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ABSTRACT

The hereby Master’s Dissertation purposes a didactic unit whose main focus is the use of
English- speaking sociocultural traits in EFL. The detection of using cultural content activities
at the end of a unit or in a classroom project but very few times as a didactic unit itself has
been the main reason for having chosen this topic.

The proper learning and language acquisition are absolutely linked to its culture and way
of seeing and understanding the world. These can neither be separated nor understood one
without the other and it must be demonstrated that learning a foreign language is not only
learning word equivalents but also learning and becoming interested in foreign cultures and
traditions, enriching students’ ability of showing respect and esteem to them.

Consequently and following the idea which has just been mentioned in the above paragraph,
a didactic unit containing all language skills has been purposed. This unit is focused in two
festivities, the first one being British, Guy Fawkes’ Night; and the second one being
American¸ Thanksgiving. These celebrations have been chosen due to the fact that they are
both celebrated in November and they also have a very similar chronological origin.

This unit is aimed at 3rd ESO students, consisting on seven sessions in which basic skills
are worked as well as transversal competences. The proposed activities, thought to be done by
using the Communicative Approach, are intended to make the student the main character of
his or her own learning and in which oral comprehension and expression have great
importance; both interaction and implication between students are highly maximised, thus
making them capable for real communication through cooperative learning.

Keywords: communicative approach, cooperative learning, teaching culture, culture in the

EFL class.