6/4/2018 Lesson 7. Cross Cultural Student in the Classroom

6/4/2018 Lesson 7. Cross Cultural Student in the Classroom

I am really grateful for this TESOL course because it has broadened my perspective as a teacher. When I was studying in my local college in Hungary, we were preparing to teach local students, who shared the same culture as the teachers. I graduated the same year when Hungary joined the EU. At that time, it was hard to foresee the future and the freedom it caused our country. Now, looking back to the past it was impossible to imagine how the population of the whole Europe would mix up.

Since, the borders are somewhat freer as it used to be, there is a great chance to have a couple of foreign students in our classes. We need to be prepared to meet the needs of all of our students.

Today, we are going to discuss some more details about cultural differences.

As an ESL/EFL teacher it is important to be aware of the following idea. There are cultures which are more expressive than others. The term expressive culture means:

“Expressive culture refers to the intentional use of the human body to engage in performances of group identity. Groups utilize it to present their culture to outsiders and to fashion and disseminate a common language and set of beliefs to insiders. Often these groups are a socially constructed means of categorizing people based on race, gender, sexuality, and/or ethnicity. Consequently, the forms that constitute expressive culture change based on the social and political experiences of the group. Expressive culture encompasses such intentional performances of shared identity as dance, sports, fashion, oratory, song, and body language.”[1]

A person from an expressive culture would be louder, more proactive in the classes. Often times, African American students are misunderstood for their behavior and thought to be disobedient, noisy students though in reality they are just acting the way how their culture requires them to act.

There are also less expressive cultures. Most Asian countries belong to the less expressive cultural countries. Their students will be more silent, would ask less questions and sometimes would even avoid eye contact, just to show respect to the teacher. Such behavior could really cause problem if it is misunderstood.

Another interesting thing I learned was about eye contact. In many cultures having constant or frequent eye contact is important to reassure the speaker that the listeners are interested to listen. On the other hand, in many aboriginal cultures such as Eskimo or Native American, constant eye contact is not required. I am quoting an aboriginal person who was once interviewed about having or not having eye contact is required in his culture: ““We never used to have much eye contact. When we did it was only at the start of the meeting. After that it was not considered important to maintain eye contact.”[2]

We can see not knowing about these differences and misunderstanding each other could cause hurt feelings for both the students and the teachers.

Brother Ivers explained it: "Whenever a student is from a different place or ethnic group or something does anything weird, you have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Even though you may be interpreting it negatively, it may not be meant negatively. There’s a principle that you need to understand when you go into teaching in the diverse country in which we live."[3]

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[1] http://tammysgordon.org/DCR/items/show/55

[2] https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/eye-contact-and-aboriginal-peoples

[3] https://content.byui.edu/file/5ea5aa3a-0806-4dd5-8106-1ba4f85b3656/2/Cross-Cultural%20Students%20in%20the%20Classroom.html