British Culture

Lectures and tutorials are devoted to issues of the use of the cultural component in the process of teaching English as a foreign language in school.

Lectures and tutorials are aimed to acquaint students with the main aspects of UK history and culture, to raise their language awareness and intercultural competence by drawing their attention to texts of culture related to the British Isles, as well as to recommend available sources of information and ways how to improve students’ knowledge of the history and culture of the British Isles. Suggestions will be made how to introduce the cultural component in the context of teaching English as a foreign language at different levels and in different age groups. Lectures and tutorials are combined with a multimedia presentation and require an active participation of students in classes and a certain amount of home study.

A detailed schedule of the course:

Individual topics can be discussed fragmentarily in several classes.

(Note: students prepare some of the topics individually or in groups as self-study on the basis of recommended literature).

1. Geography of the British Isles (geographical and cultural regions).

2. the British political system, state institutions, the role of the monarch, religion.

3. Well-known figures from British history.

4. The education system in the UK and Ireland.

5. High culture (music, painting and architecture) and popular culture. How to teach culture in English-language class

as part of the cultural component.

6. British songs for children, including rhymes and tongue twisters.

7. Customs, holidays and legends of the British Isles.

8. Everyday life styles.

9. Sports in the British Isles.

10. Multiculturalism and multi-ethnicity.

Diniejko, A. English-Speaking Countries: The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Warsaw: WSiP, 1999; e-book, 2016;

McDowall, D. An Illustrated History of Britain, Oxford 1998;

Room, A. An A-Z of British Life. Dictionary of Britain. Oxford: OUP, 1996;

Online materials

KNOWLEDGE

K_W01 the student has a basic knowledge of British culture, which has practical application in English language teaching at school education H1P_W01

K_W02 the student has a comprehensive area of knowledge, covering selected areas of British culture, which has practical application in English language teaching. H1P_W02

K_W03 the student has an understanding of the basic cultural terms appropriate for teaching English as a foreign language H1P_W03 SKILLS

K_U02 the student has the necessary level of self-study skills to use a variety of sources (using their first and any other language/ new technologies (ICT) to acquire knowledge and develop their professional competences in teaching foreign languages, H1P_U02

K_U09 the student has the ability to argue for the merits of using the views of other authors and draw conclusions from this work H1P_U10

H1P_W03 SKILLS

K_U02 the student has the necessary level of self-study skills to use a variety of sources (using their first and any other language/ new technologies (ICT) to acquire knowledge and develop their professional competences in teaching foreign languages, H1P_U02

K_U12 the student has the ability to prepare oral presentations in English for specific purposes, using basic theoretical approaches, as well as a variety of sources H1P_U13

SOCIAL COMPETENCES

K_K01 the student understands the importance of lifelong learning H1P_K01

K_K03 the student can correctly identify the priorities for the implementation of specified tasks H1P_K03

K_K05 the student is aware of their role in the promotion and preservation of the cultural heritage of the region, country and Europe, and the multilingual and multicultural character of Europe H1P_K05

K_K10 the student recognizes the moral and ethical issues related to their own work H1A_K04 S1A_K04

Preparation of a project which introduces a selected topic from British history or culture in English-language class – 50% of the final grade; oral, individual presentation of a British culture topic – 50% of the final grade;

attendance control