Teach English in Donga Zhen - Jinan Shi

Growing up in a multi-cultural society, it is often to work with the people that are from a different culture. Even though America is a well-known country for being a melting pot, American has its' own culture that people from other countries needs to be adapted to. Frequently, it could cause a giving up on their cultural tradition, lifestyle, and more. Otherwise, it would eventually end up in tensions. Speaking in the other way around, we as a teacher who is currently preparing to work in a foreign country will need to adapt to a different culture. Since the classroom is our working environment and we are working with children who are far more sensitive than the adult, we should be fully aware of the cultural differences and not giving them a wrong perspective to the foreign teacher while teaching English. Therefore, this paper will discuss the section topic, body language, and judgment that we as a teacher needs to pay attention to. One of the most significant value of America which is well-known in the globe is the power of freedom of speech. With that being said, we can discuss any topic along with our cultural value. However, other countries might not have the same value as America, and we need to pick our theme wisely when teaching students. For instance, it will not be a good idea to teach English base on the topic of communism and socialism when teaching in a communist country such as China or North Korea. In the other case, the subject of other countries' cultural tradition should be reconsidered and evaluated. It will be acceptable to teach the vocabulary, but not focus on a specific tradition as it might raise the tension and make the students uncomfortable. In some cases, students might think that you are mocking them. From the daily life perspective, our body language which represents an American might not be acceptable for the different culture. The misuse of gesture could lead to unnecessary tension and misunderstanding. For instance, it is often to see a thumbs up to represent good or okay for many countries around the world, but it would be an offensive gesture for many Islamic countries. In the class, there might be a chance for us to take a sit while waiting for the students to come into the classroom. However, the cross-leg sitting that is usual in America would be seen as disrespectful to others in Asia and Middle-East. But despite the body language and topics which can be easily avoid with preparation, the difference in value is what would be a challenge, and it is often time referred to culture shock. In America, we were trained to have a progressive mindset which allows us to take criticism and understand various topics from the different point of views. Nevertheless, this does not give us the power to judge our student's value during the discussion or debate activities. We as a teacher in a foreign country are indeed the outsider, and we are there to teach English. It would but not always be acceptable to share our value and idea, but it would certainly be inappropriate to judge as it would not only discourage the student, cultural differences and tension could lead us to trouble. For instance, the Government's responsibility, it would not be a good topic nor a right decision to judge our student's opinion upon the Government's responsibility base on our American Government. Indeed, there are many more that we need to pay attention to in class in order to avoid cultural conflict, but the central basic concept that we as a teacher needs to have is that we are an outsider. We are no longer in our country and will experience culture shock. As a teacher, we would need to pay extra attention to anything around us that will essentially be culturally sensitive, and we must be fully aware of it.