Language learning and the metalanguage of the Anglophone culture

Abstract

This paper describes freshmen's limitations in the command of socio-cultural term. These shortcomings constitute a barrier for an efficient communication in the foreign language of teachers' trainees of English, particularly in the discipline History of the Culture of Anglophone Peoples from the third year on. Departing from systematized course experience, new ways to approach foreign culture study are explored enhancing the acquisition of the associated metalanguage from the first years of the initial training. Thus, the Panorama of the Culture of Anglophone Countries course was designed. Its conception lies on the task-based approach from the didactic point of view and the use of a glossary, which favored the use of specialized vocabulary and the development of the students' sociocultural competence.