Полный текст:
Table of Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………1
Main Part 1
1. Russian ethnic minorities. Psychological
characteristics and peculiarities of social behavior
1.1. Russian ethnic
minorities: definition and types………………………………………………………………………………..4
1.2.
Psychological characteristics and peculiarities of social behavior
1.2.1. Islamic
cultures………………………………………………………………………….….9
1.2.2. China and
others…………………………………………………………………….……..…11
2. Problems
of cross-cultural communication in general and in mixed learning groups.
Teacher’s
2.1. What can
cause difficulties: verbal communication………………………….13
2.2. What can
cause difficulties: non-verbal
communication……………………15
2.3. Psychological
problems…………………………………………….………...19
2.4. Learning
difficulties…………………………………………………….……23
3.
Modern ways of solving the problem. Cross cultural aspect on the lesson.
Exercise examples
3.1.
Promoting Students' Academic Success……………………...………………26
3. 2. Supporting academic
achievement……………………….…………………..27
4. Cross cultural aspect at the lesson
4.1. What is
culture?......................................................................................35
4.2. Defining cross-cultural
competence………………………………………...37
4.3. Self -
awareness……………………………………………………,,………39
4.4. Culture-specific
awareness and understanding………………………..……43
5. Some
modern ways of solving some of the above mentioned problems (with some exercise
explanations)…………………………………….………………44
Main
part II
1. Various
types of exercises made for the use in mixed ethnic classes………………………………………………………………………….…51
2. Ideas for
the lesson plan, made for a mixed ethnic group……………………………………………………………………….…….58
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….62
Introduction
The subject of the present diploma paper is: “Teaching
English in mixed ethnic groups, choosing of materials and techniques”. In this
work a look on the idea of today’s methods of teaching in such groups, as well
as some psychological aspects, concerning the problem will be presented, and
some new methods that could be used as the helping material for teachers
working with mixed classes will be introduced.
First of all it should be determined
what the mixed ethnic group is It is a
learning group which consists of the representatives of different nationalities
and ethnic groups. There can be groups, where most of the students do not even
speak some mutual language, or there can be groups where the prevailing number
of students belongs to one nationality and only some of them do not. That
doesn’t need explaining, that this problem appears to be vital not only in Russia, but all
over the world. People of different nationalities, and, therefore, belonging to
different religions and having different world perception, different physical
abilities for speaking any non-native language – are united in one group and
there we come to a problem. How
information given by a teacher can be properly apprehended and
comprehended by the whole group if this very group consists of Japanese and German students, for instance?
Japanese language doesn’t have such sound as [l] -it would be quite difficult for these
students to pronouns: “roar” or “green”, and German students would find this problem a non-excitant one – and this
would inevitably lead to various problems
which would hamper the educational
process in general. Another
problem consists in the language of teaching which is usually the taught one or
the native language of the teacher and the majority of students. This, of
course, leads to comprehension problems within the group which, as well, leads
to psychological problems within one.
Ethnical intolerance in the mixed group of
learners also makes the teaching and learning process much less effective and
productive. Psychological problems caused by the process of learning make the
whole process unproductive.
The
problems of Russian schools and universities should be brought into focus.
It is quite obvious that Russia
is a multi-cultural country where people of different nationalities, religion
and view of life co-exist more or less peacefully. Due to the large territory border , our
country is inhabited by various smaller nations which are called ethnical
minorities. There exist many factors that must be taken into consideration when
we talk about the identification of those groups of people:
Anthropological
typesLanguage
and its dialects, attitude to the forms of language existenceReligionBehavior
stereotypesTypes
of social connectionsAttitude
to other ethnic groups Moral
and emotional aspects
All
these factors create what is called an ethnical stereotype. In psychology the
phenomena of a stereotype is described as stable psycho-emotional condition
that reflects a complicated fact of reality in a simplified form. Ethnical
stereotype is the reflection of the past and present of a society, negative and
positive experiences of cross-cultural communication. Thus, however, ethnical
stereotypes often lead to conflicts, appear because of opposition of
stereotypes of different ethnic groups.
In
every ethnic community exist a certain number of rules formulating the
stereotypes of communication, rules formulating its functioning and life,
reflected in customs, religion, culture – all that make this very ethnos
different from others. Therefore, every person, belonging to a certain ethnical
group, acquires features characteristic of the whole group and can be
considered as a representative of this group when taken separately. In the
homogenous ethnical environment the individual peculiarities of its members
become when we talk of the multi-ethnical society, however,
it becomes obvious that the individual
peculiarities of every separate person. Ethnical peculiarities of various
nations should be seen as a result of the functioning of the social rules, religion
and culture of the given ethnic group.[1]
During the last 20 -30 years educators have faced a
difficulty of teaching a foreign language in such mixed groups. Many inhabitants of the remote territories move closer to the center and settle around
Moscow, so their
children have to attend local schools making the classes ethnically mixed.
Emigration plays a huge role too. Nowadays there are emigrants mostly from Chechnia, Georgia and even China and some other Asian countries
due to various reasons. Ноw do we
teach a foreign language to the group, where 1\3 of our students are already
using Russian as a second language which is actually also foreign for them?
Part I
Russian
ethnic minorities. Psychological characteristics and peculiarities of social
behavior
Russian
ethnic minorities: definition and types
As it is said
in the Constitution of the Russian Federation (national minorities, small
indigenous peoples, small ethnic communities) and in the Federal Laws (small
peoples, indigenous/aboriginal peoples, small peoples of the North, indigenous
small peoples of the North (the Extreme North), nationalities groups and
communities, ethnic communities, small ethnic communities of the North,
cultural ethnic communities).
Besides that,
regional legislation contains definitions that are not used at the Federal
level: ethnic minorities (republics of Tatarstan, Khakasia), dispersed ethnic
minorities (Tomsk region), indigenous national minorities (Republic of
Buryatia), nationalities' communities (Sverdlovsk region), small nationalities'
communities (Krasnoyarsk region), small ethnic groups (Republic of Yakutia),
indigenous nation (Republic of Kalmykia), indigenous peoples of a particular
area (republics of Kabardinian-Balkar, Kalmykia, Tatarstan, Khakasia; Altai,
Primorski, Sverdlovsk regions), indigenous ethnic group (Khakassia), titular
indigenous people (Republic of Karelia), indigenoues population of a territory
(republics of Dagestan, Khakasia, Irkutsk, Tomsk regions), ethic groups
(republics of Komi, Dagestan, Yakutia), ethnic communities (republic of
Adyghea), ethno-denominational and enthno-cultural groups (Republic of
Buryatia).
Russia is a multinational state that
has inherited many of the nationality problems that plagued the Soviet Union. The last official Soviet census, conducted
in 1989, listed more than 100 nationalities. Several of those groups now
predominantly inhabit the independent nations that formerly were Soviet
republics. However, the Russian Federation--the most direct successor to the Soviet
Union--still is home to more than 100 national minorities, whose members
coexist uneasily with the numerically and politically predominant Russians (see
table 8, Appendix).
Besides the Slavs (Russians,
Ukrainians, and Belarusians), who account for about 85 percent of Russia's
population, three main ethnic groups and a handful of isolated smaller groups
reside within the federation. The Altaic group includes mainly speakers of
Turkic languages widely distributed in the middle Volga, the southern Ural Mountains,
the North Caucasus, and above the Arctic Circle.
The main Altaic peoples in Russia
are the Balkars, Bashkirs, Buryats, Chuvash, Dolgans, Evenks, Kalmyks,
Karachay, Kumyks, Nogay, and Yakuts. The Uralic group, consisting of Finnic
peoples living in the upper Volga, the far
northwest, and the Urals, includes the Karelians, Komi, Mari, Mordovians, and
Udmurts. The Caucasus group is concentrated along the northern slopes of the
Caucasus Mountains; its main subgroups are the Adyghs, Chechens, Cherkess, Ingush,
and Kabardins, as well as about thirty Caucasus
peoples collectively classified as Dagestani.
In the Soviet
Union, the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR)
contained thirty-one autonomous, ethnically based administrative units. When the
Russian Federation
proclaimed its sovereignty in the wake of the Soviet Union's
collapse in late 1991, many of those entities also declared their sovereignty.
Of the thirty-one, sixteen were autonomous republics, five were autonomous provinces,
and ten were autonomous regions, which were part of larger subnational
jurisdictions. During the Soviet era, the autonomy referred to in these
jurisdictions' official titles was more fictitious than real--the executive
committees that administered the jurisdictions had no decision-making
authority. All major administrative tasks were performed by the central
government or, in the case of some social services, by industrial enterprises
in the area. In postcommunist Russia,
however, many of the autonomous areas have staked claims to more meaningful
sovereignty as the numerically superior Russians continue to dominate the
center of power in Moscow.
Even in the many regions where Russians are in the majority, such claims have
been made in the name of the indigenous ethnic group or groups.
According to the 1989 Soviet
census, Russians constituted 81.5 percent of the population of what is now the Russian Federation.
The next-largest groups were Tatars (3.8 percent), Ukrainians (3.0 percent), Chuvash (1.2 percent), Bashkirs (0.9 percent),
Belorussians (0.8 percent), and Mordovians (0.7 percent). Other groups totaling
more than 0.5 percent of the population each were Armenians, Avars, Chechens,
Germans, Jews, Kazaks, Mari, and Udmurts. In 1992 an estimated 7.8 million people
native to the other fourteen former Soviet republics were living in Russia.
The given table reflects the ethnical content of Russia,
according to the researches of 2002 year.
2002
1989
2002
to 1989 in
%
Thousand
People
%
from total
Thousand
People
%
from total
Total
145164,3
100,00
147021,9
100,00
98,74
Russian
115868,5
79,82
119865,9
81,54
96,67
Tartars
5558,0
3,83
5522,1
3,76
100,65
Bashkirs
1673,8
1,15
1345,3
0,92
124,42
Chuvashes
1637,2
1,13
1773,6
1,21
92,31
Azeirbadgan
621,5
0,43
335,9
0,23
185,03
German
597,1
0,41
842,3
0,57
70,89
Kabardin
520,1
0,36
386,1
0,26
134,71
Osetia
514,9
0,35
402,3
0,27
127,99
Chechnia
422,5
0,29
277,2
0,19
152,42
China
445,3
0,31
417,4
0,28
106,68
Others
5780,0
3,98
4036,1
2,70
143,21
Russian
population in RF, among the others, % (2002)
Both tables show that ethnical minorities in Russia
are represented not only by a few people, but by the large groups and,
according to the further table, it is clearly seen that the great mass of them
stay on their historical territory, but move towards the center, a diffusion of
ethnics takes place. That is the reason to pay more attention to the problem of
their co-educating.
Ethnical
minorities – movement towards the center.
Psychological
characteristics and peculiarities of social behavior
Islamic
cultures
Most of the above mentioned ethnical groups are Islamic and therefore it
can be said, that their social standards differ from the ones that are known to
be common for the European part of Russia. Russia is a secular country with an Orthodox majority. At
the same time, for the Muslims the Russian cultural and social conditions are
not alien. Muslims are not compelled to follow any specific tradition. They
were born in this country and they consider it theirs. This country is not
worse and not better than Muslim states; it is simply different. Islamic
regions may not be guided by Saudi
Arabia and will hardly ever become similar
to Christian Europe. These standards often become
the reason for misunderstandings between the two diametrically opposite
cultures. Their psychology
is linked to two types of clashes to be found within Muslim societies.
The first is a clash between what he called ‘absolutist’ and ‘moderates’. It is
argued that the moderates, despite their majority, are unable to critique and
restrain the minority absolutist voice. This was because of the existence of
another clash that is internal to the psychology of moderate Muslims themselves.
It is claimed that most moderate Muslims are torn between their dislike for
absolutism and their resentment to forces they see to be alien and exploitative
to Muslims. It is within the framework of this defense mechanism against
external exploitative forces that moderate Muslims regard any critique of
absolutists as a betrayal of fellow Muslims. It is also argued that the nature
of public life in Muslim societies is closely linked with these two types of
clashes. Unless the clash internal to moderate Muslims is resolved – and this
partly connected with the democratic processes in the West – the majority
moderate Muslims will not be in a position to critique the absolutists and the
public sphere will continue to be dominated by the latter.
Muslim attitude to the role of women in social life is
also worth mentioning.
It has to be
made clear first that the vast differences among Muslim societies make most
generalizations too simplistic. There is a wide spectrum of attitudes towards
women in the Muslim world today. These attitudes differ from one society to
another and within each individual society. Nevertheless, certain general
trends are discernible. Almost all Muslim societies have, to one degree or
another, deviated from the ideals of Islam with respect to the status of women.
These deviations have, for the most part, been in one of two opposite
directions. The first direction is more conservative, restrictive, and
traditions-oriented, while the second is more liberal and Western-oriented.
The societies
that have digressed in the first direction treat women according to the customs
and traditions inherited from their forebears. These traditions usually deprive
women of many rights granted to them by Islam. Besides, women are treated
according to standards far different from those applied to men. This
discrimination pervades the life of any female: she is received with less joy
at birth than a boy; she is less likely to go to school; she might be deprived
any share of her family's inheritance; she is under continuous surveillance in
order not to behave immodestly while her brother's immodest acts are tolerated;
she might even be killed for committing what her male family members usually
boast of doing; she has very little say in family affairs or community interests;
she might not have full control over her property and her marriage gifts; and
finally as a mother she herself would prefer to produce boys so that she can
attain a higher status in her community.
What does it
have to do with education and learning a second language? The answer is clear
enough – children in our country are
learning in mixed schools, where male and female students are educated
together, not to mention that 95% of teachers in Russia are female, too. That causes
some psychological problems.
China and others
China
is known as a state of etiquette and ceremonies. Chinese used to cup one hand
in the other before the chest as a salute. This tradition has a history of more
than 2000 years and nowadays it is seldom used except in the Spring Festival.
And shaking hands is more popular and appropriate on some formal occasions.
Bowing, as to convey respect to the higher level, is often used by the lower
like subordinates, students, and attendants. But at present Chinese youngsters
tend to simply nod as a greeting. To some extent this evolution reflects the
ever-increasing paces of modern life.
It is common
social practice to introduce the junior to the senior, or the familiar to the
unfamiliar. When you start a talk with a stranger, the topics such as weather,
food, or hobbies may be good choices to break the ice. To a man, a chat about
current affairs, sports, stock market or his job can usually go on smoothly.
Similar to Western customs, you should be cautious to ask a woman private questions.
However, relaxing talks about her job or family life will never put you into
danger. She is usually glad to offer you some advice on how to cook Chinese
food or get accustomed to local life. Things will be quite different when
you've made acquaintance with them. Implicit as Chinese are said to be, they
are actually humorous enough to appreciate the exaggerated jokes of Europeans.
As is said
above, Chinese consider gifts as an important part to show courtesy. It is
appropriate to give gifts on occasions such as festival, birthday, wedding, or
visiting a patient. If you are invited to a family party, small gifts like
wine, tea, cigarettes, or candies are welcomed. Also fruit, pastries, and
flowers are a safe choice. As to other things, you should pay a little
attention to the cultural differences. Contrary to Westerners, odd numbers are
thought to be unfortunate. So wedding gifts and birthday gifts for the aged are
always sent in pairs for the old saying goes that blessings come in pairs.
Though four is an even number, it reads like death in Chinese thus is avoided.
So is pear for being a homophone of separation. And a gift of clock sounds like
attending other's funeral so it is a taboo, too. As connected with death and
sorrow, black and white are also the last in the choice. Gift giving is
unsuitable in public except for some souvenirs. Your good intentions or
gratitude should be given priority to but not the value of the gifts. Otherwise the receiver may mistake it
for a bribe.
The above
mentioned brief description of the Chinese social life gives us the vision of
how different it is to the European one.
Other
nations, that are known to live on the territory of our country are mostly
either the representatives of Islamic
countries or Asian ones, which means that most of them have something in common
and, unfortunately, they have the same problems in communicating being in one
group.
Problems of cross-cultural communication in general
and in mixed learning groups. Teacher’s role
The mentioned above standards
often become the reason for misunderstandings between the two diametrically
opposite cultures. This includes the attitude to women and dress code. I have
met with the problem, when a Muslim girl refused to answer at the lesson
without her brother approval. My colleges have met with such a problem, as
being completely ignored by Muslim boy students because of them being women,
who, according to Islamic ideals have no rights to prevail before men. Let us
look more closely to the problems that can cause difficulties in cross-cultural
communication.
What can cause difficulties: verbal communication
Factors influencing the
effectiveness of verbal communication include:
Language Vocabulary Accent Speech impediments
Language
Your command of the language
in question, whether it be your own or a foreign tongue, naturally makes a big
difference in how well you communicate. Even if the inhabitants of your
destination country speak your language in addition to their native language,
it is still important to work towards becoming proficient in the language. This is true
for two reasons:
You will gain respect from
those with whom you interact if you at least attempt to speak their language.
English speaking Frenchmen will gladly start speaking English if you at least
attempt to speak French. Even those that don’t speak English will go out of
their way to help you upon the first utterance of a French word.At some point in time, you
will find yourself in surroundings where only the native language is spoken.
Not knowing the language can cause real problems, especially in the case of an
emergency.
Vocabulary
The more extensive your
vocabulary, the easier it will be to communicate. Not only because you know
more words, but because you can think of alternative ways to say the same thing
in case the words you’re looking for don’t come to mind. In addition, a
knowledge of the different uses of words will help you make proper use of words
and expressions that have double meanings or mean one thing in one context and
another in a different one.
Accent
Your accent can have both
positive and negative effects when you’re trying to communicate in a new
culture as well as in your own.
People may not be able to
understand you if your accent makes the words unclear. This even happens among
people from the same country speaking the same language. Think of a northerner
trying to understand a person with a real southern drawl. Oftentimes it seems
as if they are speaking two different languages. If an accent can make it hard
to understand your own countrymen, you can imagine the difficulties if you are
speaking a foreign language. I have a hard time understanding a French speaking
friend of mine who slurs his words. He jokes that he has a “southern” French
accent. However, I find it much easier to understand Parisians.
People may form an opinion of
you simply based on your accent. This opinion could effect the perception of
what you have to say; whether it is listened to and respected, or simply
laughed at. Northerners and southerners in America are notorious for doing
this to each other.
Your accent can have such an
effect that some people will go as far as to hire a speech coach to help them
lose their accent because they feel that it will somehow hinder their
advancement or acceptance in society. Others, who have lived in a foreign
country, may adopt that accent because they feel that the foreign accent will
help them in one way or another.
Speech Impediments
Like your accent, anything
that obstructs the correct pronunciation of a word can effect how well you are
understood. When it comes to a foreign language, this could include the ability
to make certain sounds.
What can cause difficulties: non-verbal
communication
Non-verbal factors influencing
how effectively you communicate include:
Pace Body Language Eye Contact Tone Disabilities Gender Social Status General Appearance
Pace
The speed at which you speak
can influence how well you are understood. Slow, deliberate speech gives people
time to fully comprehend your message, especially if it is long. Speaking
slowly is also a good idea if you are speaking in your mother tongue to foreign
listeners. This gives them time to process your words. As you speak, they may
be struggling to understand the words and at the same time making a quick
translation in their heads.
Body Language
Body language is probably one
of the strongest forms of non-verbal communication. Whole conversations can be
held between speakers of different languages based on body language alone.
Tracy Bowens, as an example, used body
language to communicate with her students when she taught English in West Africa. Many of the other teachers would say
something in English and then translate it to the student’s native language
after being met by a sea of blank expressions. However, she was not proficient
in their language, so she had to use other means to convey her message. Her
students learned to communicate with me outside of class in much the same way.
One day, I was met by a group
of students on my way to school. It turns out that the father of one of their
classmates had just died and they wanted to let me know. They knew the word
“father”, but not the word “dead” so after saying, “Our classmate’s father is”
they put their hands together and rested their heads on them, as if they were
sleeping. In this way, they were able to deliver their sad message.
But using body language as a
form of communication goes far beyond conscious motions. There are times when
you may be sending a very loud message quite unconsciously. I know a person who
is seldom approached by beggars, and if she is they may ask her for something
once, and then leave her alone. She usually doesn’t have to say a word. There’s
something about her body language that lets them know that they’ll have no luck
with her no matter how hard they try. Her sister, on the other hand, is a
beggar magnet. Not only do they almost always approach her, they continue to
harass her even after she says, “No.”
Eye Contact
What is your opinion of people
who avoid making eye contact when they speak? Would you want to do business
with such a person? If someone is making eye contact as he speaks and then
diverts his eyes at some point in the conversation, how do you perceive what he
is saying at that moment?
People form opinions about a
person based on the amount of eye contact he makes while talking. Americans
consider shifty eyed people to be untrustworthy. Therefore, they are very
unlikely to put much credence in anything these people have to say.
Tone
The tone someone uses when
they speak can let you know if they are happy, sad, excited, or disappointed,
regardless of the words they may be uttering at the same time. A person’s tone
of voice is so important that it is the basis of their communications with
dogs. Differences in tone can also indicate differences in the meaning of a
word. When the French use the word “merci” it can mean “thank you” or “no thank
you.” How can you tell the difference? You have to listen to the person’s tone
of voice. A rise with the “ci” means “thank you.” A drop means “no thank you.”
Sometimes you’re lucky and a “non” accompanies the word “merci” but even then
there is the same drop in the last syllable.
General Appearance
Your general appearance can
greatly influence how well you communicate your message. General appearance can
include attire, gender, and disabilities. Whether it is admitted or not, in
almost all countries, women still struggle to be heard. Words spoken by a man
can be applauded when the same words spoken by a woman may have been brushed
off just minutes before.
Studies have shown that a
person’s attire can effect his ability to get what he wants. In some countries,
the most important part of your dress is your shoes, the quality of which can
greatly influence a person’s perception of you. When IBM first implemented
Friday dress down days, suits were still required if you had contact with
customers.
Social Position/Religious
Convictions
Sometimes it is just assumed
that a person in a particular social class is more intelligent and trustworthy
and is therefore listened to more than people in another social class. And
sometimes it is true that a peron’s social position may also give him the
training and tools to be a better communicator in general.
Sometimes a person can be
placed in a particular social position due to his religious beliefs. And, at
times a person may not be listened to simply because of their religious
convictions. Think of the number of conflicts that have occurred throughout
history in which one religious group has fought against another. It can even be
impossible to get these people in the same classroom and simply have a normal
conversation during the educational process. They simply refuse to listen to
each other.
Taking a look at the above
mentioned problems, it can be clearly seen, that the role of the teacher in
classes of mixed ethnical groups of great importance. The teacher must be
competent enough to avoid conflicts and must be competent enough to explain to
students, who have some sort of misunderstanding, what the problem was and show
them the way out of it. The teacher himself\herself should avoid such cross-cultural misunderstandings,
that is why he\she should be
communicatively competent enough to lead the educational process in such a
class.
Further on I will look at some
particular problems, which are common
for a teaching English in mixed ethnic groups.
1.3. Psychological problems
Being out of
the boundaries of a native culture a person experiences something that is
called a “culture shock” by the psychologists. Culture shock occurs “when all
the cues and underlying assumptions that we have about how the world works
suddenly don’t work anymore.” [2]In
“Cultures and Organizations” Geert Hofstede elaborates on this by saying that
culture shock “returns us to the mental state of an infant.” And he's right.
Just think
about it. Your culture defines who were are, what you believe in. In a way,
being able to maneuver in it helps to validate you as a person. It contributes
towards your self-esteem. Now you go to a place where you can’t talk, you may
not eat “right” and you have to learn the “correct” way to do things all over
again. The comparison to an infant is so accurate that I’ve even told people
that I speak their native language like a baby.
So now you
are an adult in a place where nothing that you know really counts. How would
that make you feel? Both the symptoms and their intensity vary, but it can lead
to depression, feelings of loneliness, anxiety, fear, withdrawal, helplessness,
and hatred towards your new culture.
Culture shock
can be extremely detrimental for those who “follow” others to a new culture. At
least the person who goes with a purpose (i.e. a job) has something to focus on
and an avenue through which he/she can begin to integrate into society. The
“follower” however, has nothing. Oftentimes he/she may not be allowed to work
in the new country. Once the excitement of moving and the newness of things
wears off, they can be hit quite hard with the reality of their new situation.
The 4 stages of “culture shock” (according to Geert Hofstede ):
Stage 1:
During the first stage you are excited about living in your new culture and you
welcome the changes you see. “Oh, these people eat so much healthier than we
do. Their city is more beautiful. I’m going to like it here.” These feelings
are similar to what you experience when you visit a foreign country on holiday
or for a business trip.
Stage 2:
This is when culture shock sets in. The excitement and the newness is gone. You
are now finding daily frustrations and challenges as you try to function in
your new society. People don’t understand you, you can’t even find the most
“common “ things you are looking for, and you want waffles for breakfast but no
one even knows what they are! On top of this, you are no longer treated as an
honored guest. You are now expected to do things on your own. These
frustrations can quickly lead to feelings of dread and withdrawal. You don’t
even want to go out to do things because you are already imagining all of the
problems you will have. It’s just easier to stay home.
Stage 3:
This is the beginning of the adjustment stage. You still may face frustrations,
but at least you’re learning to function within the context of your new
culture. It may mean not being so upset if someone arrives “late” or even being
“late” yourself at times. It may mean “standing in line” the same way your
fellow countrymen do and not feeling guilty about it or not being upset when
someone “breaks” the line and is served when you’ve already been standing there
for 10 minutes. This stage takes work and some people never make it, but if you
do, you will most likely be well on your way to Stage 4.
Stage 4:
This stage is when you have reached a stable state of mind meaning that you
have permanently adjusted to your new culture. That doesn’t mean you like it.
You can dislike it (you’ll never feel like you’re a part of it), you can be
neutral (you may not agree with the way things are done and you aren’t going to
give up your beliefs and values, but you understand why they do what they do
and you can operate within that context), or you may think that everything is
so great about your new culture that you abandon your own and “go native.” It
seems to be the general consensus that being neutral towards your new culture
is the healthiest form of adjustment.
Culture shock
leads to further misunderstandings.
Sometimes
it?s how things are said and not what is being said that is giving you the true
message. If you are a direct person operating in a country that uses indirect
communications it may seem as if you speaking two different languages even if
you are speaking the same one.
The Peace
Corps has isolated some indirect communication techniques and has created an
exercise that will help you acquire them.
The techniques
are as follows:
1. Using a qualified yes to mean no.
2. Telling a story as a way of saying no delicately.
3. Changing the subject to avoid saying no.
4. Asking a question to give a negative answer.
5. Returning to a previous point of discussion to signal disagreement.
According to
Geert Hofstede, power distance refers to “the degree of inequality which people
of a country view acceptable.” In the workplace in cultures with high power
distance, this means that it is only natural that everyone will not have the
same amount of power. It is also quite natural to have smart people and those
who are not so smart. Because of this belief, the people with power do not
share it and they make a great deal about it. They also act in a way that lets
it be known that they are the ones with the power, so as not to be confused
with the ones who do not have power. At the same time, they realize that with
power comes responsibility and they do what is necessary to take care of their
subordinates. The powerful closely supervise those beneath them and
subordinates usually do not take initiative.
Quite the
opposite is true in low power distance cultures. It is not the normal flow for
people to have power over others, but it may be the convenient way to operate.
This outlook causes those with power to make themselves seem as much like their
subordinates as possible. They delegate responsibilities and have no problem
sharing their power. Taking initiative is rewarded and close supervision is
frowned upon.
The dimension
of uncertainty avoidance is defined as "the extent to which people in a
given culture prefer structured situations with clear rules over unstructured
ones." Cultures with high uncertainty avoidance need rules. They need to
control things because the uncertainty in life evokes fear.
Cultures with
low uncertainty avoidance are not afraid of the unexpected. They see the
uncertainty in life more as a challenge as opposed to something to be feared.
Therefore, there is less need for them to control it. As a result, there are
less rules and regulations, less structure, and far less systems. In fact, these things tend to stifle
them.
To sum it all
up what can be said of it regarding to the relations in a small mixed ethnic
group in one classroom?
The
psychological problems are as follows:
“culture
shock” – a student doesn’t know how to behave among the representatives of the
other culture which leads to the problems in the learning process.Communicative
problems – verbal and non-verbal factors that differ from nation to nation and
can be completely opposite, which also will certainly lead to conflicts and
misunderstandings within small group.Social
problems – the inability to tolerate other life views and social behavior, to
flow into new society.
1.4. Learning difficulties
different bases of articulation
Every
language has certain general antropophonic tendencies which control the
formation of its sounds, the movements and positions of the organs of speech
and constitute what is generally called its “organic basis” or “basis of
articulation”. The Russian, as well as the mentioned above ethnical languages’,
organic basis is drastically different from the English basis of articulation.
Therefore the students should begin by concentrating on the peculiarities of
the English organic basis by confronting them systematically with those of
his\her native language.
The position and movements of the
tongue in Russian and English:
The
tongue in Russian is narrowed and advanced while in English it is broadened and
flattened and drawn back from the teeth.In
Russian the tongue is often raised and arched while in English it is lowered and the front part of it
is hollowed out.In
Russian the tip of the tongue is most of the time in contact with teeth whereas
in English it scarcely ever touches them (the absolute majority of English
sounds are articulated behind the teeth). As a result, sounds in Russian have a
“clear” character while English sounds are said to have “dull” quality.
Now
let move to the lip movement. In English, lips are passive. In Russian, as well
as in Chinese, Georgian and other mentioned above languages, they are active.
The articulation of Russian sounds is regularly accompanied by the pouting of
the lips or spreading out of the corners of the mouth which is totally impossible
in English, where lips are most of the time kept in neutral position.
So there are the problems we are most
likely to meet in the mixed ethnic class:
Students have different articulation basis.
They are trying to learn a new language, being in different positions and
exercises for phonetic practice are usually designed for the ethnic majority of
the group.For
some students English happens to be not the second, but the third language.
During their educational process they are trying to cope with two new
articulation baizes instead of one – taking into
consideration that the one articulation system is taught on the
basis of the other that is not known by them.
Teaching is not in the mother language
That problem is closely connected with the problem of
the difference between articulation baizes. Most of the students in mixed
ethnic classes are not the native speakers of the teaching tongue. They are not familiar with most of the realia
that is known by the teacher and native-speaker students. That leads us back to the problem,
discussed earlier – they meet some
communicative problems. Verbal and non-verbal factors that differ from nation
to nation and can be completely opposite, which also will certainly lead to
conflicts and misunderstandings within
small group – and lead to inability to understand the explanations and
given examples.
Different grammatical systems
That problem also needs to be highlighted.
Russian language happens to have mood, cases,
declension, which are not common for, as an example, Chinese language. This one
is isolating (a language in which each word form consists
typically of a single morpheme. An isolating language tends also to be an analytic language , so that the terms
isolating and analytic are often used interchangeably in linguistics), when English is analytical (language
that uses specific grammatical words, or particles, rather than inflection , to express syntactic relations within
sentences.), and Russian is
known to be synthetic (a language in which syntactic
relations within sentences are expressed by inflection (the change in the form
of a word that indicates distinctions of tense, person, gender, number, mood,
voice, and case) or by agglutination (word formation by
means of morpheme, or word unit, clustering). Georgian language is an
agglutinative language, too, as well as the most above mentioned languages.
When a teacher is
explaining some grammatical rules he\she inevitably comes to expressing some
special ideas, giving examples in his\her native tongue, which is also the
native for the majority of students – but we are talking about mixed ethnical
groups again and that is the problem. A teacher cannot express ideas, giving
some native-language examples, nor he\she can explain it good enough to be
apprehended by students, who have different grammatical systems in there head.
There we can speak again of the problem of English being the third language
learned, not the second.
Modern ways of solving the problem. Cross cultural
aspect on the lesson. Exercise examples
Promoting Students' Academic Success
(according
to Model Strategies in
Bilingual Education: Professional Development - 1995 )
Roles
of school and family in education. Historically, public education systems have been
shaped by the belief that their fundamental role in a democracy is to cultivate
the skills and knowledge required for "participating in democratic
politics, . . . choosing among . . . good lives, and . . . sharing in the
several subcommunities, such as families, that impart identity to . . . its
citizens" (Gutmann, 1987, p. 42). Democracy functions effectively when
advocates of competing interests and points of view are able to debate and
resolve issues concerning general welfare from informed positions of similar
authority. Public education systems give people a chance to cultivate knowledge
and acquire authority, to become an informed electorate and an able workforce.
The community's commitment to supporting effective education is sustained in
part by the precedent that failure to provide programs that teach students
essential skills and knowledge can generate costly social problems. Programs
for LEP students--like all school programs--are supposed to promote literacy,
numeracy, and knowledge growth in other core curriculum areas. Their purpose is
to enable graduates to share in the work of democratic life. Schools cultivate
the social and cognitive infrastructure on which a functioning democracy
depends for productivity and order.
However, the
sense of efficacy on which community participation rests is nurtured at home,
in one's family. People learn first at home that what they do or say can affect
their environment. Learning at school is informed and supported by family
lessons in responsibility, caretaking, and negotiating, among other things. The
choice of a good life that includes "subcommunities...that impart
identity" may be governed in language minority groups by proficiency in a
primary language. Proficiency in primary languages and in English contributes
to the attainment of the goals of public education of language minority
children. Their overall well-being depends in part on the resources they
acquire at home; hence, the strategies schools use to achieve their mission
should reflect a concern with maintaining children's capacity to benefit from
their family life.
Supporting
academic achievement
Four dimensions of educational programs bear directly
on students' success: the quality of lesson content; the extent of students'
productive engagement; the accessibility of the curriculum, that is, the degree
to which students are able to make sense of what is taught; and the school
climate. These dimensions may take on distinctive shapes in programs for LEP
students.
First, lesson
content must be substantively adequate and relevant to the appropriate
educational goals. Recent critiques of the content of instruction in some
subjects--notably math and science, but few disciplines are free of
criticism--reveal that deficiencies in curriculum materials or teachers'
knowledge or both create misconceptions among students. Too much emphasis on
lower-level skills and mistaken notions of content "hierarchies"
restrict what students can learn. In good lessons, students encounter solid
material that takes into account the disciplines' requirements and students'
knowledge and skills. Substantive rigor in lessons for LEP students may be
compromised on two counts. First, streamlined or alternative teacher education
programs having the primary aim of filling bilingual or ESL teaching slots in
the fastest timeframe may shortcut subject matter preparation, particularly at the
elementary level. Second, teachers conversationally fluent in a non-English
language may not be fluent in the technical terms associated with content
areas. Their primary-language explanations of content in math, science, and
social studies, for example, may suffer from limited vocabulary. Professional
development programs for teachers of LEP students must attend to these
potential obstacles to substantively adequate instruction.
Second, the
learning processes must engage students productively; their effort must be
applied diligently to mastering lesson content. (What--and how much--students
learn depends in part on how hard they work and what they study. Even given a
substantively compelling lesson (that may reflect the teacher's hard work),
students will learn only if they work hard at learning. The nature of their
learning task also controls the extent of their learning. Copying verbatim the
dictionary definitions of words from a speller and then writing the words
correctly 10 times may keep students engaged for a whole period, but evidence
does not suggest that it improves anything other than penmanship. Computing the
answers to 50 two-digit multiplication problems for homework may confirm
mastery of the algorithm without ensuring mastery of the mathematical concepts
or applications. Productive engagement means working on tasks that lead to new
learning built on the solid foundation of prior knowledge. In posing learning
tasks of appropriate levels and kinds, bilingual teachers of LEP students face
the same challenges as other teachers. However, ESL teachers--especially those
who have multilingual classes or who do not speak the students' home
language--face communication difficulties that make it more challenging to
frame tasks that engage students and extend learning. Their professional
training has to provide strong support for this area of practice.
Third,
students must be able to understand what is presented to them in school. The
words, examples, models, and demonstrations used at lessons must communicate
information to students. Lessons must build on the language, skills, and
concepts that students already know. A college course on nuclear engineering
may be substantively well developed, have well structured and engaging learning
activities, and feature a welcoming social climate, but it would be wasted on
first graders or even high school freshmen who do not understand its basic
premises. It would likewise be wasted if presented in Arabic to a
French-speaking college engineering class. A successful lesson is taught in
terms that students understand. In classrooms where teachers and students share
a language and culture, a great deal of their communication about content is
verbal; when students are unfamiliar with a particular term or concept, the teacher
can--and usually does--use words to bridge back to a familiar idea or
experience. When language and cultural differences limit the communicative
power of words, nonverbal communications and hands-on learning assume greater
importance.
In a
conference on educating linguistically diverse students, sponsored by the National Center for Research on Cultural
Diversity and Second Language Learning, McLaughlin (1994) summarized results of
several studies on the cognitive challenges of learning to read in one's second
language. Briefly, reading involves mastering a set of sound-symbol
correspondences, applying those rules automatically to decoding new words, and
rapidly processing text and extracting its meaning. Automaticity in decoding
and speed in processing in a second language take time to acquire. In addition,
the metacognitive skills used by good readers--such as scanning ahead, pausing
to reflect and evaluate, and rereading hard passages--may be unfamiliar to
novices. For LEP students, their lack of fluency in English may make it
especially difficult to acquire skills that rely on detailed knowledge of
syntax and different kinds of background information than what they have. In
related ways, writing in English may not come easily to LEP students. If the body
of their experience--including conversations and thoughts about their
experience--occurs in another language, then the cognitive "data
base" of words, concepts, and communication structures that English
speaking students use to inform their writing is not available as a resource.
No real or imagined conversations offer a bank of words, phrases, and sentences
for LEP students' writing in English. Hence, neither reading nor writing in
English may be assumed to provide the same resources for learning to LEP
students that it provides to others, and this may interfere with progress in
core subjects.
Several
studies indicate that LEP students progress more rapidly in all core subjects
when taught in their primary language, and some evidence suggests that effective
primary language instruction in early life produces overall cognitive
advantages for bilingual children that are not experienced by comparable
monolingual students. (Cummins, 1991, and Willig, 1985, offer comprehensive
analyses of research on this issue.) Recent assessments of the evidence
regarding the effectiveness of primary language instruction reveal trends that
support claims of its superiority in helping LEP students achieve regular
academic goals, including learning English (Meyer & Fienberg, 1992).
Primary language use in early schooling promotes basic language development and
creates a strong foundation that facilitates second language learning. (Among
the compelling discussions of this topic are Cummins, 1991; Nieto, 1992; Olsen
& Mullen, 1990; and Wong Fillmore & Meyer, 1992.) With respect to
students' self-esteem and sense of belonging in school, when the languages of
instruction include the students' own, the answer to the question "Is
education intended for people like me?" must obviously be "yes."
Because the social costs of school failure are so high for individuals and the
community, and the dropout population of LEP students is so disproportionately
high, strategies promoting LEP students' success must be supported. Primary language
instruction is such a strategy, but acquiring the language skills that provide
the necessary foundation for teaching in two languages adds to the requirements
of professional preparation.
When students
of more than one language group study together, comprehension is promoted by
multiple representations of content--pictures, demonstrations, experiences, and
other methods that temporarily circumvent the differences in language. Talking
more loudly or slowly or teaching for a longer time in an unfamiliar language does
not make presentations more comprehensible. Using methods that reduce initial
reliance on language to communicate content enables students to make sense of a
lesson and to build a shared vocabulary based on it. Teachers must extend
presentation modes to include more sensory experiences and different methods of
communication. Second-language educators refer to these rich, multidimensional
forms of communication as "comprehensible inputs" (Krashen, 1991).
Teachers and others report that acquiring the skills to offer comprehensible
inputs extends the period of professional development as well as the time and
resources it takes to prepare lessons.
Even in ESL
classes, however, encouraging the use of primary language to develop concepts
and introduce related ideas remains important. When the lesson must be
presented in English, bilingual teacher assistants and parent volunteers can
make a powerful contribution to students' understanding. Circumstances may make
it difficult to foster primary language maintenance at school, but the fact
remains that proficiency in a non-English language is an asset to individual
students, inasmuch as it strengthens their connections to their families and
friends, and to the larger community, which recognizes bilingualism as a social
and economic advantage (see Met, 1988). Teaching methods that rely on
"comprehensible inputs" and nurture primary language development
promote students' academic achievement while preserving their connections to
the language, culture, and people that are part of their identity. These
methods do not replace methods that are effective in mainstream classrooms;
rather, they function as extensions of ordinary good practice.
Fourth,
students must experience the classroom as a hospitable social environment (Nelson-LeGall,
1990). Their hard work in school is predicated on a positive and strong sense
of identity and feelings of personal efficacy. Much of students' learning is
mediated through interactions with peers and others whose explanations of
content serve as a bridge between what students already know and what they want
to learn. The effectiveness of students' efforts to learn is influenced by how
well they use available resources. Their willingness and ability to use these
resources depend on their confidence in applying themselves to learning tasks
and initiating contact with others who can help, as well as on their conviction
that people like them are expected to master such tasks. For LEP students,
these aspects of efficacy may be at risk; factors in their environment may
erode confidence and conviction. Others' inability to communicate in the
students' primary language--or disapproval of such communications--may
discourage students from asking questions that they can express only in their
primary language; it may limit students' active engagement in learning.
Furthermore,
where language minority communities are also disproportionately represented
among the economically disadvantaged, a school environment implicitly
portraying language minority status as problematic and speaking English as the
only way to be "normal" may cause students to become alienated from
their families (Wong Fillmore, 1991a and 1991b). They may refuse to speak their
primary language--sometimes the only language parents know--and they may
devalue their families' guidance on important life choices, including whether
to apply themselves to schoolwork. Because members of language minority
communities are twice as likely as English-speaking students to suffer the
stresses of poverty and, because in some language groups, many are refugees
traumatized by repeated dislocations, teachers' direct experience may not
provide a good model of the features of language and culture that are sources
of pride to the community itself, although such information is essential.
Socially,
teachers' respect for the students' home is the basis for desirable
collaboration between parents and teachers on the students' behalf. The customs
and values that govern family life may not match those that govern behavior at
school or in the larger community. For example, at home, rules of discourse and
good manners may require silent attention to adult conversation, while at
school assertive interaction with peers and teachers is expected. At home,
taking personal responsibility for younger siblings may be the older child's
duty, while at school students are expected to let teachers take care of
problems. Doing homework independently may be the parents' definition of good
student work habits, while engaging parents in assignments may be the teachers'
goal. If teachers fail to interpret students' behavior appropriately,
consequences may range from being unintentionally insulting to mistakenly
placing students in remedial classes. Such consequences create a dilemma for
students, who may feel obliged to choose between their family identity and the
school's "ideal"--a choice that may leave them psychologically
ill-prepared to succeed as adults (Wong-Fillmore, 1991).
In hospitable
classrooms, students' distinctive attributes are treated as resources, and
family differences are assumed to have merit, while shared academic work and
goals generate a separate school culture that may not be the same as the
culture at home (Nieto, 1992). Teachers of LEP students must have opportunities
to learn about students' cultures and languages and to become proficient in
adapting lessons and routines to make good use of children's cultural
resources. In addition, teachers must be able to recognize the cultural origins
of their own behavior and to respond reflectively to students who might be
acting under the influence of an alternative, culturally based expectation.
These demands add still another dimension to their professional training.
However, acquiring simplified versions of general cultural or linguistic
attributes that may or may not apply to a given student contributes more to the
problem of ignorance than to its solution. One review of studies of the effects
of multicultural training for teachers concluded that such activities often
leave teachers with new misconceptions and biases (National Center for Research
on Teacher Learning, 1992). Skillful cultural inquiry and analysis coupled with
a well-informed disposition to use the results of such efforts to modify
instruction make classrooms more hospitable for students; more flattering but
still heedless assumptions about attributes, such as diligence and
gregariousness, and their association with certain cultures add nothing to
teachers' effectiveness.
To summarize, our interpretation of
the existing research on effective educational practices and their special
adaptations for LEP students and analyses of the issues that affect LEP
students' academic success leads to the conclusion that they are best served by
programs that:Provide
substantively well-developed lessons in core subjectsEngage
them actively and productively in appropriately structured learning eventsUse
comprehensible inputs to present lesson content, including strong support for
developing primary language skills as an additional and valuable resource for
learningOffer
hospitable social environments that support and justify their feelings of
efficacy and confidence and respect their membership in diverse cultural
subgroups
For such
programs, adding solid proficiency in English at a pace consistent with
satisfactory progress in core subjects while maintaining primary language
proficiency is a key long-term goal, viewed as a high priority by educators and
language minority parents alike.
This vision
of instructional quality shapes the notions of effectiveness that guided this
study's search for programs that cultivate the professional workforce serving
language minority populations. All effective teachers stimulate learning by
engaging students in hard work on academic tasks derived from the school's
historic mission. Effective teachers for LEP students need special skills and
knowledge to help students overcome the obstacles presented by an
English-dominated educational system without losing the resource of fluency in
a second language. Expertise in this particular arena (as in others) can be
cultivated at many points in a professional career.
Cross cultural aspect at the lesson
What is culture?
Culture is the combination of
thoughts, feelings, attitudes, material traits, and behaviors of a group of
people. Each of these characteristics is manifested and shared by the group
through symbols, communication, and social patterns.
Webster's (1975) defines
culture as "...the integrated pattern of human behavior that includes
thought, speech, action;...the customary beliefs, social forms, and material
traits of a racial, religious, or social group."
Each culture's conventions
satisfy basic human needs, from the perspective shared by that group of people.
Some believe that people are "all the same underneath," yet a paradox
exists: we are the same in our basic human needs, yet different in the ways in
which we meet those needs. Culture is a complex system of learned and
conditioned responses to our needs, and thus culture is one of the greatest
resources for helping human service providers understand family needs and
strengths.
Culture is
just one of the factors that influences behavior. Two other factors are
universal traits (everyone does it) and personal traits (what makes each of us
an individual even if we are members of the same group).
Universal
behavioral traits can sometimes deceive us. Because some things that you are
accustomed to will appear in your new country, you may think, “Hey this place
isn’t too different from home.” In fact the more similar to “home” you
originally think a place is, the harder it may be for you to adjust to it.
The fact that
some behavioral traits are personal means that everyone in a group will not be
the same. People are individuals.
A person's
behavior is often rooted in his values and beliefs. Therefore, to understand
why people do what they do, it is important to understand their values and
beliefs.
This may seem
obvious to you now, but have you ever thought about the times people in your
own country have done things that made no sense to you, but seemed perfectly
normal to them? These people are probably operating under a different
value/belief system. In their world it is normal, in yours it is not.
The same is
true when you travel abroad. Consider the following example.
One morning
Sue, who teaches in English in West Africa,
was told that the father of one of her students had died. The next day, one of
her classes asked to be excused because of the death of the student's father.
These students weren't even in the student's actual class, but this seemed to
be the norm. The next day, Sue was asked if she saw the funeral procession
which included a large number of students wearing uniforms from her school. Sue
thought this was interesting and noted it in her journal because when her
father had died while she was in high school, her best friend was the only
classmate who had attended his funeral.
Two
countries, two different values regarding the importance of family.
Defining cross-cultural
competence
Cross-cultural competence is
important in professional and interpersonal interactions and an area in which
every interventionist should be educated. Defining what cross-cultural
competence is, however, is considerably more difficult. Cross, Bazron, Dennis,
and Isaacs (1989) described cross-cultural competence in terms of behaviors,
attitudes, and policies that are congruent, converge, and result in
effectiveness in cross-cultural situations. In their definition, the notion of
cross-cultural competence can be applied to individuals, agencies, and systems.
Barrera and Kramer used the
term broadly "to refer to the ability of service providers to respond
optimally to all children, understanding both the richness and the limitations
of the sociocultural contexts in which children and families as well as the
service providers themselves, may be operating" (1997, p. 217). They
cautioned that their definition does not refer to a specific set of skills nor
is it based on a cultural, ethnic, or racial paradigm in which one group is
considered normative and all others diverse. Rather, it encompasses a wide
range of possible diversities and differences and focuses on knowing oneself in
a cultural context in order to relate to individuals operating in different
cultural contexts. Diversity, as defined by Barrera in a discussion of
assessment practices, "is deemed to be present whenever there is the
probability that, in interaction with a particular child or family, the
assessor might attribute different meaning or values to behaviors or events
than would the family or someone from that family's environment" (1994, p.
10). In other words, socioeconomic status, religion, education, political
affiliation, and language may be as predictive of different interpretations as
culture, ethnicity, or race.
In discussing cultural
competence in health care for women, Rorie, Paine, and Barger defined cultural
competence as "a set of behaviors, attitudes, and policies that enable a
system, agency, and/or individual to function effectively with culturally
diverse clients and communities" (1996, p. 93). Their conceptualization of
diversity is similar to Barrera's (1994) in that in addition to cultural and
ethnic diversity it includes economic differences, sexual orientation, and the
social context in which an individual lives.
For the purposes of this work,
cross-cultural competence is defined as "the ability to think,
feel, and act in ways that acknowledge, respect, and build upon ethnic,
sociocultural, and linguistic diversity" (Lynch & Hanson, 1993, p.
50). This definition assumes that all individuals and groups are diverse and
does not imply that one group is normative. It also acknowledges that
sociocultural factors often play as great or greater a role in people's shared
or unshared experience as their ethnicity, language, or culture. This text,
however, focuses on ethnic, cultural, and linguistic dimensions of diversity
because diversity has not been as widely available in or applied to as many
environments for young children as information about sociocultural factors such
as economic status or parent education.
Various authors discussed the
process of developing cross-cultural competence. Harry (1992) underscored the
critical nature of selfawareness when working with children and families from
different cultural and experiential contexts. Cross, as cited by Chan (1990),
suggested that there are three critical elements, including 1) self-awareness,
2) knowledge of information specific to each culture, and 3) skills that enable
the individual to engage in successful interactions. Hanson, Lynch, and Wayman
(1990) discussed four slightly different but related elements. These are 1)
clarification of the interventionist's own values and assumptions, 2)
collection and analysis of ethnographic information related to the community in
which the family resides, 3) determination of the degree to which the family
operates transculturally, and 4) examination of the family's orientation to
specific child-rearing issues. Authors such as McIntosh (1988), in discussing
white privilege, suggested that true cultural competence can be achieved only
when those who have been privileged in a society recognize that their
advantages are based on systems that disadvantage others, and they actively
work against those systems. Regardless of the process that one selects, it is
apparent that personal awareness, knowledge of other cultures, and application
of that knowledge are common elements.
Researchers and theorists in
intercultural communication continue to work toward unified theories of
cross-cultural competence and communication, particularly in relation to
effective functioning in overseas assignments (e.g., Abe & Wiseman, 1983;
Hammer, 1989; Ruben, 1989; Spitzberg,1989; Spitzberg & Cupach,1984). This
chapter does not presume to provide answers to questions that these theorists
are posing nor does it deal with successful interactions outside of the United States.
Instead, it focuses on strategies that have been demonstrated to be effective
through research and clinical experience working with families in the United States
whose cultural, racial, ethnic, or language background is different from that
of the interventionist. According to Brislin, Cushner, Cherrie, and Yong
(1986), the goals of cross-cultural competence are threefold. When applied to
service providers who work with families from diverse cultures and life
experiences, the goals are to assist interventionists to 1) feel comfortable
and effective in their interactions and relationships with families whose
cultures and life experiences differ from their own, 2) interact in ways that
enable families from different cultures and life experiences to feel positive
about the interactions and the interventionists, and 3) accomplish the goals
that each family and interventionist establish.
Self - awareness
Everyone has a culture, but
often individuals are not aware of the behaviors, habits, and customs that are
culturally based (Althen, 1988). According to Hall,
There is not one aspect of
human life that is not touched and altered by culture. This means personality,
how people express themselves (including shows of emotion), the way they think,
how they move, how problems are solved, how their cities are planned and laid
out, how transportation systems function and are organized, as well as how
economic and government systems are put together and function. (1976, pp.
16-17)
To understand and appreciate
fully the diversity that exists among the families that interventionists serve,
interventionists must first understand and appreciate their own culture.
Self-awareness (Chan, 1990; Harry, 1992) is the first step on the journey
toward cross-cultural competence. But how does cultural self-awareness begin?
What are the steps? And how does cultural self-awareness lead to improved understanding
of other cultures? This section of the chapter addresses these questions.
Cultural self-awareness begins
with an exploration of one's own heritage. Issues such as place of origin or
indigenous status, time of immigration, reasons for immigration, language(s)
spoken, and the place of the family's first settlement in the United States all
help to define one's own cultural heritage. The political leanings, religion,
jobs, status, beliefs, and values of the first immigrants provide a sketch of
one's family and heritage. Information about the economic, social, and
vocational changes that subsequent generations have undergone complete the
picture. Perhaps the most enriching way to gather this information is through
the recollections of the oldest family members as they tell stories of their
early lives and the lives of their grandparents and greatgrandparents. Although
oral history often is neglected among mainstream Americans, it can provide a
wonderful bridge between generations. In some families, oral traditions may be
supplemented by photographs, journals, family albums, or notes of important
events in family books such as bibles. When none of these are available, a
document search in county courthouses can reveal clues to the family's past
through marriage records; records of births and deaths; and titles to lands
bought, sold, or occupied. In some areas of the country, church, parish,
temple, or synagogue records provide a wealth of information about family
history. Some public libraries also contain extensive collections specifically
for those interested in genealogy. In the 1990s, computer-based search
strategies have become available through electronic genealogy forums, bulletin
boards, and World Wide Web sites.
Learning about one's own roots
is the first step in determining how one's values, beliefs, customs, and
behaviors have been shaped by culture. This new knowledge helps individuals
separate the ways of thinking, believing, and behaving that have been assumed
to be universal from those that are based on cultural beliefs and biases. When
one has explored one's own cultural heritage, the second step of discovery can
begin.
The second step is to examine
some of the values, behaviors, beliefs, and customs that are identified with
one's own cultural heritage. Although the sociocultural variables such as
educational level, socioeconomic status, and degree of identification and
affiliation with one's culture are potent forces in shaping one's value system
and behavior, there are certain salient characteristics for which cultures are
known. For example, in addition to the values described by Althen (1988) ,
Robertiello and Hoguet (1987) discussed 39 values that underpin the culture of
white Anglo-Saxon Protestants in the United States. Among these are
stoicism in adversity, honesty, courage, frugality, resourcefulness, optimism,
fairness, wit and sense of humor, physical attractiveness, cheerfulness, and
good taste. In developing a new framework for productivity and profitability
for business and industry, Hammond and Morrison (1996, pp. 5-6) described seven
cultural forces that they believe define Americans. These forces
include
Insistence on choicePursuit of impossible dreamsObsession with big and moreImpatience with timeAcceptance of mistakesUrge to improviseFixation with what's new
Interventionists who are
members of the non- Russian culture or are strongly influenced by it may want
to examine these values to determine their degree of identification with each
and the extent to which each affects their practice. For example,
interventionists who value punctuality and careful scheduling may need to
examine their frustration with families who place less emphasis on clock and
calendar time. Interventionists who value optimism and humor may discover that they
are uncomfortable with individuals who are depressed or those whom they see as
complainers. Interventionists who value frugality may have trouble
understanding why a family with very limited resources has just purchased a
videocassette recorder (VCR) or a cellular phone. Interventionists who pride
themselves in sensitive but direct communications may have difficulty with
families who do not look them in the eye or those who nod "yes" when
the answer is "no." Interventionists who value privacy may have difficulty
understanding why a preschooler is still sleeping in the parents' bedroom.
Interventionists who create extensive "menus" of services may not
understand why some families are reluctant or unable to choose.
Interventionists who are ecstatic about the latest technology or technique may
be frustrated by a family who does not share their enthusiasm.
Likewise, interventionists who
do not come from the mainstream culture of the Russia and are not highly
identified with it must examine their values and beliefs in relation to the
families that they serve. Interventionists from cultures that value
interdependence over independence, cooperation above competition, authoritative
rather than permissive child rearing, and interaction more than efficiency may
need to examine how these values affect their practice. For example, families
who are striving to toilet train their child at a very young age, who are
encouraging self-feeding, and who are leaving the child with nonfamily
babysitters starting at infancy may be puzzling to interventionists who place a
higher value on interdependence than independence. When a young child talks
back or interrupts adult conversations, many Anglo-European American parents
view the child's behavior as his or her right to personal expression, whereas
many Native American, Asian, Latino, and African American parents and
interventionists may see the same behavior as disrespectful and obnoxious.
Parents who want to "get
down to business" in planning meetings and do not engage in "small talk"
may be viewed as brusque and rude by interventionists who are more used to
connecting interpersonally before conducting business.
The examples in the previous
paragraphs illustrate the ways in which cultural beliefs may affect practice.
All cultures have built-in biases, and there are no right or wrong cultural
beliefs; however, there are differences that must be acknowledged. Cultural
self-awareness is the bridge to learning about other cultures. It is not
possible to be truly sensitive to someone else's culture until one is sensitive
to one's own culture and the impact that cultural customs, values, beliefs, and
behaviors have on practice.
Culture-specific awareness and
understanding
After interventionists become
familiar with their own culture and its effects on the ways in which they think
and behave, the foundation for learning about other cultures has been laid. The
next step is to learn about other cultures through readings, interactions, and
involvement. As Storti stated, "The success of any interaction, in or
outside our own culture, rests primarily on our ability to anticipate the
behavior of others, including their reactions to our behavior. If we cannot do
this, . . . then even the possibility of successful interaction is largely
precluded" (1989, p. 92). Culture-specific information helps explain the
cultural values, beliefs, and behaviors that may be encountered in
crosscultural interactions. Culture-specific information provides a framework
of possibilities to consider. It does not provide a fail-safe prediction of any
individual's or family's beliefs, biases, or behaviors. In fact, when
culture-specific information is used as a recipe for expectations and
interactions, it is likely to cause rather than resolve problems.
Some modern ways of solving some of the above mentioned problems (with some
exercise explanations)
Further would be shown, what
to perform at the lesson to form the students cross-cultural communicativeness and
tolerance, to avoid some of the above mentioned linguistic and psychological
problems.
The Western
Center for Drug-Free Schools
and Communities, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (1991) suggests that
role playing, Socratic instruction, and small group work are effective teaching
strategies for curriculum infusion and building cultural tolerance. Such games
at the lesson of English help students to feel more relaxed, they have an
opportunity to tell about their cultures and learn about the others, not making
anyone uncomfortable.
The Role Playing Process:
Make sure the students define
a situation that is relevant and important to them--for example, a situation in
which they may be offered a drug. Get details such as the setting and number
and types of people involved. Set the stage by arranging
furniture, indicating where 'doors' might be located.Prepare the audience by giving them specific questions to be prepared to
answer at the conclusion of the role play. Examples:
(a) Would this work in real
life?
(b) How would you have handled
the situation?
There are numerous ways to select participants. Discuss
ideas.Begin the role play, stopping
it if it is unrealistic, going nowhere, or has accomplished its purpose.Ask questions of the
participants and audience.Reenact the role play, if
necessary, using a variation of the situation, new participants, feedback
provided to improve a skill. . .
Suggested situations: refusing
a drug offer, encouraging a friend to stop smoking, talking to a teacher about
an assignment, requesting help from a parent, stopping a drunk friend from
driving.
Socratic Instruction:
Note that one of the most
effective strategies for teaching about alcohol and other drugs is Socratic
instruction (questioning). Socratic questioning fosters critical thinking,
evaluation, and knowledge application in students and should be used as
frequently as possible in assignments and class discussions.
Allow 'wait time' for
thinking. Give students time to consider the question and their response before
requesting them to answer.Avoid yes-no questions. They
lead nowhere and do not promote thinking nor discussion.Be sure students have the
needed background and resources to respond to the questions posed. It is unfair
and detrimental to their progress to not accept their levels of knowledge and
experience.Open-ended and closed
questions are useful. Open-ended questions promote critical thinking, while
closed questions can focus attention.Include clarifying questions,
demands and statements. They are as valid as questions are. Students may need
guidance as they sift through possible answers.Use questions from all levels
of thinking. Help students to develop higher levels of critical thinking as
well as the typical knowledge and comprehension levels."
Small Group and Cooperative
Learning:
Establish heterogeneous groups.Establish group size.Designate group work areas.Designate specific
responsibilities to group members.Provide clear directions, time
constraints, rules, procedures.Provide necessary materials.Establish leader selection process.Minimize exchanges of
information between groups.Watch for conflict.Encourage and praise group
support.
Grammar practice
To my mind, then, the key
question is "How can we teach grammar in a way that is compatible with how
learners acquire grammar?" Second language acquisition research suggests
that grammar teaching should take into account three key principles:
Learners need to attend to
both meaning and form when learning a second language. New grammatical features are
more likely to be acquired when learners notice and comprehend them in input
than when they engage in extensive production practice. Learners' awareness of
grammatical forms helps them to acquire grammatical features slowly and
gradually.
These three principles have
guided my own approach to teaching grammar.
Attention to form and meaning
Current second language acquisition theories view grammar learning as best
accomplished when learners are primarily focused on meaning rather than form,
as Krashen has argued. However, contrary to Krashen's position, these theories
also claim that some attention to form is necessary for learning to take place.
The problem is that learners are limited language processors who find it
difficult to attend to both form and meaning at the same time. Thus, when they
are focused on meaning they are unable to attend simultaneously to form and,
conversely, when they are focused on form, their ability to understand or make
themselves understood suffers.
For this reason, they need
meaning-based tasks that also allow them the opportunity to process language as
form. In the materials I have been developing, students are first required to
process a text for meaning and then, afterward, to attend to how a particular
grammatical form is used in the text.
Learning grammar through input
Grammar has traditionally been taught via production practice. That is,
students have been required to try to use a grammatical structure in controlled
and free exercises. However, current theories of second language acquisition
see production as the result of acquisition rather than the cause. It follows
that grammar can be taught more effectively through input that through
manipulating output.
An interesting study by Tanaka
(1996) provides evidence to support such a claim. Tanaka compared two ways of
teaching Japanese high school students relative clauses. One way involved the
use of input practice, and the other traditional production practice. Tanaka
found that input practice led to better comprehension of the target structure
and, in the long term, to production that was just as accurate. In other words,
the input practice helped learners to process relative clauses in both input
and output, but the production practice only helped output.
What does input practice
involve? It involves "structured input tasks." These are tasks that
require students to (1) read or listen to input that has been specially
designed to include plentiful examples of the target structure and (2)
consciously attend to the target structure and understand its meaning. In one
kind of structured input task, a text is gapped by removing words containing
the target structure and asking students to fill in the missing words.
In the grammar teaching
materials I have been working on, the structured input tasks are all oral
rather than written -- learners have to listen to the texts rather than read
them. This is because oral texts require students to process grammatical
structures in real time, which is exactly what is needed to help students
acquire them. Furthermore, oral texts also serve to practise the important
skill of listening.
The role of awareness
Learners can acquire a new grammatical structure only very gradually and
slowly. It can, in fact, take several months for them to master a single
grammatical structure. For this reason, grammar instruction, no matter how well
designed, is unlikely to achieve immediate success. This suggests that grammar
teaching needs to emphasize awareness of how grammatical features work rather
than mastery. Learners who are aware of a grammatical structure are more likely
to notice it when they subsequently encounter it. Thus, awareness can
facilitate and trigger learning; it is a crutch that helps learners walk until
they can do so by themselves.
How can teachers develop
awareness of a grammatical structure? One way, of course, is simply to tell the
students how it works. This is the traditional way. Japanese students have
plenty of experience of listening to teachers lecture about grammar! An
alternative way, which I think is more promising, is to use consciousness-raising
tasks. These are tasks that provide students with "data" about
how a particular grammatical structure works and help them to work out the rule
for themselves. In this approach, students discover how grammar works on their
own. Such tasks make the students much less dependent on the teacher.
Fotos (1984) carried out a
study to see how well consciousness-raising grammar tasks worked with Japanese
college students. She found that the students' awareness of the grammatical
structures she targeted was just as accurate when they worked out the rules for
themselves as when they were told them. Moreover, in Fotos' study, the students
had to work in groups to discover the rules and talked in English together as
they did so. Thus, the consciousness-raising tasks doubled up as communicative
tasks!
In an attempt to incorporate
these principles into materials for teaching grammar, I have developed the
following sequence of tasks:
Listening task (i.e. students
listen to a text that they process for meaning). "Noticing" task
(i.e. students listen to the same text, which is now gapped, and fill in the
missing words). Consciousness-raising task
(i.e. students are helped to discover how the target grammar structure works by
analyzing the "data" provided by the listening text). Checking task (i.e. students
complete an activity to check if they have understood how the target structure
works). Production task (i.e. students
are given the opportunity to try out the target structure in their own
sentences). The aim of the production task is to encourage students to
experiment with the target structure, not its mastery.
The aim of such materials is
not so much to "teach grammar," as this is often not possible, but
rather to help students to "become grammatical." This is a lesser
goal but it is a worthwhile one. Furthermore, it is a goal that is more
compatible with the current emphases on communication and student autonomy.
Main part II
Various types of exercises made for the use in mixed ethnic classes
This exercise
is based on the idea that having students support opinions that are not
necessarily their own during debates can help improve students fluency. In this
manner, students pragmatically focus on correct production skills in
conversation rather than striving to "win" the argument.
When
employing role-plays, debates, topic discussions, etc., I have noticed that
some students are often timid in expressing their viewpoints. This seems due to
a number of reasons:
Students don't have an opinion
on the subject Students have an opinion, but
are worried about what the other students might say or think Students have an opinion, but
don't feel they can say exactly what they mean Students begin giving their
opinion, but want to state it in the same eloquent manner that they are capable
of in their native language Other, more actively
participating students, feel confident in their opinions and express them
eloquently making the less confident students more timid
Pragmatically, conversation
lessons and exercises are intended to improve conversational skills. For this
reason, I find it helpful to first focus on building skills by eliminating some
of the barriers that might be in the way of production. Having been assigned
roles, opinions and points of view that they do not necessarily share, students
are freed from having to express their own opinions. Therefore, they can focus
on expressing themselves well in English. In this way, students tend to
concentrate more on production skills, and less on factual content. They also
are less likely to insist on literal translations from their mother tongue.
Implementing this approach can
begin slowly by providing students with short role plays using cue cards. Once
students become comfortable with target structures and representing differing
points of view, classes can move onto more elaborated exercises such as debates
and group decision making activities. This approach bears fruit especially when
debating opposing points of view. By representing opposing points of view, students'
imagination are activated by trying to focus on all the various points that an opposing
stand on any given issue may take. As students inherently do not agree with the
view they represent, they are freed from having to invest emotionally in the
statements they make. More importantly, from a pragmatic point of view,
students tend to focus more on correct function and structure when they do not
become too emotionally involved in what they are saying.
Of course, this is not to say
that students should not express their own opinions. After all, when students
go out into the "real" world they will want to say what they mean.
However, taking out the personal investment factor can help students first
become more confident in using English. Once this confidence is gained,
students - especially timid students - will be more self-assured when
expressing their own points of view.
Exercise itself:
Outline:
Review language used when expressing opinions,
disagreeing, making comments on other person's point of view, etc. (See
work sheet) Write
the name of some major multinational corporations on the board (i.e. Coca Cola,
Nike, Nestle, etc.) Ask students what their opinions of the corporations
are. Do they hurt local economies? Do they help local economies? Do they bring
about homogenisation of local cultures? Do they help promote peace
internationally? Etc. Based
on students' responses, divide groups up into two groups. One group arguing for
Multinationals, one group against Multinationals. Important: Make sure that
groups are put into the group with the opposite opinion of what they seemed to
believe in the warm-up conversation. Give
students worksheets including ideas pro and con. Have students develop
arguments using the ideas on the worksheet as a springboard for further ideas
and discussion. Once students have prepared their opening arguments,
begin with the debate. Each team has 5 minutes to present their
principal ideas. Have
students prepare notes and make rebuttal to the expressed opinions. While
the debate is in progress, take notes on common errors made by the students. At the
end of debate, take time for a short focus on common mistakes. This is
important, as students should not be too involved emotionally and therefore
will be quite capable of recognizing language problems - as opposed to problems
in beliefs!
Multinationals: Help or Hindrance?
You are going to debate the pros and cons of
international multi nation corporations. It is important to remember that you
have been placed in your group based on what seems to be the opposite of
what you really think. Use the clues and ideas below to help you create an
arguement for your appointed point of view with your team members. Below you
will find phrases and language helpful in expressing opinions, offering
explanations and disagreeing.
Opinions,
Preferences:
I think...,
In my opinion..., I'd like to..., I'd rather..., I'd prefer..., The way I see
it..., As far as I'm concerned..., If it were up to me..., I suppose..., I
suspect that..., I'm pretty sure that..., It is fairly certain that..., I'm
convinced that..., I honestly feel that, I strongly believe that..., Without a
doubt,...,
Disagreeing:
I don't think
that..., Don't you think it would be better..., I don't agree, I'd prefer...,
Shouldn't we consider..., But what about..., I'm afraid I don't agree...,
Frankly, I doubt if..., Let's face it, The truth of the matter is..., The
problem with your point of view is that...
Giving
Reasons and offering explanations: To start with, The reason
why..., That's why..., For this reason..., That's the reason why..., Many
people think...., Considering..., Allowing for the fact that..., When you
consider that... For
Multinationals
Offers employment to local workers Promotes peace internationally Creates sense of community crossing international
borders Allows entire world to improve standard of living Gives access to quality products regardless of
location Promotes economic stability Raises standard of living for regions involved in
production Gives local economies new economic opportunities Fact of life which needs to be accepted Reflects global economy
Against Multinationals
Ruins local economies Depletes local work forces by drawing to metro centres
Stifles cultural growth and expansion on local level Provides little help with problems which are local in
nature Creates cultural homogenization Too big, little interest in the individual Gives political power to outside interests Creates economic unstability by being subject to the
whims of the global economy Replaces traditional values with materialistic values Makes local economies subject to mass layoffs
Exercise on Pronunciation -
Practicing Stress and Intonation
I am often surprised at how
focusing on the "stress - timed" quality of English helps students
improve their pronunciation skills. Students often focus on pronouncing each
word correctly and therefore tend to pronounce in an unnatural manner. By
focusing on the stress - timed factor in English - the fact that only principle
words such as proper nouns, principle verbs, adjectives and adverbs receive the
"stress" - students soon begin sounding much more
"authentic" as the cadence of the language begins to ring true. The
following lesson focuses on raising awareness of this issue and includes
practice exercises.
Aim: Improving pronunciation by focusing on the stress - time nature of spoken
English
Activity: Awareness raising followed by practical application exercises
Level: Pre - intermediate to upper intermediate depending on student needs and
awareness
Outline:
Begin awareness raising activities by reading an example sentence aloud to
the students (for example: The boys didn't have time to finish their homework
before the lesson began). Read the sentence the first time pronouncing each
word carefully. Read the sentence a second time in natural speech.Ask students which reading
seemed more natural and why it seemed more natural.Using the ideas students come
up with, explain the idea of English being a "stress - timed"
language. If the students speak a syllabic language (such as Italian or
Spanish), point out the difference between their own native language and
English (theirs being syllabic, English stress - timed). Just this awareness
raising can make a dramatic difference in such students abilities.Talk about the differences
between stressed words and non-stressed words (i.e. principle verbs are
stressed, auxiliary verbs are not).Write the following two
sentences on the board: The beautiful Mountain
appeared transfixed in the distance.He can come on Sundays as long
as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening.Underline the stressed words
in both sentences. Ask students to try reading aloud. Point out how each
sentence seems to be approximately the same length in "stress -
time".Ask students to look through
the example sentences and underline the words that should be stressed in the
worksheet.Circulate about the room
asking students to read the sentences aloud once they have decided which words
should receive stresses.Review activity as a class -
ask students to first read any given sentence with each word pronounced
followed by the "stress - timed" version. Expect a surprise at the
quick improvement students make in pronunciation.
Help: look at the following list of stressed and
non-stressed word types.
Basically, stress words are
considered CONTENT WORDS such as
Nouns e.g. kitchen, Peter(most) principle verbs e.g. visit, constructAdjectives e.g. beautiful, interestingAdverbs e.g. often, carefully
Non-stressed words are considered FUNCTION WORDS such as
Determiners e.g. the, a, some, a fewAuxiliary verbs e.g. don't, am, can, werePrepositions e.g. before, next to, oppositeConjunctions e.g. but, while, asPronouns e.g. they, she, us
Mark the stressed words in the
following sentences. After you have found the stressed words, practice reading
the sentences aloud.
John is coming over tonight. We are going to work on our homework together.Ecstasy is an extremely
dangerous drug.We should have visited some
more castles while we were traveling through the back roads of France.Jack bought a new car last
Friday.They are looking forward to
your visiting them next January.Exciting discoveries lie in
Tom's future.Would you like to come over
and play a game of chess?They have been having to work
hard these last few months on their challenging experiment.Shakespeare wrote passionate,
moving poetry.As you might have expected, he
has just thought of a new approach to the problem.
Lesson plan, made for a mixed ethnic group
The following ideas for the
planning of the lesson are minimizing the use of the non-English language, all
the examples and explanations are given, regarding to the previous knowledge of
the students. The lesson plan is grammar focused and explaining the use and
difference between the Present Simple and Present Continuous Tenses.
The explanation as it follows:
There are two
present tenses: The present simple and the present continuous. The two tenses
are quite different. Generally, the present simple is used to refer to everyday
habits that you have.
Use the
present simple to talk about activities or routines which take place on a
regular basis.
Tom takes the A train to work every
day.
Peter usually gets home at seven in the evening.
The present continuous is
usually used to refer to events happening at the present moment in time.
They're doing their homework
at the moment.
Mary's playing tennis with Tom at the club right now.
Present Simple Structure:
Positive
Subject + Verb + Objects
I, You, We, They -> eat
lunch at noon.
Subject + Verb + s + Objects
He, She, It -> works well
in any situation.
Negative
S + do not (don't) + Verb +
Objects
I, You, We, They -> don't
enjoy opera.
S + does not (doesn't) + Verb
+ Objects
He, She, It -> doesn't belong
to the club.
Questions
(Why, What, etc.) + do + S +
Verb + Objects?
Do -> I, you, we, they
-> work in this town?
(Why, What, etc.) + does + S +
Verb + Objects?
Does -> he, she, it ->
live in this city?
Present Continuous Structure:
Positive
Subject + conjugate the
helping verb "be" + verb + -ing.
I'm, You're, He's, She's,
We're, You're, They're -> working today.
Negative
Subject + conjugate the
helping verb "be" + not + verb + -ing.
I'm not, You aren't, He isn't,
She isn't, We aren't, You aren't, They aren't -> coming this evening.
Questions
Question word + conjugate the
helping verb 'be' + subject + verb + -ing
What -> are you, they ->
doing this afternoon?
What -> is he, she -> doing this afternoon?
After the explanation is done,
students should be asked to think of the examples of their own – two sentences
from each student: one in Present Simple and one in Present Continuous. This process should be watched over by the
teacher to avoid missing of their mistakes. There is another point – haw to
tell a student, that he is not right, without being too strict and
unencorouging? A teacher must be constructive.
Rather than saying
"No" when a student does not give the exact answer being sought, the
constructivist teacher attempts to understand the student's current thinking
about the topic. Through nonjudgmental questioning, the teacher leads the
student to construct new understanding and acquire new skills. Constructivists
believe that assessment should be used as a tool to enhance both the student's
learning and the teacher's understanding of the student's current
understanding. It should not be used as an accountability tool that makes some
students feel good about themselves and causes others to give up. Below is a
list of the important principles that guide the work of a constructivist
teacher:
Constructivist teachers
encourage and accept student autonomy and initiative. Constructivist teachers use
raw data and primary sources along with manipulative, interactive, and physical
materials. Constructivist teachers use
cognitive terminology such as "classify," "analyze,"
"predict," and "create" when framing tasks. Constructivist teachers allow
student responses to drive lessons, shift instructional strategies, and alter
content. Constructivist teachers
inquire about students' understandings of concepts before sharing their own
understandings of those concepts. Constructivist teachers
encourage students to engage in dialogue both with the teacher and with one
another. Constructivist teachers encourage
student inquiry by asking thoughtful, open-ended questions and encouraging
students to ask questions of each other. Constructivist teachers seek
elaboration of students' initial responses. Constructivist teachers engage
students in experiences that might engender contradictions to their initial
hypotheses and then encourage discussion. Constructivist teachers allow
a waiting time after posing questions.
Conclusion
In the presented work were introduced the idea of today’s methods
of teaching in mixed ethnic groups, as well as some other psychological
aspects, concerning that problem were presented. Some new methods that could be
used as the helping material for teachers working with mixed classes were be
introduced. The problems, described in this work are of great actuality today
and still there are questions that are needed to be answered: How can there be
achieved understanding between two
people belonging to diametrically opposite cultures? How can they be
co-learners in one educational process? It is clearly seen that teaching
tolerance is one of the global problems.
What can be said about the English
teaching for mixed ethnic groups? To sum
up all mentioned above it must be said: Ethnical intolerance in the mixed group of
learners also makes the teaching and learning process much less effective and
productive. Psychological problems caused by the process of learning make the
whole process unproductive. First, lesson content must be substantively
adequate and relevant to the appropriate educational goals. Recent critiques of
the content of instruction in some subjects--notably math and science, but few
disciplines are free of criticism--reveal that deficiencies in curriculum
materials or teachers' knowledge or both create misconceptions among students.
Too much emphasis on lower-level skills and mistaken notions of content
"hierarchies" restrict what students can learn. Second, the learning
processes must engage students productively; their effort must be applied
diligently to mastering lesson content. (What--and how much--students learn
depends in part on how hard they work and what they study. Even given a
substantively compelling lesson (that may reflect the teacher's hard work),
students will learn only if they work hard at learning. Third, students must be
able to understand what is presented to them in school. The words, examples,
models, and demonstrations used in lessons must communicate information to
students. Lessons must build on the language, skills, and concepts that students
already know.
Bibliography
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Russian population census statistics (2002)
[1] According to K. Jung’s typology of a
personality
[2] an article in the International
Herald Tribune, by Geert Hofstede, focused on the issue of culture shock