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Chinese language teachers' expectations and perceptions of American students'

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Article in System · April 2015

DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2014.10.011

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 System 49 (2015) 17e27

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

System
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/system

Chinese language teachers' expectations and perceptions of

American students' behavior: Exploring the nexus of cultural
differences and classroom management
Wenying Zhou*, Guofang Li
Michigan State University, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper reports on six Chinese language teachers' experiences and perceptions of their
Received 21 April 2014 classroom management in the United States of America. The analysis revealed that the
Received in revised form 30 September 2014 teachers experienced cultural mismatches between their Chinese cultural expectations
Accepted 14 October 2014
and American students' actual classroom behavior and struggled with challenges of un-
Available online
derstanding the demands of American classroom management, lack of effective strategies
for managing American classroom, and language barriers. However, the teachers were able
Keywords:
to adopt strategies commonly used by American teachers to manage their American stu-
Chinese as a Foreign Language
Chinese language teachers
dents while retaining some of their Chinese practices. The findings suggest that cultural
Cross-cultural teaching differences in classroom management play a significant role in affecting Chinese language
Classroom management teachers' classroom instruction and must be addressed in Chinese language teachers'
Culturally different practices preparation programs as well as their continued professional development in the U.S. and
Instructional adjustment similar contexts.
© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

With China's rapid economic development in the past decades, more and more people around the world are interested in
learning about China and its language. In the U.S., for example, in 2000, 24,000 7e12 graders were learning Chinese in the U.S.
and this number rose to 59,860 in 2007e8 (Asia Society, 2011). The growing interest in learning Chinese in the U.S. has led to a
serious shortage of Chinese language teachers and a growing demand to recruit qualified teachers from China. In the last six
years, more than 700 Chinese language teachers have been brought over to classrooms across the U.S. (College Board, 2013).
These teachers often come without any prior experiences in the classrooms in the U.S., which influence how they perceive and
manage American students' classroom behavior. Many of them have found it “difficult to teach in a way that Western learners
can relate to well” due to their lack of proper preparation to teach in international settings in their teacher education pro-
grams in China (Wang, Moloney, & Li, 2013). Cultural differences between Chinese language teachers (CLT) and their
American students can lead to “disaster when the person is untutored in American pedagogy” (Shrier, 1994, p. 56). These
challenges indicate an urgent need to examine cultural influences on these teachers' cross-cultural teaching when they teach
non-Chinese language learners in western countries.
Research has found that teachers form, convey, and act on expectations through their culturally educational experiences
(Evertson & Weinstein, 2006; Good, 1981, 1987). In a comparative ethnographic study of primary school teachers'

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: zhouweny@msu.edu (W. Zhou), liguo@msu.edu (G. Li).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2014.10.011
0346-251X/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
18 W. Zhou, G. Li / System 49 (2015) 17e27

expectations and perceptions of their students in their respective classrooms in England and France, Planel (1987) found that
British teachers preferred a more caring and informal approach to classroom management than did the French teachers, while
the French teachers preferred classroom order and structure more and expected their students to follow their guidance.
Similarly, in a comparative study of Dutch and American classroom management practices, Wubbels, Brekelmans, den Brok,
and vanTartwijk (2006) found that Dutch teachers' view of an orderly classroom was interpreted as disorder by American
teachers. Similar findings were also observed in Whitman and Lai's (1990) study that compared classroom management in
selected schools in Hawaii and Japan, in which they found that Hawaiian teachers emphasized more clear structure and rules
for acceptable student behavior than did the Japanese teachers.
While these studies reveal much about the influences of different cultures on teacher expectations for student classroom
behavior, most of them focus on teachers who share the same cultural backgrounds as their students in the same country.
Little is known about how classroom management is mediated by culture in cross-cultural contexts where teachers do not
share the same language or cultural backgrounds as their students. Given the steady increase in the number of Chinese
language teachers recruited to teach in the U.S., there is a critical need to better understand their classroom management
practices in such cross-cultural contexts.
Recently, with the growth of Chinese language education in the U.S., there is a growing research interest in Chinese
language teachers' and teacher candidates' experiences in U.S. schools. Existing studies have focused on different aspects of
Chinese pre- and in-service teachers' transitioning experiences such as teacher identity (e.g., Gao, 2010; Xu, 2012), teacher
perception of student-centered teaching (e.g., Haley & Ferro, 2011), and teachers' acculturation and induction processes in the
U.S. schools (e.g., Liu, 2012; Romig, 2009). Collectively, these studies revealed several important findings about how cultural
differences between East and West played a significant role in shaping these teachers' pedagogical beliefs and practices,
including their classroom management styles. First, the studies found that Chinese language teachers are aware of the cultural
differences between Chinese and U.S. schools including differences in classroom management practices. For example,
focusing on 16 pre- and in-service teachers' (6 Arabic and 10 Chinese) perceptions of student-centered approach in the U.S.,
Haley and Ferro (2011) found that the teachers were cognizant of the cultural differences between their own teacher-
centered, grammar-translation schooling background and the expectations to change these practices to align with a
learner-centered approach in the U.S. schools.
Second, the studies also found that Chinese language teachers struggled with these differences as cultural differences
presented tremendous challenges in teaching including classroom management. Gao (2010), for example, examined how
two Chinese immigrant teachers negotiated their professional identities as an immigrant and a Chinese language teacher in
foreign language classes in the U.S. public schools. Gao found that the teachers struggled with juggling with two competing
storylines of “Chinese” and “American” teacher identity on a daily basis. For example, they struggled to balance between
students' own choice (U.S.) and teacher's push (Chinese), value of freedom (U.S.) and being strict with students on small
things (Chinese). These tensions are also reflected in Xu's (2012) case study that investigated seven Chinese expatriate
teachers' perceptions of transitioning to teach in U.S. classrooms. Xu (2012) showed that, besides the challenges of culturally
different teacher role and changing teacher-centered teaching methodologies as well as the language barrier, the teachers
also reported challenges of dealing with students with special needs, and communicating with U.S. parents who did not
have the same respect for teachers as Chinese parents. These challenges were also reflected in their class management
difficulties in the U.S. In another case study of three Chinese language teacher candidates' internship experience in the U.S.,
Liu (2012) found that, compared to interns who were more familiar with U.S. culture and institutions, the Chinese language
teacher candidates had more difficulty dealing with American students' misbehavior and differentiating instruction for
them.
Finally, in light of these challenges, research also revealed the importance of developing competency to balance the
tensions between “American” and “Chinese” teaching styles and beliefs and adapt to American classroom management
practices. Romig's (2009) ethnographic study on four Chinese novice teachers' acculturation processes in a U.S. Chinese-
eEnglish immersion school reported that while the Chinese language teachers mainly reacted to inappropriate classroom
behavior by using culturally embedded disciplinary strategies such as demanding respect from students in their first year,
some of them were able to adopt some proactive classroom management practices modeled by their U.S. teaching partners to
create a respectful environment during the second year. Moreover, these teachers were able to embed some cultural stra-
tegies (such as arranging students in assigned seating) in their new proactive classroom management techniques. These
hybrid practices, however, were not always effective, and at times, are “detrimental” to their teaching, due to many cultural
mismatches between teachers and students. As a result, some teachers had to be removed from their teaching positions due
to their insufficient development in classroom management skills despite being a qualified teacher of Chinese. Romig (2009)
concluded that the Chinese teachers' ability to develop cultural competency to interact within and across two distinct cul-
tures directly affected their classroom behavior management.
In sum, this small body of research on Chinese language teachers in the U.S. suggests that the ever-present cultural dif-
ferences in Eastern and Western pedagogical practices can create serious challenges and tensions in classroom management.
With the high influx of Chinese language teachers to the U.S. schools without prior preparation in classroom management
demands in the U.S. classrooms, it is imperative to have more nuanced understanding of their cultural expectations on their
students' classroom behavior and how these expectations affect their development in cross-cultural classroom management
skills. This study on six Chinese language teachers' classroom management experiences in the U.S. addresses this urgent need.
The study is guided by following research questions:
 W. Zhou, G. Li / System 49 (2015) 17e27 19

1. What cultural expectations do Chinese language teachers hold for their American students' classroom behavior?
2. How do these cultural expectations shape the challenges that Chinese language teachers encounter?
3. What cultural strategies do they use and what western strategies do they adopt to address these challenges?

2. Cultural factors that influence Chinese teachers' classroom management

Classroom management styles and strategies by Chinese teachers in China are found to be shaped by several different
cultural factors such as valuing collective interest over individualism, the hierarchical nature of teacherestudent relation-
ships, and the concept of “save face.” For example, influenced by Chinese cultural practice of valuing the goals, duties and
benefits of the whole group more than individual interests (Hofstede, 1986), Chinese teachers expect and teach students to
behave in accordance with the greater benefit of the whole class, and Chinese students “feel an obligation to show their
conformity to the social group to which they belong” (Hue & Li, 2008, p. 32). Applying these “collective principles” (Jin &
Cortazzi, 1998a, p. 757), Chinese teachers adopt some instructional routines and approaches to foster students' self-
discipline and conformity in the school settings (Peng, 1993). For example, before class, students are told to sit quietly in
their seats, waiting for the teacher to come. As soon as the teacher comes in, they are called to stand up and bow to the teacher
by the class president. After sitting down, they quickly move into learning activities without wasting any time. During the
instructional time, “students should sit in lines and rows straightly, listen to the teacher and should not interrupt the teacher's
talk with questions” (Zhao, 2007, pp. 129e130). A Chinese class is thus featured with teacher-centered practices with very
minimal class interactions (Jin & Cortazzi, 1998a).
Due to these cultural practices, Chinese teachers are found to spend much less time on classroom management than their
counterparts in the U.S. (Stevenson & Stigler, 1992). In a study that investigated different teacher management strategies in 21
U.S. and 14 Chinese kindergarten classrooms, Wojewoda (2012) found that U.S. teachers gave significantly more of both
proactive (Mean ¼ 0.93, SD ¼ 0.55) and reactive directions (Mean ¼ 1.06, SD ¼ 0.54) per minute than Chinese teachers
(proactive mean ¼ 0.53, SD ¼ 0.19; reactive mean ¼ 0.61, SD ¼ 0.45), suggesting that Chinese teachers spent significantly less
time in classroom management than U.S. teachers. In a similar study examining student behavioral engagement over 1051
time intervals in 35-min first grade math sessions in Chinese classrooms (n ¼ 8) and American classrooms (n ¼ 7), the time
sampling that coded teacher and student behavior showed that Chinese students were engaged in 96% of the time slots,
whereas American students were engaged in only 61% (Lan et al., 2009). Therefore, classroom management in China in
general is not seen as an issue despite its large class sizes (50e60 students per class on average). Ding, Li, Li, and Kulm (2008)
studied 244 K-12 Chinese teachers' perceptions of student classroom misbehavior and found that 65.6 percent of them did not
think that classroom management was an issue and that “daydreaming” was perceived as the most frequent and troublesome
misbehavior. In a similar study on Chinese elementary teachers' perceptions of student misbehavior, Shen et al. (2009) found
that, compared with 45% of the surveyed 527 teachers from 27 elementary schools who reported spending 14.5% of their class
time on behavior problems during a 40-min class period, the majority of the teachers (55%) reported that they did not spend
much time on classroom management and inattention was seen as the most frequent student misbehavior. However, in
contrast, research in the U.S. context (Veenman, 1984; Wubbels, 2007) showed that teachers considered disciplining students
as one of the biggest problems; and noncompliance, over-activity, and inattention are their most common complaints.
Besides the influence of collectivism and conformity, the hierarchical teacherestudent relationships are also believed to
play a significant role in shaping Chinese teachers' classroom management style (Hofstede, 1986). As Chinese teachers have
very high social status, students are expected to always show respect, conformity and obedience to them, in the same way as
they are to their parents (Peng, 1993). For example, to show care about students' development, Chinese teachers like to apply
harsh disciplinary practices such as verbal scolding to the whole class (Hue & Li, 2008). The harshness, different from con-
sequences such as office referrals and suspensions that U.S. teachers use on individual students, is more in words to a large
class of students in order to educate and remind them of their purpose at school. They also like to have a serious talk with
misbehaved individual students through communication, reasoning, and negotiation after class (Ding, Li, Li, & Kulm, 2010).
They expect students to understand that their verbal criticism is harsh to the ear but benefit their behavior. This is consistent
with findings from several comparative studies among Chinese teachers and teachers from other western cultures such as
Australia and U.S. (Ding et al., 2010; Lewis, Romi, Qui, & Katz, 2005; Osher, Bear, Sprague, & Doyle, 2010). A consistent finding
from all these studies is that while western teachers used more external sanctions and punishment such as time-out, office
referrals, suspensions, and expulsions to manage their classrooms, Chinese teachers favored “praising good students” and
“talking after class” strategies. According to Dinkes, Kemp, Baum, and Snyder (2009), in the 2007e08 school year alone, 46
percent of U.S. public schools (approximately 38,500 schools) took at least one such serious disciplinary action against a
student. Among them, 76 percent were suspensions for at least five days, five percent were expulsions and 19 percent were
transfers to specialized schools.
Influenced by the cultural concept of “saving face” (Hue & Li, 2008), Chinese teachers usually do not give individual
students consequences publicly unless the misbehavior is severely disruptive. Due to the fact that classroom management is
not an issue in Chinese classrooms, Chinese teachers can manage the class well by using non-verbal interventions such as
giving a stern teacher look or group pressure, and Chinese students can interpret the message very well (Zhou, 2013). When
confronting with moderate or severe misbehavior, Chinese teachers would make individual disruptive students stand in a
corner for as long as half an hour, but that is just a way to ask them to reflect upon the bad influences they have brought to the
whole class and to themselves. After class, Chinese teachers would have a formal talk with them, as discussed above.
20 W. Zhou, G. Li / System 49 (2015) 17e27

In summary, Chinese teacher management styles are deeply rooted in their cultural systems. Due to the influence of
Confucian culture, Chinese teachers tend to have high expectations for group conformity and prefer to use group pressure and
verbal scolding strategies. Since existing limited research on classroom management has been conducted in China with large
class sizes in teacher-centered environments, it is unclear how Chinese teachers' cultural beliefs shape their perceptions of
students and whether they use the same strategies in the U.S. where class sizes are smaller and the instruction is more
student-centered. This study of six Chinese language teachers' classroom management experiences in Chinese immersion
classrooms in the U.S. fills this research gap.

3. Method

3.1. Participants and setting

Chinese immersion classrooms in the U.S. were ideal sites for the study because they were places where the two cultures
interfaced on a daily basis with the Chinese language teachers bringing their culturally embedded teaching practices and the
American students carrying their American culture. Six full-time Chinese immersion language teachers (Fang, Ping, Nan, Wen,
Hong and Meng, all pseudonyms) at five different schools were included in this study. Among them, Fang, Ping and Wen
taught kindergarteners, Nan & Meng preschool, and Hong first grade. Their classes were made up of multicultural students
from different ethnic backgrounds, with on average 60 percent Caucasians, 15 percent African-Americans, 12 percent His-
panics, 10 percent Asians, and three percent others including Native Americans.
All of the teachers were native-Chinese speakers with Bachelor degrees in Chinese, raised and educated in China (Table 1).
None of them had had any life or work experience outside China before they were recruited to teach in the U.S. By the time the
research was conducted, they had had one year's Chinese language teaching experience in the U.S. and were taking Chinese
teacher certificate courses. The lead researcher, with more than twenty years' teaching experience in second language ed-
ucation both in China and U.S., worked as their field instructor, providing onsite support for the participants' teaching.

3.2. Data collection

Three sources of data were gathered. The primary source was the semi-structured interviews with each participant, con-
ducted at the end of their first year teaching in the U.S. The interviews covered topics regarding the participants' expectations
for their students' classroom behavior, classroom management strategies they used and developed, and their perceptions about
their management performance. Each interview took approximately one hour, was audio-taped and later transcribed. A second
source of data was the teachers' weekly blog reflections about their experience in the U.S. during the whole school year
(SeptembereJune). Altogether 180 written reflections were collected. A third source of data consisted of the lead researcher's
bi-weekly participant observations in the Chinese immersion classrooms during the school year. Sixteen observation sessions in
total were conducted from September to May and detailed field notes were taken. These observations were used to understand
the participants' classroom management practices in action and to triangulate the interview and blogging data.

3.3. Data analysis

The data were analyzed by using qualitative content analysis suggested by Hsieh and Shannon (2005), which is defined as
“a research method for the subjective interpretation of the content of text data through the systematic classification process
of coding and identifying themes or patterns” (p. 1278). First, interview and blogging data were used to understand teachers'
perceptions of student behavior and classroom management. Semantically similar words, phrases, and/or sentences were
categorized as a theme at the raw response level. For instance, verbs such as expect, (would) like, permit, allow and ex-
pressions such as “listen to the teacher” and “follow instructions” all conveyed the similar message of teachers' expectations
for student classroom behavior. Sentences containing these words were thus categorized as a theme. The themes were then
merged to reflect sub-categories of themes, using the three research questions: expectations for student behavior, difficulties

Table 1
Participant information.

Gender Educational Years of teaching Chinese school contexts & U.S. school contexts & English proficiency
background in China grade level grade level (Pass CET 6)
Fang F B.A. in TCFL <1 year City, 6th Rural, K Yes
Ping F B.A. in TCFL <1 year City, 7th Urban, K Yes
Wen F B.A. in TCFL <2 years City, 6th Suburban, K Yes
Nan F B.A. in TCFL <1 year Tutor, 10th Suburban, Pre Yes
Meng F B.A. in TCFL <3 years City, 6th Suburban, Pre Yes
Hong F B.A. in TCFL <2 years Rural, 5th Urban, 1st Yes

Note 1: “TCFL” ¼ Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language. “CET 6” ¼ College English Test level 6.
Note 2: Unlike the U.S. urban schools, Chinese city schools enjoy more attention and funding from the local school districts and central government than rural
ones. They also enjoy the privilege of recruiting the best students.
 W. Zhou, G. Li / System 49 (2015) 17e27 21

in classroom management, and use/development of strategies. Finally, a table with the interview transcript chunks reflecting
the codes and themes were created.
The observation notes were used to analyze the teachers' actual use and development of classroom management stra-
tegies. They were ordered and grouped to mark the division of the “beginning” (Sept.eOct.), “middle” (Nov.eJan.) and “end”
(Feb.eMay) of the school year. An observation form with 10 common discipline strategies (Table 2), adapted from Weinstein,
Romano and Mignano's (2010) book of Elementary Classroom Management, was used by the field instructor to record the
teachers' classroom management strategy use. Only typical episodes related to classroom management issues discussed in
the blogging data and observation notes were included in the interpretation of findings.

4. Findings

4.1. Cultural expectations

Our data analysis revealed that the Chinese language teachers brought their culturally-rooted expectations to their
teaching in the U.S. classrooms. Three major expectations were mentioned by the participants: 1) respect; 2) proper physical
behavior; and 3) study attitude and habit.

4.1.1. Respect
By “respect,” the teachers meant two things: respect them as authorities and respect peers. Influenced by the hierarchical
Confucianism, all the Chinese language teachers expected their American students to respect them as authorities, be
obedient, never talk back, and always follow instructions. Nan, who was teaching in the preschool immersion program in a
suburban school, stated in her interview:
I expected that they would sit still and listen to me attentively… they would not interrupt my instruction for any minor
reasons such as going to bathroom, asking for a bandage or napkin or tissue, or asking for permission to put things in trash or
go get a drink.
However, the Chinese language teachers found that respecting teachers' authority was a foreign concept to their American
students. As Ping, who was also teaching in a Kindergarten but in an urban school, pointed out in her December reflection
journal that, unlike Chinese students who would not confront teachers in public, the American students were “critical of
authority, argumentative, and sometimes defiant.” The Chinese language teachers reported that they struggled with their
interruption of instruction with personal needs, questions, and comments unrelated to the content that was being covered.
Nan shared her experience in her November blog reflection journal,
One day, during my instruction, a girl in my class suddenly said to me ‘I like your hair’. I got angry and asked her to stand up
immediately. Then I reminded her and the whole class that they should focus more on study. She argued with me imme-
diately, saying ‘You should say thank you instead of blaming me.’
Besides expecting students to respect them, the Chinese language teachers also expected their American students to know
the classroom norms and rules, and follow them without questioning them. The American students, however, did not have
this shared cultural understanding, and therefore often requested more explanations. The constant need to explain what they
deemed as “given” rules and directions created frustration among the teachers. Nan wrote in her October reflection about this
observation:
American students need explanation of every direction from teachers, while in China it is no doubt for students to conform to
the rules and there is no need for teachers to explain. Chinese students' only job is to follow directions and they won't ask for
any explanation.
Wen concurred with this point in the interview, “Chinese students know that they should obey teachers at school. But in the
U.S., it is different.”

Table 2
Observation form.

Strategies used 0 1 2 3 4
Establish rules, routines and procedures
Non-verbally intervene such as pause instruction, stare
Verbally intervene
Correct misbehavior
Re-teach rules, routines and procedures
Give warnings
Give choices
Time-out
Apply consequences
Establish reward system
Others
22 W. Zhou, G. Li / System 49 (2015) 17e27

Influenced by their collectivist cultural background, the Chinese language teachers also expected their American students
to be mindful of the whole class interest and respectful to others. This included having group benefit in mind, sharing with
friends, talking nicely, and not bullying others. All of the teachers mentioned that they didn't like their American students'
disrespectful misbehaviors in the classrooms. For example, Fang, a Kindergarten Chinese language teacher in a rural school,
stated, American students “constantly disturbed others” by “talking with them, taking away their stuff, drawing on others' paper,
saying mean words to them” or “making noises to get attention.” In addition, Hong, teaching first-graders in an urban school,
shared her opinion in the interview about group interest,
Some students liked to be funny in class and make others laugh. However, they didn't realize that it made the whole class
chaotic and wasted the precious instructional time. It was the class benefit that they ruined, which they should have valued.

4.1.2. Proper physical behavior

Surprisingly, the Chinese language teachers listed sitting posture as one of the expectations they had for the American
students. Wen noted in the interview, “In China, students should sit straight and speak loudly to answer questions in class. If not,
teachers usually ask them to pay attention to their behaviors.” Hong shared similar thoughts in her December journal,
However, in the U.S., the ways that students sit in class are various, putting legs on chairs and even desk, lying on other's
shoulder, or groveling on the floor. Once finding out any of their wrong posture in class, I did the same as back in China,
reminding them to sit straight. Many times, they couldn't understand and said “I learnt better in this way” or “I was studying.”
Apart from expecting their American students to sit still in their seats, the Chinese language teachers also expected their
students to be quiet during instruction, as Wen illustrated in her October reflection, “quiet work is not only good for the
management of the whole class but also for the benefit of each individual student.” This expectation, however, was different from
the American practice. The Chinese language teachers discovered that American students had much freedom to move around
or talk during class. They reported that American students grasped every opportunity in class to socialize and chat, which had
negatively influenced their teaching. Meng stated in her October blog journal, “Unexpected talking always interrupted my
instruction as well as other students' learning.” Wen described her surprise in her November reflection when she found out that
“the American students are allowed to talk when they do their work because it is said that it is good for their thinking.” They also
noted that such social talk during class often interfered with students' learning as well. Ping commented in the interview,
Most of the time their talk had nothing to do with their work and oftentimes their talking was so loud that I had to stop them
and tell them that's not what they were supposed to do. However, most of them could not be quiet for one minute.

4.1.3. Study attitude and habit

All of the teachers expected their American students to be serious about learning, including “being prepared for class” and
“finishing work.” Hong stated in her November reflection, “I found that it was so hard to have my students finish homework.
Almost half of them had difficulty turning in their homework on time.” Not finishing their homework, according to the Chinese
language teachers, also meant not being well prepared for class. They often associated such problems with not caring about
schoolwork. Fang commented in her December reflection, “The American students' attitude towards homework is not very
positive. Many of them haven't formed the good habit of finishing homework yet.” Hong shared similar concern in the interview,
“It was hard for me to handle the kids who refused to do the work or project they were supposed to do. They said: ‘I don't like it.’ ‘I do
not want to do it.’ I don't know what to do in this case.” Fang, who had only one year of teaching experience in a high performing
city school in China, was then a Kindergarten immersion teacher in a rural school in the U.S., wrote in her February reflection,
“Finishing homework, behaving well in class and respecting the teacher are common in China. Because I am so used to this, I
expected the same when I taught in my U.S. school.” Meng, a preschool immersion teacher in a suburban school, shared similar
thoughts in the interview, “Finishing work and listening to teachers are what students are supposed to do.”

4.2. Management challenges

Due to their cultural expectations for good classroom behavior, the Chinese language teachers all reported having
tremendous difficulty in classroom management in the U.S., especially during the early stage of their cross-cultural teaching.
The major challenges include: 1) high frequency of attending to student misbehavior; 2) lack of strategies; and 3) issue of
language use.

4.2.1. High frequency of attending to student behavior

Similar to the findings about U.S. teachers (Osher et al., 2010), classroom management was reported as their number one
concern, as Wen stated in the interview, “Discipline is an embarrassing word to me.” Our observation notes also validated the
teachers' concerns and challenges. Take Fang's class at the end of September as an example. During a 10-min calendar time on
the carpet area, she experienced two counts of students not following directions, three counts of student interruption with
personal needs, two counts of student disturbing neighbors, and ten counts of student chats among different students now
and then. As a relatively new teacher who had only one year teaching experience in China prior to coming to the U.S.,
managing these misbehaviors was very challenging.
 W. Zhou, G. Li / System 49 (2015) 17e27 23

Similar challenges were also presented to Hong who had two years of teaching experiences in a rural school in China, but
was now teaching in a first grade classroom in the U.S. In one of her October classes, during the first five minutes of the 30-
min whole group instruction on the carpet area, a student showed his neighbor a fancy sticker and they started to fight over it.
Hong called on them and quieted them down. As soon as Hong resolved the fight and resumed the whole group instruction,
another student moved out of his spot and leaned over to pull a neighboring girl's shoelace; meanwhile, a third student
chatted with her two neighbors. Although Hong redirected their attention once, she couldn't stop their chat later on. During
the next ten minutes, when an ADHD boy got up and goofed around, Hong had trouble getting him back to his spot.
All the Chinese language teachers reported that student misbehaviors not only increased disrespect for the teacher and
other students, but also wasted the whole class' time, resulting in the slow-down of the instruction. When asked how much
time they spent on students' misbehavior in a 40-min class, their answers ranged from 5 to 25 min. Half of them reported that
on average, they spent 10e15 min per class period managing the class in the first two months of cross-cultural teaching and it
decreased as they were more experienced. Fang described in her October reflection that she had to manage some minor or
moderate misbehaviors every five minutes,
Student F is a smart boy, but he is always lying down on the carpet or under the table. Student K likes making funny noises
and gestures, and he always refuses to move his slip when I ask him to do so. Student M throws pencils or crayons on the floor
or breaks them deliberately. Student J moves his chair when I turn around to write on the board. And there are always some
students chatting with each other during my instruction.

4.2.2. Lack of strategies

When asked “what were the challenges in your classroom management,” “lack of strategies” was their first response. They
were used to dealing with such misbehaviors as inattention, but unable to deal with U.S. children's misbehaviors which were
usually related to “being disrespectful” and “overtly disruptive”. Meng remarked in her January reflection,
I don't know how to deal with the kids who were goofing around or disrupting others constantly. I could not make them
behave. Although I repeated the rules and my expectations many times, they just didn't care.
Furthermore, with little preparation in teaching children with special needs in their teacher preparation programs and
little experiences with such students in China, the Chinese language teachers were particularly frustrated with special needs
students, especially ADHD kids. Ping actually considered these students as “trouble makers.” She described a case in her
December reflection,
My students follow directions very well. They sing after me when I teach them a song. They sit and listen quietly when I tell a
story. However, once the ‘trouble-maker’ comes in, he will definitely interfere with others' learning. It seemed that such kids
came to school merely for trouble making. I don't know what to do with them.
The interview and reflection data also revealed that using age-, culture- and language-appropriate ways to discipline the
young American children was a challenge all the Chinese language teachers encountered. In Chinese culture, older children
sometimes are considered “older brothers” and expected to take the responsibility of taking care of younger ones. Wen used
this cultural expectation to manage conflicts between children of different ages but found that U.S. children did not have this
cultural understanding. She shared in her October blog reflection,
When I found two boys fighting for a toy, I went over and asked Boy A to give the toy to Boy B. He asked me “why”. I said
“because you were older than him and older brothers always take care of younger siblings.” However, he didn't get the point.
A western teacher happened to come in. She solved the problem by simply saying, “You need to share.”

4.2.3. Language barrier

In addition to the lack of culturally relevant strategies to handle student misbehavior, using kids-friendly language was
reported as another challenge. The findings revealed that the challenge was mainly related to language familiarity and
language choice. With regard to language familiarity, the Chinese language teachers reported that, because they had never
learned or been exposed to any kids' English expressions (e.g., go pee-pee, go potty), sometimes they had a hard time un-
derstanding the slangs their students used. In addition, they struggled with which language they should use to discipline the
kids due to the fact that English conveyed better messages in dealing with student misbehavior; however, they were Chinese
immersion language teachers who were supposed to use full Chinese in their interactions with their American students. Nan
commented in the interview,
When we used Chinese to communicate our expectations, the kids had a hard time understanding us. English seemed to be a
better tool in this case; however, the English directions we gave were grammatically correct, but oftentimes they did not send
the messages that we had intended to convey.

4.3. Adaptation of U.S. management strategies

Not surprisingly, without any prior preparation or training in Western classroom management strategies, at the beginning
of their cross-cultural teaching, the teachers relied more on the management strategies they used in China to deal with
24 W. Zhou, G. Li / System 49 (2015) 17e27

student misbehavior, which they often found to be ineffective in the U.S. classrooms. As they interacted and observed their
American colleagues' teaching, they were able to adapt many of the Western strategies.

4.3.1. Use of Chinese strategies

At the onset of their cross-cultural teaching, the teachers often used Chinese classroom management strategies such as
pausing instruction, casting a stern look and using verbal cues to remind them of the rules. Meng described her use of the
“staring” strategy in the interview,
I stared at the students who were talking. It is commonly used in China. I took it for granted that it would work in the U.S.
classes. It did work at the beginning because of their unfamiliarity with me. However, when they found that there were no
consequences, they either stopped for just a couple of minutes or did not stop at all.
Apart from the non-verbal and verbal cues, the Chinese language teachers also liked to use “group pressure” to handle
student misbehavior. Fang stated in the interview, “When I found that the students were out of control, I would say, ‘if you keep on
talking, the whole class will lose five minutes' recess time.’ This strategy worked well most of the time.” However, it aroused some
complaints after it was used several times. Hong noted in the interview, “Some good students complained that it was unfair
because they were not misbehaving.”
In addressing the problems of perceived disrespect from the American students, the Chinese language teachers adopted
the Chinese practice of having the students stand up, bow and say “Laoshi hao (Good morning/afternoon, teacher)” at the
beginning of each class and “Laoshi zaijian (Goodbye, teacher)” at the end. Most American students became interested in the
practice, but a few were unwilling to do it. Talking about the effects, Ping commented in her March reflection, “It not only
created a mutual-respect learning environment, but also provided the students a good opportunity to experience the authentic
Chinese culture.”

4.3.2. Adoption of American strategies

However, when the minor misbehavior worsened or when the majority of the students' attention was not on the teachers,
their use of the above strategies was often ineffective. Hong found that “The strategies just won't work here” since most of the
strategies they brought from home culture did not lead to any serious consequences. Ping shared a similar opinion in her
February reflection, “What American students care about is what consequences their misbehavior will bring about.” However, the
Chinese language teachers did not know much about the U.S. consequence system in the beginning of their cross-cultural
teaching, as Wen remarked in the interview, “I didn't realize that I had to give the students rules and consequences until one
month later after the start of school.”
After experiencing a large variety of student misbehaviors during the first month of cross-cultural teaching, the Chinese
language teachers started to reflect upon their management practices. Meanwhile, their lack of experience and strategies led
them to learn existing effective management strategies from their Western partners. The Chinese language teachers reported
that they learned mainly through self-reflection, classroom observation, informal talks with colleagues and material reading,
among which observing American teachers' classroom management and talking with them about the specific misbehavior
issues and strategies were the two most efficient and effective ways to improve their cross-cultural classroom management.
Wen reported in the interview that she learned many useful strategies by spending half an hour every week observing
American teachers' teaching.
Over the course of one school year, the Chinese language teachers learned many management techniques including
establishing rules, giving warnings and choices, using rewards, and implementing consequences. Fang wrote in her January
reflection about her learning,
I learned to use rewarding system which was a new element to my own culture. At first it was hard to jump out from my
own culture box and fit in with a brand new classroom management culture. But gradually I could see I loosened up
myself more, and the classroom was more and more alive after I got the hang of how much freedom I could give the
students.
To better understand the Chinese language teachers' change in their classroom management practices, we analyzed the
observation forms of Wen's three lessons, focusing on her development of classroom management skills, one at the begin-
ning, one in the middle and one at the end of the school year. The findings revealed that she only used two strategies in her
September class: non-verbal and verbal interventions. By the beginning of January, she used many more different strategies
such as establishing rules and procedures, correcting misbehavior, re-teaching rules and giving consequences. By the end of
May, she used almost all the common management strategies that American teachers use.
While adopting many American classroom management strategies, the Chinese language teachers were critical about
certain strategies that American teachers used including giving candies to students as awards and use of token economy
system. Hong noted in her February reflection journal, “Chinese discipline does not have this feature. One of the reasons we don't
use it is because it seems to encourage the kids to work hard for materials.” Ping concurred, “I do think that praise from the bottom
of teachers' heart to children is the best gift to children. I always think that material prize is not something that we can use a lot in
education.” However, Fang had different opinions, “I am standing in the middle. As a traditional Chinese teacher, I do not like
materialistic prize. However, my kids have been inspired by a certain aim in the western room. If they can do a better job under such
a system, why not use it?”
 W. Zhou, G. Li / System 49 (2015) 17e27 25

5. Discussion

The Chinese language teachers in this study reported many cross-cultural classroom management challenges including
the need to frequently attend to student misbehavior, lack of respect from students and proper language skills, and lack of
effective management strategies that work with American students, especially with special needs students. These challenges
were shaped by their cultural expectations and exacerbated by the insufficient pre-service training regarding cultural dif-
ferences and culturally different practices. These findings on the impact of cultural expectations on the teachers' classroom
management practices and challenges are consistent with previous studies on the significant role of cultural differences in
shaping the Chinese language teachers' teaching experiences in the U.S. (Gao, 2010; Haley & Ferro, 2011; Liu, 2012; Romig,
2009; Xu, 2012).
Extending the scope of the aforementioned small body of research on Chinese language teachers in the U.S. (Gao, 2010;
Haley & Ferro, 2011; Liu, 2012; Romig, 2009; Xu, 2012), this study found that classroom management was one of the Chi-
nese language teachers' top concerns in their cross-cultural teaching and all of them have undergone a classroom man-
agement “cultural shock.” This is in contrast to the findings by Ding et al. (2008) and Shen et al. (2009) who reported that
classroom management was not a problem to Chinese teachers in China. This discrepancy of the finding could be explained by
the cultural differences between schools in China and the U.S. In China, students are educated to be obedient and respect
teachers. Chinese schools are homogenous, characterized by their hierarchical and collectivist orientation (Jin & Cortazzi,
1998a). However, the U.S. culture stresses individualism and democracy (Gao, 2010; Hofstede, 1986), and the classes are
more student-centered and heterogeneous (Haley & Ferro, 2011). With little awareness of these cultural differences and very
few management skills, it is not surprising that the Chinese language teachers found it challenging to manage American
students.
The Chinese language teachers' cultural expectations for proper classroom behavior, including respecting teachers and
peers, sitting up straight and quietly, and not interrupting instruction, as well as for good study attitude and habit including
finishing homework and submitting assignments on time, are rooted in Chinese culture where teachers are strict with
students and take it as their moral responsibility to guide their conduct of behavior (Hue & Li, 2008; Jin & Cortazzi, 1998a).
However, these culturally high expectations contradicted with American students' actual classroom behavior which is rooted
in a child-centered American culture that emphasizes individual choice and self-expression and allows for various learning
styles without rigid and concerted requirements regarding how students should sit, stand, or learn (Evertson & Randolph,
1995; Zhao, 2007). These cultural mismatches may have miscued the teachers' perceptions of what are considered as stu-
dent “misbehavior” and exacerbated the need to frequently attend to student “misbehavior.”
Similar to those reported in Romig's (2009) study, the Chinese language teachers in this study initially reacted to the
perceived student misbehavior by employing many home culture strategies to manage the American students, such as
pausing instruction, using verbal, non-verbal cues, and group pressure. Some of these practices, however, were culturally
foreign to the American students and therefore ineffective, especially in dealing with moderate and/or severe misbehavior
unlike those encountered in the Chinese context. For example, group pressure is a strategy that Chinese teachers often use to
manage misbehaving students in their collectivist culture, but it did not work well with American students. Likewise, non-
verbal cues that worked with their Chinese students were ineffective with American students who preferred a more specific
and straightforward communication style (Jin & Cortazzi, 1998b).
Moreover, their lack of knowledge and experience in handling special education students complicated their management
challenges, which speaks to Xu's (2012) finding that Chinese language teachers are not prepared in teaching in an inclusive
environment with special needs children. The teachers were all regular-track teachers from China where inclusive education
is not implemented and training in special education is only limited to those who work in special schools (Kritzer, 2011). As
well, they did not receive any training in special education or have any first-hand experiences with children with learning
disability before they were brought over to teach in the U.S., they did not know how to handle U.S. children with special needs.
Regardless of the management difficulties, this study revealed that the Chinese language teachers showed an open
attitude towards learning new classroom management strategies from their U.S. colleagues. On the one hand, they were
young beginning teachers who were willing to adopt western classroom management strategies. On the other hand, their
own teaching reflections as well as the support that western colleagues and the field instructor provided accelerated their
adaptation process. The adoption of culturally appropriate strategies greatly reduced discipline problems for all students. This
finding supports culturally responsive studies (Ladson-Billings, 1994; Mitchel, 2001; Weinstein, Tomlinson-Clarke, & Curran,
2004) that teachers were able to achieve better classroom management after aligning their practices with their students'
culture.

6. Conclusions

The six teachers' challenges and practices indicate an urgent need to improve teachers' professional learning prior to and
after their arrival, to internationalize both pre- and in-service CFL teacher preparation programs in China and in western
countries (Wang et al., 2013), and to involve local “key stakeholders” in supporting the teachers' development of cross-
cultural management skills and competence (Liu, 2012). First, CFL teacher preparation must be context-specific and must
ensure CFL teachers have a knowledge base in “the social and cultural contexts of teaching and learning” in the culture they
intend to teach (Banks et al., 2001, p. 197). They must learn about the local school culture in contrast to their home culture, in
26 W. Zhou, G. Li / System 49 (2015) 17e27

particular in terms of students' learning styles, typical classroom misbehaviors and management strategies (Jin & Cortazzi,
1998b). Learning about the cultural differences will help them make necessary modifications in their cross-cultural class-
room teaching and enhance students' motivation in learning. In addition to the school culture, Chinese language teachers
must learn “age- and culturally-appropriate” language for classroom (e.g., kids-friendly colloquial slangs and pedagogical
language local teachers employ to manage the class). In addition, they must learn strategies of working with special education
students in inclusive classrooms, especially ADHD students.
Second, our study suggests that there is a need to internationalize CFL teacher professional learning by involving uni-
versity faculties from China and countries like the U.S. (Bigelow, Wesely, & Opsahl, 2009; Wang et al., 2013). For example,
prior to sending Chinese teachers to teach in the U.S., Chinese university faculties should provide trainings about school
differences between the U.S. and China including culturally different teacherestudent relationships, teacher expectations,
classroom management styles and practices so that the teachers will be well prepared. After they arrive, the U.S. university
faculties should provide trainings focusing more on modeling effective strategies to resolve classroom management prob-
lems, managing inclusive classrooms by designing activities that appeal to various learning styles, giving students choices and
creating alternative activities and assessments, and sharing strategies of managing group work in the heterogeneous class-
room (Lotan, 2006; Tomlinson, 2001; Walther-Thomas, Korinek, McLaughlin, & Williams, 2000; Weinstein et al., 2010).
Management strategies that help establish classroom norms and interact with special education students as well as deal with
various student misbehaviors should also be addressed.
Third, our study reveals the critical role that local U.S. school faculties can play in helping CFL teachers to better integrate
them into the local school culture (Liu, 2012; Romig, 2009). To support the teachers' professional integration, local school
faculties should encourage the teachers to share their expectations and dilemmas so that desired resolutions will be brought
about to close the mismatch between teacher expectations and student classroom behavior (Niyubahwe, Mukamurera, &
Jutras, 2013). Opportunities should also be provided for the teachers to observe U.S. teachers' classroom management.
Both informal talks and regular meetings should be encouraged as well as offering field support to model management
strategies to resolve specific problems. These professional interactions would help cross-cultural teachers feel more secured
and confident in managing the classroom and dealing with student misbehavior.
Finally, in addition to these implications for CFL teacher professional learning, the study also has important implications
for further research. It is important to note that the six teachers were all new to the teaching profession and to the U.S. culture;
therefore, they may be more open to learn and adopt western strategies. This may not be the case with seasoned teachers.
Future research on Chinese teachers with different age, experiences, and contexts can further illuminate cross-cultural
adjustment in classroom management.

Acknowledgments

This paper would not have been possible without the help of several individuals.
First, our gratitude goes to the teacher participants for their participation in the study, their support, time and patience
during the data collection.
We would also like to thank the reviewers for their careful reviewing of our article and providing very insightful com-
ments. This helped us make our paper much stronger.

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