TESOL 103 /2019

10/31/19; Week 7: Response to "Culture and Psychology. Cultural traditions and social practices can regulate and transform the human mind. "In all cultures, they have their things that make a real man, a real woman, and it's common to have shame if you don't live up to those things." Professor Ivers said. In Cherokee culture, men were in charge of hunting and women were cultivating the land. When the Americans colonized the American lands, the Cherokees had to adapt to the new American culture. This meant that now they (Cherokees) should cultivate the land and not only the women, which could be a source of shame for them. Another thing Professor Ivers mentions is about self-esteem. He says "The culture into which one is born has a significant effect on one's self-esteem. Because one is born with certain talents, no matter what. And in certain cultures, those talents will be exalted, and in certain cultures, those talents will be minimized or even d...

10/30/19; Week 7: Response to "Differences in Manners" Good manners are the first step in behavior that makes a difference in personal relationships. They are a sign of consideration and respect towards humanity. However, we should keep in mind that modal is good or bad according to the custom of each country.  This week our dear Professor Ivers (BYUI) tells us that some customs that we think are incorrect and even of bad education can be common, and in good for other countries. One of the experiences that Professor Ivers shares are when he was in a Latin country, Mexico, and while he tried to sleep the music of the neighbors was very high that he could not fall asleep. When he asked the homeowner where he was staying, why the music was so loud, the owner did not think it was something weird or bad to enjoy the music of his neighbors.  That makes me remember one night when I was married and with two children, one of 10 years old and a two-month-old baby, my neighbor o...

10/29/19; Week 7: Response to "Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom" Did you know that having a cultural awareness of the life and background of your students would avoid you more than any misunderstanding? While I was studying this week's class, I made several connections with some students in my classroom, and the way they behave in the classroom.  A student from China was stunned when I asked a student to put his folder away, and this student replied that he would do it later. Until now I did not understand the disapproving face of my student from China. I never asked her, and she never told me anything about this situation. She is a very respectful, obedient student, and does not speak until I ask her to do so. I've also seen some smiles on his face, that means that maybe she feels good in the classroom environment. I like the quote from Professor Ivers " One of the cardinal rules of anthropology is that outsiders can sometimes see the real culture ...

10/26/19; Week 6: Response to "Attributional Tendencies Cultures. This time I learned about how attributional tendencies. This week I learned how attributional tendencies are inherent in human beings or even in each culture. In the article by Professor Ivers (BYUI) he explains that an attributional tendency refers to "What do we attribute the success of others, to what do we attribute the failures of others. In our culture, in all cultures, we're always attributing things to other things, like other causes."  In the society in which we live we are always, and I include myself, criticizing or giving our opinion even when no one has asked for them. Most of the time we are justifying our actions and that of others. Fritz Heider was the first person to describe how people make attribution. He divides them into two categories:    - Internal Attributions ascribe the causes of behavior to personal dispositions, traits, abilities, and feelings. External Attribu...

10/24/19; Week 6: Response to "Personal Space Differences" Understanding how a space is defined culturally will help us regulate our interpersonal relationships, sometimes in a positive way and sometimes not so positive. Both humans and animals are territorial. We protect our space in many ways. Sometimes with gestures or annoying reactions.  This week Professor Ivers (BYUI) shares his knowledge about how spaces in certain cultures are strict. He mentions that for German culture personal space is sacred. The motto of a german is "We need living space"  "Edward Hall was one of the pioneers in the study of much spatial need and in early 1960 he coined the word "proximies", from "proximity" or nearness. This proximity differs according to each culture. For instance, in Western, Northern European and Scandinavian the acceptable conversational distance is 46 cm. In America, the distance between two people who talk is 46-122 cm. In the ar...

10/23/19; Week 6: Response to "Individualism vs Collectivism. Have you ever wondered which cultural group you belong to? Individualism or collectivism? "Our first dimension of cultural value is individualism vs. collectivism" The cultural difference that we understand most because it has been studied mostly is the difference between an individualistic culture, where everything revolves around the individual and not in a group of people. This individualistic culture puts the needs or desires of the individual first. Then we have the collectivist culture, where everything revolves around the group, and the needs of the group prevail, such as family, friends, workmates, etc. Let me make a parallel between both cultures: Individualism.                                                                      ...

10/21/19; Week 6: Response to "Differences in Emotional Expressivity In my TESOL 103 class today I am learning "Differences in Emotional Expressivity" Let me quote a phrase from Professor Ivers (BYUI, Differences in Emotional Expressivity) He says " Emotional expressivity is one of the things that are more easily misunderstood than many other things in cross-cultural differences. It's very, very easy to interpret different ranges-to to misinterpret different ranges of emotional expressivity." Emotional Expressivity allows the individual to communicate emotional states through nonverbal movements and gestures.  Unfortunately, its concept differs between different cultures. For example, I come from a culture where greeting with a kiss on the cheek is completely normal. Both men and women. I have so many experiences to share on this subject, but I am going to refer to one that really ended up being a blessing in my life. When I arrived in the United St...

10/17/19; Week 5: Response to "Cultural Miscommunication" In social-cultural life, communication is the engine that helps us interact between culture and culture. Globalization allows countries to develop more effectively using different language codes. I found the video of Professor Ivers (BYUI) quite interesting. I learned how important it is in certain cultures, the way we gesture. What for one culture may seem normal, for another it can cause problems and even be considered disrespectful. Let me share an experience that I lived in my house a few years ago. My daughter Nicolle had a friend from China. She asked me permission to invite her home and go over some school assignments. I agreed. Then my daughter asked me to prepare "noodles" for that day since it was her friend Mei Ling's favorite food, btw, Mei means "beautiful" and ling "Jade pieces flashes" I felt very excited to meet Mei Ling and to know something about her cultur...

10/15/19; Week 5: Response to " Cultural Differences in Concerning Time. What category do you belong to? Monochronic or Polychronic? After watching Professor Ivers' video, I can conclude that my whole environment is based on a polychronic paradigm. Professor Ivers (BYU- Idaho Online Learning) said "M-time, on the other hand, is oriented to tasks, schedules, and procedures"  Considering that I will be an ESL teacher, I think it is very important that I focus my time in a more Monochronic way. Doing this will avoid future headaches when I teach in an ESL classroom.  Now a question assails me. How can a cultural paradigm be changed, when you have grown up believing that what you have been doing is right? I mean "time," I thought that doing more than one thing at a time was outstanding, in a way it is, but when I learned the difference between a Monochronic person and a Polychronic, I definitely realized that a Polychronic person is more at a disadvanta...

10/14/19; Week 5: Response to "Cultural Paradigms" Before issuing an opinion we must inform ourselves and learn cultural concepts of paradigms.  I love Professor Iver's humor (BYUI) and the way he raises a topic to his students using real examples. He said " Education today is awash in the sea of boredom and professors need to have an interesting delivery of the material."  How important it is to be well prepared when standing in front of an audience that is eager to learn. But what if all that enthusiasm is seen to decline due to the simple negligence of a teacher who is not involved with his students?  I have better understand what a paradigm is. I did not know that everything I heard about a certain way of acting or saying something was part of a paradigm that had to be passed from generation to generation. In other words, humans have created paradigms that have evolved into different situations and times.  I make some connections with this st...