As Americans, we often pride ourselves on individualism and becoming independent as soon as possible, however, this perspective can have an unforeseen negative impact in ESL or EFL classroom as students with a group orientation background may react in ways many teachers may not be used to and result in miscommunication both within the learning and home environment. Collectivism, in contrast to Individualism, places the welfare of the many over the needs of the one and is practiced in many parts of the world including China, Japan, India, and Venezuela. This perspective encourages students to be highly motivated and on task but discourages those same students to stand apart from their peers. Traditional American acts, such as student of the month awards, calling attention to a job well done in the classroom and informing parents of how productive their child has been can have the opposite effect of the intended positive praise and widen the communication gap significantly.
To prevent these misunderstandings, educators should learn as much as possible about the culture and societal norms of all their students, as this information gathering can help in understanding the traditions, cultural paradigms, and possibly the learning style the student is familiar with. Although a teacher could not be expected to apply the multitudes of diverse teaching styles, it can be beneficial to know how a student would view a typical classroom in order to provide the most optimal learning environment. As Neil A. Maxwell states in his talk ” A Brother Offended,” “prevention is always better than rehabilitation[,as] sometimes, ironically, prevention requires no more than a few extra minutes…” and by choosing to take the time to know our student’s background, we can help lower affective filters to help them to feel included, without disregarding their beliefs.
References
Maxwell, N. A. (1982, April). “A Brother Offended”. Retrieved February 11, 2019, from https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1982/04/a-brother-offended?lang=eng
How to Sell Online to Individualist vs Collectivist Cultures. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2019, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/webs-influence/201307/how-sell-online-individualist-vs-collectivist-cultures?amp= (Image)
