Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom

Having students from different cultures is a huge responsibility and at the same time curious, because you discover as a teacher different behaviors according to their cultures. Each student has a different habit when behaving in the classroom and this must be controlled by the teacher.

In a TESOL classroom there will be many students from different cultures and they will have very different perspectives, many of them may be very expressive and it will be a nuisance for the students who are not, or maybe it will be the other way around.

It is important to know that a TESOL classroom must have an atmosphere of participation and coexistence so that students can learn the language in a more active way and avoid stress or frustration.

We must also analyze how the student's learning is going. If the student comes from a culture that does not demonstrate their emotions and practically does not participate much in the classroom, but their learning has been excellent and it shows in their tests, then it is part of their culture not to express their emotions and does not affect their learning . We should not judge them according to our cultural perspective.

I think it is important to know the different cultures and put ourselves in context. I am from Lationoamerica and many have the perspective that in Latin America you easily demonstrate your emotions, but not all of them. I am from a place where people are very affectionate and family is important, but they do not show their emotions. Then, when I was on the mission many American missionaries thought that I was like the typical Latin Americans, but I had a more serious stance and did not express my emotions easily.

I am sure that not only happens to me but to many other people. As Brother Ivers said, first we must know well the space where the person lives and then judge.