Before completing any of
the reading for this week, please respond to Q.1 in comments below.
Read DeCapua & Wintergerst , pp. 7‐28 (Textbook)
After
completing the reading, respond to Q.2.
1) Briefly describe an experience you have had in your classroom or workplace (in Korea or elsewhere) in which you had to resolve a cultural conflict or overcome intercultural challenges.What happened? How did you respond? What did you do to try and resolve the situation? How did it turn out?
2) After completing the reading, please skim pp. 30-47 of the DeCapua & Wintergerst textbook. Choose one activity that you might use in the classroom and explain why. Include a brief discussion of any shortcomings of the activity and how you might adapt or change it.
1) Briefly describe an experience you have had in your classroom or workplace (in Korea or elsewhere) in which you had to resolve a cultural conflict or overcome intercultural challenges.What happened? How did you respond? What did you do to try and resolve the situation? How did it turn out?
2) After completing the reading, please skim pp. 30-47 of the DeCapua & Wintergerst textbook. Choose one activity that you might use in the classroom and explain why. Include a brief discussion of any shortcomings of the activity and how you might adapt or change it.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOne of my colleagues has been really upset over a certain issue for a while now. When she arrives at work, our secretary (a Korean lady), often comments on how she looks, for example, she would say things like, “You look so tired,” or “You have dark circles,” or (I’ve heard her say) “You look so bad today.”
ReplyDeleteMy colleague takes great offence, and is usually very upset about it.
Not only was she upset about the comment itself, but she was upset that our secretary felt the comment was acceptable to say out loud, in a public space.
I’ve also had my share of, “Ms. Amy, are you OK? You look so tired,” comments from the same lady. I’ve also had, “Ms. Amy, you look so tired. Can I help you?” comments. I definitely hear and feel concern in her voice, rather than outright rudeness. In my experience, I think Korean people are often more open about their feelings of friends, and their appearance. I think appearance is very important in Korea. I feel their comments are not meant to be rude or malicious, but usually made because they want to help each other. I’ve had business cards offered at me for dermatologists and doctors before, because my colleagues wanted me to have the best care or help available.
When she told me about it, I told her that our secretary was probably not trying to be rude, but was more concerned about her wellbeing. I also mentioned my thoughts about appearance in Korea – which she acknowledged and agreed with.
I also told my colleague, that considering their relationship is very friendly, and often involves talk about their private lives, as well as jokes and gentle teasing, our secretary may feel that she is not crossing a boundary.
I suggested that if she really felt upset about it, that she could talk to our secretary privately about it however, to my knowledge she never has. The comments still come up every now and then. My friend often dismisses them as “Korean culture” and tries to seem unaffected…but I know she is.
As I type this I wonder if it’s my place to bring up the issue “school wide?”
Any thoughts?
Have you considered commenting on her appearance to see how she would take it? This may make her realize how such behavior makes others feel...
DeleteI will add that my Korean friends rarely do this to me. They tend to be just like people back home. "How are you?" Oh, you are sick. Why? What happened?"
DeleteThe problem with opening comments tended to happen more often in my first few years and it was often from people who barely knew me.
I do agree with you that your co-worker needs to have a polite private conversation with the secretary to deal with the issue. A festering wound is not healthy :(
Hope it gets better for your co-worker and you :)
I thought I would let you all know... this morning, I arrived at work, and saw the secretary, and she looked really pale and had bags under her eyes - and I heard myself saying, "Ms. Nancy, are you ok? You look a little tired." And as soon as I said it...I thought "uh oh...now I'm doing it."
DeleteBut - she smiled and said, "Oh Ms. Amy I'm so tired...and little bit sick...but that's ok!" She was quite perky and didn't seem offended, so I wished her well...
Then - later, she came to me and said, "Ms. Amy how do I look? Better?"
Now admittedly...she did..but I can't help but wonder if maybe my initial comment stung a little???
Hello everyone!! Below is my response to the first question:
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1:
When I first started working in South Korea back in October 2011, I did not really know much about Korean work culture. I had only heard from several Korean friends that Koreans worked very hard. However, I did not quite grasp what this meant back then. I remember thinking to myself: “Well, don’t we all?”
I had a mentor assigned to me on my very first day. This Korean female was a teammate of mine. However, she had started working there about two months prior. This person was quite good at speaking English. Hence, we did not have any problems communicating.
By the end of my second week working there, she suggested grabbing coffee together. I assumed that she was going to ask me how I have been doing, what types of obstacles I have been experiencing and so on. However, instead, she explained to me that Korean work culture necessitates that teammates in a team finish work roughly at the same time and, more importantly, no one in the team should leave office prior to our boss has left herself. What I have been doing for two weeks leading up to this conversation was that I would ask those teammates whom I had been collaborating with on some projects, if there was anything I could do for them and if they said “no”, then I would say goodbye to everyone and leave.
What she was trying to tell me indirectly was that in South Korea it was not acceptable if one teammate left while the rest were still working. Hence, even if I could not offer my teammates any help, it was in my best interest to appear “busy” like the rest of the teammates and leave roughly at the same time and, most definitely, after my boss left the office.
I was quite surprised to hear her tell me about this issue. After this initial surprise, I felt angry for a while and then progressed into having feelings of acceptance towards it. Even though I still cannot understand why this is the way it is, especially in governmental institutions, I have accepted and adjusted to it.
After nearly two and a half years, I am not much bothered by it. I have justified it in my head by saying to myself: “after all, I am working in Korea and if this is the way it is and if I want to continue to work in this institution, I have to follow it.” Once I was able to accept this situation, I asked the same colleague for coffee and thanked her for pointing out this issue and for letting me know what instead would be considered as the proper way to act with regards to this issue. As she had spent nearly seven years in the USA for schooling and a year working, she was able to understand my behavior and that it was not intentional. While we were taking coffee that day, I also asked her to kindly continue to bring to my attention other cultural problems, if she did notice more down the line.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWhile my girlfriend was looking for work, she had turned 2 jobs down. I asked her why she had done this... They sounded like pretty sweet jobs with good hours and decent pay. She explained to me that the hours posted in the job description were basically a facade and that she wouldn't be able to leave until all her seniors had left. Which would have probably been 4 to 5 hours extra a day. I feel for you!
DeleteHere is my response to the second question:
ReplyDeleteQuestion 2:
I would like to try to use the activity on pages 42-43 of the DeCapua & Wintergerst (F - Shared Backgrounds). This activity appears to be the most suitable for my class in terms of students’ capabilities, amount and type of interaction it necessitates with other classmates and what they may consider fun. I am teaching a group of six boys, who have just started high school. They have shared with me outside class that they wish to study abroad at some point. Therefore, I believe that it is important for them to start forming an idea about what culture is, how people from different cultures act, think, perceive things differently and how people within the same culture would tend to share similar values, beliefs, views about the world, etc.
However, I feel that I would instead provide the students with 10-12 categories for which they should list their personal preferences or interests. This would ensure that all pairs would generate answers for the same categories. This would also enable the process of coming up with a list of preferences, interests to go a lot faster and, hence, would allow us more time to really compare and contrast the “circles” drawn by pairs.
I may also go one step further and ask students to switch partners until each pair up with another who has the most in common with him. In addition, I would participate in this class activity by listing my personal preferences and interests as well.
Afterwards, I would explain to the class what culture is and how it shapes us (shared backgrounds). However, I would hope to be able to show them that not all members of the culture would have the exact same preferences or interests (as far as this activity is concerned). Furthermore, I hope that I would be able to raise the point that people from different cultures (as I am not Korean) may have preferences and interests very different from their own.
Test comment.
ReplyDelete*Here is my answer to Q2*
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading through the different activities and how they could be extended in the discussion questions. There are a few I would probably try – but considering my students are younger children (and maybe we’ll be trying this out?)
I think for my classroom, I’d try D: Emics and Etics of Culture. For my students, I think it would be really beneficial to highlight that, even though other people (and children) are from different places, and cultures, there are universals that all cultures share. My children tend to think in quite “concrete” boxes when it comes to different cultures, so I’d like to help them realize that even though there are differences in cultures, they share some of the same beliefs and attitudes with those cultures themselves. I think, for some of them, they may be quite surprised.
I’m not sure this is a shortcoming for everyone, but for me, I think my students would need a model for how to begin looking and thinking about the images. Also, I think because the term In terms of how I would adapt it:
I may begin by showing two pictures of people from different culture in a similar scene (e.g. a mother hugging a baby) and begin by asking children to list what is different and what is the same.
I would probably then ask them to think about the people’s feelings, and what they were doing, and why they were doing that. I would draw their attention to the fact that even though the people in the pictures are different, there are some things about them that are the same.
I may bring in some sample questions for them to use when thinking about what is universal/culture specific.
After that – I would let them pair up and give each pair 2 photos to look at. I’d probably give them a Venn Diagram (like in activity F) and ask them to fill it out.
When they were all done, I’d tape the Venn diagrams to the board, and we could talk about what we notice, and what we think is interesting.
We could work together to make a poster: “How We’re All the Same” and another one (or maybe some smaller “fact cards”) of how we are different to go around it.
Because I am a kyopo, I understand the cultural differences. I was born and raised in Canada but my parents raised me as Korean. I learned about the Korean culture and continue to do so. However, in my class, I haven't noticed any cultural problems - yet. The main difficulty I have is not being able to speak in Korean. My hakwon prefers me not to speak Korean and they don't know that I do. I can tell if they do or don't understand but when they don't, I have to use more examples and body language to help them understand. Because they could get bored or lose interest, I have to find ways to get them to pay attention and stay interested. That's what I can think of in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there were many cultural differences when cooperating with my coworkers. They would misinterpret my actions or intentions, mainly due to the Korean culture of respecting elders. If you're younger then someone, then it's expected you go out of your way to do certain things. In my case, there were times when my coworker had misunderstood things, and I would try to tell my reasons, but they would take it as me talking back or being rude. What I learned and what I'm still trying to do is communicating more before any misunderstandings happen. I don't know if this sounds too vague, but there were many situations that happened because of "Korean respect."
Hello everyone :)
ReplyDeleteLuckily I have rarely had intercultural conflict in my classroom.
I credit my students for their great understanding of my strange ways.
However, I did have one incident at my current workplace.
At JETI (Jeollanamdo Educational Training Institute) we have six month Elementary and English Teacher programs. The programs involve many cultural and social activities as well as regular classes on the four skills, etc. (speaking,listening, writing and reading; pronunciation; public speaking).
For two years I was the head of the Outdoor Recreation Club which was held every week on Thursday afternoon. The Korean Teachers, after the first two weeks, would choose what sports they would like to do for weeks three onwards. The week in question it was soccer tennis (jokgu).
We split into two teams and played in the gym. As many of you may know - many Koreans can very competitive - even when playing sports in pick-up manner. As the game progressed my Korean team-mates complained more and more about my mistakes. In addition, the men kept pushing the women out of way in order to play the ball. Yes, actually physically pushing them to the side.
As a person I never get angry. I may bitch and gripe a lot when stressed or over-worked. Sorry my lovely STG classmates :( However, I never yell, scream or shout and/or get angry. Even when I was a substitute teacher for three years (1990-1993) I followed these rules.
Going back to the original story - after 40 minutes I finally snapped in the soccer tennis game. I had had enough of the criticism of my play and the poor treatment of the women players. I then proceeded to swear, kicked a chair nearby, cursed my team mates for their poor behaviour and left the gym slamming the doors on the way out. After a few minutes the women came out crying and urged me to return.
They had never seen my angry so they were shocked.
The men apologized and thereafter we never had the same problem occur. Every other club day was great fun :)
We played for fun first, second, third and last.
Would I do the same thing again in similar circumstances? Not sure.
But getting angry on occasion can be helpful if it is focused.
In summary: please do not get my angry :)
Question 2
ReplyDeleteI would choose Practice Activity E. - Values (pages 39-42).
I enjoy discussing values as it changes from person to person.
In addition, I also like ranking activities, which is an important part of this lesson :)
I really like parts 7 to 10. Ranking values within groups could lead to some very interesting discussion. And then in part 9 eliminating one value could possibly be very contentious and lead to lots of heated debate or it could be fairly easy if the group is very consensual. The group dynamics would be a lot of fun to observe.
Adaptations: I would explore part 9 in greater detail. I would get the groups to eliminate more values from the list of 15. I would try to get it down to 5-10 core/key values for each group. My feeling is that would lead to a greater difference of values chosen by each group and it could lead to even hotter debate. Of course we could also see all the groups choose the same values. Unpredictable to say the least.
It would be like SURVIVOR for values ranking.
For more debate I would eliminate parts 1 and 2 discussing the term values. I would provide a definition by myself for the class.
End of comments. Kevan out :)
My first year in Korea, I worked at your typical 9-6 hagwan. There were 8 NTs and 8 KTs. We were paired up into teams 1NT and 1KT and given a class for the semester. It was my third month of teaching and I was still learning the ropes. So, my co-teacher was super nice and helped me out a lot. One day after she had printed off tests for me that I had forgotten about, I made the comment, "I would be lost without you, thank you so much. Love ya" and went to class.
ReplyDeleteLater that week I was called to the director’s office and asked about my relationship with my co-teacher and what I thought of her. I told the director that I thought she was super nice and that I was happy to have as a co-teacher. Then asked me if I had ever told her that I loved her. My first reaction was “NO!”… Not until I thought back really hard did I realize I had said that. My director then informed me that I had made the co-teacher extremely uncomfortable. When I heard this I was completely shocked and it was the first time that it really dawned on me that I was in another culture. She told me that when somebody tells you, “I love you”, it means that you want to start dating and then marriage! I told my director that I would apologize immediately, but she told me not to and that that would just make it worse. So I didn’t and my co-teacher and I went on like nothing happened. I made sure to be careful with what I said after this incident!
Yes, I ran into that problem too.
DeleteHowever, with my close Korean friends and my students (after a month or so) I tend to use the expression a lot now. For the students it is usually - "I love you guys".
As someone who has suddenly had friends, co-workers and students tragically and quickly die I feel it is important to show love because you never know when it may be the last time.
I agree with you 110% on that!
DeleteQ2
ReplyDeleteIt was hard to pick just one of the activities. I really C. Shared Backgrounds and F. Old Lady, Young Lady. Both of these would be extremely fun to do and see what the results were, even though I can’t see an old or young lady in those pictures.
But my favorite is B. Class Begins, because you can adjust it to so many different situations of daily life and compare the differences and similarities between cultures.
I will actually do this activity with my older kids on Wednesday, I’m curious what/if there are any differences between their public school classes and our class.
Some of the limitations with this activity for me would be the student’s age. Since they haven’t experienced middle school, high school or university, there will be a less to compare.
How I would deal with these limitations would be to make other categories that cues/signals are prominent in. I think that dinnertime would be a great one to look at. Especially comparing the differences between Asian and Western cultures starting and finishing cues/signals.
An interesting approach to take might be to look at what cues/signals they don’t like and want to change. After they have gone through listing the cues/signals, have them list what they would change about certain cues/signals and describe their reasons why.
Response to Question 1:
ReplyDeleteMy cultural shock came as I first entered the public school system to teach. Classroom management and the behavior of the children came as a surprise to me. I was used to the tight control of American elementary schools, and the seemingly unruly atmosphere that I found in Korean schools was a definite contrast. Students being left unattended in the classroom for extended periods of time and the presence of box cutters in their pencil cases were just two instances of culture shock. I also ran into the "culture of copying." Students copying each other's work is done in America as well, but it was always against the rules and done in secret. I realized quickly that this "isn't the US" and that I had to adjust my way of thinking. Trying to make my classroom America would just lead me down the road of negativity, as my failure would be inevitable. Being flexible and adapting to Korean culture has definitely made sleeping at night better. In my own classes I often do pair work and group work, as students interacting with each other means I ideally talk less. I have my rules but I am much more aware of what battles to fight and which ones to leave in God's hands.
Response to Question 2:
ReplyDeleteI like the shared backgrounds activity on page 42. This activity would enable me to discuss different aspects of culture in a simplified format. A listing of basic things could serve as a spring board for more English practice and information. Taking the items of the list and using any of the target sentences they should know would be a good warm up. I teach elementary school, so I couldn't make it too elaborate. I would simplify it to food, clothes and maybe hobbies. Keep the categories small and the students thinking. They are all Korean, so to throw in some variety I would enlist the help of some of my fellow NETs. I would compile their likes/dislikes into the mix to give our sampling a wider range. The discussion would be basic, but I would point out all the similarities and differences and in so doing get them to think a little bit about the world outside of Korea. For higher level students, I would simply increase the depth of discussion or the complexity of the listings. My students respond well to talk of food and fun things.
Q2.
ReplyDeleteI would choose D. Emics and Etics of Culture. I feel this activity would be the most suitable for my students (gr. 4-5). Given their age, I feel the other activities may be too difficult or may not be as interesting. Not many of my students have been abroad and don’t have a lot of experience with different cultures. This activity will allow them to look at different cultures and get a better understanding how different cultures are the alike and different, thus understanding the terms culture specific and culture universal.
I have 8 students in my class, so I would make 4 groups of 2’s. I would bring 4 different photos of different settings around the world: China, Canada, France, and Brazil. Each group would be at one station or one picture. They would fill out their paper to see what the culture specific and culture universal items and behaviours are. After a certain amount of time, they would rotate to the next photo. After they have all rotated, we would sit together in groups and compare them together. Having the students look at something, discuss, and make them constantly move around will hopefully make it more interesting and fun to learn. Smaller groups will also allow everyone to participate.
My first teaching position was in a predominantly black, inner-city school in Ohio. The students were facing obstacles I had never considered; the poverty and lack of choices they faced where overwhelming. One of my students came to class about once a month. She was a good student but she didn't do much and it frustrated me. I asked her why she didn't come and she said she was the oldest of 17 younger siblings. She stayed home to help her mother.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest challenges I faced was a culture where education was devalued. Parents didn't want their children to enter a different world through education. Of course, not every parent felt this way, but I was astounded at teacher-student meetings when the mother expressed these feelings. I had several students who refused to do anything. They wouldn't even put their names on the papers I handed out. I can remember the thrill I felt when a student wrote his name one day. I thought I was breaking through. But he went to jail not long after and I never saw him again.
As far as overcoming intercultural challenges. I am the one who changed. I realized my students were living in a different world, a world I could never understand. I did my best to encourage them to put effort into their studies and had debates in class about why living on welfare wasn't the career of choice. Ultimately, I understood that to survive in their world, certain 'bad' behaviors had to be embraced. The ability to fight or knowing the ins and outs of selling drugs were skills that helped them make it day to day. I wish I could have had more of an impact, but I know they impacted me.
Q.1
ReplyDeleteI think something that sticks out right away to me as an intercultural challenge is the idea of communication, and giving people prior notice. As everyone has experienced, sometimes things in Korea are very last minute. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's just Korean management style? But "need to know" things are often told JUST before you need to know it. For example, having a day off because the kids are going on a field trip, and being told about it the day before. Or even better, not being needed for class that day because of a special activity, and being told when you arrived. I don't want to digress into a negative rant about things that bother me in Korea, but this is definitely one of them. Seems to be a cultural norm, that "letting people know things ahead of time" isn't expected, unlike the West, where that's kind of common courtesy.
At work one of my colleagues eventually complained to the managers about it, and they have tried their best to remember to tell us stuff earlier.
A type of cultural conflict I have dealt with has been with coaching football. The football team has a tradition that seems to stem from Buddhism, but isn't exactly Buddhist, looks religious, but I'm told "isn't religious, we don't believe it, it's just tradition, so we do it". I forget the name of the ritual right now, but it's similar to the offering of food to dead ancestors that Korean families do at certain times of the year. The football team has a tradition of setting up a table with a helmet, pads, some food, and perform some kind of ritual "offering" to spirits for protection. And they hang a dried fish.
It should be noted that we have suffered several injuries, and these spirits are snoozing on the job.
Being Christian, this type of ritual/service/offering/whatever doesn't mesh with me. I haven't tried to stop them from doing it, I just excuse myself, show up after it is finished. Although they made efforts to convince me "it would mean a lot to the players", it's a no-compromise area for me. Luckily it's not the kind of thing where feelings are hurt, and we get on just fine with the season.
Q.2
ReplyDeleteI had to put myself back to 2007 and think about the adult ESL class I had back in London, Ontario to think about what activity would be suitable. I had Saudi Arabians, Mexicans, Koreans and one French girl from Martinique in my class.
I like the Old woman/Young lady images exercise. I think it's a very practical way to illustrate that what we view to be true depends on the way we look at something.
It hadn't really occurred to me until now how important this topic is. But in reality, any ESL learner is going to be using English to communicate with people of other cultures.
I think the Old woman/young lady exercise would be so effective due to it's simplicity. Each group would be convinced in themselves that what they saw in the picture was the truth, because of what they had previously seen. It's an excellent way to get everyone to look at themselves and their own culture, and become keenly aware that people from other cultures don't see things the same way, they see the old lady.
It would also serve as a reminder throughout the rest of the semester or course. Any time a certain cultural difference came up, old woman/young lady could quickly be cited. This would put students back into a mindset of cultural sensitivity, he/she doesn't see what I see, vice versa.
I think a drawback of this activity is that it can only be really done once. And it's more of an illustration of our perception of reality, than it is a language activity. I don't think there would be a lot of dialogue taking place. However, it's something that really wouldn't take much time. I think the book over-estimates at 10-15 minutes. This could be done in 3 minutes.
Here is my response to question 1! ^^
ReplyDeleteIn my school, there was only one time when another teacher and I had a large cultural misunderstanding.
I was eating lunch with my co-teacher and talking with another teacher about how I was married. He mentioned that since I met my husband in a university, I should have a couple outfit to match his. I asked what a couple outfit was and he explained that people who are dating would buy similar clothes to "match" each other. Same color shoes, shirts...etc.
I told him that I wouldn't do that with my husband because it would be silly. He seemed off put by what I said, so I said couple clothes didn't seem bad, just silly.
After lunch my co-teacher pulled me aside and said to me "I don't think you are a bad teacher. When you say "silly", what does it mean?"
I explained how "silly" to me meant "funny".
She then explained that the other teachers took "silly" to mean stupid. She thought that I insulted the other teachers idea of couple clothes and Korean culture by calling them "silly".
As soon as I realized my mistake I wrote a message to the teacher I offended at lunch and asked if he was busy and could meet.
He invited me to his office and I apologized for the misunderstanding. I explained how in American culture, silly is more "funny" than is it "stupid". I apologized for accidentally calling Korean culture silly.
He laughed and said he wasn't angry, just confused and he hoped I would always explain American culture to him.
I would like to do the activity of Etics and Emics of Culture. I could easily adapt this into my current lessons and it is easy to get materials for. My students also don't have many chances to see REAL areas of other cultures. They get most of their information from the internet, movies and TV shows. (I have to admit, I get most of my information from those as well)
ReplyDeleteThis activity would also present the interesting dilemma that each culture has its own way of solving the same problems. It would be a good experience for understanding that no one culture has the answers and the best will usually be an understanding between the two.
The biggest draw back I could see from this activity would be identifying what is universal culturally. If something is present in 5 out of 6 photos, does that mean it is universal? Does it have to be prevalent in ALL cultures?
I would have some examples ready for the students I was teaching before they started to show what kinds of things they are looking for and how to deal with things that are similar but not the exact same. (transportation, clothing, food)
This is my response to Q2.
DeleteQuestion 2:
ReplyDeleteFor my elementary students, The shared backgrounds activity would be the easiest to use with their current language ability and shared worldview. As culture is often groups doing the same things but in their own way, this activity would open the students' minds to the fact that they might be different but they still share core traits. One problem might be if the pairs are too friendly, they might want to have only similarities. I would try to pair them up with classmates they do not interact with as much. It might be hard to relate this activity to different cultures. I might show some pictures or a short video to contrast different cultures following the activity.