Teach English in Yangli Zhen - Laiwu Shi

The only eyes that we can see through are our own. We see and interpret what is around us through our cultures and experiences. This does not present much difficulty when we speak a common language within a common culture, but it can be problematic when teaching English to people of different cultures. The issues need careful attention and action. This essay will observe problems of language and culture through three case studies: Montagnard children taking part in a Boy Scout Troop, and an English as a Second Language class in a corporate setting in Saudi Arabia. The Montagnard people of Viet Nam are racially and culturally distinct from the Vietnamese. Montagnards are the “Hill people;” their culture, language, and tradition are distinct from the Vietnamese. Montagnards aided US Special Forces during the Viet Nam conflict, and Special Forces personnel and retirees have brought Montagnard families to live in the US. My church sponsored a family, and as the Scoutmaster for our Boy Scout troop, I invited the son to join our troop. He brought his brother, who brought his friend, who brought his cousin, and so on. We had two communication issues, verbal and nonverbal. The boys were used to speaking their native language anywhere outside of school. We needed them to speak English. To implement this, we asked them to speak English all the time. One of the boys asked, “Why won’t you let me speak my language?” One of my adults said, “English is your language now.” The comment was well-meant, but the boys saw it as an attack on their ethnic and cultural identity. We were in danger of losing them. I offered: “No one wants you to stop speaking your language, but while we are out camping and competing with other troops we need to understand each other. Whenever you are outside of your tent, I would like you to speak only English, and all of us will help you. When you are in your tents use whatever language you like. If there is a team competition, and you need to act and think fast, use your own language. These boys had their lives disrupted, coming from the homes they knew to a strange place with strange weather and people. We had to help them maintain their identity. Another cultural issue was in nonverbal communication. In Asian societies, it is common for a young person, or a person of inferior status, to look down when he or she is speaking or being spoken to. To look directly at someone is to be insulting. In the US, the opposite holds. We leaders had to constantly remind them to look at us while we were speaking to them and they to us. Like in spoken English, we had to acknowledge the validity of what they were doing while adjusting the behavior. We said something like this, “I appreciate your being polite, but please remember that we do it differently here. Let’s practice.” In both cases we learned to respect their culture, to validate their culture, and to learn how to better adjust to life in the US. And they responded – they would coach each other for reciting contests (Pledge, Scout Law, Outdoor Code, and so on), and they worked incredibly well together in competitions. I learned that establishing rapport through learning and validating an immigrant’s culture will help an immigrant feel valued and welcome – to the point that they will start teaching themselves. I went from welcoming immigrants into my country to being the foreigner in a very different culture. Many private businesses in Saudi Arabia are requiring all of their employees to learn English, from the highest-level manager to the newest hire. I was one of several people hired to teach classes of new employees. Honor and respect are very important in Saudi culture. If a Saudi respects you, he will treat you well and be happy to work with you. This is important, because Saudi culture is highly stratified. At the top are the Saudis themselves. Next are the English-speaking foreigners, and Americans were first among equals there. Filipinos were next, and at the bottom were Bengalis, Indians, and Pakistanis. I learned quickly to be polite, but not deferential. They respected that. During my first week as a teacher at the company, the company held an inter-departmental football tournament. My students got their uniforms during a class and they were very excited. I let them look at their uniforms, but they had to tell me about them – in English. When the tournament started, I went to watch the matches. My students were thrilled that I would come to watch them play, and by showing them that I thought that their matches were important, I validated something that was important to them. What was important to them was that I, as a foreigner, took an interest in them in more than an academic way. Relationships can be very complex in Arab culture, and it is essential to treat each other with support. If someone offers you something to eat, you eat it. If he offers you a gift, you accept it. During Ramadan I made sure to hide myself to eat – and I didn’t eat much. There is an Arab tradition called "Wasta," which refers to familial relationships in a company. If you have "wasta," you have a job for life. I had a student who was related to two high-ranking managers in the company, and he was disruptive within the class. He was showing me disrespect and showing disrespect to the class. I had to come up with a strong retort: "I don't care how much wasta you have or who it's from. This is my class and I will not allow you to disrupt it." He walked out and the other students loved me. There were no repercussions. Teach This (https://www.teach-this.com/ideas/cultural-awareness) argues that “Cultural awareness begins with developing a sensitivity and understanding of your students' beliefs, attitudes, behaviours and values. Be proactive when it comes to learning about the different cultural backgrounds of your students.” My actions were proactive, going out of my own classroom and comfort zone to respect the cultures and mores of my students. This proactivity provided great benefits to me as a teacher in that my students were very motivated to work with me because I respected who they were.