According to David Crystal, English is spoken as a first or mother tongue by around 400 million people living in the UK, the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa. As a second language, for official or semi-official use, by around 375 million speakers in the world in places such as Philippines, Malaysia, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Liberia and other countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. Around 750 million people are believed to speak English as a foreign language. In short, one out of four of the world’s population speak English to some level of competence.

In this webquest you will learn some peculiarities of the different English varieties and you will also learn about the typical emblems of different English speaking countries: their flags, national anthems, customs, etc. At the end of the webquest you will be able to answer these questions:

• What is a leprechaun?

• Who is Uncle Sam?

• What are the All blacks?

As there are many countries in the world where English is spoken, we are going to divide it into three main areas: Europe, America and Australasia. You will have to find some of the main characteristics of the English spoken in those countries, examples in newspapers and also the symbols which are typical of the countries mentioned (the flag, currency, national anthem, etc.). For example, you know that the kangaroo is the typical animal in Australia.

You will work in groups of three students. You will have some individual work and also a group work, as you will have to help each other. You will need the internet to be able to find out the information. At the end you will make an oral presentation. You can choose different forms: Powerpoint, Word, video... whatever you prefer.

There will be three experts and each of them with find information about one area.

      EUROPEAN EXPERT:  

You will find information about the English spoken in Great Britain and Ireland. You will read some newspapers from those countries on line and find examples of the characteristics of the English spoken there. Also, you will discover which are the national emblems in those countries. For example, you can start by investigating what a leprechaun is.

      AMERICAN EXPERT: 

Your mission will be the same as the European expert but you will find out information about the USA and Canada. You will read some newspapers from those countries on line and find examples of the characteristics of the English spoken there. Also, you will discover which are the national emblems in those countries. You can start by investigating about the Uncle Sam in the USA.

       AUSTRALASIAN EXPERT:   

As your colleagues, you will find out information about the characteristics of the English spoken in two countries: Australia and New Zealand and the emblems used in those countries. You can start by investigating about the All blacks in New Zealand.

You will follow these steps:

1. The teacher will divide the class into different groups.

2. You will decide about the roles each person will perform.

3. Each student will find out information about their countries. You can help each other if you have problems here. To prepare your individual part you will need to use the resources the teacher has given you but you can use others if you find something interesting on the internet.

4. You will tell the group what you have found and together you will solve the possible problems and prepare the oral presentation.

5. For the oral presentation you can use your own materials (charts, statistics, maps, whatever you think it is important) and/or the materials you have found on the internet.

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 Resources and references.