Even in the
same country there are differences between the subcultures, so it is a
challenge for TESOL teachers to understand what is behind our student’s
behavior.
As I came to
understand most of what children do it’s the result of culture and family environment.
For example, in Mexico, while in the city is a social acceptable norm to send
children to school in the indigenous communities from the south children have
to work as well. This seems unacceptable for people in the city yet for them
this is the social norm.
Teachers of
foreign languages and teachers in general need to come to the classroom with this
simple thought: The way we act is (almost all the time) the result of our
culture. Most of our students mean well and we need to give them the benefit of
the cultural doubt.
If we have a
student from the south of Mexico who hardly speaks in class, we can’t just put
an F on his record because he doesn’t participate. The reason is that in the
south they tend to see the teacher as a superior and they will speak only if you
ask them directly.
TESOL
teachers need to be open to learn about different cultures, perhaps we can take
the best from different cultures and shape this into our own classroom culture.
Hi Rebeca.
ReplyDeleteIt is true, within a country a variety of subcultures, I am aware that in Mexico there are several indigenous communities just like here in Peru, and many of them tend to be very calm, and they do not express emotions, but many of them have a great learning ability
Hello Rebeca, We can find a lot of costums in the same country, for it, is neccesary to know about the background of our students. Good job!
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