its most famous writers are Nobel Prize nominee Marga-
ret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale) or Michael Ondaatje, best known for being the
author of the book in which Hollywood’s blockbuster The English Patient is based.
Canada’s own film (and also television) industry has grown stronger in the last de-
cade, but the country has been giving excellent figures to the field for a long time,
since film directors such as David Cronenberg and James Cameron are Canadian.
Toronto also organizes one of the most important film festivals in the world. The
country has a long tradition of outstanding painters. Since the appearance of the
‘Group of Seven’ at the beginning of the 20th century, the country has attended to
a continuous renewal of artists and artistic movements with great impact in mo-
dern art. The best examples are, probably, the ‘Eleven Group’ and individual pain-
ters like David Milne and Paul Kane, both centred in reflecting some of the most
important features of the country such as its traditions and landscapes.
1.5. AUSTRALIA
This country is ironically the sixth biggest country in the world and, at the same
time, it is part of the smallest continent.
Australia is one of the lowest-lying countries in the world. The whole continent was
once part of the ancient supercontinent known as Gondwana, which separated
over 200 million years ago into Africa, Australia and South America.
Australian territory is formed by very different materials, both ancient and new. The
rock variety created a very diverse landscape. Fossil records show that the desert
interior has been, at various times in the past, both beneath the sea and covered in
lush forest. The Great Dividing Range, which is the ‘spine’ of Australia, runs for 3,500
km down the Eastern seaboard separating the arid interior from the fertile coastal
lowlands. It runs from the northern tip of Queensland right down to Victoria in
the South. It is divided into three main blocks: the Mountains of Queensland, the
Macpherson Range and the Blue Mountains. The latest formation, west of Sydney,
was eroded by the many rivers that flowed through them, creating a vast canyon
extension mixed with hill ridges. Besides the Great Diving Range, there are other
elevations, mainly in the western area, where we can find massif chains relatively
low (between 1,000 and 1,500 m) alternated with desert areas.
After crossing the Great Diving Range, we descend into a different landscape
which is called the red heart of Australia. Hundreds upon hundreds of miles of
mostly flat, unchanging, arid landscape make up a desert area which is known
as the Outback. Here we can find some interesting geological features. The most
famous of these phenomena is the Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, a red sand-
stone monolith which stands alone in the middle of the desert.
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The predominant aridity of the country and the low average rainfall implies a lack
of hydrological features. The most important one is probably the Great Artesian
Basin, Australia’s most important water resource.
Australia’s climate and vegetation is as varied as its landscape. In the northern re-
gion, we find a tropical climate with a dry season. It is a hot climate with the hottest
season being also the most humid. It has high temperatures through the whole
year and its vegetation has tropical features. In the eastern region of the country,
a subtropical climate with hot summers and warm winters is found. The Tasmania
Island has its own weather characteristics. It is an oceanic climate, humid, with
strong rains almost throughout the whole year. Temperatures are lower than in the
rest of the country. The last climate type we find in this country is Mediterranean,
and it is found in the eastern regions of the country.
Australia’s population level is low. The country barely reaches the 20 million of
inhabitants, and, taking into account the wideness of the territory, demographic
density hardly verged on the 3 inhabitants/km2. There are three main reasons for
these data:
The geographic and climatic conditions: besides its extension, much of Australia’s
areas are difficult to populate since they are arid and desert zones.
Australia is a belated populated country. First settlers did not arrive until the
19th century.
The country suffered strong restrictions against immigration. Only since the
1980’s, Australia’s borders opened to receive migratory waves.
Australia’s population is basically concentrated in urban areas near the coast. This
country is one of the best examples of what we call ‘urban macrocephalia’ , this is, a
concentration of most part of the total population in a few, enormous cities. These
huge metropolises are Sydney (with more than 4 million inhabitants), Melbourne
(3 million), Brisbane (1.3 million), Adelaide and Perth (1 million approx.).
The first recorded European contact with Australia was in March 1606, when Dutch
explorer Willem Janszoon (1571-1638) charted the west coast of Cape York Penin-
sula in Queensland. Later that year, the Spanish explorer Luis Váez de Torres sai-
led through the strait separating Australia and Papua New Guinea. Over the next
two centuries, European explorers and traders continued charting the coastline of
Australia, then known as New Holland. In 1688, William Dampier became the first
British explorer and in 1770 Captain James Cook, aboard the Endeavour, extended
a scientific voyage to the South Pacific in order to further chart the east coast of
Australia and claim it for the British Crown.
Britain decided to use its new outpost as a penal colony. About 160.000 men and
women were brought to Australia as convicts from 1788 until penal transportation
ended in 1868. The convicts were joined by free immigrants beginning in the early
1790’s. The wool industry and the gold rushes of the 1850’s provided an impetus
for increasing numbers of free settlers to come to Australia.
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The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 through the federation of six
states under a single constitution. The non-Indigenous population at the time of
Federation was 3.8 million, while the estimated Indigenous population was around
93.000. Half of the people lived in cities, three-quarters were born in Australia, and
the majority was of English, Scottish or Irish descent.
One of the first acts of the new Commonwealth Parliament was to pass the Immi-
gration Restriction Act 1901, which limited migration to people of primarily Euro-
pean origin. This was dismantled progressively after the Second World War. Today
Australia has a global, non-discriminatory policy and it is home to people from
more than 200 countries.
From 1900 to 1914 great progress was made in developing Australia’s agricultu-
ral and manufacturing capacities, and in setting up institutions for government
and social services. The First World War had a devastating effect on Australia. In
1914 the male population of Australia was less than 3 million, yet almost 400.000
of them volunteered to fight in the war. An estimated 60.000 died and tens of
thousands were wounded.
The period between the two world wars was marked by instability. Social and eco-
nomic divisions widened during the Depression years as many Australian financial
institutions failed.
During the Second World War, Australian forces made a significant contribution to
the Allied victory in Europe, Asia and the Pacific.
After 1945 Australia entered a boom period. Hundreds of thousands of refugees
and migrants arrived in Australia in the immediate post-war period. The economy
developed strongly in the 1950’s. Other developments included the expansion of
government social security programs and the arrival of television. Melbourne hos-
ted the Olympic Games of 1956, shining the international spotlight on Australia.
The 1960’s was a period of change for Australia. The ethnic diversity produced
by post-war immigration, the United Kingdom’s increasing focus on Europe, and
the Vietnam War (to which Australia sent troops) all contributed to an atmosphe-
re of political, economic and social change. In 1967 the Australian people voted
overwhelmingly in a national referendum to give the federal government the
power to pass legislation on behalf of Indigenous Australians and to include Indi-
genous Australians in future censuses. It was widely seen as a strong affirmation of
the Australian people’s wish to see their government take direct action to improve
the living conditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
In the 1970’s and 1980’s major changes in Australia’s social and economic policy
agenda and extensive reforms in health, education, foreign affairs, social security
and industrial relations took place in the country. In the 21st century Australia pre-
pares to build a modern country equipped to meet the challenges of the future
–climate change, health system, educational problems, and labour laws.
Due to its historic features and the current globalization context, Australian cultu-
re is and has been strongly influenced and devoted to Western cultural currents.
According to this, Australian culture, if not the most important, it is still a relevant
exponent of English language culture.
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In literature, we can find important authors in almost any gender. Probably, the
best known is Nobel Prize winner, Patrick White, author of novels such as The Vi-
visector, The Eye of the Storm and The Living and the Death. But we cannot forget
about other important writers. In poetry, we should underline names such as Hen-
ry Lawson and C. J. Dennis and works such as The Sentimental Block. With works
such as Illywhacer, Oscar and Lucinda, For the Term of His Natural Life and The Harp in
the South, Australian’s novel covers a varied range of topics from traditional love,
war, human relations and modern urban life. Australian drama is mainly based
on Australian’s life and costumes. Among the most relevant figures, we find the
previously mentioned Patrick White, but also more specific authors such as Ste-
ele Rudd, Ray Lawler, Alan Seymour and Nick Enright, whom we owe Australian’s
best known plays. Probably the most significant ones are Rudd’s On Our Selection,
Lawler’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and Enright’s A Property of the Clan. Some
of them are also recognized overseas for their screenplays and television works.
Although Australia has its own film industry, the country is better known for expor-
ting cinema stars overseas. The precursor of this tendency was the actor Errol Flynn.
This exodus of actors continued in posterior years. Relevant examples are Nicole Kid-
man, Mel Gibson, Russell Crowe or, more recently, Heath Ledger and Eric Bana.
Historically, Australia’s most significant music genders have been folk and country.
The first one is as old as immigration and although it is not very relevant beyond
its frontiers, it is really popular in Australia’s territory. A similar thing happens with
country music. This gender does not have a strong audience outside Australia and
the US, but in these countries it is respected and relatively important. It has also
exported some important artists like Olivia Newton John or Keith Urban, who have
achieved great success in the USA. We cannot finish this section without mentio-
ning some other figures Australia has given to other musical genders. Rock and
pop stars like AC/DC and Kyllie Minogue and other successful bands (also difficult
to classify) like the Bee Gees are also Australian.
Australia also preserves some traditional and characteristic movements and cultu-
re expressions which belong to indigenous communities.
The Commonwealth is an association of independent countries where English is

the first or one of its official languages. It is home of two billion citizens of diverse
ethnicities and faiths which belongs to different countries with historical, linguistic
and political ties. Nowadays, it is ruled by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action
Group, a rotating group of nine Foreign Ministers, which assesses the nature of
any infringement and recommends measures for collective action from member
countries. It has the authority to suspend or even recommend to Heads of Go-
vernment that a member country be expelled. Besides, there are three intergo-
vernmental organisations in the association: the Commonwealth Secretariat, the
Commonwealth Foundation, and the Commonwealth of Learning. Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the Commonwealth and Kamalesh Sharma, cu-
rrent Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, is the principal global advocate for
the Commonwealth and Chief Executive of the Secretariat.
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The idea for this union took root in the 19th century, when Canada became the
first colony to be transformed in a self-governing ‘Dominion’ . This gradual change
of the Empire continued and soon, other countries like Australia, New Zealand or
South Africa followed Canada’s steps. After the First World War, all these countries
became autonomous communities associated to the British Commonwealth of
Nations. New countries like India achieved their independence and became mem-
bers of this union. The decolonisation wave implied a quick growth of the associa-
tion, with most of the African, Caribbean and Mediterranean old colonies like Gha-
na, Kenya, Malta and the Solomon Islands joining the Commonwealth. Nowadays,
it is formed by 53 countries, including territories like Cameroon, Malaysia, Singapo-
re, Nigeria or Jamaica besides of the aforementioned.
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2 METHODOLOGY
Once we have established and studied some of the most relevant geographical,
historical and cultural aspects of English-speaking countries is time to move on
and get to the next level, since this knowledge is only the first step for achieving
real socio-cultural skills. Reformulating some of the terms gathered in Develo-
ping the Intercultural Dimension in Language Teaching, socio-cultural competence
(LOE: cultural conscience and expression) would be the knowledge-acquisition of a
different language that allows speakers both to satisfy their communicative needs
and achieve a wider and deeper understanding of the way of life, thinking and
behaviour of people with a different cultural heritage. According to Celce-Murcia
et al. (1995), this field is composed of four main elements:
Socio-cultural factors: participants and situational variables such as age, gender,
time, place…
Stylistic appropriateness factors: politeness strategies and conventions.
Non-verbal communicative factors: kinesics and proxemics.
Cultural factors: socio-cultural background knowledge.
In today’s context, where we are heading towards a globalized society in which mi-
gratory currents and the transfer of workers are normal and frequent situations, we
should prepare students for being able to manage themselves in this framework.
This means that the classroom can no longer be a place to study the same old
concepts but many other things (LoCastro, 1996). Adapting this situation to se-
cond-language teaching, means including second-language cultural features in
the learning process.
There are three different approaches to both general and language teaching:
reproductive, analytical and speculative (Ballard, 1996). Today’s educational sys-
tem confines these methods to the different stages in a student’s life. Following
Ballard’s (1996) ideas, the reproductive approach –where teachers select, structure
and transmit the information they consider relevant, and students memorize and
reproduce it through homework and exams– should be the predominant one in
primary and secondary education. In higher education, the main objective is to
develop independent and analytical ways of thinking in order to force the stu-
dents to develop their own ideas and judgements. Concepts are no longer fixed
and teachers are not just sources of knowledge but guides who help the students
to develop new skills and ideas. This sector would be dominated by the analytical
approach. The last one, the speculative method, is characteristic of post-graduate
studies, and is based in the constant extension revision and change of knowledge.
Teachers should help, encourage and guide students in order to make them part
of this process.
However, as we have mentioned before, this division does not make sense an-
ymore. Today’s education should be more active and must interrelate with new
branches and disciplines. For second-language teaching, this implies combining
language and socio-cultural concepts, in order to allow the student to acquire a
wider and better control of the second language.
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One of the teachers’ main objectives should be to give their pupils at least a ba-
sic socio-cultural background before they leave primary and secondary schools.
This process is not easy and should be divided into different stages. Before we
start drawing up a specific syllabus, we should take into account that every diffe-
rent culture is learned on the basis of the maternal one (Witte, 1993). This means
that socio-cultural teaching has to be, inevitably, a comparative process (Matthes,
1992) where we are going to deal with two different cultures and we should know
how to manage possible clashes and conflicts. So the first step would be to make
the students aware of the problems of intercultural learning and establish a clear
difference between generalization and stereotype to avoid possible misunders-
tandings or misinterpretations of the concepts they are going to learn. The next
stage in developing socio-cultural awareness would be teaching the students the
competences they should develop. We can develop them in three main blocks:
the most relevant socio-cultural features of English-speaking countries, the diffe-
rent kinds of specific situations the student may face and the different roles invol-
ved in them (Witte, 1993). Focusing on these specific areas has three main goals
(Zaninelli + ARNDT, 1993). First of all, it allows the students to recognize and allow
perceptions of the world different to theirs; secondly, it teaches them the abilities
necessary to change their own vision, so they can assimilate these phenomena
and, finally, it gives them the competence to modify their behaviour in order to
adapt it to these particular circumstances.
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3 APPLICATION TO THE CLASSROOM

As we have said before, geographical, historical and cultural knowledge of English-
speaking countries is just a base to start working. General notions in all these fields
should be known, but achieving socio-cultural competence (cultural conscience and
expression) is much harder and requires daily work in other aspects. In order to achie-
ve all the aforementioned goals, teachers should provide a combined approach to
second language. According to this, they should mix traditional ways of teaching
with new methods. The syllabus should be refocused in order to erase language
acquisition as the central concern and transform English into a tool for achieving
further and more detailed knowledge. Activities must vary and cannot be limited
to traditional exercises like memory recall tests, summarising, identifying…, which
are based on the application of formulae established prior to the activity. Teaching
should no longer focus only in the education field, but try to reach and teach con-
cepts related with very different spheres: social, professional and even ‘leisure’ skills
should be included and taken into account when thinking about and designing
course programs. These new guidelines should incorporate role plays placing the
student in specific situations, comparative analysis of both cultures and more theo-
retical concepts of the socio-cultural main features of English-speaking countries.
Teachers should also adapt their behaviour, give more freedom to students’ oral and
written expression and encourage them to ask questions, promote their originality
and arouse their curiosity. In short, teachers should not forget about traditional me-
thods, but they should combine memorisation and imitation-based learning with
the introduction of new concepts like socio-cultural features and practical exam-
ples. The inclusion of these new elements should allow students to put themselves
into intercultural, real situations and resolve possible conflicts that may appear. New
methods should also promote analytical thinking and speculation; this may give stu-
dents the necessary tools to improve both their language and socio-cultural com-
petences in future courses whereas, at the same time, stimulates an autonomous
approach to the subject by establishing a deeper connection between pupils and
knowledge through the transference and incorporation of classroom concepts into
their daily lives.
There are different ways to put all these factors into practice, but we can provi-
de some effective clues that may help teachers in their first steps. For example, it
may be important to review text books in order to see how they introduce socio-
cultural competence in their syllabus and how we can improve and complement
its approach. It is also advisable to provide some kind of test to the students at the
beginning of the course to see what they already know about English culture, cus-
toms and traditions and establish a starting point and an average classroom level
to begin developing proper activities.
Socio-cultural competence (cultural conscience and expression) includes the concepts

we presented in the first part of the unit together with other traditional features and
habits that may affect or influence the communicative process.
Teachers should be aware of these facts and include them in the learning process
using both theoretical concepts and practical exercises.
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CONCLUSION
Knowing the most important geographical, historical and cultural featu-

res of English-speaking countries is essential to develop cultural aware-
ness, one of the main aspects of socio-cultural competence (cultural
conscience and expression) which involves three other factors (socio-
cultural, non-verbal communication and stylistic appropriateness) that
affect the communicative process. Teachers should be aware of these
notions and try to implement them in the classroom combining tradi-
tional methods with original activities such as role plays, study of typical
texts and situations…
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
REFERENCES
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148-168. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
BROMHEAD, P. (1988): Life in Modern America. 3rd ed. Harlow: Longman.
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BYRAM, M., GRIBKOVA, B., and STARKEY, H. (2002): Developing the Intercultural Dimension in Lan-
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Available in http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/source/guide_dimintercult_en.pdf
CELCE-MURCIA, M., DORNYEI, Z., and THURRELL, S. (1995): Communicative Competence: A pe-
dagogically Motivated Model With Content Specifications.
Available in http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2928w4zj
COLEMAN, H. (ed.) (1996): Society and the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni-
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Geografía Universal (2003): Barcelona: Salvat Editores.
GOUDIE, A. S., and BRUNDSEN, D. (1994): The Environment of the British Isles. An Atlas. Oxford:
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HINKEL, E. (1999): Culture in Second Language Teaching and Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge
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IFOR, E. (1977): A Short History of English Literature. 4th ed. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
LOCASTRO, V. (1996): ‘English Language Education in Japan’ . In COLEMAN, H. (ed.): Society
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MACINTYRE, S. (2000): A Concise History of Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
MATTHES, J. (1992): ‘“Zwischen” den Kulturen?’ . In Zwischen den Kulturen? Die Sozialwissens-
chaften vor dem Problem des Kulturvergleichs. Göttingen: Schwartz.
MÉNDEZ, R., and MOLINERO, F. (1998): Espacios y Sociedades. Introducción a la Geografía Re-
gional del Mundo. Barcelona: Ediciones Ariel.
MUSMAN, R. (1985): UK, USA. London: Macmillan Publishers.
MUSMAN, R. (1986): Background to the USA. 4th ed. London: Macmillan Publishers.
PATERSON, J. H. (1984): North America. New York: Oxford University Press.
RICKARD, J. (1997): Australia: A Cultural History (The Present and the Past). London: Longman.
28
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RODRÍGUEZ LÓPEZ-VÁZQUEZ, A. (1993): Symposium ‘Didáctica de Lenguas y Culturas’ . A Co-

ruña: Universidade da Coruña.
SKYLAR, R. (1994): Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies. New York: Vin-
tage Books.
THOMSON, D. (1965): England in the Twentieth Century. London: Penguin Books.
THORP, W. (1962): La literatura norteamericana en el s. XX. Madrid: Tecnos.
TRIM, J. L. M., and VAN EK, J. A.: ‘Socio-cultural Competence’ . In Vantage, pp. 95-105. Cambrid-
ge: Cambridge University Press. Available in: http://ebooks.cambridge.org/chapter.jsf?bid=CB
O9780511667114&cid=CBO9780511667114A017
VANSPANCKEREN, K. (2007): La literatura de los EEUU en Síntesis.
Available in: http://www.usembassy-mexico.gov/bbf/le/usliteraturebrief_sp.pdf
VV. AA. (1996): América del Norte, América Central y Grandes Antillas. Barcelona: Debate Edi-
ciones.
WEBBY, E. (2000): The Cambridge Companion to Australian Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni-
versity Press.
WYTTE, H. (1993): ‘¿Es posible “enseñar” una cultura ajena?’ . In Symposium ‘Didáctica de Len-
guas y Culturas’ , pp. 159-167.
ZENZ, E., FUCHS, S., GROMANN, D., MELCHER, S., and RADSPIELER, M.: Socio-cultural Compe-
tence and Teaching Materials.
Available in: http://scc.uni-graz.at/blog/wp-content/uploads/projects/ss03/group_3.pdf
29
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WEBLIOGRAPHY
www.AEC.gov.au
www.about-australia.com
www.america.gov
www.australianhistory.org
www.canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca
www.census.gov
www.countrystudies.us
www.australia.gov.au
www.dfat.gov.au
www.fedstats.gov
www.infoplease.com
www.irelandinformation.com
www.irishcultureandcustoms.com
www.kclibrary.lonestar.edu
www.statistics.gov.uk
www.thecommonwealth.org
www.trail-canada.com
www.world.bymap.org
www.yesaustralia.com
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REMEMBER
Geographical, historical and cultural aspects

of english-speaking countries.
Application to the classroom of the most relevant geografical,
historical and cultural aspects.
1. SOCIOCULTURAL COMPETENCE: GEOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL

AND CULTURAL ASPECTS OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES

It is formed by England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Landscape is complex and diverse.
Lowlands: mainly soft hills also known as ‘The Chalk’ .
Highlands: Northeast (north-western area, Scotland).
Grampian Mountains: separated from the Highlands by the Great Glen Fault.
Midland Valley: down the Grampian Mountains.
Southern Uplands: to the south.
Pennine Mountains.
Cambrian Mountains: in Wales.
Flora in the UK is poor. The 10 percent of the territory can be considered forest.
Climate in the UK:
Moderate temperature. 13 ºC in England and 10 ºC in Scotland are the annual averages.
High humidity level, especially in the Northern area.
UK hydrography: Scant importance. The Thames and the Severn are its most important
features.
Population in the UK: about 63 million inhabitants –a high population rate, in fact, one
of the highest in the European Union. 80 percent of the population of England in high-
density conurbations. Six of the seven conurbations in the UK are in England.
UK history: Invasions and conquests: From the Romans to the Normans, the different inva-
ding countries had an impact on early English history.
The conquest of Wales, Scotland and Ireland: Northern Ireland remains part of the UK and
the Republic of Ireland is granted independence.
The British Empire: The American colonies until their independence in 1783, and Canada
and Australia, which achieved their independence in 1876 and 1901, were part of the huge
British Empire.
British intervention: In World War I and World War II, British intervention against Germany
and Japan played a decisive role.
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In 1990 British forces took part in the Gulf War against Iraq and in the same year the fight
against Argentina in the Falklands.
The September 11th attacks in the USA and the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan led
the British government to support Bush’s politics and increased the likelihood of terrorist
attacks against the UK resulting in the London bombings on 7th July 2005.
UK literature: From Defoe to Kipling and with poets like Sidney, Keats and Dylan Thomas,
all of them have improved literature as a whole.
British drama has given us some of the key figures in theatre history, including William
Shakespeare, Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde and Harold Pinter.
Film: The UK has given us some of the best known actors and directors: Charles Chaplin,
Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins, Alfred Hitchcock…
Music: Notable British composers have also an important role in classical, pop and rock
music.

Geography:
−− Mountains in the north and west of the country: Errigal, Carrantuohill.
−− Plain in the centre surrounded by mountains and hills.
−− Cliffs in the coast.
−− Climate: mild, low temperature range, wet all through the country.
−− Vegetation from mixed forest to vast farmland plains.
−− Main rivers: The River Shannon.
Population:
−− Four provinces: Cannacht, Munster, Leinster and Ulster shared with the UK.
−− Main cities: Dublin, Galway, Cork, Belfast.
History:
−− The invasions.
−− The British dominance and the nationalist fight which in 1921 divided the country
into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Culture:
Outstanding figures in literature like Jonathan Swift, James Joyce or drama writer
George Bernard Shaw; musicians like Van Morrison and Irish actors like Maureen O’Hara
or Daniel Day-Lewis, who have provided an important contribution to European and
American cinema.

Then sheer size of the country makes it very difficult to generalize about its geographical
relief. We find:
The Laurentian Uplands.
The East and the Gulf Coast.
The Plains and Highlands of the Interior.
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The Western Mountains and Great Basin: They can be subdivided into:
−− The Northern Rockies.
−− The Middle Rockies.
−− The Wyoming Basin.
−− The Southern Rockies.
The Pacific Coast, Alaska and Hawaii: Alaska may be divided into:
−− The Arctic Lowlands.
−− The Rocky Mountain System.
−− The Central Basins and Highlands Region.
−− The Pacific Mountain system which includes Mount McKinley.
Most relevant hydrographical features in the United States: the Mississippi-Missouri river
system, the Yukon, Columbia, Colorado, the Rio Grande… and the Great Lakes, the Great
Salt Lake and Alaska’s Illiama.
The climate in the USA is very different depending on the region. It varies from the tropi-
cal rain-forest of Hawaii and the tropical savannah in Florida to the subarctic and tundra
climates of Alaska.
The USA’s vegetation is as varied as its climate, ranging from the tundra in Northern Alaska
to the taiga in the south, the forest in the North Carolina and Tennessee area and desert
territories.
The US population is focused on urban areas where 80 percent of Americans live.
Immigration has played a huge role in USA’s demographic frame since the beginning. Po-
pulation nowadays is around 313 millions. The most important minority is the Hispanic
community followed by African-American people, Asia descent people and the Native
American group which only represents the 1 percent of the US population. This diversity
implies a huge variety of languages.
The USA history: Before America declared its independence in 1776 a good number of
countries attempted to build their Empire in North America (Spaniards, Russians, French
and British).
To govern the new nation, after the British defeat, in 1789 a new Constitution was created,
ratified and took effect. George Washington was elected the first President.
The differences between the industrialized North and the agricultural South, built upon
slavery, led to the Civil War, which ended in 1865.
The intervention of the United States in foreign affairs began with the war against Spain,
the entry in the World War I and World War II.
The Allied victory in 1945 gave the United States the leadership of the Western world and
marked the beginning of the Cold War against the Soviet Union. The American interven-
tion in Korea and Vietnam caused a moral crisis in the country. More recently the attacks
on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon led to the launch of Operation Enduring
Freedom and the intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan. The lack of popularity of these con-
flicts and the economic recession led to the election of the first African American president
Barack Obama in November 2008. The current president is the republican Donald Trump.
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US literature has provided the world with excellent writers and works like Edgar Allan Poe,
Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Henry James, who left us incredible works such as Moby Dick,
The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn and Daisy Miller.
The 20th-century generation was formed by writers such as William Faulkner, John
Steinbeck, Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald who created magnificent literature with works
such as The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, As I Lay Dying and A Farewell to Arms. The
second half of the century included well-known figures such as Saul Bellow, J. D. Salinger,
John Updike and Phillip Roth, or the most recent, Don DeLillo or Thomas Pynchon, with
novels such as American Pastoral, The Catcher in the Rye and White Noise.
Poets: Walt Whitman, Ezra Pound and T. S. Elliot.
US theatre was in its prime during the period between the two world wars with authors
like Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, with classics such as Death of a Salesman and Cat
on a Hot Tin Roof.
Hollywood and its film industry have determined the current lifestyle of the western world.
Directors like Billy Wilder, Fritz Lang in the past or Steven Spielberg and Woody Allen in the
present, have had an impact on the past and present generations and will do the same
with future ones.
Music and genres such as jazz, blues, country and hip hop have influenced music all over
the world.
1.4. CANADA
Geographical features:
Canada covers most of the North-American continent.
A very varied topography.
Eastward we found:
−− Mountainous provinces and an irregular coastline in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
−− The St. Lawrence plain which extends southern of Quebec and Ontario.
−− The interior continental plain through Manitoba, Saskatchewan and most of the Al-
berta area.
Westward of the country:
−− Mountain ranges including the Rockies covered several regions like British Columbia,
the Yukon and part of Alberta. Mount Logan is the highest point in Canada.
Climate and Vegetation:
Several differences within the country, with very low temperatures in certain areas and
mild climate in the south-western coast. The Arctic Circle has freezing temperatures for
most of the year.
Flora in Canada varies from rainforest in the southern and western areas to deserts and
badlands in some parts of the country and the arctic plains in the north.
Population and most important cities:
Low demographical rates and a population estimated about 34 million.
Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa (the capital) are the most important cities in
the country.
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History:
the most significant historical events that have shaped Canadian history are French
and British settlements and 17th-century fights. The French founded New France
and Montreal in this century. The settlement of a Canadian central government in
Ottawa in 1867 gave stability to the country. After a period of economic recession at
the beginning of the 20th century, population increase and economy growth have
confirmed Canada as one of the most important economic powers in the world.
Culture:
Different nationalities and influences within the country give Canadian culture a
diverse and interesting background.
Outstanding writers as Margaret Atwood or Michael Ondaatje, film directors like
David Cronenberg or James Cameron, painters forming ‘the Group of the Seven’ or
‘the Eleven Group’ have contributed to a renewal of the artistic movement and have
influenced the world’s artistic movement.
1.5. AUSTRALIA
Topographical features:
−− The Great Dividing Range: the Mountains of Queensland, the Macpherson Range and
the Blue Mountains.
−− The Outback.
Hydrological features: the Great Artesian Basin.
Climate and flora: tropical in the northern region, subtropical in the eastern regions
and the Tasmanian Island with its own oceanic climate.
Population: very low demographic density, mainly concentrated in the coast and huge
cities like Melbourne, Brisbane or Sydney.
History: From its discovery in 1606, the British conquest, the Commonwealth of Aus-
tralia, its contribution to the First and Second World War until the 21st-century country.
Culture:
Literature: Outstanding figures in novel and drama such as Patrick White (The Vivisector,
The Eye of the Storm or The Living and the Death) Henry Lawson or CJ Dennis in the first
group and Steele Rudd, Ray Lawler, Alan Seymour or Nick Enright within the second.
Actors and film directors like Errol Flynn, Russell Crowe or Mel Gibson are Australian
too.
Among musicians, we should highlight world-famous rock and pop artists like AC/DC
or Kyllie Minogue.
Australia keeps and preserves some traditional culture expressions.

It is an association of independent countries where English is the first or one of its official
languages. It has its roots in the old British colonies and it is currently formed by 53 mem-
bers from different regions of the world. This list includes India, Jamaica, Kenya, Malta or
Malaysia. They all share cultural, historical and social features.
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2. METHODOLOGY
Socio-cultural competence (cultural conscience and expression) can be defined as the
knowledge-acquisition of a different language that allows speakers to satisfy their com-
municative needs and leads to a better understanding of a different way of life, behaviour
and culture. It is formed by four main factors: socio-cultural, cultural, non-verbal commu-
nication and stylistic appropriateness. Teachers should include all these concepts in the
second-language classroom. There are three approaches to the task, applied frequently to
different educational stages:
Reproductive: for primary and secondary; teachers select and structure and students
reproduce and imitate.
Analytical: for higher education. Here, the teacher is a guide.
Speculative: for post-graduate studies. The teacher helps to the constant revision of
knowledge.
3. APPLICATION TO THE CLASSROOM

Today’s education should mix the three methods and combine language and socio-cultu-
ral background. So, at an initial stage, students should be aware of the problems of inter-
cultural learning. At a second stage, students must develop competence in the language,
discovering relevant traits of English society, facing specific situations and getting involved
in them.
Teachers should combine traditional and new methods. It is advisable to use memory re-
call tests and exercises, but also other activities like role playing, allowing the student to
face practical situations.
36

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Temario

1. SOCIOCULTURAL COMPETENCE: GEOGRAPHICAL,

1.2. THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

1.3. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

1.6. THE COMMONWEALTH

3. APPLICATION TO THE CLASSROOM

Remember that according to the Royal decree 126/2014, of 28th February,

1 SOCIOCULTURAL COMPETENCE: GEOGRAPHICAL,

1.1. THE UNITED KINGDOM

1.2. THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

1.3. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

1.6. THE COMMONWEALTH

The Commonwealth is an association of independent countries where English is

3 APPLICATION TO THE CLASSROOM

Socio-cultural competence (cultural conscience and expression) includes the concepts

Knowing the most important geographical, historical and cultural featu-

RODRÍGUEZ LÓPEZ-VÁZQUEZ, A. (1993): Symposium ‘Didáctica de Lenguas y Culturas’ . A Co-

Geographical, historical and cultural aspects

1. SOCIOCULTURAL COMPETENCE: GEOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL

1.1. THE UNITED KINGDOM

1.2. THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

1.3. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

1.6. THE COMMONWEALTH

3. APPLICATION TO THE CLASSROOM

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