Cultural Differences

Patty Schuler · Post by **Patty Schuler** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 12:18 pm

How do cultural differences affect the ELL's ability to succeed in school? I teach adult ELL's and their educational background really affects how they respond and react in class. Their cultural differences, what they bring from their home country, also affects how they act in class. Does this happen with your students?

cencarnacion · Post by **cencarnacion** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 1:04 am

I teach elementary ELLs and they also show cultural differences; it appears very important to them to remind me about their nationalities their background. At times their explanations are confusing because of their young age; but they try very hard to get their point across.
In the case of younger students, it is more a matter of remembering families in left in their homelands and wishing to see them; but overall, it des not affect how they act or their participation in class.

Sally Olsen · Post by **Sally Olsen** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:49 am

Sure. There are so many things and they are so subtle that it is easy to miss. Some cultures don't talk about the future and so won't answer questions like, "What job would you like?" "What will you be doing this summer?" They think it is bad luck to talk about it. Some cultures think Fairy Tales are lies and they are upset when they talk about fairies or elves or flying dragons. Some cultures don't mention the name of the dead and so are upset when you ask about Grandma or Grandpa. Some cultures don't let you touch the children on the head. Some of our body language means different things to different people and can be very offensive. Expectations of what the teacher does and doesn't do is very different.

There are some great books on what to do and what not to do written usually for business people but it is fun to talk about these things with the parents, especially what they expect from the school and teacher. You never stop learning.

rebra · Post by **rebra** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:41 pm

I do agree that it can sometimes be hard for the teacher and students to cope with cultural differences in the classroom. However, I do think that it is the teacher’s role to create an ambiance that promotes cultural awareness so that everyone can sort of move on and learn the language. The teacher’s role is to distant herself first form her own cultural so she can be open-minded to others. When the curricular calls for cultural subjects that relate to the English culture, the teacher should always make links between the different knowledge that circumscribe the world. In doing so, the teacher may ask students from ‘other cultures’ to share their practices and their beliefs regarding the subject that is being talked about. The teacher must help students to construct meaning by establishing new relationships with themselves and with others.

lee115 · Post by **lee115** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 12:03 am

We all bring differences to the table. But as a teacher, it is our job to celebrate the diversity in the classroom. Not only will it help the students to respect one another but, also, it may allow us - the teachers - to better understand why our students do what they do.

amytrabs · Post by **amytrabs** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 5:51 pm

cencarnacion wrote:I teach elementary ELLs and they also show cultural differences; it appears very important to them to remind me about their nationalities their background. At times their explanations are confusing because of their young age; but they try very hard to get their point across.
In the case of younger students, it is more a matter of remembering families in left in their homelands and wishing to see them; but overall, it des not affect how they act or their participation in class.

I am currently doing my practicum in an elementary school and I, too, have noticed that the ELLs feel the need to remind people about their background/nationalities. I have a kindergarten Vietnamese student who has told me twice, "Did you know that I can speak Vietnamese AND English? I used to live in China before here!" My cooperating teacher tell me that yes he can speak both Vietnamese and English but he never lived in China, but she "thinks" his family used to live in Vietnam. I feel like the ESl teacher should be very familiar with EVERY students background..she doesn't need to know everything, but she should at least know where they used to live prior to the US.

But I can understand how a young, 5 or 6 yr old student would want to make their background clear to everyone they meet..I think it is some what of a good thing as long as the persons response is positive- it boosts up the child's self esteem, etc. I haven't noticed relation in terms of how the student responds in class. It is very interesting, though.

clayton · Post by **clayton** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 5:39 pm

I've encountered this as well. I have a student who sometimes goes into a funk and won't do his work because "I'm Turkish." I have another student who thinks its appalling that people would keep dogs and cats as pets, and in their house no less! Where he comes from, they live ferally and are not considered companions. I welcome this kind of dialogue with the kids because it generates great discussion and opens up everybodys' mind to different ways of thinking.

Jeff28 · Post by **Jeff28** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:24 pm

People's cultures are a huge part of their life. It has a huge effect on how they see the world, and how they do activities and work in their life. Whether this comes in the way of their learning and our teaching depends on our ability to see all these differences in a positive light and encourage everyone to share these differences and point out the merits of each.
I do feel like the ease at which this is accomplished may be affected by age, becoming harder the older and more entrenched in their culture they are.

eslculture · Post by **eslculture** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 1:32 am

I would like to share with you the issues that I had with Cultural differences in a multicultural classroom.

1. The response time. Most of Quebecois and student from other Canadian provinces get used to give an immediate answer to the teacher’s question. At the beginning I thought that students from other countries or continents do not know the answers or that they need to have more time to think about their answer. I was surprised that they actually know the answer but they prefer not to answer, even though when I call on them directly, they answer immediately and do not show shyness that could explain their unwillingness to answer. So, even that I know that teachers prefer to wait for the volunteers to answer, I think that we should know our students better, and in some cases call on some students that have some taboos about standing out in their interaction.

2. I found it difficult not having the eye contact with some of the students. Also the non-verbal communication, which is important to take into account, sometimes is wrongly interpreted due to the cultural difficulties. There is a belief among some peoples in Latin America that during direct eye contact you could lose your soul. The most glaring example is about a Greek student who is shaking “no” with her head, which means “yes” in her own culture, and when she is nodding it means “no” and not “yes” as we used in our culture.

So, I think it is important to learn more about the cultural differences and similarities of your students in order to facilitate their cultural adaptation in your classroom, help them to increase their cultural awareness of the culture of the target language and help them to interact easily with you and their classmates.

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