06/03/21; Week 7: Culture and Psychology

 Culture and Psychology

Have you noticed how culture and psychology are connected? When we stop to think deeply about the effects our cultural paradigms have on our minds, we realize that much of the prestige or shame we experience in life comes from the influence that culture has on our psychology.

 According to the Professor of Languages and International Studies at BYU-Idaho, John J. Ivers (06 Culture and Psychology, 2015) culture has a significant effect on our self-esteem by exalting or diminishing our talents and producing to different aspects for our lives: the ought self and the real self (the cultural expectations and the reality). It seems that to be happy and fit in a given culture, the more people's real self corresponds to the ought self, the higher their self-esteem and joy will be. However, it's not uncommon for the real self not to match the expectations, making people's life miserable.

What does your culturally-created self tell you?

In Brazil, for example, people are expected to have completed academic formation by their thirties, at least. Attending school or university later than that is not customary. I have already got a bachelor's degree in Languages, but I wasn't satisfied with my background. I decided to resume studying, so I enrolled Pathway Connect Program. I was the oldest student in my class. At first, I felt a little uncomfortable because my culturally-created self was telling me that I was too old to be there.  Later, I watched a testimony of an American mother of four children who graduated from BUY at age 50. This video encouraged me to pursue my goals, ignore my cultural irrational voice and work hard to get an international degree.

My home culture also resonates with stereotypes and irrational assumptions such as Latin people are always happy and friendly, Asian students are shy and the most intelligent ones, and that learning a second language is a matter of individual's effort and practice. I must be aware of these assumptions and any other, to avoid misunderstands and embarrassment in a cross-cultural classroom. 

Students will also come to class with their cultural expectations and contrast them with reality. As a teacher, I  have to be ready to demystify irrational expectations or thoughts about the course, the teacher, their classmates' culture, or themselves. My role is to help them to see that reality doesn't have to correspond to cultural expectations. Cultural expectations can blur the obvious and prevent students from achieving their best.

The reality doesn't have to correspond to cultural expectations. 

Reference

06 Culture and Psychology. (2015, March 12). BYU-Idaho - Ivers Video. https://video.byui.edu/media/06+Culture+and+Psychology/0_s4h3d6bc

6/01/21; Week 7: Difference in Manners.

 Watch your manners!

How many times you have heard the following pieces of advice from your parents or close relatives - "Don't chew with your mouth open." "You shouldn't do that. It's not appropriate." "Watch your manners!".  Immediately after hearing those phrases, you would try to correct yourself to not cause any embarrassment for your beloved one or yourself in a social situation.

In a TESOL classroom, the concept of manners becomes vast and blurry, because what is acceptable and polite for some people, can be seen as rude and inappropriate for other, from other culture.

People's manners can tell much more about them than their level of politeness. How people display their manners can tell us many things about their culture such as hierarchy level, high or low tolerance for emotional expressivity, respect for the opposite sex, curiosity regarding outsiders, respect for people in public places, interest or lack of it, sanitary behavior and so on.

For example, according to the Professor of Languages and International Studies at BYU-Idaho, John J. Ivers (06 Difference in Manners, 2015), in Bolivia people are used to staring at outsiders with curiosity. Although it is a common practice in Bolivia, in the United States it is awkward and disturbing. In the United States, if a person needs to blow the nose in public, it's not a problem, he or she can use a handkerchief. While in Japan, it's highly recommended only to blow the nose in public if it's a real emergency. Even though, it needs to be done most discretely as possible.

There are differences in manners that can bring disastrous misunderstandings. In China, belching is considered a compliment to the chef and a sign that you have eaten well and enjoyed your meal (the Editors of Publications International, Ltd., 2021). In most western cultures, it is belching at a table is considered disgusting and very indelicate.

So, what to do when sharing an environment with people from different cultures and manners?

First, we have to be open-minded and understand that people do things differently from us, even when their attitudes sound inappropriate for us, we should seek understanding and tolerance. Second, it's important to remember that our actions also can be judged by other people, so observing people's reactions is a good start; we may explain what we are doing and why. Finally, being out of our country, when experiencing other cultures we should observe and follow the patterns, as my mom would advise - "monkey see, monkey do". When in when in Rome do as the Romans do!

Reference

the Editors of Publications International, Ltd. (2021, April 13). 13 Examples of Good and Bad Manners Around the World. HowStuffWorks. https://people.howstuffworks.com/13-examples-of-good-and-bad-manners-around-the-world.htm#page=0

06 Difference in Manners. (2015, March 19). BYU-Idaho - TESOL 378; Ivers Video. https://video.byui.edu/media/06+Difference+in+Manners/0_xc0a34gb

6/01/21; Week 7: Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom.

Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom... 

Is it a big deal?

How much should a teacher know about other cultures?

Dealing with cross-cultural students in the classroom demands teachers much more than getting to know about different cultures, their worldviews, or how they behave at the table. It includes having an open mind and a never-stop willingness to promote integration and make the classroom a place for learning, sharing, respect, and tolerance.

To be successful in a multicultural classroom, teachers have to be aware of how students express themselves. Their expressivity can be different even they are from the same country.

When the teacher's expressivity is different from the students', there can be significant misunderstandings with disastrous consequences for students and teachers. For example, according to John J. Ivers, Professor of Languages and International Studies at BYU-Idaho (06 Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom, 2015), African Americans have high expressivity tolerance and, they're very expressive, and very often white teachers consider them to be bad, rude or even aggressive students when their African American paradigms are informing them that they're not being any of this. They're just acting by their cultural rules. Therefore, being an open-minded teacher leads us to avoid stereotypes of any kind, labeling students, or student's behavior.

In a TESOL classroom, if a student is acting in a way we at first consider awkward or inappropriate, we should first ask ourselves the reasons for such behavior (maybe it is weird only for us!) and give the students the benefit of the doubt. We have to seek to understand them, instead of jumping to conclusions.

                           "Never assume.

                        Learn about cultures.

                        Ask questions.

                        Educate yourself before making a blunder out of a situation!"

It's also important to point out that all of us should pay attention to the fact that people from different cultures from ours will pay attention to details that we usually don't notice. Professor John J. Ivers reminds us that "outsiders can sometimes see the real culture better than insiders can". It allows us to think about our own culture and values, evaluate them, be proud of the good things we have been doing well and reflect on things we can improve. We have the opportunity to teach and learn from others, and maybe repair some behavior that we have been perpetuating.

Reference

06 Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom. (2015, March 12). BYU-Idaho. https://video.byui.edu/media/06+Cross-Cultural+Students+in+the+Classroom/0_r2lcaswt

Corina Stretch. (2018, September 9). Cultural Misunderstanding. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8VjSVavt4k