Teaching Cultures in English Classes

UNIVERSITY OF TARTU
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
TEACHING CULTURE IN ENGLISH CLASSES
Master’s thesis
EVI SALUVEER
Supervisr! "##e T$r%& MA
Tartu '(()
PREFACE
The present thesis focuses on the teaching of culture in the foreign language classroom
and attempts to show that culture holds an important place in foreign language education.
The main aim of the thesis is twofold:
1. To give an overview of how the teaching of culture is viewed in literature on
foreign language education and bring together the most important ideas of and
suggestions for teaching culture.
2. To examine the situation of culture teaching and learning in Estonian secondary
schools.
The thesis falls into the following parts: introduction, two chapters and conclusion.
The introduction summarises the importance of culture teaching in foreign language
education. It also gives a brief history of culture teaching, offers some definitions of culture
and, lastly, explains some most important terms.
The first chapter is devoted to the teaching of culture and is based on the wors of
!ichael "yram, #ed $eelye, %enneth &hastain, &laire %ramsch, $usan "assnett and
others, whose contribution has been significant in developing the understanding of the
place of culture in foreign language teaching. The chapter concentrates on the following
aspects:
 goals and principles of teaching culture'
 defining a cultural syllabus'
 ways of teaching culture'
 materials for teaching culture.
The theoretical part provides a basis for an empirical study, the main findings of
which are presented in the second chapter. The data for the study were collected
through (uestionnaires conducted among )1 Estonian teachers of English and 1*+
secondary and university students.
2
The conclusion draws together the most important aspects of both chapters.
The thesis also has 1, appendices, which include the (uestionnaires used in the
empirical study as well as examples of some teaching techni(ues and other materials
related to the teaching of culture.
The thesis is based on 1-. sources.
+
TA*LE OF CONTENTS
/0E12&E.............................................................................................................................. 2
T2"3E 41 &4#TE#T$....................................................................................................... 5
I#T0467&TI4#.................................................................................................................. 8
The history of culture teaching........................................................................................ 8
The definition of culture.................................................................................................. *
Two perspectives of &ultural $tudies............................................................................ 11
%nowledge, awareness, and competence.......................................................................12
TE2&9I#: &73T70E...................................................................................................... 18
:oals and principles of teaching culture........................................................................... 18
The main goals for teaching culture.............................................................................. 18
:oals for teaching culture in educational documents.................................................... 1*
/rinciples for culture teaching....................................................................................... 2-
6efining a cultural syllabus.............................................................................................. 22
Topics for teaching culture............................................................................................ 22
1rom topics to larger categories ....................................................................................2+
;ays of teaching culture...................................................................................................2*
1actors influencing the choice of methodology............................................................. 2*
The most common approaches to the teaching of culture ........................................... +1
Techni(ues and activities for teaching culture.............................................................. +8
!aterials for teaching culture........................................................................................... 5,
6ifferent types of textboos.......................................................................................... 5,
&heclists for evaluating the cultural dimension in textboos...................................... .1
4ther sources for teaching culture................................................................................. .5
&onclusion........................................................................................................................ .,
&73T70E I# T9E E#:3I$9 &32$$044! I# E$T4#I2.
2# E!/I0I&23 $T76<.....................................................................................................*
The aim of the research..................................................................................................... .*
!ethod.............................................................................................................................. )-
$ample........................................................................................................................... )-
The teachers= (uestionnaire >see 2ppendix 15?.............................................................)2
The students= (uestionnaire >$ee 2ppendix 1.?............................................................ )+
The test >see 2ppendix 1.?............................................................................................ )5
0esults .............................................................................................................................. ).
The teachers= (uestionnaire........................................................................................... ).
The students= (uestionnaire .......................................................................................... 8+
The test...........................................................................................................................8*
6iscussion......................................................................................................................... ,*
&4#&37$I4#.................................................................................................................. 1-1
0E1E0E#&E$................................................................................................................... 1-)
5
Textboos referred to...................................................................................................11.
0E$@!EE......................................................................................................................... 11)
2ppendix 1
&ultural topics in the language classroom by "roos........................................................ 11,
2ppendix 2
Topics for teaching culture by &hastain............................................................................. 122
2ppendix +
&ategories of cultural topics by 9asselgreen .....................................................................12+
2ppendix 5
Teachers= (ualifications for intercultural foreign language teaching................................. 12)
2ppendix .
Examples of &ulture assimilators.......................................................................................128
2ppendix )
2 sample (uiA..................................................................................................................... 12,
2ppendix 8
Everyday situations causing possible problems for foreign visitors ................................. 1+-
2ppendix ,
&omparing &ultures section in 4pportunities ................................................................... 1+1
2ppendix *
2 sample &ulture clip from 7pstream .............................................................................. 1+2
2ppendix 1-
&heclist for characters in textboos................................................................................. 1++
2ppendix 11
Buestions about what textboos expect of learners........................................................... 1+5
2ppendix 12
&ultural examples of "ritish boos and films.................................................................... 1+.
.
2ppendix 1+
Examples of lyrics by "illy "ragg......................................................................................1+8
2ppendix 15
The teachers= (uestionnaire................................................................................................ 1+*
2ppendix 1.
The students= (uestionnaire................................................................................................15+
2ppendix 1)
/ercentage of the right answer to the test (uestions........................................................... 15*
2ppendix 18
/ercentage of right answers to the test (uestions according to schools............................. 1.1
2ppendix 1,
%ey to the test..................................................................................................................... 1.+
)
INTRODUCTION
The idea that foreign language teaching has a cultural dimension is not a new one.
Throughout the history of language teaching it has been possible to distinguish different
lins between language instruction and culture teaching. The way how these two have been
lined has depended on the general goals of foreign language education, but also on how
the concept of culture has been interpreted.
The histr+ , -u#ture tea-hi./
The classical languages, 3atin and :ree, were studied so that learners could read and
translate the wors of literature in these languages. This principle was also acnowledged
by the :rammarCTranslation !ethod, which saw the main rationale for language learning
in getting access to the soCcalled Dgreat wors=>%ramsch 1**): 5, see also 3arsenC1reeman
2---: 1.?. The aim of education in general was to educate people who were nowledgeable
in history, literature and fine arts. $uch people were said to possess culture. &ulture, in
these days, was used to indicate the refined ways of the elite and powerful. It was universal
and not bound to any particular time or society. %ramsch >1**): 5? maintains that EFfGor all
modern languages the way to universality was through their literatureH. The culture, which
focuses on the products and contributions of a society and its outstanding individuals, is
often referred to as largeIbigIcapital D&= culture >&hastain 1*,,: +-+, Tomalin J
$templesi 1**+: ), /ulverness 1**.: *?. It is also nown as formal >"roos 1*)5?, high
>Easthope 1**8: 8, 6urant 1**8: 22?, or achievement >Tomalin J $templesi 1**+: ),
/ulverness 1**.: *? culture. It comprises history, geography, institutions, literature, art and
music as well as scientific, economic, sports and other achievements that are valued and
that people tae pride in.
In the second half of the 1*
th
century, parallel to the :rammarCTranslation !ethod,
other methods of language teaching together with a different approach to culture started to
develop. In various European countries versions of the oralInaturalIdirect method emerged.
8
They all emphasised oral language and viewed culture as a way of life >see, for example,
3arsenC1reeman 2---?.
This approach to culture was also baced by the growth of social sciences, especially
anthropology and sociology, after the $econd ;orld ;ar. The Dway of life= culture became
to be referred to as culture with a small Dc= >Tomalin J $templesi 1**+: ), /ulverness
1**.: *, &hastain 1*,,: +-+? or behaviour culture >Tomalin J $templesi 1**+: ),
/ulverness 1**.: *? and it was seen to contribute directly to the students= ability to
Efunction linguistically and socially in the contemporary cultureH >&hastain 1*,,: +-+?.
4ften, though, culture was separated from language learning and taught on courses
nown as background studies, area studies, British life and institutions, Landeskunde >in
:ermany?, civilisation >in 1rance? and civilita >in Italy? >see, for example, /ulverness 1**.:
,, "yram 1*,*: .,C)-, 1**,: 2, "assnett 1**8: xiii, %ramsch 1**+: ,, Tomalin J
$templesi 1**+: ), !ountford J ;adhamC$mith 2---: 1?. Estonian universities in the
$oviet era also provided courses for students of English, such as Geography and history of
Great Britain and British life and institutions. 2ll such courses suffered from similar
limitations: they mostly emphasised factual nowledge and often described the structure
and functions of institutions and people=s lives in a generalised and stereotypical way
>!ountford J ;adhamC$mith 2---: 1?. 2lso, on these courses culture was seen Eas mere
information conveyed by the language, not as a feature of language itselfH >%ramsch 1**+:
,?. In other words, the teaching of culture was considered to be supplementary to language
teaching, not a part of it.
4ne of the main aims of foreign language teaching today is to develop learners= ability
to Ecommunicate with each other across linguistic and cultural boundariesH >Common
European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment >&E1?
2--1: +?. 2s language and culture are closely lined, the teaching of culture is seen as an
integral and organised component of language courses >&hastain 1*,,: 2*,, $eelye 1**5:
,
*, &ortaAAi and Kin 1***: 1*,, "yram 1*,*: +C5, .1, .), 1**5: ., "assnett 2--1: ++, "rown
2---: 188, et al.?. Teaching communication without teaching culture might be enough for
Esurvival and routine transactionsH >"yram 1*,*: 5-C51?, but communicative competence
is incomplete without cultural awareness and understanding >!ountford J ;adhamC$mith
2---: ,2?.
2ll eminent researchers in the field of foreign language education >see, for example
wors of "yram, %ramsch, $eelye, &hastain et al.? agree that learning a foreign language
for whatever purposes is always DcultureCbound= >a term used by Laldes >1*,)? for a
collection of articles about integrating culture into foreign language teaching?. 3anguages
cannot be learned or taught without introducing the culture of the community where they
are used. Together these Etwo reflect a current direction in language pedagogyH >0obinsonC
$tuart J #ocon 1**): 5+., cited in 3antolf 1***: 2,?.
/olitAer concludes at the Fifth nnual Round !able "eeting on Linguistics and
Language !eaching:
2s language teachers we must be interested in the study of culture >in the social scientists=
sense of the word? not because we necessarily want to teach the culture of the other
country but because we have to teach it. If we teach language without teaching at the same
time the culture in which it operates, we are teaching meaningless symbols or symbols to
which the student attaches the wrong meaning. >&ited in "roos 1*,): 12+?
The 0e,i.iti. , -u#ture
The definition of culture cannot be reduced to the small Dc= and capital D&= culture as
discussed above. The concept is much larger.
In its broadest meaning, culture is a Hhumanly created environment for all our thoughts
and actionsH >Tepperman et al. 1**5: 1?. This is something all humans share and what
distinguishes us from the animal world. $econdly, it is possible to tal about the culture of
a particular period or civilisation >for example, ancient culture and Roman culture? or of a
particular society >for example, #estern culture, British Culture, and Estonian culture?.
*
!ore specifically, culture could also be subdivided into cultures of particular organisations
or groups, such as youth culture, working class culture and street culture.
6ue to its complex nature, the word culture is very difficult to define. 4ne has to agree
with 9inel >1***: 1? that there are Eas many definitions of culture as there are fields of
in(uiry into human societies, groups, systems, behaviors and activities.H
1or many people, culture would mean art, literature, customs and everyday life peculiar
to a certain group. These can be called observable symptoms of culture. 9owever, culture
also includes invisible features lie beliefs, values, norms and attitudes. 2 definition
combining these two aspects of culture is offered by The $ew Encyclop%dia Britannica. It
says that culture is
M. behaviour peculiar to 9omo sapiens, together with material obNects used as an integral
part of this behaviour' specifically culture consists of language, ideas, beliefs, customs,
codes, institutions, tools, techni(ues, wors of art, rituals, ceremonies, and so on >1**1:
,85?.
The first effort to define culture was made by anthropologists. In his boo &rimitive
Culture >1,81?, the English anthropologist Tylor gave what is considered a classic
definition: E&ultureMM is that complex whole which includes nowledge, belief, art,
morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits ac(uired by man as a member of
societyH >cited in the $ew Encyclop%dia Britannica 1**1: ,85?.
The development of anthropological science led to a more thorough study of the
meaning of culture. The 2merican anthropologists %roeber and %luchohn examined over
+-- definitions of culture in Culture' a Critical Review of Concepts and (efinitions >1*.2,
cited in $eelye 1**+: 1.?. 1rom their study it emerges that culture is a very broad concept
embracing all aspects of human life. They themselves define culture as patterns of
behaviour ac(uired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinct achievements of
human groups, including their embodiments in artefacts >%roeber and %lucholm 1*.2:
1,1?.
1-
The anthropological definition of culture is also shared by scholars of the other fields,
including that of language. 3ado >1*,): .2? writes in Linguistic cross Cultures >first
published in 1*.2? that culture is synonymous with the Eways of peopleH' &hastain >1*,,:
+-2? defines culture as Ethe way people liveH and, according to "rown >2---: 18)?, culture
is Ea way of lifeH. 9e goes on to say >ibid.: 188? that culture also includes Ethe ideas,
customs, sills, arts and tools that characteriAe a given group of people in a given period of
time.H
!any scholars stress the close relationship between language and culture. 2ccording to
"rown >2---: 188?, E2 language is a part of a culture, and a culture is a part of a language'
the two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate the two without losing the
significance of either language or culture.H "yram >1*,*: *5? adds that Ethe language holds
the culture through the denotations and connotations of its semanticsH, which is why it is
important to teach culture through its language.
%ramsch >1**,: +? identifies three ways how language and culture are bound together.
1irst, language expresses cultural reality >with words people express facts and ideas but
also reflect their attitudes?. $econd, language embodies cultural reality >people give
meanings to their experience through the means of communication?. Third, language
symbolises cultural reality >people view their language as a symbol of their social identity?.
T1 perspe-tives , Cultural Studies
The culture of a particular community or country can be studied from two different
perspectives: by those who live in a particular culture or by those who encounter it through
language learning. "assnett >1*88: xviii? maintains that the Edistinction between an
Dinsider= and Doutsider= perspective is one of the ey differences between the study of
cultures lined to foreign language learning and the interdisciplinary field nown as
Cultural )tudies H. The latter grew out of the need Eto understand the processes that have
shaped modern and postwar society and cultureH >#elson et al. 1**2: .?. In "ritain,
11
Cultural )tudies was institutionalised in the "irmingham &entre for &ontemporary
&ultural $tudies founded by 0. 9oggart in 1*)5, with the aim of forwarding the ideas of 0.
;illiams >Culture and )ociety, 1*.,?, E. /. Thomson >!he "aking of the English #orking
Class, 1*)+? and 0. 9oggart >!he *ses of Literacy, 1*8.?. The common ground for
Cultural )tudies was that culture was seen as a whole way of life. 9oggart, Thompson and
;illiams, having studied the products of different classes and ethnic groups, challenged the
view that culture was a property of any class or elite >"assnett 1**8: xiv, !ountford and
;adhamC$mith 2---: 2C+?. 1rom the very start, Cultural )tudies developed the idea that
culture is a complex networ and each participant has an active role in it. These ideas have
also been recognised by current foreign language pedagogy.
In this paper, Cultural )tudies is discussed from the foreign language learner=s or from
the Doutsider=s= >"yram 1**8a: .+? point of view. It could be defined as Eany information,
nowledge or attitudes about the foreign culture which is evident during foreign language
teachingH >"yram 1*,*:+?, the aim of which is Eto enable learners to develop a more
nuanced view of a country and society whose language they are learningH >"yram 1**8a:
.8?. "yram goes on to say >ibid.: .8C.,? that while language teaching is concerned with the
process of communication, Cultural )tudies is concerned with the process of analysis and
criticism. This, in turn, leads to understanding Dotherness= and challenges learners= taenC
forCgranted perceptions of their world and re(uires reassessment of these perceptions.
9uhn >1*8,, cited in "yram 1*,*: 82? also stresses that Cultural )tudies should enhance
the understanding and coCoperation between peoples and contribute to learners= political
and social emancipation.
2.1#e0/e& a1are.ess& a.0 -3pete.-e
1enner >2---: 152? claims that if education is regarded as Ddevelopment and personal
growth,= the aim of foreign language education should be Eto give the learner opportunity
to develop cultural nowledge, competence and awareness in such a way that might lead to
12
better understanding of the foreign culture, the Dother= as well as of the learner=s own
culture, the Dself=H. There is some confusion in how the terms cultural knowledge,
awareness and competence are used in literature on the teaching of culture. Therefore,
some clarification of the terms is needed.
&ultural knowledge, according to "yram >1*,*: 12-?, is structured and systematically
presented information about the other culture which provides a necessary Dframewor= for
understanding it >"yram 1**8a: )1?.
Tomlinson and !asuhara >2--5: )? add some more features that characterise cultural
knowledge. In their opinion, it is usually external, that is presented by somebody else'
static, that is not modified from one=s own experience' articulated, that is reduced to what
words can express' stereotypical' and lastly, reduced, depending on the information
available. It is most commonly presented in the form of descriptions, explanations,
statistics, generalisations as well as of anecdotes and examples to illustrate the
generalisations.
Cultural awareness is based on nowledge of the other as well as one=s own culture.
9owever, it should not be simply seen as Ereplacing oneCway view with a twoCway viewH
>/ulverness 1***: 28? as the concept is much larger. Tomalin and $templesi >1**+: .?
define cultural awareness as Hsensitivity to the impact of culturally induced behaviour on
language use and communication.H They add that it includes awareness of one=s own
culturallyCinduced behaviour, awareness of the culturallyCinduced behaviour of others and
lastly, an ability to explain one=s own cultural standpoint.
"yram >1**8a: )-? explains more thoroughly what abilities are involved in cultural
awareness. 2ccording to him, it may be seen as an ability to reflect on one=s own cultural
identity, (uestion taenCforCgranted values and beliefs and compare one= own culture with
that of the interlocutor=s. &omparison forms a basis for understanding and helps learners to
E perceive and cope with differenceH >"yram 1**,: 5?.
1+
Tomlinson and !asuhara >2--5: )? characterise the nature of cultural awareness
contrasting it with cultural knowledge. They claim that it consists of perceptions of one=s
own and other people=s cultures which are internal, that is they develop in the mind'
dynamic, that is they are constantly being added and changed' variable, that is modified
from experience' multiCdimensional, that is represented through sensory images and mental
pictures' and, lastly, they are interactive, that is they are interrelated and influence each
other. ;hile cultural knowledge is mostly gained from other people, cultural awareness is
gained from personal experience either directly through visits to foreign countries or
indirectly through music, films and literature >ibid.?.
Competence can be defined as Ethe sum of nowledge, sills and characteristics that
allow a person to perform actionsH >&E1 2---: *?. In understanding the other culture,
intercultural >also sometimes referred to as socio+cultural, see for example, "yram 2---:
*? competence and intercultural communicative competence have been the most commonly
discussed ones.
2ccording to "yram >2---: *, 1**8: 5*C.5?, intercultural competence involves five
elements: >1? attitudes: curiosity and openness, suspending disbelief about one=s own and
other cultures, >2? nowledge: products and practices of one=s own and the other culture,
societal and individual interaction, >+? sills of interpreting and relating: interpreting
documents or events from the other culture and relating them to the documents from one=s
own culture, >5? sills of discovery and interaction: ability to ac(uire new nowledge and
operate nowledge, sills and attitudes in realCtime communication and >.? critical cultural
awarenessIpolitical education: ability to evaluate critically practices and products of one=s
own and the other culture. 9e concludes:
15
In short someone with some degree of intercultural competence is someone who is able to
see relationships between different cultures O both internal and external to a society O and
is able to mediate, that is interpret each in terms of the other, either for themselves or other
people. It is also someone who has a critical or analytical understanding of >parts of? their
own and other cultures O someone who is conscious of their own perspective, of the way in
which their thining is culturally determined, rather than believing that their understanding
and perspective is natural. >"yram 2---: *?
,ntercultural competence together with learners= linguistic, sociolinguistic and discourse
competence form intercultural communicative competence >I&&? >"yram 1**8: 8+?.
3earners with an I&& can lin the nowledge of the other culture to their language
competence through their ability to use language appropriately >"yram 1**8: 81?.
1oreign language learners= competences have also been thoroughly discussed in &E1
>2--1: 1-1C12*?. 0egardless of the differences in terminology and grouping, they stress the
same aspects that have been discussed above.
Teaching culture can mean developing any of these aspects discussed. ;hat is paid most
attention to depends on the aim of culture teaching as well as the situation in which it is
taught. In the present thesis, mostly the development of cultural knowledge and awareness
is discussed. The main reason for this is that, traditionally, the emphasis in teaching culture
in the language classroom has been on the ac(uisition of cultural knowledge and, more
recently, on developing cultural awareness. 2lso, these two constitute an important aspect
of the intercultural competence.
6espite the recognition of the importance of teaching culture in the language classroom,
it is generally agreed >see, for example, $tern 1**2, %ramsch 1**+, "yram J !organ 1**5
et al.? that not enough attention is paid to it.
The same applies to the situation in Estonia. 4ne has to agree with 3PPnemets >2--5:
para .?, who writes in -peta.ate Leht that the language syllabi need to be enriched as they
are rather cultureCsterile >kultuuristeriilne? and do not show relations between language and
culture. In another article, TQr >2--5: para )? refers to the necessity of including cultural
nowledge in the language syllabus. The longCterm experience of the author of the present
1.
thesis as an English teacher at the tertiary level indicates that firstCyear students lac even
the basic nowledge of English speaing countries >for example, the name, and the
location of the countries on the map?.
2ccording to $tern >1**2: 2-8?, the reasons for the limited treatment of culture might be
the following :
 the vastness of the culture concept'
 the problem of goal determination and lac of accessible information'
 (uestions of syllabus design and finding place to culture in a predominantly
languageCoriented curriculum'
 (uestions of teaching procedure.
Therefore, the first chapter of the thesis focuses on these aspects and summarises the
opinions of the most eminent scholars of the field, such as !ichael "yram >1*,*, 1**5,
1**8, 1**,?, &laire %ramsch >1**+, 1**), 1**,?, %enneth &hastain >1*,,?, 9. 6ouglas
"rown >2---?, #ed $eelye >1**+?, $usan "assnett >1**8?, Koyce !erill Laldes >1*,)?,
0ebecca !. Lalette >1*,)?, !artin &ortaAAi and 3ixian Kin >1***? and others.
1)
TEACHING CULTURE
2s described above, in one form or another culture has always been included in the
foreign language curriculum. ;hat seems still to be debatable is how it should be taught,
what the culture syllabus should contain, what would be the most appropriate methodology
and, finally, what teaching materials to use. The first part of the thesis tries to find answers
to these (uestions.
Ga#s a.0 pri.-ip#es , tea-hi./ -u#ture
The 3ai. /a#s ,r tea-hi./ -u#ture
;hen the main aim of foreign language teaching is to develop students= ability to
communicate effectively and appropriately in various situations, the teaching of culture
should facilitate intercultural communication and understanding. $eelye formulates what
he himself calls a supergoal for the teaching of culture: E2ll students will develop the
cultural understanding, attitudes, and performance sills needed to function appropriately
within a segment of another society and to communicate with people socialiAed in that
cultureH >$eelye 1**+: 2*?.
&hastain >1*,,: 2**C+--? adds that, in language classes where intercultural
understanding is one of the goals, students become more aware of their own culture and
more nowledgeable about the foreign culture. In such classes, students learn to recognise
cultural patterns of behaviour and communication and function within the parameters with
those new expectations.
18
$eeleye goes on to say >ibid.: +-? that large goals should be described in more detail to
be useful. 9e suggests six instructional goals, which he summarises as follows: the
teachers should Ehelp the student to develop interest in who in the target culture did what,
where, when and whyH >the first five goals? and Esome sophistication in evaluating
statements about the culture and finding out more about itH >the sixth goal?.
Tomalin and $templesi >1**+: 8C,? have modified $eelye=s goals of cultural
instruction. 2ccording to them, the teaching of culture should help students
 to develop an understanding of the fact that all people exhibit culturallyCconditioned
behaviours'
 to develop an understanding that social variables such as age, sex, social class, and
place of residence influence the way in which people spea and behave'
 to become more aware of conventional behaviour in common situations in the
target culture'
 to increase their awareness of the cultural connotations of words and phrases in the
target language'
 to develop the ability to evaluate and refine generalisations about the target culture,
in terms of supporting evidence'
 to develop the necessary sills to locate and organise information about the target
culture'
 to stimulate students= intellectual curiosity about the target culture, and to
encourage empathy towards its people.
$tern, who has studied goals set by several other scholars >1**2: 212C21.?, concludes
that all goals, despite the differences in terminology, stress the cognitive aspect, that is:
Hnowledge about the target culture, awareness of its characteristics and differences
between the target culture and the learner=s own culture.H 2 EresearchCminded outlooH is
also important, that means Ewillingness to find out, to analyse, synthesiAe and generaliAe.H
1,
3astly, learners should understand the sociocultural implications of language and language
use.
In order to reach the aboveCmentioned goals culture in foreign language classes should
be presented in a systematic and organised way. It should not be Eincidental to the real
business of language teachingH >"yram 1*,*: +?, neither could it be treated as Ean
interesting sidelight that is included periodically to provide a change of pace from language
studyH >&hastain 1*,,: +-.?. &ultural studies should have Ea rightful placeH >"yram 1*,*:
+? in foreign language teaching. %ramsch=s observation seems to summarise what &hastain
and "yram have previously said. $he states:
&ulture in language learning is not an expendable fifth sill, taced on, so to spea, to the
teaching of speaing, listening, reading, and writing. It is always in the bacground, right
from day one, ready to unsettle the good language learners when they expect it least,
maing evident the limitations of their hardCwon communicative competence, challenging
their ability to mae sense of the world around them. >%ramsch 1**+: 1?
Ga#s ,r tea-hi./ -u#ture i. e0u-ati.a# 0-u3e.ts
The aboveCdiscussed general goals for teaching culture are also reflected in different
ways in various education policy documents dealing with foreign language teaching as well
as in the national curricula of different countries.
&E1 >2---: +? stresses, among other things, that one aim of teaching modern languages
is to promote mutual understanding and tolerance, respect for identities and cultural
diversity through more effective international communication.
The #ational &urriculum for England and ;ales >6E$ 1**-: +, cited in 0isager 1**,:
25.? has the following aims concerning the cultural dimension:
 to offer insights into the culture and the civilisation of the countries where the
language is spoen'
 to encourage positive attitudes to foreign language learning and to speaers of
foreign languages and a sympathetic approach to other cultures and civilisations'
 to develop pupils= understanding of themselves and their own culture.
1*
The &urriculum also states that
without the cultural dimension, successful communication is often difficult:
comprehension of even basic words and phrases >such as those referring to meals? may be
partial or approximate, and speaers and writers may fail to convey their meaning
ade(uately or may even cause offence >cited in "yram 1**,: 5?.
In 6enmar the curriculum states that foreign language teaching should Eoffer insights
into the cultural and societal conditionsH of the countries whose language is taught and
enhance both pupils= international understanding and understanding of their own culture
>0isager 1**,: 25.?.
The #ational &urriculum of "asic and :ymnasium Education of Estonia also sets some
goals for teaching culture. It is said that the obNective of teaching foreign languages at
school is to ensure that students, among others things, are interested in the countries whose
language is studied as well as in the culture of these countries. $tudents are expected to
now the literature of the country, be familiar with the norms and rules of behaviour and
communication as well as with the use of these norms in speech and writing >Labariigi
Lalitsuse mPPrus nr. .), 2..-1.2--2?. The document seems to stress students= nowledge
and interest as the most important aims. 9owever, differently from the English and 6anish
curricula, it does not consider understanding of ones= own and other culture e(ually
important. The latter, as stated above, is seen as the main goal by most scholars.
Pri.-ip#es ,r -u#ture tea-hi./
9ow to secure culture a Drightful= place in language teaching has been another ongoing
concerns for scholars. There seems to be a consensus among them that students= active
involvement is paramount. "yram and !organ >1**5: .-? stress that learners need to
engage actively in the interpretations of the world and compare and contrast the shared
meanings of both their own and foreign cultures. They should have access to routine and
conscious nowledge held by the members of the foreign culture so that they can adNust to
routine behaviours and allusive communication. They should also learn about the
institutions and artefacts lie literature, film, history and political institutions in order to
2-
further analyse the values and meanings of foreign culture. "yram and !organ also suggest
the soCcalled Espiral curriculumH >ibid.: .1?, in which learners repeatedly encounter certain
information and progress from a superficial ac(uisition of information to a more complex
analysis.
%ramsch >1**+: 2-.C2-)? warns against a simple Etransmission of informationH about
the foreign culture and its members= worldviews. $he highlights what she calls Enew ways
of looing at the teaching of language and cultureH. These include:
 Establishing a /sphere of interculturality0, which means that teaching culture is not
transferring information between cultures but a foreign culture should be put in
relation with one=s own. The intercultural approach includes a reflection on both
cultures.
 !eaching culture as an interpersonal process, which means replacing the teaching
of facts and behaviours by the teaching of a process that helps to understand others.
 !eaching culture as difference, which means considering the multiculturality and
multiethnicity of modern societies and looing at various factors lie age, gender,
regional origin, ethnic bacground, and social class. In other words, cultures should
not be seen as monolithic.
 Crossing disciplinary boundaries, which means lining the teaching of culture to
other disciplines lie anthropology, sociology and semiology.
%ramsch >1**+: 2-)? concludes that these Elines of thought lay the ground for a much
richer understanding of culture than heretofore envisaged by the maNority of language
teachers.H
21
In addition to the aboveCmentioned guidelines there are some more aspects that might
be considered while teaching culture, for example, the teacher needs to be obNective, get rid
of clichRd images and stereotypes, introduce an element of discovery learning, consider the
European dimension >:ill n.d.: +*C51?, and present cultural information in a nonC
Nudgemental fashion >/eterson and &oltrane 2--+: 2?.
De,i.i./ a -u#tura# s+##a4us
4nce the aims and principles of teaching culture have been determined the issue what
the syllabus should contain has to be resolved. The cultural syllabus can be defined and
classified using different categories such as topics, topic areas, elements of culture and so
on.
Tpi-s ,r tea-hi./ -u#ture
The easiest way to design a cultural syllabus is to compile a list of topics that are
thought to be important for or of interest to students. 2s there is no exhaustive list, the
decision to include certain topics is always arbitrary. 2n example would be the Estonian
#ational &urriculum >Labariigi Lalitsuse mPPrus nr. .), 2..-1.2--2? where the topics for
grades +C) include the situation, language, capital, flag and national holidays, for grades
8C* population, name of the country, capital, flag, languages, customs and culture.
$econdary school students should be familiarised with the literature and culture of the
language studied. $uggested topics include the system of government, cultural, economic,
and political contacts, customs and traditions, the most important national holidays and
traditions connected to them, national cuisine and eating habits. 2lso the students should
be familiar with the norms and rules of behaviour and communication. 2s the suggested
topics also include culture then considering the broad concept of it as shown above
teachers are relatively free to choose what to teach.
22
;hat a huge tas trying to list the topics for teaching culture is can be seen from the list
of )2 topics compiled by "roos >1*,): 125C12,, first published in 1*)5?. 9is list includes,
for example, greetings, patterns of politeness, verbal taboos, festivals, folklore, music,
medicine, hobbies, learning in school, meals, sports and careers >for the full list see
2ppendix 1?. 9owever, he claims that such a list is in no way exhaustive and stresses that
the learners= age and needs should be considered.
&hastain >1*,,: +-+C+-5? has compiled his list using an anthropological perspective.
$imilarly to "roos, he claims that students can add topics with which they want to
become familiar. In his list there are +8 topics, including family, home, money, religion,
holidays, clothes, good manners and non+verbal communication. 9e considers the latter
especially important to teach when students anticipate having direct contacts with speaers
of the other culture. ;hat he also emphasises is that the discussion of these topics should
be based on comparing similarities and differences of students= own and the target culture.
>1or the full list by &hastain see 2ppendix 2?
The comparative approach is also emphasised by 6urant >1**8: +1?. 9is list consists of
topics such as food, customs, the legal and .udicial system, holidays, housing and gardens,
social attitudes, and forms of political e1pression. 9e adds, though, that Ethere seems to be
little need for any fixed list or fixed order of themesH and the choice of topics depends on
students= interests and suggestions.
Fr3 tpi-s t #ar/er -ate/ries
2lthough lists of topics may be the easiest way to design a cultural syllabus, this may
lead to an unsystematic provision of information. Therefore, chosen topics can be grouped
into areas or categories.
The &E1 >2--1: 1-2C1-+? offers a list of seven categories that are considered
characteristic of a particular European society and its culture. These include everyday
living >e.g., food and drin, holidays and woring practices?, living conditions >e.g.,
2+
housing conditions?, interpersonal relations >e.g., class structure, family structures and
relations between generations?, values, beliefs and attitudes >e.g., social class, wealth,
regional cultures, minorities and arts?, body language, social conventions >punctuality,
dress and behavioural and conversational conventions? and ritual behaviour >e.g., birth,
marriage and death?.
9asselgreen >2--+: 58C.2? suggests a list of categories based on those in the &E1. The
categories have been regrouped and supplemented on the basis of students= essays and,
therefore, consider their interests. The topics are centred around learners= intercultural
abilities. These are: the ability of coping with daily life activities, traditions and living
conditions >e.g, in home, school and at festivals?, the ability to deal with social
conventions >e.g., Dgood manners=, dressing and meeting people?' confidence with the
values, beliefs and attitudes of the foreign language users >e.g., what they are proud of,
worry about and find funny?, the ability to use verbal communication means >e.g., greeting,
apologising, expressing gratitude, embarrassment and love? and lastly, the ability to use
nonCverbal language >e.g., body language and facial expressions?. >1or the full list see
2ppendix +?
"yram and !organ >1**5: .1C.2, .+C..? suggest one community where the language is
spoen to be taen for a closer study and offer nine broader analytical categories which
should mae up a minimum content of cultural learning. The categories include social
identity and social groups >e.g., social class, subCculture identities and ethnic and cultural
minorities?, social interaction >e.g., verbal and nonCverbal behaviour, greetings at different
levels, gender relationships and taboos?, belief and behaviour >e.g., certain actions such as
going to school and going to church and their meanings, and Drecipe nowledge=, that is,
routine behaviours, e.g., how to use public transport?, socio+political institutions >e.g.,
government, law and order and health care?, socialisation and the life+cycle >e.g., schools,
family and education?, national history >e.g., different periods and events?, national
25
geography >e.g., distribution of population, topography and climate and vegetation?,
national cultural heritage >e.g., embodiments from national culture from past and present?,
and stereotypes and national identity >e.g., explanation of stereotypes and symbols of
national stereotypes and their meanings and national identity?.
They go on to say that a culture course either delivered on its own or integrated into
language teaching should give learners Dbeacons= which help them to orientate themselves
in the foreign culture and to understand it.
;e are not proposing that language and culture courses should be history, sociology or
geography courses. ;e want them rather to give an understanding of the significance of
particular periods of history or social institutions or geographical facts in the
understanding the foreign group has of itself and its identity. These can be then compared
and contrasted with learners= own national views of their identity M >"yram J !organ
1**5: .2?
$tern >1**2: 21*C222? emphasises six categories which an average language learner is
liely to re(uire: places, individual persons and way of life, people and society in general,
history, institutions and, finally, art, music, literature and other achievements. 9e claims
that a learner needs to have Esome sense of physical location to which to relate the target
languageH >ibid.: 21*?. In syllabus design, $tern, similarly to "yram and !organ >see
above?, suggests that teachers should mae a choice of a particular country or region where
the language is spoen. In the European educational tradition, including Estonia, this
country has been the 7nited %ingdom.
The second area, individual persons and way of life, is in $tern=s opinion the most
important. &oming to terms with everyday life in the community not only familiarises
learners with customs of the community but also helps them to explore beliefs, thoughts
and attitudes of its individuals >ibid.: 22-?.
2.
The third category, people and society, enables learners to identify significant groups
indicating social, professional, economic and age differences. $tern thins it is important
that learners find out how native speaers view their society and the relations in it >ibid.:
2--C221?.
;hen learning about the history of a particular country, $tern again stresses the native
speaer=s point of view. 3earners need to now the main historical developments,
historically significant symbols, historical personalities as well as critical issues of past and
present >ibid.: 221?.
"y institutions $tern identifies the systems of government, education, social welfare,
economic institutions, political parties and the media. 9e argues that learners= nowledge
of these institutions should be comparable with that of the institutions of learners= home
country >ibid.?.
2s to how much learners should now about arts and other achievements of the target
culture, $tern claims that they should be familiar with them to the extent that these are
common nowledge in the speech community and form what he calls Dcommon literacy=.
9owever, he points out that what matters most is what values these wors of art convey.
The re(uirements $tern sets for language learners, however, seem to be too demanding
and (uite difficult to meet in everyday teachingClearning situations. $tern himself suggests
that teachers can overcome the vastness of material by careful selection and differentiated
approaches. 1actors such as learners= age and maturity, their previous language learning
experience and educational bacground are to be considered >ibid.: 222?.
There have been several attempts to present a threeCway division of culture. 9ammerly
>1*,2, cited in $tern 1**2: 21-C211? distinguishes between information culture, behaviour
culture and achievement culture.
The first, information or factual culture, includes the information and facts an average
native speaer would now about their culture and a second language speaer should be
2)
familiar with in order to understand how native speaers view their country. 2 foreign
language learner should now the behaviour culture which refers to people=s actual
behaviour and attitudes. 9ammerly considers behaviour culture the most important aspect
as nowing this contributes to successful communication with speaers of the other
culture. chievement or accomplishment culture, according to 9ammerly, is related to the
artistic and literary accomplishments of a particular country >ibid.?.
Tomalin and $templesi >1**+: 8? present three interrelated categories of culture:
products, ideas and behaviours >see 1igure 1?.
1igure 1. Elements of culture by !omalin and )templeski >1**+: 8?
$imilarly to 9ammerly and $tern, they claim that behaviour culture should be
systematically treated in every language class.
!oran >2--1: 25? argues that although a threefold distinction is easy to apply, there is
an important dimension missing from it, namely people. Therefore he has added two
dimensions: communities and people >see 1igure 2?.
28
1igure 2. !he Five (imensions of Culture >!oran 2--1: 25?
&roducts in his definition are all artefacts produced by the members of the culture. They
can be both tangible >for example, tools, buildings and written documents? or intangible
>for example, oral and written language, music and various institutions?. &ractices include
language and other forms of communication. They can be verbal and nonCverbal. They also
involve notions of time, space and appropriateness. &erspectives represent beliefs, values
and attitudes. Taen as a whole they constitute a worldview. Communities include social
context in which practices occur. They range from broad >for example, national culture,
language, gender and class? to more narrow contexts >for example, local political parties,
sports clubs and family?. 3astly, people are the individual members who embody the
culture in uni(ue ways. >!oran 2--1: 2.?
It can be concluded from the discussion above that mapping cultural topics contributes
to the design of a clearly identified syllabus and would help teachers to provide cultural
information in a more systematic way than it has often been done in foreign language
classes.
In addition to the lac of a clearly defined syllabus, there might be other reasons why in
many language classes teaching culture is still reduced to, what %ramsch >1**1, cited in
9inel 1***: .? calls, the 51Cs: foods, fairs, follore, and statistical facts. 1irst, teachers are
often hampered by timetable pressures. 3earning language is a fullCtime tas in itself. $o
many teachers may face a (uestion: 9ow to find time for teaching all the important aspects
2,
of cultureS $econd, teachers are not prepared to teach culture Therefore, they should be
familiarised with various techni(ues and activities that have been developed to integrate
culture in language classes. The following section of the thesis will focus on the ways of
teaching culture as well as the factors influencing the choice.
5a+s , tea-hi./ -u#ture
Fa-trs i.,#ue.-i./ the -hi-e , 3eth0#/+
6ifferent approaches to the teaching of culture as well as activities and techni(ues
associated with them have been suggested by several scholars. 9owever, it is e(ually
important to remember that the choice depends on many factors, the most important being:
 the situation in which the language is taught'
 learners= age and command of a foreign language'
 the teacher.
$tern >1**2: 22+? distinguishes between three situations in which the teaching of
culture can tae place:
1. &ulture is taught in language courses, where students are physically and often
psychologically removed from the reality of the second culture. In this case culture
teaching provides bacground and context and helps the learners visualise the
reality. This seems to be the most common situation for teaching culture in many
countries, including Estonia.
2. &ulture is taught in a situation, which prepares a student for a visit or wor in a new
environment. Even though the student is physically far away from the culture,
heIshe is psychologically better prepared and also more motivated to learn.
&onsidering the enlargement of the European 7nion and new opportunities for
young people to study and wor abroad, this situation may become much more
common than it used to be.
2*
+. &ulture is taught in the cultural setting >e.g., to immigrants, students studying in a
target language community?. In this case, students need more help to come to terms
with the foreign environment to avoid cultural misunderstandings. "rown >2---:
1,*? considers this situation the best for second language and culture teaching.
Though advisable, it is not the easiest to organise.
Each situation determines the aims of teaching culture and the range of topics that are
considered important to be taught. ;hen the main aim is to provide cultural nowledge, as
it is often the case in the first situation, the most suitable activities might be, for example,
watching videos and films, reading and discussing literary and newspaper texts. In the case
of the second and third situations, learners need various sills of cultural practices. These
can be best developed, for example, through role plays, dialogues and drama.
$econdly, one has to bear in mind students0 age, maturity, command of language and
educational level. "yram >1**8a: ..C.)? emphasises that Eteaching and learning aims
which include Dunderstanding=, Dtolerance=, Dempathy= and related notions presuppose a
psychological readiness in learners which may be ageCdependent, may be influenced by
social factors, may be furthered or even inhibited by exposure to a foreign culture and
language.H 6urant >1**8: +1? adds that Eenhanced language proficiency is essentialH,
especially when learners wish to continue their studies independently outside the
classroom.
2nd finally, the choice of an approach and a method often depends on the teacher and
hisIher preferences as well as the level of preparation. Teachers have to be prepared to deal
with students learning facts or opinions that may conflict with their own or what they
regard as natural. "yram >1**8a: )2? states that Ethe teacher should be aware of the nature
of the challenge to learners= understanding of their culture and identity.H Edelhoff >1*,8,
cited in $ercu 1**,: 2.)C2.8? has summarised the main points of teacher (ualifications for
intercultural foreign language teaching. These include teachers= attitudes, nowledge and
+-
sills. 2mong other things, it is stressed that if teachers want to educate learners towards
intercultural learning, they have to be intercultural learners themselves. >1or the full list of
teachers= (ualifications see 2ppendix 5.?
In order to achieve best outcomes all the factors have to be considered.
The 3st -33. appra-hes t the tea-hi./ , -u#ture
In language teaching, an approach has come to mean Ethe theory, philosophy and
principles underlying a particular set of teaching practices >3ongman 6ictionary of
3anguage Teaching and 2pplied 3inguistics 2--2?. 9owever, in the literature on teaching
culture, the term is used in a more relaxed way: only a few of the soCcalled approaches
seem to constitute a theory or a philosophy. In the present thesis, the original terminology
is used.
In the history of the teaching of culture different approaches can be noticed. $ome of
them have lost ground' some have had and still have dominant positions The approaches
can be classified in different ways. In very broad terms, they can be divided into two: those
which focus only >or mostly? on the culture of the country whose language is studied >the
monoCcultural approach? and those which are based on comparing learners= own and the
other culture >the comparative approach?.
The soCcalled mono-cultural approach was typical for the courses lie Landeskunde,
area studies, and British life and institutions >see p. , above? and is considered inade(uate
nowadays because it does not consider learners= understanding of their own culture.
The comparative approach, on the other hand, emphasises that that foreign culture
should be related to learners= own. "uttNes and "yram >1**1: 1+, cited in Edginton 2---:
1+)? claim that instead of providing learners with Ea oneCway flow of cultural informationH
they should be encouraged to reflect on their own and foreign culture. The comparative
approach draws on the learner=s own nowledge, beliefs and values which form a basis for
successful communication with members of the other culture. "yram states that learners
+1
cannot rid themselves of their own culture and simply step into another. 1or learners to
deny their own culture is to deny their own being >"yram 1**5: 5+?. ;hile the essence of
the comparative approach is to provide a double perspective it does not mean that learners
need to evaluate which culture is better. Instead, students learn that there are many ways of
doing things and their way is not the only possible one.
$o the comparative approach does involve evaluation but not in terms of comparison with
something which is better, but in terms of improving what is all too familiar. &omparison
maes the strange, the other, familiar, and maes the familiar, the self, strange O and
therefore easier to reCconsider.>"yram and /lanet: 2---: 1,*?
The comparative approach may begin either with the strange or the familiar.
Traditionally, the primary focus in foreign language classes has been given to the other
culture. #onetheless, some authors emphasise the need to deal with the familiar first and
then move to the strange >ibid.?.
&omparison gives learners a new perspective of their own language and culture and
(uestions their EtaenCforCgranted natureH >"yram 1**,: )?. Through comparison, learners
discover both similarities and differences of their own and other cultures. This, in turn, can
lead to increased nowledge, understanding and acceptance.
0isager >1**,: 25+C2.2? describes four approaches to the teaching of culture, two of
which C the intercultural and multicultural + include a considerable element of comparison.
The intercultural approach is based on the idea that culture is best learned through
comparison. Though the focus is on the target culture, the intercultural approach deals
with the relations between the learners= own country and the countryIcountries where the
language is spoen. It may include comparisons between the two and it develops learners=
understanding of both. The aim is to develop learners= intercultural and communicative
competences, which would enable them to function as mediators between the two cultures.
The approach has become increasingly recognised since the 1*,-s. 9owever, 0isager
>1**,: 25)? considers this approach inade(uate as it is Eblind to the actual multicultural
+2
character of almost all existing countries or statesH and suggests that teachers should use
the multicultural approach.
The multicultural approach draws on the idea that several cultures exist within one
culture. The multicultural approach includes a focus on the ethnic and linguistic diversity
of the target countryIcountries as well as on the learners= own. 2s in the intercultural
approach, comparison is important. 0isager >1**,: 25)? also stresses that a balanced and
antiCracist view of cultures should be involved. This approach emphasises the principle that
cultures are not monolithic >see p. 21 above?.
The third approach suggested by 0isager is the transcultural approach. The basic idea
behind this is that in the modern world cultures are interwoven due to extensive tourism,
migration, worldCwide communication systems, economic interdependence and
globalisation. It is also reflected by the fact that many people spea foreign languages as
lingua francas. The transcultural approach, therefore, deals with the foreign language as an
international language. Its main aim is to teach learners to use it for international
communication. In this case, it could be argued that it is not necessary at all to lin the
foreign language to any specific culture. 9owever, "yram >1**8: ..? contends that
although it is possible to introduce topics which are of universal significance in all cultures,
such an approach leaves learners without topics which are characteristic of a particular
country, that is the ones which EcharacteriAe its uni(ueness for the language learnerH. 2lso,
such an approach denies the lin between language and culture.
The monoCcultural approach in 0isager=s list is represented by what he calls the
foreign+cultural approach2 It is based on the concept of a single culture and focuses on the
culture of the country where the language is spoen. It does not deal with the learners= own
country and the relations between the two. The teaching aim is to develop the soCcalled
native speaer communicative and cultural competence. The approach was dominant until
the 1*,-s and is criticised nowadays because of the lac of relationships between cultures.
++
:alloway provides some other examples of the monoCcultural approach >1*,., cited in
;iTniewsaC"rogowsa n.d., 3iiv 1***: )1?, the most wideCspread of which are the
following four:
The Frankenstein Approach : 2 taco from here, a flamenco dancer from here, a :acho
from here, a bullfight from there.
The 4-F Approach : 1ol dances, festivals, fairs and food.
Tour Guide Approach: !onuments, rivers, cities etc.
By-The-ay Approach: $poradic lectures or bits of behaviour selected indiscriminately
to emphasise sharp differences.
2ll these approaches provide learners mostly with factual information and only offer an
Einteresting sidelightH to the foreign culture >&hastain 1*,,: +-.?. "ecause of their very
limited nature, they should not be encouraged.
In addition to the aboveCdiscussed approaches, there are a number of approaches that are
centred around various aspects of a given culture or concentrate on developing certain
sills in learners. The following approaches concentrate on both giving nowledge and
understanding of the country=s culture and encourage students to compare it with their
own.
The theme-!ased or thematic approach to the teaching of culture is based around
certain themes, for example, symbolism, value, ceremony, love, honour, humour, beauty,
intellectuality, the art of living, realism, common sense, family, liberty, patriotism,
religion, and education, which are seen as typical of a culture. Though monoCcultural by
nature, it tries to show the relationships and values in a given culture and, therefore, helps
learners to understand it better. #ostrand, who looed for the main themes for the 1rench
culture, wored out a model nown as an Emergent "odel >1*)8 and 1*8,, cited in $eelye
1**+: 1+2C1++' 9ughes 1*,): 1).C1))?. This is based on the assumption that certain
ingredients are characteristic of the behaviour of members of a certain culture. #ostrand
+5
>1*85, cited in $eelye 1**+: 1++? argues that relationships in a given society can be best
taught when grouped under main themes. 2 theme in his treatment is wider than a topic
and involves actions of a given lifestyle. 9e defines a theme as Ean emotionally charged
concern, which motivates or strongly influences the culture bearer=s conduct in a wide
variety of situations.H 4ne theme, for example, that he considers as a manifestation of the
1rench culture is intellectuality2 9e also believes that each culture has their own themes
and no one has more than twelve. 3earners who are aware of the underlying themes of the
other culture are thought to react appropriately to stimuli lie Noes, cartoons, television
programmes, and films >#ostrand 1*)8, cited in Lalette 1*,): 1*5, first published in
1*88?.
9owever, it is sometimes thought that the themeCbased approach provides learners with
a segmented view of the target culture. It might be difficult for them to see individual
people and understand social processes and values from this perspective and could lead to
stereotyping >;iTniewsaC"rogowsa n.d.?.
The topic-!ased approach concentrates on more general and crossCsectional topics
which involve various cultural issues. 2ccording to 2lan !c3ean >1**5, cited in
;iTniewsaC"rogowsa n.d.?, a EtopicCbased approach can provide an obli(ue yet original
encounter with "ritish life and culture. It deals with ey elements of current "ritish life,
such as class, privatisation, education, health, not in isolation but within a series of
unifying contexts.H ;iTniewsaC"rogowsa argues that the topicCbased approach to the
teaching of culture brings life to class and develops a more holistic and integrated view of
the target culture. $he goes on to say that Enowing about the people who use the language,
understanding their behaviours, beliefs and customs increases cultural awareness and
promotes greater personal interest both in the language and the culture.H 6urant >1**8: +1?,
who is also in favour of the topicC based approach, stresses that learning should tae place
Eon the basis of analytic and comparative methods.H
+.
!ost textboos >e.g., Focus on Britain, #hat0s ,t Like, ll the #orld0s a &u33le? are
based around certain topics. 2ccording to 6urant >1**8: +1?, there is no need for any fixed
list or a fixed order how the topics should be taught. 9e also advises teachers to tae into
account learners= choices.
The pro!lem-oriented approach aims at getting learners interested in the other culture
and encourages them to do some research on their own. $eelye >1**+: 58? sees the
teacher=s role in defining the problem that interests learners. 9e claims that the more
precise a problem is the easier it is for a learner to reach the desired outcome. The teacher
should also guide learners in the bibliographic wor. 9e claims that
rather than be told to read a boo on the general topic chosen, students can be taught to
sim and to read carefully only limited sections that are germane to their specific area of
interest. 4therwise, the student will fast become bogged down in the fantastic explosion of
nowledge that threatens to engulf all scholars, especially those in science and social
science. >$eelye 1**+: 58?
This is an important remar to consider, given the amount of material that is accessible
to learners today. The result of student research should be a report, either written or
presented orally.
The task-oriented approach is also based on learners= own research. 6ifferently from
the previous one it is characterised by coCoperative tass. 3earners wor in pairs or small
groups on different aspects of the other culture. They share and discuss their findings with
others in order to form a more complete picture. 3astly, learners interpret the information
within the context of the other culture and compare it with their own. >Tomalin and
$templesi 1**+: *?
The skill-centred approach differs from the aboveCgiven approaches in a sense that it is
more practical and might be useful for those who need to live within the targetClanguage
community. It aims at developing learners= sills, which they may need to manage the
issues involved in >mis?communication between culturesIsocieties. It does not primarily
mean nowledge of the other culture. 2ccording to "olt >n.d.?, the sillCcentred approach
+)
emphasises awareness and sills as much as content, the present and future as much as past
and, lastly, similarities in cultures as much as differences. 9e goes on to say that
methodologically this means:
 the raising and exploring of open (uestions rather than answering of the closed
ones'
 what can be done at the end of a lesson is as important as what is nown'
 the process of an activity is as important as the product'
 cultural input is insufficient, cultural outcomes are essential'
 the learners= involvement is as important as the material the teacher provides'
 investigatory attitudes to develop the sills of finding, evaluating, analysing and
finally communicating aspects of culture'
 teachers and learners woring alongside one another to common goals'
 language is central and foregrounded.
#o matter what approach is used, it is important that the teaching of culture Enever lose
FsG sight of the individualH >"roos 1*)5, cited in $eelye 1**+: 1+.?. $eelye >ibid.? goes
on to say that the focus should be on Ehow societal values, institutions, language, and the
land affect the thought and lifestyle of someone living in the culture we are studying.H
$econd, comparison of one=s own and the other culture is important.
Te-h.i6ues a.0 a-tivities ,r tea-hi./ -u#ture
There is a great variety of techni(ues and activities developed for integrating culture
into language teaching. 6ifferent scholars group them according to different principles >if
any?.
$tern >1**2: 22+C2+2? writes about techni4ues of culture teaching and presents them in
eight groups according to, what he calls, different approaches. The latter include:
 creating an authentic classroom environment >techni(ues include, for example,
displays and exhibitions of realia?'
+8
 providing cultural information >for example, cultural aside, culture capsule and
culture cluster?'
 cultural problem solving >for example, culture assimilator?'
 behavioural and affective aspects >for example drama and miniCdrama?'
 cognitive approaches >for example student research?'
 the role of literature and humanities >for example, literary readings and watching
films?'
 realClife exposure to the target culture >for example, visits to the class by native
speaers, penCpals and visits to other countries?'
 maing use of cultural community resources >for example, when a foreign language
learning taes place in the targetClanguage community, the everyday environment
can be used as a resource?.
9ughes= >1**5: 1)8C1),? list of techni4ues for teaching cultural awareness includes
eight EvehiclesH which he considers the most practical. &hastain >1*,,: +-,C+1.? entitles
the chapter where he describes methods of teaching culture "odes of presenting culture,
using the terms approach and techni4ue interchangeably. 9e maes a distinction between
the inCclass and outCofCclass situations.
The following list of techni(ues and activities is compiled from various sources >given
in bracets? and are mostly meant to be used in class. The sources given in bracets are not
the only ones that mention a particular techni(ue. They, however, are the ones which
provide useful examples or insights. The techni(ues are not grouped and the original
terminology has been used. $ome have been illustrated by examples, which are given in the
appendices. Traditional teaching methods lie lectures and seminars are not discussed in
the present paper because of their universal nature.
Creating an authentic environment. 2lthough listed under techni(ues by &hastain
>1*,,: +1+? and $tern >1**2: 225?, this might rather be called a setting for more
+,
memorable learning. 6isplays, posters, bulletin boards, maps and realia can create a visual
and tangible presence of the other culture, especially in the situation where language and
culture are taught far away from the target country. $tudents can also mae culture
wallcharts >see, for example, Tomalin and $templesi 1**+: 21C2+?. 9ughes >1**5: 1),?
calls this techni(ue the culture island2
The cultural aside >see, for example, $tern 1**2: 225, &hastain 1*,,: +-*, 9enrichsen
1**,? is an item of cultural information offered by the teacher when it arises in the text. It
is often an unplanned, brief culture comment. >#ostrand >1*85: 2*,? calls the techni(ue an
incidental comment?. Its advantage is that it helps to create a cultural content for language
items as well as helps learners to mae mental associations similar to those that native
speaers mae. The disadvantage is that the cultural information presented to students is
liely to be disordered and incomplete.
The slice-of-life techni"ue >first suggested by Taylor in 1*82' also referred to by
&hastain 1*,,: +-*C1-, $tern 1**2: 225? is a techni(ue when the teacher chooses a small
segment of life from the other culture and usually presents it to learners at the beginning of
the class. This short input could be, for example, a song related to the topic or a recording
of a news item. The advantage of the techni(ue is that it both catches learners= attention
and arouses their interest. It does not tae up much of a valuable class time. 2s &hastain
puts it: HThe point is made with a minimum of comment and maximum of dispatchH
>&hastain 1*,,: +1-?.
The culture assimilator >see, for example, &hastain 1*,,: +1-, $tern 1**2: 22+, 22),
$eelye 1**+: 1)2C185, 9enrichsen 1**,, Tomalin and $templesi 1**+: ,*? is a brief
description of a critical incident of crossCcultural interaction that may be misinterpreted by
students. &ultural assimilators were originally designed for preparing /eace &orp
volunteers for life in a foreign environment >$tern 1**2: 22+?. 2fter reading the
description of the incident, students are presented with four possible explanations, from
+*
which they are ased to select the correct one. 1inally, students are given feedbac why one
explanation is right and the others wrong in the certain cultural context. Teachers can find
numerous culture assimilators from Cultural wareness by Tomalin and $templesi >1**+:
,*C*+?. &ulture assimilators have several advantages over presenting cultural information
through boos. 2ccording to $eelye >1**+: 1)+? they are fun to read and they involve the
learner with a crossCcultural problem. 9e also claims that they have been more effective in
controlled experiments. &hastain >1*,,: +1-? sees the main advantage of this type of
activity as helping to create an insight into and tolerance of cultural diversity. 4n the other
hand, it taes much time to prepare and re(uires Ea high degree of familiarity with the
cultureH >ibid.?. >1or examples of culture assimilators see 2ppendix ..?
The culture capsule >first suggested by Taylor and $orensen 1*)1' also referred to by
&hastain 1*,,: +1-, $tern 1**2: 225C2., $eelye 1**+: 185C188, 9enrichsen 1**,? is a brief
description of one aspect of the other culture followed by a discussion of the contrasts
between the learner=s and other cultures. 6ifferently from the culture assimilator, where
learners read the description, in this techni(ue the teacher presents the information orally. It
is also possible that students prepare a culture capsule at home and present it during class
time. The oral presentation is often combined with realia and visuals, as well as with a set
of (uestions to stimulate discussion. 4ne capsule should not tae up more than 1- minutes.
The main advantage of using a culture capsule is its Ecompactness and practical
manageable (ualityH >$tern 1**2: 25-?. 2nother advantage is that learners become
involved in the discussion and can consider the basic characteristics of their own culture
>&hastain 1*,,: +1-?.
The culture cluster >first suggested by !eade and !orain in 1*8+' also referred to by
&hastain 1*,,: +1-, $tern 1**2: 22., $eelye 1**+: 188C1,., 9enrichsen 1**,? is a
combination of conceptually related culture capsules. Two or more capsules which belong
together can form a cluster. 2 cluster should be concluded by some sort of activity, for
5-
example a dramatisation and a roleCplay. /arts of a culture cluster can be presented in
succeeding lessons. In the final lesson an activity is carried out where the set of capsules is
integrated into a single se(uence. !eade and !orrain >cited in &hastain 1*,,: +1-? give an
example of a 1rench country wedding, which is divided into 5 capsules: >1? the civil
ceremony, >2? the religious ceremony, >+? the wedding ban(uet, >5? acting out a country
wedding. Teachers can develop culture clusters themselves. To start with they should thin
of Ea slice of target lifeH >$eelye 1**+: 18,? and then wor bacwards to identify three or
four components it contains. The advantage of a culture cluster according to $tern >1**2:
22)? is that besides introducing different aspects of culture it Elends itself well to
behavioural training.H 9enrichsen also claims that culture capsules and clusters are good
methods for giving students nowledge and some intellectual awareness of several cultural
aspects, but he warns that they generally do not cause much emotional empathy.
The audio-motor unit >see, for example, &hastain 1*,,: +11, $tern 1**2: 22), 251,
9enrichsen 1**,? is considered to be an extension of the !otal &hysical Response method.
It was first developed to provide practical listening comprehension and to enliven the
learning situation with humour. The teacher gives students a set of commands to which
students respond by acting them out. The commands are arranged in an order that will
cause students to learn a new cultural experience by performing it. 2udioCmotor units give
nowledge and practice with correct behaviour but according to 9enrichsen, they do not
necessarily promote understanding nor empathy.
The micrologue >see, for example, &hastain 1*,,: +12? is a techni(ue where culture is
made the focus of language learning. The teacher chooses a cultural passage that can be
read out in class. $tudents listen, answer the (uestions, give an oral summary and, finally,
write the material as a dictation. 2ccording to &hastain, the advantage of this techni(ue is
that the teacher does not need to have any special cultural expertise and it taes only a
small amount of time.
51
The cultoon >see, for example, &hastain 1*,,: +12, 9enrichsen 1**,? is a techni(ue
which is lie a visual culture assimilator. The teacher gives students a cartoon strip >usually
four pictures? where some misunderstanding occurs. The situations are also described
verbally by the teacher or by students who read the accompanying written descriptions.
$tudents may be ased if they thin the reactions of the characters in the cultoons seem
appropriate or not and try to arrive at the correct interpretation. &ultoons generally promote
understanding of cultural facts and some understanding, but they do not usually give real
understanding of emotions involved in cultural misunderstandings.
The self-a#areness techni"ue >see, for example, &hastain 1*,,: +11? serves an aim to
raise students= consciousness of basic beliefs that govern their values, attitudes and actions.
Teachers may use sensitivity exercises, selfCassessment (uestionnaires, problemCsolving
and checlists of value orientations. &hastain claims that the way people use the second
language to express themselves reflects the way they organise reality and teachers can
explore the language and culture connections that occur in class.
The "ui$ >see, for example, &ullen 2---? can be used to test materials that the teacher
has previously taught, but it is also useful in learning new information. &ullen stresses that
it is not important whether students get the right answer or not but, by predicting, they will
become more interested in finding it out. The right answers can be given by the teacher,
through reading, listening, or a video, after which extra information can be provided.
BuiAAes are a highCinterest activity that eeps students involved. >1or an example see
2ppendix ).?
The drama %dramatisation& >see, for example, $tern 1**2: 228, 251, 1leming 1**,? has
been widely used in teaching culture and is considered useful for clarifying crossCcultural
misunderstandings. "yram and 1leming >1**,: 15+? claim that when drama is taught
properly it is Ean ideal context for exploration of cultural values, both one=s own and other
people=s.H 6rama involves learners in a roleCplay and simulation as well as encourages
52
them to position themselves in the role of a member of the other culture. 6ramatisation
maes cultural differences vivid and memorable as drama mirrors reality. 2ccording to
1leming >1**,: 1.2?, one important ingredient for successful drama is the tension.
Therefore, he suggests that for dramatisation such situations should be chosen where the
tension derives from the different interpretations of the situation >for a list of possible
situations see 2ppendix 8?. 4n the other hand, drama taes (uite a lot of time to prepare
and re(uires great willingness from the students to participate.
The minidrama'miniskit >see, for example, &hastain 1*,,: +1-C+11, $tern 1**2: 228C
22,, 9enrichsen 1**,, $eelye 1**+: 8-C8+? was first developed by social scientists for
crossCcultural education. !inidrama is a series of sits or scenes >usually from three to
five? of everyday life that illustrate culturally significant behaviour. 4ften the scenes
contain examples of miscommunication. The sit is read, viewed on a video or acted out.
Each sit is followed by a discussion. $eelye >1**+: 81? stresses that the teacher has to
Eestablish a nonCNudgemental atmosphereH during the discussion. It is also important for the
teacher to use the ErightH (uestions. 4penCended (uestions should rather be used than
yes5no (uestions. 1or example the (uestion #hat are your impressions of the scene6
should be preferred to the (uestion ,s there conflict in this scene6 Teachers can lead the
discussion further using Eneutral probesH lie , see, 7ery interesting, and Go on.>ibid.? The
main aim of a minidrama is to present a problemCsituation as well as to promote nowledge
and understanding. !iniCdramas wor best if they deal with highly emotional issues.
Critical incidents'(ro!lem solving >see, for example, &hastain 1*,,: +11, 9enrichsen
1**,, $tern 1**2: 22)? are sometimes identified with culture assimilators >see p.+* above?
but, according to 9enrichsen there are a couple of differences between the two methods.
&ritical incidents are descriptions of incidents or situations which demand that a participant
maes some ind of decision. !ost of the situations could happen to any individual and
they do not re(uire intercultural interaction as culture assimilators do. $tudents usually read
5+
the incident independently and mae individual decisions. Then they are put into small
groups to discuss their findings. #ext, a classroom discussion follows where students try to
give reasons behind the decisions. 1inally, students are given the opportunity to see how
their decision and reasoning compare and contrast with the decisions and reasoning of
native members of the target culture. 2s individual critical incidents do not re(uire much
time, 9enrichsen suggests the teacher presents more than one critical incident at a time.
Teachers can find critical incidents or problems from advice columns in newspapers or
magaAines together with information about what native speaers would do and why.
;hen solving critical incidents students will get emotionally involved in the cultural
issue. 6iscussions about what native English speaers would do also promote intellectual
understanding of the issues and give learners basic nowledge about the target culture.
Student research >see, for example, $tern 1**2: 22*, $eelye 1**+: 15*C1.*, &ullen
2---? is considered one of the most powerful tools that can be used with more advanced
students because it combines their interests with the classroom activities. 1or a start, the
teacher might as learners to search the Internet or library and find information on any
aspect of the target culture that interests them. In the following class, learners explain to
their group what they have found out and answer any (uestions about it. This can lead to
posterCsessions or longer proNects. 1or some learners, it can lead to a longCterm interest in
the targetCculture, for example writing a course paper. 0esearch techni(ues enable learners
to find out things for themselves and Eapproach the new society with an open mindH >$tern
1**2: 22*?. $eelye adds that research sills are the ones that stay with a student after he or
she leaves school. 2lso, he claims that they are easy to develop as there are Eso many
founts of nowledge subNect to rational in(uiry.E 9is Dfounts= include boos, newspapers,
magaAines, other printed materials, films, recordings, pictures, other people, and personal
experience.
55
The e!)uest >see, for example, "rabbs 2--2: +*C51? is an in(uiryCoriented activity in
which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Internet. 2ccording
to !arch >1**,?, ;ebBuests were designed to use learners= time well, to focus on using
information rather than looing for it, and to support learners= thining at the levels of
analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The strategy was developed in 1**. by "ernie 6odge
from $an 6iego $tate 7niversity to help teachers integrate the power of the ;orld ;ide
;eb with student learning. 2 traditional ;ebBuest consists of the following parts: the
introduction, task, process5steps, resources, evaluation5assessment, and conclusion or
reflection2 The introduction introduces students to the tas and captures their attention.
The task is a description of what learners are to accomplish by the end of the ;ebBuest.
!he process part includes several steps through which students locate, synthesise and
analyse information to complete the tas. The steps support student learning and may use
(uestions and suggest research strategies. Resources may be both webCbased and printC
based but the maNority of resources are usually found on the Internet. Each ;ebBuest has
an assessment tool that sets the criteria for achievement of the outcomes. These tools are
nown as rubrics. Conclusion5reflection of the ;ebBuest provides an opportunity for
students to apply the nowledge they have gained from the tas to a new situation. "rabbs
>ibid.: 51? lists nine advantages of using the ;ebBuests. The most important could be that
it saves the teachers= time and that it helps learners to find material from the huge range of
topics.
5.
The Culture)uest is another webCbased activity. It was created at the &enter for $chool
6evelopment of the $chool of Education at The &ity &ollege of the &ity 7niversity of #ew
<or. The &ultureBuest involves students in in(uiryCbased classroom proNects, the aim of
which is to explore other peoples and cultures. It sees to promote better understanding and
appreciation of other cultures, strengthen in(uiry, research and literacy sills and provide
students with technology sills. The result of a completed &ultureBuest is a website.
The &ultureBuest has three bigger parts, which in turn are divided into steps. The parts
include planning the &ultureBuest, implementing it and, lastly, evaluating it. ;hen
planning the &ultureBuest, its creators suggest to consider the following: the choice of a
country >or an aspect of culture?, resources and developing the goals. The implementation
stage includes, among other things, writing to students from the target country or culture,
obtaining core information and, finally, creating a website. In evaluating the proNect,
teachers and students can adapt the criteria suggested by the creators. The authors claim
that the basic values of the &ultureBuest are that it is learnerCcentred, constructivist,
proNectCbased and authentic. >&ultureBuest n.d.?
The given list of methods and techni(ues does not pretend to be exhaustive. ;hich
method or techni(ue to use depends on many factors. Teachers might find it worthwhile to
consider "rown=s checlist for culturally appropriate techni(ues. "rown >2---: 2-2?
suggests that when choosing an appropriate techni(ue the teacher should consider the
following:
1. 6oes the techni(ue recognise the value and belief systems that are presumed to be
part of the culture>s? of studentsS
2. 6oes the techni(ue refrain from any demeaning stereotypes of any culture,
including the culture>s? of studentsS
+. 6oes the techni(ue refrain from any possible devaluing of student=s native
languages>s?S
5)
5. 6oes the techni(ue recognise varying willingness of students to participate openly
due to factors of collectivismIindividualism and power distanceS
.. If the techni(ue re(uires students to go beyond the comfort Aone of uncertainty
avoidance in their culture>s?, does it do so emphatically and tactfullyS
). Is the techni(ue sensitive to the perceived roles of males and females in the culture
>s? of studentsS
8. 6oes the techni(ue sufficiently connect specific language features >e.g.,
grammatical categories, lexicon, discourse? to cultural ways of thining feeling and
actingS
,. 6oes the techni(ue in some ways draw on the potentially rich bacground
experiences of students, including their experiences in other culturesS
To sum up, a great variety of techni(ues, ranging from short activities to more timeC
consuming student research and internetCbased activities, allow teachers to bring some
element of culture into almost every language class. 7sing them effectively re(uires that
teachers set clear aims as well as consider what to teach to who and when. If teachers
constantly monitor their classes and adNust to what they do, there is a really good chance
that the methods and techni(ues they use will be the best >9armer 2--1: *8?.
58
Materia#s ,r tea-hi./ -u#ture
Efficient teaching of culture also means bringing together a range of sources. These
include textboos, surveys, histories, interviews, biographies, photos, maps, adverts,
television programmes, music, songs, films, literature and the Internet. This list, on the one
hand, does not pretend to be exhaustive and on the other, not everything mentioned above
is always available outside the target culture.
;hen bearing in mind that culture can be best learned in a language class, there should
be teaching materials >textboos, worboos, cassettes, &6s and teacher=s boos? with an
organised, integrated and conceptual approach to the teaching of culture. &ortaAAi and Kin
>1***: 1*,? maintain that E13 >English as a 1oreign 3anguage? and E$/ >English for
$pecific /urposes? textboos are expected to reflect a range of cultural contexts and
include intercultural elements. These, in turn, should raise learnersU awareness of
intercultural issues and enable them to communicate effectively and appropriately in a
variety of communicative contexts. 9owever, in most textboos, the focus is still on
developing the four language sills and cultural notes are often given as a bacground or
supplementary information. "arro et al. >1**,: 8,? claim that culture has been dealt with
superficially in textboos, as a Ethin description.H "y the latter they mean a relatively
undetailed observation of some aspect of behaviour. The soCcalled Ethic descriptionH >a
term suggested by :eertA 1*8., cited ibid.?, on the other hand, combines a detailed
observation with interpretation and is more advisable.
Di,,ere.t t+pes , te7t4%s
2ccording to #ewby >1**8? and 1reebairn >2---? >cited in $opinsaNa 2--+: 52?, most
foreign language textboos used in secondary education in European countries fall into two
categories: internationalIglobal textboos and localIlocally produced textboos. The first
type includes teaching materials that are produced for the international maret. 2ccording
to /ulverness >1**.: 8?, such textboos Vare centred on topics with fairly broad transC
5,
cultural appealV and contain material that could be set anywhere. "ecause of their universal
nature they are widely used. &unningsworth >1*,5: )2? maintains that the relative lac of
culture specificity and transparent situations for presentation of language items mae such
material readily acceptable in almost any country of the world. The most well nown
textboos of the type used in Estonia might be those of the >$ew? 8eadway series.
3ocal textboos, on the other hand, include material that conform to the re(uirements of
the national curriculum of a particular country. In Estonia such textboos for the upperC
secondary level include, for example, ll the #orld0s a &u33le, &eople and &laces,
Choices, and 9pen to (ebate. 3ocal textboos usually develop learners= awareness of their
own cultural identity as well as including material that promote learners= awareness of the
target culture >$opinsaNa 2--+: 52?.
6epending on their cultural component, textboos can be grouped according to how
language and cultural syllabi are related to each other:
 those which have a cultural syllabus but mae no claims to be language
courseboos O offering themselves in a supplementary role'
 those which aim to be fullyCfunctioning language courseboos but claim to have a
serious cultural syllabus'
 language courseboos which mae wide use of cultural input >but almost always
have very little learner cultural output?.
>&ourseboo 0eviews from a &ultural 2ngle n.d.?
Textboos of the first category are often used in foreign language specialised schools,
where culture is taught on a separate course. 2t ordinaryImainstream schools teachers use
them in language classes in order to give students additional material. They are rarely used
as traditional language textboos. Examples of the type include Focus on Britain !oday,
#hat0s ,t Like, ,n Britain, Let me tell you about Estonia and others.
5*
There are both internationally and locally produced textboos that fall into the second
category, for example, ll the world0s a &u33le in Estonia.
The third group includes textboos that are produced for the international maret. They
give learners information about other cultures either in separate sections or on separate
pages, for example 9pportunities >see 2ppendix ,? and contain tass which as students to
compare the other culture>s? with their own, for example, *pstream :see 2ppendix *;2
They, therefore, comply with the main principle of the comparative approach that
nowledge and understanding of one=s own culture forms a basis for understanding the
other .
&ortaAAi and Kin >1***: 2-5C21-? divide E13 textboos into three large categories
depending on their focus on culture:
 textboos based on the source culture'
 textboos based on the target culture'
 textboos aimed at the international target culture.
The first category includes textboos which refer to learners= own culture. 7sually, these
are the textboos that are produced at a national level for a particular country. 3earners are
taught how to tal about their own culture to visitors to their country rather than be
prepared to encounter other cultures. 2lthough such textboos help students to become
aware of their own cultural identity, they do not develop students= intercultural awareness.
In communication situations it means that interlocutors are Eon different cultural
wavelengthsH >&ortaAAi and Kin 1***: 2-.?, which often causes misunderstanding.
Textboos belonging to the second category usually focus on one or two target cultures
>e.g., the 7nited %ingdom, 7nited $tates?. Though widely used all over the world, they are
often criticised for their commercial nature and seen as publishers= promotional materials.
The third category involves boos that include a wide variety of cultures set in EnglishC
speaing countries or in countries where English is not a first or a second language, but is
.-
used as an international language. &ortaAAi and Kin >1***: 2-*? claim that the rationale for
this category is that speaers who do not spea it as their first language fre(uently use
English in international situations.
Che-%#ists ,r eva#uati./ the -u#tura# 0i3e.si. i. te7t4%s
Evaluating textboos is a complicated process. Therefore, various textboo evaluation
checlists have been provided to help teachers to choose teaching materials that best meet
the aims of the course as well as the needs of students. 9owever, what concerns assessing
the cultural content of textboos, several scholars >"yram 1**8: 81, &ortaAAi and Kin 1***:
2-1, $opinsaNa 2--+: 55? contend that in some checlists the cultural studies dimension
is missing. &ortaAAi and Kin >1***: 2-2? add that other checlists focus only on certain
aspects of culture >for example, stereotypes? or varieties of target cultures >for example,
"ritain or the 7$2?. $till others leave out uncomfortable social realities such as
unemployment, poverty and racism. &ortaAAi and Kin >ibid.? conclude that no matter what
(uestions about culture have been ased they are Vnearly always placed at the end of a
checlist, almost as an afterthought.V
The more thorough checlists deal with the cultural aspects in a more systematic way.
"yram >1*,8: 8+C85? and &ortaAAi and Kin >ibid.: 2-+? offer 9uhn=s >1*8,? list as an
example. 9is list >cited in "yram? includes the following criteria:
 factual accuracy and upCtoCdate information'
 avoidance >or relativisation? of stereotypes'
 presentation of a realistic picture'
 freedom from >or (uestioning? ideological tendencies'
 presentation of phenomena in context rather than isolated facts'
 relevance of historical material to contemporary society'
 presentation of personalities as products of their age.
.1
9uhn=s criteria, as pointed out by "yram, do not deal with the content but more with
how to treat it. In terms of the cultural content. "yram=s checlist that was presented under
the topics for teaching culture >see pp. 25C2. above? could be used.
&unningsworthUs checlist >1**.: *2? for social and cultural values in textboos
considers how learners interpret the cultural contexts. 9e ass the following (uestions:
 2re the social and cultural contexts in the courseboo comprehensible to the
learnerS
 &an learners interpret the relationships, behaviours, intentions etc. of the characters
portrayed in the booS
 2re women given e(ual prominence to men in all aspects of the coursebooS
 ;hat physical and character attributes are women givenS
 ;hat professional and social positions are women shown as occupyingS
 ;hat do we learn about the inner lives of the charactersS
 To what extent is the language of feeling depictedS
 6o the courseboo characters exist in some ind of social setting, within a social
networS
 2re social relationships portrayed realisticallyS
$ercu >1**,: 281C282? offers four sets of (uestions to evaluate the cultural dimension of
a textboo. 9e considers representativeness and realism as the most important factors and
suggests that the teacher should loo at the following (uestions:
 ;hat image is presented: a royal or a realistic oneS
 6oes the textboo only present a tourist point of viewS
 2re negative and problematic aspects of the foreign culture touched uponS
 6oes the textboo offer an authentic reflection of the multicultural character of the
foreign societyS
.2
 6o situations occur in which someone with a good mastery of the foreign language
is not understood because of differences in cultureCspecific reference framesS
 2re teachers and learners encouraged to consult additional material on the topics
dealt withS
 6o the textboos include materialsItexts written by members of the different
nationalities living in the foreign country or do they mainly present the white male
point of viewS
 2re mentality, values, ideas dealt withS
 Is a historical perspective presented and used to explain certain presentCday features
of mentality or national characterS
 Is the information on the foreign culture integrated in the course or is it added at the
end of every chapter or even in presented in a separate chapter at the end of the
booS
$econdly, $ercu provides a set of (uestions that might be ased about the characters in
the textboo >see 2ppendix 1-?. 9e argues that the latter reveal textboo authors= opinions
of the foreign culture. 2nother factor that reveals authors= opinions is the language used in
textboos. 1inally, he maintains that attention should be paid to what is expected of the
learners. It is important to find out whether the textboo only passes on nowledge or
develops students= intercultural awareness. >1or the (uestions about learners see
2ppendix 11.?
2lthough recent checlists for textboo evaluation recognise culture, $heldon >1*,,,
cited in $opinsaNa 2--+: 5+? maintains that EFMG courseboo assessment is
fundamentally a subNective, ruleCofCthumb activity, and no neat formula, grid or system will
ever provide a definite yardsticH. 2lso, there is a limit to what teaching materials can be
expected to do for teachers. 9owever perfect a textboo is, it is Nust a simple tool in the
hands of teachers. 0ichard >1**+, cited in &ortaAAi and Kin 1***: 2-1? claims that
.+
textboos can be seen as sourceboos rather than courseboos and their role is to facilitate
teaching rather than to restrict it. It should also be borne in mind that cultural information
given in textboos outdates (uicly.
Other sur-es ,r tea-hi./ -u#ture
"assnett >2--1: +.? maintains that no single textboo can provide information on a
culture, as no culture is homogenous. 2lso, cultures are Edynamic and everCchangingH.
Therefore, when teaching culture teachers should refer to other sources in addition to
textboos.
*iterature' *iterary readings. 9istorically, literature was the main source for teaching
culture. 2s a result of the growing interest in social sciences, the role of literature has
declined. It is also sometimes thought that literature of the past cannot be used as a source
to interpret contemporary society >$eelye 1**+: 1)C18, 9ammerly 1*,2: .22C.25?. Laldes
>1*,): 1+8?, however, claims that most obNections to using literature are Elinguistically
basedH and they do not deny the fact that literature is a useful medium for teaching culture.
!any scholars support the same idea.
1or %ramsch >1**+: 1+-C1+1?, the main argument for using literary texts is Eliterature=s
ability to represent the particular voice of a writer among the many voices of his or her
community and thus appeal to the particular in the reader.H 2ccording to /ulverness >2---:
,8?, literary texts >drama, fiction, poetry? do not only Eoffer a broad Dstate of the nation
view=FM.G but can also give students myriad insights into the sensibilities of the "ritish and
the texture of life in contemporary "ritain.H 1enner >2--1: 1), 2-? shares both opinions and
adds that literary texts are richer and more diverse than factual texts. 6ue to this they offer
learners the opportunity to explore both the multiplicity of language and culture. Laldes
>1*,): 1+8? warns that literature should not be used for only presenting Ecultural slices of
lifeH. $he adds that to ignore the whole wealth of literature is to deprive students. $he sees
the tas of the teacher as maing clear what values lie under the behaviour of the characters
.5
so that students could understand them. Therefore, teachers must have Ea broad awareness
of the values in literature as well as a depth of understandingH >Laldes 1*,): 1+*?.
6ifferent literary genres can evoe empathy and develop understanding of certain
aspects of the other culture. !ar(uardt >1*)*, 1*8-, cited in $eelye 1**+: )8? sees
literature as ideal for developing empathy as Ecreators of literature receive their basic
motivation from a desire to explore the feelings of others and communicate these feelings
to the readership.H 9e thins that reading boos will help readers to understand that one=s
behaviour is conditioned by culture. $torry and &hilds >1**8? conclude each paragraph of
their boo British Cultural ,dentities with Cultural e1amples, which include films, boos,
and TL programmes connected with the topic under discussion >see 2ppendix 12?. ;hen
no such list of boos for teaching a particular culture exists Laldes >1*,): 151? suggests
using 2llen=s Cultural Checklist >1*8+?, which gives a list of elements to search for in any
literary wor to determine its cultural value.
"esides determining the cultural value of a boo, there is another concern when
literature is used for teaching culture C the language proficiency of students. In Laldes=
opinion >ibid.? literature that is suitable for upperCintermediate students has to Ebe
relatively simple in structure and style, be free from abstruse vocabulary, and contain
valuable cultural content.H $he still thins that all genres lend themselves to study by
upperCintermediate and advanced students. 2 wellCchosen piece of literary writing not only
gives students a good insight into the culture but also leads to better understanding and
appreciation of literature. $tern concludes that
literature performs an important role in society, particularly if we include fol tales,
nursery rhymes, children=s literature, and other widely read boos which constitute a
common heritage of literacy. 3iterary wors sometimes epitomiAe the thoughts, feelings,
and values of the target culture in memorable ways. >$tern 1**2: 2+-?
+e#spapers and maga$ines are important for both their cultural and factual content
>&hastain 1*,,: +12?. 2ccording to 9ughes >1**2: 1)8C),? teachers can find good cultural
insights from newspaper headlines, advertisements, editorials, sports pages and weather
..
reports. If possible, newspapers should be available in language classrooms for browsing or
for classroom assignments. The advantage of doing activities using newspaper texts is that
students are exposed to authentic language. Even students who have very little or no
fluency in the target language can draw bits of authentic cultural information from foreign
language newspapers >&hastain 1*,,: +12, $eelye 1**+: 15+?. $eelye goes on to say that
before students mae any cultural generalisations they should generate some hypotheses.
These hypotheses should be based on empirical evidence. In $eelye=s opinion, adverts and
illustrations in foreign language newspapers serve as an ideal source of authentic empirical
evidence. 9owever, 6urant >1**8: 2)? warns that the mainstream media represents only Ea
selected range of imagesH and Econventions for interpreting the realism, irony,
offensiveness or (uality of such images must be shaped accordingly.H In other words,
teachers need some training in how to develop students= sills that are necessary Eto
penetrate the mass mediaH >$eelye 1**+: 155?.
Songs are often used in foreign language classes for teaching vocabulary and grammar,
but they can also be a vehicle for the study of culture. 2ccording to &hastain >1*,,: +1+?,
the lyrics and music can be related to people=s moods, interests and way of life. 6amoisseu
and !arc >1*)8, cited in $eelye 1**+: 1+5? consider songs that reflect the daily life of the
target society the best. They thin that the societal problems treated in a song should be the
main concern of the class. $ongs wor better if students are actively involved, either in
discussing the lyrics or participating in singing. 1or the teaching of "ritish culture, songs
by "illy "ragg offer ample opportunity for discussion >for an example of lyrics see
2ppendix 1+?.
.)
FilmsI,ideoclips offer learners opportunities to observe behaviours that are not so
obvious in texts. They also provide a more current and comprehensive way of a culture.
$templesi >1**5, cited in 9olden 2---: 51? calls films Ean authentic window on foreign
cultureH. 1ilm connects learners with language and cultural issues simultaneously.
Therefore, the inclusion of film in cultural studies is highly desirable >"yram 1*,8: 5)?.
>1or a list of films suitable for teaching "ritish culture see 2ppendix 12.?
The -nternet8 The development and spread of the ;orld ;ide ;eb >;;;? has
created many new possibilities for teaching culture. Whao >1**), cited in ;arschauer 2--1:
2-,? claims that Eby engaging in webCbased activities students can gradually become
members of the community of English language speaers, in the same way that they might
through other forms of immersion in a culture.H $tudents, however, need instruction in
computerCassisted activities. ;arschauer >2--1: 21-? warns that Eleaving learners to their
own devices on the internet is unliely to bring satisfying results, as beginners drop out in
frustration and more advanced learners stagnate at the level of conversational chatting and
superficial Dnetsurfing=H. InternetCbased activities should be complex enough to allow
interaction, collaboration and autonomous decisionCmaing. They also have to be well
structured so that learners achieve the obNectives without getting lost. Two internetCbased
proNects the ;ebBuest and &ultureBuest >see pp. 5.C5) above? serve as good examples of
taing advantages of the possibilities the Internet provides.
6urant stresses that no matter what source is chosen it should be remembered that they
should be viewed Ein the sense of starting points rather than being relied on as authoritative
Dsources= in the sense of origins.H #o source should only be used for presenting
information but also as a trigger for discussion and problem solving. 9e concludes that
interest in ac(uiring nowledge of another culture O or, FMM.G in at least dispelling
ignorance about it O is lined with cultural curiosity' and cultural curiosity will be most
encouraged >or reinforced, where it already exists? through curriculum processes directed
towards exploration, discovery and discussion >6urant 1**8: +-?.
.8
C.-#usi.
In sum, to mae culture teaching an integral part of a language class, the teacher should set
clear and realistic goals. 2lthough all aspects >cognitive, behavioural, affective? are
important, most scholars stress that the main goals of teaching culture should be
developing intercultural understanding and communication. To achieve the goals the
teacher should consider an appropriate approach as well as suitable techni(ues and
activities for teaching culture. The choice of the latter depends on several factors, such as
the situation in which the language is taught, the age and language level of learners and,
lastly, the teacher and hisIher preparation to teach culture.
Teachers also need accessible and reliable sources for teaching culture. $everal studies
have shown that the cultural dimension in textboos varies to a great extent. In order to
evaluate their cultural content teachers can use various checlists. 9owever, in order to
provide learners with upCtoCdate information teachers should also turn to other sources.
The cultural dimension of English language teaching in Estonia has not been an
extensively studied area. $ome research has been carried out by $opinsaNa from Tallinn
/edagogical 7niversity. 9er research has mostly concerned the cultural awareness aspect in
English classes >see 2lesandrowichC/Xdich, 3., 3YAYr, I. and $opinsaNa, 3. >n.d.?? and
the cultural dimension of textboos >$opinsaNa 2--+?. Teaching culture has also been a
topic of some student research >for example, 2gasild 1*** O Tallinn /edagogical university
and 4rgusaar 2--1 O Tartu Teacher Training &ollege?.
The aim of the present research is to get an insight into the situation of culture teaching
in English classes in Estonian secondary schools. In order to get a broader view both
teachers= and students= opinions of various aspects of teachingIlearning culture were
studied. 2s the Estonian #ational curriculum prescribes several cultureCrelated topics to be
discussed, students= nowledge of the latter was also tested.
The next chapter presents the main findings of the research.
.,
CULTURE IN THE ENGLISH CLASSROOM IN ESTONIA8
AN EMPIRICAL STUDY
The ai3 , the resear-h
2lthough the #ational &urriculum of Estonia re(uires the inclusion of culture in the
English language syllabus, it does not explicitly say how it should be done. #either does it
give a very detailed description of the content of culture in English classes. Therefore, the
main aim of the current research was to examine the situation of teaching and learning
culture in English classes in Estonian secondary schools.
2 (uestionnaire was chosen as a source for eliciting data. Two (uestionnaires were
designed, one for teachers and the other for students. 2s a common part of both
(uestionnaires, a oneCtoCfive 3iert scale was used for getting the respondents= Nudgements
about the ways of teaching culture and topics of interest. "oth teachers and students were
also ased about the importance of teaching culture. The common part was included in
order to compare the teachers= and students= opinions.
2s teaching "ritish English has been dominant in Estonia, the students= (uestionnaire
also included a short test to find out how much students now about "ritain.
"oth (uestionnaires were in English.
The following hypotheses were put forward :
1. Teachers focus mainly on language ac(uisition' the teaching of culture is not
systematic and does not happen regularly.
2. Teachers and students have different opinions concerning the ways of teaching
culture and the topics that should be taught.
+. $tudents= nowledge of "ritain and its culture is limited.
.*
Meth0
Sa3p#e
4verall, )1 teachers and 1*+ students completed the (uestionnaires.
2lthough the (uestionnaires were anonymous, the respondents were ased to provide
some information about their sex, age, educational bacground >both groups? as well as
wor experience, inCservice training and location of schools >the teachers?.
!he teachers. .5 respondents were from town schools >ten towns were represented? and
seven from rural schools. !ore than half of the teachers >.8Z? came from Tartu. The
distribution of the teachers according to the siAe of towns is presented in Table 1.
Table 1. (istribution of the teachers according to the si3e of towns
/opulation of towns #umber of teachers
[ .-,---
1-,---C .-,---
\ 1-,---
+,
)
1-
2ll respondents were female. #early 5- Z of them were more than .- years old and
2-Z were young teachers between 2- and +- years of age. Two thirds of the teachers had a
"achelor=s degree. !ost teachers >,5Z? wored at upper secondary level. The number of
those who were currently woring only at primary and basic school was nine >1.Z?. 4ne of
the respondents wored as an English teacher at an applied higher education institution.
The more detailed characteristics of the teachers are given in Table 2.
)-
Table 2. Characteristics of the teachers
#umber /er cent
ge of teachers
2-C+-
+1C5-
51C.-
[ .-
<ualification of teachers
"2 or e(uivalent
$tudying for "2
!2
$tudying for !2
#ot mentioned
Forms taught
4nly >2?+C )
4nly 8C *
4nly 1-C12
>2?+C )' 8C *
>2?+C)' 8C*' 1-C12
8C*' 1-C12
>2?+C )' 1-C12
;oring in higher education
&articipation in courses on
teaching culture
<es
#o
12
,
1,
2+
51
+
*
+
.
+
-
1+
)
1,
1,
2
1
+1
+-
2-
1+
2*
+,
)8
.
1.
.
,
.
-
21
1-
2*..
2*..
+
2
.1
5*
!he students. 5- respondents >21Z? were firstCyear university students and 1.+ >8*Z?
secondary school students of the eleventh and twelfth forms. There were )5 male
respondents >++Z?, all from secondary school, and 12* female respondents >)8Z?. The
biggest number of students >118, )1Z? were 1) to 1, years old. $econdary school students
came from six different schools. 1ive of them were town schools and one a countryside
school. &haracteristics of the students are provided in Table +.
)1
Table +. Characteristics of the students
#umber /er cent
ge
1)C1,
1*C2-
over 2-
)e1
!ale
1emale
!ype of educational institution
$econdary school
7niversity
(istribution of secondary students
according to the si3e of school
[ 1--- pupils
.--C1--- pupils
\ .--
118
8-
)
)5
12*
1.+
5-
8,
58
2,
)1
+)
+
++
)8
8*
21
.1
+1
1,
The tea-hers’ 6uesti..aire >see 2ppendix 15?
The teachers= (uestionnaire was designed with the aim of finding answers to the
following (uestions:
1. 9ow do teachers define culture and what importance do they attribute to the
teaching of itS >B1 J 2?
2. 9ow often are cultural issues discussed in their classes and do these issues motivate
students= language learningS >B+ J 5?
+. ;hat methods and techni(ues do they useS >B.?
5. ;hat topics and which cultures do they consider important to teachS >B) J8?
.. ;hat teaching materials and other sources do they use and do they offer enough
material for the teaching of cultureS >B,, * J 1-?
The (uestionnaire included ten (uestions of different types. 4penCended (uestions were
included for the definition of culture >B1? and for the list of the most fre(uently used
textboos >B1-?. !ultipleCchoice (uestions were used in order to find out how important
the teachers considered the teaching of culture >B2?, the fre(uency of teaching it >B+?,
whether it motivated students= learning >B5? and to what extent the textboos contain
)2
cultureCrelated materials >B*?. The teachers were also ased to assess the ways >methods
and techni(ues? >B.? as well as topics for the teaching of culture >B)? on a fiveCpoint
3iert scale, ranging from D1= being the least usefulIimportant to D.= the most
usefulIimportant. Buestion 8 aimed at finding out which country the teachers mostly
focused on and in (uestion , the respondents had to tic the sources they used for the
teaching of culture.
The (uestionnaires were distributed to the teachers at various conferences as well as
sent by post and via eCmail.
The stu0e.ts’ 6uesti..aire >$ee 2ppendix 1.?
The students= (uestionnaire consisted of two separate parts. 4ne part aimed at finding
out the students= opinions about the learning of culture. The other was compiled in the
form a test. Its aim was to find out how much Estonian secondary school and university
students new about "ritain. "ritain was chosen because "ritainCrelated topics are most
widely taught in Estonian schools.
The (uestionnaire focused on the following (uestions:
1. 9ow important do students consider the learning of culture and should it be taught
in English classesS >B1 J 2?
2. ;hat ways >activities, techni(ues? do they consider the most useful for the learning
of cultureS >B+?
+. ;hat aspectsItopics of culture are they most interested inS >B5?
5. ;here have they ac(uired nowledge about "ritainS >B.?
.. ;ould they be interested in learning more about "ritain and other EnglishCspeaing
countriesS >B) J 8?
2ll in all, the (uestionnaire included seven (uestions. 2s a common part with the
teachers= (uestionnaire, a fiveCpoint 3iert scale was used for getting the respondents=
Nudgements about the ways of teaching culture >B+? and topics of interest >B5?. Buestions
)+
1, 2, ) and 8 were multipleCchoice (uestions. In (uestion ., the students had to tic the
appropriate box about where they had ac(uired the most recent nowledge about "ritain.
The (uestionnaires >except in one secondary school? were directly distributed to the
students by the author and they were filled in during an English class. 2fter students had
completed the (uestionnaires, a discussion followed. 2t one school the (uestionnaires were
administered by the English teacher.
The test >see 2ppendix 1.?
The assessment of cultural awareness is extremely difficult. "yram and !organ >1**5:
1+)? identify three interCrelated areas that are usually assessed: nowledge, attitudes and
behaviour. ;hereas nowledge is relatively easy to assess, the assessment of attitudes and
behaviour is much more complicated. This might be the reason why EFtGests of cultural
awareness are generally built around items measuring cultural nowledgeH >Lalette 1*,):
1,2, first published in 1*88?.
In order to find out Estonian students= nowledge about "ritain a test was designed. It
consisted of 2. (uestions. These were divided into six categories: geographical parameters
>(uestions 1C)?, historical bacground >8C1-?, national symbols >11C15?, the 7% today >1.C
21?, eti(uette >22C2+? and, lastly, the 7% and Estonia >25C2.?. These categories were
chosen for several reasons. 1irst, these are the categories most scholars consider important
to be taught. $econd, these are all, except history, suggested in the #ational &urriculum of
Estonia. Third, these categories include topics that were given for assessment in the
(uestionnaires. 3astly, these categories are often presented in textboos.
The test contained four types of (uestions8 !ost (uestions >1, ), 8, *, 12, 15, 1., 1), 18,
1*, 22, 2+ and 25? were multipleCchoice (uestions. Buestions + and 11 were openCended
(uestions. Buestions 2, 5 and , ased students to order things according to certain criteria.
Buestions ., 1-, 1+, 1,, 2-, 21 and 2. ased to match lists. The lists were of une(ual
length to reduce the opportunity of guessing.
)5
The correct answer in multipleCchoice and ordering (uestions was worth one point. 4ne
openCended (uestion >+?, where the full name of the country was ased, was worth 2 points
>1 point was given for the short form?. In matching lists, each correct pair was counted as a
point, and in the case where one word could be matched with two words in the other list
>1+, 1*? O 2 points. The possible maximum score was .. points.
Resu#ts
The tea-hers’ 6uesti..aire
2ll teachers gave answers to the multipleCchoice (uestions, whereas not all teachers
raned ways of teaching and topics. In some cases, the teachers had misunderstood the
instruction and, instead of raning each item from one to five, had chosen five ways of
teachingI topics from the list. !any teachers also left the openCended (uestion unanswered.
(efinition
The (uestion about the definition of culture was placed first in the (uestionnaire. The
respondents were given a space of +C5 lines to provide answers. 2s it was stated on p. 1-
culture is a very difficult word to define. This was also proved by the fact that nearly one
third of the teachers >+1Z? left the (uestion unanswered.
The provided definitions can be very broadly divided into two groups:
1. these which apply to the soCcalled small Dc= culture and concentrate on the people=s
way of life and their beliefs and perceptions >1) definitions?'
2. these which claim that culture embraces both people=s way of life >small Dc= culture?
and their history, geography and arts >capital D&= culture? >1, definitions?.
$ome examples of the first group include:
 Culture is customs, traditions, beliefs and way of life of people in a certain country
or area2
 !he way of life of a nation, including traditions, habits and customs in all spheres
of life2
).
 Customs, traditions, beliefs, behaviour.
Examples of the second group might be as follows:
 Generally = the way of life, narrower = arts2
 Culture+ everything connected with traditions, habits, everyday life, customs and
art production of a nation in a country5continent2
 Culture = traditions, customs, people, language, literature, art, music, ethics2
 Culture is something comple1 embracing not only arts :literature, music, paintings
etc2; but a whole way of life
!any teachers stress that culture is associated with one country and that it is shared by
its people, for example >emphasis added?:
 !he customs and beliefs which form a basement for a way of life in a given country2
 Culture is art, music, sports, traditions and customs as well as the behaviour and
the national symbols of a nation in one specific country2
 Lifestyle, beliefs, literature, music, art characteristic of a group living in a country
and speaking the same language and sharing the same beliefs, lifestyles etc2
 Culture is a combination of phenomena, which distinguishes one nation from the
others2
 nything connected to particular society
4n the other hand, there were no definitions that mentioned cultural diversity within
one country.
$ome respondents also made it explicit that values are determined by one=s culture, for
example:
 #isdom about traditions, different values on life, habits, etc2
 #ay of life, most important language, religion :beliefs and customs, manners,
ceremonies, moral values, self+esteem :concept of self;, ideals, arts and laws and
knowledge, legends, rituals, even myths etc2
 Culture is a system of common values, facts of a country, education, art, politics,
history, music, law, customs and rules2
3anguage as a reflection of culture was also stressed in some of definitions, for
example:
))
 Culture is something related to the language, traditions, customs, beliefs and the
essence and character of a nation2
The fact that culture is a dynamic system that develops continuously and influences
people=s lives was also emphasised by some respondents, for example:
 Culture is the conte1t of human e1istence, created and developed by human beings,
and influencing in its turn, all human beings on all possible levels2
 >ind of awareness of the past and future, which gives confidence for present
actions2
4ne respondent defined culture by the topics given in (uestion ) of the (uestionnaire.
In sum, it can be concluded that the teachers who answered the (uestion mostly defined
culture by listing its various elements. "oth the observable aspects of culture >art, customs,
traditions, way of life and behaviours? and invisible features >beliefs, values and attitudes?
were mentioned. 2 few holistic definitions were also provided, where the relations between
various aspects of culture were indicated. It is also worth stressing that none of the teachers
gave a definition of culture that applied only to the soCcalled capital D&= culture.
,mportance of teaching culture
#one of the teachers denied the importance of teaching culture. They either considered
it very important >+1 teachers? or important >+- teachers?. ThirtyCone teachers also believed
that integrating cultureCrelated issues in their classes significantly increased students=
interest and motivation in language learning.
Fre4uency of the culture+related issues
4ne third of the teachers >21? claimed that they discussed cultureCrelated issues Doften=,
that is in almost every lesson. Eight teachers chose Drarely= >once a month? as an answer.
9owever, most teachers stated that they included cultural issues in their lessons
Dsometimes=, that is once a wee. That response is similar to the results of the study
conducted by 2lesandrowichC/Xdich, 3aAar and $opinsaNa in 1***C2---, where the
)8
dominant answer to the (uestion of fre(uency of cultureCrelated issues was Dsometimes=
>2lesandrowicAC/Xdich et al.n.d.: 5?.
It was also checed whether the teachers who had participated in courses on teaching
culture discussed cultureCrelated issues more fre(uently than those who had not. 2lthough
there was a slight difference, it was not statistically significant2
#ays of teaching culture
The teachers considered discussions on cultural differences and similarities most useful
for the teaching of culture. The average score on a fiveCpoint scale was 5.1) >see 1igure +?.
$uch a high score reveals that the teachers understand the importance of the comparative
approach, which is in eeping with most theories about how culture should be taught in
foreign language classes. /roNects were also rated highly O 5.-*, followed shortly by
watching videos >5.-)? and taling about current events >5.-?. 3ectures were rated the
lowest O 2.+1. This is an expected result as delivering lectures is not common at secondary
school. 2lso, there is hardly any time in English classes for lectures. 2nother timeC
consuming techni(ue, the drama, received a comparatively low score O 2.*5. 2t the same
time, the roleCplay was considered (uite useful >+.1*?.
Teachers were also ased to rate a techni(ue that has been specially developed for the
teaching of culture O the culture capsule >see p. 5-?. This was considered a useful
techni(ue, with the average score being +.81.
2lthough some space was left for the teachers to add some ways of teaching culture,
very few did it. The following was suggested: trips to "ritain >5 teachers?, students=
presentations, organising displays, meeting with native speaers, student exchange, and
writing letters.
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1igure +. !he teachers0 scores for the ways of teaching culture
!opics
Teachers were also ased to indicate which topics they considered the most important to
teach. 2 list of 1) topics was provided for assessment. The teachers rated Dpatterns of
politeness= the highest O 5.)) >see 1igure 5?. DThe rules of behaviour= was also considered
very important to teach, with the average score of 5.2.. This reveals that most teachers
understand that besides presenting bacground information about the other culture, the
development of students= intercultural communicative sills is e(ually important. D&ustoms
and traditions= as well as Dnational stereotypes= also scored highly O 5.)1 and 5.+.
accordingly. The topics connected with people=s everyday life, such as Dfamily life=, Dyouth
life=, Deducation= and Dfood= all scored higher than 5.-. 2t the same time, the topics which
refer to the soCcalled capital D&= culture were rated comparatively low. This might be
considered a slightly surprising result as it is often assumed that topics lie Dhistory=,
Dgeography=, Dliterature=, Dart and music= get the most attention in foreign language classes.
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1igure 5. !he teachers0 scores for the topics
9owever, the findings of the study conducted by 2lesandrowicAC/Xdich et al. >n.d.: .?
also revealed that the Eleast liely area for teachers to get involved in is connected with the
fine arts.H
#ot unexpectedly, the lowest scores were given to the topics Dgovernment and political
institutions= >+.2*? and Dlaw and order= >2.).?. It is possible that the teachers are not well
prepared to teach these topics.
The teachers added only two topics to the list: Dfilm= and Dtourism=.
Teachers were also ased to indicate how much time they devoted to teaching the
cultures of different EnglishCspeaing countries. The responses revealed that topics related
to the "ritish culture were by far dominant. The approximate percentage provided by the
teachers was .*. 2 similar result is also noticeable in other studies >see, for example
2gasild 1**,, cited in 3iiv 1***: )2, 2lesandrowicAC/Xdich et al. n.d.: .?. Issues related
to the 7$2 >2)Z? followed "ritish topics. 4ther cultures got much less attention: ten
8-
teachers maintained that they never discussed topics related to them. The focus on "ritain
can be explained by two factors: firstly, historically "ritish English has been taught in most
Estonian schools and, secondly, most Estonian schools use textboos that are published in
:reat "ritain. 3ocally produced textboos also provide more information about "ritain
than other EnglishCspeaing countries >see, for example, ll the world0s a &u33le?.
"aterials for teaching culture
2lthough English language textboos are the main source for the teaching of culture
>only four teachers claimed that they did not use textboos for this purpose?, the teachers
mae use of various other sources >see 1igure .?. 2fter textboos, the two most fre(uently
mentioned sources were realia >.- teachers, ,2Z? and the Internet >58 teachers, 88Z?.
&ultural studies textboos >for example, Focus on Britain !oday? were used by 55 teachers
>82Z?. 52 teachers >)*Z? maintained that they used newspapers and 51 >)8Z? videos.
4nly half of the teachers used recordings. There might be two reasons for this. 1irst, the
audiocassettes and &6s that come together with textboos do not contain enough cultureC
related material. $econd, less time in English classes is devoted to listening activities than
developing the other sills.
;hile the use of literature was mentioned by +) teachers >.*Z?, follore was the least
exploited >15 teachers, 2+Z?.
The most fre(uently mentioned sources added by the teachers themselves were
connected with their personal experience. $o, the teachers named personal photographs,
correspondence and videos, but also their trips to the 7nited %ingdom and the 7nited
$tates.
81
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1igure .. "aterials for teaching culture
Teachers were also ased to list the textboos they were currently using and to say
whether these textboos contained enough cultureCrelated material. !ore than twenty
different titles were mentioned. The most fre(uently named textboo was ll the #orld0s a
&u33le >15 teachers?. It was followed by Blueprint >12 teachers?. 4ther titles that were
mentioned more than twice include &eople and &laces >,?, Choices >8?, 9pen to (ebate
>.?, Fast !rack to FCE >8?, 9pportunities >Intermediate and 7pperCIntermediate? >,?,
8eadway >Intermediate and 7pperCIntermediate? >.?, $ew 8eadway >Intermediate and
7pperCIntermediate? >1-?, "ission 1 and 2 >11?, First Certificate )tar >+?. The ratio of
international textboos to local textboos was 2:1. It could also be noticed that many
teachers had listed more than one textboo. This might imply that the teachers use one
textboo as a main source and others to provide extra material when necessary. 2lso, in
different forms of secondary schools different textboos might be used.
;hat concerns cultureCrelated issues, almost all teachers agreed that they were present
in textboos. The most common answer to the (uestion was Dto some extent= >.-Z?. There
were 1+ teachers >21Z? who thought that there was enough cultureCrelated material and 1-
teachers >1)Z? who were fully satisfied with the amount of it. 4nly ) teachers >1-Z? were
82
not satisfied with the cultural content of their textboos. The textboos they were using
included 9pportunities, First Certificate Gold, "ission, $ew 8eadway and Blueprint.
!ost of these 1- teachers who maintained that there was a lot of cultureCrelated material
in the textboos were using locally produced textboos, such as ll the #orld0s a &u33le,
&eoples and &laces and 9pen to (ebate. 1rom international textboos First Certificate
)tar, First Certificate Gold, Blueprint and "ission were mentioned. It is interesting to note
that First Certificate Gold, Blueprint and "ission were named by both groups of teachers:
those who claimed that these textboos laced the cultureCrelated material and those who
maintained that there was a large amount of it. The reason for this controversy might be
that the teachers have different expectations as to what the textboo should contain.
2nother reason might be the way teachers use textboos. 2lesandrowichC /Xdich et al.
>n.d.: .C)? maintain that although many textboos contain enough cultureCrelated activities
and Eculturally loaded textsH teachers do not use them because they themselves are not
aware of cultural aspects.
The stu0e.ts’ 6uesti..aire
!ost students gave answers to all (uestions. There were a few students who did not
ran the ways of teaching and topics.
,mportance of learning culture
$imilarly to the response from the teachers >see p. )8?, the results of the students=
(uestionnaire revealed that the students considered learning culture important >)+Z? or
very important >+1Z?. ;hile the opinions of the secondary and university students did not
differ, there appeared to be a gender difference. +,Z of the girls considered learning
culture very important whereas only 1)Z of the boys maintained the same. !ost boys
>81Z? chose Dimportant= as an answer.
8+
!ost students thought that culture should be taught in English classes rather than on a
separate course. The number of those who were in favour of a separate course was )+
>++Z?. 2mong university students the percentage was slightly higher O +,.
#ays of teaching culture
The students considered taling about current events the most helpful for understanding
other cultures. The average score on a fiveCpoint scale was 5.-1 >see 1igure )?. 6iscussions
on cultural differences and similarities were also rated highly O +.*,, followed shortly by
watching videos >+.,)?. The same ways of teaching were also given high scores by the
teachers >see 1igure +?. 9owever, proNects, which was rated second by the teachers, raned
fifth with the students. 4n the other hand, lectures, which scored lowest with the teachers,
was considered (uite useful by the students. >$ee also Table 5?.
$urprisingly, the students did not seem to be aware that songs could help to understand
the other culture. 9ere there might be two explanations. 1irst, songs are not very often used
in English language classes at secondary level. $econd, there are not many songs available,
with lyrics that can be related to the country=s culture. 9owever, one student had written
that it might be useful to listen to the country=s fol music.
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1igure ). !he students0 scores for the ways of teaching
In addition to the given list, some other ways of learning about the other country=s
culture were suggested. The most fre(uently mentioned was travelling to the country where
the language is spoen. 2lthough some EnglishCspecialised schools in Estonia organise
study trips to "ritain, it is not common practice for various reasons, the most important
being the cost. This was also mentioned by one student. 2nother important aspect for the
students was communication with people from other cultures, either faceCtoCface or via eC
mail. In addition, the following was suggested: student research, writing essays and reports,
watching TL programmes, organising festivals, trying national cuisine, reading and
discussing boos and studying vocabulary.
2s the teachers and the students were ased to assess the same ways of teaching culture,
the responses were compared to determine whether there were any significant differences
in their scores >see Table 5?.
8.
!able ?
(ifferences between the teachers0 and students0 opinions about the ways of teaching
;ays of teaching Teachers $tudents
! $6 ! $6
6iffeC
rence
3ectures 2.+1 1.-- +.5+ 1.15 -.--]
6iscussions on cultural differences and
similarities 5.1) -.*2 +.*, 1.-1 -.+.
;atching videos 5.-) -.,5 +.,) 1.12 -.++
3istening to songs and discussing the lyrics +.-+ -.8, 2.5+ 1.+2 -.-1]
3istening to radio programmes 2.)* 1.-) 2.,, 1.25 -.51
0eading and discussing newspaper articles +.8. -.,, +.8+ 1.-* -.*5
Taling about current events 5.-- -.*, 5.-1 1.-+ -.*.
0eading authentic texts +.)* -.,2 +.+) 1.2- -.1.
0ole plays +.1* -.*. +.5- 1.2, -.51
6rama 2.*5 -.,, 2.,* 1.21 -.,+
6oing proNects 5.-* -.,* +..8 1.2. -.-+]
#ote: ] The difference is statistically significant. !^ mean, $6^ standard deviation
2s can be seen from Table 5, there is not much difference in the teachers= and students=
opinions. Taling about current events, discussions on cultural differences and similarities,
watching videos and discussing newspaper articles were raned highly by both, while
drama and listening to radio programmes got e(ually low scores. $tatistically significant
difference is noticeable only in three cases. These are lectures, listening to songs and
discussing their lyrics and doing proNects.
!opics
The students were ased to assess the same list of topics which was given to the
teachers. 2s expected, Dyouth life= raned first >+.*)?, followed by Drules of behaviour=
>+.,*?, Dmusic= >+.,8? and Dcustoms and traditions= >+.,+? >see 1igure 8?. The topics which
gained the lowest scores were Dlaw and order=, Dgeography=, and Dgovernment and political
institutions=. The scores for all these were below +.
The boys and girls= preferences were also studied. 2s can be seen from Table ., there is a
significant gender difference in the responses. The girls tend to be more interested in
Dmusic=, Dliterature and art=, but also in Dcustoms and festivals= and Dnational symbols and
stereotypes=. The scores for Dfamily= and Dyouth life= are also higher than the scores given
by the boys. The boys rate more highly the topics of Dyouth life= and Deducation=. It is also
8)
noticeable that the boys generally give lower scores than the girls. There is no difference of
opinion in the case of Dgeography=, which was rated e(ually low by both groups.
The students also added some topics to the given list, such as nature, fashion, pop
culture and environmental problems.
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1igure 8. !he students0 scores for the topics
Table ..(ifferences in boys0 and girls0 scores for the topics
Topic "oys :irls
! $6 ! $6
6ifference
:eography 2.*1 1.2* 2.*1 1.2+ 1.--
9istory +.1. 1.25 +.+5 1.2+ -.+5
!onarchy 2.)- 1.12 +.2+ -.*. -.--]
&ustoms and festivals +.2- 1.-8 5.15 -.*8 -.--]
3iterature and art 2.*1 1.2. +.*- 1.1- -.--]
!usic +.)- 1.25 5.-1 1.15 -.-5]
:overnment and political institutions +.1+ 1.2, 2.88 1.28 -.-*
3aw and order +.-2 1.++ 2.*. 1.2) -.8)
Education and schools +.)8 1.1) +.81 1.1, -.,)
1amily life 2.*) 1.18 +.*1 1.-, -.--]
1ood +... 1.18 +.)5 1.-) -..*
<outh life +.)* 1.2* 5.1- 1.-5 -.-+]
#ational symbols and stereotypes +.52 1.1. +.*- 1.1- -.-1]
0ules of behaviour +..) 1.2- +.*- 1.-2 -.-1]
/atterns of politeness +.55 1.1, +.)) 1.1* -.2,
#onCverbal communication 2.*5 1.+2 +.2, 1.+. -.15
88
#ote: ] The difference is statistically significant. !^ mean, $6 ^ standard deviation
;hen comparing the teachers= and students= scores for the topics >see Table )? the
following can be noticed:
 There is a statistically significant difference in the scores for half of the topics.
;ithin this half some groups can be distinguished: >1? topics related to the
development of students= intercultural competence >Dpatterns of politeness=, DnonC
verbal behaviour= and Dnational symbols and stereotypes=?, >2? the soCcalled 51Cs
>see pp. 2,, +5? >Dgeography=, Dfood= and Dcustoms and festivals=? and >+? topics that
are included in nearly all textboos >Deducation= and Dfamily life=?.
 The teachers give higher scores for all topics, except Dmusic= and Dlaw and order=.
;hile the first is (uite expected, considering young people=s interest in music, the
lower score for the second topic from the teachers is somewhat surprising.
 The teachers generally give higher scores than the students. 9alf of the topics are
rated above E5H on a fiveCpoint scale, whereas the students do not rate any topics as
high as that. This shows that the teachers consider most topics very important to
teach. 9owever, these might not be e(ually interesting for the students.
Table ). !he differences in the teachers0 and students0 scores for topics
Topic Teachers $tudents
! $6 ! $6
6ifference
:eography +..- 1.22 2.*1 1.2. -.-1]
9istory +..* 1.-1 +.28 1.2+ -.18
!onarchy +.+. -.,5 +.-2 1.-. -.-*
&ustoms and festivals 5.)1 -..- +.,+ 1.-* -.--]
3iterature and art +.*- -.,- +..8 1.25 -.1)
!usic +.)+ -.,* +.,8 1.1* -.+-
:overnment and political institutions +.2* -.*- 2.,* 1.2, -.1-
3aw and order 2.). -.*. 2.*, 1.2, -.18
Education and schools 5.1* -.)* +.8- 1.18 -.-2]
1amily life 5.2. -.,- +..* 1.2- -.--]
1ood 5.1+ -.8. +.)1 1.-* -.-1]
<outh life 5.2+ -.,, +.*) 1.15 -.2+
#ational symbols and stereotypes 5.+. -.8. +.85 1.1+ -.--]
0ules of behaviour 5.2. -.*. +.,* 1.1- -.-*
/atterns of politeness 5.)) -.). +..* 1.1, -.--]
#onCverbal communication +.82 1.-, +.18 1.+. -.-+]
8,
#ote: ] The difference is statistically significant. !^ !ean, $6^ standard deviation
>nowledge about Britain
The study revealed that the place where the students ac(uired most nowledge about
"ritain was in the English class. It was mentioned by 1+* students >82Z?, whereas for ,)
students >5.Z? it was the only source of information. The media also played an important
role. 4verall, 8, students >5-Z? named it as one of the sources. Indeed, 2. claimed that for
them it was the only source. This confirms an observation made by "yram and !organ
>1**5: +? that the influence of the media in providing cultural information is significant.
The boys seem to get more information from the media than the girls >55Z and +) Z of the
respondents respectively? and the secondary school students more than the university
students >5,Z and 5+Z?. The British )tudies course was mentioned by 21 students, either
as the only source >1.? or one of the sources >)?. The students identified some other areas
where they had gleaned nowledge about "ritain. These included boos, magaAines,
encyclopaedias, friends and relatives. 2lthough the media was given as one option in the
(uestionnaire, some students considered it important to stress the role of the Internet. Two
students had been to "ritain.
To the (uestion whether they would lie to now more about "ritain, 1,- students
>*+Z? gave a positive answer. !ost of these students >,)Z? thought that the best place to
learn more would be the English class.
1rom this it can be concluded that teachers should spend more time in their classes on
discussing cultureCrelated issues. 6oing it only once a wee, as suggested by the maNority
of teachers >.2Z?, seems not to be enough to satisfy the students= curiosity.
The test
The possible maximum score for the test was ... The maximum score gained in the test
was +8 >)8Z? and the minimum * >1)Z?. The average score 25 >55Z?, shows that most
8*
students could not provide right answers even to half of the (uestions. The mean, minimum
and maximum scores as well as standard deviations are presented in Table 8.
Table 8. !he students0 scores
#umber !ean !in !ax $6
2ll 1*+ 2+.,1 * +8 ..),
"oys )5 22.) * +. ).22
:irls 12* 25.5- 1- +8 ..+2
7niversity students 5- 2..), 1- +. ..,+
$ec.school students 1.+ 2+.++ * +8 ...)
#ote: $6^ standard deviation
The girls did better than the boys and the difference was statistically different. It was
also proved by the tCtest >t ^ 2.-), p ^ -.-5?. The percentage of the boys who scored fewer
than 2- points was +5, compared to 2. for the girls. The university students, on the other
hand, did better than the secondary school students >t ^ 2.+., p ^ -.-2?. &omparing the
lower scores, it appeared that the percentage of those who scored below 2- points was 2-
among university students and +- among secondary school students. The dispersion of the
scores is shown in 1igures ,, *, 1- and 11.
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1igure ,. !he number of the students 1igure *. !he per cent of the students according
according to the scores to the scores
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1igure 1-. !he comparison of the percentage of the boys0 and girls0 scores
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1igure 11.
!he comparison of the percentage of the university and secondary school students0 scores
Responses to the 4uestions2 Geographical parameters2
The first six (uestions of the test aimed at examining students= geographical nowledge.
!ost students 12. >).Z? were of the opinion that :reat "ritain >B1? included all the four
countries of the 7nited %ingdom. The number of those who new that :reat "ritain was an
island, consisting of three parts >England, $cotland and ;ales?, was .) >2*Z?. There were
eight >5Z? students who believed that :reat "ritain meant the same as England. ;hen
comparing the answers of the secondary school and university students, it appeared, that
,1
twice as many university students >5,Z? than secondary school students >25Z? gave the
correct answer to this (uestion. The reason might be that at the beginning of their English
course at university students practise and improve their map reading and location sills.
2s most students did not mae a difference between the island and the country it was
not surprising that 5- students >21Z? believed that Great Britain was the full name of the
country >B+?. !he *nited >ingdom was suggested by ** students >.1Z? and only 11
students >)Z? new the country=s full name C !he *nited >ingdom of Great Britain and
$orthern ,reland. In addition, the following variants of the country=s name were suggested:
!he *nited >ingdom of :the; Great Britain >1.?, *nited >ingdom of Britain, !he *nited
>ingdom and the $orthern ,reland, *nited >ingdom of England >2?, !he Republic of
Great Britain and $orthern ,reland, *nited )tates of Great Britain, $orthern ,reland
*nighted >ingdom, *nite >ingdam and !he Commonwealth. $pelling mistaes could also
be noticed >kingtom, kingdam, unaited, Brittain?.
The students= confusion about the name of the country as well as not being able to mae
a distinction between Great Britain and the *nited >ingdom is not surprising as they are
often confused by people living in "ritain. 6avies writes in his wor !he ,sles2 8istory
that everywhere in "ritain it is possible to meet people who do not care about the
difference between England and Britain or Great Britain and the *nited >ingdom:
4ne of the most extraordinary aspects of the current scene lies in the number of citiAens of
the 7nited %ingdom who do not appear to be familiar with the basic parameters of the
state in which they live. They often do not now what it is called' they do not distinguish
between the whole and the constituent parts' and they have never grasped the most
elementary facts of its development. > 6avies 2---: xxviiCxxviii?
$tudents were also ased to order the four countries according to the siAe of their
territory >B2?. 15+ students >85Z? new that the two biggest countries were England and
$cotland. 9owever, only less than half >5.Z? of the students could order all the four
countries correctly. It also appeared that nearly one third >2*Z? thought that the area of
#orthern Ireland was bigger than that of ;ales.
,2
The fourth (uestion ased to order four towns >3ondon, :lasgow, "righton and
!anchester? from north to south. This turned out to be one of the most difficult (uestions
as only 1+ students >8Z? were able to do it. &onsidering the number of possible variants
provided, it can be concluded that locating places on the map is not a muchCpractised sill
in the English classroom.
There was also a (uestion >B.? in this section which ased students to match the names
of famous people with the places they had lived or wored in. 2s it might have been
expected, the biggest number of students >1++, )*Z? new that 3iverpool was the town
where the "eatles came from. 4verall, 11. >)-Z? students could connect ;. $haespeare
and $tratfordCuponC2von, but there was a difference in the nowledge of the university and
secondary school students. ).Z of the university students gave the right answer compared
to .,Z of the secondary school students. The connections between 6orset and T. 9ardy
and the 3ae 6istrict and ;. ;ordsworth were nown only to a (uarter of the students.
1rom the discussions that followed at five schools, it also appeared that the names of 9ardy
and ;ordsworth were altogether unnown to the students
The easiest (uestion in the geography section was about the location of "en #evis >B)?.
The correct answer was provided by 15- students >8+Z?.
8istorical background
The second section of the test concerned the history of "ritain. 2s the results revealed,
it was the most complicated part of the (uestionnaire. 4nly four students out of 1*+ were
able to order the four con(uests >0omans, 2ngloC$axons, Liings and #ormans?
chronologically >B8?. &onsidering the number of different variants, it can be concluded
that the responses were given randomly and were not based on real nowledge.
The year of the #orman &on(uest >B*? was nown to .1 students >2)Z?. The fact that
55 students >2+Z? thought that 1-)) was the year of the :reat 1ire of 3ondon >1)))? can
,+
be explained because of the similarities of the dates. 4n the other hand, it remains unclear
why .. students >2,Z? thought 1-)) was the year of the first constitution.
$tudents were also ased which of the three languages >modern English, modern 1rench
or modern ;elsh? can be related to the language that was spoen by ancient &elts >B8?.
9ere the number of correct answers was ,2 >52Z?. This (uestion also revealed the most
significant difference in the number of correct answers, both in the case of the boys and
girls, and the secondary school and university students. ;hile .-Z of the girls responded
correctly, the corresponding percentage for the boys was 28. ;hen comparing the answers
of the university and secondary school students the difference was even more noticeable,
the percentage of the right answer being )+ and +8 respectively. The reason might be that
the programme of English at the university level also includes some history of the English
language.
The last (uestion >B1-? in this section was about great inventions. Buite expectedly,
*+Z of the students new that #ewton discovered the law of gravity and ,)Z could
connect "ell and the telephone. 9owever, "aird=s name seemed to be unfamiliar, as only
58 students >25Z? were aware that he was the inventor of television.
$ational symbols
1our (uestions concerned the national symbols. It appeared that only 85 students >+, Z?
new the name of the "ritish flag >B11?. #early half had left the (uestion unanswered. 2s
it was an open (uestion, the students had provided several names for the flag, for example,
)treeps and stripes, Red cross, stripes and stars, united flag, red, yellow and blue and @ack
*nion. In several cases simply @ack was suggested.
$tudents were also ased which of the four flags is not represented in the "ritish flag
>B12?. #ot surprisingly, the biggest number of students, 12* >)8Z?, believed it was the
flag of #orthern Ireland. The right answer, ;ales, was provided by only +2 students
>18Z?.
,5
The nowledge of the national flowers >B1+? depended on the country. England=s
national flower, the rose, was nown best >+8Z?, followed by the ;elsh daffodil >22Z?
and the Irish shamroc >1*Z?. 2lthough the lee was recognised as a symbol of ;ales by
2. students >1+Z?, there were only two students who new that ;ales had two national
flowers.
The (uestion about the national flowers also showed clearly that the girls were much
more nowledgeable about this aspect of culture than the boys >see 2ppendix 18?. 4nly
with the shamroc the percentages of right answers were the same. The reason might be
that $t /atric=s 6ay has become an international holiday and is also reported in the
Estonian press. The boys, as the (uestionnaire showed, gained more information from the
media >see p. 8*?.
The biggest number of correct answers in this section was given to the (uestion
concerning the reign of Bueen EliAabeth II >B15?. ,+ students >5+Z? were aware that she
had been on the throne for more than .- years. &onsidering the fact that the :olden Nubilee
was also (uite extensively covered in the Estonian media, the number of the right answers
could have been bigger.
Britain today
The first two (uestions >1. and 1)? concerned education. The expression public school
often creates misunderstanding among Estonian students. This was further reflected in the
test with only one fifth of the respondents choosing private school as an answer. $eventy
seven students >5-Z? chose state school, followed by ., >+-Z?, who chose local school.
The students did not now what the si1th form denotes in the English educational
system. 151 respondents >8+Z? were of the opinion that students in the sixth form were 12C
1+ years old. 4nly +1 >1)Z? gave the right answer. This result was expected as in Estonia
12C1+ is the age of students who study in the sixth form. 9owever, as the topic of
,.
education is widely discussed in English classes, the differences in educational systems
should clearly be identified.
2s an answer to the (uestion about sports >B18?, two options, polo and golf, received an
e(ual number of votes: 52 each. 9owever, the biggest number of students >,-, 51Z? chose
tennis as the right answer. The correct answer to the (uestion is polo.
0ecognising "ritish holidays was a comparatively easy tas >B1,?. The most well
nown holiday is )t 7alentine0s (ay, which was nown by *8Z of the students, followed
by 8allowe0en >8+Z?. This is an expected result as those holidays are widely celebrated in
Estonia. 9owever, both Guy Fawkes (ay and Burn0s $ight were matched with the right
dates only by one third of the respondents >in the case of the university students the
percentage was .-?.
1ood is the topic that is discussed in most English language textboos. Therefore, it
came as a surprise that 5-Z of the students did not recognise the names of food listed in
(uestion 1*.
The students did not seem to be very nowledgeable about young people=s rights in
"ritain >B2-?. The respondents appeared to assume that the conventions were the same as
in Estonia. 1or example, the schoolCleaving age in Estonia is 18, accordingly 8* students
>51Z? thought that it was the same in "ritain. 4nly 2+ students >12Z? new the correct
answer O 1). The same applied to getting a driving licence. 51Z of the respondents chose
1, instead of 18. The right answer was suggested by only 21 students >11Z?. !ore than
half of the students new that you had to be 21 to become a member of /arliament.
9owever, most students were unsure at what age citiAens could vote. 4nly one fifth gave
the correct answer. This is an unexpected result as both in "ritain and Estonia young
people need to be 1, to tae part in elections. Thus, it might have been assumed that most
students new the answer.
,)
The last (uestion >B21? in this section was about famous people and their occupations
>see 1igures 12 and 1+?. The most well nown "riton was 6avid "echam >nown by *5Z
of the students?, followed shortly by Tony "lair >*+Z?. #evertheless, T. "lair was also
thought to be the author of 9arry /otter boos >1 student?, an actress >2?, a writer >+?, a TL
chef >+?, a footballer >2? and a pop singer >1?. The role of the /rime !inister was attributed
to all eight people on the list at least once. The names of 0od $tuart and 0ichard "urns
were also familiar >1.- >8,Z? and 1+2 >),Z? right answers accordingly?, whereas "urns=
name was better nown to the boys. 2t the same time, there were only 12+ students
>)+.8Z? who new that the author of 9arry /otter boos was K. %. 0owling. &onsidering
the popularity of the boos and films, a larger number of right answers was expected. #ic
9ornby and Kamie 4liver were the least nown people on the list. It was noticeable that
more university students new about them than those from secondary school.
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1igure 12. !he students0 knowledge about famous Britons
,8
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1igure 1+. !he boy0s and girls0 knowledge about famous Britons
Eti4uette
Two (uestions in the (uestionnaire ased to choose the most appropriate conversation
formulae. 128 students >))Z? new what would be the most common way to apologise
>B22? and 15+ >85Z? chose the most appropriate expression to introduce themselves
>B2+?. This could be considered a good result, considering that on average the percentage
of the right answers was much smaller.
Britain and Estonia
The last two (uestions >B25 and 2.? ased about EstonianC"ritish connections.
2lthough the Estonian ir has flown to 3ondon for nearly ten years, only one third of the
students were aware that it flew to :atwic 2irport. 9eathrow was suggested by 5-Z of
the respondents. It could be the only airport in 3ondon the students have heard of.
The final (uestion >B2.? was about the Estonians who lived and wored in "ritain >see
1igure 15?. The footballer !art /oom was as well nown as 6avid "echam >1,+ right
answers, *.Z?. The second famous Estonian was the !/ 3embit _pi >1+- answers,)8Z?,
followed closely by the ballet dancer 2ge 4s >12) answers, ).Z?. 9owever, half of those
,,
who new 2ge 4s did not now that her partner was Toomas Edur. 9e turned out to be
the least nown in the given list >)) right answers, +5Z?.
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1igure 15. !he students0 knowledge about Estonians living and working in Britain
The percentage of correct answers to all (uestions is given in 2ppendices 1) and 18 and
the ey to the test (uestions in 2ppendix 1,
It can be concluded from the results of the test that the students= nowledge about
"ritain is rather limited. 2fter having studied English for nearly ten years, it could perhaps
be expected that students now more than a few famous people and national holidays.
2lthough it might be argued that information about the other culture >especially factual
nowledge? should not be the aim of the teaching of culture, it cannot be completely
ignored. $eelye >1**+: 2)? has written that Efor any given culture a core information exists
that one must share in order to participate meaningfully in that cultureH. 1or the language
learner it means that this Ecore informationH is crucial if they are to understand the other
culture.
Dis-ussi.
The main aim of the research was to examine the presence of cultureCrelated issues in
English lessons in Estonian secondary schools and to discover teachers= and students=
,*
attitudes to the teaching of culture. 2s of the EnglishCspeaing countries "ritain is the most
commonly taught in Estonian schools, a test was compiled to test students= nowledge of
the various aspects of "ritain and its culture.
The results of the (uestionnaires revealed that both the teachers and students considered
the teaching of culture important. It is an expected result and confirms 9inel=s notion
>1***: 2? that EM language teachers have become increasingly aware that a second
language or foreign language can rarely be learned or taught without addressing the culture
of the community in which it is used.H The cultural dimension of foreign language teaching
is also extensively discussed in the literature on foreign language education and it is
reflected in teaching materials O the newest textboos contain a number of cultureCrelated
activities.
9owever, when teachers were ased to define culture, they did not appear to have a very
clear perception of the concept. 1irst, one third of the teachers did not provide any
definition. $econd, most of those who did, defined culture by listing its elements. Lery few
definitions described culture as an integrated system of various components. 4n the other
hand, the fact that none of the teachers reduced the definition to Dhigh= culture shows that
the teachers are aware of the broad concept of the term. Therefore, $eelye=s >1**+: 1.?
claim that for many teachers culture means fine arts, geography and history was not true of
the teachers who responded to the (uestion about culture.
2 maNor problem concerning the teaching of culture seems to be finding time to do it.
2lthough no teacher said that they never discussed cultureCrelated issues, only one third of
the respondents claimed that they did it in almost every lesson. Ideally, as stressed by
several scholars >see for example, &hastain 1*,,: 2,,, Tomalin and $templesi 1**+: ,?,
culture should be an integral part of every language class. The fact that it is not the case
was also proved by the students= responses. 2s many as 1,- students >*+Z? stated that they
*-
would lie to now more about "ritain and ,)Z thought that the best place to learn more
would be in the English class.
4ne of the main reasons why there is not enough time for integrating culture into
English classes might be that the teachers mostly concentrate on developing the four
language sills, or rather the sills that are assessed at the national examinations. The same
reason is pointed out in the study conducted by 2lesandrowicAC/Xdich et al. >n.d.: )?.
Therefore, it might be concluded that Ethere is a mismatch between what the curriculum
prescribes and what the examination testsH >Kohnson 1*,*, cited in 2lesandrowicAC
/Xdich et al.ibid.?. This concern was also expressed by teachers in informal conversations.
The inclusion of cultureCrelated issues in the examinations might give weight to teaching
culture in language classes.
$ome teachers also believed that culture should better be taught on a separate course. In
Estonia, a few schools, mostly EnglishCspecialised schools, practise this. 2lso, various
courses onIabout the other culture are provided at the tertiary level. 9owever, considering
how much language and culture are interwoven, it seems practically impossible to give
cultureCfree language lessons.
2nother reason why cultureCrelated activities are neglected might be that the teachers
are not aware of appropriate techni(ues. $ome techni(ues >for example, the cultural aside,
slice+of+life techni4ue, culture assimilator and 4ui3, see pp.? tae relatively little class time.
&hastain >1*,,: +-)C+-8? stresses that daily cultural topics should be short and concise,
while on a weely basis teachers could deal with topics that re(uire more time >preparing,
for example, a culture capsule?. The more timeCconsuming activities, such as drama,
watching videos and doing proNects should only be used occasionally.
It can be concluded that the first hypothesis that the teaching of culture does not happen
regularly and is not systematic proved to be correct. 2lthough the teachers do not deny the
importance of teaching culture and integrate it from time to time into their classes, culture
*1
teaching cannot be considered systematic. This was also proved by the test results which
varied a great deal from school to school. :iven the reality of the present situation where
the teachers are often made responsible for the students= national examination results, it is
understandable that the main focus remains on developing the four language sills.
2lthough several scholars have described various activities and techni(ues for the
teaching of culture >see above pp. +*C5)?, many of these >for example, the culture cluster,
cultural asid, cultoon and slice+of+ life techni4ue? were not included in the list to be
assessed by the teachers and students. It was assumed that they were unnown and not used
in English classes in Estonia. >This assumption was confirmed by the fact that although
some space was left for the respondents to add some ways of teaching culture, no
techni(ues discussed above were added?. Therefore, only these techni(ues and activities
were included that both teachers and students were thought to be familiar with.
The teachers= and students= preferences revealed no significant difference. "oth groups
considered taling about current events and discussions of cultural similarities and
differences most important. It is an expected result. Tals and discussions give a good
insight into the everyday life of the other culture and they do not tae up too much class
time. &onsidering the number of teachers who claimed that they used the Internet and
newspapers, the material for discussions and tals should be easily accessible. The wider
use of the local media would also be helpful as 5- Z of the students named it as one of the
sources for obtaining cultural nowledge. #ot surprisingly, watching videos was also
popular with both the students and teachers.
The low score for the use of songs reveals that the teachers have not been able to tae
advantage of the students= interest in music >rated third in the students= list?. 4bviously, the
teaching materials do not provide enough opportunities. 9ere, the teachers could rely on
the students= interest and as them to do some research into the area. $tudent research, as
stated above >p. 55?, is a powerful tool as it combines students= interests with classroom
*2
activities. 2lso, as &hastain argues >1*,,: +-,? EFaGssigned reports and proNects geared to
promote cultural nowledge can be an important adNunct to the material that teachers
provide.H
2nother activity that received relatively low scores was listening to radio programmes
>2.)* from the teachers and 2.,, from the students?. It might be possible that neither the
teachers nor students are aware that the ""& ;orld $ervice 3earning English radio
programmes offer learners various programmes, such as news, wor, living and music. It is
possible to listen to these programmes on the Internet, at
http:IIwww.bbcworldservice.comIlearningenglish.
$urprisingly, a statistically significant difference between the teachers= and students=
opinions appeared when assessing the usefulness of proNects. ;hile the teachers rated them
highly, the students did not consider them very helpful. It was not possible to conclude
from this study what ind of proNects have been carried out at schools. Therefore, it can
only be assumed that these proNects have not been very attractive for the students. It is also
possible that the students and teachers have different opinions as to what a proNect is. To
arouse students= interest the teachers might try webCbased proNects lie the ;ebBuest and
&ultureBuest >see pp. 5.C5)?.
2s the range of cultural activities suggested by textboos is not large, the teachers can
find various readyCmade activities in Cultural wareness >1**+? by Tomalin and
$templesi.
2nalysing the scores for cultural topics, it could be claimed that a shift from nowing
about to nowing of how has occurred in the teaching of culture. The topics lie Dpatterns
of politeness= and Drules of behaviour= were raned very highly by the teachers. D0ules of
behaviour= also received high scores from the students. It could also be noticed that the
students did considerably better in the test in the (uestions about appropriate behaviour. 4n
*+
the other hand, the limited scope of the (uestionnaire did not mae it possible to find out
whether these were also the most fre(uently taught aspects and how they were taught.
2t the same time, a very important aspect of the intercultural communicative
competence ,nonCverbal communication, received relatively low scores from both the
teachers and students >+.82 and +.18 respectively?. This proves "yram=s argument that the
latter is Eseldom dealt with more than a superficial level by 13 Fforeign languageG teachersH
>1**8: 12?. 2t the same time, &hastain >1*,,: +-5? considers it as one of the most
important to teach, especially to those learners who anticipate having contact with speaers
of a foreign language. 4ne reason why this aspect is neglected might be the lac of material
for teaching it. Teachers can find some suitable activities in Cultural wareness by
Tomalin and $templesi >for example, 115C11*?.
2lthough there was a statistically significant difference in the teachers= and students=
scores for Dcustoms and traditions= and Dnational symbols and stereotypes=, they both came
at the top of both lists >second and third in the teachers= and fourth and fifth in the
students= list?. This supports another argument suggested by several scholars >see, for
example %ramsch 1**1, :alloway 1*,.? that the teaching of the soCcalled 51s >food,
festivals, follore, statistical facts? is (uite common in the English language classroom. 4n
the other hand, customs and traditions reveal a lot about the other culture. 3aanemPe >2--+:
1)?, for example, claims that the normative aspect >normatiivne kAlg? of a culture is
expressed by its customs and traditions. 1rom the teachers= point of view, they are also
comparatively easy to teach and there is a lot of material available. 2t the same time,
customs, traditions and festivals offer numerous opportunities for comparison between
learners= own and other cultures. 2s some schools organise celebrations of festivals, it is
not of less importance that, by participating in them, students are actively involved in
learning the other culture. The test also proved that the students new widelyCcelebrated
festivals best.
*5
Interestingly, geography was raned the lowest, both by the teachers and the students.
2t the same time, many textboos >for example, ll the #orld0s a &u33le, 9pen to (ebate?
contain enough material about the geography of "ritain and other EnglishCspeaing
countries. The lac of interest in these topics was also revealed in the students= test
answers. 2lthough the confusion about names is understandable >see p. ,2? it Eshould not
be disseminated but distangledH >6avies 2---: xxxii?. The English class could be a good
place for this. 3ocating places on the map and comparing countries= territories also created
problems for the students. 2ccording to $eelye >1**+: +)?, learners should be aware of
how the globe is divided into nationCstates and the first step to demonstrate interest and
goodwill towards other people is to study the atlas. 9e suggests several activities in
!eaching Culture >see pp. +)C+8?. >$ee also &hastain 1*,,: +-,?
2 telling result was that in .-Z of the topics there was a significant difference between
the teachers= and the students= scores. 2nother interesting observation was that the teachers
gave much higher scores for all topics than the students. 2 gender difference was also
evident in half of the topics. ;hen comparing the top six topics in the teachers=, boys= and
girls= lists, it appeared that five topics in the teachers= and girls= lists were the same. In the
case of the boys, only three topics coincided with those of the teachers= top. $imilarities in
the girls= and teachers= interests might also be the reason why the girls did better in the test
than the boys. 6rawing on these differences, two suggestions can be made. 1irst, the
teachers should as students= opinions as to what topics to teach. >This suggestion is also
made, for example, by "roos 1*)5 and &hastain 1*,,? $econd, the teachers should tae
the interests of both sexes into consideration.
1rom the analysis above, it can be concluded that the hypothesis concerning the
teachers= and students= opinions proved to be largely correct. ;hile the teachers and
students generally shared opinions about the ways of teaching, there was a significant
difference concerning the topics.
*.
The teachers= answers indicated that they used a wide range of materials for teaching
culture. ;hile textboos were the mostCwidely used sources, many other were mentioned
as well, with realia and the Internet being the most popular. 9owever, it was not possible to
conclude from the collected data how effectively these materials are used.
The least used source appeared to be follore. 4nly as few as 15 teachers >2+Z?
mentioned it as a useful source. 1ollore is seen as a logical bridge between the literary
writing and understanding the other culture. 1ol materials >for example, fol songs, tales,
proverbs and superstitions? help to understand some important cultural themes. >$eelye
1**+: 1,? &E1 >2--1: 12-? uses the term Dexpressions of fol wisdom=. The document
claims that they are fre(uently used or Eplayed uponH and the nowledge of them is Ea
significant component of the linguistic aspect of sociocultural competence.H
The teachers= opinions about the cultural content of the textboos varied a great deal.
9alf of the teachers chose Dto some extent= as an answer to the (uestion whether the
textboos contained enough material for teaching culture. 2t the same time, 2+ teachers
>+,Z? were (uite satisfied with what the textboos offered, while six >1-Z? thought the
cultural component of the textboos was very poor. There might be several reasons for the
difference of opinion. 1irst, the teachers use many different textboos. $ome teachers had
named four to five textboos they were currently using. Their cultural content may differ.
$econd, it is not nown what expectations the teachers have. $ome textboo authors mae
cultural issues explicit by using photographs, special texts or adding separate tass >for
example, Comparing Cultures in the 9pportunities series?. In some textboos cultural
information is Dhidden= in texts and therefore, may not be noticed. Third, as stressed by
2lesandrowichC/Xdich et al. n.d.: .C)?, the teachers might not use the material effectively.
"rown >2---: ,+? claims that as it is hardly possible to find materials which would interest
everyone, the emphasis should be put on doing interesting things with the material. 9e
*)
concludes that the Ematerials should be chosen, not so much on the basis of their own
interest, but for what they can be used to do.V
&hastain >1*,,: +1)? maintains that one of the maNor problems in teaching culture is
how to devise ways of presenting culture in such a manner that students can comprehend
and relate to the information. The results of the test revealed that this might also be a
problem in Estonia. 2lthough all teachers considered teaching culture important, and
included cultural activities in their lessons using various material, the students= nowledge
about "ritain left much to be desired.
The assessment of cultural learning is extremely difficult. "yram >2---: ,? claims that
even the authors of Common European Framework propose a number of levels for
defining linguistic competence, whereas they do not mae proposals for levels of the
assessment of socioCcultural competence.
Lalette >1*,): 1,2, first published in 1*88? maintains that together with maing
progress in foreign language, students also increase their awareness of the culture of the
country whose language is being learnt. In her opinion, this broadened awareness includes
such aspects of culture as the way of life, geographic, historical, economic, artistic and
scientific aspects. These, in sum, constitute the general bacground of members of the
target culture. $tudents who share this nowledge EdemonstrateFsG an increased awareness
of the parameters of that target culture.H
9owever, with an average of 25 points >55Z?, it is not possible to tal about the
Dincreased awareness= of these parameters. ;hile the lac of historical nowledge, for
example, can be explained >history is left out of most language and "ritish $tudies
textboos?, it was still expected that the students would be more nowledgeable about
contemporary life in "ritain and now the countries= national symbols. ;hile
administering the test at various schools it was noticed that in some classrooms the walls
were decorated with maps and posters about various aspects of the "ritish culture >for
*8
example, national symbols, flags and the 7nion Kac?. Kudging by the answers, however, it
can be assumed that this material had not been exploited. In one school, for example,
younger students had drawn the flags of the four countries which were posted on the wall.
#evertheless, only one fifth of the respondents at school answered the (uestion about the
flags >B12? correctly. ;ellCchosen visual material can create a setting for more memorable
learning >see for example, &hastain 1*,,: +1+ and $tern 1**2: 225?. 4n the other, it
cannot fulfil this function when no attention is drawn to it.
The analysis of the test revealed that the students= nowledge was greatest about famous
"ritons. 1rom contemporary "ritain, the best nown were 6avid "echam >*5Z?, followed
by Tony "lair >*+Z?, 0od $tuart >8, Z? 0ichard "urns >85Z?, and K. %. 0owling >)5Z?.
1rom the past, Isaac #ewton >*+Z?, 2lexander "ell >,)Z?, The "eatles >)*Z? and
;illiam $haespeare >)-Z? were relatively well nown. 9owever, it is highly possible that
this nowledge has been mostly gained from the media >with the exception of $haespeare?
and, in the case of #ewton and "ell, from physics rather than English classes. 4f the
Estonians living in "ritain, !art /oom was by far the best nown.
2nother relatively easy tas was matching holidays with their dates. ;hile most
students new when people celebrate $t Lalentine=s 6ay and 9allowe=en, only one third of
the respondents new the dates of :uy 1awes 6ay and "urns= #ight. This proves that
holidays celebrated mainly in "ritain obviously get less attention in English classes than
holidays that have become international.
&oncerning the presentCday life in "ritain, the answers revealed that the students=
nowledge about it was rather limited. &ulture is seen as a way of life in very many
definitions >including the teachers= definitions?. It has also been viewed this way in most
foreign language teaching methods >see, for example 3arsenC1reeman 2---?. 4ne of the
most favoured ways of teachingIlearning culture by both the students and teachers was
*,
taling about current events. It, therefore, remains unclear why it still gets so little attention
in English classes.
The analysis of the test results leads to the conclusion that the hypothesis about
students= limited nowledge about "ritain proved to be correct
2lthough it was not the aim of the test to find out whether there were differences in
students= nowledge between schools, it appeared that the percentage of right answers
varied a great deal >see 2ppendix 18?. There might be several reasons for that. 1irst, it
depends on what the teacher considers important to teach. $econd, textboos= cultural
content varies. Third, it may also depend on the teachers= preparation and the way how they
present the material. The latter, in turn, leads to another concern O teachers= preparation for
teaching culture. !any of the respondents of this study may have graduated from university
2- or even more years ago >two thirds were over 5- years old?. This means that the courses
on culture they too during their studies were more of the LandeskundeCtype, that is, they
concentrated mostly on giving factual nowledge. The only aspect of culture that was
studied extensively in that period was literature.
1
4nly half of the respondents had taen part in courses on teaching culture. !any of
those who had given an affirmative answer had actually taen part in "ritish or 2merican
studies conferences. !any had mentioned sporadic lectures. This, however, does not count
as a systematic training. The latter should include both: giving teachers upCtoCdate
nowledge and methodology of teaching culture. The importance of teacher education is
stressed by many scholars >see, for example, &hastain 1*,, and "yram 1**5?.
The present study does not pretend to be exhaustive. The limitations are mostly
connected with the (uestionnaires. 2lthough open (uestions provide more useful
information and may reflect more accurately what the respondents want to say >#unan
1**2: 15+?, they were used sparingly for two reasons. 1irst, they are (uite difficult to
1
The author herself graduated from university in 1*8,
**
analyse and, second, respondents often leave them unanswered. This also appeared to be
true in the present study. To get a better overview of the actual situation, the (uestionnaires
could have been combined with interviews. 2lthough some informal interviews were
conducted, those did not provide any new information. 1or further research, classroom
observation would be of great benefit.
It has also to be noted that with the help of a short test it is not possible to estimate the
actual nowledge of students. !ultipleCchoice (uestions, which were most fre(uently used,
may lead to random choices. 2lthough lists of une(ual length were used in matching
exercises, it does not completely reduce the possibility of guessing. 4n the other hand,
many students might have left the (uestions unanswered unless the choices were given.
The (uestions about the name of the country and the flag proved this.
2nother aspect concerning the test is that it mostly tested students= nowledge and not
other aspects of cultural learning. 9ere, one has to agree with "yram who claims that when
assessing other aspects than nowledge there is an alternative to Eevaluate courses rather
than individualsH >"yram and !organ 1**5: 1+,?. This could be a topic of a further study.
1--
CONCLUSION
In the ideal foreign language classroom the teaching of culture should be an integral and
systematic component. 9owever, as culture has been defined differently in different
periods, this has led to different views of what constitutes culture teaching. 7ntil the early
twentieth century, when culture was viewed as consisting of literature and fine arts, the
main aim of foreign language teaching was to enable learners to read literature written in it.
Together with the growth of social sciences >anthropology and sociology?, culture started to
be seen as a whole way of life. The anthropological definition also became dominant in
foreign language pedagogy. 4ften, though, culture was taught separately from language and
was meant to give learners a useful bacground to language learning.
Today, there exists a widespread consensus among scholars >%ramsch 1**+ , "yram
1*,*, 1**5 , $eelye 1**+, &hastain 1*,, et al.? that language and culture should not be
treated as separate entities and culture should be integrated into the language classroom.
3anguage is seen as part of culture and culture as part of language, which is why they
cannot be separated and should be taught together >"rown 2---:188?. 2s 2llen >1*,.?
contends Eto teach culture or not to teach is not a matter of choice but rather one of degree,
and the challenge lies in teaching language in a more cultureCcentred environment, in
teaching more the target culture, and in teaching more systematically and more thoroughlyH
>cited in &hastain 1*,,: +-.?.
In order to teach culture systematically, teachers should set clear and achievable goals.
The main aim of culture teaching, as recognised by most scholars today, is to develop
students= intercultural understanding and help them with intercultural communication. 1or
the latter, learners need cultural nowledge, cultural awareness and a set of sills, which
constitute the learner=s intercultural competence.
6espite the recognition of the importance of culture in language classes, the teaching of
it has still remained rather limited. The main reasons for that are the lac of time, the issues
1-1
of designing a cultural syllabus and choosing appropriate techni(ues and, lastly, the
presentation of cultureCrelated topics and activities in teaching materials.
The easiest way to design a cultural syllabus is to use a list of topics >suggested, for
example, by the national curriculum?. 2 more organised way, however, would be to
categorise or map the topics. $everal scholars have suggested different options for this.
2fter having determined the course content, teachers need to decide on appropriate
methodology. Techni(ues and activities should foster both students= cultural nowledge
and awareness. 2s the latter involves comparing one=s own culture with that of the target
one, comparative approach is important. The choice of a suitable techni(ue and activity
also depends on what the aim of teaching culture is. ;hile the culture capsule, cultural
aside and culture cluster, for example, can be used for providing cultural nowledge, the
cultural assimilator and critical incidents lend themselves well to developing understanding
of the other culture through problemCsolving. Teachers should also encourage students to
do proNects within their cultural learning to develop learners= research sills as well as
thining at the level of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The development of the ;orld
;ide ;eb has created several opportunities for learners to get involved in webCbased
proNects such as ;ebBuests or &ultureBuests. "ecause of their wellCstructured nature, they
have several advantages over an unsystematic search for material on the Internet.
2s the teaching of culture mostly taes place in a language class, teachers need
textboos with an organised and systematic approach to the teaching of culture. !ost
textboos used in European countries, including Estonia, fall into two categories:
international and local textboos. $everal studies have shown that the cultural content in
them varies a great deal. In order to find out to what extent cultureCrelated material is
present in textboos and how it is organised, teachers can use several checlists. The latter
have been compiled considering various criteria, such as the cultural content, the treatment
of the content, social and cultural values, learners= competences and so on. 9owever, as no
1-2
single textboo can provide information on all the aspects of the other culture, teachers
should turn to other sources. The material for studying the other culture is diverse, ranging
from the Internet, newspapers, films, radio and television programmes to realia. 3iterature
also offers numerous opportunities for students to get an insight into the lives of people of
the target culture.
2fter having studied the wors of several eminent scholars on teaching culture, research
was conducted among Estonian teachers of English as well as upperCsecondary and
university students to examine the situation of culture teaching in Estonian secondary
schools and students= nowledge about "ritain. It was hypothesised that teachers mostly
focus on language ac(uisition and teaching culture is not systematic and does not happen
regularly. The second hypothesis predicted that students= and teachers= opinions concerning
the topics and ways of teaching culture differ. The third hypothesis about students= limited
nowledge of "ritish culture was formulated on the basis of the author=s longCterm
experience as an English teacher at the tertiary level. To chec the hypotheses two
(uestionnaires designed: one for teachers and the other for students. The (uestionnaires
included a common part to compare the teachers= and students= responses. In addition, the
students= (uestionnaire also contained a test about "ritain. The latter was chosen because
topics about the "ritish culture are most commonly taught in Estonian schools. 4verall, )1
teachers and 1*+ students completed the (uestionnaires. The results revealed that all three
hypotheses proved to be fully >1 and +? or partly >2? correct.
2lthough the teachers considered the teaching of culture either important or very
important, it is not an integral part of language lessons. !ost teachers claimed that they
included cultureCrelated activities in their classes only once a wee. The main reason for
this is the lac of time. !ost time in language classes, especially in the final schoolCyear, is
spent on preparing students for the national examinations. 2s cultural nowledge is not
1-+
tested at the examination, it does not get e(ual attention. 2lthough assessing cultural
learning is very difficult, including it in some ways in the examination could be considered.
2nother reason why culture is neglected in language classes can be related to the
teaching material andIor to the way this material is exploited. The fact that teachers do not
always now how to use the material was proved by the fact that the teachers gave
completely different answers to the (uestion about the cultural content of one and the same
textboo.
In analysing the responses to the (uestions about ways of teaching and topics, it
appeared that while there was no significant difference in the teachers= and students=
opinions concerning the ways of teaching, the opinions about topics differed in the case of
.-Z. 9owever, this difference was not so noticeable comparing the teachers= and female
students= opinions. This might imply that that the boys= interests have not been taen into
consideration in choosing the topics for discussion.
The students= nowledge of the "ritain and its culture appeared to be rather limited. The
average score gained in the test was 25, which maes only 55Z of the possible maximum
score. There was both a gender difference and a difference in the secondary school and
university students= scores. 2s the tests were carried out in six different schools, it also
appeared that at some schools the students new certain aspects better than at other
schools. This is another implication that culture teaching is not very systematic and
depends on what the teacher considers important or is prepared to teach.
To improve the situation of culture teaching more attention in the future should be paid
to the training of teachers. The teacher education programmes at universities should
include the methodology of teaching culture in their curricula. ;oring teachers, on the
other hand, need inCservice training. !ore comprehensive and inCdepth education of
teachers would be one way to get nearer to the ideal where culture forms an integral part of
each language class.
1-5
2lthough the present research does not pretend to be exhaustive, it fulfilled its main
aims and gave the author an insight into the situation of culture teaching. It also became
evident that the topic re(uires further research as well as more diverse research
methodology >for example, classroom observation and interviews with teachers?. This
would give a better overview about the reasons behind the unsystematic culture teaching
and would give feedbac for teacher trainers about what ind of training teachers especially
need.
A-%.1#e0/e3e.ts
I am genuinely grateful to my supervisor @lle TQr from the 6epartment of English of
the 7niversity of Tartu for her time, patience and valuable advice. I would also lie to
than /rof. Eve %ias and $ven 2ller from $chool of Teacher Education of the 7niversity
of Tartu and 6r. 3es :arner from the 7niversity of :reenwich, 7% for their assistance.
!y special thans to the teachers of English who allowed their students to participate in
the survey.
1-.
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Report of the Fifth nnual Round !able "eeting on Linguistics and Language
!eaching2 >;ashington, 6&: :eorgetown 7niversity /ress?, **C1-.
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&erspectives. >3ondon: /earson Education 3imited?, ,.C,,.
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!eacher ;> >1?, .C11
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;iTniewsaC"rogowsa, 6.>n.d.?. 2 TopicCbased 2pproach to Teaching &ulture2
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#etwor "ased &233. CL,C9 @ournal ;)>1?, +8C.1.
Te7t4%s re,erre0 t
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&ambridge: &ambridge 7niversity /ress.
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Tallinn: %oolibri.
11.
RES"MEE
T20T7 @3I%443
I#:3I$E 1I34344:I2 e//ET443
Evi $aluveer
TE2&9I#: &73T70E I# E#:3I$9 &32$$E$
>%ultuuri bpetamine inglise eele tunnis?
!agistritff
2--5
3eheQlgede arv: 11,
A..tatsi.!
%ultuuri bpetamine on alati olnud vbbreelebppe Qs omponente. 4lenevalt sellest,
uidas ultuuri on defineeritud Na millised on olnud eelebppe pbhieesmPrgid, on ultuuri
bpetamisel olnud erinev roll. TPnapPeval valitseb Qldlevinud seisuoht, et vbbreelt Na
ultuuri tuleb bpetada integreeritult. $elles on vPlNa tfftatud rida tehniaid Na vbtteid, mis
lPhtuvad ultuuri bpetamise Qhest pbhiprintsiibist, et teise ultuuri bpetamisel on oluline
selle vbrdlemine oma ultuuriga.
%Pesoleva uurimistff eesmPrgis oli saada Qlevaade ultuuri bpetamise oluorrast
inglise eele tunnis eesti esoolides ning ontrollida bpilaste Na Qlibpilaste teadmisi briti
ultuurist. Liimane oli valitud pbhNusel, et traditsiooniliselt on eesti oolides bpetatud briti
inglise eelt Na ultuuri. 7urimuse lPbiviimises oostati as Qsimustiu: Qs
bpetaNatele Na teine bpilastele. %Qsimustiule vastas 1*+ bpilast Na Qlibpilast ning )1
bpetaNat.
Tulemustest selgus, et uigi nii bpetaNad ui a bpilased peavad ultuuri bpetamist
olulises, ei toimu see sQstemaatiliselt. 7urimus nPitas a, et bpetaNad Na bpilased ei ole
Qhel meelel, milliseid ultuuriga seonduvaid teemasid tules bpetada. $ealNuures langesid
tQtarlaste Na bpetaNate arvamused enam ou ui noormeeste Na bpetaNate omad.
11)
epilaste teadmised briti ultuurist olid suhteliselt asinad. Testi, mille
masimumtulemus oli .. punti, esmine tulemus oli 25 >55Z?. $ealNuures tQtarlaste
tulemused olid paremad ui noormeeste omad.
/aremini teati briti pQhasid >eriti neid, mis on muutunud rahvusvahelistes? Na tuntud
inimesi. %a nn. viisausvPlNendeid teati muuga vbrreldes suhteliselt hPsti. LPhesed olid
teadmisi briti tPnapPeva eluColuga seonduvast. 4meti leidsid nii bpetaNad ui a bpilased,
et arutelud tPnapPeva ultuuri teemadel on teise ultuuri tundma bppimise seisuohalt
bige olulisemad.
%ultuuri bpetamise oluorda aitas parandada bpetaNate parem ettevalmistus Na
tPiendoolitus, aga a ultuurialaste teemade parem esindatus bppematerNalides.
118
Appe.0i7 ;
Cu#tura# tpi-s i. the #a./ua/e -#assr3 4+ *r%s
>1*,): 125C12,?
Greetings, friendly e1change, farewells. 9ow do friends meet, converse briefly, tae
their leaveS ;hat are the perennial topics of small talS 9ow are strangers introducedS
!he morphology of personal e1change. 9ow are interpersonal relationships such as
difference in age, degree of intimacy, social position and emotional tension reflected in the
choice of appropriate forms of pronouns and verbsS
Levels of speech. In what ways are age, provenance, social status, academic
achievement, degree of formality, interpersonal relations, aesthetic concern, and personality
reflected in the standard or traditional speechS
&atterns of politeness. ;hat are the commonest formulas of politeness and when should
they be usedS
Respect. 2part from overt expressions of deference and discipline, what personages and
what cultural themes, both past and contemporary, are characteristically held in sincere
respectS
,ntonation patterns. 2part from the selection, order, and form of words themselves,
what overtones of cadence, interrogation, command, surprise, deference and the lie are
borne exclusively by the dynamics of pronunciationS
Contractions and omissions. ;hat words and intonation patterns are commonly used to
enliven one=s speech by way of commentary upon one=s own feelings or actions, those of
the person addressed, or the nature or behaviour of other elements in the immediate
situationS
!ypes of error in speech and their importance. ;hat errors is the speaer of English
liely to mae in the new languageS ;hat is the relative seriousness of these errors in the
new cultureS
7erbal taboos. ;hat common words or expressions in English have direct e(uivalents
that are not tolerated in the new culture, and vice versaS
#ritten and spoken language. 2side from richness of vocabulary and complexity of
structure, what are the commonest areas of difference between spoen language and
writingS
$umbers2 9ow are numbers pronounced, spelled, represented in arithmetical notation,
written by hand, and formally printed in ways that are peculiar to the new cultureS
Folklore. ;hat myths, stories, traditions, legends, customs, and beliefs are universally
found among the common peopleS
Childhood literature2 ;hat lyrics, rhymes, songs, and Ningles of distinct aesthetic merit
are learned by all young childrenS
(iscipline. ;hat are the norms of discipline in the home, in school, in public places, in
the military, in pastimes, and in ceremoniesS
Festivals. ;hat days of the calendar year are officially designated as national festivalsS
;hat are central themes of these occasions and what is the manner of their celebrationS
8olidays. ;hat is the usual rhythm of wor days and days offS ;hat do young people
do with their days offS
9bservance of )unday. 9ow does $unday differ from weedays with regard to what an
individual does or does not do, may or may not doS
Games. ;hat are the most popular games that are played outdoors, indoors, by the
young, by adultsS
11,
"usic. ;hat opportunities are offered the individual for training and practice in vocal
and instrumental musicS
Errands. ;hat are typical errands that a young person is liely to be ased to do, either
at home or in schoolS
&ets. ;hat animals are habitually received into the home as petsS ;hat is their role in
the householdS
!elephone. ;hat phrases and procedures are conventional in the use of the telephoneS
;hat is the role of the private telephone in the homeS ;here are public telephones to be
found and how is the service paid forS
Comradeship. 9ow are friendships and personal attachments liely to be formed and
what provisions are made for fostering comradeship through clubs, societies, and other
group organisationsS
&ersonal possessions. ;hat obNects are often found decorating the bureau and walls of
young person=s bedroomS ;hat articles are liely to be discovered in a boy=s pocet or a
girl=s handbagS
>eeping warm and cool. ;hat changes in clothing, heating, ventilation, food, and drin
are made because of variations in temperatureS
Cleanliness. ;hat is the relation between plumbing and personal cleanlinessS
;hat standards of public hygiene and sanitation are generally observedS
Cosmetics. ;hat are the special conditions of age, sex, activity, and situation under
which maeCup is permitted, encouraged, or re(uiredS
!obacco and smoking. ;ho smoes, what, and under what circumstancesS ;hat are the
prevailing attitudes toward smoingS ;here are tobacco products obtainedS
"edicine and doctors. ;hat are the common home remedies for minor ailmentsS ;hat
is the e(uivalent of the 2merican drugstoreS 9ow does one obtain the service of a
physicianS
Competitions. In what fields of activity are priAes awarded for success in open
competitionS 9ow important is competition in schools, in the business world, in the
professionsS
ppointments. 9ow are appointments for business and pleasure madeS ;hat are the
usual meeting placesS 9ow important is punctualityS
,nvitations and dates. ;hat invitations are young people liely to extend and receiveS
;hat formalities are involvedS ;hat is the counterpart of EdatingH in the 7nited $tatesS
!raffic. 9ow does vehicular traffic affect the pedestrianS ;hat are the e(uivalents of
traffic lights, road signs, crosswals, safety islands, paring meters, hitchhiingS
9wning, repairing, and driving cars. 2re young people interested in gasoline motorsS
2re they nowledgeable about themS ;hat is the role of the car in the family lifeS ;hat
are the re(uirements for obtaining a licence to driveS
)cience. 9ow has modern science affected daily living, inner thought, conversation,
reading matterS
Gadgets. ;hat mechanical devices are commonly found in personal use, in the home, in
stores, and in travelS
)ports. ;hat organised and professional sports are the most popular and the most
generally presented for the publicS
Radio and television programs. 9ow general is the use of radio and television and what
type of programs are offered, especially for young peopleS
Books. ;hat are the facts of special interest concerning the printing, punctuation,
binding, selling, and popularity of boosS
9ther reading matter. In addition to boos, what types of reading matter, such as
newspapers, weelies, magaAines, and reviews, are generally available and where can they
be bought or consultedS
8obbies. In what individual hobbies are young people liely to engageS
11*
Learning in school. ;hat is the importance of homewor in formal educationS ;hat is
taught at home by older members of the familyS
&enmanship. ;hat styles of handwriting are generally taught and usedS ;hat inds of
writing tools are available at home, in school, in public placesS ;hat are the conventions
concerning the writing of dates, the use of margins, the signing of namesS
Letter writing and mailing. 9ow do letters customarily begin and endS 9ow are
envelopes addressedS 2re there typical inds of personal stationaryS ;here are stamps
boughtS ;here are mailboxes foundS
Family meals. ;hat meals are usually served en familleS ;hat is the special character
of each meal, the food eaten, the seating arrangement, the method of serving dishes,
general conversationS
"eals away from home. ;here does one eat when not at homeS ;hat are the
e(uivalents of our lunchrooms, cafeterias, dining halls, lunch counters, wayside inns,
restaurantsS
)oft drinks and alcohol. ;hat types of nonalcoholic beverages are usually consumed by
young people and adultsS ;hat is the attitude towards beer, wine, and spiritsS ;hat
alcoholic drins are in fre(uent use at home and in publicS
)nacks and between+meal eating. 2part from the normal trio of daily meals, what
pauses for eating or drining are generally observedS ;hat is the customary hour and the
usual fareS
CafNs, bars, and restaurants. ;hat types of cafRs, bars, and restaurants are found and
how do they vary in respectabilityS
Cards, lawns, and sidewalks. ;hat are the e(uivalents of 2merican bac yards, front
lawns, and sidewals in residential and business areasS ;hat is their importance in the
activities of young peopleS
&arks and playgrounds. ;here are pars and playgrounds located and with what special
features or e(uipment are they liely to be providedS
Flowers and gardens. 4f what interest and importance are flower shops, house plants,
gardens for flowers and vegetables in town and in the countryS
"ovies and theaters. ;here are moving picture houses and theatres to be foundS ;hat
procedures are involved in securing ticets and being seatedS ;hat can be said of the
(uality and popular appeal of the entertainmentS
Races, circus, rodeo. ;hat outdoor events are in vogue that correspond to our auto or
horse races, circuses, and similar spectaclesS
"useums, e1hibitions and 3oos. ;hat types of museums, exhibitions, and animal
displays are generally provided and what is their role in the education of the young and the
recreation and enNoyment of adultsS
Getting from place to place. ;hat facilities for travel are provided for short distances
about town or from one city or part of the country to another, by bus, rail, or airplaneS
Contrasts in town and country life. ;hat are some of the notable differences in
dwellings, clothing, manners, shopping facilities, public utilities, when life in town is
compared with life in the countryS
7acation and resort areas. ;hat areas have special climate, scenery, or other natural
features that mae the attractive for vacationS
Camping and hiking. 9ow popular are summer camps, camping, hiing, and cycling
trips, and what organisations are especially interested in their promotionS
)aving accounts and thrift. In what ways do bans and other organisations provide for
the deposit of small amounts of money by individualsS To what extent and in what ways
are young people encouraged to practice thriftS
9dd .obbs and earning power. ;hat ind of chores and odd Nobs are young people
expected or permitted to doS If these are paid for, how is the individual reimbursedS To
what extent are regular paying Nobs made available to young personsS
12-
Careers. ;hat careers have strong appeal for the youngS 9ow important is parental
example and advice in the choice of the careerS ;hat financial help is liely to be
forthcoming for those who choose a career demanding long preparationS
121
Appe.0i7 '
Tpi-s ,r tea-hi./ -u#ture 4+ Chastai.
>1*,,: +-5?
1. 1amily
2. 9ome
+. !eeting personal needs
5. Eating
.. $ocial interaction
). Education
8. 3eisure activities
,. &ourtship and marriage
*. !oney
1-. Earning a living
11. Economic system
12. /olitics
1+. &ontemporary scene
15. 0eligion
1.. Lacations
1). Travel
18. 6aily routines
1,. /ets
1*. The press
2-. 9olidays
21. Transportation
22. 3anguage
2+. Ecology
25. /opulation
2.. &rime
2). 9umour
28. 6eath
2,. &lothing
2*. :eography
+-. &orrespondence
+1. $ervices >e.g., medical, postal, baning, police?
+2. 9ealth and welfare
++. &ommonly nown history
+5. 0etirement
+.. :ood manners
+). &ourtsey phrases
+8. #onverbal communication.
122
Appe.0i7 >
Cate/ries , -u#tura# tpi-s 4+ Hasse#/ree.
>2--+: 5,C.2?
1. A!ility of coping #ith daily life activities& traditions and living conditions
%e.g.. in home. school. at festivals etc.&
Everyday family life:
 !eals, variety of food
 6aily routine, housing, family siAe, housewor
 /ets and other animals
 TL, internet
)chool:
 $ystem, class siAe, grades
 0outines, meals, breas, uniforms
 $ocial needs
Leisure time:
 :oing out with friends
 $port, eeping fit
 9olidays
Festivities :focus on food and rituals, occasionally costume;:
 &hristmas, birthdays
 #ational festivals and feast days
 4ther international feast days
 <outh festivals
Country generally = living conditions:
 3ocation, demography, occupations, farming activities
 #ature, geography, climate, language
 7rbanCrural communities, regional differences
 $ocial classes
/. A!ility to deal #ith social conventions %e.g.. 0good manners1. dressing and
meeting people&
Roles and relationships:
 "oys O girls, men O women
 <ounger O older generation
 1amily O society
 1amily circles and cohesion
 ;omen=s woring situation
 9elping each other
7isiting = hospitality:
 /unctuality, introductions
 $haring, gifts
 ;ashing hands, taing off shoes
 $itting down
 3eaving early
)ocial occasions:
12+
 1unerals
 ;eddings
E1pressing emotions:
 6egree of noise, excitability, flamboyance
Going out:
 $moing and drining eti(uette and habits
 0estaurant culture
 Table manners
Clothes:
 6ress code O general O formal for going out
2. Confidence #ith the values. !eliefs and attitudes of the foreign language users
%e.g.. #hat they are proud of. #orry a!out and find funny&
Concerned with:
 1amily life, friends, school success
 Economy, prices, unemployment
 $port, eeping fit, diseases
 /ollution, housing problems, gossip
Characterisation:
 1riendly, simple, polite
 $incere, caring, openCminded, tolerant
 0ude, badCtempered, hypocritical
 &onservative
Religion:
 &hurchCgoing
Beliefs:
 $uperstitions
 /hysical appearance, sin O hair colour
Cultural heritage:
 #ational history and independence
 &ountry, nature, population
 #ational heroes, athletes, sportsmen, singers
$ational stereotypes and reality:
 Ethnic identities and conflicts
 ;ar, terrorism, emigration
)ense of humour:
 6irect humour, irony
 Telling Noes about other people and nations
 4wn and others= misfortune
4. A!ility to use ver!al communication means %e.g.. greeting. apologising.
e3pressing gratitude. em!arrassment and love&
ddressing people:
 6egrees of politeness and distance
 :reetings
 2pologising
)triking up conversation:
 Taling to friends and strangers
 "eing noisy, (uiet, turnCtaing, interrupting
125
 Taling to small children O adults
 7sing than you, please
)ayings, proverbs:
 2nimal references >i.e. as stupid as?
Emotions = feelings:
 Expressing love, impulsiveness, shyness, embarrassment, taboos
4. A!ility to use non-ver!al language %e.g.. !ody language and facial e3pressions&
Body language:
 $haing hands
 %issing
 9ugging
 #odding
 :esticulating O hand signals
Body contact:
 Touching
 $tanding too close, too far
Facial e1pression:
 Eye contact
 ;ining
 $miling
 &rying
 $howing anger
12.
Appe.0i7 )
Tea-hers’ 6ua#i,i-ati.s ,r i.ter-u#tura# ,rei/. #a./ua/e tea-hi./
Edelhoff >1*,8: 8)ff, cited in $ercu 1**,: 2.)C.8?
Attitudes
 Teachers who are meant to educate learners towards international and intercultural
learning must be intercultural learners themselves.
 Teachers should be prepared to consider how others see them and be curious about
themselves and others.
 Teachers should be prepared to experiment and negotiate in order to achieve
understanding on both sides.
 Teachers should be prepared to share meanings, experience and affects with both
people from other countries and their own learners in the classroom.
 Teachers should be prepared to tae an active part in the search for the modern
language contribution to international understanding and peacemaing at home and
abroad.
 Teachers should aim to adopt the role and function of a social and intercultural
interpreter, not an ambassador.
5no#ledge
 Teachers should have and see nowledge about the sociocultural environment and
bacground of the target language community>ies? or country>ies?.
 Teachers should have and see nowledge about their own country and community and
how others see them.
 Teachers= nowledge should be active nowledge ready to apply and interpret and to
mae accessible to the learning situation and styles of their learners.
 Teachers should now how language wors in communication and how it is used
successfully for understanding. They should now about the shortcomings of language
and foreign language users and how misunderstandings can be avoided.
Skills
 Teachers should have and develop further appropriate communication sills in the
foreign language suitable for negotiation both in the classroom and in international
communication situations at home and abroad.
 Teachers should have and develop further text sills, i.e. the ability to deal with
authentic data in all media >print, audio, audioCvisual? and in faceCtoCface interCaction.
 Teachers should have and develop further the necessary sills to connect the student
experience with ideas, things and obNects outside their direct reach and create learning
environments which lend themselves to experimental learning, negotiation and
experiment.
12)
Appe.0i7 =
E7a3p#es , Culture assimilators
>Tomalin and $templesi 1**+: *1C*2?
CLASSROOM *EHAVIOUR
;or with a partner. Imagine that the situations below tae place in the 7% or the 7$.
;hat would you do in each situationS In some situations, more than one answer may be
possible.
1 <ou=re 2- minutes late for class. The teacher is explaining something to the class when
you arrive. ;hat would you doS
a. :o in, wal up to the teacher and apologiAe.
b. ;ait outside the classroom until the class is over and then apologiAe to the teacher.
c. %noc on the door and wait for the teacher to tell you it=s 4% to come in.
d. :o in as (uietly as you can and tae a seat.
2 The teacher gives the class some homewor for the next day. <ou now that you won=t
be able to finish it on time. ;hat would you doS
a. Explain the situation to the teacher and as if you can hand in your wor later.
b. #ot go to class the next day.
c. :o to class the next day without the homewor and say nothing.
d. 6o as much of the wor as you can and give it to the teacher the next day.
+ <ou=ve got a doctor=s appointment and need to leave class early. ;hat would you doS
a. #ot go to class.
b. :et up and leave the classroom when it=s time to go to your appointment.
c. Explain the situation to the teacher before class.
d. ;hen it=s time to go to your appointment, get up and explain to the teacher why you
have to leave.
5 <ou=ve got a (uestion about something the teacher has Nust said in class. ;hat would you
doS
a. 3oo confused.
b. &all out, DI=ve got a (uestion.=
c. 0aise your hand and as the teacher to explain.
d. ;ait and as the teacher to explain after class.
. <ou=re sitting in the classroom taling to a classmate, when the teacher comes in. ;hat
would you doS
a. $tand up to show your respect for the teacher.
b. 3oo up and greet the teacher.
c. 3oo down to show your respect for the teacher.
d. 3oo up and pay attention to the teacher.
128
Appe.0i7 9
A sa3p#e 6ui?
The British 6onarchy )ui$
>$aluveer 2--+. !aterials for the "ritish studies class?
1. The family name of the present 0oyal 1amily is
a? $axeC&oburgC:otha
b? ;indsor
c? TudorC$tuart
d? !ountbatten
2. Bueen EliAabeth II has been on the throne since
a? 1*58
b? 1*.-
c? 1*.2
d? 1*..
+. The Bueen has
a? four children and 5 grandchildren
b? four children and ) grandchildren
c? three children and ) grandchildren
d? three children and . grandchildren
5. The Bueen=s favourite animals are
a? cats
b? dogs
c? horses
d? she doesn=t have any
.. 4rder the princes and princesses according to the order of succession to the throne
/rince 2ndrew
/rincess 2nne
/rince 9arry
/rince &harles
/rincess Eugenie
/rincess /rince Edward
/rince ;illiam
/rincess "eatrice
12,
). ;hen /rince &harles becomes ing one day he will be
a? &harles II
b? &harles III
c? &harles IL
d? &harles L
8. /rince &harles=s favourite sports is
a? golf
b? cricet
c? polo
d? football
,. /rince ;illiam graduated from
a? Eton
b? 9arrow
c? &ambridge
d? 4xford
*. /rince 9arry=s real name is
a? &harles 9arry 2ndrew
b? 9enry &harles 2lbert 6avid
c? 9ens Edward &harles
d? 9arry &harles 2lbert
1-. /rincess 6iana is buried :
a? at ;estmister 2bbey
b? at $t./aul=s &athedral
c? in the garden at $andigram house
d? on an island at 2lthrop, $pencer family estate
11. ;hich of the members of the 0oyal 1amily has competed at the 4lympics
a? /rince /hilip
b? /rince 2ndrew
c? /rince Edward
d? /rincess 2nne
12. ;hen meeting /rince &harles or other male 0oyals people should first call him
a? <our !aNesty
b? <our 0oyal 9ighness
c? $ir
d? /rince
12*
Appe.0i7 <
Ever+0a+ situati.s -ausi./ pssi4#e pr4#e3s ,r ,rei/. visitrs
>for planning drama activities?
>1leming >1**,: 1.-C1.1?
!aing friends of your own age.
$hopping in a large supermaret.
:oing on public transport >trains, buses, tubes?.
:oing to discothe(ues or dances.
!aing "ritish friends of your own age.
!aing close friends from other countries of your own age.
:oing to small private party with English friends.
:oing out with somebody who you are sexually attracted to.
"eing with a group of people of your own age, but of the opposite sex.
:oing into restaurants or cafes.
:oing into a room full of people.
"eing with older English people.
!eeting strangers and being introduced to new people.
"eing with people that you don=t now very well.
2pproaching others O maing the first move in starting up a friendship.
!aing ordinary decisions >plans? affecting others >what to do in the evenings?.
:etting to now people in depth >well, intimately?.
Taing the initiative in eeping the conversation going.
/eople standing or sitting very close to you.
Taling about yourself or your feelings in a conversation.
6ealing with people staring at you.
2ttending a formal dinner.
&omplaining in public O dealing with unsatisfactory service in a shop where you thin you
have been cheated or misled.
$eeing a doctor.
2ppearing in front of an audience >acting, giving a speech?.
"eing interviewed for something.
"eing the leader >chairman? of a small group.
6ealing with people of higher status than you.
0eprimanding a subordinate O telling off someone below you for something that they have
done wrong.
:oing to a social occasion where there are many people of another national or cultural
bacground to yourself.
2pologising to a superior if you have done wrong.
7nderstanding Noes, humour and sarcasm.
6ealing with somebody who is cross and aggressive >abusive?.
"uying special goods >medicines, boos, electrical goods, etc.?.
7sing public and private toilet facilities.
;aiting in a (ueue.
:etting very intimate with a person of the opposite sex.
:oing into pubs.
:oing to worship >church, temple, mos(ue?.
Taling about serious matters >politics, religion? to people of your own age.
1+-
2ppendix ,
Comparing Cultures se-ti. i. 7pportunities
>2--2: 21, 51?
1+1
2ppendix *
A sa3p#e Culture clip ,r3 8pstream
>2--2: 112C11+?
1+2
Appe.0i7 ;(
Che-%#ist ,r -hara-ters i. te7t4%s
>$ercu 1**,: 282?
&haracters reveal a lot about textboo authors= opinions and conceptions of the foreign
culture. Lery often one nationality is overCpresented in the textboo whereas others are
scarcely present. 4ne nationality may be represented as being superior to others.
The following (uestions may be ased:
 2re the characters in the boo representative of the foreign society with regard to their
age, social class, interests, mentality, family situations, etc.S
 6o the characters meet foreigners or members from other nationalities living in their
country and are misunderstandings which might arise from these encounters dealt withS
 6o textboo authors comment on their characters= behaviourS 2re the characters= ways
of behaving lined with the society they live inS
 6o photographs show ordinary peopleS
 In what mood are the characters: always happyS 9appy one moment, sad the nextS
Irritated, angry, aggressive, racist, tolerant, etc.
1++
Appe.0i7 ;;
@uesti.s a4ut 1hat te7t4%s e7pe-t , #ear.ers
>$ercu 1**,: 282?
 6o the learners get the chance to reflect on their own cultureS
 2re alternative perspectives on some aspect of the foreign culture presented and are
learners invited to choose between them and account for their choiceS
 ;hat opinion do textboo authors hold on the comprehension ability of their audienceS
&an learners only handle data and petty facts or should they be able to compare and
Nudge materialsS $hould learners be able to thin in an abstract way and understand
differences in value systems and mentalityS
 6o activities invite learners to tae in a foreign perspectiveS
 6o activities prepare learners to behave ade(uately when in contact with members from
other culturesS
 2re (uestions lie E;hat do you thin aboutMH preceded by E;hat do you now
aboutM.SH 4ne first has to have essential nowledge on a foreign culture before one
can give one=s opinion on something.
 9ave the cultural elements taen from the text and used in followCup activities been
carefully selectedS The elements popping up in exercises are often the only ones
learners will remember. They may reinforce certain overCsimplified Nudgements and
distort the more diversified message of a text.
 2re discussions used to help learners gain a true understanding of a foreign cultureS
;hen discussing, however, one should be careful not to offer too many elements in
advance. This might limit learners= creativity and interest and eep them from gaining
new insights.
 2re insights that have been given gained previously reCused in the course of the
textbooS Is there progressionS
1+5
Appe.0i7 ;'
Cu#tura# e7a3p#es , *ritish 4%s a.0 ,i#3s
>$torry and &hilds 1**8?
Topic "oo 1ilm
Traditional
"ritain,
national
identities,
national
representatives
!om @ones by 9. 1ielding Brief Encounter >1*5.?
$orth and )outh by E. :asell Chariots of Fire >1*,1?
!he Road to #igan &ier
by :. 4rwell
)ense and )ensibility >1**)?
8enry 7 >1*,*?
!ono+Bungay by 9. :. ;ells !ess >1*8*?
/lace and
environment:
nation and
region
London Fields by !. 2mis Bha.i on the Beach >1**5?
!he Radiant #ay by !. 6rabble !he Crying Game >1**2?
!he <ueen and , by $. Townsend 8igh 8opes >1*,,?
9ranges re $ot the 9nly Fruit by
K. ;interson
,nto the #est >1**2?
@ubilee >1*8,?
Local 8ero >1*,+?
Riff+Raff >1**-?
Education,
wor and
leisure
Changing places by 6. 3odge nother Country >1*,5?
!he &rime of miss @ean Brodie by
!. $par
8ow to Get head in dvertising
>1*,*?
$otes from a )mall ,sland by
". "ryson
Educating Rita >1*,+?
Clockwork mice >1**.?
$icholas $ickleby >2--+?]
:ender, sex
and the family
!he Remains of the (ay by
%. Ishiguro
Four #eddings and a Funeral >1**5?
!he Folding )tar by 2. 9ollingshurst !o (ie For >1**5?
)our )weet by T. !o Carrington >1**.?
!he (arker &roof' )tories from the
Crisis by 2. !arsCKones and
E. ;hite
(irty #eekend >1**2?
Raining stones >1**+?
Coung )oul Rebels >1**2?
"an and Boy by T. /arsons] GoldenEye >1**.?
9ne for my baby by T. /arsons] &aris by $ight >1*,,?
!he Life and Loves of a )he+(evil
by 1. ;eldon
9rlando >1**+?
bout a boy >2--2? ]
Bridget @ones0 (iary by 9. 1ielding] Love actually >2--+?]
Bidget @ones the Edge of Reason by
9. 1ielding]
bout a Boy by #.9ornby]
8igh Fidelity by #.9ornby]
1+.
<outh culture
and age
)kinhead by 0. 2llen Clockwork 9range >1*81?
9ver the #ater by !. &asey @ubilee >1*88?
Bitter )weet (reams by 3. :oodings
>ed.?
!he Great Rock0n0Roll )windle
>1*,-?
Fever &itch by #. 9ornby <uadrophenia >1*8*?
!he Buddha of )uburbia by
9. %ureishi
)cum >1*,-?
)ummer 8oliday >1*)+?
bsolute Beginners by &. !acInnes "y Beautiful Laundrette >1*,.?
!he )ecret (iary of drian "ole
EBO by $. Townsend
Rita, )ue and Bob !oo >1*,)?
Bend it like Beckham >2--2?]
!rainspotting by I. ;elsh
@unk by !. "urgess]
&lass and
politics
Room at the !op by K. "raine Betrayal >1*,+?
7eronica , or the !wo $ations by
6. &aute
!he &loughman0s Lunch >1*,+?
Life is )weet >1**1?
!he )ecret Rapture by 6. 9are (amage >1**2?
Ethnicity and
language
fternoon Raag by 2. &haudhuri Clockwork 9range >1*81?
&ortrait of the rtist as a Coung
"an by K. Koyce
Letter to Bre3hnev >1*,.?
"y Beautiful Laundrette >1*,.?
(runk "an Looks at the !histle
by 9. !ac6iarmid
bsolute Beginners by &. !acInnes
!he Final &assage by &. /hillips
0eligion and
heritage
Racing (emon by 6. 9are E1calibur >1*,1?
!he Black lbum by 9. %ureishi Leon the &ig Farmer >1**2?
8ow Far Can Cou Go6 by 6. 3odge $o )urrender >1*,.?
Going ,n by K. #ewman &riest >1**+?
!he )atanic 7erses by $. 0ushdie !he #icker "an >1*8+?
!ruly, "adly, (eeply >1**1?
/resent and
future "ritain
"oney by !. 2mis Bladerunner >1*,2?
Cardie by L. 9eadley Chariots of Fire >1*,1?
7urt by K. #oon !he Long (ay Closes >1**2?
"y ,dea of Fun by ;. $elf !rainspotting >1**)?
Canks >1*8*?
#ote: ] C 2dded by the author of the thesis
1+)
Appe.0i7 ;>
E7a3p#es , #+ri-s 4+ *i##+ *ra//
E./#a.0& Ha#, E./#ish
!y mother was half English and I=m half English too
I=m a great big bundle of culture tied up in the red white and blue
I=m a fine example of your Essex man
2nd I=m well familiar with the 9industan
&os my neighbours are half English and I=m half English too
!y breafast was half English and so am I you now
I had a plate of !armite soldiers washed down with a cappuccino
2nd I have a veggie curry about once a wee
The next day I fry it up as bubble and s(uea
&os my appetites half English and I=m half English too
6ance with me to this very English melody
1rom morris dancing to !orrissey,
all that stuff came from across the sea
"ritannia, she=s half English, she speas 3atin at home
$t :eorge was born in the 3ebanon, how he got here I don=t now
2nd those three lions on your shirt,
They never sprang from England=s dirt
Them lions are half English and I=m half English too
3eCli 7mma leCliCya, leCli 7mma leCliCya,
3eCli 7mma leCliCya, bledi g=desh ahg leCliCya
4h my country, what a beautiful country you are
>1rom the album England, 8alf English, 2--2?
I D.At Nee0 This Pressure R.
;hat was that bangS It was the next big thing
Exploding over our heads
2nd soon the next generation
;ill emerge from behind the bie sheds
;hat are we going to offer themS
The exact same thing as before
"ut a different way to wear it
2nd the promise of a whole lot more
4h, pity the pressures at the top,
The tantrums and the tears
2nd the sound of platinum cash tills
0inging in their ears
!oney maeth man a Tory
1+8
6onUt fire that assumption at me
I lie toast as much as anyone
"ut not for breafast, dinner, and tea
$o donUt saddle me with your ideals
2nd spare me all your guilt
1or a poet with all the answers
9as never yet been built
I see no shame in putting my name
To socialismUs cause
#or seeing some more relevance
Than spotlight and applause
#either in the name of conscience
#or the name of charity
!oney is put where mouths are
In the name of solidarity
;e sing of freedom
2nd we spea of liberation
"ut such chances come
"ut once a generation
$o IUll ignore what I am sure
;ere the best of your intentions
<ou are Nudged by your actions
2nd not by your pretensions
There is drudgery in social change
2nd glory for the few
2nd if you donUt tell me what not to say
I wonUt tell you what not to do
>1rom the album Reaching to the Converted, 1***?
1+,
Appe.0i7 ;)
The tea-hers’ 6uesti..aire
6ear English Teacher
!y name is Evi $aluveer and I am doing research in teaching culture in English lessons for
my master thesis. The aim of my research is to find out what English teachers thin of
teaching culture as well as how much, what and how culture is taught. I am mostly
interested in your experience at secondary level. The information you provide will be a
very useful contribution to my research. 2ll the information you provide is confidential.
Than you for your cooperation.
Evi $aluveer
$chool of Teacher Education
$alme 1 2
.-1-+ Tartu
eCmail: evihttc.ee
@UESTIONNAIRE
P#ease a.s1er the ,##1i./ 6uesti.s!
1. 9ow would you define cultureS
2. 6o you thin it is important to integrate the teaching of culture into foreign
language classesS
1 <es, very important + #ot important
2 <es, important 5 It should be taught on a separate course

+. If the answer was yes then how often do you discuss culture C related issues in your
English classesS
1 4ften >in almost every lesson? + 0arely >once a month?
2 $ometimes >once a wee? 5 #ever
5. 6o you thin the students are more interested and motivated in learning the
language with some bacground nowledge in cultureS
1 <es, with significant difference + #o difference
2 <es, but not much difference 5 6on=t now
.. ;hich of the following do you consider most useful for teaching cultureS /lease
rate from 1 to . for each selection. 1Cleast useful, .C most useful.
/lease tic the appropriate box
1+*
1 2 + 5 .
3ectures
6iscussions on cultural differences and
similarities
;atching videos
3istening to songs and discussing the lyrics
3istening to radio programmes
0eading and discussing
newspaperImagaAine articles
Taling about current events
0eading authentic texts >short stories,
poems?
0ole plays
6rama
6oing proNects
&ulture capsule]
4ther >please specify?
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM..
]B-a#ture -apsu#e is a brief description of an aspect of culture followed by a
discussion of the contrasts between culture in the first and second language
). ;hat aspects of culture would you consider the most important to teachS
/lease rate from 1 to . for each selection. 1Cleast important, .C most important.
/lease tic the appropriate box

1 2 + 5 .
:eography
9istory
!onarchy
&ustoms and festivals
3iterature and art
!usic
:overnment and political institutions
3aw and order
Education and schools
1amily life
1ood
<outh life
#ational symbols and stereotypes
0ules of behaviour
/atterns of politeness
#onCverbal communication
4ther >please specify?
MMMMMMMMMM..
15-
8. ;hen you teach the areas named in ) which country do you mostly focus onS
/lease indicate approximately in what proportions
1? 7nited %ingdom MMMMM..Z
2? 7nited $tates MMMMM..Z
+? 2ustralia MMMMM.Z
5? other EnglishCspeaing countries MMMMMMMZ
,. ;hat sources do you use for teaching culture. /lease tic the ones you use.
 school textboos
 newspapers
 cultural studies >e.g. "ritish studies? textboos
 literature
 follore
 videotapes
 recordings
 the Internet
 realia >maps, brochures, ticets etc.?
 other: please specify MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMM
*. In your opinion do the textboos you use offer enough material for discussing
cultureCrelated issuesS
1 <es, (uite a lot 2 Enough + To some extent 5 #o
1-. #ame the main textboos you are currently using for teaching English in forms
1-C12
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM..
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM..
P#ease /ive s3e i.,r3ati. a4ut +urse#,
1. &ountyI city MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM..
2. I am male female

+. The age
2-C+- +1C5- 51C.- .-i
5. <our (ualifications
"2 or e(uivalent !2
studying for "2 studying for !2
other: please specifyMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
.. ;hich forms do you teachS
+C ) 8C* 1-C12
151
). 9ave you attended any course on teaching culture
yes no
If the answer was yes , please specify MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMM
Than you for your time.
152
Appe.0i7 ;=
The stu0e.ts’ 6uesti..aire
6ear $tudent
!y name is Evi $aluveer and I am doing research in cultural studies in English language teaching
for my master thesis. /art of the research also includes finding out how much secondary school
students as well as collegeIuniversity students now about "ritain and its culture. I would
appreciate if you found time to do the (uiA about "ritain and give your opinion of the teaching of
culture.
Than you for your cooperation.
SECTION I8 @UESTIONNAIRE A*OUT *RITAIN
I Ge/raphi-a# para3eters
1. :reat "ritain is >circle the right answer?
1? England, $cotland, ;ales and #orthern Ireland
2? England, $cotland and ;ales
+? England and $cotland
5? England only
2. "ritain consists of four countries. 4rder the countries according to the siAe of their
territory. >1. C the biggest, 5.C the smallest?
1? ;ales +? #orthern Ireland
2? England 5? $cotland
+. These four countries together form a country whose full name is
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
5. 4rder the towns from north to south. >1.C the northernmost, 5.C the southernmost?
1? 3ondon +? "righton
2? :lasgow 5? !anchester
5. 2 number of "ritish places are nown for the people who lived or were born there.
;rite the correct number of the place next to the people. >4ne place is extra.?
a? The "eatles 1? $tratford Oupon 2von
b? Thomas 9ardy 2? 3ae 6istrict
c? ;illiam $haespeare +? 3iverpool
d? ;illiam ;ordsworth 5? 6orset
.? "lacpool
.. The highest mountain in :reat "ritain is "en #evis. It is in >circle the right answer?
1? #orthern Ireland +? ;ales
2? England 5? $cotland

15+
II Histri-a# 4a-%/ru.0
). 2--- years ago the "ritish Isles were the home of &eltic people. The language they
spoe can be related to >circle the right answer?
1? modern English +? modern 1rench
2? modern ;elsh 5? none of them
8. "ritain was invaded many times in its history. 4rder the con(uests chronologically
>1.C the earliest invaders, 5.C the last invaders?.
1? Liings +? 0omans
2? 2ngloC$axons 5? #ormans
,. 4ne of the most important dates in the "ritish history is 1-)). This is the year of
1? the :reat 1ire of 3ondon
2? the forming of the /arliament
+? the first constitution
5? the #orman &on(uest
*. "ritish are said to have invented much of the modern world. !atch the people with
their inventions. /lease write the number of the invention next to the person >one
invention is extra?.
a? 2lexander "ell 1? penicillin
b? Isaac #ewton 2? television
c? 2lexander 1leming +? telephone
d? Kohn "aird 5? the law of gravity
.? radio
III Nati.a# s+34#s
1-. The flag of "ritain is called MMMMMMMMMMMMMM.. >;rite the name.?
11. It embodies the flags of + countries. ;hich of the countries is not represented in
the flagS &ircle it.
1? England +? ;ales
2? $cotland 5? #orthern Ireland
12. Estonia=s national flower is cornflower. !atch the countries of "ritain with their
national flowers. /lease write the number>s? next to the country >one of them has 2?.
a? England 1? lee
b? $cotland 2? daffodil
c? ;ales +? shamroc
d? #orthern Ireland 5? rose
.? thistle
1+. 4ne of the symbols of "ritain is the royal family. The present Bueen EliAabeth II
has been on the throne for >circle the right answer?
1? +- years +? 5. years
2? 5- years 5? over .- years
155
IV *ritai. t0a+
15. /eter "rown goes to public school near 3ondon. It means that he goes to
1? state school +? private school
2? local school 5? university
1.. 9er sister Kane wants to go to university. 2t the moment she is in the sixth form
9ow old is sheS &ircle the right answer.
1? 12 +? 15
2? 1+ 5? older than 1)
1). "ritish are famous for their love of sports. ;hich of the following sports was not
invented in "ritainS &ircle it.
1? cricet +? polo
2? tennis 5? golf
18. "elow is a list of festivals and special occasions in "ritain. /lease write the
number of the correct date next to the holiday >one date is extra?.
a? :uy 1awes 6ay 1? Kanuary 2.
b? 9allowe=en 2? 1ebruary 15
c? "urn=s #ight +? 6ecember 2.
d? $t.Lalentine=s 6ay 5? 4ctober +1
.? #ovember .
1*. 3oo at the following list of words : haggis, spotted dog, welsh rarebit,
bubble and s4ueak. 2re these words
1? names of birds
2? names of animals
+? names of food
5? names of drins
2-. The rights that the law gives to young people in "ritain increase with the age.
!atch the age with the rights of young people >certain age may give you more
than one right?.
a? 1) 1? you can buy and drin alcohol
b? 18 2? you can have a driving licence
c? 1, +? you can leave school
d? 21 5? you can vote
.? you can become a member of the /arliament
)? you can marry with your parents= consent

15.
21. !atch the names of famous "ritons with their IoccupationsINobs. /lease write
the number of the occupation next to the name>one occupation is extra?.
a? 0od $tewart 1? the author of 9arry /otter boos
b? 6avid "echam 2? the prime minister
c? K.%.0owling +? an actress
d? Tony "lair 5? a writer
e? Emma Thompson .? a TL chef
f? #ic 9ornby )? a footballer
g? Kamie 4liver 8? a rally driver
h? 0ichard "urns ,? a pop singer
*? a dancer
V Eti6uette
22. <ou are in a crowded bus and by accident step on somebody=s toes. <ou say:
1? /lease excuse me.
2? 4h god.
+? >I=m? $orry.
5? I must apologise
2+. <ou want to tal to someone you don=t now at a party. There is no one to introduce
you. ;hat would be the most polite way to address the personS
1? 9i. !y name is /eter
2? I don=t thin we have met, have weS !y name is MM
+? ;hat=s your nameS
5? 6o I now youS
VI *ritai. a.0 Est.ia
25. It is possible to tae a direct flight from Tallinn to 3ondon. ;hich airport does
the Estonian ir fly toS /lease circle it.
1? $tansted +? :atwic
2? 9eathrow 5? 3uton

2.. 1or many "ritons Estonia associates with the Estonians who wor and live in
"ritain. !atch people=s names with the Nobs they do. Two of them do the same Nob.
a? 2ge 4s 1? an !/ >!ember of /arliament?
b? 3embit _pi 2? a model
c? !art /oom +? a ballet dancer
d? Toomas Edur 5? a footballer
e? %aNa ;under

15)
SECTION II
P#ease a.s1er the ,##1i./ 6uesti. a4ut #ear.i./ -u#ture.
1. 6o you thin learning culture is important while learning EnglishS
<es, very important <es, important #ot important 6on=t now
2. $hould culture be taught in English classes or on a separate courseS
In English classes on a separate course
+. ;hich of the following would be most useful for understanding and learning about the
other cultureS /lease rate from 1 to . for each selection. 1Cleast useful, .C most useful.
 lectures on certain topics
 discussions on cultural differences and similarities
 watching videos
 listening to songs
 listening to radio programmes
 reading and discussing newspaper articles
 taling about current events
 reading authentic texts >short stories, poems?
 role plays
 drama
 doing proNects
 other: please specify
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
5. ;hat aspects of culture would you be more interested to learn aboutS
/lease rate from 1 to . for each selection. 1Cleast interesting, .C most interesting.
 geography
 history
 monarchy
 customs and festivals
 literature and art
 music
 government and political institutions
 law and order
 education
 family life
 food
 youth life
 national symbols and stereotypes
 rules of behaviour
 patterns of politeness
 nonCverbal communication
 other: please specify MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
158
.. I have ac(uired most nowledge about "ritain
from my English classes from "ritish studies classes
from the media from elsewhere
/lease specify MMMMMMMMMMM.MMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
). I would lie to now more about "ritain and other English speaing countries
<es #o
8. If the answer was Ces would you lie to learn more about "ritain in your English classes
<es #o
*e,re +u ha.0 i. the 6uesti..aire -u#0 +u p#ease /ive s3e i.,r3ati. a4ut
+urse#,8
1. I am male female

2. I am 1)C1, 1*C2- over 2-

+. I am a university student a secondary school student
15,
Appe.0i7 ;9
Per-e.ta/e , the ri/ht a.s1er t the test 6uesti.s
B7E$TI4#
/er cent of the right answers
2verage "oys :irls 7nivers.
students
$ec.
school
students
:reat "ritain 2* 2. +1 5, 25
$iAe 5. 5, 5+ 5+ 5)
The 7nited %ingdom of :reat
"ritain and #orthern Ireland
) + 8 + 8
The 7nited %ingdom .1 )+ 5) )+ 5,
#orthj $outh 8 * . , 8
3iverpool C The "eatles C )* )* )* 8+ ),
6orset C Thomas 9ardy 2. 2. 2. 2+ 2.
$tratfordCuponC2von O
;illiam $haespeare
)- )+ ., ). .,
The 3ae 6istrict O
;illiam ;ordsworth
28 22 2* +, 25
"en #evis 8+ 8. 81 8- 8+
&eltic languages 52 28 .- )+ +8
&on(uests 2 + 2 + 2
The year 1-)) 2) 2. 28 ++ 2.
2lexander "ell C the
telephone
,) ,1 ,, *- ,.
Isaac #ewton C
the law of gravity
*+ *2 *5 *. *+
2lexander 1leming O
penicillin
5* 5, .- )+ 5)
Kohn "aird O television 25 1* 28 2. 25
The 7nion Kac +, 51 +8 2. 52
1lags of countries 18 22 15 . 2-
England O rose +8 2+ 55 5, +.
$cotland O thistle 1) 11 1, 2+ 15
;ales O lee, daffodil 1 - 1 - 1
;ales C lee 1+ 18 12 1. 12
;ales O daffodil 22 1) 2. 2. 21
#orthern Ireland O shamroc 1* 2- 1* 2. 1,
Bueen EliAabeth 5+ .- 5- +, 55
/ublic school 2- 1) 22 5. 1+
$ixth form 1) 11 1* 1. 1)
$ports 22 1* 2+ 1, 2+
:uy 1awes 6ay +5 +1 +) .- +-
9allowe=en 8+ )) 8) ,+ 8-
"urns #ight +5 +5 +5 .- +-
$t Lalentine=s 6ay *8 *2 ** 1-- *)
1ood )- 5, ). )+ .*
15*
2ge 1) C leave school
marry with parents=
consent
. ) 5 . .
2ge 1) C leave school 12 1) 1- , 1+
2ge 1) C marry with parents=
consent
1* 2+ 18 1- 22
2ge 18 O driving licence 11 1) * . 12
2ge 1, O buy and drin
alcohol
vote
1+ 1+ 1+ 1. 12
2ge 1, C buy and drin
alcohol
+ . 2 - +
2ge 1, O vote 2- 15 22 5- 15
2ge 21 O become an !/ .- .+ 5* 5- .+
0od $tuart O pop singer 8, 8+ ,- *- 8.
6avid "echam O footballer *5 *2 *. *+ *.
K.%.0owling O 9arry /otter
boos
)5 )5 )5 8+ )1
Tony "lair O /rime !inister *+ *2 *5 *, *2
Emma Thompson O actress )- 58 )) 8. .)
#ic 9ornby O writer 1* 1) 21 2, 18
Kamie 4liver O TL chef 2- 15 2+ 2, 1,
0ichard "urns O rally driver 85 ,5 ), )+ 8)
2pologising )) )* )5 )+ 82
Introducing oneself 85 8+ 85 8, 8+
:atwic +5 +1 +. 22 +8
2ge 4s O ballet dancer ). .+ 81 8. )+
3embit _pi O !/ )8 )) ), 8- )8
!art /oom O footballer *. *8 *5 *- *)
Toomas Edur O ballet dancer +5 2, +8 .. 2*
%aNa ;under O model ). ., ), 8- )+
1.-
Appe.0i7 ;<
Per-e.ta/e , ri/ht a.s1ers t the test 6uesti.s a--r0i./ t s-h#s
@UESTION
Per -e.t , ri/ht a.s1ers
2ver $ch1 $ch2 $ch+ $ch5 $ch. $ch)
:reat "ritain 2* 1. , .+ 2* 8 ++
$iAe 5. .1 ., 8* 21 )8 22
The 7nited %ingdom of
:reat "ritain and #orthern
Ireland
) 2+ - . - - -
The 7nited %ingdom .1 2, )+ )+ )- .. +8
#orthj $outh 8 , 1+ 11 - 1+ -
3iverpool C The "eatles C )* 8* 8. 85 .8 8+ 5,
6orset C Thomas 9ardy 2. 2, .8 +2 11 2- 1.
$tratfordCuponC2von O
;illiam $haespeare
)- )8 1-- .+ +2 5- 5,
The 3ae 6istrict O
;illiam ;ordsworth
28 ++ 1+ 2) 1, 2- +-
"en #evis 8+ ,2 81 ,* )5 )- 8-
&eltic languages 52 .5 2. .+ 11 )- ++
&on(uests 2 - 5 . - - 5
The year 1-)) 2) ++ ++ 1) +2 - 1*
2lexander "ell C the
telephone
,) 88 ,+ 1-- ,* *+ ,1
Isaac #ewton C
the law of gravity
*+ *2 *2 1-- *) *+ ,*
2lexander 1leming O
penicillin
5* 5) .5 52 +* )- ++
Kohn "aird O television 25 2+ 21 +8 11 28 ++
The 7nion Kac +, 5* 81 *. 2. 2- 5
1lags of countries 18 +, 18 . 15 8 1*
England O rose +8 5* 2. +8 +) ++ 2)
$cotland O thistle 1) 1, 1+ +2 5 1+ 11
;ales O lee, daffodil 1 + - - - 8 -
;ales C lee 1+ 21 , 11 5 1+ 1.
;ales O daffodil 22 21 1+ 2) 15 2- +8
#orthern Ireland O shamroc 1* 2+ 1+ +8 11 8 1*
Bueen EliAabeth 5+ 55 .- 21 5+ 8+ 5,
/ublic school 2- 1, 18 11 8 8 11
$ixth form 1) +, 1+ 1) - 2- 11
$ports 22 1. 5 2) 2. ++ 55
:uy 1awes 6ay +5 +) 52 . 5+ - +-
9allowe=en 8+ ,2 8. ,5 .8 .+ )+
"urns #ight +5 2, .5 11 2* 8 +-
$t Lalentine=s 6ay *8 1-- *2 1-- *) *+ *+
1ood )- )* .- 1-- .- .+ +-
1.1
2ge 1) C leave school
marry with parents=
consent
. . 5 11 5 - 8
2ge 1) C leave school 12 . 21 2) 15 8 8
2ge 1) C marry with parents=
consent
1* 1- ++ 21 15 28 +-
2ge 18 O driving licence 11 1, , +2 +) 8 5
2ge 1, O buy and drin
alcohol
vote
1+ 2) 18 11 - 8 8
2ge 1, C buy and drin
alcohol
+ - - . 5 8 5
2ge 1, O vote 2- 2+ 1+ +2 8 8 5
2ge 21 O become an !/ .- .) .5 )+ .5 )- 51
0od $tuart O pop singer 8, ,. ., ,- ), ,- 8-
6avid "echam O footballer *5 *8 *) 1-- 1-- *+ ,.
K.%.0owling O 9arry /otter
boos
)5 .* 8. 85 81 )- 51
Tony "lair O /rime !inister *+ 1-- *) 1-- *+ 8+ ,.
Emma Thompson O actress )- .* )+ 85 .5 5- 55
#ic 9ornby O writer 1* 1. 2* 11 1, 2- 11
Kamie 4liver O TL chef 2- 1, 2* . +) 1+ 5
0ichard "urns O rally driver 85 85 ,+ 85 ,* .+ 85
2pologising )) )8 .- 8* 8. ,- .)
Introducing oneself 85 *- ,, 85 )1 )- )8
:atwic +5 55 +, ., +) 2- 22
2ge 4s O ballet dancer ). .5 )+ 8* 81 58 55
3embit _pi O !/ )8 .* 8. ,5 8. )- )-
!art /oom O footballer *. *8 *2 1-- 1-- ,8 *)
Toomas Edur O ballet dancer +5 ++ ++ .+ +) 1+ 8
%aNa ;under O model ). 51 81 85 8* )- )+
#ote. $ch ^ school
1.2
Appe.0i7 ;C
2e+ t the test
@UESTIONNAIRE A*OUT *RITAIN
I Ge/raphi-a# para3eters
1. :reat "ritain is
1? England, $cotland, ;ales and #orthern Ireland
'D E./#a.0& S-t#a.0 a.0 5a#es
+? England and $cotland
5? England only
2. "ritain consists of four countries. 4rder the countries according to the siAe of their
territory. >1. C the biggest, 5.C the smallest?
1? E./#a.0
'D S-t#a.0
>D 5a#es
)D Nrther. Ire#a.0
+. These four countries together form a country whose full name is
The U.ite0 2i./03 , Great *ritai. a.0 Nrther. Ire#a.0
5. 4rder the towns from north to south. >1.C the northernmost, 5.C the southernmost?
;D G#as/1
'D Ma.-hester
>D L.0.
)D *ri/ht.
.. 2 number of "ritish places are nown for the people who lived or were born there.
;rite the correct number of the place next to the people.
aD The *eat#es E Liverp#
4D Th3as Har0+ E Drset
-D 5i##ia3 Sha%espeare EStrat,r0Fup.FAv.
0D 5i##ia3 5r0s1rth EThe La%e Distri-t
). The highest mountain in :reat "ritain is "en #evis. It is in
1? #orthern Ireland +? ;ales
2? England )D S-t#a.0

II Histri-a# 4a-%/ru.0
8. 2--- years ago the "ritish Isles were the home of &eltic people. The language they
spoe can be related to
1? modern English +? modern 1rench
2? 30er. 5e#sh 5? none of them
1.+
,. "ritain was invaded many times in its history. 4rder the con(uests chronologically
>1.C the earliest invaders, 5.C the last invaders?.
;D R3a.s
'D A./#FSa7.s
>D Vi%i./s
)D Nr3a.s
*. 4ne of the most important dates in the "ritish history is 1-)). This is the year of
1? the :reat 1ire of 3ondon
2? the forming of the /arliament
+? the first constitution
)D the Nr3a. C.6uest
1-. "ritish are said to have invented much of the modern world. !atch the people
with their inventions.
aD A#e7a.0er *e## E te#eph.e
4D Isaa- Ne1t. E the #a1 , /ravit+
-D A#e7a.0er F#e3i./ E pe.i-i##i.
0D Gh. *air0 E te#evisi.
III Nati.a# s+34#s
11. The flag of "ritain is called the U.i. Ga-%
12. It embodies the flags of + countries. ;hich of the countries is not represented in
the flagS
1? England >D 5a#es
2? $cotland 5? #orthern Ireland
1+. Estonia=s national flower is cornflower. !atch the countries of "ritain with their
national flowers.
aD E./#a.0 E rse
4D S-t#a.0 E thist#e
-D 5a#es E 0a,,0i#& #ee%
0D Nrther. Ire#a.0 E sha3r-%
15. 4ne of the symbols of "ritain is the royal family. The present Bueen EliAabeth II
has been on the throne for
1? +- years +? 5. years
2? 5- years )D ver =( +ears
IV *ritai. t0a+
1.. /eter "rown goes to public school near 3ondon. It means that he goes to
1? state school >D private s-h#
2? local school 5? university
1.5
1). 9er sister Kane wants to go to university. 2t the moment she is in the sixth form
9ow old is sheS
1? 12 +? 15
2? 1+ )D #0er tha. ;9
18. "ritish are famous for their love of sports. ;hich of the following sports was not
invented in "ritainS
1? cricet >D p#
+? tennis 5? golf
1,. "elow is a list of festivals and special occasions in "ritain. /lease write the
number of the correct date next to the holiday .
0D Gu+ Fa1%es Da+ E Nve34er =
eD Ha##1e’e. E O-t4er >;
,D *ur.’s Ni/ht E Ga.uar+ '=
0D St8Va#e.ti.e’s Da+ E Fe4ruar+ ;)
1*. 3oo at the following list of words : haggis, spotted dog, welsh rarebit,
bubble and s4ueak. 2re these words
1? names of birds
2? names of animals
>D .a3es , ,0
5? names of drins
2-. The rights that the law gives to young people in "ritain increase with the age.
!atch the age with the rights of young people >certain age may give you more
than one right?.
aD ;9 E +u -a. #eave s-h#&
+u -a. 3arr+ 1ith +ur pare.ts’ -.se.t
eD ;< E +u -a. have a 0rivi./ #i-e.-e
,D ;C E +u -a. vte
+u -a. 4u+ a.0 0ri.% a#-h#
/D '; E +u -a. 4e-3e a 3e34er , the Par#ia3e.t


21. !atch the names of famous "ritons with their IoccupationsINobs.
/lease write the number of the occupation next to the name.
iD R0 Ste1art E a pp si./er
HD Davi0 *e-%ha3Ea ,t4a##er
%D G828R1#i./ E the authr , Harr+ Ptter 4%s
#D T.+ *#air E the Pri3e Mi.ister
3D E33a Th3ps. E a. a-tress
.D Ni-% Hr.4+ E a 1riter
D Ga3ie O#iver E a TV -he,
hD Ri-har0 *ur.s E a ra##+ 0river
1..
V Eti6uette
22. <ou are in a crowded bus and by accident step on somebody=s toes. <ou say:
.? /lease excuse me.
)? 4h god.
<D II’3D Srr+8
,? I must apologise
2+. <ou want to tal to someone you don=t now at a party. There is no one to
introduce you. ;hat would be the most polite way to address the personS
.? 9i. !y name is /eter
9D I 0.’t thi.% 1e have 3et& have 1eJ M+ .a3e is KK
8? ;hat=s your nameS
,? 6o I now youS
VI *ritai. a.0 Est.ia
25. It is possible to tae a direct flight from Tallinn to 3ondon. ;hich airport
does the Estonian ir fly toS
+? $tansted >D Gat1i-%
5? 9eathrow 5? 3uton

2.. 1or many "ritons Estonia associates with the Estonians who wor and live in
"ritain. !atch people=s names with the Nobs they do. Two of them do the same
Nob.
aD A/e O%s E a 4a##et 0a.-er
4D Le34it Lpi% E a. MP IMe34er , Par#ia3e.tD
-D Mart P3 E a ,t4a##er
0D T3as E0ur E a 4a##et 0a.-er
eD 2aHa 5u.0er E a 30e#

1.)