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Deep Culture

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Deep Culture Differences in Elementary Classroom 2 March 2019                                                    Being a TESOL teacher is a larger responsibility than I think we thought. We have lots of homework and research to do before we can walk into a class. Our class list of the students and a little back ground of them is vital. If no preparation is done, you are going to fail. The surface culture is where you practice saying their names, know their food tastes are and maybe even the climate they lived in. It is more important to actually get to know you students. Where they are from, how they greet one another. Maybe why their skin color is different. Not only do you need to educate yourself but the other students so that you have no labeled students. Looking at the diagram above I look at some of them and think religion is a great part of deep cultural difference. Why? Their faith can be affected by the way we respect them or the fellow students. Di
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Culture & Psychology 23 February 2019 “Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by his ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it’s stupid” Albert Einstein What a powerful statement that Albert Einstein has said. How often do we not look at ourselves and feel that we are not capable of doing something because of what someone else has said, or we may just not realize that we have that talent? I grew up with no mother and when I met my husband, Len his mother decided I could do all sorts of things. Not wanting to disappoint her I made it happen. One day she arrived to fetch me from work with yards of material on the back seat and said “Look what I found? It was a bargain. Can you make my curtains?” Curtains, I did not know even where to start but I did it. Often, I would look at items that are cross stitched and admired it, thinking it is a way to difficult for me to make it. Then one day I saw my sister-in-law doing it and I th
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Differences in Manners

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TESOL103 W07 Differences in Manners 20 February 2019 This makes me smile because My husband, Len and I were invited to go to the Maldives on holiday and our children stayed with their grandparents. Their grandmother died many years before and their grandfather had gotten remarried. She was not the most loving grandmother. When we got home the children, we so happy to see us because what Callie did was put plates under their arms. It had a twofold purpose – firstly so that they would not fly and secondly, they would not put the elbows on the table. It was something that did not bother me though. Listening to Bro Ives in the video he mentioned about blowing your nose. Well all the missionaries that served around us told us that it was bad manners to blow your nose for example while you are sitting in the sacrament, but it was okay to sniff it down to your stomach. One day my daughter just could not take it anymore and offered them a tissue and that is how
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TESOL103 W07 Cross-Cultural Students 20 February 2019 I have attached this picture because I could not find the picture I wanted. My husband and I often go to the Midlands , in KwaZulu Natal and the hotel that we stay in normally has some of these young lads staying with parents. It is obviously the weekend off and it is cheaper for the parents to just stay at the hotel than to go back home. The school’s name is Michaelhouse and it is a boarding school as well as a day school. The reason I mention this is because they normally wear straw hats and greet everybody with such respect even us that are just staying at the hotel. They have an honor code the same as BYU has an honor code and you can see it by their behavior. I certainly wished that they were closer to our home and also that they were not so pricey. While watching the video of Bro Ivers I can understand why the Asians get upset. Th
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TESOL103 W06 Attributional Tendencies 19 February 2019 In our country the attributional tendencies of the people tend to lean to it is never their fault. There is always somebody else to blame. When I grew up, I never had the opportunity to study and my dad did not allow me to follow my dream career. What did I do about it? I found a job and made the most of it. Unfortunately, the mindset of our younger generation is not that way. Where I feel it a privilege to be able to study, they feel it is their right to get an education . Their external attributions to this would be to course great destruction. I believe it is important for us to acknowledge to ourselves when we have been successful. The reason being is that we need to see that we can only succeed if we work at it. How can we better ourselves if we can not identify how to do it.
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TESOL 103 W06 Personal Space Differences 14 February 2019 On Facebook, there was a teacher that showed how she greeted her students every day. I looked at it but did not take much notice. While going through this lesson I realized the importance of what she was doing. She had a sign at her door and the students could decide how they wanted to greet her. They were – a hug, high five, fist pump, a wave etc. By her doing this she would be able to distinguish where her students were in their Personal Space. With time I am sure that she was able to make them more comfortable and get a hug. It also demonstrated to her what their feelings were for that day. Something may have happened at home which made them feel a little apprehensive.     I am glad I do not have to take the train in Japan because I may just not get to work. That would certainly not make me feel comfortable. Once we have learned a little more about the culture of your students you would be able to judge as to what t
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TESOL W06 Differences in Emotional Expressivity 13 February 2019 While watching and listening to the video with Bro Ivers a thought came to mind. Differences in Emotional Expressivity has changed for me over the years. About 31 years ago I would do relief for the bank in a tiny branch. Over month end there would only be 2 of us. The rest of the month there would only be the teller who worked at the bank on a full-time basis. The reason I mention the timeline is because of the change that has taken place. While working with Liz, she would always refer to the client in front of her as “Ma.” To me, this meant mother in Afrikaans but to her, it was a sign of respect for her African clients. I was disgusted with what she was doing. Funny thing, today I refer to them as “Ma” whether it is male or female. Since having guests here from Hawaii, I have tried to greet in their language and say, “Thank You.” What has changed over the last 31 years? Me. I have matured and realized that
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