Working with Multicultural Adult Learners

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Working with Multicultural Adult Learners

• Presenters
• Christian Clausen, GHCC
• Nicole Lazzaro, GHCC

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Have you ever experienced the following?...

• My student always looks down.
• My student wont participate actively in class
  discussions.
• There seem to be a few students who dominate the
  conversations.
• I cant seem to figure out if my student is
  enjoying the class. I cant read his/her facial
  expressions.

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Race/EthnicityGHCC ESOL Learners, FY 2007
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Cultural groups

• Latin America/Brazil
• Korea
• China
• Russia

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Latin America / Brazil

• Ss are very active in class
• Lively group discussions
• Field trips
• Ss have a lot of reading to do at home, then
  return for discussion in class
• Ss and T have an open relationship of
  communication
• T speaks loudly, clearly, walks around the room,
  facilitates discussions
• Brazil T very aware of / involved in Ss
  problems

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Korea

• Respect for T is very important
• Dont feel comfortable volunteering
  answer/opinion publicly
• Need a lot of encouragement from T, especially
  when answering questions
• Good at memorization
• Need help with pronunciation
• Need to work on word order

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China

• Ss are not active in class, only take notes,
  listen and learn
• Ss needs T permission for many things
• Ss and Ts dont use expressive gestures or facial
  expressions
• Ss not afraid of a lot of HW
• T is expert
• Absolutely no open communication between T and S

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Russia

• Teacher should set clear expectations for the
  class
• Learners like to talk in class, talking a sign of
  interest/enthusiasm
• Argument considered important in Russian culture
• May challenge the T to prove him/herself
• Can be competitive answering questions in class
• Language learning and education in general seen
  as important

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Discussion Questions

• What are ways to incorporate cultural difference
  into teaching?
• Have you had any a-ha or oops moments in your
  class with students from other cultures? What did
  you learn from them?
• What activities have you found useful for working
  with multi-cultural groups?
• What do you do to acclimate your learners to
  American teaching styles? How important do you
  think this is?

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Teaching a Culturally Hetereogenous Class

• Discussion tactic
• T and S expectations
• Critical incidents
• Roundtable discussion on cultural educational
  differences
• Include variety of activities

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Some Considerations

• Become acquainted with learners cultures to
  better understand their perspectives and
  expectations both inside and outside the
  classroom.
• Learners may not be willing to participate in
  activities that involve discussion of taboo
  subjects, revelation of person information, or
  reliving a painful experience.
• Remember that culture can play a role in all
  facets of language, including response time.
• (Cunningham, Florez MaryAnn and Burt, Miriam
  (October, 2001). Beginning to Work with Adult
  English Language Learners Some Considerations.
  National Center for ESL Literacy Education.)

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Any questions?

• Christian Clausen
• e-mail CClausen_at_greaterhomewood.org
• Nicole Lazzaro
• e-mail nicole.lazzaro_at_gmail.com