Rachel Doran

T&L 339
April 27, 2017

Cultural Quiz:

1. The reason he is having such a hard time getting along with the other boys on the

playground is because in his culture it is customary for men to hug, kiss on the cheek, and

shake hands with other men (Shahrokni, n.d., p. 56). Other boys are not going to

understand this because it is not in our culture to do that. So, while the Arab boy thinks

he is being polite, and trying to build relationships with his peers, it is coming across the

wrong way. To resolve this issue, it is important to talk to the boys and let them know to

not be offended when the new boy greets them in a way that they don’t usually greet

people (Shahrokni, n.d., p. 56). Once the boys understand that it is part of his culture to

greet them in that manner, they might not get so offended and provoke violence upon the

boy.

2. The reason why some of the students may believe that she smells funny is due to the fact

that a lot of Korean food is very fragrant (Lee, n.d., p. 237). Many times, the smells that

are in one’s house or the food that they eat can rub off onto the clothes that you wear.

This contributes to how she looks clean and well dressed. It would be important to talk to

the students that it is not fair to judge someone based off the way that they smell. It

would be good to discuss how everyone’s culture is different and everyone has different

smells or foods within their homes.

3. You might conclude that the parents were not quite understanding your thoughts. Even

though they were saying "yes" and nodding like they agreed with you, many Asian

cultures look at the teacher in a high power and have nothing but respect for them

(Ambroso & Diep, n.d., p. 142) they might not be enforcing what you said at home
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because they feel it is your job to discuss this with the student. In order to resolve this,

you as the teacher need to have a conversation with the parents and the student together

to make sure they understand that the student needs to be spending more time on his

homework. This way, the student understands your expectations and the parents

understand that they need to participate in making sure their student takes more time.

You must understand that in their culture they have different traditions that take up a lot

of time which could contribute to the student not putting in a lot of effort (Ambroso &

Diep, n.d., p. 142) and that should be discussed as well. Communication between the

parents and the teacher need to be more in depth and if they are only saying yes and

nodding, maybe a comprehension check would help them to get everything you are

saying.

4. In order to address the student, it is important to understand how the school system

worked back home. As mentioned in all three of the chapters learning the way the

classroom operated back where they are from can help you as the teacher change the way

you explain things or present things so the student can better understand (Shaban &

Raddawi & Tanner, n.d., p. 28-58). For example, a teacher can help the student

understand learning objectives and goals through understanding the variations between

their culture and US culture you can modify the curriculum so they have a better way to

understand what is being asked of them (Alsawaier, n.d., p. 44). To address the disruptive

part of the issue, it has more to do with the fact the student does not understand, so they

act out or they are again, just doing what was custom back home. To get the student to

calm down, or be more attentive. As mentioned in the reading, some students might smile

when they don't understand or seem as if they are acting out but it is simply because they
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need more assistance (Alsawaier, n.d., p. 44). All in all, the teacher needs to take the

action to learn about the student and adjust what needs to be adjusted in order for the

student to succeed and so the student understands what is expected of them.

5. First, it is important to recognize that not everyone from China speaks the same language

(Wang, n.d., p. 199). It is going to be a lot harder for her to understand English because

she is moving from knowing her first language and dialect to a new language with its

own rules all together (Wang, n.d., p.199). Next, there are many characters that are to be

remembered in the Chinese language, whereas in the English language there is not as

many (Wang, n.d., p.199). It can be confusing to the student because she has all these

characters in her brain and has to learn to reduce those characters and translate into

English. Math is universal. What she learned back home is going to be similar to the math

she is going to learn here. It is going to take her a little longer to get comfortable reading

and writing in a new language.

6. One of the reasons the father may not be taking your concerns seriously is because in his

culture, they see the teachers at a higher level than themselves, and do not want to disturb

the teaching process (Akasha & Elhess, n.d., p. 255). A way to move passed that is to try

and explain to the boy’s father, that his placement in school is very important for his

success and his input would help with that placement. It may take a few times for the

father to adjust to this type of teacher/parent relationship but it is good to show the

importance of the relationship to him.

7. The Korean school system is a little different than the American school system. Their

start time is in March and goes until February (Lee, n.d., p. 234). So, she may have

started first grade when she was 7, like a lot of the other kids but because she came to the
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American school system in the middle of the year, it is her spring break to the next year

in the Korean school system (Lee, n.d., p. 234). She is placed correctly, because she had

been in first grade when she left her country, she is just a bit older due to the way things

are in her country and when they require students to enter the first grade.

8. A reason that Guadelupe does not look at you when you speak to her is out of respect. In

Argentina, they see the teachers as very higher power and treat them with the upmost

respect (Mercuri & Musanti, n.d., p. 106). It would be a good idea to have a discussion

with her to let her know that you would like it if she made eye contact with you when you

talked to her to show that she is listening and understands. Showing the things that are

respectful to you as the teacher will help her understand and move out of the ways it was

in her country.

9. Red pens can be perceived in a negative way. The red pen is usually used for grading and

showing the things that the student has done wrong, or needs to work on. When the note

is written in that same color, the student is going to see it as a negative thing, hence the

student looking upset. An ESL student is going to catch on to norms like the red pen and

associate different outcomes with it. In the future, it would be wise to actively look for a

different color pen to write the note so that it does not confuse the student into thinking

that they did something wrong.

10. In the Japanese culture, the teachers are seen as a higher power and are given the highest

amount of respect. This can be shown through silence, and may seem unkind (Lee &

Huff, n.d., p. 225). A way to address this issue is, smiling at the parent, and even trying to

initiate a conversation. This way the parent gets to know you and you get to know them

as well. It should not be seen as unfriendly if they do not reciprocate the conversation, it
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is just part of their culture and it will take some time to get used to the way things are

done here.

11. Family needs are said to be put first on the list of priorities over what is needed for the

individual (Noya & Sosa, n.d., p. 80). The students could be late to school because they

have some family issue that is stopping them from arriving to school on time and

requiring the boys to stay home. To get to the bottom of the issue, you can have a

conference with the parents and the boys to see why they are always late, and see if there

is something you can help with. Letting the parents know that the student’s attendance is

what will make or break the boys’ learning will hopefully allow the parents to understand

and consider their learning.

12. Something that might be going on with this student is that fact that he is homesick. This

can lead to him not seeming interested in what is going on in the classroom, as well has

having multiple sick days (Shahrokni, n.d., p. 56). A way to combat this issue would be

to have some things from his culture in the classroom, so he can go back and read or

watch some of things he had in his old school (Shahrokni, n.d., p. 56). But, also try to

encourage the student to explore some of the things this culture has to offer. Maybe show

him a funny book, or a cool TV show, this way the student will start to become more

comfortable with living in the US.

13. In the Russian culture, cheating is seen as a way to improve their study skills, kind of like

problem solving (Borysenko, n.d., p. 309). It is going to be necessary to have a sit down

with the student and parents again to show that cheating has consequences, and while it

may be okay back home, it is not okay in your classroom and then apply a punishment

upon the child to hopefully get the point across. After the first offence, it is said in
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chapter 25 that the student must be monitored for a while because it will be hard for them

to break that habit and realize it is not okay (Borysenko, n.d., p. 309).

14. In Puerto Rico, they value the arts and literature (Noya & Sosa, n.d., p. 85). The reason

that she may be not excelling in the other content areas is due to the fact that she is

comfortable and understands literacy better and needs more help working on the other

content areas. A way to fix this issue would be to sit down with the student and discuss

what she is having a hard time with and how you can help with it. She obviously knows

the English language well if she is able to translate for other students, now the goal would

be to apply that knowledge into the academic sense. This is going to require a little more

help from you as the teacher because learning the academic English language is harder

than the social.

15. The student could be very good at memorizing. He memorizes the words and how to spell

them, therefore getting “100” on the spelling test. Math is kind of similar, memorizing

how things are done or the formulas to do something. So, when it come to reading and

comprehending a short passage, there is not much for him to memorize. Another factor

could be that in some countries they do not have access to books, therefore the student

does not have the opportunity to practice reading skills (Pallais & Umansky, n.d., p. 93).

This could be contributing to the student not understanding or being able to comprehend

a simple reading passage, but able to spell and do math.

16. A lot of students in the US school system attend kindergarten, but a lot of other countries

do not have kindergarten in their school system and just start in first grade. For example,

Japan does not have kindergarten mandatory, so a lot of students just start their school
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years in the first grade (Lee & Huff, n.d., p. 221). So, since many countries do not require

kindergarten, then the students do not learn what would be taught in kindergarten.

17. There are a lot of different things that go on in the Vietnamese culture, from holidays to

certain traditions. In some ways, she could not be focusing on homework or forgot about

library books because it is a special time for her culture and she is focused on that

instead. This does not mean that her home life is disorganized, it simply means that their

priorities are in different places. She may not be giving papers to her family due to the

fact that the parents in this culture think highly of teachers and do not see themselves as

able to be a part of that. They put all the power into the teacher’s hands. Overall, it is

important to understand values and traditions that are within your student’s cultures.

Many of them have a big impact on the way they view school and carry out their lives

(Ambroso & Diep, n.d., p.138).

18. First, it is important to understand a little bit about the gender roles that is in the

Colombian culture. A reason he might be unwilling to call you by your name is due to the

fact that in some Latin American cultures the teacher is called "maestro" in order to show

the teacher respect, showing their high level of expertise (Mercuri & Musanti, n.d., 106).

While he may know your name, he is thinking that he is showing you respect by not

calling you by your name. In order to resolve this issue, you could explain to him that

you would rather he call you by your name because that is more respectful to you or you

like that way better. Explaining this will allow you to understand why he calls you

teacher and to communicate the norms in your classroom.

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19. Hung could be used to a school environment that is more strict and teacher oriented,

which is unlike American schools that are student based and more relaxed (Herman &

Chang, n.d., p. 212). His daydreaming and talking to others when a student is presenting

or speaking could be due to this. In order for him to understand that doing those things is

rude, you as the teacher need to sit down and have a conversation about proper classroom

etiquette and what you expect of him. The only way he is going to understand is if you

are communicating your expectations.

20. The first thing that needs to be addressed is the pencil holding. It would be important to

teach him how to hold a pencil correctly, because that will also help when coping things

down and writing in general. After that has been accomplished, you can start to help him

with English. He speaks Arabic so his English proficiency is obviously not very high. It

is said in chapter 3, the Arabic language lacks vowels that the English language contains

(Alsawaier, n.d., p. 43). He could be having a hard time copying English words because

he does not recognize some of the letters being used. This is going to take time for the

student to get used to, but with practice and repetition things will come easier for the

student.

21. While it may seem that Maria and her family do not value education, that is just not the

case. It is important to get an understanding of the family connections and values within a

Mexican American household. Family is top priority in a Mexican American household,

usually there are many people involved in "family" from aunts and uncles and

grandparents (Morales, n.d., p. 65). So, because of this, Maria's family sees that if, like

mentioned, her aunt was sick it does not matter if Maria has school or any other activity,

her family comes first. Education is also important to them, but if something that is
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higher up on their priority list occurs, that will be the first thing to get done (Morales,

n.d., 70). Education to a Mexica American household is not just academic, it includes

things like sharing experiences, and the parents explaining how things are possible

(Morales, n.d., p. 70). As the teacher, it is necessary to understand these cultural values

and if it is starting to affect Maria's academic success, then trying to communicate with

the parents might be a good option. To do this, a conference might be a good option or a

letter, but remember that there might be a language barrier. While it might seem, the

parents do not value Maria's education externally, internally it might be a different story.

22. To approach this situation, you must understand how the school system works back home

in China for Mei. In the China school system, there are study sessions starting at 7am for

the students (Wang, n.d., p. 194). Mei might have just assumed that it was the same thing

here. In order for her to know that there is no study session and school starts at 8:30am

you have to discuss with her as well as her parents. While it is not a bad thing that she

showed up early for school, she should still understand the rules and what is expected at

the school.

23. Koreans, like many Asian countries, see the teacher in a very high power (Lee, n.d., p.

234). The gift that the parents gave the teacher could have been out of respect, so when

the teacher was overly appreciative the parents did not understand. Understanding this

part of their culture could help the teacher understand why the parents gave the gift in the

first place as well as the appropriate way to respond to such a gesture.

24. The Muslim child could not be taking the piece of paper because in his culture, they

should be coming to school prepared and taking a piece of paper from another child is

embarrassing to him and he does not want to embarrass himself in front of the teacher.
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Considering in his culture the teacher is highly respected. Also, the student could be

refusing the paper due to being shy or nervous to involve himself in the classroom

(Alsawaier, n.d., p. 44).

25. When giving the gift, it could have been in a way that was not how the Chinese people do

in their culture. It is said in chapter 16 that an unacceptable behavior is to give a gift with

one hand (Wang, n.d., p. 197). It could have come across as rude and therefore offended

the teacher with whom the gift was given.

26. One of the things that is important to the people of Thailand is keeping their face.

Keeping a good image to the public, and refraining from embarrassment (Wang, n.d., p.

208). So, while it may not seem like a big deal for us to play around with our friends and

have our hair get messed up, to her it is a much bigger deal. In order for everyone to

understand it would be a good idea to discuss how other people feel when things like that

happen. Maybe it would be wise to say that students should keep their hands to

themselves to refrain from offending, or hurting someone else’s feelings.

27. A student from Colombia is going to have a hard time learning English, especially if they

are in the higher levels. First of all, the student may just be uncomfortable using English

so it is stated in the chapters to try and attempt Spanish in order for the student to see that

you are trying and they could try using English (Noya & Sosa, n.d., p. 83). Telling the

parents to only use English at home was the wrong way to go about getting the student to

learn English. The parents likely do not know English therefore asking the student to only

speak English at home would not be ideal for the parents. Putting more effort into the

classroom, to get the student to learn English would be more effective than demanding

the parents to have the student only speak English.

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28. Speaking on the playground with other students is a lot different than speaking in the

classroom with academic language. The student is going to learn social language first just

through interactions with his peers and you as the teacher. But, academic language takes

longer to understand and learn. The student is not putting one over on you, but rather

learned how to speak with his peers quicker than the content in the classroom.

29. Math is universal around the world; however, the US system is the only country to not

use the metric system. While, Ayumi has been in the country for 2 years, she may not

have grasped the understanding of the US customary system yet. When working with

fractions and units it can be a bit difficult from what she has learned in the past. I way to

combat this, would be to spend more time on that unit so she can start to understand the

topics better. If the issues persist, then more practice problems and repetition would be

the next step.

30. The reason that they took two pencils and left two, could be out of respect. They see the

teacher with a high power (Lee & Huff, n.d., p. 222) and instead of taking everything,

they only took half in order to show that they are not greedy or taking advantage of the

teacher. Talking to the students and letting them know that it was a gift to them, so it is

okay for them to take all of it. When the students understand that it was something you

would like them to take, or receive they might be more willing to do so.

31. What this student did was write the problem upside down. This could be due to the fact

that he had learned long division in that manner back home. He got the correct answer,

but not in the way that you were looking for. To help him understand, you could sit down

and show him what you mean by long division. If he sees an example and you discuss
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your expectations, the next time he is more likely to understand what you mean. He does

not have a perceptual problem, he is just doing things how he knows how to do them.

32. In her country, they have their curriculum through books, instead of through hands on

activities and manipulatives (Alsawaier, n.d., p. 42). She could be acting out due to not

understanding why you are using manipulatives. In order to stop this behavior, you need

to discuss what you need from her during lesson times. If she knows that you are teaching

something that could help her in math, and you expect her, just like the other students, to

listen and pay attention she might stop the bad behavior.

33. The student may be unwilling to come out and play with others as a respect sort of thing.

A lot of kids from Europe look to other students for moral support and if they are new

then they may not feel as though they have the same superiority as others (Ardasheva &

Kochetov, n.d., p. 296). This could contribute to not being able to be persuaded to come

out and play with the others. Another thing that could be contributing to this behavior is

that the student is uncomfortable in group settings because that is not the way things

work back in his culture (Ardasheva & Kochetov, n.d., p. 296). A way to combat this

would be to get the students to interact with this student more so the student feels that

they are at the same level as the other students, and may be more willing to come out and

play or allow the student to get a feel for being in groups until he understands that is how

students interact in this culture.

34. In his culture, pointing at someone to initiate a conversation is considered rude (Wang,

n.d. p. 197). He already seemed to be acting out and seeing you point at him, just fueled

the fire. Another way to approach this situation, would be to walk up to him and ask to
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have a word. This way the student knows you are serious and you are not offending him

by pointing across the room at him.

35. A lot of cultures like their personal space. Touching them on the head is violating their

personal space, and you should know that if they pull away, they don’t like that. You

should find another way to count them, maybe by having them say their number, instead

of touching them. This way, you get a role call and you are not invading the personal

space of your students.

36. This could be due to the fact that the grandmother saw the photo as a violation of privacy.

It could be wise to ask the parents’ permission before taking photos of the students for

cultural reasons. In some cultures, it can be seen as disrespectful and especially in Asian

cultures they do not want to lose face, therefore in pictures they could see it that way

(Wang, n.d. p. 208).

37. The hand gestures that we use in the US can be very different to other cultures. When the

student saw you signaling, O.K to her, in her culture that hand gesture could be seen in a

negative way. Understanding other cultures hand gestures or what is acceptable and

unacceptable will help you to not offend students in the classroom. Every culture is

different and they are going to have things that are acceptable but the unacceptable things

are what should be payed attention to. You don’t want to enter a classroom and use a

gesture or body language that is going to offend your ELL student because, then you have

to start all over with getting their trust.

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Reference List

Egbert, J., & Ernst- Slavit, G. (Eds.). (n.d.). Views from inside: Languages, cultures, and

schooling for K-12 educators.