References: Kuma, Chap. 12
Kuma, B. "Problematizing Cultural Stereotypes in TESOL"
Kuma's article on cultural stereotypes has a focus on how ESL teachers perceive their Asian students and either consciously or subconsciously place these stereotypes on them. As Kuma states in the article, "the TESOL profession is not free from cultural stereotypes that are particularly associated from Asia" (pg. 709-710). I always found it interesting that Korean, Japanese, and Chinese students are all lumped under the term Asian, because they are all very different cultures, but unfortunately racial stereotypes prevail in the situation because their external appearance defines what they will be called. "They a) are obedient to authority, (b) lack critical thinking skills, and (c) do not participate in classroom interaction" (pg. 710). It goes back to the idea of representation and cultural identity, and how students live up to this self-fulfilled prophecy of being the 'smart kids' in school, and this is perpetuated by the media as well which is something that is not always discussed. We as ESL teachers need to address that oftentimes media can affect views of different cultures. I know when I was in high school, I had a friend who was Korean, but was not a part of the honors crowd and never felt like he fit in with them because they were the 'smart kids' and he was not. It can really affect your social life in high school, and students of ESL backgrounds will have the same experience.
I found it very interesting that the actual principles of Eastern culture are not as extreme as we perceive them to be; we as Westerners see them as being very conservative and very strict, and not a culture we perceive as being 'free', like we perceive ourselves to be. The Confucius saying described in the article sends a slightly different message, "the teacher does not always have to be more knowledgeable than the pupil; and the pupil is not necessarily always less learned than the teacher" (pg. 711). This seems like something we experience in Western culture and far more like our educational values; we learn from each other and not just the teacher as the source of knowledge. It seems like we should be more aware of these principles when teaching our students because then we will have insight into their culture, and therefore be able to relate with them more instead of feeling like we are very different. Something else that we seem to see incorrectly is their lack of critical thinking; I feel like we as American students pride ourselves in this aspect of our education, even though we have basically nothing to show for it. The entry from the New York 'Cyclopedia of Education' was basically appalling: "They have never invented anything. They have stumbled upon most of the useful practical appliances of life..." (pg. 712-713). Of course, this was a time when immigration was a fanatical issue; people from Korea, China, and Japan were coming here for a better life but American citizens were dealing with this and had an anti-Asian attitude, so that needs to be taken into account.
Kuma states, "Classroom behaviors of L2 learners are the result of a complex interface between several social, cultural, economic, educational, institutional, and individual factors" (pg. 714). True, there are a lot of individual factors to deal with any student, mainstream classroom or ESL classroom. It happens with African-American students all the time; there are stereotyped by Caucasian teachers and their language has to be altered to make themselves 'more white' as we discussed in class. I think students from all cultures face this when they come to the United States; they want to assimilate to the culture and want to talk like American students or people they see around them. We as their teachers have to understand their needs from the beginning and help them reach their goals, and ensure them that they can achieve them as we do with any student in general. We have to take into account all factors that go into their education and understand their cultural background and how they approach different issues. Obviously, this is an idealistic view, because we do not possibly have the time to do this with each individual student, but we can certainly try our best to address all issues in our classroom.
Kuma's Chapter 12, Raising Cultural Consciousness, has the same theme as his article: understanding culture and trying not to allow cultural stereotypes to permeate our judgment in the classroom. Culture "includes a wide variety of constructs such as the mental habits, personal prejudices, moral values, social customs, artistic achievements, and aesthetic preferences of particular societies" (pg. 267). Yes, in the past we have focused on what we call 'Big C' culture; the external appearances and stereotypes of other cultures. We did not perceive culture as values or internal beliefs. We have developed our L2 education to fit all the research that has been done in this area, and thankfully we have adapted and made our L2 education more relevant and practical for our students. Kuma states that "the overall objective of culture teaching...is to help L2 learners develop the ability to use the target language in culturally appropriate ways" (pg. 268). Unfortunately, this goal, in my opinion, has not yet been achieved in L2 education. We still have to lobby for better textbooks that include more relevant and practical material for our students; I know that when I was learning Spanish, these textbook activities were always boring or repetitive and did not teach us how to do anything communicative in the target language. With the advent of CLT in L2 education, I can only hope that these things are changing.
Robinson's theory of culture, the "Color Purple [which] is a productive, cognitive, perceptual and affective space that results from meaningful cross-cultural contact" (pg. 270), is something that I have never heard of before and seems like an intriguing concept, albeit a bit philosophical. I believe that we should get past our native speaker 'lens' as she calls it and be able to understand other cultures and their backgrounds and beliefs. I see myself as someone who is culturally aware, and I feel terrible when I have stereotypes about other cultures considering my line of work, but we are brought up and at first only know what our parents know, and all students feel the same way. They are brought up in a specific society with specific values and it is difficult to erase what we have been taught, but school is the best place to explore other people and their values. I know I learned more about my own culture from my international friends than I ever did from people from my own background; they saw things about me that I did not see and it was difficult to believe at first. When I took English 343 here, reading the list of American stereotypes was eye-opening. Some I already knew, but some were hard to accept; I remember thinking to myself, "No way, that is not me at all. Other people are like that, but not me", which is something that a lot of people feel. We just need to make sure our students understand that everyone is going through the same issues, even ourselves. Teachers being able to relate to their students can mean a great deal.
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