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 Luci Kikuchi Veloso

Joo dos Reis Canela Maria Cristina Ruas de Abreu Maia
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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 Chefe do Departamento de Cincias Biolgicas
Fernando Haddad Guilherme Victor Nippes Pereira

Presidente Geral da CAPES Chefe do Departamento de Cincias Sociais

Jorge Almeida Guimares Maria da Luz Alves Ferreira

Diretor de Educao a Distncia da CAPES Chefe do Departamento de Geocincias

Joo Carlos Teatini de Souza Clmaco Guilherme Augusto Guimares Oliveira

Governador do Estado de Minas Gerais Chefe do Departamento de Histria

Antnio Augusto Junho Anastasia Donizette Lima do Nascimento

Vice-Governador do Estado de Minas Gerais Chefe do Departamento de Comunicao e Letras

Alberto Pinto Coelho Jnior Ana Cristina Santos Peixoto

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Anete Marlia Pereira Cludia Regina Santos de Almeida

Diretor do Centro de Educao a Distncia Coordenadora do Curso a Distncia de Geografia

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Maria das Mercs Borem Correa Machado Ana Cristina Santos Peixoto

Diretor do Centro de Cincias Sociais Aplicadas - CCSA Coordenadora do Curso a Distncia de Pedagogia
Paulo Cesar Mendes Barbosa 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 dis-
cussion 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?

9
UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

Glossary To understand this joke you must have a good knowledge of the Anglo-American culture as
trigger: produce im- well as communicative competence in English, since translating the text into Portuguese would
mediate results. Ono- be of no use for its interpretation. Why would it be so?
matopoeias: the rep- In the text, humor is triggered by linguistic games involving onomatopoeias and phonologi-
resentation of sounds cal ambiguity specifically provoked through the use of some colors:
produced by nature, Green, green, green - phonological ambiguity similarity in sound to the ringing of tele-
animals and things as
culturally heard, like phones and bells.
meow (of cats), honk, Pink phonological ambiguity similarity in sound to the word pick, the latter being a verb
honk (of car horns), which means take the telephone handle and answer it.
bang, bang (of shooting Yellow-phonological ambiguity similarity in sound with a language phatic function (Hel-
with a gun), crash (of lo?).
cars, trains or planes
hitting something or
someone or something Eventually, what makes the text funny is your knowledge of English, of the world and of the
breaking); Ambiguity: a cultural aspects involved. Did you know that?
word having more than And yet, some points must be considered and discussed such as: would the words GREEN
one meaning. GREN sound for the Anglo-American people in the same way as they sound for the Brazilian in-
phatic function- dividuals, something like TRIM, TRIM? I mean, would the USA people hear/feel this same sound
language usually used when a telephone rings? Would they mishear PINK for PICK? Would they hear the words YELLOW
(only?) to maintain and HELLO as having identical sounds? What do you think, dear students?
communication, or All these things considered would result in an amazing question: Could you guess the na-
fulfill spaces between tionality of the jokes author? Find the answer for this question at the end of this unit.
dialogical moments
of communication. In this textbook, intended for a 90-hour course, I argue that culture underlies and consti-
Examples: Hello? Hi?, tutes an indispensable factor for the efficient learning and teaching of a foreign language (FL) -
Hey? Good morning. English. Having this in mind, we are about to enter the magic world of amazing cultural manifes-
How are you doing? tations which invariably (would) intrigue us and interfere in the process of learning the English
Bye, see you soon, language. My objective is to show you how this process takes place, how culture and language
Good day etc.
are tightly intertwined to make language learning pleasurable and effective.
holistic: integral, total, In sum, I demonstrate that language and culture are partners who will help you accom-
complete. plish 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 asser-
tion 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 revisit-
ing 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-Amer-
ican 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 forma-
tion of that individual.
The purpose of teaching with these objectives is to form a responsible, cooperative, and crit-
ical 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 ob-
jectives:
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.

10
 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 learn-
ing of any language and how the latter operates and subsidies any sort of analysis, linguistic, dis-
cursive, syntactical, you wish to make.
This Anglo- American Culture textbook is divided into three (03) Units which are also divid-
ed 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 de-
mand 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 de-
pendent 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; crite-
rion/ criteria.
To know more: Research about the plural of foreign words in the traditional grammar Es-
sential 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 CLUES TO LEARN MORE TASKS GLOSSARY

Tasks: Activities and
exercises done dur- I hope, dear students, that you are a little more prepared to deal with the Anglo-American
ing the course. Clue: culture, specifically that of the USA, and its implications for the teaching and learning of English.
anything that serves Anglo-American culture is an intriguing and not hard subject to learn.
to guide or orient It is fundamental that you take both the content and the activities of this textbook seriously
in the solution of a
question, problem, and read the texts suggested for extra reading. They all constitute basic elements not only for
mystery etc. (corre- the development of your knowledge, for supporting eventual debates, but mainly for grounding
spondent to Dica in your learning of the cultural aspects involving the English language learning and teaching.
Portuguese). From now on, dear students, investigate all notions and concepts contemplated in this text-
book, 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 Anglo-
American 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 Clue

The husbands use
of the word honey,
To understand where all the assumptions make considerations on the intimate relation the clothes the men
discussed in By Way of Presentation come from, of culture to language demonstrating how characters are wear-
ing. Would Brazilians
I will approach some concepts and notions language influences culture and how culture be dressed like those
about language and culture. Still, some histori- helps build language and how both of them Americans at home?
cal, geographical, political, social and religious intertwine to denude society and explain the Moreover also the
aspects will be pointed out as they contribute social web. Comparisons with Brazilian culture uncontrollable habit of
for the formation of the American people and are inevitable and duly provided to enhance buying anything from
the EBay site is a trait of
help determine the involvement of culture your understanding of the content of the dis- the (humor in) Ameri-
with language. To achieve such a goal I will re- cipline Anglo-American Culture. Let us take a can culture. But would
visit expressions such as Anglo, Anglo- Saxon, look at the following cartoon. buying things on the
Anglo-America, and Anglo-American and will 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
Find on the Internet
either one article, or
news, comment or pa-
per which discusses the
causes of the American
economy problems.
Seek for new words
and expressions in this
material clearly created
Figure 2: Humoristic in face of and from the
charge-text situation the Americans
Source: It appears ver- have been through
tically on the left side since 2008.
of the charge. Access 1
May, 2010.
Glossary
empiricist: knowledge
of the world, from
Can you point out what would be consid- Based upon your empiricist, epistemo- your experience and
ered traits of the Anglo-American culture in logical and linguistic knowledge let us revisit through media.
this cartoon? If you cannot dont worry about some terms crucial for the understanding of
Epistemological:
it; maybe it is because we have not so far dis- what underlies the study of the issues in the knowledge acquired
cussed these expressions. Anyway, check the discipline in question. After all, what is this all from books, and E-
answer in the Clue inserted in this page, as it about? Let us learn more about some words books on the Internet,
will provide you with some basic knowledge and expressions involved in the content An- the scientific knowl-
edge.
about the American culture. glo- American Culture.

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/primaryhis-
tory/anglo_saxons/ - En
cache
Historians use this term to designate the ons and their descendants in much of what is
Germanic tribes who invaded the south and now England and some of southeastern Scot-
east of Great Britain in the early 5th century land( between at least the mid-5th century
AD, and the period from their creation of the and the mid-12th century).
English nation to the Norman Conquest. The But the focus here is the expression An-
Anglo-Saxon is the period of English history glo which, to a certain extent, comes to de-
between about 550 and 1066 AD. The expres- note all English-speaking people and their
sion is also used for the language called Old descendants, no matter their prior ethnic
English, spoken and written by the Anglo-Sax- background.

1.4 Anglo- america

Figure 4: North America Map, North America Countries: Mexico, Canada, and the USA.
Source: Available at www.wikipedia.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/na.Access in 11th March,
2011.

14
 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 Anglo-
America 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) Anglo-
America concentrates two of the most rich
and powerful countries of the world, Canada
and the USA, was named by the German car-
tographers Martin Waldseemller and Mat-
thias Ringmann after the Italian explorer
Americo Vespucci. He explored South America
between 1497 and 1502 and was the first Eu-
ropean to suggest that the Americas were not
the East Indies, but a different territory previ-
ously 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 ma-
jority, it is considered part of Anglo-America
due to cultural, historical, economic, geo-
graphical and political aspects.
The USA and Canada present different
forms of culture manifestations that are rep-
resentations of the multiplicity of scenarios
which stand before us and are conveyed
through language. Obviously there are simi-
larities 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 po-
litical, social, cultural, economic, artistic, philo-
sophical, historical and traditional aspects, to
name only a few.
In this scenario language throughout
Task
times denudes the formation of an identity
exclusively American and determined by the See the film American
Beauty and also one
multiple and multifaceted cultural and linguis-
of the episodes of the
tic manifestations. Therefore language and sitcom/series Two and a
culture become inseparable. Half Men (Warner Chan-
To prove this fact, dear students, consider nel). You will find inter-
that if you see an American movie or sitcom/ esting cultural manifes-
tations not commonly
series attentively and concentrate on lan-
found in the Brazilian
guage you will find many cultural aspects in culture or, if manifested
terms of behavior, addressing the interlocutor, in it, it would be in a
ways of viewing the world, familial relations, rather different way.
Art, and realize that those aspects differ from Detect some of them,
write them down and
the Brazilian ones. An example is that Ameri-
discuss them with your
cans think people change. In Brazil such as- tutor and classmates.
sertive would not be consensual. This means
that to compare cultures can sometimes be an
unviable task. On account of that, some differ-
ences and similarities between the American To learn more
and Brazilian cultures will be dealt with mainly War of 1812 - refers
during the analysis and discussion of various to a military conflict
topics and sorts of texts. between the United
States of America and
the British Empire. The
Americans declared

1.5 Anglo-American
war for several reasons:
a desire for expansion
into the Northwest Ter-
ritory, trade restrictions
because of Britains
The noun phrase (expression) Anglo- among other foreigners who reached America ongoing war with
American is generally used to denote the cul- before the English had set foot on the Ameri- France, impressment
tural atmosphere shared by the United States can soil. of American merchant
and English Canada. But the Anglo-American The expression Anglo-American is also sailors into the Royal
Navy, British support
culture is obviously different from the French used to describe English American, North of American Indian
culture also disseminated in the French Cana- American persons of English origin, or back- tribes against American
da. Some political leaders (The ex-American ground. It serves too to define the relations expansion, and the
President Ronald Reagan and the former Min- between the United Kingdom on one hand, humiliation of Ameri-
ister Winston Churchill for instance) long ago and the Americas, in particular the United can honor available at:
www.facebook.com/
used the expression to discuss the relationship States, on the other. For example, Anglo- pages/...America. Read
of the United States to the United Kingdom, American relations were tense before the War this site to obtain more
especially if you have in mind that the Ameri- of 1812. (Available at www.facebook.com/ information about the
can territory was colonized by the English, pages/...America. Access in 17th May, 2011). War of 1812.

15
UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
1.6 On language
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 lan-
guages.
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 ap-
proximately 5 billion. And whichever is your
language among these 5 billion you talk, lis-
ten to, and think it is in the special way it has
been shaped by your culture (over)loaded
with social historical aspects, experiences, be-
havior, 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.developing-
teachers.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 lan-
guage) and written language. Codes and other
kinds of artificially constructed communica-
tion 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
Clue
non-verbal expressions) and a language, (a
Chomskys works of 1957, specific linguistic system, or code, e.g. Italian).
1955, and 1965 contain
what you need to know Languages other than English often have two
about the Innatist theory separate words for these distinct concepts.
he advocates in his French for example, following Saussures di-
Universal Grammar. Such
assumption, that language chotomy uses the word langue for language
is innate, is also applied as a concept and parole as the specific in-
by studies of language stance of language, speech. The former is so-
in Neurolinguistics and
Cognitive Science. cial, 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.
Task According to Saussure language is an abstract
system and speech the concretization of this
Find out and explain system which is in the mind of the speaker
why the first written
language is called
who makes it concrete by means of speech. In
CUNEIFORM. Discuss Brazilian Portuguese we use lingual for the lin-
it with classmates and guistic system of rules and linguagem to refer
tutor. to any form of expression or communication
(verbal and non-verbal).
As a general concept, the linguistic phe-
nomenon can be defined in distinct ways. One
definition sees language as the mental faculty
that allows humans to express linguistic be-
16
havior, learn languages, produce and under-
stand utterances. This concept evidences the
universality of language to all humans and the
biological basis of the human capacity for lan-
guage as a unique development of the human
brain. This view understands language as in-
nate, as Chomsky postulated.
Another definition describes language as
a formal closed structural system of symbols
ruled by grammatical rules that relate particu-
lar signs to particular meanings, that is, Struc-
turalism. As you already know, the structural-
ist theory was firstly introduced by the linguist
Ferdinand de Saussure. This view of language
had adepts as Noam Chomsky who intro-
duced 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 philoso-
phers such as Bertrand Russell, early Wittgen-
stein, Alfred Tarski and Gottlob Frege.
Language is also seen as an instrument
for communication that enables humans to
cooperate and share experiences. This defini-
tion 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 lan-
guage philosophers such as G. E. Moore, Paul
Grice, J. L. Austin and John Searle.
It is well known that the first form of writ-
ten language is called cuneiform, but spoken
language has been seen as a predator of writ-
ing for almost two centuries. Language may
refer both to the human capacity for acquiring
and using complex systems of communica-
tion, and to a specific instance of such a sys-
tem 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 quences known as words or morphemes, and
communication based on expressive signs to a syntactic system that rules how words and
include a theory of other minds and shared morphemes are used to form phrases and ut-
intentionality. This development is thought to terances. Written languages use visual sym-
have coincided with an increase in brain vol- bols that represent the sounds of the spoken Task
ume. Language is processed in many different languages, but they still require syntactic rules Answer: What are
locations in the human brain, but especially in that govern the production of meaning from Wernickes and
Brocas and Wernickes areas. sequences of words. Brocas areas? Search
Humans acquire language through social Languages evolve and diversify over time, about them, write
the information and
interaction in early childhood, and children and the history of their evolution can be re- discuss them with
generally speak fluently when they are around constructed by comparing modern languages your tutor.
three years old. The use of language has be- to determine which traits their ancestral lan-
come deeply entrenched in human culture guages must have had for the later stages to Glossary
and, apart from being used to communicate have occurred. The languages that are mostly morpheme: Term
and share information it also has social and spoken in the world today belong to the Indo- used in Morphology. A
cultural uses, such as signifying group iden- European family, which includes languages morpheme is com-
tity, social stratification and for social groom- such as English, Spanish, Russian and a vast posed by phoneme(s),
the smallest linguisti-
ing and entertainment. The word language range of other groups of languages all over cally distinctive units
can also be used to describe the set of rules the world. of sound in spoken
(grammar) that makes this possible, or the set To conclude, language has a relation to language, that has
of utterances that can be produced from those thinking and cognition. Benjamin Lee Whorf semantic meaning.
rules (syntax), that is, the linguistic code. (1897-1941), an American linguist already quot- Example: unbelievable:
has three morphemes:
However, language is more than speech ed in this textbook and famous for discussing un-, a bound mor-
and writing, it is the making and sharing of this issue stated elsewhere that language pheme. (Available at:
meaning with ourselves and others, accord- shapes the way we think, and determines en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
ing to Emmitt and Pollock (1997, p.19). what we can think about, to which Albrecht Morpheme.
Languages invariably rely on the process would add: Change your language and you
of semiosis to relate a sign with a particular change your thoughts (www.dgtladyKarlAl-
Task
meaning. Spoken and signed languages con- brechtquotes). I wonderHow about you, my At this point, dear stu-
tain a phonological system that governs how friends? dents, I ask you to take
a second reading of
sounds or visual symbols are used to form se- the Textbook on Mor-
phology of the English
Language (2010) writ-
1.6.1 Language is unique and arbitrary ten for your course by
Martins, de Souza and
Ferreira de Souza to
review interesting de-
Where does this uniqueness of human conventional (it is simply an agreed label for tails about morphemes
language come from? It is unique in that if a pre-existing entity) or is it motivated (it cre- and related issues and
compared to other forms of communication, ates the entity which it names)? Do cultural words.
such as those used by other animals (that can attitudes influence naming practices across
only express a finite number of utterances that centuries and continents, exploring what
are mostly genetically transmitted), it allows they mean to someone? Do peoples bear the
To Expand
Learning
us to produce an infinite set of utterances. names they do out of nothing, or are they as-
Moreover, the symbols and grammatical rules sociated to something or attitudes? The dis- refer to one of the
of any particular language are largely arbitrary. cussion would include psychological analysis, latest book on this mat-
ter: The Way we think,
In sum, human language is unique in that un- social anthropology, etymology, baptismal Conceptual Blending
like other systems of communication its com- trends, different cultures and periods social and the Minds Hidden
plex structure has evolved to serve a wider practices. Complexities, by Gilles
range of functions. To cut the long story short, why are lan- Faucconnier and Mark
How do names attach themselves to guages arbitrary? They are arbitrary in that Turner, 2002.
particular objects and people? This question there is no necessary or natural relationship
dates back to Plato and can still be posed in between the words of a given language and
contemporary times intrigued with the ques- the concepts that they represent. For example,
tion: does, and how, this connection mean there is nothing in the word tree that con-
anything? Today, books have discussed the nects it to the concept of a tree; which is why
subject, and Names to Give Your Baby or Read- Portuguese and Brazilians can use a totally dif-
ers Digest columns of apt names and profession- ferent sign for the same concept: rvore; and
als is a good example. The question of naming so on with other languages. Also, languages
is a subset of the larger but equally relevant are arbitrary because the rules for the combi-
subject of language: is language arbitrary and nation of signs in order to produce complete

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 agree-
able 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 sys-
tem can only be acquired through social inter-
action.

1.6.2 Language concepts and related notions.

Animals and even plants communicate
with each other, so some respectful scien-
tists say. Therefore, humans are not unique
in this capability; however, human language
is unique in being a symbolic communica-
tion system that is learned instead of biologi-
cal inheritance. The users give meaning to
symbols/signs that are sounds or things. You
must have studied in the discipline Introduc-
tion to Linguistics, dear student, that origi-
nally, 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 ex-
amination 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 lan-
guage is arbitrary: there is no direct relation
between the word and the object/sign/sym-
bol it refers to. By the way, these are words for
cat in Latin, Portuguese/Spanish, German and
French respectively.
Undoubtedly language is the most im-
portant component of culture because much
of the rest of it is normally transmitted orally.
To understand the subtle nuances and mean-
ings of another culture you must know its lan-
guage 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.micro-
soft.com/en-us/images/?
CTT=6&ver=14&app=win
word.exe

18

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 ex-
press himself in his language before such land-
scapes with a Delta wing, people surfing and
a raft in the northeast of Brazil, if he lives sur-
rounded 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 hu-
man beings come into the world with an ea-
gerness 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 communi-
cate with them, that is, in their early stages of
learning the language they imitate the pho-
nemes, 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 construc-
tion. 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 be-
comes bringed, drink becomes drinked. This is
a dangerous rule to follow as, unfortunately,
for these children English has about 165 irreg-
ular 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 communica-
tion same as our thought and cultural pro-
cesses are highly influenced by our language.
Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana
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 hy-
pothesis) claimed that language predeter-
mines 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 com-
parisons 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 radia-
tion. 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 lan-
guage that orient us to seeing the spectrum in
terms of the arbitrary established categories
we name colors. This spectrum may be di-
vided 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 lan-
guages. A simple example is the English word
for the color RED: rojo, vermelho, rosso, rouge,
Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French corre-
spondents to red, respectively.
But what the linguists Sapir-Whorf em-
phasized 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 expres-
sions they would use to symbolize lingerie, bi-
kini, green pastures, extreme heat, cotton, sum-
mer, 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 di-
viding up the spectrum of visible light.
19
UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

Task Nevertheless, as economy and technol-

Find out the English ogy increase in complexity all over the world,
expression for azul the number of color terms increase in the
marinho in Portu- same proportion, I mean, the spectrum of vis-
guese. You will see that
the origin is the same ible light is subdivided into many more cat-
in both languages. Dis- egories. Still, as the environment changes,
cuss the subject with language and culture respond accordingly by
your tutor.
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 pre-
pares you to see. Do you want some evidence
of that? Make the following test: What color
is the girls blouse in the following picture?
Figure 8: Japanese girl (Check the answer in the next Clue.)
wearing a sweater. Did you answer pink, light pink, light
Illustration credits wine, dark pink, Italian grape, violet? If you did
by Dennis ONeil.
Availableat:www.anthro. it is all right in your Brazilian culture but not in
palomar.edu/language/ the American.
language_5.htm. Access in
6th July 2011.

Now, lets very briefly revisit some basic concepts of culture because this basic content must
Clue have been discussed in disciplines such as Introduction to Linguistics and Semantics during your
course.
If you answered mauve
or lavender you did
well. You showed some
learning about an
American trait. Both
the terms for this color
1.7 On culture
are correct In American
English. They do not
see/feel pink in the What would be the correspondent in English to the following cartoon originally written in
girls blouse as we do. 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 cul-
ture? And how is that
language conveys such
differences? Discuss Figure 9: On Brazilian
them with your tutor. 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 every-
body knows, and what everybody else knows,
within a given group. Others would advocate
that culture is what lies at the core of an indi-
viduals behavior and his degree of assimila-
tion within a particular environment or social
group. Experts have also described culture as
the result of the mixture between the system

20
 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 recog-
nized, 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

English, and generally used by the 1940s low-

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
er 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, togeth-
er with the student attitude is a sign of impo-
liteness in any English speaking countries and
in America as well. And when addressed to au-
thorities, 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 ro-
mance in Five Acts, in which Henry Higgins, a
Professor of phonetics, bets his friend Picker-
ing 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 ele-
ment, 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 star-
ring 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 be-
came a Broadway musical (1956) of huge suc-
cess 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 Portu-
guese translation and the competent featur-
ing of Bibi Ferreira as Eliza and Paulo Autran
as Higgins, to name only some of the famous
Brazilian actors and actresses of that time per-
forming 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 as-
sumption that language intertwines culture.
That is why language and culture cannot be
separated, for language is vital to understand-
ing our unique cultural perspectives. Lan-
guage 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
1.7.2 Language is determined by Culture
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 Cul-
ture, 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 Em-
pire did not have words for tribunes, gladia-
tors, Caesar, praetors, or any other expression
referring to Roman administration or govern-
ment because these positions and type of sol-
dier were not part of their culture. Similarly the
ancient Romans did not have words for fac-
tory, radio, automobile, or train because these
items did not make part of their cultural con-
22
language to culture, that is, the role culture
plays in learning or teaching a language.
In any culture the use of language in-
volves 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 accord-
ingly and language achieve (one of) its goals,
communication. (Available at: www.thepaper-
experts.com).
Language and culture are related in vari-
ous ways and because both phenomena are
unique to humans they have also been the
focus of a great deal of anthropological, so-
ciological and ethno-linguistic studies. Cul-
ture 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.
text.
Interestingly, cultures sometimes restrict
what people can efficiently think about in
their own languages. Some languages, for in-
stance, 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 effi-
ciently. 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 thorough systematic research demonstrated
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 ex-
ample 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 hun-
dred or over.
Considering that words determine
thought, some researchers adopted this ex-
treme 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
that the division of color spectrum has re-
markable 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 mas-
sas, peleja), carnival (festejos de Momo, festa
da carne, baguna transcendental) and poor
people (pobres, miserveis, mendigos, cama-
das 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 speaking majority and those differences com-
that language is culture and for many people, monly create divisions among the neighbor-
language is not just the medium of culture ing peoples or among different groups of the
but also a part of it. An example of that are same nation.
the immigrants to a new country who try to This sort of conflict is becoming an issue
retain their old customs and speak their first in America as speakers of standard American
language among fellow immigrants, even if English, that is, whites and educated minori-
all of them are comfortable with their new ties observe the growing number of speakers
language. The reason for this behavior is that of the Black English dialect. Debates emerge
immigrants are eager to preserve their own over whether it is proper to use Ebonics in
heritage, which includes not only customs and schools, while its speakers continue to assert
traditions but also language. Again we remind that the dialect is a fundamental part of the
you of the many Jewish in their communities, black culture. But it is always well to remem-
in which especially the older members com- ber that we are talking about the properties of
monly speak Yiddish as it is seen as a part of language in general. And then I ask you, dear
the Jewish culture. students: Should the word Ivorics, as a coun-
A good example of how linguistic differ- terpart for Ebonics, be invented and used Glossary
ences are often seen as the mark of another gallantly to refer to the whites in schools as Ebonics refers to
culture is in Canada, where French-speaking well? Let us take a look at Paul McCartneys lyr- ebony, a type of Eng-
natives of Quebec clash with the English- ics/poem in a song. lish spoken by some
African-American in the
USA. The word is also
Ebony and Ivory the name of a tree with
Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony a black color. Ivorics in
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh lord, why dont we? contrast refers to ivory,
We all know that people are the same where ever we go a yellowish-white color.
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

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 sub-
ject with your tutor. Figure 14: Sir James
Paul McCartney plays at
the BBC Electric Proms
Task performance, London,
England.
Discuss this issue with Source:pt.wikipedia.org/
your tutor and class- wiki/Paul_McCartney.
mates. Compare the
situation of Ebony and
Ivory in Anglo-America Now, tell me, dear students, what is behind Paul McCartneys lyrics in terms of cultural mani-
to Brazil. You will find festations? I remind you that Paul is a British citizen but has lived in America for many years now.
out that cultures may Therefore, he is supposed to be acquainted with many aspects of the USA culture.
share similarities. Ebony
and ivory if translated
into Portuguese would
carry the same burden 1.7.4 Language and Culture intertwined
as in American English?

It was said elsewhere that language is a An insight into any FL would reveal traits of
Clue
verbal expression of culture. Some experts the countrys culture as languages are highly
Read more about would even say that language is culture. That influenced and shaped by culture. Lets see,
this issue at www.
lexiophiles.com/.../the-
would explain why it is generally agreed that in the following figures, how much you know
relationship-between- the relationship language to culture is closely of the American culture and how you perceive
language-and-culture. and deeply rooted. Language is used to main- language and culture intertwinement.
Think about this: Would tain and convey culture and ties and also to Consider the characters in the next figure.
it be plausible to as- provide us with the categories we use for ex- Look at the first man in line. What does the
sume that our think-
ing is influenced by
pressing our thoughts. Moreover, the values cartoonist want to mean with the drawings
the language we use? and customs in the country we grow up in around his head? Now look at the woman and
Could it be the other shape the way in which we think to a certain the second man in line. What do their eyes re-
way around instead: extent. veal? Surprise, ignorance of the facts and em-
Would our language So to speak, cultures hide in languages. barrassment are involved. Why?
be influenced by our
thoughts?

24
 Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

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

To learn more
I remind you that Ben-
jamin Lee Whorf (1897-
1941), the American lin-
guist, in his hypothesis
claimed that there is a
relation of language to
thinking and cognition.
He advocates that lan-
guage shapes the way
we think, and deter-
mines all what we can
think about. Would be
true? Couldnt it be the
Figure 15: People standing in a line of the Court Room. other way around and
Source: damscartoons.com.www.bhma.co.uk/wait-to-be- our thought shape the
-seated-greeter-sign-p-1328.ht language we speak?
What do you think, my
This sign, with the same linguistic struc- view of the world would be formed from such friends?
tures, is also found at the entrance hall of The differences.
Four Seasons, a famous restaurant in New York Linda Hantrais (1989) advocates the idea
City. Why would it be there? that culture is the beliefs and practices gov- Task
Research about languages spoken all over erning the life of a society for which a par- Why should those peo-
the world focuses on the status of languages ticular language is the vehicle of expression. ple wait to be seated?
and show how they have varied and changed Therefore, culture not only influences every- What do the linguistic
structures mean? Is
over time, and that is due to social-historical- ones views of the world but also shapes the there any relation of
cultural factors. A look at intercultural com- language one speaks. Following this line of culture to the linguistic
munication examines how these factors can thought, the knowledge of an FL can enhance structures? Is it com-
affect interactions between people from the understanding of its culture and people. mon to find such signs
countries and backgrounds. And yet, Emmitt and Pollock (1997) argue that in Brazil? Where and
what for? Write some
Leveridge (2008) states that different uses even if people were brought up under similar considerations about
of languages convey distinct ideas within dif- behavioral backgrounds or cultural situations your answers and
ferent cultures and the whole intertwining but spoke different languages, their world discuss them with your
of such relationships start very early, at ones view might be very different. tutor and classmates.
birth, but it is only after he is exposed to his Conforming to Vygotsky ideas, Sa-
surroundings that he becomes an individual pir-Whorf, elsewhere, argue that different
in and of their social-cultural group. Childrens thoughts are brought about by the use of dif-
lives, opinions and language are shaped by ferent forms of language. In this sense, the
what they come in contact with. individuals would be limited by the language
Physically and mentally everyone would used to express their ideas. And, as different
be the same, whereas the interactions be- languages will create different limitations,
tween persons or groups vary widely from a people who share a culture but speak dif-
place to place. Behavior patterns resulting ferent languages, will naturally have differ-
from interaction among the individuals in the ent world views. And yet, Emmitt and Pollock
groups will be approved or disapproved of de- (1997) claim that language is closely linked to
pending on their being acceptable or not, and culture and language reflects it and passes it
this will vary from location to location thus on from one generation to the next. Therefore,
forming the basis of different cultures. Ones learning a new language involves learning a

25
UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

new culture (ALLWRIGHT; BAILEY, 1991). Conse-
quently, teachers of a language are also teach-
ers 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 understand-
ing 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, lan-
guage policy must be put in action to create
awareness and understandings of cultural dif-
ferences, and to incorporate the cultural val-
ues 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 Univer-
sity 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 In-
formation on Language Teaching and Research. 1989

LEVERIDGE, Aubrey Neil. The Relationship Between Language & Culture and the Implica-
tions for language teaching. Written for TEFL,. September, 2008.

PINKER, Steven.1994 - The Language Instinct: How the Mind CreatesLanguage. New York: Har-
perCollins. 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

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 influ-
ence, form and mark the American language
and culture. After all, they all contributed for
the birth and death of the American dream.
2.2 America
As I mentioned in the By Way of presenta-
tion, because it would be unviable in one text-
book such as this to deal with all the Anglo-
American 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 for-
mation of the United States after the Revo-
lutionary 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
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 obvi-
ously.
The United States is incrusted in North
America and includes fifty states and one fed-
eral district, where the capital, Washington,
D.C (District of Columbia) is located. Its forty-
Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana
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 Tow-
ers (WTC) in New York, NY, and the economic
problems since 2008. Mistakes in administrat-
ing the country and its economy have been
killing it. What will future bring?
Latin Americans consider such use of this des-
ignation 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 major-
ity 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 re-
gional inflections. Most Americans are aware
of these differences despite the fact that these
regions have experienced economic transfor-
mations.
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 Mid-
west is both rural and industrial. It is where
we find the corn belt and breadbasket of is situated in the east-central Pacific Ocean,
the nation. It is also known as the home of the
family farm.
In the Great Lakes area in the upper Mid-
west, the automobile and steel industries were
central to community and economy. As those
Figure 16: Appalachian
National Scenic Trail industries declined, the upper Midwest has
(U.S. National Park ironically been referred to as the rust belt.
Service) Always associated with slavery and
Source: www.nps.gov/ shaped by its secession from the Union before
appa/ - En cache7 Feb the Civil War and with subsequent battles over
2011.
civil rights for African-Americans, the South
carries different features if compared to other
regions. Today the region includes the sun-
shine states, retirement havens, and new eco-
nomic 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 land-
scapes. 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-
28
tinctive for its Native American populations,
historical ties to colonial Spain, and its regional
cuisine highly influenced by Spanish cultures.
(www.kidport.com/.../usageography/usageo-
graph... -)
The islands of Hawaii and Alaska are also
American states. The island chain of Hawaii
about two thousand miles southwest of San
Francisco, California. Situated between the Pa-
cific and Arctic oceans, and bordered by Cana-
da to the east is Alaska in North of America.
The country possesses several common-
wealths 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 them-
selves an imperial or colonial power.
The countrys physical environment is ex-
tremely diverse. Alaska, for example is often
spectacular with its glaciers that coexist with
flowering tundra that bloom in the arctic sum-
mer. 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 Appa-
lachian Mountains, on their turn, are an erod-
ed mountain range that is now heavily forest-
ed. The Appalachians range span two cultural
regions: Located to the west of the Atlantic
coastal plain, they extend from the Middle At-
lantic 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 me-
anders 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.

Based upon the stories about the people
who lived by the Mississippi River, the musi-
cian Jerome Kern composed Show Boat a mu-
sical in two acts with lyrics by Oscar Hammer-
stein 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 preju-
dice and tragic enduring love. By the way, mu-
sicals are a remarkable trait of the American
culture though it was not originated in Amer-
ica 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 sur-
roundings 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,
2.3.1 Demographics
The United States has a population of
over 280 million (2000 census), but it is rela-
tively sparsely populated. The most popu-
lous state, California, with 33,871,648 inhabit-
ants, 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
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/Mis-
sissippi - i_River
To learn more
read Culture of United
States of America - his-
recreating the landscapes they had left behind tory, people, clothing,
in Europe. Irrigation and modern agricultural traditions, women,
methods into continuous fields of soybeans beliefs, food, cus-
and wheat have transformed the vast prairies toms, family http://
www.everyculture.
of the Great Plains, which were characterized com/To-Z/United-
by numerous species of tall grasses. The physi- States-of-America.
cal environment has had significant effects on html#ixzz1UHeEvU6s.
regional cultures.
Nevertheless, the first real transformers of
these landscapes were not the American set-
tlers 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 com-
munities that lived on agriculture.
The idea that the environment shapes
culture or character does have cultural cur-
rency. Historians over a century ago theorized
that the American frontier experience had
been instrumental and fundamental in form-
ing the independent and democratic national
character. Wilderness, independence, and de-
mocracy are common aspects of American
symbolism.
suburban. Population growth is at below-re-
placement 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 begin-
ning to get old but life expectancy is seventy-
three years for white men and seventy-nine
29
UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
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
Task about 70% of the population. According to
Research on the Inter- current census figures, in the year 2000 the
net what is the mean- largest minority was blacks, who number
ing of the expression about 35 million, or 13 percent of the popula-
baby boomers? Did tion.
the Brazilian popula-
tion suffered from such The Hispanics (Latinos) include primar-
a phenomenon? Dis- ily people from Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Cuba
cuss with your tutor. (no matter their color) and make 12 percent of
2.3.2 US Languages
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 Trud-
gill in Language in the British Isles(1984) intro-
duced the term English (EngEng), which is
now generally recognized in academic writing
in competition with Anglo-English and Eng-
lish in England. In this usage the term British
English has a wider meaning, and is reserved
to describe the features common to English-
English, 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 inter-
preted in two ways, more broadly or more
narrowly, within a range of blurring and am-
biguity. (English Language and Culture Insti-
tute. UAB. Available at: www.uab.edu/elci-Em
cache. in 17 July, 2011.
Strange as it may seem, there is no offi-
cial 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 un-
official second language for The United States
ranks fifth in the world in the number of Span-
ish speakers.
Native Americans, immigrants and slaves
languages have influenced the several dialects
of America. These languages include Spanish,
Dutch, German, Scandinavian, Asian, and Af-
rican languages, and less widely spoken lan-
guages such as Basque, Yiddish, and Greek.
Therefore, spoken English reflects the nations
immigration and history.
30
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, Philip-
pines, Japan, India, Korea, and Vietnam. Mak-
ing up about 4% of the population, it is esti-
mated that there are 11 million Asians in the
USA.
The Native American population that in-
cludes 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 Na-
tive American jurisdiction.
Within the social hierarchy of American
English dialects, Standard English is the ac-
ceptable 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 de-
fined 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 pronunci-
ation 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 Stan-
dard 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 ac-
cepted in states such as New York and Illinois,
where Spanish bilingual education is man-
dated in public schools. In California, however,
State laws prohibit even bilingual personnel
from using Spanish with Spanish-speaking pa-
tients in hospitals or with students in schools
as tensions between Anglos and Mexican im-
migrants 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 out-
numbered all other immigrant groups ex-
cept 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 through-
out the Midwest, Oregon, Colorado and else-
where from the mid-nineteenth century until
World War I, when anti-German sentiment
resulted in the elimination of German instruc-
tion 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 Eisen-
hower, actress Meryl Streep, the scientist Al-
bert Einstein, the writer John Steinbeck, and
actress Sandra Bullock.

Yiddish, Swedish, and Norwegian are oth-
er languages used in the press and in public
schools. Therefore, proponents of the teach-
ing of English only, who claim that bilingual
education should not be provided to Span-
ish-speaking immigrants because earlier im-
migrants did not have this advantage, as they
often were schooled in their native languages.
Education was fundamental in stimulat-
ing the teaching of English as a standard lan-
guage 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 Figure: 19: Pictures of
1910, but by 1920 had decreased to 15 percent, some famous German
Americans.
and by 1930 had fallen less than 9%.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/
There is indeed a national dialect known wiki/German_American
as American English. There are four major re- Access in August 2011.
gional dialects in the United States: northeast-
ern, south, inland north, and Midwestern. The
Midwestern accent (considered the standard
accent in the United States, and somehow Task
but not extensively analogous in some re- research and find two
spects to the Received Pronunciation else- examples of the fol-
where in the English-speaking world) extends lowing government
from what were once the Middle Colonies symbols: statuses, me-
morials, songs, oaths.
across the Midwest to the Pacific states. Discuss them with your
tutor.

2.3.3 The USA Symbols: The Flag, the Bald Eagle, the Great Seal
Task
and The Star-Spangled Banner. research and find infor-
mation about Figures
of Justice, Liberty Bell,
The symbols of the US government include: government buildings (as the Arlington Nation- National Flower and
al Cemetery in Washington, DC), statues and memorials, songs, oaths, and symbols. Uncle Sam.
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 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 represent-
ing the fifty states, the American flag is per-
haps the most potent and contested national
symbol. On national holidays, such as Veterans
Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Indepen-
dence 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 con-
tinue 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
term bald in the expression Bald Eagle comes
from the word piebald, an old word, mean-
ing 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 ani-
mal 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 cho-
sen because of its strength, courage, freedom,
and immortality. US animal symbol is a power-
ful, 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 Presi-
dents flag, and on the one-dollar bill.
The following lyrics are part of US na-
tional anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. You
must have heard them, dear students, thou-
sands of time during the Olympiads as the
Americans always win several Gold medals in
various sport modalities.

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

What so proudly we hailed by the twilights last gleaming
Glossary Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
anthem is a countrys Oer the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming
national song. To hum - is And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air
to emit sounds correspon-
ding to the music notes. Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there
(In Portuguese would be Oh, say does that Star - Spangled Banner yet wave
cantarolar sem abrir a boca) Oer the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
Task Americans always listen to or sing their
Research about the national anthem with their right hand over
interesting history of their hearts to show affection and respect for
the American national
anthem. Find out why is
their native country and to demonstrate pa-
it called The Star-Span- triotism. So, what has happened to President
gled Banner? Discuss Obama in the following picture?
it with your tutor. To
make the lyrics work,
how about finding the Figure: 23: President Obama, Hillary Clinton and
anthem melody, put two American citizens listening to the American
them together and sing Anthem.
or hum a little bit? Source: Obama: We Place Our Hands Over Our He-
arts? | Floyd Reports. Available at floydreports.com/
obama-we-place-our-hands-over-our-heart...-Em
To learn more cache 13 Jan 2011 Access in 25/08/11.
about history, geogra-
phy and other impor- Another way of demonstrating patrio- communities through a home team. The game
tant social studies infor- tism, nationalism and community solidarity is expresses the important value of competition
mation about US, check through sports. In the Olympic Games/Olym- but unlike soccer, American football games
out the Social Studies piads, patriotic symbols abound, and victors can never end in a tie. It is interesting to notice
Video Index at Ameri-
can Iconswww.kidport. are heralded for their American qualities of that, again, unlike soccer, football also reflects
com/.../americanicons/ determination, individualism and competi- cultural ideals about sex and gender as the at-
AmericanIconIndex.ht... tiveness. In the same way, American football tire of players and cheerleaders overexposes
- Em cache - games connect fans to one another or to their male and female sex characteristics.

32
 Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

2.3.4 Anglo-Americans Clue

I remember you that
the word football refers
An English-speaking European, an English the natives of the Americas. only to the American
Canadian and an American are usually referred To a certain extent, Anglo has come to game. In Brazil people
to as Anglo-American, sometimes shortened denote all English-speaking people and their play soccer which origi-
nated in England and
to Anglo. Its origin dates back to the discus- descendants, no matter their prior ethnic, ex- this sport is played with
sion of the history of English-speaking people cept for the children descendant from Chinese 11 players and can end
of the US and the Spanish-speaking people Spanish speakers that would always be re- in a tie. Brazil has been
living in the western U.S. during the Mexican- ferred to as Hispanic. a soccer champion for
American War. The usage of the word Anglo Finally, Anglo-American also refers to 5 times (1958-Sweden;
1962-Chile; 1970-Mex-
generally ignores the distinctions between those coming from countries that traditionally ico; 1994US; 2002-Ja-
German Americans (the largest ancestry group spoke English as the main language, as well as pan).
in the United States, as you know), Irish Ameri- all those whose families have become English-
cans, English Americans, Italian Americans, speaking people in Canada and the US. An-
To learn more
Swedish Americans, and other European de- glo-American is often used in legal, economic
scent English-speaking peoples who are the and political documents and other writings in Culture of United States
majority in the United States and Canada. reference to those countries that have similar of America - history,
people, clothing, tradi-
As to European English-speaking, the legal regimes generally based on the English tions, women, beliefs,
term Anglo American is sometimes but rarely common law. food, customs, family
viewed as an insult as the term Hispanic is to http://www.everycul-
ture.com/To-Z/United-
States-of-America.
html#ixzz1UI25w0EC
2.3.5 The (North) Americans: Ethnicity, religion, rituals and sacred
places

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 rac-
es: White, American Indian and Alaska Native,
Asian, Black or African American, Native Ha-
waiian 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 ra-
cially diverse ethnicity that composes the larg-
est 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 gov-
ernment Programs and Surveys. Hispanic and
Latino Americans compose 15% of the popu-
lation; Black Americans are the largest racial
minority, nearly 13% of the population; the
White, not-Hispanic or Latino population com-
prises 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
region. Nevertheless, 35% of White Americans
(including all White Americans or non-Hispan-
ic/Latino only) live in the South. On their turn,
Blacks and African Americans are most preva-
lent 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 Alas-
ka Natives, 68% of Native Hawaiians and Oth-
er Pacific Islanders, 37% of the Two or more
races population (Multiracial Americans), and
46% of people of Some other race.

Task According to the 2000 Census and subsequent US Census Bureau surveys, Americans self-
described as belonging to the following racial groups:
refer to www.
en.wikipdia.org/Race
and ethnicity in the White: those having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or
United States, main North Africa.
article: Demographics
in the United States
Black or African American: those having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.
for further getting American Indian or Alaska Native, also called Native Americans: those having origins in any
information about The of the original peoples of North, Central and South America, and who maintain tribal affilia-
USA demographics and tion or community attachment.
historical trends and Asian, also called Asian American: those having origins in any of the original peoples of the
influences. Take notes
of these aspects for
Far East, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent; frequently specified as Chinese Amer-
discussions with your ican, Korean American, Indian American, Filipino American, Vietnamese American, Japanese
tutor and classmates. 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 Glossary
as Mestizo, Creole, and Mulatto, but among the entries reported in the 2000 Census were We-sorts - name,
nationalities instead of races, such as South African, Moroccan, Belizean, Mexican, Puerto Ri- regarded as derogatory
can, Cuban, as well as mixed-race terms like We-sorts, mixed, interracial, and others. by some, for a group
Multiracial - two or more races, widely known as those who check off and/or write in more of Native Americans
than one race. There is no actual option labeled Two or more races or Multiracial on Cen- in Maryland who are
from the Piscataway
sus and other forms; only the foregoing six races appear, and people who report more than tribe who have always
one of them are categorized as people of Two or more races in subsequent processing. Any claimed to be Native
number, up to all six, of the racial categories can be reported by any respondent American people. They
were powerful at the
As to religion, many creeds have been independently in the United States, including time of European en-
counter. Interestingly,
brought to the United States, due to later im- Mormons and Shakers aside from the many individuals with the
ports of the countrys multicultural immigrant Christian movements from England and Eu- surnames Proctor, New-
heritage, and coexist with those founded rope reestablished early in the nations history. man, Savoy, Queen,
within the country; such beliefs have led the Although religion and the state are formally Butler, Thompson,
United States to become one of the most reli- separated, religious expression is an impor- Swann, Gray and Har-
ley, claim that Native
giously diverse countries in the world. tant aspect of public and political life. Nearly heritage.
The majority of the American people are every President has professed some variety
Christian. Catholicism is the largest single de- of Christian faith. One of the most significant To learn more
nomination, but Protestants of all denomina- religious trends in recent years has been the Read the Statistical
tions (Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyteri- rise of evangelical and fundamentalist sects of Abstract of the United
an, and others) outnumber Catholics. Judaism Christianity, organized political-religious force, States, on the Internet
at www.census.gov/
is the largest non-Christian faith, followed by whose followers significantly influence politi-
compendia/statab/
Islam, which has a significant African-Ameri- cal life and agendas. cats/population.thml.
can 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 Con-
stitution prevents the Federal government
from making any law respecting an estab-
lishment of religion, and guarantees the free
exercise of religion. Because of that religious
statistics in U.S. are obtained from organiza-
tional reporting and surveys. Is this a similarity
between the Brazilian and American cultures,
dear students? The State in Brazil does not in-
terfere in religious affairs and the religion does
not mix with the States affairs?
Like other English speakers, Anglo-Amer-
icans are mostly, and by tradition, Protestant
whereas Roman Catholics are minority. Other
religions are also professed but by a few peo-

ple. The United States has both a very wide New religions have grown such as Bud- Figure 28: Protestant
diversity of religions, beliefs and practices. dhism, with meditation, yoga, astrology, and cult
The 2002 surveys revealed that 83 percent of Native American spirituality which blend ele- Source: en.wikipedia.org/
Americans claim to belong to a religious de- ments of Eastern religions and practices. wiki/EpiscopalChurch_
nomination, 40 percent claim they attend ser- In sum, the majority of Americans (76%) (United_States) - Em cache
vices nearly every week or more, and 58 per- identify themselves as Christians, mostly
cent claim to pray at least weekly. A majority within Protestant (51%) and Catholic (25%)
of Americans report that religion plays a very denominations. Non-Christian religions as
important role in their lives, in a proportion Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, col-
unusual among developed nations. lectively make up about 3.9% to 5.5% of the
Baptism, the largest Protestant sect, is adult population. Another 15% says that they
originated in Europe but grew exponentially have neither religious belief nor religious affili-
in US, especially in the South among both ation. Some 5.2%, when asked, declared that
whites and blacks. A few religious sects arose they did not know, or refused to reply. A reli-

35
UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

gious Identification Survey revealed that be-
liefs vary considerably across the country: 59%
Task of Americans living in Western states (the Un-
churched Belt) report a belief in God; howev-
Find explanations er in the South (the Bible Belt) the faith is as
for the expressions
Unchurched Belt and high as 86%.
Bible belt. Answer the The USA has also a tradition of non-or-
question: Are there any dained and nontraditional religious practitio-
other sorts of Belts in ners who include evangelical lay preachers,
the USA? If so, discuss religious leaders associated with New Age
these aspects with your
tutor and classmates. religions, and leaders of religious movements
In what religion is designated as cults who profess their faith as
concerned, is Brazil also the practitioners of world religions such as
divided in Belts? Why? priests, ministers, and rabbis do. Women are
Comment your answers increasingly entering traditionally male reli-
with your colleagues
and tutor. gious positions. There are now women min-
isters in many Protestant denominations and
women rabbis. The country does not have re-
ligious rituals or designated holy places that
have meaning to the population as a whole.
However, Salt Lake City is a holy city for Mor-
mons, 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 im-
portance such as baseball and football games.
Championship games in these sports, the
World Series and the Super Bowl, respectively,
constitute major annual events and celebra-
tions. Disneyland, Hollywood, and Grace-land
(Elvis Presleys estate) are considered impor-
tant 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 qui-
et places. Some people believe in an afterlife
or in reincarnation or other form of continuity
of energy or spirit. Unlike Brazilians, in Ameri-
cans 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 bet-
ter conditions of life, find better jobs, and es-
cape from famine, poverty, wars and conflicts
to name only a few factors that embody the
search for higher standards of life and well-
being. 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 eth-
nic groups despite the strictness of the immi-
gration laws in the USA.
Lets now approach in some details the
two groups that together with the whites, his-
torians 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, reli-
gion, 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 fromimmi-
grants from African, Caribbean, Central American or South American nations.
African-American history dates back to the 17th century and ranges from servitude in Brit-
ish 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 Move-
ment.
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, accord- To learn more

ing to the first U.S Census. At the Who was Jim Crow?
start of the Civil War, in the 1860s, Research about this
the African American population had man, write down some
increased to 4.4 million, but the per- considerations about
centage rate dropped to 14% of the him and discuss with
your tutor.
total population of the country. The
vast majority of these Africans were
slaves, and only 488,000 counted as
freemen. In 1900, the black popu-
lation doubled and reached 8.8 mil-
lion. Ten years later about 90% of
African Americans lived in the South,
but many of them began migrating
north looking for better jobs and liv-
ing conditions, good opportunities
and to escape from racial violence
and Jim Crow laws. This movement
was called The Great Migration which Figure 29: Pictures
spanned from the 1890s to the 1970s. of Afro-Americans.
Frederick Douglas;
More than 6 million black peo-
Barack Obama; Rosa
ple moved north between 1916 and Parks;
the 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s, Condoleezza Rice;
however, that tendency reversed M. Luther King Jr. ;
and more African Americans moved Beyonc;
south to the Sun Belt. Malcolm X; Oprah
The African American popula- Winfrey; Booker T.
tion reached about 30 million in Washington;
1990, which represented 12% of the Michael Jordan;
overall U.S. population. About 39.9 Harriet Tubman;
Muhammad Ali
million African Americans live in the
Source: From wikipedia
United States, according to 2005 U.S. the free encyclopedia.
Census which represents 13.8% of Access in August 2011.
the total population.
Nevertheless, The World Factbook gives a 2006 figure of 12.9% Controversy, which has sur-
rounded the accurate population count of African Americans for decades. Some demography Clue
authorities believed it was undercounted intentionally to minimize the figures of the black popu- The Sun Belt, or Spanish
lation to reduce their political power base. Belt, is the region com-
prising the southern
tier of the United States
and includes the states
of Alabama, Arizona,
Florida, Georgia, Loui-
siana, Mississippi, New
Mexico, South Caro-
lina, Tennessee, Texas,
roughly half of Cali-
fornia (up to Greater
Sacramento), and parts
of Arkansas, North
Carolina, and south-
ern Nevada. Its main
feature is its warm-
temperate climate with
extended summers and
brief, relatively mild
winters. The extreme
southern part of the
Sun Belt (South Florida)
has a true tropical
climate.

Figure 30: In red the region comprising The Sun Belt.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Belt, Access: 12th July, 2011.
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 exam-
ple, 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, Domini-
can, 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 Ameri-
cans lived in metropolitan areas. Over 2 mil-
lion black residents lived in New York City
which had the largest black urban popula-
tion 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 De-
troit (Michigan) had the highest percentage of
black residents of the U.S. in 2010, with 82%.
Other large cities with African American ma-
jorities are New Orleans (Louisiana, 60%), Bal-
timore (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 nar-
rowed 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 sec-
ond-highest median earnings of American mi-
nority 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 lev-
el, with the median earnings of African Ameri-
can men more than those black and non-black
American women overall and in all educa-
tional levels by 2006. Concomitantly, among
American men, income disparities were sig-
nificant; the median income of African Ameri-
can 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, Afri-
can-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, African-
Americans suffer disproportionately from job
loss and underemployment. The phrase last
hired and first fired is reflected in the Bureau
of Labor Statistics unemployment figures. Na-
tionwide, 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 em-
ployed 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 African-
American families exceeded that of white fam-
ilies, fact which the newspaper attributed to
the growth in the number of two-parent black
families.
The rate of births to unwed African-Amer-
ican 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,

who is of European descent, briefly hit $100
billion in 1999. In Forbes 2007 list, Gates for-
tune 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 phi-
lanthropists. Winfrey remains the only African-
American wealthy enough to rank among the
countrys 400 richest people.
Some black entrepreneurs use their
wealth to create new avenues for both African-
Americans and new opportunities for Ameri-
can 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, African-
Americans 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 elec-
tions among these groups in 2004. Collec-
tively, African-Americans attain higher levels
of education than immigrants to the United
States and also have the highest level of Con-
gressional 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 Demo-
crats at the time, represented the sectional
interests of the North and South, respectively,
rather than any specific ideology.
The African-American support for Demo-
crats 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 African-
American 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 mar-
riage rates began to fall if compared to the
whites. Single-parent households have be-
come common, and according to US census
figures released in January 2010, only 38%
Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana
of black children live with both their parents.
Despite all that African-Americans favor tradi-
tional American values about family and mar-
riage.
Out of fifty-two percent only 30% of the
Black Democrats support same-sex marriage.
Though Democrats overwhelmingly voted
(64%) against the California ballot proposi-
tion banning gay marriage in 2008, blacks ap-
proved (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 is-
sues, 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 govern-
ment 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 Ameri-
cans, with 14%in the four first years of school-
ing 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 col-
lege, 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 current-
ly occurring across the country.
Black colleges and universities remain to-
day what they were originally when segregat-
ed 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 tradition-
ally defined illiteracy was largely eradicated To learn more
among younger African-Americans.
Again it is important to
By 1998, US Census surveys showed that refer to The Statistical
89% of the African-Americans aged 25 to 29 Abstract of the United
had completed high school, which is less than States, on the Internet
whites or Asians, but more than Hispanics. His- at www.census.gov/
torically, on many college entrance standard- compendia/statab/
cats/population.thml.
ized tests and grades, African-Americans have
lagged behind whites, but some studies sug-
gest that the achievement gap has been clos-
ing. Many policy propositions suggest that this
gap can and will be eliminated through poli-
cies such as desegregation, affirmative action,
and multiculturalism.
39
UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo
Afro-Americans were and are highly in-
fluential in the United States as they have con-
tributed language, literature, art, foods, agri-
cultural 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 agricul-
tural products in the U.S., such as yams, pea-
nuts, rice, okra, sorghum, grits, watermelon,
indigo dyes, and cotton can be traced to Af-
rican and African-American influences. A no-
table 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 mu-
sical forms originated in black communities
and evolved from other black forms of music,
including blues, doo-wop, barbershop, rag-
time, 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, El-
vis Presley, Lionel Ritchie, Steve Wonder, Sam-
my 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
Figure31: The African traditions more than any other immi-
King & Carter grant groups, including Europeans and have,
Jazzing Orchestra historically, been more influential, intercultur-
photographed in ally, geographically, and economically, than
Houston, Texas, any other American traditions. Like Brazilian
January 1921
Africa-descendants, African- American musical
Source: en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/File:Jazzing_orches- forms have also influenced and been incorpo-
tra_1921.png - En cache rated into virtually every other popular musi-
cal genre in the world, including country and
40
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. Langs-
ton 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, Au-
gust Wilson, one of the most important play-
wrights (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 Afro-
American descendant became president elect
of the US, that is, ebony is living in the White
House and ruling the whites, Hispanic, Euro-
peans and, Easterners. All these events mark
the American society, culture and highly in-
fluence the American English language with
new words, habits, ways of thinking, dressing,
of viewing the world and receiving new tech-
nologies and facing progress in Science, En-
gineering, Architecture, Decorating, Fashion,
Arts, and Literature. A new and different soci-
ety emerges from every event, a new world is
born and the ever evolving language and cul-
ture 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 cul-
ture 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 capi-
talized in the 1940s, but by the midst 1960s, it
had acquired negative connotations. However
the term mulatto is still in use in many coun-
tries of Latin America and is not viewed as of-
fensive. 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 Lat-
in 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 Ameri-
can countries, we use the words preto, more-
no and escuro to refer to Black people; the last
 Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

two terms are undoubtedly discriminating eu- ican influence in America is far from being
phemisms for black people, an attempt to dis- exhaustive. Much more can be added or said
guise prejudice. about this issue, obviously.
What I included here about African-Amer-

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 Ameri-
cans are not to be confused with the in-
habitants of Hispanic America or those of
Latin Americas. The Hispanic Latinos con-
stitute 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 Unit-
ed States tend to prefer the term Hispanic,
whereas those in the west usually prefer
Latino. They speak predominantly Ameri-
can English and Spanish. For the U.S. gov-
ernment 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 eth-
nic groups include Latin Americans, Span-
iards, Belizean Americans, Brazilian Ameri-
cans, 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 cen-
tury 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

by the Spanish, who are the longest among European American ethnic groups and second-lon-
To learn more gest of all U.S. ethnic groups, after Native Americans.
Hispanics have also lived continuously in the Southwest since near the end of the 16th cen-
read the siteen.wiki- tury with settlements in New Mexico that began in 1598, and were transferred to the area of El
pedia.org/.../Category:
Ethnic_groups_in_ Paso, Texas, in 1680. Spanish settlement of New Mexico resumed in 1692, and other new ones
the_United States, for were established in Arizona and California in the 18th century (Available at www.linguee.com.br/
getting more knowl- ingles-portugues/.../we+sort.html -. Access 5th July, 2011).
edge about Race and The question on Latino/Hispanic origin concerns ethnicity not race as mentioned previously
Ethnicity in The USA. 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
Task from among the same racial categories as all Americans, and are included in the items and num-
bers reported for those races.
See the musical movie
West Side Story to
Thus each racial category includes Non-Hispanic or Latino and Hispanic or Latino Ameri-
understand the story of cans. The White race category, for instance, includes Non-Hispanic Whites and Hispanic Whites;
the struggle of Hispanic The Black or African American category contains Non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanic Blacks, and
immigrants in their trial the same is said of all the other categories. Self-identifying as Hispanic or Latino and not Hispanic
to live together with or not Latino is neither explicitly allowed nor explicitly prohibited. (www.linguee.com.br/ingles-
the Anglo-Americans in
the 1950s. Discuss the
portugues/.../we+sort.html -. Access 5th July, 2011).
discrimination in the
film and its implica-
tions for the teaching
of English as a second
2.3.5.3 Immigration and the Whites
language with your
classmates and tutor.
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 Colum-
bus, under contract to the Spanish crown, reached several Caribbean islands, making first con-
tact 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
Figure 33: Irish fur traders who established outposts of New France around the Great Lakes.
immigrants arriving In the early years of the United States, immigration was fewer than 8,000 people a year, in-
in the United States in
1902. cluding French refugees from the slave revolt in Haiti and perhaps, less than one million immi-
Source: www.workpermit.
grants, as few as 400,000, crossed the Atlantic during the 17th and 18th centuries. During the
com Immigration 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 set-
tlements were those of the puritans
in the Virginia Colony in Jamestown
in 1607 and the Pilgrims Plymouth
Colony in 1620. By 1634, New Eng-
land had been settled by some
10,000 Puritans. Between the late
1610s and the American Revolu-
tion, about 50,000 convicts were
shipped to Britains American colo-
nies. 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.

42
 Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

The Dutch arrived in the beginning of 1614 and settled along the lower Hudson River, in- Glossary
cluding New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. They ceded their American territory to England in indentured slaves-
1674 and the province of New Netherland received a new name: New York. people who agree to
Many new immigrants, especially in the South, were indentured servants population that work with someone
achieved some two-thirds of all Virginia immigrants between 1630 and 1680 and who would be else to learn the job.
replaced by African slaves that, in their turn, would become primary source of bonded labor by Task: Find out on
the Internet further
the turn of the 18th century. information about the
After 1846, Irish immigration to America was predominantly Catholic. The vast majority of historical facts that in-
those that had arrived previously had been Protestants or Presbyterians and had quickly assimi- fluenced the formation
lated, not least because English was their first language, and most (but certainly not all) had skills of the white population
and perhaps some small savings on which to start to build a new life. Very soon they had become in America, from 1729
to 1991.
independent and prosperous.
Though materialistically poor, the Irish were rich in cultural resources; developing institu-
tions that helped them face hardship without despair. Cultural events such as St. Patricks Day To learn more
were regarded by most Americans as evidence of the separateness of these immigrants, but See the film Gangs of
helped hold the Irish culture together. The Irish were highly influential in the American culture. New York (2002)and
Historians tell that The 1790 Act limited naturalization to free white persons; but it was ex- know more about the
panded to include blacks in the 1860s and Asians in the 1950s. Irish presence in New
The 19th century was marked mainly by immigration from northern Europe. In the early York, NY, in the early
1920s.
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 immigra-
tion 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.

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 deported (Available at www.historyworld.

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 spon-
sored a Mexican Repatriation program to en-
courage people to voluntarily move to Mexico,
but thousands were deported against their
will. About 400,000 Mexicans were repatri-
ated. In the post-war era, precisely in 1954, the
Justice Department launched Operation Wet-
back, under which 1,075,168 Mexicans were
net/.../PlainTextHistories.asp. Access in Janu-
ary, 2010).
The gender imbalance among legal im-
migrants 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 immi-
grants are younger than the native population
of the United States- between the ages 15 and
34 and they are also more likely to be mar-
ried 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 immi-
grants surveyed by Public Census (2002) said
they intended to make the USA their perma-
nent 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 be-
come 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 at-
tacks of September 11, 2001 have influenced
the birth of Public attitudes about immigra-
tion in the U.S.A. Fifty per cent of the Ameri-
cans 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. Specifi-
cally, 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 im-
migrants 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 immigra-
tion 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, ac-
cording to a recent analysis of the USA Cen-
sus 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 coun-
tries 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 facili-
tated 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 di-
rect cause for two-thirds of legal immigration
to the US every year. The number of foreign
nationals who became legal permanent resi-
dents of the USA in 2009 as a result of family
reunification (66%) outpaced those who be-
came residents on the basis of employment
skills (13%) and humanitarian reasons (17%).
Recent debates on immigration de-
manded 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) USA-
Mexico border, or creating a new guest worker
program. Along 2006, the country and Con-
gress were immersed in a debate about these
proposals. In April 2010, few of these propos-
als had become law, though a partial border
fence was approved and subsequently can-
celled.
One major issue for the USA immigration
these days is undoubtedly the question of ter-
rorism which has become an obsession for the
population in general and for the American
governmental authorities in particular since
the successful terrorist attacks and collaps-
ing 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 vulner-
able, somewhat unprotected or unprepared to
face and fight terrorism. (/.../Category: Ethnic_
groups_in_the_United States). But reconstruc-
tion 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 con-
tribution 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 class-
room research for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

BROOKS, N (1986) Culture in the classroom. In JM Valdes (ed) Culture bound: bridging the cultu-
ral gap in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 123128.

BYRAM M (1989) Cultural studies in foreign language education. Clevedon: Multilingual Mat-
ters.

EMMITT M; POLLOCK J. Language and learning: an introduction for teaching (2nded). Melbour-
ne: Oxford University Press. (1997)

HANTRAIS, Linda. The undergraduates guide to studying languages. London: Centre for In-
formation 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 for-
eign people still speak in foreign languages (BARRY, 1974).

Dave Barry, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author famous for his weekly newspaper hu-
morist 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 lan-
guages, 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 re-
think 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 remem-
ber that at that time (1947) the dream was not over, that Americas supremacy over other coun-
tries 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 hege-
mony/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

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 influen-
tial 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, Cath-
Glossary olic beliefs and creeds all over the world for centuries. Inquisition practices were used also on
heretics: Anti-Chris- offences against canon law other than heresy. The fight to combat heresy against the Catholic
tians. 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
Clue Spain dates back to 1478. But it was only in 1569 that it was set up with two tribunals by King
In South America Philip. The Inquisition also reached North America and carried on with its function until the Mexi-
Simn Bolvar and Jos can War of Independence (18101821).
de San Martin abol- In the following pictures take a good look at some of the cruel forms of punishment the Eu-
ished the Inquisition; in ropean Inquisition submitted the heretics to and how the inquisitors used to dress themselves.
Spain itself the institu-
tion survived until 1834
(The Inquisition in the
New World, by Clara
Steinberg-Spitz. (ww.
sefarad.org/publica-
tion/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
 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 Figures 38 and 39 portray the execution of Saint Joan of Arc, and a painting of the Sir Thom-
Enunciate: term usu- as More The great English philosopher and predecessor of Humanism in the XVI century. But dif-
ally used to refer, but ferently from Saint Joans burning to death, the execution of Thomas More in medieval times has
not exclusively, to a become theme of films that gave origin to some hilarious (black humor) stories worthy of discus-
sentence in discourse. sion due to the cultural aspects involved. One of them is:
Gallows humor: black As Sir Thomas More climbed a rickety scaffold where he would be executed, he said to his
humor.
executioner:
Task I pray you, Mr. Lieutenant, see me safe up; and for my coming down, let me
Did you laugh on hear- shift for myself. (Available at www.facebook.comGallowshumor-e Notes.com.
ing the joke? Yes, no, www.wnotes.com. Access in June, 2011).
why? Write down about
the reasons of your If translated into Portuguese the joke would keep the authors intended meaning. But would
laughter no matter you such meaning match with the listeners? Did you notice that this text is gallows humor and per-
answer to discuss them
with your tutor and
meated by Sir Mores ironic enunciates? Yes, it is indeed. But what would be required to under-
classmates. stand this joke?
Firstly, your knowledge of the world (always, and in all circumstances), then your linguistic
To learn more 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
watch the video: Sir
Thomas Mores execu- Inquisition, Sir Mores (British) control and elegancy but disdainful posture before death itself, his
tion on the YouTube intense faith for the Catholic Church and extreme respect for Henry VIII, who had condemned
and write down his last him despite being his close friend. But most of all you need to capture the nuances and subtle-
words from the mo- ties of the British humor which is, obviously, different from the Europeans, Americans, Brazilians
ment he walks amongst and from any other country.
people to reach the
scaffold. Compare Although there is equivalence in meaning between English and the Portuguese language
them to the ones in the in the previous humor text, it is not consensual that in different cultures and languages such
joke. Make a written equivalence always prevails. The same may be said of texts other than the humoristic ones. Some
comment and discuss have equivalence, others dont and in general due to social, cultural, pragmatic, historical and,
the part let me shift for obviously, linguistic reasons. The point is that we cannot generalize things. And for you, dear stu-
myself once again with
your tutor. dents, the important is to open your minds to accept that you will not attain the level of linguis-
tic proficiency needed for success in learning a foreign language without experiencing the cul-
tural aspects involving it.
Clue Still, watching a video on YouTube I found out that the story of the execution of Sir Thomas
Thomas More was More differs a little from the joke I told here. History tells that when he slid down in front of the
decapitated in England, stairs of the scaffold where he would be decapitated, his exact enunciates were.
country where the
hardships the Anglican Thank you, my Lord Hereford, when I come down again let me shift for myself once again.
Church imposed to the
Catholics in late medi-
eval times were retalia- Time, History, culture and society have changed Mores speech thus turning it into gallows
tions to the persecution humor, a sort of joke similar to the Brazilian black humor. Just out of curiosity, my friends, Thomas
of Protestants by The More was named a Catholic saint in 1935. The heretic of the Medieval Times becomes a saint in
Holy Catholic Church in the 20th century. Is it possible to understand religions or men?
earlier medieval times,
when Catholic authori-
ties and adepts in the
name of The Holy Office 3.2.2 Witch-hunts in America
executed or submitted
many people to death
or abominable tortures. It was said that the Inquisition cruel prosecution would not reach US with the same intensity
The Anglican Church
would promote a per-
as it did in Europe. However, another form of repression and torture would appear in America, in
secution to Catholics, the USA, witch-hunt, a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft. Moments also legally sanc-
event that would result tioned and involving official trials in Europe appear about 1480 to 1750, resulting in an estimated
in many English fami- 40,000 to 100,000 the number of trials and executions respectively. Witch hunts touched the soil
lies The Puritans - im- of America as a representative of The Holy Inquisition. The term witch comes from the Old Eng-
migrating to the New
World - North America,
lish word wicca derived from the Germanic root wic, meaning to bend or to turn.
specifically The USA. 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.

50
 Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

Political and religious authorities used the witch trials to impose their own ideas of order Figure 40: Witches of
and righteousness upon the local population. In America, as in Europe, violence was used to en- Salem, Official arrest,
force uniformity and conformity in face of dissent and social disorder. Penalties were immediate- trial and an execution
ly applied especially if you were an older, deviant, troublesome or somehow a disorderly woman. Source: Available at:
Take a look at the following picture and see how the (alleged) heretics were taken to the countrystudies.us/united-
-states/history Access in
scaffold to be burned to death. 11th March, 2011.

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

At the time of the known Salem witch Now, let us see the ordeals American liter- Task
hunt, nineteen people were executed. Howev- ary writers were submitted to in face of these Do you anything about
er, such sort of events have not been relegated events. the presence of the
to past. They continued into the XX century In the 1630s the large immigration to Bos- Holy Inquisition in Bra-
zil? Yes, no? Research
when in 1928, 1976, 1977 and 1981 suspects ton was the cause for the high articulation of
about the Inquisition
were executed for sorcery, insanity, witchery, Puritan cultural ideals, and due to this fact the in Brazil and answer:
witchcraft or for being a witch. Does the rea- early establishment of a college and a printing Where there witch
son for the executions make any sense or dif- press in Cambridge, the New England colo- hunts, or executions
ference? Of course not! And, obviously, all of nies have often been regarded as the center of of any sort? Write your
comments down for
this would highly influence and add to the early American literature. Obviously, literature
further discussion with
American culture and language. of and about this period is fart. The Crucible, a your tutor.

51
UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

To Learn More 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur er himself realized that this production was
Read the whole article Miller, is a good example of that. too stylized and cold and because of that the
in English Language The play takes place in Salem in 1692. dramatist believed the reviews for it would
and Culture Insti- It is an allegory, a revival, to McCarthyism, be largely hostile and they were, nevertheless
tute. UAB.(Available when the US government accused people of The New York Times wrote: a powerful play
at: www.uab.edu/ communist practices and Miller himself was driving performance. Despite the bad reviews
elci- ENGLISH/ESL
MORE LINKS. Access questioned by the House of Representatives the production was awarded the Tony in 1953
in August, 2011.) Take Committee on un-American activities in 1956 as Best Play.
notes and discuss them and convicted of contempt of Congress be- A year later a new production was a huge
with your tutor and cause he refused to identify persons present at success. Today it is studied in high schools
classmates. meetings he had attended. The text is a trage- and universities because of its status as a revo-
dy-dramatization of the Salem witch trials that lutionary work of theatre, for its allegorical re-
Task took place in the Province of Massachusetts lationship to testimony given before the Com-
Find out the meaning
Bay in 1692 and 1693. mittee On Un-American Activities during the
of the word Crucible The drama-tragedy play was first per- 1950s, and because it retreated the oppression
and discuss it with your formed on Broadway, New York City, at the and torture of the colonial time. It is a central
tutor in terms of its use Martin Beck Theater on January 22, 1953. Mill- work in the canon of American drama.
as an allegory in the
title of Millers play.

Glossary
allegory - is a figurative
3.3 Some cultural traits and the
literary text
mode of representation
conveying meaning
other than the verbal.
As a literary device,
an allegory in its most
general sense is an Following the same line of themes, undoubtedly the most representative work of the pres-
extended metaphor ence of the Holy Inquisition heritage in the American culture and language, in my opinion, is the
and as artistic device a novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne written in 1850 and considered his masterpiece.
visual symbolic repre- It is a romantic work of fiction in a historical setting in 17th-century in Puritan Boston during
sentation.
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
Clue aspects influential in the American culture.
The House of Represen- In the next figures, take a look at Nathaniel Hawthornes face and at the cover of the book of
tatives Committee on his masterpiece- novel.
Un-American Activities
(HRCAA) is part of the The Scarlet Letter has also been trans-
American history as formed into an opera by Walter Damrosch, li-
an organization cre- bretto by George Parsons Lathrop. According
ated for repressing and to critics the opera is Wagnerian in style. Ex-
judging people. cerpts from the opera were first premiered at
Carnegie Hall, New York, NY, on January 4 and
Task 5, 1895 but I have read no news about their
Find out why and what success on those presentations.
for the HRCAA was It is well known that cultures embody val-
created. Discuss it with ues. One example of such values in the Ameri-
your tutor. Did we have can culture would be: Anglo Americans gener-
organizations such as ally tend to consider their personal/individual
this one in Brazil? Yes,
no, which ones? Discuss goals over group goals because they are gen-
it with your tutor.
erally goal- future-oriented, especially when
Figure 42: Nathaniel Hawthornes picture it comes to monetary security. To save and be
To learn more Source: www.worldcat.org/.../scarlet-letter...drawings.../ prepared for the future is a common American
Watch excerpts in vid- trait, as well as is their tendency to strive for
eos about The Crucible material comfort. But would those traits be common to other cultures as well? Yes, but maybe
at www.youtube.com/ not so inconspicuously.
watch?v=3pfuldf_Pck.
Another American tendency towards being goal-oriented is detected in communication.
Unlike Brazilians, conversation between Americans is usually oriented toward exchanging infor-
mation 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

52
 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 Task
more often, what would be seen as impoliteness in many other cultures. Read the E-book at
The raising of children constitutes an Anglo American trait which differs from many other www.online-literature.
cultures. Americans are strict as to discipline which may include physical punishment that is con- com Nathaniel Haw-
thorne - and see the
sidered acceptable maybe because their concept of family is that of a perfect one. However, they film with Demi More
are constantly saying to their children, closer relatives and friends I love you, behavior some- and find the meaning
times thought of as excessive and pointless in the Brazilians opinion. of the expression scar-
Other typically Anglo American beliefs that you, dear students, will probably recognize are: let letter A on Hesters
chest. Discuss the
Man has power over nature, and nature itself has its laws and everything that happens can be
theme with your tutor.
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 Task
and Tony Award for Best Play on stage in 1949. The original production ran for 742 performances Look up in the diction-
and was premiered at the Morosco Theatre in February 1949 (Available at www. en.wikipedia. ary and check the way
org/wiki/Death_of_a_Salesman). Americans use the
In the play, Miller focuses on failure in a success-oriented society, and Willy Loman, the cen- word inconspicuously.
Discuss it with your
tral character, is the failed aged salesman who lives with Linda, his adoring but over protective classmates.
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 demon-
strates how a victim of The Amer-
ican Dream can be destroyed by
false promises which not only
impact on ones business life but
also set up conflicts within per-
sonal relationships. The signifi-
cance 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 sym-
bolism.
The play plots the tragic col-
lapse of a man who cannot face
up to his moral responsibilities in
a society whose false values at-
tach a dangerous importance to
success as measured in such tran-
sient terms as income and mate-
rial possessions. Living according
to these values means that failure
is likewise defined in economic
terms. At the outset of the play
Figure43: 1st edition
Loman is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. cover of Death of a
Lets now examine some samples/excerpts to confirm what I said about Millers approach Salesman, 1949 (Viking
of American cultural traits conveyed by language. But first, let me provide details about Lomans Press).Film version of
sons to contextualize the analysis. the play.
Willys sons Biff and Happy - illustrate other significant areas of this central theme of suc- Source: www.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De-
cess/failure: Biff opts out of the competitive world which his father wants for him. It is Biff who ath_of_a_Salesman
finally analyses the root cause of their domestic friction when he says: Figure 44: Made for TV
We never told the truth for ten minutes. And it is Biff who finally blames his father for his own production of Death of
failure because: a Salesman,1985
Weve been walking in a dream for fifteen years and I never got anywhere because you Source: www.imdb.com/
title/tt0089006
blew me so full of hot air.
Biff comes to understand that he has been blinded by false values, unable to honestly ad-
dress 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:

53
UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

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
Task
than any other female population of any other country. The expression force also applies for the
Did you notice that Wil- economic and political reform movements which aimed at extending those rights to women re-
lys surname is LOMAN, gardless of qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or marital status.
and that one of his sons
was named HAPPY? Now, dear students, what would be the women writers position as to literary texts revealing
Would you say that American cultural aspects? It was only in the 1960s that, women writers began to challenge the
Arthur Miller selected notion that womens place was in the home. That decade would give rise to feminist writers who
these names on pur- criticized the paternalism of marriage, submission and lack of dignity and identity. Among them
pose? Would there be I mention the novelist Marge Piercy, the famous nonfiction writer Betty Friedan, the poets Anne
any relation between
Loman and low man?If Sexton and Sylvia Plath, poet, novelist and short- story writer. Let us read one of Anne Sextons
so, why would have he poems in which she deals with womens issues and lyrically imbricates them in a flow of beauty
done that? Discuss it and consistency as she plays with the word ghosts unveiling and revealing womenscondition at
with your tutor. that time.

To Learn More GHOSTS

Read the E-book Death
of a Salesman on the In-
ternet or see the movie
and dive into these
traits of the American
culture. A good sug-
gestion is the play Final
Scene on the YouTube.
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.

But that isnt all.

Some ghosts are children.
Not angels, but ghosts;
curling like pink tea cups
on any pillow, or kicking,
Task showing their innocent bottoms, wailing
Check the use of words for Lucifer.
and expressions in con-
trast in the poem and
discuss them with your (Available at: www.americanpoems.com/poets/annesexton/4721)
tutor comparing them
to the issues womens
writers dealt with at
that time. What really amazes us in Sextons poem is the rich comparison-game in the use of contrast-
ing 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

54

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 condi-
tion. 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. Ameri-
cans 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 fac-
ing it are to maintain profits by keeping pro-
duction 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 prai-
rie.
One particular trait in the USA culture re-
fers to Americans exacerbated deep patriotism
and love for their country and respect for their
national symbols such as the flag and the na-
tional 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 collec-
tiveness, 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 neigh-
bors are respected and generally, but not al-
ways, 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 as-
tonishing 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 com-
plain for waiting a long time in lines nor try
Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana
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 en-
ter the room and become a new customer.
That is America rush for making money and To learn more
improving economy. After all, what is new research on the In-
about that? The USA is a capitalist country. ternet for the musical
Lotteries are popular in the country and State Fair and get to
Americans like to gamble. Mobility in most know more about the
romanticism of the
cases seems limited: working-class people Americans in relation.
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 sec-
tors. In general, it appears that the gap be-
tween 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 Jewish-
American 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 ten-
dency 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, scram-
bled 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
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
after the city of Hamburger, Germany from
where it is allegedly originated, which is pre-
pared with a bread called bun, and with differ-
ent sorts of meats such as steak, chicken, beef,
fish and turkey.

Figure 45: Common
hamburger, meal Regarded less as celebrations of patriotism
hamburger and a steak than as family holidays, national holidays are cel-
hamburger.
ebrated everywhere in the country. In this section I
Source: en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Hamburger
will approach only two of them.
Undoubtedly, the Fourth of July Indepen-
dence Day (1776) is the most important holiday
for the Americans during which fireworks displays
mark the Declaration of Independence from Brit-
ain. 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
the USA. Thanksgiving Day. Families prepare few large and
Source: www.americano-
elaborate meals. But the annual feast is also part of
besity.org the national history as it celebrates the hardships
of the early colonists who were starving in their
new environment and received help from the American Indians that came and shared indige-
To learn more nous foods such as maize and turkey.
Watch Super Size Me, a As to the arts, the level of public support is much lower than in other wealthy nations as
documentary by Mor- unknown 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://
www.youtube.com/
very small budget to provide funds from public broadcasting to individual artists. The NEA some-
watch?v= times is under attack from Congress as conservative members question the value and the moral-
qyV3EC4LHn0; ity of the art produced with NEA grants.
Private donations are a common form of supporting the arts in the USA. They are tax-de-
ductible and a popular hedge among the wealthy against estate and income taxes. Another es-
Task sential means of subsidizing the arts is to give generous gifts to prestigious museums, galleries,
Research about other symphonic orchestras, and operas that often name halls and galleries after their donors.
holidays in America. In relation to their social division, most Americans believe that they do not have a class so-
For 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 seg-
Mothers Day and also
about the Brazilian regation of blacks and whites in cities mirrors their separation in the labor force. Whereas giant
date Dia dos namora- homes in gated suburbs all across the country generally belong to rich whites, they contrast with
dos. 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 eth-
nicity. 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 Dem-
ocrats. 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 spend-
ing. 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 par-
ties set a very narrow range for political debate. Third parties do exist and have emerged on di-
verse 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_Par-
ty_(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 regu-
late 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 Representa-
tives. 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, sena-
tors, and assemblymen and state courts. The nation also has the county, the smallest unit of gov-
ernment 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 popula-
tion. 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 pos-
sible for a President to win a national election without winning a national majority of the popu-
lar 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 com-
mon 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 coun-
try?
In all categories the vast majority of crimes are committed by white males. Popular imagina-
tion, 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, ques-
tioned, 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 com-
mitted by white males.
Strange as it may seem, there are more people in prison and more people per capita in pris-
on than in any other industrialized nation. The prison population is well over one million, num-
bers 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 African-
American 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 elect-
ed 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 net-
works for support. Similarly, among African-American families, where adult males are often ab-
sent, extended kin ties are crucial for women raising children. A significant number of Americans
of all ethnic backgrounds live in
nontraditional families such as Figure 51: An ad of the
the unmarried couples or single film American Wedding.
Source:www.rottentoma-
parents, gay couples and their toes.com/m/american_we-
children, or gay families without dding
children.
Civil unions are legal only be-
tween heterosexual adults, excep-
tion for the state of Vermont. Gay
marriages, however, are increas-
ingly common whether or not
they are recognized by the state.
Task
Certain religions and churches
recognize and perform gay mar- See the film American
Wedding, and also
riages. Marriage, as a civil institu- known as American
tion, is commonly performed in Pie. You will find manyt
a church. As in many other coun- raits 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 atten-
dance 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 thou-
sand dollars annually at public institutions to more than ten thousand dollars a year at private in-
stitutions. 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 stud-
ies. 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 main-
tains 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 mon-
ey 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 classi-
cal forms as well as American traditions, such
as jazz, funk, punk. Important American inno-
vators dancers include Isadora Duncan, Mar-
tha Graham, and Alvin Ailey. Theaters in every
town that hosted plays, vaudeville, and mu-
sicals in the past are now showing movies or
have simply closed. In general terms, perfor-
mance arts are available (mostly only) in met-
ropolitan areas.
America has produced several popular
musical genres which blended regional, Euro-
pean, 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 Arm-
strong, 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) segrega-
tion was common among whites and blacks,
Americans seemed to ignore the allegedly
differences between these ethnicities as mu-
sic 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 peo-
ple.
Rock n roll, a major cultural export in the
1950s and 1960s, had its roots in these earlier
popular forms. Famous and major influenc-
es in rock and roll include Elvis Presley, Jimi
Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Bruce Springsteen.
Primarily white, rock n roll received the influ-
ence of soul and Motown, with singers such as
Aretha Franklin, the groups the Supremes and
the Temptations who produced popular black
music.
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 tra-
ditional gospel songs and hymns reworked
these genres to produce songs about the rou-
tine of poor whites in the Southeast rural area.
In the USA, popular music has always em-
bodied a conflict between its commercial and
entertainment value and its intellectual or po-
litical 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 com-
mercialized, 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 Amer-
ica. I am specifically referring to Mr. George
Gershwin, a Jewish descendant composer fa-
mous for compositions in both classical and
pop music. Known all over the world, Gersh-
win composed the Rhapsody in Blue for piano
and orchestra, the piece An American in Paris
and the Cuban Overture. George composed in-
numerous 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 reviv-
al 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-roman-
tic (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.

60
 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, spo-
ken dialogue and dance, in which the
emotional content of the piece hu-
mor, pathos, love, anger as well as the
story itself, is communicated through
the words, music, movement and tech-
nical aspects of the entertainment as
an integrated whole. Although musical
theatre overlaps with other theatrical
forms such as opera, it may be distin-
guished 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 Gil-
bert and Sullivan in Britain and those of Harrigan and
Hart in America. In the midst 1920s musical works be-
came 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 re-
markable remarkable shows as Show Boat (1927) and
Oklahoma!(1943). Some of the most famous and iconic musicals through the decades that fol-
lowed 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 be-
came 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 rag-
time 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-Ameri-
can 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 (Broad-
way 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 Cer-
vantes 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 Janu-
ary 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 To Learn More
many other countries including Brazil where the productions are duly translated into Portuguese Goto YouTube and find
and performed in theatres in So Paulo with competence that equals the ones on Broadway or American musicals.
London. Examples of musicals staged in Brazil include: O Beijo da Mulher Aranha, Vitor e Vitria, Listen to some of their
excerpts and get to
Os Miserveis, O Fantasma da pera, A Novia Rebelde, Minha Querida Dama and recently Mamma know why they are
Mia among others. Musicals are undeniable relevant mechanisms for portraying cultural traits. such a significant trait
Their scores include the most beautiful and famous songs ever composed. in American culture. A
good suggestion would
be Bonnie and Clyde a
brand new show whose

3.6 Culture in second language previews open in No-

vember 4th).

teaching Task
Research on the Inter-
net about the word re-
vival used some times
Take a close look into the following text, dear, students. I want you to answer some ques- in this section. Discuss
tions about it. To do so, watch how language leads you to capture the nuances of the American it with classmates and
culture. tutor.
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 for-
eign culture, and teachers should be sensitive to the fact that our students, our colleges, our ad-
ministrators, 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 back-
ground of language usage as meaning is bound in cultural context. Instructors must not only

63
UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

explain the meaning to the students

because with such a strategy stu-
dents would be learning empty or
meaningless symbols or incorrect
meanings. It is known that very fre-
quently, meanings are lost because
of cultural boundaries which do not
allow such ideas to persist. Misun-
derstandings often emerge because
of such distinct cultural ideolo-
gies, roots, and cultural boundaries
which limit expression. The result is
that students may run the risk of us-
ing the FL language inappropriately
or within the wrong cultural con-
text, thus not achieving the purpose
Figure 69: Americans of learning a language properly.
choices. It was said in this textbook
Source:www.cartoons- that the American culture is that
tock.com/newscartoons/
directory/a/american.asp of individualism, personal accom-
plishment, patriotic feelings and
Task pride, and focused on the family and its ties, and that success and failure in the American cultural
The cartoonist makes framework influences not just a specific individual but the whole family or group. Therefore, be-
use of irony in that he sides respecting the culture in which Americans are inserted when teaching instructors should
criticizes the American
status quo. Find cultural use culturally acceptable methods that must be examined before proceeding, as they may be
traits in the intertwine- inappropriate teaching, intentional or not. Following this line of thought what could be taught
ment of language to in terms of grammar and culture in the
culture. Name also following cartoon and how (method)
words you did not would you teach these aspects?
know and that you
learned through study- What does the cartoonist convey,
ing the text. in a humorous way, with the images
and linguistic structures?The idea that
even in face of death teachers must
Task
do their job: teach and be respected
What cultural American for their knowledge. Take a look at
trait s detectable from the characters clothing. When do you
this text? Discuss it with
your tutor. think this scene took place? Did you
know about this specific use of the verb
Figure 71: Carton on
hang?
the use of the pattern Now, take a look at the next car-
language toon, dear students, and see how that
Source: www.inglesonline. the cartoonist approaches the theme.
com.br Sites de Ingls What the linguistic structures con-
Bsico.
vey in terms of American culture in this
picture is that no
matter ungrammati-
cal the language
people have to fol-
low 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 pub-
lic 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-

64
 Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

take and be arrested because he vandalized a public or private property? How would Brazilians Task
react to this cartoon? Would you agree that
In using language, differences should not only be compared, but also contrasted because the previous cartoon is
this will enable the student to judge appropriately the uses and the causes of language idiosyn- a good tool for teach-
crasies. Instructors should contrast the different language usages, especially grammatical and id- ing language (gram-
iom use in their cultural contexts for the students to fully understand why certain things in Eng- mar, semantics, and
phonology) and cul-
lish are said. Brazilian students learning English are generally first taught to greet someone with ture? How would you
simple dialogs as follows: do that? Discuss with
your classmates and tu-
Hello. How are you? /How do you do? tor. Furthermore, what
I am fine. Thank you, and you? is wrong in the sign?
Can you explain it?

This is believed to be what one must say on the first and every occasion you meet an English Clue
speaking person but if the interlocutor greets you with the following greetings you should an- Information about
swer accordingly: the Communicative
Approach for teaching
How is everything? You could say: Good! OK! English as a foreign
How are you doing? You could say: Great! language can be found
in the textbook of the
Hello? Hi? discipline Applied Lin-
guistics (2011), by Rosa
However, for over eight decades in the 20th century, Brazilian students were likely to answer Maria Neves da Silva
I am fine, thank you and you? This sort of format in teaching is everything but a communicative for your course, dear
approach. Brazilians greet themselves in different ways too, so the question is: In how many ways students.
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
to show the importance of the literary use of language in the language.
website that should be strictly followed. The humorist uses Source: www.inglesonline.
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
in bed. It is language that makes this meaning-game pos- Glossary
sible. But what did make it possible? Intonation and stress and Chunk- Several words
chunk division. that are customarily
used together in a fixed
Western ideologies and methodologies focus their teach-
expression, such as in
ing on free speech as a tool for utilizing and memorizing vo- my opinion, to make a
cabulary and grammar sequences. But people from different long story short, How
cultures learn things in different ways. In the 1960s in Brazil are you? or Know
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
English language schooling. have to do is to read it
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 differen-
tiate 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
and compares and applies that knowledge in his teaching practices. meaning in this cartoon
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
of the USA, cultural traits usually manifested through their language, English. text for you. Now
discuss the role culture
plays in such a context
with your tutor.

65
UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

To Learn More
Refer to the textbook
3.7 Culture and language teaching
policy
Phonology by Luci
Kikuchi et all written
for UAB/Unimontes/
Capes, 2011, and find
information about
intonation and stress This is a cat, my teacher announced. Of
in chunks and perceive course it is, I thought. What else could it be but a
how their misreading cat? At least in the American culture. This is a cat,
can change meaning..
and not an elephant. Why did she say the obvi-
ous? What did she expect me to see in the pic-
To Learn More ture?
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 Figure 73: A cat
at www.youtube.com/ Source:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat. Access in
watch?v= July, 2011.
fVSwTaB7pHQ.

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. Prin-
cess 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-Mu-
sical (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 poli-
cies must be sensitive to the local language not to make it inferior to the target language. Al-
though 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., COR-
RIE, C., & DUBREIL, S.a)1999).This fact demonstrates that our world has entered the age of global-
ization 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 in-
clude 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 com-
plexities 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 To learn more
as the culture in which the target language is being taught, because this will increase cultural
I suggest the reading
awareness and appropriateness of behavior. So it is fundamental that languages teachers be of the chapter Eles no
aware of all that in order to enhance understanding and acceptance of differences between peo- aprendem portugus
ple, cultures and ideologies, but above all to preserve the student cultural identity. To achieve quanto mais ingls, in
such a goal, language teachers need to be informed about various teaching interaction-based the Oficina de lin-
methodologies, manipulate them and develop their own teaching methods compatible with the gustica aplicada (1996),
by Luiz Paulo da Moita
educational context to foster interaction. In fact, students cannot actually master the language Lopes.
until they have also mastered the cultural contexts in which the language occurs. From this as-
sertion 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. Aware-
ness 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 pro-
nouns, for example, the teacher can help students understand when in Portuguese it is appropri-
ate to use an informal form of address (Voc, C (You)) rather than a formal form of address (Sen-
hor, 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 hus-
band 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 lan-
guage 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 sourc-
es of the native speech community.
Film and television: Imagery and audio are segments which connect students with lan-
guage and cultural issues simultaneously. These means of communication offer students an op-
portunity 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 vid-
eos 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 stu-
dents native languages. Show them how differences may reflect historical and cultural back-
ground. 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 na-
tive culture.
Role Play and strategic scenarios Techniques with which students can act out a miscom-
munication based on cultural differences. For example, after learning about ways of address-
ing 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 stu-
dents 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 top-
ics 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, eco-
nomic 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-

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 Em-
ily Dickinson they may retain cultural information more if they read something about the Ameri-
can 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 re-
quests 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 hu-
mor 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 au-
thor? 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 Portu-
guese. For some Americans the Polish would be the stupid ones, stereotype that can be detect-
ed, 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 ste-
reotype 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, stereo-
typically, are even more stupid than the Irish, which is why Blanche says Poles are not as high-
brow 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 onomato-
poeic 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, nei-
ther 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 integra-
tion 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 be-
tween them in all language levels: phonological, grammatical/syntactical and semantic. Hope
you are chasing after that sort of learning.
Task

References
See Bowling for Col-
umbine (2002) and
Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004),
documentaries by the
American film director
HERRON, C., Cole, S. P., CORRIE, C.; DUBREIL, S. Using Instructional Video to Teach Culture to Michael Moore and
Beginning Foreign: The effectiveness of a video-based curriculum in teaching culture. Modern have a new perspective
of certain facts. Discuss
Language Journal, p. 518, a.1999. the themes with your
tutor.
HERRON, C., Cole, S. P., CORRIE, C.;DUBREIL, S. CAL: Digests: Culture in Second LanguageAvail-
able at https://calico.org/html/article_502.pdf File:PDF The effectiveness of video-based cur-
riculum in teaching culture. The Modern Language Journal, 83(4), 518- 533, b. 1999.

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

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 ex-
plained: 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 be-
tween about 550 and 1066 AD; Anglo-America
named after the Italian explorer Americo Ves-
pucci who discovered America, alludes to a re-
gion 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 spe-
cific linguistic system, or code. Language is
a formal closed structural system of symbols
ruled by grammatical rules that relate particu-
lar signs to particular meanings. Language is
an abstract system and speech the concreti-
zation 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 uni-
versality of language to all humans and the
Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana
biological basis of the human capacity for
language as a unique development of the hu-
man brain. Language is more than speech and
writing, it is the making and sharing of mean-
ing with ourselves and others. Language pre-
determines 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. Lan-
guage arbitrariness means that there is no di-
rect 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 giv-
en group. It is what lies at the core of an indi-
viduals behavior and his degree of assimila-
tion 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 includ-
ing knowledge, belief, art, law, social moral
customs, religion, and ethics and values. Some
beliefs on culture include: the linguistic struc-
tures are entirely dependent on the cultural
context in which they existed and that the hu-
man mind was an indefinitely malleable struc-
ture capable of absorbing any sort of culture
without constraints.
Language is culture and not just the me-
dium of culture but also a part of it. Language
is a verbal expression of culture. We under-
stood that the relationship of language to cul-
ture is closely and deeply rooted and that lan-
guage is used to maintain and convey culture
and ties and also provides us with the catego-
ries 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 eco-
nomic dominance in the western hemisphere.
America was used to refer to South America
only. Canadians and Latin Americans con-
sider 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 kilo-
meters and forty-eight contiguous states. The
islands of Hawaii, in the Pacific Ocean, about
two thousand miles southwest of San Francis-
co, 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 Vir-
gin Islands in the Caribbean basin, Guam, the
Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa,
and Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean - con-
quered 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 fea-
tures if compared to other regions. It is associ-
ated 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 region includes the sunshine
states, retirement havens, and new economic
frontiers. The West known as the last national
frontier has the nations most open land-
scapes. It is associated with national dreams
and myths of unlimited opportunity and in-
dividualism. California, along with the south-
western 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 cul-
tures.
US physical environment is extremely di-
verse. Alaska is spectacular with its glaciers
that coexist with flowering tundra that bloom
in the arctic summer. Niagara Falls, Yellow-
stone National Park, and the Grand Canyon
are the most famous landscapes. The Missis-
sippi River constitutes a major navigable in-
land 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 writ-
ten 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 popu-
lated. 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 cit-
ies. Population growth is at below-replace-
ment 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 speak-
ers. 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 Amer-
icans is usually seen as non-standard, however,
most Americans do not speak Standard Eng-
lish 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 region-
al dialects in the USA: northeastern, south, in-
land 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: govern-
ment buildings (Arlington National Cemetery
in Washington, DC), statues and memorials,
songs, oaths, and symbols. The national sym-
bols 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 Can-
ada and the US. Anglo-American is often used
in legal, economic and political documents
and other writings in reference to those coun-
tries 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-

tian and by tradition Protestant. Catholics are
minority. Judaism is the largest non-Christian
faith, followed by Islam. The State and the Re-
ligion are not supposed to interfere in one an-
others affairs.
The wish for better conditions of life, find
better jobs, and escape from famine, poverty,
wars and conflicts are factors that move Lati-
nos, Europeans, Asiatic and Africans to search
for higher standards of life and well-being
in America. Six races co-exist in the coun-
try: White, American Indian and Alaska Na-
tive, 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 Afro-
Americans ancestry, or Americans with at least
partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry. The His-
panic and Latino Americans originate from
the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in
Spain. They constitute the second largest eth-
nic 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
Unit 3
Some traits in the American culture in-
clude: Americans are individualist, goal and
future-oriented; They value material comfort,
objectiveness in communication and com-
petitiveness. Americans interrupt people too
often during communication; they use a per-
sons 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 per-
sonal accomplishment, success, patriotic feel-
ings and pride, and focus on the family and its
ties.
Those cultural traits are to be considered
Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana
U.S. government and others, Hispanic or La-
tino identity is voluntary. The whites story
dates back to 1492 when Christopher Colum-
bus 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 Pub-
lic 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, so-
cial, and political aspects of immigration have
caused controversy regarding ethnicity, eco-
nomic benefits, and jobs for non-immigrants,
settlement patterns, impact on upward social
mobility, crime, and voting behavior. However,
Americans cannot deny the invaluable contri-
bution of immigrants for the process of devel-
opment and progress of the country.
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, adminis-
trators 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 re-
sources teachers may use to evidence the re-
lation of language to culture. Such intertwine-
ment serves to help students communicate
properly in a foreign language.
73
 Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpheme.

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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

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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

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sed 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.

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States Article Religion in the United States.

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 Letras/Ingls - Cultura Anglo-Americana

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Belt

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www.broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/myfairlady.htm The Broadway Musical Home - My Fair

Lady.

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www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/directory/a/american.asp

www.countrystudies.us/united-states/history

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www.facebook.com/pages/...America.

www.ff.immigration.gov.tw/front/residence.php

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UAB/Unimontes - 7 Perodo

www.office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/?CTT=6&ver=14&app=winword.exe

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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.

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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

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 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 alterna-
tive that describes this proverb.

a) ( ) An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

b) ( ) Red apples are always ripe and juicy.
c) ( ) A ripe apple keeps the doctor healthy.
d) ( ) 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) ( ) Kellys misunderstanding the meaning of order.

b) ( ) Habits and costumes as succinctly described.
c) ( ) Felonies and crimes committed by the Bundies.
d) ( ) The judges demanding chaotic words.

3. Tick () the alternative that brings American cultural traits DEVIATED in the previous text.

a) ( ) Honesty and respect for the law.

b) ( ) Calmness, relaxation and patriotism.
c) ( ) Common sense and notoriety.
d)( ) Fanaticism, goal-orientation disrespect.
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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) ( ) Patient in listening and tendentious to live for today.

b) ( ) Individualist and addicted to material comfort.
c) ( ) Success and future-oriented, and competitive.
d) ( ) Objective in conversation and able to control nature.

5. Tick the alternative that includes the nations that form Anglo-America.

a) ( ) The United States and Canada.

b) ( ) Mexico, Canada and the Unites States.
c) ( ) England, the US and Canada.
d) ( ) Canada, Mexico and French Guyana.

6. All the statements below are concepts of language, EXCEPT:

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

b) ( ) Language is a verbal expression of culture.
c) ( ) Language is a formal closed structural system of symbols ruled by grammatical rules.
d) ( ) 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 Dif-
ferent Pond, different fish. Tick () the alternative that better carries the meaning of this say-
ing.

a) ( ) Different cultures, different meanings.

b) ( ) Different languages, similar cultures.
c) ( ) Different meanings, different speeches.
d) ( ) Different cultures, similar meanings.

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 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 in-
ternational conspiracy dedicated to monotheism and control, against the Jes Grew virus, a per-
sonification 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 dis-
appeared 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) ( ) Ragtime, freedom, jazz, racial repression.

b) ( ) Monotheism, control, virus, personification.
c) ( ) PaPa LaBas, black militant, street corner.
d) ( ) 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) ( ) The occupation of Haiti.

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

83