PROFESSIONELE BACHELOR IN HET ONDERWIJS SECUNDAIR ONDERWIJS Bachelor thesis Culture in the EFL classroom How and why integrate culture in the EFL classroom? PROMOTER NATASHA EVANS LIEVE CUYPERS FRENCH - ENGLISH ENGLISH ACADEMIC YEAR 2016-2017 Preface Choosing to write my bachelor thesis about culture in the EFL class was by far one of the easiest decisions I’ve made during my journey to become a foreign language teacher. Having been born and raised in England, I spent a great deal of my life surrounded by the British culture and lifestyle. When I moved to Belgium at the age of 13, I attended a Flemish and Walloon secondary school. The English lessons were always the highlight of my week, but they also made me realise that my fellow pupils weren’t learning much in the way of the culture that is very much a part of the language. I found this such a shame and spent my break times telling other pupils what life in Britain was really like. By the time I had decided to become an English teacher, I knew that culture was something I wanted my pupils to discover and experience. During my teaching practices, I spent a lot of time trying out different work forms to see what motivated the pupils the most. When a pupil asked me if I could send him my presentations, so he could look at them again in his free time, I knew I had found my calling. I would like to thank several people for their support during the making of this bachelor thesis. First and foremost, my promoter, Miss Lieve Cuypers, for always being on standby when I needed help and being such a wonderful guide during this whole process. Your wisdom and expertise meant an awful lot, so thank you very much! Furthermore, I’d like to thank Mrs Heidi Devue and the Provinciale Middenschool Diepenbeek for allowing me to test my culture booklets in their school. I’d also like to thank my family for their patience, help, and last but not least, moral support by means of cups of tea during the past year and a half. It wouldn’t have been possible without you all! Table of contents Preface .................................................................................................................................. 3 Table of contents ................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 7 1 Culture .................................................................................................................... 8 1.1 What is culture? ...................................................................................................... 8 1.2 In what way are language and culture linked? ........................................................10 1.3 Why use culture in the EFL classroom? .................................................................11 1.3.1 The benefits of learning about culture ....................................................................11 1.4 What are the guidelines for teaching culture? .........................................................13 2 The Belgian curriculum ...........................................................................................14 2.1 Community education (het gemeenschapsonderwijs GO!) .....................................14 2.1.1 General Secondary Education ................................................................................14 2.1.2 Technical and Art Secondary Education .................................................................16 2.1.3 Vocational Secondary Education ............................................................................16 2.2 Subsidised free school (vrij gesubsidieerd onderwijs) .............................................17 2.2.1 General Secondary Education ................................................................................17 2.2.2 Technical and Art Secondary Education and Vocational Secondary Education ......18 3 Motivating work forms that can be used to teach culture in the EFL classroom. .....19 3.1 Observation ............................................................................................................19 3.1.1 Semi-authentic material ..........................................................................................19 3.1.2 Videos and films .....................................................................................................19 3.1.3 Commercial television ............................................................................................20 3.1.4 Objects and the comparison method ......................................................................20 3.1.5 Culture assimilator .................................................................................................20 3.1.6 Culture capsule ......................................................................................................20 3.1.7 Culture island .........................................................................................................21 3.2 Listening .................................................................................................................21 3.2.1 Total Physical Response ........................................................................................21 3.3 Reading ..................................................................................................................21 3.3.1 Newspapers and magazines ..................................................................................21 3.3.2 Literature ................................................................................................................22 3.4 Speaking ................................................................................................................22 3.4.1 Interviews ...............................................................................................................22 3.4.2 Role play ................................................................................................................22 3.5 Formulaic language ................................................................................................22 3.5.1 Proverbs .................................................................................................................22 3.5.2 Quotes ...................................................................................................................22 3.6 Websites ................................................................................................................23 4 Survey ....................................................................................................................25 4.1 Workbooks used in the EFL class ..........................................................................25 4.2 Cultures discussed in the EFL class .......................................................................26 4.3 Cultural topics that teachers would like to see added to the EFL workbooks ..........27 5 English textbooks for the EFL classroom ................................................................29 5.1 Analysis of EFL workbooks ....................................................................................29 5.1.1 New Contact 1 Two-in-one .....................................................................................30 5.1.2 Connect 1 ...............................................................................................................31 5.1.3 New Takeaway Next 1 ...........................................................................................32 5.1.4 Spark 1...................................................................................................................33 5.1.5 New Contact ..........................................................................................................34 5.2 Conclusion .............................................................................................................35 6 Developed material ................................................................................................36 6.1 How can we link British culture to the pupils’ day to day lives? ...............................36 6.1.1 British food .............................................................................................................36 6.1.2 Is British culture different to yours? ........................................................................36 6.1.3 Christmas traditions................................................................................................38 6.1.4 Music around the world ..........................................................................................39 6.1.5 Miscommunication .................................................................................................40 6.1.6 London and beyond ...............................................................................................41 6.2 How can we link British culture to the curriculum of a year 2 EFL class? ................42 6.3 Worksheets/activities/exercises ..............................................................................43 6.4 Reflection ............................................................................................................. 143 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………..145 Attachments…………………………………………………………………………………………146 Literature list ......................................................................................................................