Always take the scenic route: designing activities for teaching English for Heritage Purposes

Abstract

We investigate the potential role of a historical route as a language learning and culture acquisition tool. The Route of the Blown Bridges refers to Wellington’s retreat in 1812 from Burgos to Portugal after the month long siege of Burgos had proved to be too tough a target. While retreating, and to avoid being trapped by the French army, Wellington ordered that several bridges on the Carrion, Pisuerga and Duero rivers were blown. Through "the worst scrape I was ever in"–as Wellington put it- the allied army gained a moral dominance over the French not renouncing to it ever again. We identify, categorize and analyze the route and its highlights in order to create materials which may serve as a means to gain a deeper sense of the culture and heritage. These materials will be used to foster this touristic route which may be useful to students interested in learning English L2 while experiencing the country’s historical heritage. The analysis of the museography and other landmarks of the route will demonstrate how fascinating the itinerary is as a means to relive the historic epic of the Napoleonic Europe both for the foreign contemporary traveler, often learned and with great interest in historical events, and also for the general public, willing to know more about this period of our history, the popular festivals, the historical recreations, etc. As part of an ongoing project devoted to the planning, design and digitalization of materials called Touring the Battlefield: The Penninsular War in Castilla y Leon, our didactic proposal covered language use, cultural knowledge and intercultural competence, given that the sites directly related with the war scenarios from the past -battlefields, bridges, poliorcetica – reveal to us an interesting means from which to start a teaching method of the societies at war.