Educators must have some base knowledge of their students' culture so that student behaviors can be understood in their proper cultural context.* Institutionalizing Cultural Knowledge and Adapting to Diversity.Īlso Read: Which are the best cities for teaching English in China? So how can the ESL teacher acquire these skills? Knowing what can go wrong in cross-cultural communication and how to respond to these situations.* Knowledge of Students' Culture. Accepting and respecting differences-different cultural backgrounds and customs, different ways of communicating, and different traditions and values.* Being Culturally Self-Aware.* Dynamics of Difference. Growth in one area tends to support growth in another (Adapted from Diller and Moule, Cultural Competence: A Primer for Educators, Thomson Wadsworth 2005):* Valuing Diversity. These are the behavior-based, unspoken rules of social interaction present in all cultures but perhaps not often thought about.Īlso Read: What questions should I ask a TEFL employer? There are five basic cultural competence skill areas In the sub-surface culture, the section is notions of courtesy, body language, gestures, touching, eye contact, personal space, facial expressions, conversational patterns, and the concept of time. Examples of surface culture elements include food, national costumes, traditional music and dance, literature, and specific holidays. He developed the analogy to show the differences between what we readily see when we enter a new culture (the tip of the iceberg) and the immersed aspects of the culture not readily visible (the submerged part of the iceberg). A tool that can help EFL teachers consider elements of culture is Edward T.Hall’s (1976) “cultural iceberg” analogy. the things members of a group create, share, and transmit to the next generation). This has become known as the 3P model of culture: Perspectives (what members of a culture think, feel, and value), Practices (how members communicate and interact with one another) and Products (technology, music, art, food, literature, etc. The Standards for Foreign Language Learning (NSFLEP 1999) provides a framework for teachers to identify important cultural characteristics. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Amy B. In this essay we will look at what is culture, strategies for culture learning and how to assess your level of cultural competence. It helps you meet the needs of your students and it creates a comfortable environment in which your students want to learn. When I meet a new ESL teacher and they ask me for advice this is usually the first thing I recommend: become an expert in the culture. I am a South African who has worked in South Korea for more than eight years and one of the most important tools as an ESL teacher from a whole different nationality and culture has been the knowledge and awareness of cultural sensitivity in the classroom. Why and How to Acquire Cultural Competency in the ESL Classroom
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