Lynnette's TESOL103

Differences in Manners                                                             June 1, 2021       TESOL 103 Week 7       Differences in manners between people of differing  cultures can potentially bring challenges to a classroom.  Something that is good manners in one culture can mean something entirely different in another.  As a future TESOL teacher, knowing some of these differences can help me be prepared for the issues that arise.    Different gestures , chewing gum, feet positioning, and hand shaking,  are just a few of the customs that differ from culture to culture.  Usually an explanation, or a positive expectation can resolve challenges.  However, this might not be the case, so teaching about differences can also help....

Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom  June 1, 2021.       TESOL 103 --Week 7    In a TESOL classroom, there may be many different cultures represented.  Learning about these cultures and understanding their opinion about the American classroom they are in, can expand each student's as well as the teacher's  perceptions.  This can lead to greater understanding, tolerance, and appreciation for everyone.    For example, some Asian students expressed an appreciation for the way in which disabled students were treated in the United States.  Until I learned about this appreciation, I had taken it for granted that this was how they were treated everywhere.  It is good to learn otherwise. These same Asian students were not impressed by some of the behaviors of students in the United States.  They mentioned that they were crude and inconsiderate.  I have noticed this also about some students.  However, I hav...

May 29, 2021 ---TESOL 103 --- Week 6 ---Lynnette Brady Attributional Tendencies in Cultures "There isn't enough blame to go around, there's only enough for you!"  "So, if it tastes good, it is the recipe...and if it tastes bad, it's me?!"

Personal Space Differences  May 29, 2021 --- TESOL 103 --- Week 6     Personal space is a universal need.  It has been observed and studied in animals in the zoo versus animals in the wild.  They call it an escape distance or a flight zone.  And it is neither an emotion nor a behavior.  The space is consistent enough to concisely measure.        Personal space is also a human need.   It does fluctuate depending upon your cultural background and your territorial development.  It can be as extreme as starting a war over territory to as little as cringing when someone gets too close.  And each culture has different interpretations on what is the correct space and silent behavior, including eye contact, between people.      For some people and cultures this personal space extends to personal belongings, but for others it does not.  This can cause clashes between otherwise friends, when they d...

  Individualism vs. Collectivism May 27, 2021.      TESOL 103 Week 6

  May 26, 2021 --Week 6 Differences in Emotional Expressivity        A novelist can express emotion in their characters through an extensive list of adjectives that help us all to realize what that character is feeling.  For example, cheerful, excited, delighted, warm, sympathetic, all express positive feelings which we can all understand.  Conversely, if the author used words such as dreadful, obnoxious, heavy, or resentful, we again would understand the negative emotions this character is feeling.  Even less polarizing emotions have words to describe them such as bashful, stoic, mysterious, or intelligent.  Yet, when we are dealing with people and their emotions--not words--it is much more difficult to interpret.  And when the people are from different cultures which all have different unspoken rules for publicly expressing those emotions, understanding and interpreting cues can be extremely difficult.    So how do we re...