Chapter 1
This chapter has focused on the analysis of culture In context on “Matura Success Pre-Intermediate Students’ Book”, authors Stuart McKinlay, Bob Hasting; publishing house Pearson Longman. This course book has many units where it is possible to notice the cultural aspects. Each unit is full of cultural knowledge about music, events, art and much more.
At unit 1 “Who am I?”, page 6 there is a picture which shows the young boy, teenager, who is acting like he is playing the drums. It is possible to notice that he is crazy about rock music. It is an example of the culture in the society of young people. Below there are sentences which are saying about tolerance and behaving of them. At the page 8 there is a picture and short text about the Great Britain. It is showing the which countries belong to the Great Britain. Students are able to learn which countries are part of UK and which cultures we are able to find there. At page 9 there is a text about the multiculturalism. There is written about different nationalities and cultures of the Great Britain. It is about changes in the society of The United Kingdom. Traditions, religions, the way people are spending their leisure time. Also what sort of music we would be able to find in the streets or pubs there. There is also information about the cultural event which is called “The Notting Hill Carnival” where it is possible to listen to or dance to the every kind of music which was brought to the UK by from foreign country. There is also information about cuisine. It is said there are plenty of kinds of restaurant from around the world. This text show the changes in the culture of The United Kingdom and the tolerance of native British who do not mind having such a mix in their neighbourhood. Below there is a picture of three teenagers. It is noticeable their family did not came from England but from other country. They are accepting which other which is a great example of culture of England and other countries.
At Unit 2, page 14 there is a short story about a marriage who decide to go on holiday. Looking at the picture we are able to notice they are fascinated in visiting new country, learning about the culture of a country, history and a lot of more. Here, the culture of country is shown. The traditional planning of the leisure time after the days of hard working. At page 15 there are examples of adverts about the holiday trips. There is an examples of package tour and a bike tour. At pages 16-17 there is a short text about Jamie who took part in the charity event. He went to the Himalayas Mountains to climb up the Everest. He did it for disabled and seriously ill people. His inspiration was his sister Jackie who is paralysed and on the wheelchair. Here it is also written his trip encouraged other people to help disabled. His collegues organized the 24-hour sponsored silence. It is a great example of culture of Britains. It shows they are able to make the most ridiculous step to help. At the page 19 there an adverts from the “Go-Getters” charity who are looking for the volounteers. They are offering the great possibility of earning money and took part in exciting events. The only thing which young people have to do is working with disabled people. The second advert is about the archeological dig. It is the best way of spending vacation if someone I s interested in history of the Great Britain. This events help young people develop their skills and interests. They are learning culture of behave or personal culture of history. At page 21 there are short e-mail messages which shows the politeness in writing every kind of letters. Phrases, words these are not just a simple words but also used by a very intelligent people. This exercises is the best for developing the writing skills.
Unit 3 “Growing up”, page 24-31 there is shown the culture in education, politely talk and the problems of the great writers. In the picture on page 24 there is shown a little girl and in the background her classmates. This picture shows how the young people are taught how to modest wear and behave. The girls are wearing the same dress which is teaching them tolerance and acceptance because it does not matter what are you wearing but who you are. There is also a short story about the first day at school. It is a funny story which shows the way of teaching children in the Great Britain. The beginning of learning culture of the country is very difficult at the beginning for a child. The girl went out the school and was confused because most of the things she did not understand. On the page 26 there is a short text about the most well-known writers and artist. This teaches it does not matter what are your problems, you can become a very important person in human history. Most of the text is about the Agatha Christie, writer, who had a horrible troubles with writing and spelling. There is also written about the dyslexia. There are also pictures of people like Agatha Christie or Leonardo da Vinci. They became great, create new culture even with their disability. On page 31 there are a lot of exercises thanks to which student is able to learn the culture in talking to other person, politely asking questions and giving the answers. Moreover student is taught word which are more polite than so called slogan names. They will not offend anyone by using violent words. On page 29 there are phrases which are delicate but able to be use by a teenagers. These phrases shows the most politeness behaviour at the parties.
At unit 5 “ No place like home”, pages 42-49 shows the behavior of people in their casual life. In the text on page 42 there is shown lack of culture between two neighbours, who were buying a lot of things, rearranging the whole house to show who is better and richer. It is an example of behavior of people in their normal casual life. It shows the worst non-cultural behavior of adult people. The letter on page 43 shows how the people in Great Britain are estimating their own environment. But in this letter it is possible to observe the way of thinking and treating the teenager this letter was written to. The girl was sorry for the behavior of her parents and is angry at them because of such a ridiculous chooses. It is an example of culture in the society of the teenagers, which is less complicated then the culture of the adults. On page 46 there is a short text about how would future looks if we had such a home like that one. There is written people will not have go outside to do shopping or other housework because that house will do it for the owners. The culture may disappear because people may not go out of their apartment and will not communicate with the rest of the society. However on pages 48-49 there are three pictures which show positive cultural relation between people. There is shown how people help themselves, talk to themselves and even how cooperate. The clothes they are wearing are clean and modest which causes that they look very friendly and know the rightest culture of life. There is possibility to meet friends and become more social person, not like in the text on page 46. In exercise 10 page 49 there are gasps to fill which say about the tradition of some people which is a part of culture. There is a sentence about the number of the rooms in typical home, where usually people in that persons country live, or what people would watch in the TV.
Unit 6 page 50 there is a short text are the answers of the quiz which teachers should make with their students. The answers are saying is the person eating healthy food or not. It makes the classification of British because there it is usual to have frozen pizza or sparkle drink in the fridge. It also shows the culture of that person, if he or she is able to go to the exclusive restaurant and behave well. At page 53 there is a short text about the eating habits of our far ancestors. There is written about the culture of other countries many centures ago and the history of vegetarian movement. This text shows how the tradition an culture is changing on our tables. In the prehistoric times humans eat mainly meat and through the time we started to eat much more vegetables and fruits. Nowadays some people believe eating meat is unhealthy or they have in mind that animals are the same creatures like we are and we should not kill them. At page 54 there are three pictures of restaurant. They are created form many kinds of people: poor, rich, those who like foreign cuisine or traditional dishes. The restaurants are an example of the culture. It is sometimes said “To find out the real culture of the country you have to taste it’s cuisine”. At page 55 there is a picture of restaurant which has not got in common with cultural restaurant. Some people are complaining for the service because the workers in the restaurant do not take care about the best option for the all of the customers. In the exercise 4 page 55 there are examples of situation in which student has to politely say what is wrong. It is very difficult exercise for the beginners because they may not see the difference between polite and rude phrases.
At Unit 9 page 78 there is a dialogue between the family members. A young man is saying about his plans for the future. His parent are not pleased but do not say that to him personally. It is an example of the way of behavior of the casual people in their own group. It also show how responsible and adult are young people in the nowadays Britain. At the page 80 there is an interview with the elder couple and their love. They are saying how did they meet, how long they are together and how they lived through 50 years of marriage. This interview shows the Britain example of happy married people who are enjoying their live. They also give advices for the happy marriage for the young people. On the photos on the same page we are able to see the clothes and haircuts where fashionable at the time of their young and elder. We are able to notice the change in fashion and style. At the page 82 there is a short story about a man who stayed with children at home meanwhile his wife was working in the capital city to earn money for food, clothing and education for their children. It is an example of the way of living the poorest people in the world who have to make the hardest decisions to give their children a better start in their adult life. Here is also possible to notice how the accommodation of such people looks like. At the page 85 there are examples of text messages. There is used the slang language which sometimes is difficult to understand. Here it is shown the way of communication between the teenagers in nowadays. The classic messages with using classic words has dramatically changed.
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