Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom
By Angélica Conde
As TESOL teachers we should be familiar with this topic, as I was previously talking about. Culture is a broad concept that addresses many characteristics.
For example, we must be aware of cultural paradigms and cultural miscommunication. Imagine a classroom with students from different cultures. Perhaps you are familiar with some of these cultures and perhaps not with others. So it is very important to learn from them to understand the meaning of some attitudes or habits of your students so that we do not judge them under the paradigms of our culture.
I particularly like to learn from it. There was a time when many Venezuelans immigrated to my country. And although they are from the same continent and you can say there all countries have the same customs and are the same, it is not like that. I like to learn from them, their interests, their slang, because yes, we speak the same native language but there are many words that do not mean the same thing.
So now I will tell you a little about the position of the students according to this same experience.
A few years ago I used to teach English classes for adults, I hadn't had much experience with adults because I had dedicated myself to working with children. And for my classes with my adult students, I needed an extra dose of energy and joy because apart from the fact that it was a night class, my students came tired, sleepy and I used to play music during each activity so that they work in pairs and circulate around the classroom.
To be honest, it was a very good experience, and as I mentioned above I had to try harder to meet their needs in their circumstances and at the end of the course, we were all very happy because our efforts were worth it.
In the next group I took, I had a student, now she is my great friend. She was from Venezuela. She had a huge impact on my class, my students, and myself. I could feel her enthusiasm in each class, she was friendly with everyone, she was always happy, smiling, also she danced, because yeap, I kept playing music during their interactions.
So the question was: Why wasn't she tired, sleepy, or complaining?👀
Is it that she did not work?
No. She worked hard. But hey, I don't know if in general her entire country or her native region were like that, but she once told me "life is to enjoy it, we shouldn't dwell on our problems, it is about moving forward and being happy, I am always happy. "
And of course, at the beginning the other students thought her behavior was exaggerated, then they ended up understanding and loving her.
As I got to know her, I knew that she would always be punctual, she would present her assignments on time, and she was there to learn, to enjoy the class. And that for me and for the other students was shocking, many of the students according to my culture go to class just because or for other reasons, surely because they enjoy learning too, but don't get me wrong, I don't mean to say that learning is not enjoyed in my country or that all Venezuelans do it. I speak particularly about her and how much we learned from her during that course.
After that experience, I have learned to be willing to always learn, and not to judge them even under their same cultural paradigms because people individually also have their paradigms, so that is the teacher's job to know their students and meet their needs.
I like an experience Dr. John J. Ivers had in The United States.
"If you ever have a southern student in your class, in many schools—I went to high school in North Carolina, and when you say “yes” to the teacher, you say, "Yes sir" or "Yes ma'am." When my son was a fourth-grader when we moved from North Carolina to Rexburg, Idaho, and he responded to his fourth-grade teacher, "Yes sir," he got in trouble for being sarcastic and was sent to the principal’s office.
Surprising right? A single word can be misinterpreted as disrespectful or sarcasm.
🔍What would you do if a student from a different culture says or does something that you interpret as disrespectful?
References:
Cross-cultural students in the classroom - Dr. John J. Ivers
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