Pratt-Johnson Communicating Cross-Culturally: What Teachers Should Know (TESL/TEFL) (2025)

This article looks at the need for teachers to be culturally responsiveand competent as schools and classrooms become increasinglylinguistically and culturally diverse. It highlights five pointsof cultural difference with which all teachers should be aware whenteaching students of diverse backgrounds.

Introduction

English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing group ofstudents in the United States today (Spellings, 2005). Today, oneout of every nine students is learning English as a second language.That's about 5.4 million children—almost the population of Arizona, orMaryland, or Tennessee (Spellings, 2005). If this trendcontinues, current projections indicate that by the year 2030, 40% ofall school-aged children in the United States will be speakers of afirst language other than English (Duffey, 2004). Teacher demandsand expectations today are far greater than they have ever been.But are classroom teachers adequately prepared to teach and interactwith this culturally and linguistically diverse population? Inclassrooms where what is communicated, practiced, and perceived greatlyaffect and impact students, it is imperative that teachers learn how toeffectively communicate cross-culturally in such diverse contexts.

If teachers are to become effective cross-cultural communicators, it isessential to understand the role that culture plays within themulti-cultural school setting. Lustig and Koester (2003) defineculture as "a learned set of shared interpretations about beliefs,values, and norms, which affect the behaviors of a relatively largegroup of people." Similarly, Samovar and Porter (1991) explainculture as a medium that touches and alters all aspects of human life,including personality, how people express themselves (which includesdisplays of emotion), the way they think, how they move, and howproblems are solved. Indeed, culture goes far beyond the climate,food, and clothing of a student's native country.

Culture, undoubtedly, is complex. It is multi-layered andmultifaceted. Indeed, some have likened it to an iceberg of whichonly the top is visible while a massive part remains unobservable belowthe surface of the water. Others have compared culture to anonion with its many layers (Hofstede, 1991). As one layer ispeeled, another layer lies beneath, waiting to be discovered.Both metaphors powerfully address the complexity of culture. Inthese complexities lies the challenge that teachers of ELLs face.

Cultural Competence in the Classroom

Competence in cross-cultural communication requires diving below thesurface to see the rest of the iceberg, and it involves onion peeling,too: acquiring a corpus of deeper cultural information that mightaffect how a teacher instructs and how a student learns. Whilethe iceberg and onion metaphors speak to the complex nature of culture,they also evoke an array of feelings. Running into an iceberg cancause an unexpected jolt, and an onion, as it is peeled, can cause theeyes to tear; likewise--to go from metaphor to analogy--the process ofbecoming culturally competent also comes with new challenges andexperiences that might, initially at least, surprise, shock, or evenoffend. In the classroom, being culturally competent alsoinvolves an understanding of how cultures differ under the surface andhow cultures respond differently to similar situations.

Acquiring cultural competence is a gradual process. It isachieved only after many observations, experiences, and interactions inthe classroom and playground, with parents and with peers.However, the process can begin with the knowledge and understanding ofsix basic cultural differences that teachers are likely to encounter inthe culturally diverse classroom. Familiarity with thesedifferences will begin to aid teachers in understanding the complexityof teaching diverse groups of students.

1. Ways of Knowing

How do cultures come to acquire information? In some cultures,information is gathered through intensive research in libraries and onthe Internet--for example, in the United States. These culturesappreciate evidence that can be measured and documented through suchmedia.

On the other hand, other cultures acquire information through"non-academic" sources--for example, through elders, nature, spirits,orsymbols. Some cultures do not have the same quantity and qualityof experience with books or similar forms of research. Thesecultures may place greater value on information and knowledge acquiredthrough oral tradition.

2. Ways of Solving Problems

Cultures have different ways of solving problems. It issurprising that given the same set of problems and circumstances,cultures can arrive at very different solutions. Cultures reasondifferently and arrive at solutions based on their distinctive values,philosophy and beliefs. One example is the variety of responsesthat members of different cultures provide to the following question:

Suppose you are on a boat with yourmother, your spouse and yourchild. Suddenly, the boat begins to sink. You determinethat you can only save one of the other passengers. Whom do yousave?

According to survey results, 60% of Americans save their spouse, 40%save their children. The reasons typically offered run alongthese lines:

• Save Spouse: "My spouse is my partner for life and I can havemore children.";
• Save Child: "Children represent the future, so it is vital toprotect them first. Probably, my spouse would support thisdecision."

However, among Asian cultures, or Americans of recent Asian descent,nearly 100% of respondents state that they would save the mother.The rationale I have heard offered is this:

• Save Mother: "My mother gave me life; I owe her my life. Ican marry again; I can have more children, but I cannot replace mymother or otherwise repay the debt I owe her." (Texin, 2002).
  

3. Ways of Communicating Non-verbally

Cultures have different ways of communicating non-verbally, and it iscrucial for teachers to be aware of these differences. In a class thatis culturally diverse, any or all of the following might be observed inthe classroom: children who will not make direct eye contact whentalking to a teacher, because to do so would show lack of respect intheir culture; children who smile not because they are happy butbecause they are embarrassed or do not understand and are afraid to askquestions; others who rarely smile, such as students from Korea: "InKorean culture, smiling signals shallowness and thoughtlessness.The Korean attitude toward smiling is expressed in the proverb, 'theman who smiles a lot is not a real man'" (Dresser, 1996).

When teachers begin to recognize that cultures have different ways ofcommunicating non-verbally, they will understand their ELL studentsbetter and be less likely to be offended or to misinterpret non-verbalclues to emotional, cognitive, or attitudinal states.

4. Ways of Learning

Generally speaking, different cultures also learn in differentways. In the United States students often work in groups and docollaborative activities in which they learn from one another.Classrooms in such cases can be student-centered, with the teacher asfacilitator. In some cultures, however, the teacher is always thecenter of class activities, the sole authority figure. Sometimes,students do not even dare to ask questions, as to do so would challengethe teacher's authority. There are no collaborative activities insuch classrooms, and students are required to memorize pages and pagesof information that they subsequently restate on written tests.

5. Ways of Dealing with Conflict

Conflict is a fact of life. It is in observing how people dealwith and react to conflicts that we see clear differences betweencultures. Some cultures view conflict as a positive thing, whileothers view it as something to be avoided. In the United States,conflict is not usually desirable; nonetheless, conventional wisdom inthis country encourages individuals to deal directly with conflictswhen they do arise. In fact, face-to-face encounters are usuallysuggested as the way to work through whatever problems exist.

By contrast, in many Asian countries, open conflict is experienced asembarrassing or demeaning. As a rule, these cultures hold thatdifferences are best worked out quietly. Thus, written exchangesmight be preferred over face-to-face encounters as a means of conflictresolution (Dupraw and Axner, 1997).

6. Ways of Using Symbols

In the multicultural school setting, symbols that are unique to variouscultures should be correctly understood and interpreted.Otherwise, problems can arise. One case in point occurred in anelementary school in New York City. A math teacher asked herstudents to embellish their math portfolios by drawing pictures toaccompany them. She was incensed when she saw her young studentfrom India drawing what she thought was a swastika. Furious, shetook the student’s "artwork" and ripped it in half in front of thewhole class! Subsequently, she learned from another teacher atthe school, a Hindu, that what had looked to her like a swastika wasactually a sacred symbol of wisdom that Hindus throughout the worldhave used for thousands of years!

Discussion

The changing demographics of classrooms in the United States makeit incumbent upon us as teachers to know our students' cultures.In order to improve our cross-cultural interactions, teachers mustlearn not just the basic facts but even important nuances of theirstudents' cultures (Hodgkinson, 1991). There are many challengesin achieving cross-cultural communication. However, the moreteachers learn about their students of diverse backgrounds, the betterthey become as cross-cultural communicators and the more likely theywill be to contribute to optimal student learning outcomes. Banksconcurs: "If teachers are to increase learning opportunities forall students, they must be knowledgeable about the social and culturalcontexts of teaching and learning" (Banks et al., 2001).

Yet cultural contexts are not easy to understand. In fact, suchan understanding can often be reached only if teachers begin bypracticing cross-cultural communication. The following aresuggestions that teachers might find useful in increasing theircompetence in cross-cultural communication, thus allowing them to learnfrom culturally diverse members of the school community:

• Build relationships with students and their parents --Relationships built on trust go a long way. Students must feelthat they belong and are accepted. Politeness, friendliness,kindness, fairness, respect and empathy are important factors inestablishing a sound teacher-student relationship.
• Listen empathetically -- Teachers must listen actively andcarefully to their students, putting themselves in their students'places and learning to read between cultural lines. Teachersmight also listen to their students' conversations with theirclassmates. The things they talk about and ask teachers todiscuss and explain are the areas that concern them the most.
• Look for cultural interpreters in school or in the community whocan serve as resources in assisting teachers to add to their culturalfunds of knowledge. Teachers can ask such interpreters culturalquestions and share with them their cultural concerns.
• Take advantage of available resources: books, articles, films,music, audio recordings, and a variety of material from the Internetthatmight aid teachers in learning more about their students' cultures.

Conclusion

In the United States, with so much cultural mixing, teachers no longerhave a choice as to whether they want to interact with diversity ornot. They must become cross-culturally competent. To becomecross-culturally competent in the classroom teachers must understandimportant ways in which cultures differ and how this affects the waysin which their students behave. Through studying the culturalbackgrounds of their students, teachers can learn to avoid some of theproblems that surface each day.

Living in a global society, teachers are called upon to instruct andwork with students with very different ethnicities and beliefs fromthose to which they have been accustomed. Therefore, it is vitalthat teachers continuously educate themselves, discovering all thatthey can about their students and their backgrounds. In theprocess of developing their cultural knowledge and cross-culturalcommunication skills, the five cross-cultural points of comparison andthe techniques for expanding cultural knowledge discussed above canprovide important guidelines for teachers. Ultimately, such anapproach should help teachers to understand and respect diversestudents and to guide these students more effectively toward academicand personal success and fulfillment.

References

• Banks, J. A., Cookson, P., Gay, G., Hawley, W. D., Irvine, J. J.,Nieto, S., et al. (2001). Diversity within unity: Essential principlesfor teaching and learning in a multicultural society. Phi Delta Kappan,83(3), 196-202.
• Dreser, Norine (1996). Multicultural matters. NewYork: John Wiley & Sons.
• Duffey, A. (2004). The bilingual classroom. RetrievedSeptember 15, 2005, fromhttp://www.64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:ePOSInl4cncJ:www.ecbea.org/publications/bilingual
• Dupraw, M. and Axner, M. (1997)
  http://www.wwcd.org/action/ampu/crosscult.html
• Hofstede, G. (1991). Culture and organizations.Software of the mind. London, UK: McGraw Hill.
• Lustig, M. W., and Koester, J. (2003). Interculturalcompetence: Interpersonal communication across cultures. Boston: Allynand Bacon.
• Samovar, L.A., and Porter, R. E. (1991). Communicationbetween cultures. California: Wadsworth.
• Spellings, Margaret. “From Essential Elements to EffectivePractice.” Address at the fourth annual "Celebrate Our RisingStars Summit" sponsored by the Department’s Office of English LanguageAcquisition (OELA). Washington, D.C. 1 Dec. 2005. http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/2005/12/12012005.html
• Texin, T. (2002). Survey: Who Do You Save? Retrieved:November 9, 2005. http://www.i18nguy.com/adventures/whotosave.html