Monday, September 24, 2012

Why ESL/EFL teachers need cross-cultural skills

Some scholars debate if it's necessary for language teachers to have cross-cultural skills.  Frankly, I think this is a pointless debate.  Language does not exist in a vacuum separate from culture, and separating the two leaves an incomplete knowledge base.  Having taught in a wide variety of cross-cultural situations, I've certainly seen teachers who lack cross-cultural skills.  At worst, the classroom environment becomes warlike, where the students feel a need to protect their 'turf' because the teacher's treatment of it is so offensive.  At best, students become apathetic, sensing that they do not have the talents and skills to succeed.

First, let me define what I mean by cross-cultural skills (Garza, 2010):
  • The ability to see cultural differences when they occur.
  • The ability to accept cultural differences and practice them
  • The ability to appreciate and value cultural differences without demeaning them

So, why is it important for language teachers to have strong cross-cultural skills?
  1. We are cultural gatekeepers.  When we teach a language, we represent the culture the language comes from to the students we teach.  Regardless of how we represent it, students will associate their experience with us with the cultures we represent because we are often the first people they come into contact with when they learn a language.  
  2. We are bridge-builders.  I have a whole other blog on the concept of living between worlds, but when we teach language, we help one side understand the other.  In today's increasingly divisive and polarized world, this is an extremely valuable role.  If we don't have the skills to see from someone else's perspective, we are not able to effectively be a bridge that links cultures.
  3. We shape the future.  For all the cliche that it is, I'd still be remiss to overlook that teachers are woefully underpaid for the magnitude of the influence we assert on future generations (don't even get me started about corporate or professional athlete salaries in comparison!)  In light of this, one of the biggest questions I have is if we are  empowering those who come from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds or (when we lack cross-cultural skills) do we simply perpetuate the same oppressive power-structure that has existed for centuries in the Western world?  In more direct language, without developing cross-cultural skills, teachers will perpetuate a colonial model of oppression.

And finally, how do we develop cross-cultural skills?
  • Participate in other cultures.  I was going to say travel, but I've seen plenty of people with tons of tourist experience who have zero cross-cultural skills.  It's a very different thing to site -see than it is to participate in a family or a community.  This might be something as simple as getting to know a family from a different cultural background in our communities to working and living in another country.
  • Seek out other perspectives and listen.  In the US, we don't practice this skill very well (just watch our election season!).  People who take the time to converse, read, or dialog across diverse perspectives gain an understanding that the world isn't as black and white as it seems.  
  • Question mainstream assumptions.  Headlines never tell the full story.  They perpetuate stereotypes and keep people assuming they understand 'the other'.  When we question the message of the masses, it enables us to see from a different viewpoint and consider another's perspective.


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