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Cultura

Anglo-Americana
Helena Maria Gramiscelli Magalhes

Helena Maria Gramiscelli Magalhes

Cultura
Anglo-Americana

Montes Claros/MG - 2012

- EDITORA UNIMONTES - 2012


Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros

REITOR
Joo dos Reis Canela

Luci Kikuchi Veloso


Maria Cristina Ruas de Abreu Maia
Maria Lda Clementino Marques
Ubiratan da Silva Meireles

VICE-REITORA
Maria Ivete Soares de Almeida
DIRETOR DE DOCUMENTAO E INFORMAES
Huagner Cardoso da Silva
EDITORA UNIMONTES
Conselho Editorial
Prof. Silvio Guimares Medicina. Unimontes.
Prof. Herclio Mertelli Odontologia. Unimontes.
Prof. Humberto Guido Filosofia. UFU.
Prof Maria Geralda Almeida. UFG
Prof. Luis Jobim UERJ.
Prof. Manuel Sarmento Minho Portugal.
Prof. Fernando Verd Pascoal. Valencia Espanha.
Prof. Antnio Alvimar Souza - Unimontes
Prof. Fernando Lolas Stepke. Univ. Chile.
Prof. Jos Geraldo de Freitas Drumond Unimontes.
Prof Rita de Cssia Silva Dionsio. Letras Unimontes.
Prof Maisa Tavares de Souza Leite. Enfermagem Unimontes.
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REVISO LINGUSTICA
ngela Heloiza Buxton
Arlete Ribeiro Nepomuceno
Aurinete Barbosa Tiago
Carla Roselma Athayde Moraes

REVISO TCNICA
Admilson Eustquio Prates
Cludia de Jesus Maia
Josiane Santos Brant
Karen Trres Corra Lafet de Almeida
Kthia Silva Gomes
Marcos Henrique de Oliveira
DESIGN EDITORIAL E CONTROLE DE
PRODUO DE CONTEDO
Andria Santos Dias
Camilla Maria Silva Rodrigues
Clsio Robert Almeida Caldeira
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Francielly Sousa e Silva
Hugo Daniel Duarte Silva
Marcos Aurlio de Almeida e Maia
Patrcia Fernanda Heliodoro dos Santos
Sanzio Mendona Henriques
Tatiane Fernandes Pinheiro
Ttylla Ap. Pimenta Faria
Vincius Antnio Alencar Batista
Wendell Brito Mineiro
Zilmar Santos Cardoso

CATALOGADO PELA DIRETORIA DE DOCUMENTAO E INFORMAES (DDI) - UNIMONTES


Dados Internacionais de Catalogao na Publicao (CIP)

M188c

Magalhes, Helena Maria Gramiscelli.


Cultura anglo-americana / Helena Maria Gramiscelli
Magalhes. Montes Claros : Unimontes, 2012.
83 p. : il. color. ; 21 x 30 cm.
Caderno didtico do Curso de Licenciatura em
Letras/Ingls da Universidade Aberta do Brasil UAB/Unimontes.
Inclui bibliografia.
ISBN 978-85-7739-196-7
1. Ensino superior. 2. Lngua inglesa - Estudo e ensino. 3.
Cultura. I. Universidade Aberta do Brasil - UAB. II.
Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros - Unimontes. III.
Ttulo.
CDD 378.007

Este livro ou parte dele no pode ser reproduzido por qualquer meio sem autorizao escrita do Editor.

EDITORA UNIMONTES
Campus Universitrio Professor Darcy Ribeiro
s/n - Vila Mauricia - Montes Claros (MG)
Caixa Postal: 126 - CEP: 39.401-089 - Telefone: (38) 3229-8214
www.unimontes.br / editora@unimontes.br

Ministro da Educao
Fernando Haddad

Chefe do Departamento de Cincias Biolgicas


Guilherme Victor Nippes Pereira

Presidente Geral da CAPES


Jorge Almeida Guimares

Chefe do Departamento de Cincias Sociais


Maria da Luz Alves Ferreira

Diretor de Educao a Distncia da CAPES


Joo Carlos Teatini de Souza Clmaco

Chefe do Departamento de Geocincias


Guilherme Augusto Guimares Oliveira

Governador do Estado de Minas Gerais


Antnio Augusto Junho Anastasia

Chefe do Departamento de Histria


Donizette Lima do Nascimento

Vice-Governador do Estado de Minas Gerais


Alberto Pinto Coelho Jnior

Chefe do Departamento de Comunicao e Letras


Ana Cristina Santos Peixoto

Secretrio de Estado de Cincia, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior


Nrcio Rodrigues

Chefe do Departamento de Educao


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Reitor da Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros - Unimontes


Joo dos Reis Canela

Coordenadora do Curso a Distncia de Artes Visuais


Maria Elvira Curty Romero Christoff

Vice-Reitora da Unimontes
Maria Ivete Soares de Almeida

Coordenador do Curso a Distncia de Cincias Biolgicas


Afrnio Farias de Melo Junior

Pr-Reitora de Ensino
Anete Marlia Pereira

Coordenadora do Curso a Distncia de Cincias Sociais


Cludia Regina Santos de Almeida

Diretor do Centro de Educao a Distncia


Jnio Marques Dias

Coordenadora do Curso a Distncia de Geografia


Janete Aparecida Gomes Zuba

Coordenadora da UAB/Unimontes
Maria ngela Lopes Dumont Macedo

Coordenadora do Curso a Distncia de Histria


Jonice dos Reis Procpio

Coordenadora Adjunta da UAB/Unimontes


Betnia Maria Arajo Passos

Coordenadora do Curso a Distncia de Letras/Espanhol


Orlanda Miranda Santos

Diretor do Centro de Cincias Humanas - CCH


Antnio Wagner Veloso Rocha

Coordenadora do Curso a Distncia de Letras/Ingls


Hejaine de Oliveira Fonseca

Diretora do Centro de Cincias Biolgicas da Sade - CCBS


Maria das Mercs Borem Correa Machado

Coordenadora do Curso a Distncia de Letras/Portugus


Ana Cristina Santos Peixoto

Diretor do Centro de Cincias Sociais Aplicadas - CCSA


Paulo Cesar Mendes Barbosa

Coordenadora do Curso a Distncia de Pedagogia


Maria Narduce da Silva

Chefe do Departamento de Artes


Maristela Cardoso Freitas

Autora
Helena Maria Gramiscelli Magalhes

PhD in Linguistics and Portuguese Language (Pontifcia Universidade Catlica


de Minas Gerais (PUC-MINAS). M.A. in English language (Universidade Federal
de Minas Gerais).Graduation in Letters (Portuguese, English and German,
Pontifcia Universidade Catlica de Minas Gerais (PUC-MINAS). Teaching
License in Portuguese and English. Author published two books: O Ensino e
Aprendizagem de Lngua Estrangeira (UFMG Publisher, December 1987), in
partenership with Dr Reinildes Dias, and Aprendendo com Humor (Mercado
de Letras Publishers, December, 2010). Currently author is a lecturer and
reviewer of academic texts (books, articles, dissertations, theses) and a
content writer for UAB/Unimontes courses both in the Portuguese and in
English languages. Author is also a specialist in evaluating Post Graduation
courses for the Conselho Estadual de Educao de Minas Gerais.

Sumrio
Apresentao . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Unit 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
What is this all about? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.2 Anglo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.3 Anglo- saxon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.4 Anglo- america . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.5 Anglo-American . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.6 On language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.7 On culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Unit 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Where do these things come from? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.2 America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.3 The USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Unit 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Where does this all lead us to? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.2 Some small talk: american culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.3 Some cultural traits and the literary text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.4 Miscellaneous other American cultural traits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.5 The performing arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.6 Culture in second language teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.7 Culture and language teaching policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Learning activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

Apresentao
By way of presentation
Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own (Goethe).
Hi, there? Dear students, I want you to read the following text and be prepared for some discussion on Anglo-American Culture, one of the disciplines you will study this semester.
TEXT

Figure 1: Colors
represented and USAs
President Barack
Obama.
Source: Available at
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Flower. Access in Feb. 13th,
2011.

Three men, an Italian, a French man and a Portuguese went for a job interview in England.
Before the interview, they are told that they must compose one sentence in English containing
three main words: GREEN, PINK, and YELLOW
The Italian was the first:
I wake up in the morning. I see the YELLOW sun. I see the GREEN grass, andI think to myself,
I hope it will be a PINK day.
The French was the next:
I wake up in the morning, I eat a YELLOW banana, a GREEN pepper and in the evening I
watch the PINK panther on TV.
The last one was the Portuguese:
I wake up in the morning; I hear the phone GREEN... GREEN... GREEN..., I PINK up the phone
and I say YELLOW?

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

Glossary
trigger: produce immediate results. Onomatopoeias: the representation of sounds
produced by nature,
animals and things as
culturally heard, like
meow (of cats), honk,
honk (of car horns),
bang, bang (of shooting
with a gun), crash (of
cars, trains or planes
hitting something or
someone or something
breaking); Ambiguity: a
word having more than
one meaning.
phatic functionlanguage usually used
(only?) to maintain
communication, or
fulfill spaces between
dialogical moments
of communication.
Examples: Hello? Hi?,
Hey? Good morning.
How are you doing?
Bye, see you soon,
Good day etc.
holistic: integral, total,
complete.

10

To understand this joke you must have a good knowledge of the Anglo-American culture as
well as communicative competence in English, since translating the text into Portuguese would
be of no use for its interpretation. Why would it be so?
In the text, humor is triggered by linguistic games involving onomatopoeias and phonological ambiguity specifically provoked through the use of some colors:
Green, green, green - phonological ambiguity similarity in sound to the ringing of telephones and bells.
Pink phonological ambiguity similarity in sound to the word pick, the latter being a verb
which means take the telephone handle and answer it.
Yellow-phonological ambiguity similarity in sound with a language phatic function (Hello?).
Eventually, what makes the text funny is your knowledge of English, of the world and of the
cultural aspects involved. Did you know that?
And yet, some points must be considered and discussed such as: would the words GREEN
GREN sound for the Anglo-American people in the same way as they sound for the Brazilian individuals, something like TRIM, TRIM? I mean, would the USA people hear/feel this same sound
when a telephone rings? Would they mishear PINK for PICK? Would they hear the words YELLOW
and HELLO as having identical sounds? What do you think, dear students?
All these things considered would result in an amazing question: Could you guess the nationality of the jokes author? Find the answer for this question at the end of this unit.
In this textbook, intended for a 90-hour course, I argue that culture underlies and constitutes an indispensable factor for the efficient learning and teaching of a foreign language (FL) English. Having this in mind, we are about to enter the magic world of amazing cultural manifestations which invariably (would) intrigue us and interfere in the process of learning the English
language. My objective is to show you how this process takes place, how culture and language
are tightly intertwined to make language learning pleasurable and effective.
In sum, I demonstrate that language and culture are partners who will help you accomplish your goal of learning and teaching English properly. It follows that another purpose will be
achieved as your minds open to receive different views of distinct countries and societies and
their peoples intentions, views of the world, habits, Art, and peculiar ways of living and saying
things. This knowledge can be acquired delightfully with no pain and lots of gain.
It will be evidenced that culture builds language which in its turn builds culture. The assertion seems complex but it is not: language depends on culture that depends on language, that
is, they are interdependent. If you disregard culture, the learning of English as a second language
will be innocuous, insipid.
We will also approach some concepts pertinent to the relation of culture to language revisiting different notions and postulates proposed by contemporary linguists and scholars.
I want you to track this textbook and dive into the richness and beauty of the Anglo-American culture and language so that at the end of the course on this discipline you will have been
convinced that merging culture and language is fundamental for both teaching learning English,
and I hope you will take this conviction with you through your life long.
It is always well to remember that the teaching of any content must always depart from the
students previous knowledge, and that the central aim of teaching must be the holistic formation of that individual.
The purpose of teaching with these objectives is to form a responsible, cooperative, and critical individual who will be able to change himself and transform society.
Having all this in mind I define for the discipline Anglo-American culture the following objectives:
General objective: to point out the role of culture in the process of teaching and learning
English as a foreign language.
Specific objectives:
Discuss the concepts of the expressions Anglo, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-America and Anglo American.
Revisit some concepts of language.
Discuss general notions of culture
Detect, list and discuss some aspects of the Anglo-American culture in distinct texts.
Analyze and evaluate cultural phenomena and manifestations in literary and non-literary
texts;
Discuss and evaluate the nature of interculturality for the teaching of an FL.

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


By the time, we have reached these objectives and you have learned the content proposed
in this textbook, you will have realized that culture performs a central role in the study and learning of any language and how the latter operates and subsidies any sort of analysis, linguistic, discursive, syntactical, you wish to make.
This Anglo- American Culture textbook is divided into three (03) Units which are also divided in subunits as follows:
Unit 1: What is this all about?
1.1. Introducton
1.2 Anglo
1.3 Anglo- saxon
1.6 Anglo- america
1.5 Anglo-american
1.6 On language
1.6.1 Language is unique and arbitrary.
1.6.2 Language concepts and related notions.
1.7 On Culture
1.7.1 The Relation of Language to Culture
1.7.2 Language is determined by Culture
1.7.3 Language is part of Culture
1.7.4 Language and culture intertwined
1.8 References
Unit 2: Where do these things come from?
2.1 Introduction
2.2 America
2.3 The USA
2.3.1 Demographics
2.3.2 US languages
2.3.3 The US symbols: The Flag, The Bald Eagle, The Great Seal and The Star-Spangled Banner
2.3.4 Anglo-Americans
2.3.5 The (North) Americans: Ethnicity, religious beliefs, rituals, and sacred places
2.3.5.1 The Afro-Americans: demography, religious beliefs, economic status, politics, social
issues
and education
2.3.5.2 Hispanic and Latino Americans
2.3.5.3 Immigration and the Whites
2.4 References
Unit 3: Where does it all lead us to?
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Some small talk: American Culture
3.2.1 The Spanish Holy Office
3.2.2 Witch Hunts in America
3.3 Some cultural traits and the literary text
3.4 Miscellaneous other American cultural traits
3.5 The Performing Arts
3.5.1 Last but not least; Musical Theater, Musicals
3.6Culture in second language teaching
3.7 Culture and second language policy
3.8 References
The content of this textbook is grounded on these units and subunits. The topics suggested
for debates and discussions complement that content.
To support your work I will provide you with some illustrative analyses of texts and will demand you to do tasks in which I include various types of texts as the literary, non-literary and
some humoristic ones the latter with the intention of demonstrating how humor is highly dependent on culture and on linguistic phenomena.

11

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
Clue: phenomena - the plural form for phenomenon. The word is originated from Greek.
Other examples of words that make their plural in the same way are: automaton/ automata; criterion/ criteria.
To know more: Research about the plural of foreign words in the traditional grammar Essential English for foreign students, by C. E. Eckersley Essential English is a course in four books, of
which this is the first, for the teaching of English to adult foreign students. It aims at giving the
student a sound knowledge of the essentials of both spoken and written English and at taking
him on the way to a mastery of idiomatic conversational and literary English.
This textbook offers you interactive icons through which you can test your knowledge
(tasks), give it a second thought (To learn more), check the meaning of some (most probably
unknown) words and expressions that the material contains (glossary), and orient you to deal
with the topics better and indicate sites in the Web and virtual libraries which aim at supporting
learning (clues). All these interactive icons are suggested along the text and identified as follows:

Glossary
Tasks: Activities and
exercises done during the course. Clue:
anything that serves
to guide or orient
in the solution of a
question, problem,
mystery etc. (correspondent to Dica in
Portuguese).

CLUES

TO LEARN MORE TASKS

GLOSSARY

I hope, dear students, that you are a little more prepared to deal with the Anglo-American
culture, specifically that of the USA, and its implications for the teaching and learning of English.
Anglo-American culture is an intriguing and not hard subject to learn.
It is fundamental that you take both the content and the activities of this textbook seriously
and read the texts suggested for extra reading. They all constitute basic elements not only for
the development of your knowledge, for supporting eventual debates, but mainly for grounding
your learning of the cultural aspects involving the English language learning and teaching.
From now on, dear students, investigate all notions and concepts contemplated in this textbook, question them, suggest alternatives for analysis, discuss the topics, try new things and
ways, make a difference and emerge from the course with a broader knowledge of the AngloAmerican culture, of the English language and about your own one.
This textbook is not intended, and no one would be that pretentious, to exhaust the issues
involved in the Anglo-American Culture, or in any other.
The author

12

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

Unit 1

What is this all about?


1.1 Introduction
To understand where all the assumptions
discussed in By Way of Presentation come from,
I will approach some concepts and notions
about language and culture. Still, some historical, geographical, political, social and religious
aspects will be pointed out as they contribute
for the formation of the American people and
help determine the involvement of culture
with language. To achieve such a goal I will revisit expressions such as Anglo, Anglo- Saxon,
Anglo-America, and Anglo-American and will

Clue
make considerations on the intimate relation
of culture to language demonstrating how
language influences culture and how culture
helps build language and how both of them
intertwine to denude society and explain the
social web. Comparisons with Brazilian culture
are inevitable and duly provided to enhance
your understanding of the content of the discipline Anglo-American Culture. Let us take a
look at the following cartoon.

The husbands use


of the word honey,
the clothes the men
characters are wearing. Would Brazilians
be dressed like those
Americans at home?
Moreover also the
uncontrollable habit of
buying anything from
the EBay site is a trait of
the (humor in) American culture. But would
buying things on the
Internet be a trait of the
American culture only?
Of course it would not.
But the husband seems
indifferent towards his
wife behavior she
bought a man! Buying
people through the
Internet is incongruous.
So he used American
humor and irony.

Task

Figure 2: Humoristic
charge-text
Source: It appears vertically on the left side
of the charge. Access 1
May, 2010.

Find on the Internet


either one article, or
news, comment or paper which discusses the
causes of the American
economy problems.
Seek for new words
and expressions in this
material clearly created
in face of and from the
situation the Americans
have been through
since 2008.

Glossary
Can you point out what would be considered traits of the Anglo-American culture in
this cartoon? If you cannot dont worry about
it; maybe it is because we have not so far discussed these expressions. Anyway, check the
answer in the Clue inserted in this page, as it
will provide you with some basic knowledge
about the American culture.

Based upon your empiricist, epistemological and linguistic knowledge let us revisit
some terms crucial for the understanding of
what underlies the study of the issues in the
discipline in question. After all, what is this all
about? Let us learn more about some words
and expressions involved in the content Anglo- American Culture.

empiricist: knowledge
of the world, from
your experience and
through media.
Epistemological:
knowledge acquired
from books, and Ebooks on the Internet,
the scientific knowledge.

13

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

1.2 Anglo
The Angles are probably originated from Angeln (in modern Germany). Bede, a Benedictine
monk, wrote that their whole nation/tribe came to Britain, leaving their former land empty. The
name England (Old English: Engla land or ngla land) originates from this tribe.

1.3 Anglo- saxon


Figure 3: People in their
costumes during the
Anglo-Saxon era which
lasted about 700 AD to
1066.
Source: BBC - Primary
History - Anglo-Saxons;
Available at www.bbc.
co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/anglo_saxons/ - En
cache

Historians use this term to designate the


Germanic tribes who invaded the south and
east of Great Britain in the early 5th century
AD, and the period from their creation of the
English nation to the Norman Conquest. The
Anglo-Saxon is the period of English history
between about 550 and 1066 AD. The expression is also used for the language called Old
English, spoken and written by the Anglo-Sax-

ons and their descendants in much of what is


now England and some of southeastern Scotland( between at least the mid-5th century
and the mid-12th century).
But the focus here is the expression Anglo which, to a certain extent, comes to denote all English-speaking people and their
descendants, no matter their prior ethnic
background.

1.4 Anglo- america

Figure 4: North America Map, North America Countries: Mexico, Canada, and the USA.

14

Source: Available at www.wikipedia.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/na.Access in 11th March,


2011.

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


Anglo-America refers to a region in the
Americas where English is a main language
US and Canada - or one which has significant
British historical, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural
links. But North America is divided into AngloAmerica and Latin America, the latter referring
to Mexico, country of North America in which
Spanish is spoken. In Canada variably English
and French are spoken as native languages.
The noun phrase (expression) AngloAmerica concentrates two of the most rich
and powerful countries of the world, Canada
and the USA, was named by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemller and Matthias Ringmann after the Italian explorer
Americo Vespucci. He explored South America
between 1497 and 1502 and was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not
the East Indies, but a different territory previously unknown by Europeans. The expression
sometimes is a reference to the two countries
together. And, although Quebec, the French
region of Canada, has a French-speaking majority, it is considered part of Anglo-America
due to cultural, historical, economic, geographical and political aspects.
The USA and Canada present different
forms of culture manifestations that are representations of the multiplicity of scenarios
which stand before us and are conveyed
through language. Obviously there are similarities and differences between the cultures
of Anglo-American countries because they

share many social, historical and political facts


that can be interpreted differently by human
beings as unique creatures. Because it would
be a very extensive task to proceed with the
study of the cultural manifestations of both
countries included in the term Anglo-America,
in this textbook I will approach only the USA
culture which is in itself a kaleidoscope of political, social, cultural, economic, artistic, philosophical, historical and traditional aspects, to
name only a few.
In this scenario language throughout
times denudes the formation of an identity
exclusively American and determined by the
multiple and multifaceted cultural and linguistic manifestations. Therefore language and
culture become inseparable.
To prove this fact, dear students, consider
that if you see an American movie or sitcom/
series attentively and concentrate on language you will find many cultural aspects in
terms of behavior, addressing the interlocutor,
ways of viewing the world, familial relations,
Art, and realize that those aspects differ from
the Brazilian ones. An example is that Americans think people change. In Brazil such assertive would not be consensual. This means
that to compare cultures can sometimes be an
unviable task. On account of that, some differences and similarities between the American
and Brazilian cultures will be dealt with mainly
during the analysis and discussion of various
topics and sorts of texts.

1.5 Anglo-American
The noun phrase (expression) AngloAmerican is generally used to denote the cultural atmosphere shared by the United States
and English Canada. But the Anglo-American
culture is obviously different from the French
culture also disseminated in the French Canada. Some political leaders (The ex-American
President Ronald Reagan and the former Minister Winston Churchill for instance) long ago
used the expression to discuss the relationship
of the United States to the United Kingdom,
especially if you have in mind that the American territory was colonized by the English,

among other foreigners who reached America


before the English had set foot on the American soil.
The expression Anglo-American is also
used to describe English American, North
American persons of English origin, or background. It serves too to define the relations
between the United Kingdom on one hand,
and the Americas, in particular the United
States, on the other. For example, AngloAmerican relations were tense before the War
of 1812. (Available at www.facebook.com/
pages/...America. Access in 17th May, 2011).

Task
See the film American
Beauty and also one
of the episodes of the
sitcom/series Two and a
Half Men (Warner Channel). You will find interesting cultural manifestations not commonly
found in the Brazilian
culture or, if manifested
in it, it would be in a
rather different way.
Detect some of them,
write them down and
discuss them with your
tutor and classmates.

To learn more
War of 1812 - refers
to a military conflict
between the United
States of America and
the British Empire. The
Americans declared
war for several reasons:
a desire for expansion
into the Northwest Territory, trade restrictions
because of Britains
ongoing war with
France, impressment
of American merchant
sailors into the Royal
Navy, British support
of American Indian
tribes against American
expansion, and the
humiliation of American honor available at:
www.facebook.com/
pages/...America. Read
this site to obtain more
information about the
War of 1812.

15

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

1.6 On language

Clue
Chomskys works of 1957,
1955, and 1965 contain
what you need to know
about the Innatist theory
he advocates in his
Universal Grammar. Such
assumption, that language
is innate, is also applied
by studies of language
in Neurolinguistics and
Cognitive Science.

Task
Find out and explain
why the first written
language is called
CUNEIFORM. Discuss
it with classmates and
tutor.

16

The English word language derives from


Latin lingua, language and tongue. There is
a metaphoric relation between language and
the tongue in many languages and it testifies
to the historical prominence of spoken languages.
But would we know for sure how many
languages are there in the world? It is hard
to say. Some people say that there are approximately 5 billion. And whichever is your
language among these 5 billion you talk, listen to, and think it is in the special way it has
been shaped by your culture (over)loaded
with social historical aspects, experiences, behavior, identities, ethos, mores and attitudes.
The chance of meeting someone who talks
your language as you do is quite remote. (By
an anonymous, available at www.developingteachers.com/quotes/q1.htm. Access in 11th
January. 2011.)
However, natural languages can also be
based on visual rather than auditive stimuli,
for example in sign languages (non-verbal language) and written language. Codes and other
kinds of artificially constructed communication systems such as those used for computer
programming can also be called languages. A
language in this sense is a system of signs for
encoding and decoding information.
The word language has two meanings:
as a general concept (including verbal and
non-verbal expressions) and a language, (a
specific linguistic system, or code, e.g. Italian).
Languages other than English often have two
separate words for these distinct concepts.
French for example, following Saussures dichotomy uses the word langue for language
as a concept and parole as the specific instance of language, speech. The former is social, homogenous system of rules and part of
collectivity. The latter is individual, variable,
heterogeneous, not systematic and concrete;
it is through speech that language evolves.
According to Saussure language is an abstract
system and speech the concretization of this
system which is in the mind of the speaker
who makes it concrete by means of speech. In
Brazilian Portuguese we use lingual for the linguistic system of rules and linguagem to refer
to any form of expression or communication
(verbal and non-verbal).
As a general concept, the linguistic phenomenon can be defined in distinct ways. One
definition sees language as the mental faculty
that allows humans to express linguistic be-

havior, learn languages, produce and understand utterances. This concept evidences the
universality of language to all humans and the
biological basis of the human capacity for language as a unique development of the human
brain. This view understands language as innate, as Chomsky postulated.
Another definition describes language as
a formal closed structural system of symbols
ruled by grammatical rules that relate particular signs to particular meanings, that is, Structuralism. As you already know, the structuralist theory was firstly introduced by the linguist
Ferdinand de Saussure. This view of language
had adepts as Noam Chomsky who introduced the generative grammar and defined
language as a particular set of sentences that
can be generated from a particular set of rules.
In the philosophy of language these views are
commonly associated with famous philosophers such as Bertrand Russell, early Wittgenstein, Alfred Tarski and Gottlob Frege.
Language is also seen as an instrument
for communication that enables humans to
cooperate and share experiences. This definition stresses the social functions of language
and the fact that humans use it to express
themselves and communicate. This view of
language is also associated with the study of
language in a functional, or pragmatic and
sociolinguistic framework. In the Philosophy
of language these views are often associated
with Wittgensteins later works and with language philosophers such as G. E. Moore, Paul
Grice, J. L. Austin and John Searle.
It is well known that the first form of written language is called cuneiform, but spoken
language has been seen as a predator of writing for almost two centuries. Language may
refer both to the human capacity for acquiring
and using complex systems of communication, and to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication. The scientific
study of language in any of its senses is called
Linguistics.
The human language faculty is thought
to be fundamentally different from and of
much higher complexity than those of other
species. It is highly complex in that it is based
on a set of rules relating symbols to their
meanings, thereby forming an infinite number
of possible innovative utterances from a finite
number of elements.
Language origin would date back to the
period when early hominids first started co-

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


operating and adapting earlier systems of
communication based on expressive signs to
include a theory of other minds and shared
intentionality. This development is thought to
have coincided with an increase in brain volume. Language is processed in many different
locations in the human brain, but especially in
Brocas and Wernickes areas.
Humans acquire language through social
interaction in early childhood, and children
generally speak fluently when they are around
three years old. The use of language has become deeply entrenched in human culture
and, apart from being used to communicate
and share information it also has social and
cultural uses, such as signifying group identity, social stratification and for social grooming and entertainment. The word language
can also be used to describe the set of rules
(grammar) that makes this possible, or the set
of utterances that can be produced from those
rules (syntax), that is, the linguistic code.
However, language is more than speech
and writing, it is the making and sharing of
meaning with ourselves and others, according to Emmitt and Pollock (1997, p.19).
Languages invariably rely on the process
of semiosis to relate a sign with a particular
meaning. Spoken and signed languages contain a phonological system that governs how
sounds or visual symbols are used to form se-

quences known as words or morphemes, and


a syntactic system that rules how words and
morphemes are used to form phrases and utterances. Written languages use visual symbols that represent the sounds of the spoken
languages, but they still require syntactic rules
that govern the production of meaning from
sequences of words.
Languages evolve and diversify over time,
and the history of their evolution can be reconstructed by comparing modern languages
to determine which traits their ancestral languages must have had for the later stages to
have occurred. The languages that are mostly
spoken in the world today belong to the IndoEuropean family, which includes languages
such as English, Spanish, Russian and a vast
range of other groups of languages all over
the world.
To conclude, language has a relation to
thinking and cognition. Benjamin Lee Whorf
(1897-1941), an American linguist already quoted in this textbook and famous for discussing
this issue stated elsewhere that language
shapes the way we think, and determines
what we can think about, to which Albrecht
would add: Change your language and you
change your thoughts (www.dgtladyKarlAlbrechtquotes). I wonderHow about you, my
friends?

1.6.1 Language is unique and arbitrary


Where does this uniqueness of human
language come from? It is unique in that if
compared to other forms of communication,
such as those used by other animals (that can
only express a finite number of utterances that
are mostly genetically transmitted), it allows
us to produce an infinite set of utterances.
Moreover, the symbols and grammatical rules
of any particular language are largely arbitrary.
In sum, human language is unique in that unlike other systems of communication its complex structure has evolved to serve a wider
range of functions.
How do names attach themselves to
particular objects and people? This question
dates back to Plato and can still be posed in
contemporary times intrigued with the question: does, and how, this connection mean
anything? Today, books have discussed the
subject, and Names to Give Your Baby or Readers Digest columns of apt names and professionals is a good example. The question of naming
is a subset of the larger but equally relevant
subject of language: is language arbitrary and

conventional (it is simply an agreed label for


a pre-existing entity) or is it motivated (it creates the entity which it names)? Do cultural
attitudes influence naming practices across
centuries and continents, exploring what
they mean to someone? Do peoples bear the
names they do out of nothing, or are they associated to something or attitudes? The discussion would include psychological analysis,
social anthropology, etymology, baptismal
trends, different cultures and periods social
practices.
To cut the long story short, why are languages arbitrary? They are arbitrary in that
there is no necessary or natural relationship
between the words of a given language and
the concepts that they represent. For example,
there is nothing in the word tree that connects it to the concept of a tree; which is why
Portuguese and Brazilians can use a totally different sign for the same concept: rvore; and
so on with other languages. Also, languages
are arbitrary because the rules for the combination of signs in order to produce complete

Task
Answer: What are
Wernickes and
Brocas areas? Search
about them, write
the information and
discuss them with
your tutor.

Glossary
morpheme: Term
used in Morphology. A
morpheme is composed by phoneme(s),
the smallest linguistically distinctive units
of sound in spoken
language, that has
semantic meaning.
Example: unbelievable:
has three morphemes:
un-, a bound morpheme. (Available at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Morpheme.

Task
At this point, dear students, I ask you to take
a second reading of
the Textbook on Morphology of the English
Language (2010) written for your course by
Martins, de Souza and
Ferreira de Souza to
review interesting details about morphemes
and related issues and
words.

To Expand
Learning
refer to one of the
latest book on this matter: The Way we think,
Conceptual Blending
and the Minds Hidden
Complexities, by Gilles
Faucconnier and Mark
Turner, 2002.

17

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
thoughts are different from one language to
the other, and no set of rules can claim to be
the right one. For example, in English you
say I like beer, whereas in Spanish you would
say Me gusta la cerveza and the translation
of the latter into English would be something
like: Beer is agreeable to me, or [is agreeable to me the beer], which sounds strange in
English. But make no mistake: neither of these

formulations has a better claim to accuracy,


correctness or truth than the other. In simple
words, the arbitrariness of language is the fact
that there is no direct connection between
the sound or form of any word and the object
which it represents in such a way that the system can only be acquired through social interaction.

1.6.2 Language concepts and related notions.


Animals and even plants communicate
with each other, so some respectful scientists say. Therefore, humans are not unique
in this capability; however, human language
is unique in being a symbolic communication system that is learned instead of biological inheritance. The users give meaning to
symbols/signs that are sounds or things. You
must have studied in the discipline Introduction to Linguistics, dear student, that originally, the sign and its meaning are arbitrary.
For instance, the English word cat does not
physically resemble the animal it stands for.
Meaning cannot be discovered by mere examination of their forms though symbols have
a material form. Why? It is because signs and

symbols are abstractions. An example for that


would be: Do the following words resemble
the cat mentioned here: Feles/felis, gato, der
kate and chat? Of course not because language is arbitrary: there is no direct relation
between the word and the object/sign/symbol it refers to. By the way, these are words for
cat in Latin, Portuguese/Spanish, German and
French respectively.
Undoubtedly language is the most important component of culture because much
of the rest of it is normally transmitted orally.
To understand the subtle nuances and meanings of another culture you must know its language well. So, take a look at the song below.
Shall we sing it?

Chuyntnhmygi
Ta yunhaungy
Anhlgiemlmy
Giirongy
Giitmmy
Giamyiyi
Ninocgi
Niscmy
Nuniycmy
Emstm thy gi
Vgilunu
Yumychmyvtmnmy. (Author: the Vietnamese NguynThanhHiu)
Did you sing it? No? Why?
Now, take a look at the following pictures.
Figures 5, 6, 7: Tropical
Summer
Source:http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/?
CTT=6&ver=14&app=win
word.exe

18

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


Dear students, how is it that a North Pole
citizen would understand a summer like the
one portrayed in the Figures above? If it is not
pertaining to his culture, how could he express himself in his language before such landscapes with a Delta wing, people surfing and
a raft in the northeast of Brazil, if he lives surrounded by ice? This enlightens the notion of
the relation of culture to language.
Early childhood, children are inherently
capable of learning the necessary phonemes,
morphemes, and syntax only as they mature.
In other words, they have a genetic propensity
to learn language aspects already discussed
by Chomsky (1962), that is, the innatist theory.
Specialists in this matter claim that human beings come into the world with an eagerness to learn, and that same eagerness
for language acquisition is a major aspect of
this learning. However it is not entirely clear,
how humans learn a language. Many linguists
would agree that they do it by firstly listening
to the adult speakers and trying to communicate with them, that is, in their early stages of
learning the language they imitate the phonemes, the intonation and stress. And later,
also through imitation, they start learning
grammar.
Early studies demonstrate that American
children learn fast in the early years of their
life. At one year of age they can use three
words consisting of single morphemes (such
as eat, mom). At six, they are already able to
use about 2,500 morphemes and build simple
sentence constructions (for instance more
milk) which have begun at two. In the early
stages, children start by using a vocabulary
and grammar largely of their own construction. This is only their attempt to systematize
and organize their own simple speech.
When children start to learn standard
grammar, they tend to over-regularize it, I
mean they learn a general rule and apply it in
all situations. For instance, the past tense of
97% of the English verbs is made by adding
the suffix -ed, as in talk- talked. Children will
often use it to irregular verbs as well. It follows
that, obviously, take becomes taked, bring becomes bringed, drink becomes drinked. This is
a dangerous rule to follow as, unfortunately,
for these children English has about 165 irregular verbs that must be memorized. To make
things worse the 10 most frequently used
verbs in English are irregular (be, have, do, go,
say, can, will, see, take, and get). Language is
far more than a mere means of communication same as our thought and cultural processes are highly influenced by our language.

American linguists and anthropologists in the


last forty years have seen language as being
more important than it really is because they
say it shapes (and reveals) our perception of
reality.
In this line of thought, Edward Sapir and
his student Benjamin Whorf (Sapir-Whorf hypothesis) claimed that language predetermines what we see in the world around us,
that is, language filters reality. In sum, you see
the real world only in the categories of your
language. Sapir and Whorf used the words
which symbolize colors to cross cultural comparisons to give evidence of their hypothesis.
They postulate that when you perceive color
with your eyes, you sense that visible light
which is a portion of electromagnetic radiation. As a matter of fact, according to Physics,
the spectrum of visible light is a continuum of
light waves with frequencies that increase at
a continuous rate from one end to the other.
In other words, nature has no distinct colors
like blue and red. It is our culture and our language that orient us to seeing the spectrum in
terms of the arbitrary established categories
we name colors. This spectrum may be divided up in different cultures in distinct ways.
This statement can easily be proved in the
comparison of some English language colors
with other counterparts in many other languages. A simple example is the English word
for the color RED: rojo, vermelho, rosso, rouge,
Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French correspondents to red, respectively.
But what the linguists Sapir-Whorf emphasized in their hypothesis was that the
shades of colors were seen differently from
culture to culture. It is known that the Eskimos
use many terms to symbolize snow, and that
Tiv language of Nigeria has only one term to
symbolize different colors. In sum people see
colors differently. After all, the Eskimos name
snow with so many words because they live
with it daily, day and night. Following this line
of thought, I wonder what words and expressions they would use to symbolize lingerie, bikini, green pastures, extreme heat, cotton, summer, spring etc.
However, it seems that the linguists have
taken their research too far, after all normal
men share similar sense perceptions of color
despite differences in color terminology from
one language to another. Moreover, human
eyes have essentially the same physiology.
Therefore, all of us can see subtle shades of
color and can comprehend other ways of dividing up the spectrum of visible light.

19

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

Task

Nevertheless, as economy and technology increase in complexity all over the world,
the number of color terms increase in the
same proportion, I mean, the spectrum of visible light is subdivided into many more categories. Still, as the environment changes,
language and culture respond accordingly by
creating new terminology to describe it.
Sapir and Whorf concluded that these
data indicated that colors are not objective,
not naturally determined segments of reality,
but predetermined by what your culture prepares you to see. Do you want some evidence
of that? Make the following test: What color
is the girls blouse in the following picture?
(Check the answer in the next Clue.)
Did you answer pink, light pink, light
wine, dark pink, Italian grape, violet? If you did
it is all right in your Brazilian culture but not in
the American.

Find out the English


expression for azul
marinho in Portuguese. You will see that
the origin is the same
in both languages. Discuss the subject with
your tutor.

Figure 8: Japanese girl


wearing a sweater.
Illustration credits
by Dennis ONeil.
Availableat:www.anthro.
palomar.edu/language/
language_5.htm. Access in
6th July 2011.

Clue
If you answered mauve
or lavender you did
well. You showed some
learning about an
American trait. Both
the terms for this color
are correct In American
English. They do not
see/feel pink in the
girls blouse as we do.

Now, lets very briefly revisit some basic concepts of culture because this basic content must
have been discussed in disciplines such as Introduction to Linguistics and Semantics during your
course.

1.7 On culture
What would be the correspondent in English to the following cartoon originally written in
Portuguese? Are you ready to translate it into English? Yes? No? Why?

Task
Re-read and review
these aspects in the
textbooks mentioned.

Task
What would be the
aspects in the Brazilian
culture not shared by
the American culture? And how is that
language conveys such
differences? Discuss
them with your tutor.

Figure 9: On Brazilian
soccer and fans.
Source: www.gazetado-

povo.com.br/charges/

It is agreed that culture is the sum of all


forms of art, love and of thought, which, in
the course or centuries, have enabled man to
be less enslaved. Nevertheless, some people
would simply define culture as what everybody knows, and what everybody else knows,

20

within a given group. Others would advocate


that culture is what lies at the core of an individuals behavior and his degree of assimilation within a particular environment or social
group. Experts have also described culture as
the result of the mixture between the system

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


of social institutions, traditions, and beliefs
and that complex whole including knowledge,
belief, art, law, social moral customs, religion,
and ethics and values.
The word values used here does not
mean absolute facts, or true occurrences, but

rather traits, beliefs, desires, ways of being that


would be more openly and obviously recognized, accepted and practiced by the majority
in a group. Lets see how some of these values
apply to the American culture.

1.7.1 The Relation of Language to Culture

Figure 10: Different Pond, different fish


Source: www.ialf.edu/differentponddifferentfish.html
- En cache

In some cultures too much use of cursing


is considered impolite. This is the case in many
Anglo-American nations though you can hear
in the America films an excessive use of fuck
you. The word bloody, used by the student
in the charge, is a term for cursing in British

English, and generally used by the 1940s lower class people in London who made use of a
dialect called cockney highly disseminated all
over England today. The word bloody is typical
of cockney speakers but its repetition, together with the student attitude is a sign of impoliteness in any English speaking countries and
in America as well. And when addressed to authorities, as the teacher in the cartoon above,
it becomes a more offensive verbal behavior.
Cockney is competently dealt with by the
Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw in his
play Pygmalion (1912), according to Shaw a romance in Five Acts, in which Henry Higgins, a
Professor of phonetics, bets his friend Pickering that he can train a sloppy Cockney flower
girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at
an ambassadors garden party in London by
teaching her to assume the figure of gentility
and poseur, through the most important element, he believes, is impeccable speech.

Figure11: First American (serialized) publication, Everybodys Magazine, November 1914.


Source;www.bartleby.com/138, wikipedia.

Figure12: Mrs. Patrick Campbell to whom Shaw would have written the role of Eliza Doolittle.
Source: Pygmalion Wikipedia, free encyclopedia. pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion

Figure 13: Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964), film based on the Broadway musical,
Source: The Broadway Musical Home - My Fair Lady.www.broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/myfairlady.htm

21

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
Packaged as a romantic comedy, the play
is a sharp satire of the rigid British class system
and a criticism on womens independence.
The play artistic versions include films (1938),
an adaptation by Shaw and others, and My Fair
Lady (1964), a film version of the musical starring Audrey Hepburn as Eliza and Rex Harrison
as Higgins. On TV, there were at least three or
four productions of the play in 1963, 1983 and
1985.
Based on the 1938 film, Shaws play became a Broadway musical (1956) of huge success because of its beautiful musical score and
lyrics, by Allan Jay Lerner and Frederick Lowe
respectively. A non-English language version
of the musical was performed in Brazil (Minha
Querida dama,1963) with a convincing Portuguese translation and the competent featuring of Bibi Ferreira as Eliza and Paulo Autran
as Higgins, to name only some of the famous
Brazilian actors and actresses of that time performing in the musical.
Let us now go back to the cartoon and
take a look at the teachers surprising long
face, especially his eyes, to confirm our assumption that language intertwines culture.
That is why language and culture cannot be
separated, for language is vital to understanding our unique cultural perspectives. Language is a tool that is used to explore and
experience our cultures and the perspectives
that are embedded in our cultures. (Buffy
Sainte-Marie, American Singer and Song
Writer. Available at:www.anthro.palomar.edu/
language/language_5.htm, access in 6th July
2011.).
We are starting to realize the relation of

language to culture, that is, the role culture


plays in learning or teaching a language.
In any culture the use of language involves much more than controlling semantics,
much more than what the spoken word or the
written language can mean or contain. This
becomes especially clear when we study an
FL and learn the ways of a particular culture as
the use of introductions, salutations, everyday
sayings, protocols etc. Such uses in particular
give more weight to culture then to the words
themselves.
The fact is that anybody studying an
FL has to be both bicultural and bilingual
to speak the language he wants to learn in a
way that does not disparage to the culture
and its origin because language is not limited
to the use or meaning of words associated to
a culture words represent in terms of beliefs
and history. Culture and language (grammar/
syntax, semantics, morphology, phonology,
punctuation, intonation and stress etc.) must
intertwine so that words must be used accordingly and language achieve (one of) its goals,
communication. (Available at: www.thepaperexperts.com).
Language and culture are related in various ways and because both phenomena are
unique to humans they have also been the
focus of a great deal of anthropological, sociological and ethno-linguistic studies. Culture determines language, but to what extent
this takes place is still under debate. Some
researchers say language is culture. It follows
that to some degree culture is determined by
language.

1.7.2 Language is determined by Culture

22

As I have already mentioned, language


is determined by culture though the extent to
which this is true is polemical. The converse,
to some degree, would be also true: culture is
determined by language (Language and Culture, available at www.library.thinkquest.org/
C004367/la5.shtml.) Culture really determines
language, or at least certain of its facets.
It is known that uncivilized tribes which
lived in Europe in the time of the Roman Empire did not have words for tribunes, gladiators, Caesar, praetors, or any other expression
referring to Roman administration or government because these positions and type of soldier were not part of their culture. Similarly the
ancient Romans did not have words for factory, radio, automobile, or train because these
items did not make part of their cultural con-

text.

Interestingly, cultures sometimes restrict


what people can efficiently think about in
their own languages. Some languages, for instance, have only three words equivalent to
black, red and white but a native speaker of
this language would find it difficult to express
the concept of the English word purple efficiently. Some languages are more expressive
about certain topics as Yiddish, for example,
which is a linguistic champion, as it has a
reasonable number of words referring to the
simple minded (PINKER, 1994, p.260.) And
Yiddish, the language spoken by the Israeli
people in Israel, is written from right to left,
backwards! Did you know that, dear students?
What could be a more cultural difference than
that?

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


In fact the spectrum of colors we see
as yellow, blue etc. is seen as an arbitrary
division because cultures would divide the
spectrum differently. Therefore, the divisions
between colors would be a consequence of
the language we learn and not correspondent
to divisions in the natural world. Another example of this arbitrariness of the divisions of
colors would be the Eskimo words for snow,
as mentioned previously, which according to
researchers might vary from fifty to two hundred or over.
Considering that words determine
thought, some researchers adopted this extreme cultural relativism and believed that the
linguistic structures were entirely dependent
on the cultural context in which they existed
and that the human mind was an indefinitely
malleable structure capable of absorbing any
sort of culture without constraints. Such ideas

have now been refuted as more careful and


thorough systematic research demonstrated
that the division of color spectrum has remarkable similarities between the various and
different cultures. Therefore, studies reason
that Eskimos use over twelve different words
for snow, which is not many more than Anglo
speakers do, only because the Eskimos live in
a cold climate; in fact they live under snow! It
follows that if the inhabitants of the Sahara
desert used ten different words to refer to
sand I would neither be surprised nor puzzled;
nor if the Brazilians used more than one word
to refer to soccer (futebol, esporte das massas, peleja), carnival (festejos de Momo, festa
da carne, baguna transcendental) and poor
people (pobres, miserveis, mendigos, camadas desprivilegiadas, descamisados etc.), but
would not care least for sand or snow. Did you
get the idea, dear readers?

1.7.3 Language is part of Culture


It was mentioned that some people say
that language is culture and for many people,
language is not just the medium of culture
but also a part of it. An example of that are
the immigrants to a new country who try to
retain their old customs and speak their first
language among fellow immigrants, even if
all of them are comfortable with their new
language. The reason for this behavior is that
immigrants are eager to preserve their own
heritage, which includes not only customs and
traditions but also language. Again we remind
you of the many Jewish in their communities,
in which especially the older members commonly speak Yiddish as it is seen as a part of
the Jewish culture.
A good example of how linguistic differences are often seen as the mark of another
culture is in Canada, where French-speaking
natives of Quebec clash with the English-

speaking majority and those differences commonly create divisions among the neighboring peoples or among different groups of the
same nation.
This sort of conflict is becoming an issue
in America as speakers of standard American
English, that is, whites and educated minorities observe the growing number of speakers
of the Black English dialect. Debates emerge
over whether it is proper to use Ebonics in
schools, while its speakers continue to assert
that the dialect is a fundamental part of the
black culture. But it is always well to remember that we are talking about the properties of
language in general. And then I ask you, dear
students: Should the word Ivorics, as a counterpart for Ebonics, be invented and used
gallantly to refer to the whites in schools as
well? Let us take a look at Paul McCartneys lyrics/poem in a song.

Ebony and Ivory


Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh lord, why dont we?
We all know that people are the same where ever we go
There is good and bad in everyone,
We learn to live; we learn to give each other
What we need to survive together alive.
Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh lord why dont we?
Ebony, ivory living in perfect harmony
Ebony, ivory, ooh
We all know that people are the same where ever we go
There is good and bad in everyone,
We learn to live; we learn to give each other

Glossary
Ebonics refers to
ebony, a type of English spoken by some
African-American in the
USA. The word is also
the name of a tree with
a black color. Ivorics in
contrast refers to ivory,
a yellowish-white color.

23

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
What we need to survive together alive.
Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh lord why dont we?
Ebony, ivory living in perfect harmony
Can you see how Paul deals with the rhyming of the relevant words in the poem, I mean,
ebony-harmony-t we? Can you feel the power of language and real images in the second line as
he says Side by side on my piano keyboard?

Task
Paul refers to the union
of the black and white
notes, an integral
part of the piano he
is playing. They stand
together in harmony
to make music perfect.
Why shouldnt humans
do the same as these
notes? Discuss the subject with your tutor.

Figure 14: Sir James


Paul McCartney plays at
the BBC Electric Proms
performance, London,
England.

Task
Discuss this issue with
your tutor and classmates. Compare the
situation of Ebony and
Ivory in Anglo-America
to Brazil. You will find
out that cultures may
share similarities. Ebony
and ivory if translated
into Portuguese would
carry the same burden
as in American English?

Clue
Read more about
this issue at www.
lexiophiles.com/.../therelationship-betweenlanguage-and-culture.
Think about this: Would
it be plausible to assume that our thinking is influenced by
the language we use?
Could it be the other
way around instead:
Would our language
be influenced by our
thoughts?

24

Source:pt.wikipedia.org/

wiki/Paul_McCartney.

Now, tell me, dear students, what is behind Paul McCartneys lyrics in terms of cultural manifestations? I remind you that Paul is a British citizen but has lived in America for many years now.
Therefore, he is supposed to be acquainted with many aspects of the USA culture.

1.7.4 Language and Culture intertwined


It was said elsewhere that language is a
verbal expression of culture. Some experts
would even say that language is culture. That
would explain why it is generally agreed that
the relationship language to culture is closely
and deeply rooted. Language is used to maintain and convey culture and ties and also to
provide us with the categories we use for expressing our thoughts. Moreover, the values
and customs in the country we grow up in
shape the way in which we think to a certain
extent.
So to speak, cultures hide in languages.

An insight into any FL would reveal traits of


the countrys culture as languages are highly
influenced and shaped by culture. Lets see,
in the following figures, how much you know
of the American culture and how you perceive
language and culture intertwinement.
Consider the characters in the next figure.
Look at the first man in line. What does the
cartoonist want to mean with the drawings
around his head? Now look at the woman and
the second man in line. What do their eyes reveal? Surprise, ignorance of the facts and embarrassment are involved. Why?

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

Task
What do you think,
dear students, about
the question in the
Clue on this page? Research on the Internet
about Language and
Thought, by Vygotsky in
an eBook at www.ebooksbrasil.org/eLibris/
vigo.html, for instance,
and discuss it with your
tutor and classmates.

To learn more

Figure 15: People standing in a line of the Court Room.


Source: damscartoons.com.www.bhma.co.uk/wait-to-be-seated-greeter-sign-p-1328.ht

This sign, with the same linguistic structures, is also found at the entrance hall of The
Four Seasons, a famous restaurant in New York
City. Why would it be there?
Research about languages spoken all over
the world focuses on the status of languages
and show how they have varied and changed
over time, and that is due to social-historicalcultural factors. A look at intercultural communication examines how these factors can
affect interactions between people from
countries and backgrounds.
Leveridge (2008) states that different uses
of languages convey distinct ideas within different cultures and the whole intertwining
of such relationships start very early, at ones
birth, but it is only after he is exposed to his
surroundings that he becomes an individual
in and of their social-cultural group. Childrens
lives, opinions and language are shaped by
what they come in contact with.
Physically and mentally everyone would
be the same, whereas the interactions between persons or groups vary widely from
place to place. Behavior patterns resulting
from interaction among the individuals in the
groups will be approved or disapproved of depending on their being acceptable or not, and
this will vary from location to location thus
forming the basis of different cultures. Ones

view of the world would be formed from such


differences.
Linda Hantrais (1989) advocates the idea
that culture is the beliefs and practices governing the life of a society for which a particular language is the vehicle of expression.
Therefore, culture not only influences everyones views of the world but also shapes the
language one speaks. Following this line of
thought, the knowledge of an FL can enhance
the understanding of its culture and people.
And yet, Emmitt and Pollock (1997) argue that
even if people were brought up under similar
behavioral backgrounds or cultural situations
but spoke different languages, their world
view might be very different.
Conforming to Vygotsky ideas, Sapir-Whorf, elsewhere, argue that different
thoughts are brought about by the use of different forms of language. In this sense, the
individuals would be limited by the language
used to express their ideas. And, as different
languages will create different limitations,
a people who share a culture but speak different languages, will naturally have different world views. And yet, Emmitt and Pollock
(1997) claim that language is closely linked to
culture and language reflects it and passes it
on from one generation to the next. Therefore,
learning a new language involves learning a

I remind you that Benjamin Lee Whorf (18971941), the American linguist, in his hypothesis
claimed that there is a
relation of language to
thinking and cognition.
He advocates that language shapes the way
we think, and determines all what we can
think about. Would be
true? Couldnt it be the
other way around and
our thought shape the
language we speak?
What do you think, my
friends?

Task
Why should those people wait to be seated?
What do the linguistic
structures mean? Is
there any relation of
culture to the linguistic
structures? Is it common to find such signs
in Brazil? Where and
what for? Write some
considerations about
your answers and
discuss them with your
tutor and classmates.

25

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
new culture (ALLWRIGHT; BAILEY, 1991). Consequently, teachers of a language are also teachers of culture (BYRAM, 1989).
As we all know by now, dear students,
undoubtedly language is deeply rooted in
culture. However in what concerns language
teaching and language policy things seem to
be quite different. To promote understanding instead of misconceptions or prejudices,
aspects to be considered when instructing
students, language teachers must show that
cultural background of language usage, the
selection of culturally appropriate teaching
styles, and the exploration of culturally based

linguistic differences are needed. Also, language policy must be put in action to create
awareness and understandings of cultural differences, and to incorporate the cultural values taught. But most importantly it is strongly
advisable that Brazilian English teachers help
their students realize that there are no better
or worse cultures or languages. They are only
different. Students cultural identity must be
kept at all costs.
At this point, dear students, I think you
can easily understand what Mr. Gandhis quote
is all about at the opening of this first unit.

References
ALLWRIGHT, D; BAILEY, K. M. Focus on the Language Classroom.New York: Cambridge University Press. Anton, M. 1999.
BYRAM.M. S. Cultural Studies in Foreign Language Education.Language Arts & Disciplines.
Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 1989.
CHOMSKY, Noam. Transformational Analysis. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania,
1955.
HANTRAIS, Linda. The undergraduates guide to studying languages. London: Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research. 1989
LEVERIDGE, Aubrey Neil. The Relationship Between Language & Culture and the Implications for language teaching. Written for TEFL,. September, 2008.
PINKER, Steven.1994 - The Language Instinct: How the Mind CreatesLanguage. New York: HarperCollins. Bookmark. 1994.
POLLOCK, John; EMMIT, Marie. Language and learning: an introduction for teaching. Oxford
University Press, Melbourne, 1997.
WHORF Benjamin Lee; SAPIR, Edward.Sapir and WhorfHypothesis.In Infopedia. Porto: Porto
Editora, 2003-2011.
www.anthro.palomar.edu/language/language_5.htm.
www.bartleby.com/138, wikipedia.
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/anglo_saxons/ - Em cache
www.developing teachers.com/quotes/q1.htm.
www.facebook.com/pages/...America.

26

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

Unit 2

Where do these things come


from?
2.1 Introduction
For an effective learning about the ways
culture builds language and language builds
culture, in this unit I will present and discuss
with you the term America, the geography of
the US, some features of the Anglo-Americans
and some ethnic groups which came to influence, form and mark the American language
and culture. After all, they all contributed for
the birth and death of the American dream.

Have you ever heard this expression before?


And how about the sentence the dream is
over? Yes, the dream is over. It has been dying
since 2003 with the collapse of the Twin Towers (WTC) in New York, NY, and the economic
problems since 2008. Mistakes in administrating the country and its economy have been
killing it. What will future bring?

2.2 America
As I mentioned in the By Way of presentation, because it would be unviable in one textbook such as this to deal with all the AngloAmerican cultures, I will deal specifically with
the USA culture, and some of its implications
for the teaching and learning of English.
America is usually used to refer to the
United States, but only until the political formation of the United States after the Revolutionary War. The contemporary use of the
term America to refer to the US is due to the
countrys political and economic dominance in
the western hemisphere. In the past America
referred to South America only. Canadians and

Latin Americans consider such use of this designation impolitic.


One of the defining characteristics of
the country as a nation is its legacy of slavery
and the persistence of economic and social
inequalities based on race. The Anglo majority is politically and economically dominant.
Another characteristic is that Americans are a
mobile people who often leave their regions
of origin and U.S. culture has significant regional inflections. Most Americans are aware
of these differences despite the fact that these
regions have experienced economic transformations.

2.3 The USA


In this section I will briefly approach some
of the geographical, historical, demographic
and social aspects of the USA. The discussion
is not intended to be exhaustive, most obviously.
The United States is incrusted in North
America and includes fifty states and one federal district, where the capital, Washington,
D.C (District of Columbia) is located. Its forty-

eight contiguous states are situated in the


middle of North America. The country States
borders Canada to the north and Mexico, the
Gulf of Mexico and the Straits of Florida to the
south. The Western states border the Pacific
Ocean, and the East the Atlantic Ocean. The
USA is the worlds fourth largest country, with
an area of 3,679,192 square miles (9,529,107
square kilometers).

27

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
A leader in technology and industry, the
Northeast of the country has been overtaken
in those areas by Californias Silicon Valley. The
region is densely populated and its extensive
corridors of urbanization have been called the
national megalopolis. On its turn, the Midwest is both rural and industrial. It is where
we find the corn belt and breadbasket of
the nation. It is also known as the home of the
family farm.
In the Great Lakes area in the upper Midwest, the automobile and steel industries were

Figure 16: Appalachian


National Scenic Trail
(U.S. National Park
Service)
Source: www.nps.gov/
appa/ - En cache7 Feb
2011.

28

central to community and economy. As those


industries declined, the upper Midwest has
ironically been referred to as the rust belt.
Always associated with slavery and
shaped by its secession from the Union before
the Civil War and with subsequent battles over
civil rights for African-Americans, the South
carries different features if compared to other
regions. Today the region includes the sunshine states, retirement havens, and new economic frontiers.
Known as the last national frontier and
associated with national dreams and myths
of unlimited opportunity and individualism
the West has the nations most open landscapes. History tells that California, along with
the southwestern states, was bought by the
United States from Mexico in 1848 after the
Mexican-American War. The Southwest is dis-

tinctive for its Native American populations,


historical ties to colonial Spain, and its regional
cuisine highly influenced by Spanish cultures.
(www.kidport.com/.../usageography/usageograph... -)
The islands of Hawaii and Alaska are also
American states. The island chain of Hawaii
is situated in the east-central Pacific Ocean,
about two thousand miles southwest of San
Francisco, California. Situated between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, and bordered by Canada to the east is Alaska in North of America.
The country possesses several commonwealths and territories, most of which were
acquired through military conquest. These
territories include Puerto Rico and the Virgin
Islands in the Caribbean basin, and Guam, the
Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa,
and Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean. However,
Americans generally do not consider themselves an imperial or colonial power.
The countrys physical environment is extremely diverse. Alaska, for example is often
spectacular with its glaciers that coexist with
flowering tundra that bloom in the arctic summer. Niagara Falls, Yellowstone National Park,
and the Grand Canyon are a few of the most
famous landscapes. The forests of the Pacific
Northwest and northern California are known
for their huge ancient thick trees such as Sitka
spruce and sequoia (redwoods). The old Appalachian Mountains, on their turn, are an eroded mountain range that is now heavily forested. The Appalachians range span two cultural
regions: Located to the west of the Atlantic
coastal plain, they extend from the Middle Atlantic state of New York to the southeastern
state of Georgia.
The interior lowlands area also crosses
regions and national borders. It includes the
Midwestern Corn Belt and the Great Plains
wheat-growing region which stretches into
Canada.
The Mississippi River, which cuts north
to south through the east-central part of the
country, constitutes a major navigable inland
waterway. It is the largest river system in North
America. Flowing entirely in the United States,
the river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for 3,730 km to the
Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico.
Other important navigable inland waterways
are: the Great Lakes in the upper Midwest, the
largest freshwater lake group in the world; and
the Saint Lawrence River.

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


Figure 17,18: The
Mississippi River just
north of St. Louis (2005)
and Community of
boathouses on the
Mississippi River in
Winona, MN (2006).
Source: Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi - i_River

To learn more
Based upon the stories about the people
who lived by the Mississippi River, the musician Jerome Kern composed Show Boat a musical in two acts with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. The show, whose plot chronicles the
lives of those living and working on the Cotton
Blossom, a Mississippi River show boat, from
1880 to 1902, was originally produced in New
York in 1927 and in London in 1928. The show
was based on the 1926 novel of the same
name by the American writer Edna Ferber. The
shows dominant themes include racial prejudice and tragic enduring love. By the way, musicals are a remarkable trait of the American
culture though it was not originated in America but in England. They will be discussed in
Unit 3.
Dams and pipelines were built and
changed the landscape in the West as they
transformed Los Angeles and its desert surroundings into a giant oasis. The rich topsoil of
the Midwest is an important agricultural area
with its rivers and lakes that made it central
to industrial development. However, settlers
significantly transformed their environments,

recreating the landscapes they had left behind


in Europe. Irrigation and modern agricultural
methods into continuous fields of soybeans
and wheat have transformed the vast prairies
of the Great Plains, which were characterized
by numerous species of tall grasses. The physical environment has had significant effects on
regional cultures.
Nevertheless, the first real transformers of
these landscapes were not the American settlers but the Native American groups that also
altered the lands on which they depended.
Fire was used in hunting, and this expanded
the prairie; irrigation was used in settled communities that lived on agriculture.
The idea that the environment shapes
culture or character does have cultural currency. Historians over a century ago theorized
that the American frontier experience had
been instrumental and fundamental in forming the independent and democratic national
character. Wilderness, independence, and democracy are common aspects of American
symbolism.

read Culture of United


States of America - history, people, clothing,
traditions, women,
beliefs, food, customs, family http://
www.everyculture.
com/To-Z/UnitedStates-of-America.
html#ixzz1UHeEvU6s.

2.3.1 Demographics
The United States has a population of
over 280 million (2000 census), but it is relatively sparsely populated. The most populous state, California, with 33,871,648 inhabitants, contrasts with Wyoming, which has only
493,782 residents. These figures demonstrate
that the United States is an urban nation. Over
75% of the inhabitants live in cities, among
whom more than 50% are estimated to be

suburban. Population growth is at below-replacement levels unless immigration is taken


into account.
One of the most significant facts about
the population is that its average age is on the
rise. The baby boomers born from the end of
World War II until the early 1960s are beginning to get old but life expectancy is seventythree years for white men and seventy-nine

29

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

Task
Research on the Internet what is the meaning of the expression
baby boomers? Did
the Brazilian population suffered from such
a phenomenon? Discuss with your tutor.

years for white women. African-American men


have a life expectancy of sixty-seven years; in
inner-city areas, the average life expectancy
of African-American males is much lower. As
to mortality, infant rates are higher among
African-Americans than among whites (2000
census).
Whites constitute a large majority at
about 70% of the population. According to
current census figures, in the year 2000 the
largest minority was blacks, who number
about 35 million, or 13 percent of the population.
The Hispanics (Latinos) include primarily people from Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Cuba
(no matter their color) and make 12 percent of

the population, about 31 million. Latinos have


become the largest minority group early in the
21st century.
Including Pacific Islanders, the Asian
population includes people from China, Philippines, Japan, India, Korea, and Vietnam. Making up about 4% of the population, it is estimated that there are 11 million Asians in the
USA.
The Native American population that includes natives of Alaska such as the Inuit and
Aleuts is estimated in two million people,
slightly over 1% of the population. One third
of Native Americans lives on reservations, trust
lands, territories, and mother lands under Native American jurisdiction.

2.3.2 US Languages

30

The word English refers to the language


as spoken in England. In the USA, the term
British English is much more frequently used
for this variety of English; however, Peter Trudgill in Language in the British Isles(1984) introduced the term English (EngEng), which is
now generally recognized in academic writing
in competition with Anglo-English and English in England. In this usage the term British
English has a wider meaning, and is reserved
to describe the features common to EnglishEnglish, Welsh-English, Hiberno-English, and
Scottish-English.
The Oxford Guide to World English (p. 45),
claims that the phrase British English shares
all the ambiguities and tensions in the word
British, and as a result can be used and interpreted in two ways, more broadly or more
narrowly, within a range of blurring and ambiguity. (English Language and Culture Institute. UAB. Available at: www.uab.edu/elci-Em
cache. in 17 July, 2011.
Strange as it may seem, there is no official national language in the USA in the federal
level but 30 states made English legally their
official language. English is considered to be
de facto the national language. If English is the
US unofficial first language, Spanish is its unofficial second language for The United States
ranks fifth in the world in the number of Spanish speakers.
Native Americans, immigrants and slaves
languages have influenced the several dialects
of America. These languages include Spanish,
Dutch, German, Scandinavian, Asian, and African languages, and less widely spoken languages such as Basque, Yiddish, and Greek.
Therefore, spoken English reflects the nations
immigration and history.

Within the social hierarchy of American


English dialects, Standard English is the acceptable correct usage based on the model
of cultural, economic, and political leaders
and the language Americans are expected
to speak. There is no clear definition of what
Standard English really is, and it is often defined by what it is not. For example, it is often
contrasted with the type of English spoken by
black Americans usually seen as non-standard.
Standard English grammar and pronunciation are generally taught by English teachers
in public schools. Like whiteness, this implies
a neutral, normative and non-ethnic position.
However, most Americans do not speak Standard English; instead, they speak a range of
class, ethnic, and regional variants.
Linguistic diversity has increased a lot.
And particularly because Spanish has become
more widely spoken, language has become
an important aspect of the debate over the
meaning or nature of American culture. It is
true that linguistic and cultural diversity is accepted in states such as New York and Illinois,
where Spanish bilingual education is mandated in public schools. In California, however,
State laws prohibit even bilingual personnel
from using Spanish with Spanish-speaking patients in hospitals or with students in schools
as tensions between Anglos and Mexican immigrants run high. Bilingual education has
been abolished in the public school systems of
California.
Nevertheless, bilingual education is not
a new fact. In the 19th century, Germans outnumbered all other immigrant groups except for all the people from the British Isles
combined. Except for Spanish speakers in the
Southwest, at no other time has an FL been

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


so widely spoken. German bilingual public
schools and newspapers were found throughout the Midwest, Oregon, Colorado and elsewhere from the mid-nineteenth century until
World War I, when anti-German sentiment
resulted in the elimination of German instruction in public schools. Did you know that,
dear students, that German was once largely

spoken in the USA, and that there are many


famous German-Americans in the USA? Take
a look at the pictures below and see actress
Marlene Dietrich, x-President Dwight Eisenhower, actress Meryl Streep, the scientist Albert Einstein, the writer John Steinbeck, and
actress Sandra Bullock.

Yiddish, Swedish, and Norwegian are other languages used in the press and in public
schools. Therefore, proponents of the teaching of English only, who claim that bilingual
education should not be provided to Spanish-speaking immigrants because earlier immigrants did not have this advantage, as they
often were schooled in their native languages.
Education was fundamental in stimulating the teaching of English as a standard language and public schools played a major role
in that. By 1870, every state in the country had
committed itself to compulsory education.
The percentage of foreign-born persons who

were unable to speak English peaked 31% in


1910, but by 1920 had decreased to 15 percent,
and by 1930 had fallen less than 9%.
There is indeed a national dialect known
as American English. There are four major regional dialects in the United States: northeastern, south, inland north, and Midwestern. The
Midwestern accent (considered the standard
accent in the United States, and somehow
but not extensively analogous in some respects to the Received Pronunciation elsewhere in the English-speaking world) extends
from what were once the Middle Colonies
across the Midwest to the Pacific states.

2.3.3 The USA Symbols: The Flag, the Bald Eagle, the Great Seal
and The Star-Spangled Banner.
The symbols of the US government include: government buildings (as the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC), statues and memorials, songs, oaths, and symbols.
The national symbols are the American Flag, the Bald Eagle, the Great Sea, Figures of Justice,
the Liberty Bell, the National Flower Rose, Uncle Sam and the National Anthem.

Figure: 19: Pictures of


some famous German
Americans.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/German_American
Access in August 2011.

Task
research and find two
examples of the following government
symbols: statuses, memorials, songs, oaths.
Discuss them with your
tutor.

Task
research and find information about Figures
of Justice, Liberty Bell,
National Flower and
Uncle Sam.

Figure 20, 21,and 22: The American flag, the Bald eagle and the Great Seal US government symbols.
Source: U.S. Symbols - Bens Guide to U.S. Government for KidsAvailable at U.S. .bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/symbols/ - .

31

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
Made up of stripes symbolizing the first
thirteen colonies and of fifty stars representing the fifty states, the American flag is perhaps the most potent and contested national
symbol. On national holidays, such as Veterans
Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Independence Day, it is displayed in public places and
businesses buildings. Individuals who display
the flag in their homes or yards, and they are
many, make an explicit statement about their
patriotic connection to the nation. The flags
also employed frequently as a symbol of
protest. In the nineteenth century, northern
abolitionists hoisted the flag upside down to
protest the return of an escaped slave to his
southern owner; and upside-down flags continue to be used as a sign of protest.
The use of the stars and stripes design
in clothing, whether for fashion, humor, or
protest, is controversial as it is considered by
some people as treason or disrespect to the
national symbol and by others as an individual
right in a State that upholds individual rights.
Differently from what you may think the

Glossary
anthem is a countrys
national song. To hum - is
to emit sounds corresponding to the music notes.
(In Portuguese would be
cantarolar sem abrir a boca)

Oh, say can you see, by the dawns early light


What so proudly we hailed by the twilights last gleaming
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
Oer the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming
And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there
Oh, say does that Star - Spangled Banner yet wave
Oer the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

Task

Americans always listen to or sing their


national anthem with their right hand over
their hearts to show affection and respect for
their native country and to demonstrate patriotism. So, what has happened to President
Obama in the following picture?

Research about the


interesting history of
the American national
anthem. Find out why is
it called The Star-Spangled Banner? Discuss
it with your tutor. To
make the lyrics work,
how about finding the
anthem melody, put
them together and sing
or hum a little bit?

Figure: 23: President Obama, Hillary Clinton and


two American citizens listening to the American
Anthem.
Source: Obama: We Place Our Hands Over Our Hearts? | Floyd Reports. Available at floydreports.com/
obama-we-place-our-hands-over-our-heart...-Em
cache 13 Jan 2011 Access in 25/08/11.

To learn more
about history, geography and other important social studies information about US, check
out the Social Studies
Video Index at American Iconswww.kidport.
com/.../americanicons/
AmericanIconIndex.ht...
- Em cache -

32

term bald in the expression Bald Eagle comes


from the word piebald, an old word, meaning marked with white and not from the
fact that this bird lacks feathers. The eagle
was made national bird in 1782 because the
Founding Fathers wanted to choose an animal that was unique to the United States. The
members of Congress engaged themselves
in a dispute for finding the national emblem
that lasted six years. The bald eagle was chosen because of its strength, courage, freedom,
and immortality. US animal symbol is a powerful, brown bird of prey with a white head and
tail. Like the flag that can be seen everywhere
in US, as a symbol, the image of the bald eagle
can be seen in many places in U.S, such as on
the Great Seal, Federal agency seals, the Presidents flag, and on the one-dollar bill.
The following lyrics are part of US national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. You
must have heard them, dear students, thousands of time during the Olympiads as the
Americans always win several Gold medals in
various sport modalities.

Another way of demonstrating patriotism, nationalism and community solidarity is


through sports. In the Olympic Games/Olympiads, patriotic symbols abound, and victors
are heralded for their American qualities of
determination, individualism and competitiveness. In the same way, American football
games connect fans to one another or to their

communities through a home team. The game


expresses the important value of competition
but unlike soccer, American football games
can never end in a tie. It is interesting to notice
that, again, unlike soccer, football also reflects
cultural ideals about sex and gender as the attire of players and cheerleaders overexposes
male and female sex characteristics.

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

2.3.4 Anglo-Americans
An English-speaking European, an English
Canadian and an American are usually referred
to as Anglo-American, sometimes shortened
to Anglo. Its origin dates back to the discussion of the history of English-speaking people
of the US and the Spanish-speaking people
living in the western U.S. during the MexicanAmerican War. The usage of the word Anglo
generally ignores the distinctions between
German Americans (the largest ancestry group
in the United States, as you know), Irish Americans, English Americans, Italian Americans,
Swedish Americans, and other European descent English-speaking peoples who are the
majority in the United States and Canada.
As to European English-speaking, the
term Anglo American is sometimes but rarely
viewed as an insult as the term Hispanic is to

Clue
the natives of the Americas.
To a certain extent, Anglo has come to
denote all English-speaking people and their
descendants, no matter their prior ethnic, except for the children descendant from Chinese
Spanish speakers that would always be referred to as Hispanic.
Finally, Anglo-American also refers to
those coming from countries that traditionally
spoke English as the main language, as well as
all those whose families have become Englishspeaking people in Canada and the US. Anglo-American is often used in legal, economic
and political documents and other writings in
reference to those countries that have similar
legal regimes generally based on the English
common law.

2.3.5 The (North) Americans: Ethnicity, religion, rituals and sacred


places

I remember you that


the word football refers
only to the American
game. In Brazil people
play soccer which originated in England and
this sport is played with
11 players and can end
in a tie. Brazil has been
a soccer champion for
5 times (1958-Sweden;
1962-Chile; 1970-Mexico; 1994US; 2002-Japan).

To learn more
Culture of United States
of America - history,
people, clothing, traditions, women, beliefs,
food, customs, family
http://www.everyculture.com/To-Z/UnitedStates-of-America.
html#ixzz1UI25w0EC

Figure 24:American Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell shakes hands with President Barack Obama in a
photo taken by The White House official photographer shortly after Mr. Mitchells show was over.
Source: Available at Brian Stokes Mitchell Official site and atn.wikipedia.org/wiki. Access in 5th June, 2011

Figure25: Illustration of a blonde American young man.


Figure26: The movie star Demi More illustrating an American brunette.
Source:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Americans_(photography)

Considered a diverse country racially and


ethnically, in The United States co-exists ix races: White, American Indian and Alaska Native,
Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and people
who they call Some other race used in the
census and other surveys, though not an offi-

cial term. The expressions Hispanic or Latino


identify Hispanic and Latino Americans as a racially diverse ethnicity that composes the largest minority group in the nation.
White Americans include non-Hispanic/
Latino and Hispanic/Latino and are the racial
majority (80% share of the U.S. population),

33

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
according to estimates from the official government Programs and Surveys. Hispanic and
Latino Americans compose 15% of the population; Black Americans are the largest racial
minority, nearly 13% of the population; the
White, not-Hispanic or Latino population comprises 66% of the nations total.
The majority of the White Americans
reach their highest share of the population in
the Midwestern United States 85% according
to official Programs or 83% conforming 2002
Surveys and lives in every region. On their
turn, Non-Hispanic Whites make up 79% of the
Midwests population, the highest ratio of any

Task
refer to www.
en.wikipdia.org/Race
and ethnicity in the
United States, main
article: Demographics
in the United States
for further getting
information about The
USA demographics and
historical trends and
influences. Take notes
of these aspects for
discussions with your
tutor and classmates.

region. Nevertheless, 35% of White Americans


(including all White Americans or non-Hispanic/Latino only) live in the South. On their turn,
Blacks and African Americans are most prevalent in the South as the region is home to 55%
of the community.
As to the remaining plural groups the
majority of them reside in the West: 42% of
Hispanic and Latino Americans, 46% of Asian
Americans, 48% of American Indians and Alaska Natives, 68% of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders, 37% of the Two or more
races population (Multiracial Americans), and
46% of people of Some other race.

According to the 2000 Census and subsequent US Census Bureau surveys, Americans selfdescribed as belonging to the following racial groups:
White: those having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or
North Africa.
Black or African American: those having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.
American Indian or Alaska Native, also called Native Americans: those having origins in any
of the original peoples of North, Central and South America, and who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment.
Asian, also called Asian American: those having origins in any of the original peoples of the
Far East, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent; frequently specified as Chinese American, Korean American, Indian American, Filipino American, Vietnamese American, Japanese
American etc.
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: Those having origins in any of the original peoples
of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands called Pacific Islander Americans.

Figure 27: Hawaiians.

34

Source: www.gohawaii.about.com/.../hawaiianpeople/People_of_Hawaii. Access in 13thJuly, 2011

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


Some other race: that they consider themselves to be, the category captures responses such
as Mestizo, Creole, and Mulatto, but among the entries reported in the 2000 Census were
nationalities instead of races, such as South African, Moroccan, Belizean, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, as well as mixed-race terms like We-sorts, mixed, interracial, and others.
Multiracial - two or more races, widely known as those who check off and/or write in more
than one race. There is no actual option labeled Two or more races or Multiracial on Census and other forms; only the foregoing six races appear, and people who report more than
one of them are categorized as people of Two or more races in subsequent processing. Any
number, up to all six, of the racial categories can be reported by any respondent
As to religion, many creeds have been
brought to the United States, due to later imports of the countrys multicultural immigrant
heritage, and coexist with those founded
within the country; such beliefs have led the
United States to become one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world.
The majority of the American people are
Christian. Catholicism is the largest single denomination, but Protestants of all denominations (Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and others) outnumber Catholics. Judaism
is the largest non-Christian faith, followed by
Islam, which has a significant African-American following.
Unlike some countries, the United States
never includes a question about religion in its
national Census, and has not done so for over
fifty years. The State and the Religion are not
supposed to interfere in one anothers affairs.
The First Amendment to the American Constitution prevents the Federal government
from making any law respecting an establishment of religion, and guarantees the free
exercise of religion. Because of that religious
statistics in U.S. are obtained from organizational reporting and surveys. Is this a similarity
between the Brazilian and American cultures,
dear students? The State in Brazil does not interfere in religious affairs and the religion does
not mix with the States affairs?
Like other English speakers, Anglo-Americans are mostly, and by tradition, Protestant
whereas Roman Catholics are minority. Other
religions are also professed but by a few people. The United States has both a very wide
diversity of religions, beliefs and practices.
The 2002 surveys revealed that 83 percent of
Americans claim to belong to a religious denomination, 40 percent claim they attend services nearly every week or more, and 58 percent claim to pray at least weekly. A majority
of Americans report that religion plays a very
important role in their lives, in a proportion
unusual among developed nations.
Baptism, the largest Protestant sect, is
originated in Europe but grew exponentially
in US, especially in the South among both
whites and blacks. A few religious sects arose

independently in the United States, including


Mormons and Shakers aside from the many
Christian movements from England and Europe reestablished early in the nations history.
Although religion and the state are formally
separated, religious expression is an important aspect of public and political life. Nearly
every President has professed some variety
of Christian faith. One of the most significant
religious trends in recent years has been the
rise of evangelical and fundamentalist sects of
Christianity, organized political-religious force,
whose followers significantly influence political life and agendas.

New religions have grown such as Buddhism, with meditation, yoga, astrology, and
Native American spirituality which blend elements of Eastern religions and practices.
In sum, the majority of Americans (76%)
identify themselves as Christians, mostly
within Protestant (51%) and Catholic (25%)
denominations. Non-Christian religions as
Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, collectively make up about 3.9% to 5.5% of the
adult population. Another 15% says that they
have neither religious belief nor religious affiliation. Some 5.2%, when asked, declared that
they did not know, or refused to reply. A reli-

Glossary
We-sorts - name,
regarded as derogatory
by some, for a group
of Native Americans
in Maryland who are
from the Piscataway
tribe who have always
claimed to be Native
American people. They
were powerful at the
time of European encounter. Interestingly,
individuals with the
surnames Proctor, Newman, Savoy, Queen,
Butler, Thompson,
Swann, Gray and Harley, claim that Native
heritage.

To learn more
Read the Statistical
Abstract of the United
States, on the Internet
at www.census.gov/
compendia/statab/
cats/population.thml.

Figure 28: Protestant


cult
Source: en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/EpiscopalChurch_
(United_States) - Em cache

35

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

Task
Find explanations
for the expressions
Unchurched Belt and
Bible belt. Answer the
question: Are there any
other sorts of Belts in
the USA? If so, discuss
these aspects with your
tutor and classmates.
In what religion is
concerned, is Brazil also
divided in Belts? Why?
Comment your answers
with your colleagues
and tutor.

gious Identification Survey revealed that beliefs vary considerably across the country: 59%
of Americans living in Western states (the Unchurched Belt) report a belief in God; however in the South (the Bible Belt) the faith is as
high as 86%.
The USA has also a tradition of non-ordained and nontraditional religious practitioners who include evangelical lay preachers,
religious leaders associated with New Age
religions, and leaders of religious movements
designated as cults who profess their faith as
the practitioners of world religions such as
priests, ministers, and rabbis do. Women are
increasingly entering traditionally male religious positions. There are now women ministers in many Protestant denominations and
women rabbis. The country does not have religious rituals or designated holy places that
have meaning to the population as a whole.
However, Salt Lake City is a holy city for Mormons, and the Black Hills of South Dakota and
other places are sacred Native American sites.
And yet, there are many shared secular rituals
and places that have an almost religious importance such as baseball and football games.
Championship games in these sports, the
World Series and the Super Bowl, respectively,
constitute major annual events and celebrations. Disneyland, Hollywood, and Grace-land
(Elvis Presleys estate) are considered important places.
In what concerns death and after death
matters, Americans have an uncomfortable re-

lationship with their own mortality. Although


Christian, most residents value youth, vigor,
and worldly goods so greatly that death is
one of the most difficult subjects to talk about
and a sad and solemn occasion. At funerals,
it is customary to wear black and to speak in
hushed tones. Graveyards are solemn and quiet places. Some people believe in an afterlife
or in reincarnation or other form of continuity
of energy or spirit. Unlike Brazilians, in Americans funerals people use to receive people at
home after the burial to have some talk over
some food and drinks. Brazilians neither wear
black (any longer) nor hush their tone of voice
(any more) during funerals, nor receive people
home after the funeral. These are different
ways of mourning relatives and friends.
As you well know, dear students, people
from all over the world have immigrated to
Anglo-America with the aim of having better conditions of life, find better jobs, and escape from famine, poverty, wars and conflicts
to name only a few factors that embody the
search for higher standards of life and wellbeing. East Europeans, East Asians, Indians,
Africans (Anglo-African Americans), Latin
Americans in general, and Middle Easterners
all immigrate and live in Anglo-America today
completing the kaleidoscope of different ethnic groups despite the strictness of the immigration laws in the USA.
Lets now approach in some details the
two groups that together with the whites, historians say, formed the American people.

2.3.5.1 The Afro-Americans: demography, religious beliefs, economic


status, politics, social issues and education.
Black Americans have exerted a huge influence over the American culture such as life, religion, society, politics, education, customs, art (music, dance, theatre, and cinema) and literature
etc.
Also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans, and formerly as American Negroes,
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the
black populations of Africa. These expressions in the USA generally refer to the population of
Americans of African ancestry, or Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry.
Most of them are direct descendants of captive Africans who survived the slavery era within the
boundaries of the present United States, although some areor are descended fromimmigrants from African, Caribbean, Central American or South American nations.
African-American history dates back to the 17th century and ranges from servitude in British America and progresses into the election of Barack Obama as the 44th and current President
of the United States. Between those facts African Americans had to face ordeals and difficulties
such as slavery, reconstruction, development of the African-American community, participation
in the great military conflicts of the United States, racial segregation, and the Civil Rights Movement.
African Americans make up the single largest racial minority in the United States and form
the second largest racial group after whites in the United States.
Africans, including slaves and free people, numbered about 760,000, some 19.3% of the

36

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


overall population in 1790, according to the first U.S Census. At the
start of the Civil War, in the 1860s,
the African American population had
increased to 4.4 million, but the percentage rate dropped to 14% of the
total population of the country. The
vast majority of these Africans were
slaves, and only 488,000 counted as
freemen. In 1900, the black population doubled and reached 8.8 million. Ten years later about 90% of
African Americans lived in the South,
but many of them began migrating
north looking for better jobs and living conditions, good opportunities
and to escape from racial violence
and Jim Crow laws. This movement
was called The Great Migration which
spanned from the 1890s to the 1970s.
More than 6 million black people moved north between 1916 and
the 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s,
however, that tendency reversed
and more African Americans moved
south to the Sun Belt.
The African American population reached about 30 million in
1990, which represented 12% of the
overall U.S. population. About 39.9
million African Americans live in the
United States, according to 2005 U.S.
Census which represents 13.8% of
the total population.
Nevertheless, The World Factbook gives a 2006 figure of 12.9% Controversy, which has surrounded the accurate population count of African Americans for decades. Some demography
authorities believed it was undercounted intentionally to minimize the figures of the black population to reduce their political power base.

Figure 30: In red the region comprising The Sun Belt.


Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Belt, Access: 12th July, 2011.

To learn more
Who was Jim Crow?
Research about this
man, write down some
considerations about
him and discuss with
your tutor.

Figure 29: Pictures


of Afro-Americans.
Frederick Douglas;
Barack Obama; Rosa
Parks;
Condoleezza Rice;
M. Luther King Jr. ;
Beyonc;
Malcolm X; Oprah
Winfrey; Booker T.
Washington;
Michael Jordan;
Harriet Tubman;
Muhammad Ali
Source: From wikipedia
the free encyclopedia.
Access in August 2011.

Clue
The Sun Belt, or Spanish
Belt, is the region comprising the southern
tier of the United States
and includes the states
of Alabama, Arizona,
Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New
Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas,
roughly half of California (up to Greater
Sacramento), and parts
of Arkansas, North
Carolina, and southern Nevada. Its main
feature is its warmtemperate climate with
extended summers and
brief, relatively mild
winters. The extreme
southern part of the
Sun Belt (South Florida)
has a true tropical
climate.

37

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
The 2000 Census indicated that 54.8% of
African Americans lived in the South. In that
same year, 17.6% of African Americans lived in
the Northeast and 18.7% in the Midwest, while
only 8.9% lived in the western states. In fact,
the west does have a sizable black population
in certain areas, though. California, for example, the nations most populous state, has the
fifth largest African American population, only
behind Florida, Texas, New York, and Georgia.
The same Census stated that approximately
2.05% of African Americans are identified as
Hispanic or Latino in origin, many of whom
may be of Brazilian, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, Haitian, or other Latin American
descent. The Irish and Germans are the only
self-reported ancestral groups larger than the
African Americans. Among the many African
Americans that trace their ancestry to colonial
American origins, some simply self-identify as
American.
In 2000 almost 58% of African Americans lived in metropolitan areas. Over 2 million black residents lived in New York City
which had the largest black urban population in the United States. Overall the city has
a 28% black population. Chicago holds the
second largest black population, almost 1.6
million African Americans, some 18 percent
of the total metropolitan population. Cities
with a population of 100,000 or more, like Detroit (Michigan) had the highest percentage of
black residents of the U.S. in 2010, with 82%.
Other large cities with African American majorities are New Orleans (Louisiana, 60%), Baltimore (Maryland, 63%), Atlanta(Georgia, 54%),
Memphis(Tennessee, 61%), and Washington,
D.C (50.7%).
As to their economic status, African
Americans have benefited economically from
the advances made during the Civil Rights era,
particularly the educated, but not without the
lingering effects of historical marginalization.
The racial disparity in poverty rates has narrowed and the black middle class has grown
substantially in such a way that in 2000, 47% of
African Americans owned their homes. In 1998
the poverty rate among African-Americans
was 26.5%; in 2004 it decreased to 24.7%.
The buying power of African-Americans
is over $892 billion currently and will be likely
over $1.1 trillion by 2012. This makes African
Americans the second largest consumer group
in America. In 2002 African American owned
businesses accounted for 1.2 million of the
USs 23 million businesses.
African American workers had the second-highest median earnings of American minority groups in 2004, after Asian Americans.

38

African Americans had the highest level of


male-female income parity of all ethnic groups
in the United States.
In 2001, over half of African American
married couples earned $50,000 or more.
American families headed by single women
are collectively poorer.
Gender continued to dictate income level, with the median earnings of African American men more than those black and non-black
American women overall and in all educational levels by 2006. Concomitantly, among
American men, income disparities were significant; the median income of African American men was nearly 76 cents for every dollar
of their European American counterparts and
$1.17 for every dollar earned by Hispanic men.
With a rise in educational level, however, the
gap narrowed somewhat.
In 2006, among American women, African-American women with post-secondary
education have made significant advances
and the median income of African American
women was more than those of their Asian,
European and Hispanic American counterparts
with at least some college education.
In 1999, the median income of African
American families was $33,255 compared to
$53,356 of European Americans. In times of
economic hardship for the nation, AfricanAmericans suffer disproportionately from job
loss and underemployment. The phrase last
hired and first fired is reflected in the Bureau
of Labor Statistics unemployment figures. Nationwide, the October 2008 unemployment
rate for African-Americans was 11.1%, while
the nationwide rate was 6.5%.
Between black and white families the
income gap is so significant that in 2005 employed blacks earned only 65% of the wages
of whites, down from 82% in 1975. In 2006,
the New York Times reported that in Queens,
New York, the median income among AfricanAmerican families exceeded that of white families, fact which the newspaper attributed to
the growth in the number of two-parent black
families.
The rate of births to unwed African-American mothers in 1999 was estimated in 70%. In
2005, the poverty rate among single-parent
black families was 39.5%, while it was 9.9%
among married-couple black families. Among
white families, the comparable rates were
26.4% and 6% respectively.
According to Forbes magazine, the
wealthiest American, with $800 million
dollars Oprah Winfrey is the richest African
American of the 20th century. In contrast the
20th centurys richest American, Bill Gates,

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


who is of European descent, briefly hit $100
billion in 1999. In Forbes 2007 list, Gates fortune decreased to $59 billion while Winfreys
increased to $2.5 billion, which made her the
world richest black person. Winfrey is also
the first African-American to make Business
Weeks annual list of Americas 50 greatest philanthropists. Winfrey remains the only AfricanAmerican wealthy enough to rank among the
countrys 400 richest people.
Some black entrepreneurs use their
wealth to create new avenues for both AfricanAmericans and new opportunities for American business in general. Example of that is
Tyler Perry who created new filming studios
in Atlanta, Georgia, which makes it possible
to film movies and television shows outside of
California.
In regard to politics, as a group, AfricanAmericans are more involved in the American
political process than other minority groups
in the USA. They indicated the highest level
of voter registration and participation in elections among these groups in 2004. Collectively, African-Americans attain higher levels
of education than immigrants to the United
States and also have the highest level of Congressional representation of any minority
group in the U.S.
The large majority of African-Americans
support the Democratic Party but historically,
they were supporters of the Republican Party
because it was Republican President Abraham
Lincoln who helped in granting freedom to
American slaves. The Republicans and Democrats at the time, represented the sectional
interests of the North and South, respectively,
rather than any specific ideology.
The African-American support for Democrats trace back to the 1930s during the Great
Depression, when Franklin D. Roosevelts New
Deal program provided economic relief to
African-Americans as Roosevelts New Deal
coalition turned the Democratic Party into an
organization of the working class and their
liberal allies, regardless of region. The AfricanAmerican vote became even more solidly
Democratic when Democratic presidents John
F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson pushed for
civil rights legislation during the 1960s.
Marriage rates for all Americans began
to decline while divorce rates and births have
climbed after over 50 years and these changes
have been greatest among African-Americans.
After over 70 years of racial parity black marriage rates began to fall if compared to the
whites. Single-parent households have become common, and according to US census
figures released in January 2010, only 38%

of black children live with both their parents.


Despite all that African-Americans favor traditional American values about family and marriage.
Out of fifty-two percent only 30% of the
Black Democrats support same-sex marriage.
Though Democrats overwhelmingly voted
(64%) against the California ballot proposition banning gay marriage in 2008, blacks approved (70% in favor) it, more than any other
racial group.
As to social issues, Afro-Americans tend
to hold a more conservative position about
abortion, extramarital sex, and raising children
out of wedlock. Nevertheless, on financial issues, African- Americans are very much in line
with Democrats, as generally supportive of a
more progressive tax structure which would
reduce injustice and as well as more government spending on social services and public
services in general.
Concerning education, the USA takes race
and other classification into account. By 2000,
African-Americans had advanced greatly in
this issue. They still lagged overall in education
attainment compared to white or Asian Americans, with 14%in the four first years of schooling and 5%in advanced degrees, though it was
higher than other minorities. Blacks attended
college at about half the rate of whites, but at
a greater rate than that of the Americans of
Hispanic origin.
In the population of blacks attending college, we find more women than men. Schools
for black students from kindergarten through
twelfth grade were common throughout the
U.S., which characterized segregation but a
movement towards de-segregation is currently occurring across the country.
Black colleges and universities remain today what they were originally when segregated colleges did not admit African- Americans.
In 1947, about one third of African Americans
were denied literacy to read and write their
own names. By 1969, as it had been traditionally defined illiteracy was largely eradicated
among younger African-Americans.
By 1998, US Census surveys showed that
89% of the African-Americans aged 25 to 29
had completed high school, which is less than
whites or Asians, but more than Hispanics. Historically, on many college entrance standardized tests and grades, African-Americans have
lagged behind whites, but some studies suggest that the achievement gap has been closing. Many policy propositions suggest that this
gap can and will be eliminated through policies such as desegregation, affirmative action,
and multiculturalism.

To learn more
Again it is important to
refer to The Statistical
Abstract of the United
States, on the Internet
at www.census.gov/
compendia/statab/
cats/population.thml.

39

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

Figure31: The
King & Carter
Jazzing Orchestra
photographed in
Houston, Texas,
January 1921
Source: en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/File:Jazzing_orchestra_1921.png - En cache

40

Afro-Americans were and are highly influential in the United States as they have contributed language, literature, art, foods, agricultural skills, clothing styles, and music, social
and technological innovation to American
culture from their earliest presence in North
America.
The cultivation and use of many agricultural products in the U.S., such as yams, peanuts, rice, okra, sorghum, grits, watermelon,
indigo dyes, and cotton can be traced to African and African-American influences. A notable example includes George Crum, who
invented the potato chip, a cultural symbol of
the US, in 1853.
Soul, blues, Hip hop, R&B, funk, rock and
roll, and other contemporary American musical forms originated in black communities
and evolved from other black forms of music,
including blues, doo-wop, barbershop, ragtime, bluegrass, jazz, and gospel music makes
of Black music one of the most dominant in
mainstream popular music. Representatives
of famous icon singers include Nat King Cole,
Natalie Cole, Ray Charles, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Lionel Ritchie, Steve Wonder, Sammy Davies Junior (also an actor and dancer),
among others. Today, they are countless.
African American musical genres are the
most important ethnic tradition in America,
as they have developed independently of
African traditions more than any other immigrant groups, including Europeans and have,
historically, been more influential, interculturally, geographically, and economically, than
any other American traditions. Like Brazilian
Africa-descendants, African- American musical
forms have also influenced and been incorporated into virtually every other popular musical genre in the world, including country and

techno. Representatives of great and world


famous icon musicians include Dizzy Gillespie,
Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.
As to literature, a brief account would
show that many African-American authors
have become famous for their production of
poetry, stories, and essays influenced by their
life experiences. African-American literature is
a major genre in American literature. Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Richard Wright,
Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, Nobel Prize
winner Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou are
some examples of those writers. Recently, August Wilson, one of the most important playwrights (plays: Fences and King Hedley the
Third) and Ishmael Reed is a respectful poet
and influential essay writer.
Presently, the election of Barak Obama
is considered the most striking fact: an AfroAmerican descendant became president elect
of the US, that is, ebony is living in the White
House and ruling the whites, Hispanic, Europeans and, Easterners. All these events mark
the American society, culture and highly influence the American English language with
new words, habits, ways of thinking, dressing,
of viewing the world and receiving new technologies and facing progress in Science, Engineering, Architecture, Decorating, Fashion,
Arts, and Literature. A new and different society emerges from every event, a new world is
born and the ever evolving language and culture follow this pace.
Therefore, to corroborate the idea that
culture and language intertwine some words
are created, used and become no longer in
common use according to the evolution of culture and history. On this line of thought, the
terms mulatto and colored were widely used
until the second quarter of the 20th century,
when they were considered outmoded and
gave way to the word negro commonly capitalized in the 1940s, but by the midst 1960s, it
had acquired negative connotations. However
the term mulatto is still in use in many countries of Latin America and is not viewed as offensive. Today, the Americans consider the
term inappropriate and pejorative.
Similarly, the term Negro is no longer in
use among the younger black generation,
but is still used by a substantial group of older
black Americans, particularly in the southern
states. Negro, which translates as black, in Latin America is the term generally used to refer
and describe black people and, like the word
mulatto, it is not considered offensive in these
countries. In Brazil, unlike other Latin American countries, we use the words preto, moreno and escuro to refer to Black people; the last

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


two terms are undoubtedly discriminating euphemisms for black people, an attempt to disguise prejudice.
What I included here about African-Amer-

ican influence in America is far from being


exhaustive. Much more can be added or said
about this issue, obviously.

2.3.5.2 Hispanic and Latino Americans


The second largest group to form the
Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans
are Americans with origins in the Hispanic
countries of Latin America or in Spain, and
in general all persons in the United States
who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.
But make no mistake, Hispanic Americans are not to be confused with the inhabitants of Hispanic America or those of
Latin Americas. The Hispanic Latinos constitute a total population of 50,477,594
million people, about 16.3% of the U.S.
population according to the Census of
2010, living in all areas of the United States
with significant populations. They form
the second largest ethnic group, but the
largest of all the minority groups, after
non-Hispanic White Americans (a group
composed of dozens of sub-groups, as is
Hispanic and Latino Americans).
Originated from all continents the
Latin American population in the USA has
many ancestries and are racially diverse,
thus forming an ethnic category, rather
than a race. The choice of name (Latino
and Hispanic) depends on the side of the
US territory they live: Latino-Americans
and Hispanic residing in the eastern United States tend to prefer the term Hispanic,
whereas those in the west usually prefer
Latino. They speak predominantly American English and Spanish. For the U.S. government and others, Hispanic or Latino
identity is voluntary, as it is shown in the
United States Census, and in some market
research.
They are Roman Catholics and a
large minority is Protestant. Related ethnic groups include Latin Americans, Spaniards, Belizean Americans, Brazilian Americans, Latin Europeans and others. Mexican
Americans, Cuban Americans, Colombian
Americans, Dominican Americans, Puerto
Ricans, Spanish Americans, and Salvadoran
Figure 32: The Latino Americans: Csar Chvez, Raquel Welch, David Farragut, Sonia
Americans are some of the Hispanic and Sotomayo, Franklin Chang-Diaz, Romana Acosta Bauelosn Alex Rodriguez, Hilda
Latino American national origin groups.
Solis, Isabel Allende, John Leguizamo, Juan Bandini and Gloria Estefan.
History tells that the Hispanic pres- Source: wikipedia/org/wiki/Hispanic-and- Latino-Americans.
ence in the USA dates back to half a century earlier than the creation of St. Augustine, Florida. If San Juan, Puerto Rico, is considered to be
the oldest Spanish settlement, and the oldest city in the U.S., Hispanic or Latino have been in the
territory of the present-day United States continuously since the 1565 founding of St. Augustine

41

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

To learn more
read the siteen.wikipedia.org/.../Category:
Ethnic_groups_in_
the_United States, for
getting more knowledge about Race and
Ethnicity in The USA.

Task
See the musical movie
West Side Story to
understand the story of
the struggle of Hispanic
immigrants in their trial
to live together with
the Anglo-Americans in
the 1950s. Discuss the
discrimination in the
film and its implications for the teaching
of English as a second
language with your
classmates and tutor.

Figure 33: Irish


immigrants arriving
in the United States in
1902.
Source: www.workpermit.
com Immigration

42

by the Spanish, who are the longest among European American ethnic groups and second-longest of all U.S. ethnic groups, after Native Americans.
Hispanics have also lived continuously in the Southwest since near the end of the 16th century with settlements in New Mexico that began in 1598, and were transferred to the area of El
Paso, Texas, in 1680. Spanish settlement of New Mexico resumed in 1692, and other new ones
were established in Arizona and California in the 18th century (Available at www.linguee.com.br/
ingles-portugues/.../we+sort.html -. Access 5th July, 2011).
The question on Latino/Hispanic origin concerns ethnicity not race as mentioned previously
for no separate racial category exists for Hispanic and Latino Americans, and they do not make
up a race of their own. When responding to the race question on the Census form they choose
from among the same racial categories as all Americans, and are included in the items and numbers reported for those races.
Thus each racial category includes Non-Hispanic or Latino and Hispanic or Latino Americans. The White race category, for instance, includes Non-Hispanic Whites and Hispanic Whites;
The Black or African American category contains Non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanic Blacks, and
the same is said of all the other categories. Self-identifying as Hispanic or Latino and not Hispanic
or not Latino is neither explicitly allowed nor explicitly prohibited. (www.linguee.com.br/inglesportugues/.../we+sort.html -. Access 5th July, 2011).

2.3.5.3 Immigration and the Whites


Historical facts mark the formation of the white population in America. It would be unviable
to narrate all these facts so I will make a brief report about some of them.
The colonial period, the mid-nineteenth century, the turn of the twentieth, and post-1965
are the four epochs of the American immigration. Each epoch brought distinct races, ethnicities
and national groups to the United States and among them the white people.
The story of the American white population dates back to 1492 when Christopher Columbus, under contract to the Spanish crown, reached several Caribbean islands, making first contact with the indigenous people.
On April 2, 1513, Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Len landed on what he called La
Floridathe first documented European arrival on what would become the U.S. mainland. From
that time on, other Spanish settlements in the region would be followed by others as the French
fur traders who established outposts of New France around the Great Lakes.
In the early years of the United States, immigration was fewer than 8,000 people a year, including French refugees from the slave revolt in Haiti and perhaps, less than one million immigrants, as few as 400,000, crossed the Atlantic during the 17th and 18th centuries. During the
17th century, nearly 175,000 Englishmen came to Colonial America and still in the 17th and 18th
centuries, over half of all European
immigrants arrived in Colonial
America as indentured servants.
The first successful English settlements were those of the puritans
in the Virginia Colony in Jamestown
in 1607 and the Pilgrims Plymouth
Colony in 1620. By 1634, New England had been settled by some
10,000 Puritans. Between the late
1610s and the American Revolution, about 50,000 convicts were
shipped to Britains American colonies. According to the American
History they escaped from religious
prosecutions on part of Henry VIII,
King of England, who wanted to
exterminate the protestant religion
and keep Catholicism as the official
religion in his country.

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


The Dutch arrived in the beginning of 1614 and settled along the lower Hudson River, including New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. They ceded their American territory to England in
1674 and the province of New Netherland received a new name: New York.
Many new immigrants, especially in the South, were indentured servants population that
achieved some two-thirds of all Virginia immigrants between 1630 and 1680 and who would be
replaced by African slaves that, in their turn, would become primary source of bonded labor by
the turn of the 18th century.
After 1846, Irish immigration to America was predominantly Catholic. The vast majority of
those that had arrived previously had been Protestants or Presbyterians and had quickly assimilated, not least because English was their first language, and most (but certainly not all) had skills
and perhaps some small savings on which to start to build a new life. Very soon they had become
independent and prosperous.
Though materialistically poor, the Irish were rich in cultural resources; developing institutions that helped them face hardship without despair. Cultural events such as St. Patricks Day
were regarded by most Americans as evidence of the separateness of these immigrants, but
helped hold the Irish culture together. The Irish were highly influential in the American culture.
Historians tell that The 1790 Act limited naturalization to free white persons; but it was expanded to include blacks in the 1860s and Asians in the 1950s.
The 19th century was marked mainly by immigration from northern Europe. In the early
20th century, America received Immigrants mainly from Southern and Eastern Europe. From
1965 on, they mostly came from Latin America and Asia.
After 1820 immigration gradually increased. Over 30 million Europeans migrated to the US
from 1836 to 1914. They crossed the Atlantic on ships but the death rate on these transatlantic
voyages was high and out of seven one traveler died. In 1875, the USA passed its first immigration law.
European immigration was as 1,285,349 persons who entered the country in 1907. By 1910,
13.5 million of them were living in the USA. Because of this huge number of immigrants in 1921,
the Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act, followed by the Immigration Act of 1924 which
restricted the entrance of the Southern and Eastern Europeans, especially Jews, Italians, and
Slavs who entered the country in large scales in the early 1890s. The consequence was that most
of the European refugees fleeing the Nazis and World War II were prohibited of coming to the
United States.

Glossary
indentured slavespeople who agree to
work with someone
else to learn the job.
Task: Find out on
the Internet further
information about the
historical facts that influenced the formation
of the white population
in America, from 1729
to 1991.

To learn more
See the film Gangs of
New York (2002)and
know more about the
Irish presence in New
York, NY, in the early
1920s.

Figure 34: Polish


immigrants on a farm
(1909).
Figure 35: Italian
immigrants. Little Italy
in New
York. (1900)
Source: www.
en.wikipedia.org/.../
Category: Ethnic_groups_
in_the_United States, for
getting more knowledge
about Race and Ethnicity
in The USA.

The 1930 immigration was caused by the


Great Depression which hit the U.S. and lasted
over ten years. There were 279,678 immigrants
recorded in the final prosperous year of 1929,
however four years later, only 23,068 came to
the U.SA. More people emigrated from the
country than immigrated to it in the early
1930s. Moreover, the U.S. government sponsored a Mexican Repatriation program to encourage people to voluntarily move to Mexico,
but thousands were deported against their
will. About 400,000 Mexicans were repatriated. In the post-war era, precisely in 1954, the
Justice Department launched Operation Wetback, under which 1,075,168 Mexicans were

deported (Available at www.historyworld.


net/.../PlainTextHistories.asp. Access in January, 2010).
The gender imbalance among legal immigrants was sharp as most of the legal ones
was male until the 1930s. However, in the
1990s, women accounted for just over half of
all legal immigrants, thus shifting away from
the male-dominated immigration of the past.
Contemporary immigration shows that immigrants are younger than the native population
of the United States- between the ages 15 and
34 and they are also more likely to be married and less to be divorced than native-born
Americans of the same age.

43

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
White immigrants also tend to move to
and live in areas populated by people with
similar backgrounds. This fact has proved to
be true throughout the history of immigration
to the United States. Three-quarters of immigrants surveyed by Public Census (2002) said
they intended to make the USA their permanent home and emphasized that if they had
to immigrate again, 80% of them would still
come to that country. In the same study, 80%
of immigrants said the government has become tougher on enforcing immigration laws
since 9/11, and 30% report that they personally
have experienced some sort of discrimination.
According to many recent surveys, the attacks of September 11, 2001 have influenced
the birth of Public attitudes about immigration in the U.S.A. Fifty per cent of the Americans believe that immigration is a good thing
overall for their country, but the other half say
tighter control on immigration would do a
great deal to enhance national security.
From 1991 to 2000, the USA admitted
more legal immigrants (10 to 11 million) than
in any previous decades. In the most recent
decade, the ten million legal immigrants that
settled in the USA represent an annual growth
of only about 0.3% as the country population
grew from 249 million to 281 million. Specifically, aproximately 15% of the Americans were
foreign-born in 1910, against about only 10%
of foreign-born in 1999.
By 1970, immigrants accounted for 4.7%
of the USA population and rising to 6.2% in
1980, with an estimated 12.5% to this present
year. In 2010, a quarter of the residents of the
United States under 18 were immigrants or immigrants children.
In 2006, the United States accepted more
legal immigrants as permanent residents than
all other countries in the world combined.
Since the removal of ethnic quotas in immigration in 1965, the number of first-generation
immigrants living in USA has quadrupled from
9.6 million in 1970 to about 38 million in 2007.
(Available at Category: Ethnic_groups_in_the_
United States. Access, July, 2010)
In 2008, 8% of all babies born in the U.S.
belonged to illegal immigrant parents, according to a recent analysis of the USA Census Bureau data (Pew Hispanic Center). About
1,046,539 persons were naturalized as USA
citizens in 2008. Mexico, India, the Philippines,
and China were the leading emigrating countries to the United States, but the last ones are
of oriental origin, the so called yellow race, not

44

white.
The cheap airline travel post-1960 facilitated travel to the United States, but migration
remains difficult, expensive, and dangerous
for those who cross the United StatesMexico
border illegally. Family reunification is the direct cause for two-thirds of legal immigration
to the US every year. The number of foreign
nationals who became legal permanent residents of the USA in 2009 as a result of family
reunification (66%) outpaced those who became residents on the basis of employment
skills (13%) and humanitarian reasons (17%).
Recent debates on immigration demanded increasing enforcement of existing
laws with regard to illegal immigration to the
United States, the building of a barrier along
some or the entire 2,000-mile (3,200 km) USAMexico border, or creating a new guest worker
program. Along 2006, the country and Congress were immersed in a debate about these
proposals. In April 2010, few of these proposals had become law, though a partial border
fence was approved and subsequently cancelled.
One major issue for the USA immigration
these days is undoubtedly the question of terrorism which has become an obsession for the
population in general and for the American
governmental authorities in particular since
the successful terrorist attacks and collapsing of the Twin Towers that composed the
World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan,
NY., (under the command of terrorist Osama
Bin Laden), which opened the eyes of the
Americans for the fact that they were vulnerable, somewhat unprotected or unprepared to
face and fight terrorism. (/.../Category: Ethnic_
groups_in_the_United States). But reconstruction is the word these days. A complex with
four buildings is being built inGround Zero:
two tall major ones and two smaller ones. The
tallest ones are almost finished.
Despite all constraints imposed by the
immigration laws, one of the major sources
of population growth and cultural change
throughout much of the history of the United
States has been immigration. The economic,
social, and political aspects of immigration
have caused controversy regarding ethnicity,
economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants,
settlement patterns, impact on upward social
mobility, crime, and voting behavior. However,
Americans cannot deny the invaluable contribution of immigrants for the development
and progress of their country.

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

References
ALLWRIGHT, D.; BAILEY KM (1991).Focus on the language classroom: an introduction to classroom research for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
BROOKS, N (1986) Culture in the classroom. In JM Valdes (ed) Culture bound: bridging the cultural gap in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 123128.
BYRAM M (1989) Cultural studies in foreign language education. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
EMMITT M; POLLOCK J. Language and learning: an introduction for teaching (2nded). Melbourne: Oxford University Press. (1997)
HANTRAIS, Linda. The undergraduates guide to studying languages. London: Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research, 1989.
LEVERIDGE, A.N. Language and Culture, Paper for TEFL.net | September 2008.
edition.tefl.net/articles/teacher.../language-culture/ enwww.historyworld.net/.../PlainTextHistories.asp
enwww.kidport.com/.../americanicons/AmericanIconIndex.ht... - Em cache
en.wikipedia.org/.../Race_and_ethnicity_in_the_United_States,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-America-.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_United_States -www.wikepedia.).
wikipedia.org/.../Category: Ethnic_groups_in_the_United States,
wikipedia.uab.edu/elci-Em cache. And also at: ww.lonweb.org/link-english.htm - En cache.
wikipedia/org/wiki/Hispanic-and- Latino-Americans.
www.everyculture.com/To-Z/United-States-of-America.html#ixzz1UHeEvU6s.
www.kidport.com/.../usageography/usageograph...
www.linguee.com.br/ingles-portugues/.../we+sort.html -.
www.nps.gov/appa/ - Em cache
www.workpermit.com Immigration

45

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

Unit 3

Where does this all lead us to?


3.1 Introduction
Having discussed various fundamental issues and aspects, words and expressions such as
culture and language, and mainly the relation of culture to language, I will now approach them
as indispensable elements in the process of teaching and learning a second language, English. To
achieve such a purpose I will work with the analysis of texts while going back, from time to time,
to the issues dealt with previously in Units 1 and 2.
Let us concentrate our attention on the following quotation:
Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover
that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages (BARRY, 1974).

Dave Barry, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author famous for his weekly newspaper humorist column for The Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005 means something with this hilarious and
ironic quote. He criticizes the decanted ignorance of the Americans about other peoples languages, or say, the arrogance some Americans sometimes exhibit in relation to what happens in
the rest of the world. The quote is about events in old times (1947). And because the world and
things changed, today, after so many ordeals, tragic wars and events the Americans had to rethink and face a world which has been changing considerably. The quote, however, shows some
traits of the American culture worth some discussion.
It is true that the ironic quote reveals the opinion that Americans hold certain ignorance
about some facts shared by most people. But would it be really ignorance or should we remember that at that time (1947) the dream was not over, that Americas supremacy over other countries was so absolute that they would not consider the possibility of the world speak languages
other than English? This, then, rise to a cultural trait conveyed by language Americas hegemony/arrogance before other nations.
It follows that culture and language intermingled to reveal the authors intended meaning
and produce the desired effect on readers: laughter, especially from the foreign people but not
from the Americans.

3.2 Some small talk: american


culture
No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive.(Gandhi)
What did Mr. Gandhi want to mean by this quote?

47

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

3.2.1 The Spanish Holy Office

Glossary
heretics: Anti-Christians.

Clue
In South America
Simn Bolvar and Jos
de San Martin abolished the Inquisition; in
Spain itself the institution survived until 1834
(The Inquisition in the
New World, by Clara
Steinberg-Spitz. (ww.
sefarad.org/publication/lm/037/6.html.
Access in May 2011).

Figure 36 The burnings


of alleged heretics in
Spain.
Source: Available at www.
newadvent.org Catholic
Encyclopedia. .Access in:
May 2nd, 2011

48

My choice for approaching some aspects of the Spanish Inquisition was not at random and
twofold: I was moved by the great influence this long historical event exerted on the European
and eventually in the American cultures, history, society and languages. Secondly, the Holy Office
would give birth to Witch Hunts in the USA and influence its culture and language. Obviously, as I
mentioned elsewhere in this textbook, facts other than this religious one that are equally influential in the USAs culture and language.
In brief words, The Holy Inquisition, or The Holy Office, that is, the fight against heretics so
to speak, by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church, started
in the 12th century with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heretics. Thus the Holly
Office performed an outstanding role to guarantee, through torture and strong repression, Catholic beliefs and creeds all over the world for centuries. Inquisition practices were used also on
offences against canon law other than heresy. The fight to combat heresy against the Catholic
Church spread (almost) all over the New World (Americas) colonized by the Spanish.
With the exception of Brazil and the northeast coast of South America, all of that continent
as well as Central America, Mexico (North America), and some of the Caribbean Islands were part
of the Spanish colonial empire from 1492 to the 1820s. The establishment of the Inquisition in
Spain dates back to 1478. But it was only in 1569 that it was set up with two tribunals by King
Philip. The Inquisition also reached North America and carried on with its function until the Mexican War of Independence (18101821).
In the following pictures take a good look at some of the cruel forms of punishment the European Inquisition submitted the heretics to and how the inquisitors used to dress themselves.

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

Figure: 37: Inquisitors in their costumes on


trial.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisition

Figure 38: Joan of Arcs Death at the Stake, by Hermann Stilke (18031860).
Source: www.pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc - En cache

Figure 39: Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)

Source: Available at www.newadvent.org Catholic Encyclopedia. Access in: May 2nd, 2011

49

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

Glossary
Enunciate: term usually used to refer, but
not exclusively, to a
sentence in discourse.
Gallows humor: black
humor.

Task
Did you laugh on hearing the joke? Yes, no,
why? Write down about
the reasons of your
laughter no matter you
answer to discuss them
with your tutor and
classmates.

To learn more
watch the video: Sir
Thomas Mores execution on the YouTube
and write down his last
words from the moment he walks amongst
people to reach the
scaffold. Compare
them to the ones in the
joke. Make a written
comment and discuss
the part let me shift for
myself once again with
your tutor.

Clue
Thomas More was
decapitated in England,
country where the
hardships the Anglican
Church imposed to the
Catholics in late medieval times were retaliations to the persecution
of Protestants by The
Holy Catholic Church in
earlier medieval times,
when Catholic authorities and adepts in the
name of The Holy Office
executed or submitted
many people to death
or abominable tortures.
The Anglican Church
would promote a persecution to Catholics,
event that would result
in many English families The Puritans - immigrating to the New
World - North America,
specifically The USA.

50

Figures 38 and 39 portray the execution of Saint Joan of Arc, and a painting of the Sir Thomas More The great English philosopher and predecessor of Humanism in the XVI century. But differently from Saint Joans burning to death, the execution of Thomas More in medieval times has
become theme of films that gave origin to some hilarious (black humor) stories worthy of discussion due to the cultural aspects involved. One of them is:
As Sir Thomas More climbed a rickety scaffold where he would be executed, he said to his
executioner:
I pray you, Mr. Lieutenant, see me safe up; and for my coming down, let me
shift for myself. (Available at www.facebook.comGallowshumor-e Notes.com.
www.wnotes.com. Access in June, 2011).

If translated into Portuguese the joke would keep the authors intended meaning. But would
such meaning match with the listeners? Did you notice that this text is gallows humor and permeated by Sir Mores ironic enunciates? Yes, it is indeed. But what would be required to understand this joke?
Firstly, your knowledge of the world (always, and in all circumstances), then your linguistic
knowledge of English and of the British historical-social and cultural aspects such as who is Sir
Thomas More, what were the circumstances of his being sentenced to death penalty by The Holy
Inquisition, Sir Mores (British) control and elegancy but disdainful posture before death itself, his
intense faith for the Catholic Church and extreme respect for Henry VIII, who had condemned
him despite being his close friend. But most of all you need to capture the nuances and subtleties of the British humor which is, obviously, different from the Europeans, Americans, Brazilians
and from any other country.
Although there is equivalence in meaning between English and the Portuguese language
in the previous humor text, it is not consensual that in different cultures and languages such
equivalence always prevails. The same may be said of texts other than the humoristic ones. Some
have equivalence, others dont and in general due to social, cultural, pragmatic, historical and,
obviously, linguistic reasons. The point is that we cannot generalize things. And for you, dear students, the important is to open your minds to accept that you will not attain the level of linguistic proficiency needed for success in learning a foreign language without experiencing the cultural aspects involving it.
Still, watching a video on YouTube I found out that the story of the execution of Sir Thomas
More differs a little from the joke I told here. History tells that when he slid down in front of the
stairs of the scaffold where he would be decapitated, his exact enunciates were.
Thank you, my Lord Hereford, when I come down again let me shift for myself once again.
Time, History, culture and society have changed Mores speech thus turning it into gallows
humor, a sort of joke similar to the Brazilian black humor. Just out of curiosity, my friends, Thomas
More was named a Catholic saint in 1935. The heretic of the Medieval Times becomes a saint in
the 20th century. Is it possible to understand religions or men?

3.2.2 Witch-hunts in America


It was said that the Inquisition cruel prosecution would not reach US with the same intensity
as it did in Europe. However, another form of repression and torture would appear in America, in
the USA, witch-hunt, a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft. Moments also legally sanctioned and involving official trials in Europe appear about 1480 to 1750, resulting in an estimated
40,000 to 100,000 the number of trials and executions respectively. Witch hunts touched the soil
of America as a representative of The Holy Inquisition. The term witch comes from the Old English word wicca derived from the Germanic root wic, meaning to bend or to turn.
The famous case of the Salem witch trials (theme of several Hollywoodian films) among the
Massachusetts Puritans in the USA is a traditional example. It began in 1692 and has entered
American consciousness as being quite a bit more than just the killing of witches. The American
trials of witches have become a symbol of what can go wrong when crowds of ignorant people
go insane, especially when stimulated by ambitious powerful (false) leaders.

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

Political and religious authorities used the witch trials to impose their own ideas of order
and righteousness upon the local population. In America, as in Europe, violence was used to enforce uniformity and conformity in face of dissent and social disorder. Penalties were immediately applied especially if you were an older, deviant, troublesome or somehow a disorderly woman.
Take a look at the following picture and see how the (alleged) heretics were taken to the
scaffold to be burned to death.

Figure 40: Witches of


Salem, Official arrest,
trial and an execution
Source: Available at:
countrystudies.us/united-states/history Access in
11th March, 2011.

Figure 41 American
Puritans fanaticism.
Witch hunts and
prosecution
Source: Available at: www.
rjgeib.com/thoughts/puritan/puritan.html Access
in13th May, 2010.

At the time of the known Salem witch


hunt, nineteen people were executed. However, such sort of events have not been relegated
to past. They continued into the XX century
when in 1928, 1976, 1977 and 1981 suspects
were executed for sorcery, insanity, witchery,
witchcraft or for being a witch. Does the reason for the executions make any sense or difference? Of course not! And, obviously, all of
this would highly influence and add to the
American culture and language.

Now, let us see the ordeals American literary writers were submitted to in face of these
events.
In the 1630s the large immigration to Boston was the cause for the high articulation of
Puritan cultural ideals, and due to this fact the
early establishment of a college and a printing
press in Cambridge, the New England colonies have often been regarded as the center of
early American literature. Obviously, literature
of and about this period is fart. The Crucible, a

Task
Do you anything about
the presence of the
Holy Inquisition in Brazil? Yes, no? Research
about the Inquisition
in Brazil and answer:
Where there witch
hunts, or executions
of any sort? Write your
comments down for
further discussion with
your tutor.

51

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

To Learn More
Read the whole article
in English Language
and Culture Institute. UAB.(Available
at: www.uab.edu/
elci- ENGLISH/ESL
MORE LINKS. Access
in August, 2011.) Take
notes and discuss them
with your tutor and
classmates.

Task
Find out the meaning
of the word Crucible
and discuss it with your
tutor in terms of its use
as an allegory in the
title of Millers play.

Glossary
allegory - is a figurative
mode of representation
conveying meaning
other than the verbal.
As a literary device,
an allegory in its most
general sense is an
extended metaphor
and as artistic device a
visual symbolic representation.

Clue
The House of Representatives Committee on
Un-American Activities
(HRCAA) is part of the
American history as
an organization created for repressing and
judging people.

Task
Find out why and what
for the HRCAA was
created. Discuss it with
your tutor. Did we have
organizations such as
this one in Brazil? Yes,
no, which ones? Discuss
it with your tutor.

To learn more
Watch excerpts in videos about The Crucible
at www.youtube.com/
watch?v=3pfuldf_Pck.

52

1953 play by the American playwright Arthur


Miller, is a good example of that.
The play takes place in Salem in 1692.
It is an allegory, a revival, to McCarthyism,
when the US government accused people of
communist practices and Miller himself was
questioned by the House of Representatives
Committee on un-American activities in 1956
and convicted of contempt of Congress because he refused to identify persons present at
meetings he had attended. The text is a tragedy-dramatization of the Salem witch trials that
took place in the Province of Massachusetts
Bay in 1692 and 1693.
The drama-tragedy play was first performed on Broadway, New York City, at the
Martin Beck Theater on January 22, 1953. Mill-

er himself realized that this production was


too stylized and cold and because of that the
dramatist believed the reviews for it would
be largely hostile and they were, nevertheless
The New York Times wrote: a powerful play
driving performance. Despite the bad reviews
the production was awarded the Tony in 1953
as Best Play.
A year later a new production was a huge
success. Today it is studied in high schools
and universities because of its status as a revolutionary work of theatre, for its allegorical relationship to testimony given before the Committee On Un-American Activities during the
1950s, and because it retreated the oppression
and torture of the colonial time. It is a central
work in the canon of American drama.

3.3 Some cultural traits and the


literary text
Following the same line of themes, undoubtedly the most representative work of the presence of the Holy Inquisition heritage in the American culture and language, in my opinion, is the
novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne written in 1850 and considered his masterpiece.
It is a romantic work of fiction in a historical setting in 17th-century in Puritan Boston during
the years 1642 to 1649. It tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an
adulterous affair and struggles to create a new life through repentance and dignity. In his book
Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, guilt but conveys also social, religious and historical
aspects influential in the American culture.
In the next figures, take a look at Nathaniel Hawthornes face and at the cover of the book of
his masterpiece- novel.
The Scarlet Letter has also been transformed into an opera by Walter Damrosch, libretto by George Parsons Lathrop. According
to critics the opera is Wagnerian in style. Excerpts from the opera were first premiered at
Carnegie Hall, New York, NY, on January 4 and
5, 1895 but I have read no news about their
success on those presentations.
It is well known that cultures embody values. One example of such values in the American culture would be: Anglo Americans generally tend to consider their personal/individual
goals over group goals because they are generally goal- future-oriented, especially when

it comes to monetary security. To save and be


Figure 42: Nathaniel Hawthornes picture
prepared for the future is a common American
Source: www.worldcat.org/.../scarlet-letter...drawings.../
trait, as well as is their tendency to strive for
material comfort. But would those traits be common to other cultures as well? Yes, but maybe
not so inconspicuously.
Another American tendency towards being goal-oriented is detected in communication.
Unlike Brazilians, conversation between Americans is usually oriented toward exchanging information in a very fast, economic and efficient way. An example is that a direct question frequently
leads to a direct response, often without too many words or a great deal of polite small talk. They
simply do not want to waste time on tomfooleries. This may explain why American citizens are

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


often viewed as pushy and rude by other cultures. Anglo Americans are very direct in addressing
their interlocutors, using these persons name many times but tending to interrupt each other
more often, what would be seen as impoliteness in many other cultures.
The raising of children constitutes an Anglo American trait which differs from many other
cultures. Americans are strict as to discipline which may include physical punishment that is considered acceptable maybe because their concept of family is that of a perfect one. However, they
are constantly saying to their children, closer relatives and friends I love you, behavior sometimes thought of as excessive and pointless in the Brazilians opinion.
Other typically Anglo American beliefs that you, dear students, will probably recognize are:
Man has power over nature, and nature itself has its laws and everything that happens can be
scientifically explained and Americans have to be the first to climb the ladder of success and are
success-oriented. A convincing literary example of this trait is found in Death of a Salesman, a
1949 famous play by the American playwright Arthur Miller awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
and Tony Award for Best Play on stage in 1949. The original production ran for 742 performances
and was premiered at the Morosco Theatre in February 1949 (Available at www. en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Death_of_a_Salesman).
In the play, Miller focuses on failure in a success-oriented society, and Willy Loman, the central character, is the failed aged salesman who lives with Linda, his adoring but over protective
wife, who acts as a buffer between her husband and their two adult sons, Biff and Happy, whose
relationship with their father is permanently under tension. Lomans crime is to believe in the
propaganda of a society which has room only for winners.
The play theme demonstrates how a victim of The American Dream can be destroyed by
false promises which not only
impact on ones business life but
also set up conflicts within personal relationships. The significance of this theme, a trait of the
American culture and still very
relevant to many societies today,
is heightened by Millers skillful
use of key techniques, including
setting, characterization and symbolism.
The play plots the tragic collapse of a man who cannot face
up to his moral responsibilities in
a society whose false values attach a dangerous importance to
success as measured in such transient terms as income and material possessions. Living according
to these values means that failure
is likewise defined in economic
terms. At the outset of the play
Loman is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Lets now examine some samples/excerpts to confirm what I said about Millers approach
of American cultural traits conveyed by language. But first, let me provide details about Lomans
sons to contextualize the analysis.
Willys sons Biff and Happy - illustrate other significant areas of this central theme of success/failure: Biff opts out of the competitive world which his father wants for him. It is Biff who
finally analyses the root cause of their domestic friction when he says:
We never told the truth for ten minutes. And it is Biff who finally blames his father for his own
failure because:
Weve been walking in a dream for fifteen years and I never got anywhere because you
blew me so full of hot air.
Biff comes to understand that he has been blinded by false values, unable to honestly address who he is or where he belongs in life. The result of this understanding is that he finally faces
his father with brutal self-knowledge:

Task
Read the E-book at
www.online-literature.
com Nathaniel Hawthorne - and see the
film with Demi More
and find the meaning
of the expression scarlet letter A on Hesters
chest. Discuss the
theme with your tutor.

Task
Look up in the dictionary and check the way
Americans use the
word inconspicuously.
Discuss it with your
classmates.

Figure43: 1st edition


cover of Death of a
Salesman, 1949 (Viking
Press).Film version of
the play.
Source: www.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_a_Salesman

Figure 44: Made for TV


production of Death of
a Salesman,1985
Source: www.imdb.com/
title/tt0089006

53

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

Task
Did you notice that Willys surname is LOMAN,
and that one of his sons
was named HAPPY?
Would you say that
Arthur Miller selected
these names on purpose? Would there be
any relation between
Loman and low man?If
so, why would have he
done that? Discuss it
with your tutor.

To Learn More
Read the E-book Death
of a Salesman on the Internet or see the movie
and dive into these
traits of the American
culture. A good suggestion is the play Final
Scene on the YouTube.

Pop! Im a dime a dozen and so are you. His final verdict on his father and his failure is that:
He had the wrong dreams. He never knew who he was.
It is part of Willys tragedy, however, that at this moment when he is asked to confront the
truth, and he cannot. This failure to face up to reality is seen in Willys response to Biffs honest
statement about what his professional position really was:
Who ever said I was a salesman with Oliver? I was a shipping clerk.
To which Willy replies: But you were practically.
Willys younger son, Happy, acts as a foil to Biff and gives evidence of his own failure to grow
into a man of integrity. He is more successful, in Willys viewpoint, than his brother but has been
corrupted by competitive business life. He tells Biff:
Im constantly lowering my ideals. His words speak for the playwright.
It is well to remember that American women were a force in early 20th century mainly in
1913 when the woman suffrage gave them the right to vote and to run for office much earlier
than any other female population of any other country. The expression force also applies for the
economic and political reform movements which aimed at extending those rights to women regardless of qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or marital status.
Now, dear students, what would be the women writers position as to literary texts revealing
American cultural aspects? It was only in the 1960s that, women writers began to challenge the
notion that womens place was in the home. That decade would give rise to feminist writers who
criticized the paternalism of marriage, submission and lack of dignity and identity. Among them
I mention the novelist Marge Piercy, the famous nonfiction writer Betty Friedan, the poets Anne
Sexton and Sylvia Plath, poet, novelist and short- story writer. Let us read one of Anne Sextons
poems in which she deals with womens issues and lyrically imbricates them in a flow of beauty
and consistency as she plays with the word ghosts unveiling and revealing womenscondition at
that time.
GHOSTS
Some ghosts are women,
neither abstract nor pale,
their breasts as limp as killed fish.
Not witches, but ghosts
who come, moving their useless arms
like forsaken servants.
Not all ghosts are women,
I have seen others;
fat, white-bellied men,
wearing their genitals like old rags.
Not devils, but ghosts.
This one thumps barefoot, lurching
above my bed.

Task
Check the use of words
and expressions in contrast in the poem and
discuss them with your
tutor comparing them
to the issues womens
writers dealt with at
that time.

54

But that isnt all.


Some ghosts are children.
Not angels, but ghosts;
curling like pink tea cups
on any pillow, or kicking,
showing their innocent bottoms, wailing
for Lucifer.
(Available at: www.americanpoems.com/poets/annesexton/4721)
What really amazes us in Sextons poem is the rich comparison-game in the use of contrasting words which allows the poet-meaning to reach readers accordingly. Sexton intelligently talks
of the womens bondage and degrading condition as she refers to breasts as killed fish, symbol
for physical decadence; men wearing their genitals like old rags and I ask you to pay attention

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


to the poets brilliant use of the verb wear in this enunciate -, and finally deals with the children,
men and women to be, with the mission of perpetuating that submissive and abominable condition. Poem is a jewel in all aspects but specifically important for being an actual portrayal of how
women (and things) should no longer be.

3.4 Miscellaneous other American


cultural traits.
Another important American belief/trait
is that one must strive to be the best; hard
work is rewarded, as well as adhering to a time
schedule and being always punctual. Americans are more likely to be competitive instead
of cooperative, and consider aggressiveness
and ability as responsible, not fate or destiny,
for leading a person to great achievements.
As to economy, the major challenges facing it are to maintain profits by keeping production costs low and to increase consumer
markets.
Private property is culturally valued in
America and this is best expressed in the high
rate of home ownership. Historically, the USA
was an agricultural nation, and it culturally has
a romantic image of the small, independent
farm family battling the elements on the prairie.
One particular trait in the USA culture refers to Americans exacerbated deep patriotism
and love for their country and respect for their
national symbols such as the flag and the national anthem. They usually listen to, or sing,
the national anthem with their hands on their
hearts for showing love and respect.
It also amazes me the way Americans
respect each other in what concerns collectiveness, that is, the idea of being together,
private property and civil rights. In general,
Americans do not build fences around their
houses to separate properties and all neighbors are respected and generally, but not always, treated as equals. If they know you they
will treat you well.
Americans talk loud and are very effusive
in expressing themselves. They frequently use
the expression Oh, my God, oh, my God!, for
happy, surprising or sad, lamentable and astonishing situations. Good examples of this
trait are the TV sitcoms/series such as My Wife
and Kids, Mike and Molly, The Good Wife and
Friends to name only a few. In such series you
will also easily detect other traits inherent in
the American culture and manifested through
language.
Anglo-Americans would neither complain for waiting a long time in lines nor try

to take someone elses best positioned place


with an untruthful excuse. They are polite but
in restaurants and bars attendants are always
in a hurry and dying to see you leave after
you have finished your meal so that the table
would be empty and someone else could enter the room and become a new customer.
That is America rush for making money and
improving economy. After all, what is new
about that? The USA is a capitalist country.
Lotteries are popular in the country and
Americans like to gamble. Mobility in most
cases seems limited: working-class people
tend to stay in their classes. Furthermore, the
top 1% of the population has made significant
gains in wealth in the last few years. Similar
gains have not been made by the poorest sectors. In general, it appears that the gap between rich and poor is growing.
For the Americans, and for Brazilians as
well, social occasions usually include drinking
alcoholic beverages. Hot dogs and beer are
a must at sporting events, and popcorn and
candy highly consumed at movie theaters. As
mentioned elsewhere in this textbook, very
few occasions are considered ceremonial for
the Americans. At weddings, funerals and
other rites to serve food and drinks applies by
all means. It follows that whether religious or
secular, weddings include a large tiered cake
and shortly after the wedding, the newlyweds
feed each other a piece of the cake. At JewishAmerican funerals, the families and friends eat
fish, usually smoked or pickled, and eggs may
be served as symbols of lifes continuation.
Some Americans, particularly in the South, eat
hopping john, a dish made with black-eyed
peas, to bring good luck in the New Year. At
funerals Americans always wear black clothes
but do not wear white ones at New Years Eve.
Many Americans overeat and have a tendency to grow fat because of that. Obesity is a
national problem. Waking up is accompanied
by coffee and in the morning breakfast, which
usually includes lots o coffee or tea, scrambled eggs, ham or bacon or sausage, cheese,
orange juice and toasts or rolls, it is the most
important meal of the day whereas lunch is

To learn more
research on the Internet for the musical
State Fair and get to
know more about the
romanticism of the
Americans in relation.

55

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
usually a light meal. Dinner is served after 5pm
and a lot of food is eaten. Americans, as you
know, love pasta, tuna or turkey sandwich and
a hot dog dressed or topped with ketchup and
mustard and a hamburger, sandwich named

Figure 45: Common


hamburger, meal
hamburger and a steak
hamburger.

after the city of Hamburger, Germany from


where it is allegedly originated, which is prepared with a bread called bun, and with different sorts of meats such as steak, chicken, beef,
fish and turkey.

Regarded less as celebrations of patriotism


than as family holidays, national holidays are celebrated everywhere in the country. In this section I
Source: en.wikipedia.org/
will approach only two of them.
wiki/Hamburger
Undoubtedly, the Fourth of July Independence Day (1776) is the most important holiday
for the Americans during which fireworks displays
mark the Declaration of Independence from Britain. July is summer in the USA, so this is also a time
for an all day long camping and picnics, or trips
with friends and family.
Figure 46: Obesity,
The second most significant family holiday is
national problem in
Thanksgiving
Day. Families prepare few large and
the USA.
elaborate
meals.
But the annual feast is also part of
Source: www.americanothe
national
history
as it celebrates the hardships
besity.org
of the early colonists who were starving in their
new environment and received help from the American Indians that came and shared indigeTo learn more nous foods such as maize and turkey.
As to the arts, the level of public support is much lower than in other wealthy nations as
Watch Super Size Me, a
documentary by Morunknown individual artists, writers, and performers are scarcely granted patronage. The National
gan Spurlock available
Endowment for the Arts (NEA), a famous organization which supports arts and humanities, has a
on YouTube: http://
very small budget to provide funds from public broadcasting to individual artists. The NEA somewww.youtube.com/
times is under attack from Congress as conservative members question the value and the moralwatch?v=
ity of the art produced with NEA grants.
qyV3EC4LHn0;
Private donations are a common form of supporting the arts in the USA. They are tax-deductible and a popular hedge among the wealthy against estate and income taxes. Another esTask sential means of subsidizing the arts is to give generous gifts to prestigious museums, galleries,
symphonic orchestras, and operas that often name halls and galleries after their donors.
Research about other
holidays in America.
In relation to their social division, most Americans believe that they do not have a class soFor example: find about
ciety. This happens because there is a strong cultural belief in the equality of opportunities for
Labors Day, Dads Day,
all and economic mobility. But social stratification is visible in the multifaceted daily life. The segMothers Day and also
regation of blacks and whites in cities mirrors their separation in the labor force. Whereas giant
about the Brazilian
homes in gated suburbs all across the country generally belong to rich whites, they contrast with
date Dia dos namorados. Discuss the topic
the crumbling housing stock of blacks in the inner cities. However, blacks condition in America is
with your tutor.
far better than that of Brazilians. Many of them are successful wealthy and influential people over
society and government.
Speech, manners, and dress also signal class position. Strong regional or Spanish accents, for
example, are associated with working-class status.

56

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


The labor force has historically always been divided on the basis of gender, race and ethnicity. Because of that, skilled jobs in manufacturing and management jobs typically have been
more accessible to white than to black men or women of any race. Within the industries, there is
a technological divide. Blacks and other minorities fill low-skill jobs such as food service and are
found less often in managerial positions or the growing hi-tech industries.
The Americans live in a federal republic composed of a national government and fifty state
governments. The political system is controlled by two parties: the Republicans and the Democrats. One of the features of American democracy is that on the average, strangely as it may
seem, less than half the eligible voters participate in federal elections.
Republicans and Democrats, referred to as conservatives and liberals respectively, differ on
certain social issues. Republicans are generally conservative on moral issues and social spending. They support cuts in federally-sponsored social programs such as welfare and believe in
strengthening institutions such as marriage and the traditional family but are usually opposed
to abortion and gay rights. Democrats tend to support federal funding for social programs that
favor minorities, the environment, and womens rights. However, critics argue that these two parties set a very narrow range for political debate. Third parties do exist and have emerged on diverse bases importance.

Figures 47, 48: The


Kicking Donkey
party logo is still a
well-known symbol for
the Democratic Party,
despite no longer being
the official logo of the
party.
Source:en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Democratic_Party_(United States).

Figures 49, 50:


Republican Party
Symbol. Both Parties
symbols on fight.
Source: www.gop.com/ En cache

57

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
At the federal level, government power and responsibilities are set out in the Constitution
adopted in 1789. The national government is divided into three branches intended to provide
checks and balances against abuses of power. The branches are the executive, the legislative,
and the judicial. The executive branch includes the President and federal agencies that regulate everything from agriculture to the military. On its turn, legislative branch includes members
elected to the upper and lower houses of Congress: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The judicial branch includes the Supreme Court and the USA Court of Appeals.
At the state level, government follows along the same lines, with elected governors, senators, and assemblymen and state courts. The nation also has the county, the smallest unit of government that has an elected board, but not all states have a system of county governments.
As to elections, officials are elected directly, on the basis of popular vote. Nevertheless, and
surprisingly for many peoples, the President is elected by the Electoral College. Each state has as
many electors as it has senators and representatives. The latter are awarded according to population. Within each state, electors vote as a bloc, which means that all electoral votes in a state go
to the candidate with the plurality of the popular vote within that state. A candidate needs 270
electoral votes to win the election. This system is controversial and intriguing because it is possible for a President to win a national election without winning a national majority of the popular vote, as it happened in 2000 when George Bush Junior was elected President. Cultures are
what they are. But is it not strange that in the most democratic nation in the world (at least in the
Americans opinion) the president is not elected by the people, that the peoples will does not
prevail?
Politics is highly professionalized in America. With the exception of local-level offices, most
people who run for political offices are lifelong politicians but running for a high-level political
office is extremely expensive. Many politicians in the House and the Senate are wealthy. However
the expense of winning elections requires not only personal wealth, but corporate donations.
The United States remains the most violent industrialized nation in the world despite the
decrease in crime rates. The capital city, Washington, D.C. has the highest per capita crime rate
in the country. In the nation as a whole the poor and teenagers are the most common victims of
violent and nonviolent crime.
Although cities are considered very dangerous places, crime rate is not consistently higher
in urban areas than in rural areas. The elderly are the most fearful of crime but not its most common victims. For violent crime tough penalties are often perceived as a solution, and it is on this
basis that the death penalty is defended. But if this proves to be a solution why would Florida
and Arizona, which adopt the death penalty, have the highest rates of violent crime in the country?
In all categories the vast majority of crimes are committed by white males. Popular imagination, prejudice and popular culture say that violent criminal tendencies are often associated with
African-American and Hispanic males. This perception legitimates a controversial practice called
racial profiling. Because of that African-American and Hispanic men are randomly stopped, questioned, or searched and arrested by police.
Historically, immigrant urban groups have been subject of intense policing pursuing and
believed to be tendentious for vice and crime. Nevertheless, the vast majority of crimes are committed by white males.
Strange as it may seem, there are more people in prison and more people per capita in prison than in any other industrialized nation. The prison population is well over one million, numbers that have increased since 1980 as a result of mandatory sentences for drug-related crimes.
Surprisingly as it seems, African-Americans make up only about 12% of the population, however,
they outnumber white inmates in prison. Both Hispanic and African-American men are far more
likely to be imprisoned than white men. Rates of imprisonment for women are on the rise, but
they are far less likely to be imprisoned than men of any race or ethnicity. The USA is the only
Western industrialized nation that allows capital punishment and rates of execution for AfricanAmerican men are higher than those of any other ethnic group.
As to the Status of Women and Men, in legal terms, women have the same rights as men.
They can own property, choose to marry or divorce, vote and demand equal wages for equal
work. They also have access to birth control and abortion. Differently from the situation in other
countries, the status of women in relation to men is very high. However, women do not receive
the same social and economic benefits as men do. They are greatly underrepresented in elected political offices and are more likely to live in poverty. Female occupations, both in the home
and in the workplace, are valued less than mens. Women are more likely to have a distorted or

58

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


low self-image and suffer from a sense of disempowerment. Any similarity to Brazilian (and other
countrys) women? What do you think, dear student?
As I have already explained, in America, the notion of family is the typical/ideal nuclear one
consisting of two parents and their children; this is the cultural ideal but not always the reality. As
in many other cultures, upon marriage, adult couples form their own household separate from
their biological families. Immigrant groups have been reported to rely on extended family networks for support. Similarly, among African-American families, where adult males are often absent, extended kin ties are crucial for women raising children. A significant number of Americans
of all ethnic backgrounds live in
Figure 51: An ad of the
nontraditional families such as
film American Wedding.
the unmarried couples or single
Source:www.rottentomaparents, gay couples and their
toes.com/m/american_wechildren, or gay families without
dding
children.
Civil unions are legal only between heterosexual adults, exception for the state of Vermont. Gay
marriages, however, are increasingly common whether or not
they are recognized by the state.
Task
Certain religions and churches
See the film American
recognize and perform gay marWedding, and also
riages. Marriage, as a civil instituknown as American
tion, is commonly performed in
Pie. You will find manyt
a church. As in many other counraits of the American
tries, statistically, marriage appears to be on the decline. Half of all adults are unmarried, includ- culture.
ing those who have never married and those who are divorced. Among whites rates of marriage
are higher than among blacks. Remarriage and divorce have high rates and have also increased
the importance of stepfamilies.
In relation to higher education, the majority of the Americans complete high school, and
almost half receive at least some college education. Almost one-quarter of the population has
completed four or more years of college. Rates of graduation from high school and college attendance are significantly higher for the whites than for African-Americans and Hispanics.
The quality of colleges and universities is excellent, and availability due, but the university
education is not funded by the state as it is in many Western industrialized nations, like Brazil for
instance in the federal universities. Higher education is expensive and ranges from a few thousand dollars annually at public institutions to more than ten thousand dollars a year at private institutions. The cost of tuition in elite private colleges exceeds US$20.000 a year, about R$34.000.
Some of the most famous universities in the world as Yale, Stanford and Cambridge are in the
USA.

Figure 52 and 53: University of Stanford and Harvard University/Cambridge, Massachusetts


Source:en.wikipedia.org/wikiSource:pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universidade_Harvard
/Stanford University -California

59

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
Paying for college among middle class parents is a source of anxiety and worry from the
moment their children are born. It is customary to make savings to guarantee university studies. Middle and low-income families often pay for college with student loans and the size of such
debts is on the increase.
Americans personal behavior often appears crass, loud, and effusive to people from other
cultures, but they value emotional and bodily restraint. The stereotypical American often maintains a permanent smile and unrelenting enthusiasm which may mask strong emotions they
consider unacceptable to express. The bodily refrain is expressed through the relatively large
physical distance people, especially men, maintain with each other. Yawning, breast-feeding, and
passing gas in public are considered rude. Americans also consider it impolite to talk about money and age.

3.5 The performing arts


Let us now approach the performing arts
which include many original genres of modern
dancing that have been influenced by classical forms as well as American traditions, such
as jazz, funk, punk. Important American innovators dancers include Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, and Alvin Ailey. Theaters in every
town that hosted plays, vaudeville, and musicals in the past are now showing movies or
have simply closed. In general terms, performance arts are available (mostly only) in metropolitan areas.
America has produced several popular
musical genres which blended regional, European, and African influences of which the best
known are the African-American blues and
jazz. Important jazz composers and musicians
include Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, and Thelonius Monk.
Although considered classic today, blues and
jazz standards were the popular music of the
time they were invented.
Interestingly, while (social) segregation was common among whites and blacks,
Americans seemed to ignore the allegedly
differences between these ethnicities as music fitted into black and white categories.
Examples of that were the popular swing jazz
tunes standardized by band leaders such as
Glenn Miller, whose white band made swing
music hugely popular with young white people.
Rock n roll, a major cultural export in the
1950s and 1960s, had its roots in these earlier
popular forms. Famous and major influences in rock and roll include Elvis Presley, Jimi
Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Bruce Springsteen.
Primarily white, rock n roll received the influence of soul and Motown, with singers such as
Aretha Franklin, the groups the Supremes and
the Temptations who produced popular black
music.

60

Country music, another popular genre,


has its roots in the early American folk music
of the Southeast and is now termed country
or bluegrass. The genre, emerging from traditional gospel songs and hymns reworked
these genres to produce songs about the routine of poor whites in the Southeast rural area.
In the USA, popular music has always embodied a conflict between its commercial and
entertainment value and its intellectual or political value. Folk, country and blues, rap, rock
n roll, and hip-hop have all carried powerful
social and political messages. It is common
that old forms become standard and commercialized, but their political edge tends to
give way to more generic content, such as love
songs.
I could not close this section without
mentioning the classics, classic music in America. I am specifically referring to Mr. George
Gershwin, a Jewish descendant composer famous for compositions in both classical and
pop music. Known all over the world, Gershwin composed the Rhapsody in Blue for piano
and orchestra, the piece An American in Paris
and the Cuban Overture. George composed innumerous pop song sand scores for musicals
performed on Broadway theaters always in
partnership with his elder brother Ira (lyricist).
Together they composed the musicals Crazy
for You (1930), Porgy and Bess (1935), the latter
considered by most critics as an opera. A revival of Porgy is scheduled and previews open
in November, 2011 in New York; Lady be Good
(1924), Tell me More (1925), Oh Kay!(1926). All
musical scores deal with racial-social-romantic (Porgy and Bess), urban (Lady Be God) and
country (Crazy for You) issues pertinent to the
American culture all of them with a touch of
linguistic ambiguities and humor. Take a look
at Gershwin in the next photo.

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


Along with George Gershwins
death only at the age of 38, dies the
classical American music, so to speak.
Figure 54: George Gershwin (1898-1937)
born Jacob Gershowitz, from Jewish
origin, famousAmerican composer of the
1920sa and 1930s..
Source:wwwGeorgeegershwin.com

3.5.1 Last but not least:


Musical Theatre, Musicals
Musicals, or Musical theatre, are a
form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue and dance, in which the
emotional content of the piece humor, pathos, love, anger as well as the
story itself, is communicated through
the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as
an integrated whole. Although musical
theatre overlaps with other theatrical
forms such as opera, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared to the dialogue, movement
and other elements.
In a brief account, the origin of musicals dates back
to the 19th century culminating with the works of Gilbert and Sullivan in Britain and those of Harrigan and
Hart in America. In the midst 1920s musical works became simply, musicals.
Figure 55: The first musical on stage
Source: The Black Crook (1866), considered by some historians to
be the first musical.
Available at: Musical theatre - Wikipedia, the free en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Musical_theatre.

Early in the 20th century, musicals and other smart


shows like Of Thee I Sing (Gershwin) were artistic steps
forward other revues and entertainment and led to remarkable remarkable shows as Show Boat (1927) and
Oklahoma!(1943). Some of the most famous and iconic musicals through the decades that followed include West Side Story (1957), Hair (1967 off Broadway), A Chorus Line (1975), Rent (1994
in a workshop and 1996 on Broadway), Crazy for you (1992), Beauty and the Beast (1994), Tarzan
(2006), Ragtime (1996 in Toronto, Canada and in 1998 on Broadway), The Producers (2001),The
Little Mermaid (2007), Spider Man: Turn of the dark (2010) and Priscilla Queen of Desert (Sydney in
2006, New Zealand in 2008, Broadway in 2011, to name only a few successful shows and some
of them bringing American themes. Such shows involve financial investments which are beyond
imagination and where artistic and technical competence abounds.
The musical Spider Man: Turn of the dark is directly taken from the comics with the same
name and tells the saga of one of the American superheroes in his struggle for defending the
needy and fighting bandits without revealing his identity.
Ragtime is based upon a novel with the same name by El Doctorow (1975).The novel became a film and also a musical, the latter with a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens,
and music by Stephen Flaherty. The musical score includes marches, cakewalks, gospel and ragtime and is mostly sung-through. Ragtimes musical score is the most beautiful ever composed
for a Broadway show, in my opinion.
Ragtime tells the story of three ethnical groups in America, represented by the Afro-American Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musician; Mother, the matriarch of a WASP (abbreviated form

61

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
for (White, Anglo-Saxon and Protestant.) family in New Rochelle, NY, often used with a pejorative
senseand Tateh, a Jewish immigrant. Famous American historical figures such as Harry Houdini,
Evelyn Nesbit, Booker T. Washington, J. P. Morgan, Henry Ford, Stanford White, Harry Kendall
Thaw, and Emma Goldman are also depicted in the show.

Figure 56, 57, 58, 59: Spider Man: Turn of the dark (2010 and still on) first photo is taken from the content
writer Playbill booklet distributed inside the theatres before the musical show starts. Spider Mans second
photo was taken from Spider-Man spins strong box office web,
available at: www.today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43559858/ns/today-entertainment, Anything goes (revival of 2011) and
Ragtime (1998) photos were taken from the content writer in the CD covers.

The next three musicals are famous all over the world as they were also seen in films and
cartoons. The last picture depicts the musical How to succeed in business without really trying now
on stage that tells the story of a young man in search for success in business. The title speaks for
itself.

Figures: 60, 61, 62 and 63: Photos of the shows: The Addams family (opened in 2009), The Lion King (opened
in 1999). Mamma Mia (London production in 1999; Broadway in 2001), How to succeed (revival opened in
2010).
Source: Pictures are photos taken from the content writer Playbill books freely distributed inside the theatre as you are
oriented to find your seat before the beginning of every performance.

62

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


If you thought, dear students, that you recognized the actor who plays Harry Potter in the
movies, in one of these pictures, yes, you are right. He is presently in a show on Broadway whose
theme is typical of the American culture. And he sings and dances too...
American musicals about foreign cultural themes are also produced as Billy Elliot (Broadway 2009) which is taken from the English film (2000) with the same name. The musical score is
by Elton John and lyrics by Lee Hall; Man of la Mancha (1965, from the novel by Miguel de Cervantes Don Quixote de La Mancha), Nine (1992, from Federico Fellinis semi-autobiographical film
8.),The Phantom of the Opera from a book by Gaston Leroux, a French author and musical score
by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart. Les Misrables (1980 in Paris; 1985 in London and
Broadway in 1987)is depicted from a novel written by the French writer Victor Hugo; Women on
the verge of a nervous breakdown (2010), a three months running show (from October 4th to January 4th) is based upon Almodovars film with the same name. All of them became huge success
all over the world as beautifully staged and performed. See their photos taken from the Playbill
covers below.

Figures 65, 66, 67, 68: Billy Elliot (2009), Man of la Mancha (2001), The Phantom of the Opera (1986), Priscilla
Queen of desert (2010)
Source: Photos taken from the Playbill booklet distributed freely inside the theatre before the show.

Famous throughout the world, American musicals are performed all over the USA and in
many other countries including Brazil where the productions are duly translated into Portuguese
and performed in theatres in So Paulo with competence that equals the ones on Broadway or
London. Examples of musicals staged in Brazil include: O Beijo da Mulher Aranha, Vitor e Vitria,
Os Miserveis, O Fantasma da pera, A Novia Rebelde, Minha Querida Dama and recently Mamma
Mia among others. Musicals are undeniable relevant mechanisms for portraying cultural traits.
Their scores include the most beautiful and famous songs ever composed.

3.6 Culture in second language


teaching
Take a close look into the following text, dear, students. I want you to answer some questions about it. To do so, watch how language leads you to capture the nuances of the American
culture.
Because language is so closely entwined in culture, language teachers entering a different
culture must respect their cultural, moral and ethical values. To teach an FL is also to teach a foreign culture, and teachers should be sensitive to the fact that our students, our colleges, our administrators, and, if we live abroad, our neighbors, do not share all of our cultural paradigms.
On account of that, it is advisable that teachers instruct their students on the cultural background of language usage as meaning is bound in cultural context. Instructors must not only

To Learn More
Goto YouTube and find
American musicals.
Listen to some of their
excerpts and get to
know why they are
such a significant trait
in American culture. A
good suggestion would
be Bonnie and Clyde a
brand new show whose
previews open in November 4th).

Task
Research on the Internet about the word revival used some times
in this section. Discuss
it with classmates and
tutor.

63

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

Figure 69: Americans


choices.
Source:www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/
directory/a/american.asp

Task
The cartoonist makes
use of irony in that he
criticizes the American
status quo. Find cultural
traits in the intertwinement of language to
culture. Name also
words you did not
know and that you
learned through studying the text.

Task
What cultural American
trait s detectable from
this text? Discuss it with
your tutor.
Figure 71: Carton on
the use of the pattern
language
Source: www.inglesonline.
com.br Sites de Ingls
Bsico.

64

explain the meaning to the students


because with such a strategy students would be learning empty or
meaningless symbols or incorrect
meanings. It is known that very frequently, meanings are lost because
of cultural boundaries which do not
allow such ideas to persist. Misunderstandings often emerge because
of such distinct cultural ideologies, roots, and cultural boundaries
which limit expression. The result is
that students may run the risk of using the FL language inappropriately
or within the wrong cultural context, thus not achieving the purpose
of learning a language properly.
It was said in this textbook
that the American culture is that
of individualism, personal accom
plishment, patriotic feelings and
pride, and focused on the family and its ties, and that success and failure in the American cultural
framework influences not just a specific individual but the whole family or group. Therefore, besides respecting the culture in which Americans are inserted when teaching instructors should
use culturally acceptable methods that must be examined before proceeding, as they may be
inappropriate teaching, intentional or not. Following this line of thought what could be taught
in terms of grammar and culture in the
following cartoon and how (method)
would you teach these aspects?
What does the cartoonist convey,
in a humorous way, with the images
and linguistic structures?The idea that
even in face of death teachers must
do their job: teach and be respected
for their knowledge. Take a look at
the characters clothing. When do you
think this scene took place? Did you
know about this specific use of the verb
hang?
Now, take a look at the next cartoon, dear students, and see how that
the cartoonist approaches the theme.
What the linguistic structures convey in terms of American culture in this
picture is that no
matter ungrammatical the language
people have to follow the principle
of private property.
Therefore, no van- Figure 70: A cartoon on the trait about the use of the
dalism is allowed, pattern language.
not even to correct Source: www.inglesonline.com.br Sites de Ingls Bsico.
the mistakes in public signs. The woman in the picture is taken to prison because she vandalized
the sign with her correction. Americans are educated to live by the book. Of
course, there is irony permeating the cartoon as peoples from other cultures
could think there is some sort of exaggeration about the old ladys arrest.
Would this situation happen in Brazil? Would someone try to correct the mis-

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


take and be arrested because he vandalized a public or private property? How would Brazilians
react to this cartoon?
In using language, differences should not only be compared, but also contrasted because
this will enable the student to judge appropriately the uses and the causes of language idiosyncrasies. Instructors should contrast the different language usages, especially grammatical and idiom use in their cultural contexts for the students to fully understand why certain things in English are said. Brazilian students learning English are generally first taught to greet someone with
simple dialogs as follows:
Hello. How are you? /How do you do?
I am fine. Thank you, and you?
This is believed to be what one must say on the first and every occasion you meet an English
speaking person but if the interlocutor greets you with the following greetings you should answer accordingly:
How is everything? You could say: Good! OK!
How are you doing? You could say: Great!
Hello? Hi?

Task
Would you agree that
the previous cartoon is
a good tool for teaching language (grammar, semantics, and
phonology) and culture? How would you
do that? Discuss with
your classmates and tutor. Furthermore, what
is wrong in the sign?
Can you explain it?

Clue
Information about
the Communicative
Approach for teaching
English as a foreign
language can be found
in the textbook of the
discipline Applied Linguistics (2011), by Rosa
Maria Neves da Silva
for your course, dear
students.

However, for over eight decades in the 20th century, Brazilian students were likely to answer
I am fine, thank you and you? This sort of format in teaching is everything but a communicative
approach. Brazilians greet themselves in different ways too, so the question is: In how many ways
North-Americans greet themselves? What is culturally appropriate?
Notice in the cartoon, dear students, how culture and
Figure 72: Cartoon on
language intermingle as the cartoonist underlies the word IN
the use of ambiguous
language.
to show the importance of the literary use of language in the
Source: www.inglesonline.
website that should be strictly followed. The humorist uses
com.br Sites de Ingls
ambiguity in bed IN breakfast (a cama no/dentro do caf da
Bsico - Em cache. Access
manh) to counterpoint the usual meaning of the expression
in 9 abr. 2007
breakfast in bed that means (the comfort of ) having breakfast
Glossary
in bed. It is language that makes this meaning-game posChunk- Several words
sible. But what did make it possible? Intonation and stress and
that are customarily
chunk division.
used together in a fixed
Western ideologies and methodologies focus their teachexpression, such as in
ing on free speech as a tool for utilizing and memorizing vomy opinion, to make a
cabulary and grammar sequences. But people from different
long story short, How
are you? or Know
cultures learn things in different ways. In the 1960s in Brazil
for instance, memorization (behaviorism approach, audio-lingual method, drills technique)was what I mean?. They
the most common way to study a language vocabulary and grammar. In Brazil it is well known a are pieces of language
meaningful enough
sentence focus of many humoristic texts - that made it clear the bad use of such method in our to make themselves
schools: The book is on the table, the only enunciate students were able to utter after years of understood. All you
have to do is to read it
English language schooling.
Nevertheless, the usage of cultural explanations for teaching languages has proved invalu- properly.
able for many students to understand the target language. It has even enabled them to differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate English phrases and idioms to be used in a given Task
context. Similarities and contrasts between the native and target languages have proved effi- Answer: Would the
cient as teaching tools when the teacher understands such cultural similarities and differences, authors intended
meaning in this cartoon
and compares and applies that knowledge in his teaching practices.
The Anglo-American values, beliefs and traits discussed in this Unit are not concentrated in reach Brazilians as they
did to Americans? Yes,
specific regions of the country but disseminated all over the nation. Moreover, they are far from NO, why? I discussed
being exhaustive but enough to serve my purpose: to show you some Anglo-American, namely language role in the
text for you. Now
of the USA, cultural traits usually manifested through their language, English.
discuss the role culture
plays in such a context
with your tutor.

65

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

To Learn More
Refer to the textbook
Phonology by Luci
Kikuchi et all written
for UAB/Unimontes/
Capes, 2011, and find
information about
intonation and stress
in chunks and perceive
how their misreading
can change meaning..

3.7 Culture and language teaching


policy
This is a cat, my teacher announced. Of
course it is, I thought. What else could it be but a
cat? At least in the American culture. This is a cat,
and not an elephant. Why did she say the obvious? What did she expect me to see in the picture?

To Learn More
1. Refer to the textbook
on Applied Linguistics
(2011), produced by
Rosa Maria Neves da
Silva for your course.
2. Watch the video A
Lesson on Behaviorism,
and others, available
at www.youtube.com/
watch?v=
fVSwTaB7pHQ.

Figure 73: A cat


Source:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat. Access in
July, 2011.

Now, take a look at the next picture.


Well, well, isnt it interesting? Teacher presented something different: these are cats too but
not exactly cats; they are people too. I was amazed. What had happened? Teacher contextualized
the scene in the picture and taught me that Cats is a musical by the English composer Andrew
Lloyd Webber in which actors dress and make up as cats. It is a representation on stage. Princess Diana saw this show twice in London. She loved it, said the teacher. My teacher then went
on with her teaching, communicatively, convincingly, amazingly and explaining and making me

Figures 74, 75: Photos of


the talented characters
in the musical Cats.
Source:pt.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Catsthemusical-Musical (1981), by Sir Andrew
Lloyd Webber.

contextualize words as: disguise, make up, theatrical performance, look like, take a look, musical
score, cast, lyrics, book by, dress up, staging, backstage, audience, aisle, row usherette, Playbill
and so on. Everything contextualized, at and inside the theatre. Did you understand what I mean,
dear students?
Because of what has been discussed in this textbook so far, second language teaching policies must be sensitive to the local language not to make it inferior to the target language. Although the teaching-learning of the English language has become a phenomenon in the world,
care must be taken to avoid forwarding the ideology that you should learn English because it is
a superior language, of a superior culture, regardless of the undeniable truth that to succeed in a
globalized economy one must be able to communicate in English. (HERRON, C., Cole, S. P., CORRIE, C., & DUBREIL, S.a)1999).This fact demonstrates that our world has entered the age of globalization in which most observers see a tendency toward homogeneity of values and norms but
others see an opportunity to rescue local identities.

66

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


The implications for language policy makers are that policies must be engendered which
not only include but celebrate the local language. Policies must not degrade other languages by
placing them on a level of lower importance and language teaching must encompass and include cultural values from the societies from which the languages are derived. In other words,
policies regarding language teaching have to incorporate the cultural values, usage, and complexities as a means to create better linguistic comprehension as well as cultural understanding.
Teaching must also consider the cultural ideologies of every student and teacher, as well
as the culture in which the target language is being taught, because this will increase cultural
awareness and appropriateness of behavior. So it is fundamental that languages teachers be
aware of all that in order to enhance understanding and acceptance of differences between people, cultures and ideologies, but above all to preserve the student cultural identity. To achieve
such a goal, language teachers need to be informed about various teaching interaction-based
methodologies, manipulate them and develop their own teaching methods compatible with the
educational context to foster interaction. In fact, students cannot actually master the language
until they have also mastered the cultural contexts in which the language occurs. From this assertion derives the importance of incorporating culture into second language teaching and of
using strategies for infusing cultural issues in classroom instruction.
It is obvious that culture is in many cases taught implicitly in the linguistic structures. Awareness of the cultural traits embedded in the language must be arisen. Teachers can make those
features an explicit topic of discussion together with the structures studied. When teaching pronouns, for example, the teacher can help students understand when in Portuguese it is appropriate to use an informal form of address (Voc, C (You)) rather than a formal form of address (Senhor, Senhora)a distinction that English does not have as they use you for all instances.
An English second language teacher can help students understand socially appropriate
communication, such as making requests that show respectto a certain person. What would you
say of a persons addressing Queen Elizabeth II, like this: Hey, Queen Elizabeth, how is your husband Philippe? If you said unacceptable, you are right! This is excessive informality intolerable in
terms of royal cultural protocol, and I believe, unlikely to happen, although linguistically correct.
The conclusion is that students will master a language only when they learn both its linguistic
and cultural norms. To achieve such a goal, you can use specific materials to help you teach language along with culture. Here are a few suggestions:
Miscellaneous: Materials such as news broadcasts, Web sites; and photographs, magazines,
newspapers, restaurant menus, videos, travel brochures, and other printed materials that can
help engage students in authentic cultural experiences, the ones selected from authentic sources of the native speech community.
Film and television: Imagery and audio are segments which connect students with language and cultural issues simultaneously. These means of communication offer students an opportunity to witness traits and behavior not always obvious in texts. Film is often one of the more
current and comprehensive ways to grasp the cultural look, feel, pace, timing or turn-taking in
conversation. Students achieve significant gains in overall cultural knowledge after watching videos from the target culture in the classroom (HERRON, COLE, CORRIE, & DUBREIL, a. 1999).
ProverbsTeaching is to focus on the differences or similarities of the target and the students native languages. Show them how differences may reflect historical and cultural background. Such procedure also provides a way to deal with stereotypes, discuss misperceptions of
the foreign culture, as well as to unveil values often represented in the proverbs of students native culture.
Role Play and strategic scenarios Techniques with which students can act out a miscommunication based on cultural differences. For example, after learning about ways of addressing different groups of people in the target culture, such as people of the same age and older
people, students could perform a situation in which an inappropriate greeting is used. Other students observe the performance and try to identify the reason for the miscommunication. They
then role play the same situation using a culturally appropriate form of addressing.
Charges, strips and jokes Text genres with which I have presented and discussed the topics of this discipline. Humorous texts have proved effective as teaching materials. You can always
compare and contrast humor texts in both the target and native language thus unveiling traits of
both languages.
Literary textsThey are loaded with cultural information historical, social, political, economic etc. - and generally evoke memorable reactions in readers. The careful, objective and
planned selection of texts to be studied by a group of students can be very helpful in that it al-

To learn more
I suggest the reading
of the chapter Eles no
aprendem portugus
quanto mais ingls, in
the Oficina de lingustica aplicada (1996),
by Luiz Paulo da Moita
Lopes.

67

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
lows insights into the American culture. Students are likely to learn literature better when they
read a poem rather than if they read a literary text sheet; for example, if they read a poem by Emily Dickinson they may retain cultural information more if they read something about the American culture at the time Dickinson lived. The students who read the original literary work usually
show capacity to discuss the historical and social events of the era.In this textbook I discussed
some aspects of Death of a salesman and showed how culture and language are intertwined.
Expert sources - Exchange students, immigrant students, or students who speak the target
language at home are resources for helping learning. Invited to the classroom these students can
share authentic insights into the home and cultural life of native speakers of the language.

Dear students, make no mistake: the issue of teaching culture is nothing new to second
language teachers. However, in most cases, teaching culture has been limited to teaching specific
holidays, special dates, clothing, folk songs, and food. These topics are indeed useful, but only
within a broader context which would stimulate linguistic or social insight and enrich students
knowledge, especially if the objective of language instruction is enabling them to communicate
effectively in another language (HERRON, C., CORRIE, C., Cole, S. P., & DUBREIL, S. b.1999).
It follows that cultural day-to-day traits should include conversational conventions such as
the communicative functions of greeting, saying good-bye, addressing, thanking, making requests and asking questions, that is, to use language effectively and not just being able to (re)
produce grammatical sentences and memorized vocabulary.

As I have shown in this textbook, language and culture intermingle to such an extent
that one becomes the other. It is unviable, I insist, to teach language apart from its culture. The
implications for language teaching are therefore vast and sometimes far reaching. As language
teachers to be, you must be culturally aware, considerate of the students` culture, and instruct them
about cultural differences thus promoting understanding. Your teaching must reflect both the
target language culture as well as the students` thus avoiding any sort of cultural misconceptions
or discrimination.
And yet, to make all these things clearer, I go back to the first text/joke inserted in the By
Way of Presentation for this textbook in which I posed a specific question. I remind you that humor in the mentioned text/joke is triggered by linguistic games involving onomatopoeias and
phonological ambiguity specifically provoked by the interesting use of semantic phenomena
along with some colors. The question was: Could you guess the nationality of the jokes author? My answer is as simple as that: Yes, I can. The author is Brazilian. Why?
First of all and most importantly because the joke brings the stereotype that the Portuguese
people are stupid. It is a Brazilian cultural trait. Americans do not hold this view of the Portuguese. For some Americans the Polish would be the stupid ones, stereotype that can be detected, for example, in Tennessee Williamss play (1947) A Streetcar Named Desire.
In the play there are three main characters: Stella and Blanche (sisters), and Stellas Polish
husband Stanley. Blanche has just come to stay in Stella and Stanleys small flat in New Orleans.
Blanche asks Stella if it will be decent for all three of them to share such a small flat. Stella replies,
Stanley is Polish, you know. Why is it significant that Stanley is Polish? Because there is a stereotype that Polish people are stupid in America. There are many, many jokes in America about
Dumb Polacks. Americans also have a stereotype that the Irish are stupid, but the Polish, stereotypically, are even more stupid than the Irish, which is why Blanche says Poles are not as highbrow as the Irish. As a Brazilian I do not hold these views.
Secondly, I ask: Who would hear GREEN, GREEN (trim, trim?) when the telephone rang but a
Brazilian? The word GREEN is simply a color and has nothing to do with the telephone onomatopoeic ringing. As to the sound of colors and other words used in the text, Americans (or English
speaking people) would not mishear PICK for PINK or HELLO for YELLOW. No way! Americans can
tell these sounds from the others perfectly and would not mix them up as intended by the jokes
author. Some foreigners might hear these misguiding onomatopoeic sounds as used in the text
but surely not the Americans.
In this same line of thought, Americans, differently from Brazilians, hear cats meow, pigs
oink, dogs bark, bells and telephones ring, mosquitoes buzz, people hum (when they do
not know the words to the song) and chalk screech across a blackboard. Thus the words used
in the joke may have just been a frustrated attempt to echo the sounds as they would be heard
in English. However, in fact the author (unless making a joke inside another joke, meta-humor)
made semantic and phonological mistakes.

68

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


Finally, I return to the quote inserted in the beginning of the By Way of Introduction in this
textbook: Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own. You are
now able to understand that Goethe, its author, is right: if you do not know any foreign language
you will not be able to understand your own language and culture. You will be destined to live
in a smaller world. You will be unable to comprehend other peoples behavior and actions, neither any historical, social nor cultural aspects a language conveys nor the traits inherent in the
speakers of that language. In this sense, one of the main objectives of knowing an FL would be
to expand your knowledge about your own language and culture, by means of contrasting and
comparing it to the FL, English.
By knowing English you will know the Anglo-American people better, their habits, needs,
actions and reactions, in sum, their way of life, their world, culture. This is what Goethe wanted
to mean with his quotation. In brief, you will realize that there is no teaching of an FL other than
the one which integrates language and culture, and that studying English by means of integration will result both in a fruitful learning of that FL and its culture, and an effective learning about
your own native language.
It is now clear, I believe, that the knowledge of other languages brings you awareness of
your own language and of English as well, and naturally, consciousness of the differences between them in all language levels: phonological, grammatical/syntactical and semantic. Hope
you are chasing after that sort of learning.

Task

References
HERRON, C., Cole, S. P., CORRIE, C.; DUBREIL, S. Using Instructional Video to Teach Culture to
Beginning Foreign: The effectiveness of a video-based curriculum in teaching culture. Modern
Language Journal, p. 518, a.1999.
HERRON, C., Cole, S. P., CORRIE, C.;DUBREIL, S. CAL: Digests: Culture in Second LanguageAvailable at https://calico.org/html/article_502.pdf File:PDF The effectiveness of video-based curriculum in teaching culture. The Modern Language Journal, 83(4), 518- 533, b. 1999.

See Bowling for Columbine (2002) and


Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004),
documentaries by the
American film director
Michael Moore and
have a new perspective
of certain facts. Discuss
the themes with your
tutor.

KIKUCHI, Luci et al. Phonology Textbook.UAB/Unimontes/Capes, 2011.


SILVA, Rosa Maria Neves da. Applied Linguistics. Textbook FOR UAB/Unimontes/Capes.2011.
www.americanobesity.org.
www.americanpoems.com/poets/annesexton/4721
www.cal.org/resources/Digest/0309peterson.html
www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/directory/a/american.asp
www.countrystudies.us/united-states/history
www.facebook.comGallowshumor-e Notes.com.www.wnotes.com
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_a_Salesman)
www.Georgeegershwin.com
www.gop.com/ - En cache
www.imdb.com/title/tt0089006
www.inglesonline.com.br Sites de Ingls Bsico. - En cache.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisition
www.MCHUMOR.com
www.newadvent.org Catholic Encyclopedia

69

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
www.pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc - En cache
www.pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universidade_Harvard/Stanford University -California
www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/puritan/puritan.html
www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/puritan/puritan.html
www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_wedding/
www.sefarad.org/publication/lm/037/6.html.
www.today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43559858/ns/today-entertainment
www.uab.edu/elci- ENGLISH/ESL MORE LINKS.
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catsthemusical- Musical.
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_a_Salesman
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_(United States)
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_theatre.
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Letter_(opera)
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/WASP
www.worldcat.org/.../scarlet-letter...drawings.../
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pfuldf_Pck.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVSwTaB7pHQ.

70

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

Summary
Unit 1
Unit 1 intended to demonstrate that
the understanding of an FL demands a good
knowledge of the culture and communicative
competence.
The meaning and origin of useful words
and expressions along this textbook were explained: Anglo/Angles (from Angeln, in modern
Germany); Anglo-Saxon used to designate the
Germanic tribes who invaded the south and
east of Great Britain (in the early 5th century
AD), and the period from their creation of the
English nation to the Norman Conquest. The
Anglo-Saxon period of English history was between about 550 and 1066 AD; Anglo-America
named after the Italian explorer Americo Vespucci who discovered America, alludes to a region in the Americas where English is a main
language and refers to Canada and the USA;
North America is divided into Anglo-America
and Latin America - Mexico, in which Spanish
is spoken; Anglo-American denotes the cultural
atmosphere shared by the United States and
English Canada and is used for discussing the
relationship of the United States to the United
Kingdom. The expression refers also to English
American, North American persons of English
origin, or background.
Language as a general concept includes
verbal and non-verbal expressions and a specific linguistic system, or code. Language is
a formal closed structural system of symbols
ruled by grammatical rules that relate particular signs to particular meanings. Language is
an abstract system and speech the concretization of this system which is in the mind of
the speaker who makes it concrete by means
of speech. Language is a mental faculty that
allows humans to express linguistic behavior,
to learn languages, produce and understand
utterances, concept that evidences the universality of language to all humans and the

biological basis of the human capacity for


language as a unique development of the human brain. Language is more than speech and
writing, it is the making and sharing of meaning with ourselves and others. Language predetermines what we see in the world around
us, that is, language filters reality. Language
uniqueness means that humans are able to
produce an infinite set of utterances. Language arbitrariness means that there is no direct connection between the sound or form of
any word and the object which it represents.
Culture is the sum of all forms of art, love
and of thought, which have enabled man to
be less enslaved. It is what everybody knows,
and what everybody else knows, within a given group. It is what lies at the core of an individuals behavior and his degree of assimilation within a particular environment or social
group. It is the result of the mixture between
the system of social institutions, traditions,
and beliefs and that complex whole including knowledge, belief, art, law, social moral
customs, religion, and ethics and values. Some
beliefs on culture include: the linguistic structures are entirely dependent on the cultural
context in which they existed and that the human mind was an indefinitely malleable structure capable of absorbing any sort of culture
without constraints.
Language is culture and not just the medium of culture but also a part of it. Language
is a verbal expression of culture. We understood that the relationship of language to culture is closely and deeply rooted and that language is used to maintain and convey culture
and ties and also provides us with the categories we use for expressing our thoughts. The
values and customs in the country we grow up
in shape the way in which we think to a certain
extent.

71

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

Unit 2
Today the term America is used to refer to
the US due to the countrys political and economic dominance in the western hemisphere.
America was used to refer to South America
only. Canadians and Latin Americans consider this use of the term impolitic. The USA
includes fifty states and one federal district,
where Washington, D.C is located. The country
is the fourth largest with 9,529,107 square kilometers and forty-eight contiguous states. The
islands of Hawaii, in the Pacific Ocean, about
two thousand miles southwest of San Francisco, California, and Alaska between the Pacific
and Arctic oceans are also American states.
The country owns several commonwealths
and territories such as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean basin, Guam, the
Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa,
and Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean - conquered through military actions.
As to economy the Northeast is leader
in technology and industry, especially in the
areas of Californias Silicon Valley. The region
is known as the national megalopolis. The
Midwest is both rural and industrial where
are the corn belt and breadbasket of the
nation. The region is called the home of the
family farm. The South carries different features if compared to other regions. It is associated with slavery and shaped by its secession
from the Union before the Civil War and with
subsequent battles over civil rights for AfricanAmericans. The region includes the sunshine
states, retirement havens, and new economic
frontiers. The West known as the last national
frontier has the nations most open landscapes. It is associated with national dreams
and myths of unlimited opportunity and individualism. California, along with the southwestern states, was bought by the United
States from Mexico in 1848. The Southwest is
distinctive for its Native American populations,
historical ties to colonial Spain, and its regional
cuisine is highly influenced by Spanish cultures.
US physical environment is extremely diverse. Alaska is spectacular with its glaciers
that coexist with flowering tundra that bloom
in the arctic summer. Niagara Falls, Yellowstone National Park, and the Grand Canyon
are the most famous landscapes. The Mississippi River constitutes a major navigable inland waterway and is the largest river system
in North America. It rises in western Minnesota
and meanders southwards for 3,730 km to the
Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico.

72

Many books and theatre musicals were written and composed based upon the stories t
about the people who lived by the Mississippi
River. The United States has a population over
280 million but it is relatively sparsely populated. The most populous state is California
with 33,871,648 inhabitants and Wyoming the
less populated with only 493,782 residents and
such figures evidence that the US is an urban
nation. Over 75% of the inhabitants live in cities. Population growth is at below-replacement levels unless immigration is taken into
account.
There is no official national language in
the USA in the federal level but 30 states made
English legally their official language. English
is the de facto the unofficial national language
and Spanish the second because US ranks fifth
in the world in the number of Spanish speakers. Native Americans, immigrants, and slaves
languages have influenced the several dialects
of America. Standard English is the language
Americans are expected to speak but there is
no clear definition of what Standard English
might really be. English spoken by black Americans is usually seen as non-standard, however,
most Americans do not speak Standard English but a range of class, ethnic, and regional
variants. Linguistic diversity has increased a
lot. But there is a national dialect known as
American English. There are four major regional dialects in the USA: northeastern, south, inland north, and Midwestern, the latter accent
being considered the standard accent in the
USA and a bit but not extensively analogous
to the Received Pronunciation elsewhere in
the English-speaking world.
US government symbols include: government buildings (Arlington National Cemetery
in Washington, DC), statues and memorials,
songs, oaths, and symbols. The national symbols are the American Flag, the Bald Eagle, the
Great Sea, Figures of Justice, the Liberty Bell,
the National Flower Rose, Uncle Sam and the
National Anthem.
Anglo-American refers to those coming
from countries where English is spoken as the
main language, and all those whose families
have become English-speaking people in Canada and the US. Anglo-American is often used
in legal, economic and political documents
and other writings in reference to those countries that have similar legal regimes generally
based on the English common law.
USA is a diverse country as to religion,
race and ethnicity. Most Americans are Chris-

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


tian and by tradition Protestant. Catholics are
minority. Judaism is the largest non-Christian
faith, followed by Islam. The State and the Religion are not supposed to interfere in one anothers affairs.
The wish for better conditions of life, find
better jobs, and escape from famine, poverty,
wars and conflicts are factors that move Latinos, Europeans, Asiatic and Africans to search
for higher standards of life and well-being
in America. Six races co-exist in the country: White, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native
Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and of
Some other race.
America is formed by Indians, Black
Americans, Hispanic and White people. Black
people, and African Americans are citizens
and residents of the US originated from any
of the black populations of Africa, of AfroAmericans ancestry, or Americans with at least
partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry. The Hispanic and Latino Americans originate from
the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in
Spain. They constitute the second largest ethnic group of Americas population living in all
areas of the US. They are racially diverse, and
form an ethnic category, not a race. For the

U.S. government and others, Hispanic or Latino identity is voluntary. The whites story
dates back to 1492 when Christopher Columbus reached several Caribbean islands. White
Americans include Europeans (French, English,
Dutch, Irish, Italian, German, Polish, Spanish
and Latinos. Other ethnicities immigrating to
America include Asian and African peoples.
The American government has become
tougher on enforcing immigration laws since
9/11 when the attacks forced the birth of Public attitudes about immigration in the U.S.
Half of Americans believe that immigration
is a good thing for the U.S., but the other half
say tighter control on immigration would do a
great deal to enhance U.S. national security.
Though US history gives evidence of the
importance of immigration forth population
growth and cultural change, the economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have
caused controversy regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, and jobs for non-immigrants,
settlement patterns, impact on upward social
mobility, crime, and voting behavior. However,
Americans cannot deny the invaluable contribution of immigrants for the process of development and progress of the country.

Unit 3
Some traits in the American culture include: Americans are individualist, goal and
future-oriented; They value material comfort,
objectiveness in communication and competitiveness. Americans interrupt people too
often during communication; they use a persons name frequently to engender a sense of
congeniality and connection. They think they
have power over nature. The production of
Musicals is a relevant trait and they succeed in
producing high quality shows. They value personal accomplishment, success, patriotic feelings and pride, and focus on the family and its
ties.
Those cultural traits are to be considered

by instructors who should use acceptable


methods but exam them before their use, as
they may be inappropriate. To teach an FL is
to teach its culture. Therefore teachers must
be aware to the fact that students, administrators and neighbors do not share all of our
cultural paradigms. Some suggestions for this
teaching include: Expert sources; Literary texts
Charges, strips and jokes; Role Play/ strategic
scenarios; Proverbs; Film and television; and
miscellaneous materials which may be resources teachers may use to evidence the relation of language to culture. Such intertwinement serves to help students communicate
properly in a foreign language.

73

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

References
Basic
ALLWRIGHT, D; BAILEY, K. M. Focus on the Language Classroom. New York: Cambridge University Press. Anton, M. 1999.
BYRAM. M. S. Cultural Studies in Foreign Language Education. Language Arts & Disciplines.
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CHOMSKY, Noam. Transformational Analysis. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania,
1955.
EMMITT M; POLLOCK J. Language and learning: an introduction for teaching (2nded). Melbourne: Oxford University Press. 1997.
HANTRAIS, Linda. The undergraduates guide to studying languages. London: Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research. 1989
HERRON, C., Cole, S. P., CORRIE, C., & DUBREIL, S. CAL: Digests: Culture in Second Language (b.
1999). 533. Available at https://calico.org/html/article_502.pdf File:PDF The effectiveness of video-based curriculum in teaching culture. The Modern Language Journal, 83(4), 518...
______ . C.; DUBREIL, S. (1999). The effectiveness of video-based curriculum in teaching culture. The Modern Language Journal, 83(4), 518-533.1999.
______ . C.; DUBREIL, S. Using Instructional Video to Teach Culture to Beginning Foreign:
The effectiveness of a video-based curriculum in teaching culture. Modern Language Journal, p.
518, a.1999.
______ . S. CAL: Digests: Culture in Second Language Available at https://calico.org/html/article_502.pdf File:PDF The effectiveness of video-based curriculum in teaching culture. The Modern Language Journal, 83(4), 518- 533, b. 1999.
KIKUSHI, Luci et al. Phonology Textbook. UAB/Unimontes/Capes, 2011.
LEVERIDGE, Aubrey Neil. The Relationship between Language & Culture and the Implications for language teaching. Written for TEFL,.September, 2008.
LONGMAN, (2000) Dictionary of English language and culture: gets to the heart of the language. 2. ed. England: Longman, MCARTHUR, Tom. The Oxford Guide to World English.
MURRAY, DM. The great Walls of China. Todays Education, vol. 71, p. 5558, 1982.
PINKER, Steven.1994 - The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language. New York: HarperCollins. Bookmark. 1994.
PINO, C. R. Teaching Spanish to native speakers: A new perspective in the 1990s. ERIC/CLL
News Bulletin, 21(1), 4-5, 1997..
POLLOCK, John; EMMIT, Marie. Language and learning: an introduction for teaching. Oxford
University Press, Melbourne, 1997.
SCOTT, V. M.; HUNTINGTON, J.A. Reading culture: Using literature to develop C2 competence.
Foreign Language Annals, 35(6), 622-631. 2000.
SILVA, Rosa Maria neves da. Applied Linguistics for Language teaching .Caderno Didtico escrito para a disciplina com o mesmo nome para o curso de ingls/UAB/Unimontes, 2011.

75

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
STEPHENS, J. L. Teaching culture and improving language skills through a cinematic lens:
A course on Spanish film in the undergraduate Spanish curriculum. ADFL Bulletin, 33(1), 22-25,
2001.
WHORF Benjamin Lee; SAPIR, Edward. Sapir and Whorf Hypothesis. In Infopedia. Porto: Porto
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www.anthro.palomar.edu/language/language_5.htm. Buffy Sainte-Marie.
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www.cal.org/resources/Digest/0309peterson.html
www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/directory/a/american.asp
www.countrystudies.us/united-states/history
www.edition.tefl.net/articles/teacher-technique/language-culture/
www.facebook.com/pages/...America.
www.ff.immigration.gov.tw/front/residence.php
www.inglesonline.com.br Sites de Ingls Bsico - Em cache.
www.isrl.illinois.edu/~amag/.../pinker94theLanguage.html - Em cache
www.jcu.edu.au/tldinfo/writingskills/essay/language_literacy.rtf
www.lexiophiles.com/.../the-relationship-between-language-and-culture.
www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/puritan/puritan.html.
www.thepaperexperts.com)
www.thinkexist.comTopics C.
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_theatre.
www.wikipedia.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/na..
www:<URL: http://www.infopedia.pt/$hipotese-de-sapir-e-whorf>

Complementary
BARRY, Dave. .Available at www.quotesbyBarryinweekly newspaper column.1947
BROOKS, N. Culture in the classroom. In JM Valdes (ed) Culture bound: bridging, 1986.
BYRAM. M S. Cultural Studies in Foreign Language Education. Language Arts & Disciplines.
Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.1989.
CHOMSKY, Noam. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1965.
______ . Syntactic Structures. The Hague: Mouton, 1957.
CICCARELLI, A.Teaching culture through language: Suggestions for the Italian language class.
Italica, 73(4), 563-576, 1996.
FAUCCONNIER, Gilles; TURNER, Mark Conceptual Blending and the Minds Hidden Complexities. Basic books, Perseus Books Group. New York, NY, USA. 2002.
KRAMSCH, C. Context and culture in language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.

76

MARTINS, Antnio Carlos Soares; SOUZA, Marilia de; SOUZA, Danielle Ferreira (2010) Caderno
de. Morfologia da Lngua Inglesa, Caderno Didtico, UAB/Unimontes.

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


MCARTHUR, Tom. The Oxford Guide to World English.
MORAN, Patrick R. Teaching Culture. Heinle, Heinle, 2001.
NATIONAL STANDARDS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROJECT Standards for foreign
language learning in the 21st century. Yonkers, NY, 1996.
PRODROMOU, L. English as cultural action. EFT Journal, vol. 42, no 2, pp 7383, 1988.
SPENCE, JT. Achievement American style: the rewards and cost of individualism. American
Psychologist, vol 40, no 12, pp 12851295, 1985.
STROMQUIST, Np; MONKMAN, K. Defining globalization and assessing its implications on
knowledge and education. In NP Stromquist & K Monkman (eds) Globalization and education:
integration and contestation across cultures. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 32, 2000.
TRUDGILL, Peter. Language in the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1984.
VYGOTSKY, Lev Semenovitch Vygotsky. Pensamento e linguagem. SP, Martins Fontes, 1987,
www.LEXIOPHILES.COM/.../the-relationship-between-language-and-culture, !987.
WHORF Benjamin Lee; SAPIR, Edward. Sapir and Whorf Hypothesis. In Infopedia.Porto: Porto
Editora, 2003and, 2011.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpheme.
wikipedia.org/.../Category: Ethnic_groups_in_the_United States
wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpheme
www.americanobesity.org.
www.americanpoems.com/poets/annesexton/4721
www.cal.org/resources/Digest/0309peterson.html
www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/directory/a/american.asp
www.countrystudies.us/united-states/history
www.developingteachers.com/quotes/q1.htm.
www.ebooksbrasil.org/eLibris/vigo.html, Language and Thought, by Vygotsky.
www.edition.tefl.net/articles/teacher-technique/language-culture/
www.facebook.com/pages/...America.
www.facebook.comGallowshumor-e Notes.com.www.wnotes.com
www.ff.immigration.gov.tw/front/residence.php
www.Georgeegershwin.com
www.gop.com/ - En cache
www.imdb.com/title/tt0089006
www.inglesonline.com.br Sites de Ingls Bsico. - En cache.
www.isrl.illinois.edu/~amag/.../pinker94theLanguage.html - En cache
www.MCHUMOR.com
www.newadvent.org Catholic Encyclopedia
www.pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc - En cache

77

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
www.pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universidade_Harvard/Stanford University -California
www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/puritan/puritan.html .
www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_wedding/
www.sefarad.org/publication/lm/037/6.html.
www.thepaperexperts.com)
www.thinkexist.com/.../language...culture...language/
www.today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43559858/ns/today-entertainment
www.uab.edu/elci- ENGLISH/ESL MORE LINKS.
www.wikipedia.org/.../Category: Ethnic_groups_in_the_United States,
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catsthemusical- Musical.
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_a_Salesman
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_(United States)
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisition
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_theatre.
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Letter_(opera)
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/WASP
www.worldcat.org/.../scarlet-letter...drawings.../
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pfuldf_Pck.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVSwTaB7pHQ.

Supplementary
ECKERSLEY C.E. Essential English for Foreign Students, London: Longmans, Green & Co, Revised Edition,1032. First published 1938
PORTER, E. Foreign involvement in Chinas colleges and universities: a historical perspective.
International Journal of Intercultural Relations, vol. 11, no 4, pp.. 369385, 1987.
PRODROMOU, L. English as cultural action. EFT Journal, vol. 42, no 2, pp. 7383, 1988.
SPENCE, JT. Achievement American style: the rewards and cost of individualism. American
Psychologist, vol. 40, no 12, pp. 12851295, 1985.
VALDES, JM. Culture bound: bridging the cultural gap in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1986.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episcopa_l Church_(United_States) - Em cache
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jazzing_orchestra_1921.png - Em cache
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Americans
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States Article Religion in the United States.

78

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Belt
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Americans_(photography)
floydreports.com/obama-we-place-our-hands-over-our-heart...-Em cache
http://www.everyculture.com/To-Z/United-States-of-America.html#ixzz1UI25w0EC
U.S. bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/symbols/ - .
wikipedia, the free encyclopedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi - i_River
wikipedia.org/wiki. Brian Stokes Mitchell Official site
wikipedia.uab.edu/elci-Em cache. And also at: ww.lonweb.org/link-english.htm - En cache.
wikipedia/org/wiki/Hispanic-and- Latino-Americans.
www.anthro.palomar.edu/language/language_5.htm. Buffy Sainte-Marie.
www.anthro.palomar.edu/language/language_5.htm-Language and Culture.
www.bhma.co.uk/wait-to-be-seated-greeter-sign-p-1328.ht..
www.broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/myfairlady.htm The Broadway Musical Home - My Fair
Lady.
www.cal.org/resources/Digest/0309peterson.html
www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/directory/a/american.asp
www.countrystudies.us/united-states/history
www.damscartoons.com. www.bhma.co.uk/wait-to-be-seated-greeter-sign-p-1328.ht
www.developingteachers.com/quotes/q1.htm.
www.edition.tefl.net/articles/teacher-technique/language-culture/
www.everyculture.com/To-Z/United-States-of-America.html#ixzz1UHeEvU6s.
www.facebook.com/pages/...America.
www.ff.immigration.gov.tw/front/residence.php
www.gazetadopovo.com.br/charges/
www.gazetadopovo.com.br/charges/
www.gohawaii.about.com/.../hawaiianpeople/People_of_Hawaii.
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www.isrl.illinois.edu/~amag/.../pinker94theLanguage.html - Em cache
www.jcu.edu.au/tldinfo/writingskills/essay/language_literacy.rtf
www.jcu.edu.au/tldinfo/writingskills/essay/language_literacy.rtf
www.kidport.com/.../usageography/usageograph...
www.lexiophiles.com/.../the-relationship-between-language-and-culture.
www.linguee.com.br/ingles-portugues/.../we+sort.html -.
www.nps.gov/appa/ - Em cache

79

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
www.office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/?CTT=6&ver=14&app=winword.exe
www.pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_McCartney
www.pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion
www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/puritan/puritan.html.
www.thepaperexperts.com)
www.thepaperexperts.com.
www.thinkexist.com/.../language...culture...language/ Johann Wolfgang von. Quotes,
www.thinkexist.comTopics C.
www.uab.edu/elci- ENGLISH/ESL MORE LINKS. English Language and Culture Institute.
UAB.
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower.
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_theatre.
www.wikipedia.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/na..
www.wikipedia.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/na.Access in 11th March, 2011.
www:<URL: http://www.infopedia.pt/$hipotese-de-sapir-e-whorf>
www.workpermit.com Immigration

80

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

Learning activities

Source: Clipart figures online, Sept, 02, 2011,


Instructions Read the statement below then answer the question.
1. Good health has given rise to an American proverb involving apples. Tick () the alternative that describes this proverb.
a) (
b) (
c) (
d) (

) An apple a day keeps the doctor away.


) Red apples are always ripe and juicy.
) A ripe apple keeps the doctor healthy.
) An apple juice keeps you awake.
Instructions - Read the following text, and then answer the questions.

In the Warner Channel sitcom Married with Children (1980-1990) the Bundies Maggie,
Al, Kelly and her brother Bud -form a non-standard American family as they are all corrupt, the
adults do not like to work, cook, clean the house, wash dishes and do laundry and the children
hate to study. Moreover the bunch has the habit of committing different sort of felonies. After
one of these crimes the Bundies are arrested and immediately taken before the judge. In court
Kelly disturbs and disrespects the court whenshe speaks in a very loud voice, walking aimlessly
around the room in clear contempt to court. Chaos descends and the judge gets annoyed and
the following short dialog takes place:

Judge: Order, order in court!


Kelly: I want a cheeseburger and a soda, your Honor.

Questions about the previous text.



2. Tick () the alternative that better contains the reason for the humor present in the text?
a) (
b) (
c) (
d) (

) Kellys misunderstanding the meaning of order.


) Habits and costumes as succinctly described.
) Felonies and crimes committed by the Bundies.
) The judges demanding chaotic words.
3. Tick () the alternative that brings American cultural traits DEVIATED in the previous text.

a) (
b) (
c) (
d)(

) Honesty and respect for the law.


) Calmness, relaxation and patriotism.
) Common sense and notoriety.
) Fanaticism, goal-orientation disrespect.

81

UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
Questions independent from the previous text.
4. Tick () the alternative that IS NOT an Anglo-American (USA) cultural trait. Americans are
a) (
b) (
c) (
d) (

) Patient in listening and tendentious to live for today.


) Individualist and addicted to material comfort.
) Success and future-oriented, and competitive.
) Objective in conversation and able to control nature.
5. Tick the alternative that includes the nations that form Anglo-America.

a) (
b) (
c) (
d) (

) The United States and Canada.


) Mexico, Canada and the Unites States.
) England, the US and Canada.
) Canada, Mexico and French Guyana.
6. All the statements below are concepts of language, EXCEPT:

a) (
b) (
c) (
d) (

) Language is a concrete system and speech the concretization of this system.


) Language is a verbal expression of culture.
) Language is a formal closed structural system of symbols ruled by grammatical rules.
) Language is culture itself.
7. All the statements below about culture are true, EXCEPT:

a) ( ) Culture is built through history and independent from language.


b) ( ) Culture is the sum of all forms of art, love and of thought, which have enabled man to be
less enslaved.
d) ( ) Culture is what everybody knows, and what everybody else knows within a given group.
e) ( ) Culture is the result of the mixture between the system of social institutions, traditions,
beliefs and knowledge,

Figure 7: Different Pond, different fish


Source: www.ialf.edu/differentponddifferentfish.html
- En cache

8. In Figure 7, the charge already discussed in this textbook, is explained in Figure 7 as Different Pond, different fish. Tick () the alternative that better carries the meaning of this saying.
a) (
b) (
c) (
d) (

82

) Different cultures, different meanings.


) Different languages, similar cultures.
) Different meanings, different speeches.
) Different cultures, similar meanings.

Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana


Read the following text then answer the questions.
Set in 1920s New York City, the novel depicts the struggles of The Wallflower Order, an international conspiracy dedicated to monotheism and control, against the Jes Grew virus, a personification of ragtime, jazz, polytheism, and freedom. The Wallflower Order is said to work in
concert with the Knights Templar Order to prevent people from dancing, to end the dance crazes
spreading among black people (who are referred to in the novel as Jes Grew Carriers or J.G.C.s).
Historical, social, and political events mingle freely with fictional inventions. The United
States occupation of Haiti, attempts by whites to suppress jazz music, and the widespread belief
that president Warren Harding had black ancestry are mingled with a plot in which the novels
hero, an elderly Harlem houngan named PaPa LaBas, searches for a mysterious book that has disappeared with black militant Abdul Sufi Hamid, whose name reflects that of the Harlem street
corner radical preacher Sufi Abdul Hamid.(Excerpt from Mumbo Jumbo, a novel by Ismael Reed,
1972. Text transcribed from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael_Reed.)
9. Tick () the correct alternative that contains American cultural traits detectable in Ismael
Reeds excerpt above.
a) (
b) (
c) (
d) (

) Ragtime, freedom, jazz, racial repression.


) Monotheism, control, virus, personification.
) PaPa LaBas, black militant, street corner.
) Dance, Jes Grew Carriers, J.G.C.s.

10. Tick() the alternative below that, according to the text, DOES NOT contain a historical
event that influenced the American culture.
a) (
b) (
c) (
d) (

) The occupation of Haiti.


) The struggles of The Wallflower Order,
) The belief that President Warren Harding had black ancestry.
) Black militant Abdul Sufi Hamid

83

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