Part III Strategies for Teaching Writing and Presenting 15 How to Inject Some Fun into Your Lessons / Making
16.8 Learning styles and cultural issues in multicultural /
EAP throws up challenges that other forms of English tend to encounter more rarely.
Multilingual / Multinational classes are obviously common if you are teaching English in your home country. However, even if you are not teaching in an English- speaking country, you may well fi nd many nationalities in your classes at university or other research institutes.
An EAP teacher from Vancouver told me about the differences she perceived between Chinese and Arab students (specifying that these are just generalizations to which there are always exceptions):
had one ‘serious’ question “Who is the professor?”. Due to the informal nature of the seminar and the age of the participants, they had been unable to identify who was ‘in charge’. In China, a professor looks and acts like one is expected in that culture and classes and seminars are arranged in a manner that allows easy identifi cation of the participants’ roles.
I had a Chinese supervisor for two years as a Master's student but he was very hands-off and pretty westernized and thus may not represent traditional Chinese professors. In fact, nowadays in premium Chinese universities, most professors have had training in Western countries so it's diffi cult to set a clear border.
Of course, in a country of more than 2000 years of authoritarian culture, sub- duing to superiors demands and the fear of challenging authority exist to vari- ous degrees but, on the other hand, people are more dedicated to their work. I would say, statistically, the stereotypical opinion still holds true but, in mod- ern days, the difference is not so drastic and, very often, it's a case-by- case situation.
But, as the teacher says, she's only making generalizations and when she says something like "I've been told …", that's exactly what she means: she's been told but doesn't have any fi rst-hand experience. So, go into every new class with fresh eyes.
The rest of this subsection is made up of a series of quotes from John Donald Redmond, who kindly wrote to me on the subject of teaching multinational groups.
My Chinese students have a hard time with inferencing and critical thinking.
They tend to be very good with concrete skills like comprehension of a read- ing or listening text or formatting or structuring a piece of writing or a presen- tation according to a prescribed set of guidelines. If I ask these students to look a little deeper, perhaps at the subtext, or to be more creative in what they are producing, this creates a lot of anxiety in the student - they don't want to make a mistake / do something wrong so they want to be told exactly what to do and how to do it.
My Arab students tend to be more relaxed. I've been told by them that, in academic studies in Arabic, they are required to infer the subtext in whatever they are reading / listening so they are very comfortable also doing this in English. They also seem to be more successful at analyzing texts and evaluat- ing the information to use in whatever they are producing. Where they tend to lack in skills is how to organize those ideas. The structure becomes cyclical with the general ideas never really narrowing to anything specifi c.
In one class I discovered on the day prior to the fi rst class that I had one student from Israel and one from Syria. This is not a mix I would encourage despite my wish for peace in the Middle East. On the fi rst day, I intercepted each student and apprised each of the situation, leaving the decision to trans- fer or declare war to the individuals. They both wished to remain in the class but hoped that I would not pair them nor put them in the same group. As a result, they participated in the class but ignored the existence of each other. As this was at the time of one of Israel’s incursions into Lebanon, it was the best that could be hoped for.
Conversely, teachers should not expect all students from a particular culture to act in a pre-determined manner. Those expecting all Chinese students to be dili- gent studious young scholars are in for an unpleasant surprise. First, over-gen- eralizing as mentioned above leads to stereotyping and ignoring the individual.
Secondly, over-generalizing based on obsolete data can lead to false expecta- tions. Whilst the parents of most (mainland) Chinese students were and are undoubtedly hard-working, their single children are quite often not. The answer lies in both the single-child policy and in human nature (‘rags to riches to rags in three generations’ is common to most cultures).
Therefore, a teacher, while being aware of (accurate) cultural generalities, must beware of over-generalizing and not recognizing that in the quietest of cultures there are noisy people, and vice versa, to over-simplify the case.
So do students from different cultures behave differently in class? Yes, in gen- eral they do. Do some make more progress than others? This depends on what skills are being measured within what parameters and over what length of time.
It also depends on the individual, the instructor and a whole host of other vari- ables. Naturally, the student who comes from a culture that values verbal skills is more likely to participate in a class in which English verbal skills are taught.
A student from a culture that values writing over speaking is conversely more likely to focus on that aspect of a language. This correlates to other skills that may or may not be cultural, such as admiration of reading (lacking in some sub- cultures, such as teenaged Canadian males). As participation is a key element of academic success, those who participate are more likely to succeed than those who don’t. However, a caveat might be that what constitutes participation varies depending on the mode of instruction and the subject being learned.
Some teachers who do not investigate their students’ cultural expectations can get themselves into trouble. Instructors (especially females) who sit on tables while teaching run the risk of losing the respect of students from cultures where that is taboo. Similarly, dress can lead to unwanted results. I know of one instructor who always wears a t-shirt and jeans regardless of the weather and oblivious to the occasion. He is also one of the least-admired instructors I know, as the vast majority of his students are from China and Saudi Arabia where a certain degree of formality is expected of teachers. When I advised him of this, his response was “When in Rome……”. My response to that is that, while cultural adaptation is necessary, assimilation is not and adaptation is a two-way street.
Given what I have said above, it stands to reason that students from a culture that focuses on group activity and vocal participation can be easier to teach in a listening / speaking class than those from a culture that values student silence. Nonetheless, some cultures can value verbal interaction to an extent that a Canadian instructor might have diffi culty managing the class.
Two examples leap to mind: Libyan and Venezuelan students sharing a class with Japanese learners. Both the former are from cultures that are highly vocal, the Libyans being given to group talk (everyone speaking at the same time, focusing on the teacher and not on one another), the Venezuelans being given to interrupting each other, an activity not considered a problem in their culture. The Japanese on the other hand have a classroom culture that almost dictates silence when someone else is talking, making it very diffi cult there- fore to get a word in edgewise when either a Libyan or Venezuelan is speak- ing. Conversely, the Venezuelan might fi nd talking with a Japanese person physically tiring as they are given no chance to rest without anyone interrupt- ing them.
Syllabus and Lesson Plans