6/1/19, W06 'Personal Space Differences'

After viewing the video by Brother Ivers on Personal Space https://video.byui.edu/media/05+Personal+Space+Differences/0_yz4lk5f0 and the video on Japanese subways https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8FQsg12hoY as well as completing the reading on personal space ownership, I realized how much our culture dictates the way we communicate through action with all those we come in contact with.

I learned that even the amount of personal space we allow when conversing with or initially meeting someone, speaks volumes on how we feel about that person. It’s the fact that the distance can vary from one culture to another that can cause misunderstandings between people. For example, what are our cultural paradigms for the intimate, personal, social or public zone and who do we allow in, compared to someone we speak with at work who’s from another culture?

How do we remedy the misinterpretations that are bound to happen as the world becomes more globalized? For example, what about a simple miscommunication regarding personal space that can happen when Americans are talking loud enough to be overheard, and the English view that communication as bad manners? What about Americans’ strong feelings regarding ownership of material possessions, compared with other cultures that don’t view their belongings as extensions of themselves, or an invasion of their personal space? From just these two examples, I realized that TESOL teachers have a lot more to teach and take into consideration than just teaching the English language to their students.

As I read the article about personal space ownership and the section on territory and ownership, I gained insight on the universality and application of ownership even as it relates to students. I realized that learning how to help provide my future students with a sense of security and consistency is important. Perhaps assigning them a seat and a place they can put their belongings in class would help fulfill this need? I feel that as we continue to learn and share cultural understanding with each other, we can learn to decipher better the real meanings of other cultures’ communication.

5/30/19, W06 'Individualism vs. Collectivism'

The video by Brother Ivers https://video.byui.edu/media/05+Individualism+vs+Collectivism/0_ojon0rjc

and the two readings; Part III – Continuum of Individualistic and Collectivistic Values and The Myth of Chinese Super Schools; which was very enlightening, were packed with information on how cultures view the way individuals fit into society. I understand the terms individualism and collectivism a little better as well as cultures’ varied behaviors due to their orientations. 

As an American I agree that our culture is individual oriented. Although there are many positives and negatives in all cultural orientations, I feel that a balance would be most beneficial. However, it’s difficult to change patterns, behaviors and values after many generations. For example, the youth in America are encouraged from the time they’re in middle school to advocate for themselves and to work towards their individual goals. As a parent I feel that a child is still young and dependent and needs guidance, but teachers and doctors push parents away and want the child to work through the issue or talk about the problem without the parents’ involvement. It’s handled that way in the name of ‘helping the child to become an independent adult.’ And then on the other hand, there are many Native American Tribes in the States whose cultures are group oriented. My husband is employed as a counselor for one of the Tribes, and their culture bands together as families, and are very interdependent. The youth are also expected to be respectful to their elders, although the American society at large is very disrespectful. This is especially apparent in the public-school system. So how do TESOL teachers in America help their students who are from a collectivistic culture learn to navigate in an individualistic culture?

It is true than in our individualistic culture in America there is always competition to be the best, to stand out, and to climb the ladder, I just didn’t realize that in many parts of the world, that isn’t the case. That pattern of competition begins with parents when their children are quite young. “My daughter learned to walk or talk before she was one. My little boy was born to play baseball, he has been playing on teams since he was four.” And the expectation is that she will continue ahead of her class through school, and that they will both earn scholarships to college. We fall somewhere along the continuum depending on how closely we identify with our culture due to our values. For example, for those Americans who don’t want to stand out or aren’t so competitive, perhaps they gravitate toward groups of people who think about issues or topics the way they do, or perhaps they become involved in clubs so that they’re part of a group and don’t stand alone.

As I assess the behavior and needs of my future students, I need to take into consideration acculturation. What culture did they immigrate from? Where are they on the continuum of individualistic and collectivistic values? I believe this will help me be more understanding of various behaviors and values that are different from my own.

5/28/19, W06 'Differences in Emotional Expressivity'

Brother Ivers explained well the principle of emotional expressiveness, the differences in emotional expressivity between cultures, and how those differences can be easily misunderstood (https://video.byui.edu/media/05+Differences+in+Emotional+Expressivity/0_753le546).
The studies on the tolerance range for showing emotion in public was so interesting. My ancestry is Norwegian and English which explains a lot about the lack of emotional expressivity I witnessed in our family and extended family growing up. The English side of our family always seemed proper. They had immigrated from the Guernsey and Jersey British Isles; part of the Channel Islands, over to Canada and then south to Washington, USA. I can understand how this culture could be misinterpreted as boring or somewhat dull. And although my Norwegian grandmother whose family had immigrated to Minnesota and then to Washington State was very loving to us, I realize now why she didn’t show emotion in public. And then adding to our family’s already low tolerance of expressivity, my mom converted to the Church of Jesus Christ when I was very young. I agree that the tolerances for expressivity can be passed down from generation to generation especially if family stays in the same area.

As we celebrated Memorial Day in the USA today and our family attended a parade in our small town, I witnessed other cultures within the larger American culture. It’s tradition to have the decorated Veterans ride their motorcycles down the street and have the JROTC program in uniform from the local high school march in the parade every year. This year I noticed that these two cultures have a no tolerance expressivity. They displayed no emotion and appeared very serious as they marched and rode by. Can we misinterpret the Veterans as a dangerous group on their loud motorcycles traveling in groups, and appearing threatening in their bike attire, beards and long hair? I believe so. But, when we understand even part of what they’ve been through in the defense of the country they love, why would we interpret them as anything but strong, loyal, committed and disciplined?    

As I listened to Brother Ivers speak about our LDS culture and the accepted way of speaking in Sacrament Meeting, I thought to myself, as the Church continues to become worldwide, what kind of differences in emotional expressivity will we see, and will we accept these different cultural paradigms? I know that the sweet sister in our ward from Fiji greets every sister with a hug, gifts special necklaces to stake and ward leaders for conference and greets the audience with an ‘aloha’ to begin a talk or testimony. Could we misinterpret her public showing of emotion? I suppose so. But why not choose to embrace our differences as we enjoy the many cultures of the world and what they add to our lives? I love the study of cultures because it helps me understand why people say and do what they do. I hope that I can take this learning about emotional expressiveness into my teaching to eliminate misunderstandings of my ELLs. 

5/25/19, W05 'Cultural Miscommunication'

I enjoyed the video by Brother Ivers at BYUI as well as the seven short video commercials on cross-cultural communication; https://video.byui.edu/media/04%20Cultural%20Miscommunication%20/0_3aaa6xxh/28027982

and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALWwK7Vz4gY because I learned a lot about the differences in communication rules cross culturally and how those cultural differences can cause misunderstandings.

I was amazed at all the differences in communication styles; including words, eye contact, intensity, gestures and space, between cultures and hence the possibilities of miscommunication or misinterpretation. Brother Ivers gave many examples of the way various cultures; including China, Germany, India, Bulgaria, Latin America and the USA communicate differently and therefore the difficulty it can cause. For example, if a Latin American sees interpersonal encounters as sacred, special time, how would he feel talking to an American who just sees the encounter as a way of exchanging information or as only a means to an end? Would he perhaps feel like the American is cold and unfriendly? And what about the Japanese dismissing any praise his ELL child is given in the USA? Since Americans view praise as positive, a way to climb to the top, and as a way to receive all the rewards, would the TESOL teacher understand that the rejection of praise is due to humility and not wanting to stand out, or in other words, believing that the nail that sticks out gets hammered down? Would she understand that some cultures are group oriented and not individual oriented? I liked Brother Ivers example of how we can even misinterpret the communication of a culture within our own culture. We had wonderful neighbors growing up in Western Washington in the 1970’s in a predominantly white neighborhood; the lady was white, and her husband was African American. We remember the husband having a lot of friends and family over, and because their conversations were intense and loud, it could have easily been misinterpreted as scary, dangerous or threatening, when they were all just enjoying the conversations and their time together.

It’s important to remember that not everyone follows their cultural rules as there isn’t a ‘one rule covers the whole culture’, but it’s important to be aware of the different cultural paradigms of those you interact with, do business with and teach, so that there is less opportunity for miscommunication. For example, although I am an American, periods of silence don’t make me as uncomfortable as they used to. I like what Brother Ivers said, it’s good to remember that people ‘have good intentions, they’re good people, they’re just working off of different cultural paradigms.’

5/23/19, W05 'Cultural Differences Concerning Time'

I found the video by Brother Ivers at BYUI on the concept of monochronic and polychronic time in our cultural paradigms very interesting. I am glad to be aware of this time-perception issue, as the differences in mindsets could cause a lot of misunderstanding. I knew that here in the USA we are very schedule oriented and structured with our priorities focused on policies and rules; except perhaps not as much in the Southern States, I just didn’t know that there are names for the cultural differences concerning time, and how impactful those differences are on understanding each other. I have only lived in monochronic cultures here in the States and in Spain/Southern Europe where I served a church mission.  

I feel that discussing monochronic and polychronic time would be a good topic in adult TESOL classes due to their interactions in the community and at work. For example, if someone from a polychronic culture began working at the company where my husband is employed, it would be very disturbing for the new employee. My husband’s boss doesn’t value relationships. She uses an extreme monochronic approach at the expense of the employees’ morale. I wish she and the leaders like her would see that ruling strictly by tasks and procedures without regard to human needs causes undue suffering. 
Although I feel that neither approach is completely right or wrong, I feel that a happy medium would be ideal. For example, a combined monochronic and polychronic culture where principles from both are valued; relationships are paramount, people aren’t just giving lip service to that notion, and time is respected. I see a culture where the people can say politely ‘no, I’m not interested’, ‘I will see Aunt Jane just as soon as I’m finished’,  where there is a concern for the present, and where we use our networks and connections for the benefit of all.

5/21/19, W05 'Response to Cultural Paradigms'

I really enjoyed the three assigned videos by Brother Ivers at BYUI, the TED talk by Delali Bright from West Africa, and the young men from Sudan, Africa in the National Geographic, who each addressed cultural paradigms. Their words gave me a lot of food for thought in how I interpret the world around me and how our society affects our opinions and values and therefore our joys and sorrows.

As Brother Ivers addressed complex cultural paradigms, I realized, ‘they can veil your eyes or open your eyes to seeing things in other cultures.’ Or in other words, unless you find out about other cultural paradigms, and how other people view cultural differences, you won’t know what causes their interpretations and behaviors and reactions to a situation. 

As Brother Ivers discussed the importance of challenging our thinking about some of our cultural paradigms, I wondered if there really is a right and a wrong way of thinking? I venture to say ‘no’, unless it negatively impacts someone else. So, we should often ask ourselves, how are we treating those around us due to our cultural paradigms? Do we look down on others because they don’t behave or think or believe as we do, or because they aren’t as wealthy or smart? Do we recognize that everything we have is a gift, since it can all be taken from us tomorrow? How should the answers to these questions impact our thinking? I would hope that when we understand others a little better, we can express a little more gratitude to God, be a little more generous to those around us, and that we can treat them with a little more humanity. 

Another question that arises then is, how do cultures create their models or paradigms; these false needs and false problems that may not exist in other cultures? We see that our paradigms affect the young and old alike, as well as those who have always lived in their homeland, and those who have immigrated. If paradigms force us to interpret reality in certain ways, can we then ask, what is reality? I believe that reality is wherever you are living right now. 

The viewing activities this week reaffirmed my belief that being a teacher is more than just making sure the students understand and can speak the language. It is also about helping them integrate and make that difficult transition into a new culture, or into a new reality. It is helping them acclimate to a new culture with all its differences. It is about helping them learn how they can navigate in their new surroundings and understand new paradigms; some of which aren’t necessarily good or bad, or right or wrong, but simply their new reality.

05/02/19, W02 'Is the Great American Teacher Dead?'

I loved this article. Although it was deep, it was very enlightening. As I read the article I reflected on the subtitle, ‘Principles to Resurrect Meaningful, Effective, and Consciousness Raising Instruction’, and realized that this means many teachers must be delivering ‘boring, and uninspiring content.’ One of the key points mentioned is the need to make the lesson delivery powerful. I like the analogy in the article that public speaking and teaching are cousins. I have thought a lot about my many classroom teachers over the years. I concluded that my best teachers had a passion for their subject matter, and that love spilled over to their desire that their students did well and learned the material.

I found the outside views of the American education very interesting. I would agree that there probably are many teachers who are uninspiring and are just teaching because it’s a job. I can’t help but think that they may be burned out, or they are stuck in the old-school way of teaching, or their personal lives negatively impact their teaching. However, with the advances in technology, they can remedy at least the problem of teaching the old boring school way out of textbooks and having students memorize dialogues. The use of technology can help teachers give more interesting and exciting lessons. Teachers can also apply the lesson material to real life, so that the students can answer the question ‘what does this mean to me?’ It’s so much easier to learn and retain knowledge when that knowledge can be applied to your individual life.

Another thought I had reading this article was the importance of the teacher getting to know and care for her students. When a student feels interest from the teacher in him as a person, he is much more likely to be interested in the material and therefore perform better in class. Teachers need to build their students and show them respect by remembering that students also have many other obligations. I agree that teachers need to take care of their students so that they can succeed in life.

It’s also important for the students to be taught about the world around them as in, how do others view and feel about subjects, and what are their life experiences? This helps us all look outside ourselves and hopefully to be more accepting and understanding of and compassionate toward others. In summary, I agree with Bro. Ivers that great teaching is ‘a science,’ and ‘an art form.’