Teaching British Culture and Society (BTAN1110MA)
Autumn 2015
MA in English teacher training (full-time)
Room: 111
Fri.: 12-13:40
Borus György
Office hours:
Room: 104
Tu.: 10-11
Fri.: 11-12
gborus@hotmail.com
The aim of this course is to introduce students to various aspects of contemporary Britain, to enable them to observe differences and similarities between the civilizations and cultures of
Britain and those of Hungary, and to offer a critical survey of the major political, economic, social and cultural institutions of the present United Kingdom. Since language is rooted in the culture, customs and beliefs of the people, the teaching of a language cannot be separated from the teaching of a particular culture. Teachers of English are also expected to be cultural instructors. This course will provide students with skills that will help them to become sensitive and critical observers of British culture and society as well as their own.
Schedule :
1.
General Introduction
Film: Margaret Thatcher: Death of a Revolutionary
2.
The Land and the Peoples of the British Isles
Reading: Guy Miege, ‘The Present State of Great Britain: An Eighteenth-
Century Self-Portrait’, 30-41
3.
Changes in Modern British Society
Reading: Andrew Sullivan, ‘Farewell Britannia; There Will Always Be an
England’; Recommended additional reading: Jeremy Paxman, ‘The Land of
Lost Content’
4.
Government and Politics
Reading: James O’Driscoll, Britain , Ch. 9 and 10
5.
Britain and the World
Reading: James O’Driscoll: Britain , Ch. 12
6.
National Holiday—23 October
7.
Consultation Week
8.
Mid-Term Paper
9.
Education, Law and Welfare
Reading: McCormick, Contemporary Britain, 71-85
10.
Multiculturalism and Religion
Reading: John Oakland, British Civilization (6 th
ed.), 60-67; John Oakland,
British Civilization (6 th
ed.), 254-263
11.
Post-War Life and Politics I – from Attlee to Thatcher
Reading: Reading: McCormick, Contemporary Britain, 18-33
12.
Post-War Life and Politics II – the Thatcher, Major and Blair
Governments
Reading: Peter Clarke, Hope and Glory: Britain 1900-2000, 401-417;
Andrew Sullivan, ‘Farewell Britannia; There Will Always Be an England’
13.
End-Term Test
14.
Revision and Evaluation