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EESL 6300: Cross-cultural Teaching

Summer 2021 -Dr. Gölge Seferoglu

CULTURE PROJECT

1. Conceptions of culture

Culture refers to beliefs and values that society has implanted in each of us. It is a reality

that sets the guideline for feeling and behavior responses, problem-solving throughout our

lifetimes (Hurn & Tomalin, 2013). Goodenough stated that culture was a psychological structure

that exists in the minds and hearts of men. It consisted of knowledge and belief that one must

follow accordingly to be accepted by its members (as cited in Geertz, 1973). According to Geertz

(1973), culture is also a psychological phenomenon that characterizes someone's mind and

personality in society rather than genetics.

For me, culture is a characteristic that manifests who we are as human beings, where we come

from, what we believe. It describes a particular group, including their tradition, value, customs,

art, lifestyle, heritages, habits, etc.

There is a connection between culture and language. Some people are monolingual

throughout their life, and many others are bilingual or multilingual. The more they expose to

diverse languages and cultures, the more it influences how they see the world.

 I believe that language learning is a process of becoming a member of a specific community.

When you use a new language, you are already a small part of a particular society where the

language has been spoken. Language learning covers more than just following new grammar and

vocabulary rules; it also deepens the connection to the culture and tradition of that community.
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You get an understanding of the religion, music, and art of that community. For example, after

learning the English language in the United States, I acknowledge that America has diverse

religions. Many people are Christian, follow by other religions. People go to church every

Saturday or Sunday to praise Jesus. Since Christianity is one of the biggest religions in the

United States, I start to follow this religion. By practicing what people in the country do, I

become a member of a country. 

       Language learning is slowing but gradually exposes you to the culture, social norm, belief,

lifestyle of that community. After getting to know those things, you start to follow them because

you don't want to be considered a deviant. For example, in Cambodian culture, you buy gifts or

food for the elders to appreciate them taking care of you during the new year. After my

American friend learns that everyone in Cambodia is expected to do in the new year, he buys

clothes for my parents when he comes to visit. This action proves that he is a part of the

Cambodian community because he uses the language to communicate and interact with native

speakers to learn about the social norm to perform accordingly. 

       Learning the language also means getting an insight into the history of that community. The

more you understand that society, the more you accept the community as the way they are and be

so open-minded about it. 

Linguistic and cultural differences laid some difficulties in and outside the language

classroom. To deal with linguistic and cultural differences in concrete situations, learners should

put themselves in other people's shoes so that they can naturally link between different languages

and cultures. They should understand how and why they feel and think differently when meeting

linguistic and cultural differences in the language classroom.

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There are four Places Model that happens in concrete situations, in and outside the language

classroom (Crozet, 1999).

The first-place refers to the rejection of differences of other's language or culture as

people have a solid attachment to their worldview. From a monolingual culture, they show no

sense of interest in others and never agree to tolerate. When they are introduced to a new culture

or language, they refuse to change their cultural perspective because they think their culture is

the best and nobody can ever compare. They don't want to get to know other people's language

or culture, nor want to learn from it. 

            The second-place refers to the act of enjoying the differences. People are tolerating and

accepting other's languages and cultures. They view others' differences as adding a bonus that

gives more value to life and makes it more interesting to live. When they are exposed to new

languages or cultures, they take the opportunity to develop a multi-cultural identity. 

            The third-place refers to the act of embracing the differences. People are willing and

enthusiastically support other's languages and cultures as their own. When they face something

new from a different workplace or social environment, they handle those things by opening their

mind to new experiences and trying their best to become a community member. 

            The fourth-place refers to the act of transcending the differences. This stage combines an

individual and universal into a single identity. It happens when an individual adopts new cultures

and languages. It is beyond language and culture, which identify no sense of language and

cultural differences. 

For me, language is a symbol that we use to produce meaning in a specific way. It may be

passed to children through formal learning and informal learning. The Cambodian language is

Khmer. Cambodians are the southeast Asian ethnic group that follows Buddhism. What stands
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out about our country is that we have many impressive temples included in world heritage

records. One of which is called Angkor Wat Temple. As the most prominent religious structure

globally, the Angkor Wat temple was built by King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century.

Cambodia is a country that has been trying to develop itself after the darkest time in its history

called The Khmer rough regime. Khmer Rouge Regime was a paranoid, toxic, autocratic,

totalitarian that was ruled by the Communist Party of Kampuchea between 1975 and 1979.

Hundreds of thousands of Cambodians were killed in this regime, approximately 25% of

Cambodia's population. Cambodia was slowly built itself up in 1980. The education structure

was limited. Cambodian culture in the 1900s didn't seem to promote gender equality at all. Most

women in rural areas in Cambodia weren't allowed to go to school. If women went to school,

they could write a love letter to their partners against the culture.

In contrast, in urban areas in Cambodia, most women were better supported to get an

education than in rural areas, but there was still a limited job market. Many women studied

finance even though they wanted to be firefighters because society said those jobs were not for

women. Nobody would hire them if they dared to study that major because they trusted men

more in doing certain things.

I am so blessed to be a Cambodian lady that gets a chance to get higher education. One of

the most important events in my life is an exchange program called the 6 th Asian Future Leader

Summit in Malaysia. It was the first time that I stayed away from home without my family. In

that 2-week exchange program, I discovered leadership skills and met many delegates from all

over ASEAN countries that bring me tremendous joy. AFLES 2018 was not only a two-week

program, but it was also a Future Leader Program of a lifetime. With AFLES 2018, I've realized

the powerful abilities within me. I've learned to unlock the leadership potential by presenting the
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slide on the international stage, challenging myself in escaping zone, and doing community

service along the beach. I found myself more flexible and able to lift out of my comfort zone one

step at a time.

I was able to work collaboratively with people from other fields and industry professionals. It

was the best feeling to get to know many international friends, cherish the moment, and share

culture and traditions along the way. Nothing could ever compare with the overwhelming joy

and satisfaction that I have in AFLES. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my

life. Another important event in my life is to move to the United States. The United States is my

dream country. It is a land of opportunity. I am encouraged to pursue higher education with

financial support from the government, which I could never get in my country. I get better paid,

life insurance, and many more benefits. Even though I get many advantages coming to the State,

it is still a huge transformation. There are many differences between Cambodia and the United

States, such as language, culture, tradition, weather, lifestyles, art, to name a few. I don't have

much difficulty with language because I have been studying English in my country many times.

A huge difference is culture. Cambodians like to live in an extended family structure, while

Americans want a nuclear family structure. They are not so close with their family, while

Cambodians are with family most of the time. I like Americans because most people I know

don't worry about what others think of them, while Cambodian care too much, especially

Cambodian parents. Cambodian parents always compare their children with others. When their

children don't get a good grade, they blame their children, making them feel depressed and not

motivated. Americans give more emotional support than others. The compliment and

encouragement are everywhere. I know quite a lot about the United States because I have a
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fabulous American boyfriend who always stays with me through thick and thin. He is the one

who shows me what life in America is.

2. Values Analysis

My greatest value in life is courage, growth, patience, and love. Courage refers to the

strength or bravery to stand up for yourself and others under no circumstances. For instance, I

always confront the person who cut the line. I talked to a person who bullies other people. I

helped a boy who had a vision problem to cross the road. Courage is the ability to do the right

thing. Growth is the process of developing. As a human being, you must keep going and never

give up. Before I got a permanent job, I kept applying even though I got rejected from many

places. I have a growth mindset to get a good job, and I keep pushing myself until I get my goal.

At the time of growing, I always be patient and trust the process. Patience is so important in life.

If you have no patience or are not capable of going through any hardship, you would never

succeed in life. The last value is love. I love other people and care about them. I treat others how

I want to be treated. The major values in teaching are integrity, respect, responsibility, fairness,

and self-study. Integrity is the honesty that you are having in your teaching career. You should

also respect your students' decisions or ideas and give them the freedom to express themselves.

Being responsible means that you look after the students and support them. You also come to

work on time and cooperating with the faculty members. In the classroom, you have to be fair to

all the students and never take sides. As a teacher, you also need to do self-study and keep your

knowledge updated.

3. Cultural Manifestations in Teaching

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It is significant to teach language and culture because students may come from diverse

backgrounds. Knowing other cultures means you care about other people feeling and get rid of

culture shock. I have never got to teach culture in my class yet because most of the students I

taught are local people with the same background. If I had an opportunity to teach culture,

instead of telling students what one country's culture is like, I would create a presentation project

requiring students to research the assigned culture and then present it to the whole class. I would

consistently enforce group work in-class activities. I would put everyone in a group of four

which had two females and two males. Then they had to go through the assigned culture study

before being asked to present it to the whole class. By doing that, students could discuss the

documents in a group and share their ideas. It also gave them confidence in presenting the

studies. I would also encourage students to visit another country to learn more about other

cultures. The more they expose different cultures, the more they learn about others and their own

cultures because when they see others, they will point out the differences between their culture

and others.

4. Balancing Across Cultural Frameworks

Balancing across cultural classes is very vital. I want to make sure that students from

other cultures get used to the way I teach and be motivated to learn. To do so, I would ask

students to set their expectations before studying the class. They would be asked to elaborate on

how they were taught and what they want this class to be. I would try to understand all the

students' point of view and consider it. My goal is to create a class that has no discrimination.

The class should have a good learning environment that when students come to class, they are

inspired and excited to learn. I would have the picture of flags of the country around the world,

so students feel like they are in their own country even if they are not. I hate the class that
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discrimination existed. From my experience, I did not feel any discrimination from colleagues,

but I felt gender discrimination with students from another department.

I was a student in English Department in college. There were some other departments under the

same university. I could feel the sense of discrimination from the Math department because most

of the students were from rural areas, and they looked at my female colleagues and me like we

were strangers or thought we were somehow better than them. So, they hated us and always

talked behind our backs. They stared at us for a few hours. I did not like this feeling because we

were all studying at the same university. We were there to study and make friends, not to make

an enemy. We should be united. I also felt discriminated against at my workplace. I was the only

female teacher who taught at the higher level, so most male teachers from the lower class did not

like me. They said that female teachers should only teach kindergarten or lower levels. Because I

was female, they doubted my ability to handle higher-level students. They did not like the way I

dressed professionally. They also did not want to befriend me nor call me out when there was a

party because of my gender. I felt terrible to experience such things from my coworkers.

5. Summarized what I learned

After doing this culture project, I learned that cross-cultural teaching is a precious

moment. The core value of teaching is to understand other cultures and respect them. As a

teacher, I have to balance the cross-cultural framework in the class and make sure that all

students are happy and have good learning experiences.

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References

Hurn, B., and B Tomalin. (2013). Cross-cultural communication: Theory and practice.

Palgrave Macmillan UK.

Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures: Thick description toward an

interpretive theory of culture. Basic Books.

Bhatt, S. K., Chan, W. M., Nagami, M., & Walker, I. (Eds.). (2015). In culture and

foreign language education: Insights from research and implications for the

practice (pp. 136–153). De Gruyter Mouton.