I found a website for Teaching English Language Learners, which is http://www.celt.sunysb.edu/ell/polite.php called “Test your Cultural Awareness- Is it Polite?”
I discovered this website to be very interesting, informative, and effective for us teachers. It allows us to attain a developed understanding of what behaviors ELL students consider unacceptable and acceptable according to their culture. At times, the various behaviors of our non-native English-speaking students are sometimes baffling to classroom teachers. Some behaviors in the United States may be unacceptable in other cultures and what may be acceptable in other cultures may be unacceptable in the United States. This website connected well with page seven where it states, “Behavior standards are not universal. What is common and expected in one culture may be unacceptable in another”.
The goal of this website is to make you imagine yourself as a new student from another country who just moved to the United States and you are sitting in a classroom there for the first time. How would you feel? This website asks questions about behaviors we in the United States normally do and find acceptable to do, but in other cultures, it is not. For example, question number three asks, raise your hand when you want to ask a question? Is this acceptable? Yes or no. When I clicked yes, it explained that in some countries students never question their teachers. The only time a student would dare to speak to a teacher is when directly addressed, which I was unaware of. In contrast, in the United States this behavior is acceptable in our culture. It is polite to raise your hand when you want to ask a question because if you do not and call out then you are being rude. From this website, I learned many other cultural behaviors of other countries. This information is extremely useful for all teachers. Now, it is your turn to visit this website and test your cultural awareness. Enjoy!
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6 comments:
Thank you Athena for this site! I'm very new into my early childhood program. I'm not that informative about everything that I need to know for an ELL program. I will be taking my Junior field in the Fall and look forward to having many experiences with an ELL student. If anyone can help me with an example, I would love to hear it!
As a side comment, the "Multicultural education and equity awareness Quiz" that we took yesterday in class was an informative as the quiz on this site. There is much informative information that teachers are not aware of. This site clears up any confusion on the subject.
I can relate to what Catherine said. I am also taking my junior field in the fall and am pretty new to experiences with ELL students. I was aware of some of the cultural differences that this website discussed such as looking a teacher directly in the eye as being disrespectful, but many of the other cultural differences were new to me. Some of the things I read shocked me. For example, students in Korea attend school under all circumstances, even if there is a death in the family, and many times they go to school quite ill. Another thing that really shocked me was that in some cultures it is desirable to help fellow students by sharing answers. I think that this shocked me so much because of how strict our cheating policy is. I have had teachers in high school use a tool called turnitin.com, which is a website where teachers have students submit their papers and it will show how much the student plagiarized their assignment. I was also shocked to read that parental involvement is considered to be disrespectful in some countries. I feel that parental involvement and the relationship between home and school is so important for students. I truly learned a lot from this website and I am interested in learning more.
Athena, I am so jealous you got to post this site before I got the chance. After class yesterday I really began to think about ELL students and their needs. Although there were some ELL students in the schools I grew up in I was never really familiar with all the work, patience, time, effort, and energy it takes students to learn a language as well as for teachers to teach the language. I do not come from a bilingual family therefore have never been forced to learn another language besides taking a few spanish classes. Therefore, I never have really tried to put myself in the shoes of an ELL student.
Getting back on track to the website, I googled teaching ELL students and this was one of the websites that came up. I spent some time reading the articles, ideas, and suggestions for teaching ELL students. When I was finished I knew this would be a great article to share with the class. So, I really hope everyone does take the time to read this site over and even bookmark it on their computers as it will serve as a great reference for future teachers!
Very informative site. As a future teacher and a current intern i feel that this website provides all necessary information to establish a worm and friendly classroom environment in which ELL students can feel welcome and know that they belong. The Cultural Awareness test is one tool that I can see my self using in the classroom not just for ELL students but also for the rest of the class. Each one of us has a different cultural origin and possesses some basic knowledge of their culture that could be shared in the Cultural Awareness test. The test can serve as a “getting to know your classmates” exercise while allowing ELL students to feel welcome and part of the group.
I agree and can relate to each of the above comments, even though I am performing my junior field placement right now. Even if you have ELLs in your classroom, as I do, sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between native English speaking students and foreign language students. Many times it is only noticeable when a student cannot speak English at all, or has a difficult time with pronunciation of words and makes grammatical errors.
What do you do when you do not think you have an ELL in your classroom, and you really do? What if teachers are unaware of their ELLs and continue to offend them or force American customs they are not used to?
I realize that teachers need to be aware of each of their students and their cultures, but what if you have several ELLs in your classroom with varying customs? Are ELLs expected to adopt American customs in school, or is a teacher supposed to accept their cultural norms even if they go against ours?
These are some questions that have been plaguing me as I read through all of the resources available for teachers with ELLs in their classroom.
Great site!
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