5/2/2022 Week 5: Response to "Cultural Miscommunication"

Response to "Cultural Miscommunication"

This time we are going to talk about Cultural Miscommunication and Misunderstandings. We know that we can communicate with others written, verbally, or with bodily gestures. In our culture, we know what is right or wrong, what to say and what not, what movements do and what don't. But everything we do to communicate with others does not mean the same in other places, even if it is in your native country. Can you imagine how this can change in other countries?

If we do not communicate properly, we can have many problems because of misunderstandings, from critical comments to cause a war. Well, this last one can pass only in a diplomatic field. Therefore, it is important not only to try to learn the language of the country we want to visit or get to know but also its culture, to have better communication with others and avoid misunderstandings.

If you are a teacher or future teacher, more reason we must know more about our students' culture so as not to do anything that could be a misunderstanding and could offend them or their family.

Professor Iver shared some cultural misunderstandings, and here are some examples.

"They're not so good"

When Japanese receives compliments about their or a member of their family, they are negative and show humility. For example, if a child plays the piano and he or she does it well, and people say good comments, they say, They're not that good". 

This is very different in another country, for example, in The United States, the American people always welcome compliments and make them or a family member proud of them by saying, "Thank you, thank you he or she is so good". 

Professor Iver explains that these things are difficult for the Japanese because they have a group-oriented culture and don't want to be above others. For them, it is not important to climb to the top like other people who have an individualistically oriented culture. Japanese have a saying, "The nail that sticks out is hammered down" this proverb best explains their group identity.

"Smile"

Another misunderstanding that Professor Ivers explains is when people smile. We know that most people are custom to smile when we are happy, but when people smile in Asia is because they are embarrassed or confused.

Yes or No???

We can say yes by nodding our heads up and down because this is our affirmative way of saying that something is okay. And to say that something is wrong we shake our heads from side to side.

But in Bulgaria, it is very different how they say yes and no. They do the opposite, they nod to say no and shake to say yes. How difficult right?

Mexico

Here in Mexico, we have many things that people of other countries don't understand why we do it. For example:

1)When someone has hiccups, especially children, we take a red thread and wet it with saliva and then put it on the person's forehead. This is weird for people because they say they only need to drink some water.

2)Most people when invite you to eat at their house and you finish your meal, invite you a second or third time until you are satisfied, but if you leave food and they invite you a second time and you do not accept, they feel that you do not like their food. So, you must eat everything they serve and leave your plate clean so that if they invite you a second time and you don't accept, that's enough to make them feel that you liked their food but that you are satisfied.

3)Most Mexican people, not all, like to be closer to others and this sometimes makes others countries' people feel uncomfortable. They need their space. Most people in when we meet or see someone, greet with a handshake and pull them to give a kiss and a hug. Nowadays it is difficult for us for the pandemic but this was what we used to do. People of other countries only kiss their family and when we do this, they feel uncomfortable because we invade their personal space.

4) In some regions of our country, people like to eat Pre-Hispanic food such as insects (grasshoppers, ants, worms) or typical Mexican food, sopes, migadas, bocoles, tostadas, tacos (all they made with corn), mondongo (cow stomach), rellena (animal blood). In other countries, this is uneaten because they say that the animals only eat corn, not humans, and the other to the trash.

5) Most people in Mexico have a problem with time (punctuality) you need to invite a Mexican an hour before your meeting or party to start on time.

These and more are the things you need to know if you meet a Mexican or if you think to visit before Mexico.

• What other misunderstandings do you know about Mexico or other countries that are different in your country?

Leave your comments.

References:

1) Image https://us.123rf.com/450wm/yayayoy/yayayoy1807/yayayoy180700005/106275795-emoticon-confundido-con-signos-de-interrogaci%C3%B3n-y-exclamaci%C3%B3n-en-bocadillo.jpg?ver=6

2) Image https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cGDUV-be2Ek/maxresdefault.jpg

3)Image https://www.quoteslyfe.com/images/collection1/quotations270/The-nail-that-sticks-out-is-hammered-270771.jpg

4)gift https://c.tenor.com/KLHYQ3sIJXIAAAAM/hi-oh.gif

5)Image https://mx.toluna.com//dpolls_images/2018/03/21/7c0e3850-748b-4968-9064-e6185583c229.jpg

6)Image https://i.blogs.es/2f2143/650_1000_492860519/1366_2000.jpg

7)Image https://www.ayayay.tv/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/portada-abrazo.jpg

8) Image http://recetasdeinsectos.es/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Tacos-de-gusanos-de-maguey.jpg

9)Image https://www.victig.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/shutterstock_178356740.jpg

10) Image https://headbng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/familia-mexicana.jpg

 3/2/2022 Week 5: Response to "Culture Differences Concerning Time"

Response to "Culture Differences Concerning Time"

What happens with time? Is it important for you to be on time for an important meeting or party? Do you manage a schedule for everything you do?

There is a big difference between one culture and another in how each sees time and this is another Cultural Paradigm.

Professor Iver quoted Edward T. Hall to explain some cultural differences concerning time, and he said, "There are two types of people in the world, Monochronic and Polychronic". Do you know about that? 

Monochronic and Polychronic

Well, Monochronic time (M-time) people are task, schedule, and procedure-oriented. Professor Ivers said, " The schedule is like the holy scriptures for monochronic people". Why? Because they schedule every task they need to do and plan their time and do it to the letter. 

M-time people, do one task at a time when they finish that task, they continue doing the next one that they have scheduled, and so on. Their time is sacred, and they do not allow anyone to interrupt them. They need to finish and continue with their scheduled tasks to feel that they used their time wisely.

On the other hand, Polychronic time (P-time) people are multitasking. They are not ruled by schedules. They do many things at the same time. They are not worried about if they finish their multitask on time, or if they are interrupted by someone during their task. They prefer to pay attention to the people, changing their plans to others that they do not have planned. 

These are some Monochronic and Polychronic people characteristics that the anthropology Edward T. Hall mentioned in his book Understanding Cultural Differences, part 1, page 15. 

That is why people say that they, monochronic and polychronic people, are like oil and water because they are extremely opposite.

Edward T. Hall and also Professor Ivers mentioned and classify some countries as M-time and P-time.

Monochronic countries: The United States, Northern Europe, Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia.

Polychronic countries: Most of the Latin American countries.

I do not imagine M-time and P-time people working together. What would happen?

Many people are moving to other countries and working together. Here in Mexico (a polychronic country) there are many foreign companies, and this obviously affects the imagen and dealings with other companies.

And this is understanding because Mexicans do not care much about following a schedule. We are multitasking people, but we are not all the same. Some like to arrive on time for their work and social meetings, but others do not care what time they arrive, the important thing is to arrive either 5 minutes, or 10 minutes, or even 1 hour later, but arriving and not miss the meeting.

Social Meetings

Talking about social meetings, here in Mexico we have the custom of having a party for everything. For example, if our party is on Saturday and we want it to start at 5 p.m., we must write on the invitation card or send a message that the party starts at 4 p.m., giving the margin that people arrive at 5 p.m. to start on time. That is the cruel reality of p-time people in my country. This is a bad habit that we need to change.

Relationship and Family

Another example is when we have to go somewhere and on the way we see someone we haven't seen for a long time, we start talking with them about their lives then after that, we continue on our way, no matter how much time we waste or not talking, the important thing is to know that they are well. As professor Ivers said, "They (We) are ruled by relationship and family".

As teachers of future teachers, we need to teach respect for other people's time. We need to make our big efforts to help others to improve on this, explaining how they see time and doing cultural connections to understand others better.

• How you consider yourself, no matter what country are you from, are you an M-time or P-time person? Would you like to change?

Leave your comments.

References:

1) Professor Ivers, BYU Idaho University, https://video.byui.edu/media/04+Cultural+differences+in+Concerning+TIME/0_1cjop6lc

2) Edward T. Hall, "Understanding Cultural Differences" pdf. http://teaching.up.edu/bus511/xculture/Hall%20and%20Hall%201990,%20ch1.pdf

3) Imagen https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ-dMqANAdn-2HDz8zsMErT3L76wFLnJ_jNKwS_M_nKqBwts1ZjGPXvOksM&s4) Imagen https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSIhL5RMYCqdXkh5iiLDLev9oz-tu0WIq0MpL4vw9oute31RvlXFUhb7vo&s

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6)Imagen https://static2.abc.es/media/ciencia/2020/07/15/tiempo-1-e1590450235204-knvG--1200x630@abc.jpg

 1/2/2022 Week 5: Response to "Cultural Paradigms"

Response to "Cultural Paradigms"

There are many Cultural Paradigms around the world, but you may be thinking, what is Cultural Paradigm? Let me explain by dividing this into two, Culture and Paradigm.

Definition of Culture and Paradigm

Culture is the way each of us lives our lives, individually or collectively. This encompasses religion, food, habit, language, etc.

And a Paradigm is a model or pattern of something that can be copied.

That is why I said that there are many Cultural Paradigms around the world because these patterns are from simple things to more complex. Many of these Cultural Paradigms are learned from generation to generation and something that we think is right for us is wrong for others and vice versa.

Simple and Complex Paradigms

Professor Ivers said that one thing is a Paradigm, and two people can see the same thing but with different interpretations and more if they are from different cultures.

He explains that there are two types of paradigms, Simple and Complex.

Simple Paradigms are:

• Rocks
• Cars
• Houses
• Clouds
• Trees

And Complex Paradigms are:

• Graciousness
• Hypocrisy
• Pride
• Humility
• Laziness
• Funny
• Flirtatious
• Loyal
• Polite
• Beauty

At the glance, we can see that Simple and Complex Paradigms differ immensely from one culture to another.

I will take Beauty as an example. What is your paradigm about beauty? What characteristics do we need to have to be beautiful? Is the paradigm of beauty in your country different from the rest of the world?

Delali Bright explains better what I am trying to say. Let's see the video.

Video Delali Bright

As we can see, here we have a Cultural Paradigm, the Paradigm of Beauty. In Tongo, in West Africa, being thin is a symbol of illness, so Delali was not considered beautiful in her country. Her family did everything possible to change her appearance, but nothing worked, and that affected her emotionally. Her mother was concerned about the false need of trying to change the image of her daughter to help her find a husband. 

This false problem changed in a snap when she decided to move to America. Something that was negative for her for many years finished when she arrived in another country with a different beauty paradigm which became positive for her. 

This is just one of many Cultural Paradigms around the world. We could make a long list and it never ends, because our perspective changes from person to person, from culture to culture, even living in the same country. So, my paradigms are not the same as the rest of the world.

We need to be respectful of the beliefs of others about how they see our culture and sometimes tolerant because some paradigms are very different. And we as teachers or future teachers need to teach our students to respect the opinion and lives of others, learning and trying to understand them better to live in harmony.

Some people when they arrive in a new country see from another point of view and break those paradigms and others maintain them because it is difficult to leave behind what for years or even generations they believed was correct.

• Do we need to move to another country to change our paradigms and be happy?

• What are you doing to better understand and accept the Cultural Paradigms of others?

Share your comments and be respectful.

References:

1)https://www.livescience.com/21478-what-is-culture-definition-of-culture.html

2)https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paradigm

3)https://content.byui.edu/file/16c10025-a64f-4117-ad34-61a46f8e72d1/1/Weight%20and%20Beauty%20Delali%20Bright%20Cultural%20Clashes%20in%20Defining%20Beauty.html

4)https://www.ted.com/talks/delali_bright_cultural_clashes_in_defining_beauty

5)The images are taken from the internet.

13/1/22 Week 02: Response to "Is the Great American Teacher Dead?"

 Response to "Is the Great American Teacher Dead?"

When I was reading the article, Is the Great American Teacher Dead? Principles to Resurrect Meaningful, Effective, and Consciousness Raising Instruction by John J. Ivers of Brigham Young University, ID. I could see his great concern, but I could also see the great responsibility that he invites us to take on our shoulders to resurrect the Great American Teacher, but I would add resurrect the Great Mexican, Brazilian, Thai Teacher, according to the place we live.

As a student, I have had many different experiences. Some of these experiences were good and some were not so good. 

The cruel reality is that not all teachers have the same purpose in their teachings. For instance, there is a great difference between the teachers of the School of Public and Private Education in my country. Some Public Education teachers are there because their relatives were teachers and they gave them their places. They do not know what a teacher should do, because they did not study to teach, sharing their classes without head or tail. Professor Ivers said, "His / her demise is reflected in the superficial, boring, and uninspiring content to which students are exposed". Unfortunately, students always pay the consequences.

Bad Experience

A bad experience was in my childhood, with my third-grade teacher. She was always very angry. She would always start her classes by opening her book and moving the pages back and forth, and after finding the page, she would begin to "explain" the lesson, which was only for a few minutes. Then, she asked us some questions on the subject. If we answered well to what she asked, she would let us go out for recess, but if we did not respond correctly, she would hit our hands with a wooden stick and leave us without going to recess. After that, she would leave the classroom to go for coffee leaving us alone for the rest of the day.

This bad experience in my childhood marked my life and not only affected me but also my classmates.

Good Experience

On the other hand, there are great teachers and very prepared. They have many of the characteristics that Professor Ivers mentioned to good teaching. These Great Teachers are:

• Passionate
• Positive
• Inspiring
• Enthusiastic
• Respectful
• Transformative
• They have a great relationship (Teacher-Student)
• And Know the importance of proper delivery

A great example was my fourth-grade teacher. After my bad experience, came the blessing. She was always very happy and welcomed us with a big smile. She spoke with a sweet voice. She was very prepared with her lessons. She explained her lessons as many times as necessary to understand and learn. She always motivated us to keep trying.

The Ten Most Important Elements in Good Teaching

Professor Ivers gave us great advice and suggestions to put into practice. He mentioned  The Ten Most Important Elements in Good Teaching, which he chose in detail from various books, in which we must be working in order to resurrect The Great Teacher.

Now, we are preparing to become Great Teachers, let's not let them die. Therefore, it is very important that we put everything we are learning into practice. This is the moment when we need to develop and improve each of the skills and competencies that Professor Ivers teaches us, and to work on the type of teacher we want to become.

• What will you do to resurrect the Great Teacher and teach your future students meaningfully?
• What of these important elements you would like to improve?

References:

Is the Great American Teacher Dead? Principles to Resurrect Meaningful, Effective, and Consciousness Rasing Instruction by John J. Ivers, Brigham Young University, ID. Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice, Volume 18, 2012, pages 49-56.

(Bain, 2004, Dirkx, Mezirow, & Cranton, 2006; Hanna & McGill, 1990; Medina, 2008; Pinker, 2002; Purkey & Novak, 1984; Purpel, 1989; Svinicki & McKeachi, 2011; Weimer, 1990).

 Introduction

Hello friends!

How are you? Where are you from? I love to be here and have the great opportunity to learn from all of you.

Well, my name is Leslie AZ. I am from Mexico. I am a TESOL student at BYU Idaho. As you can see, the main purpose of this blog is that WE CAN LEARN TOGETHER FROM A TO Z. We will learn from each other about any topic that we will have the opportunity to learn in this new semester.

Between each topic, I will share my views and experiences with you, and I would like you to share yours to build us together and achieve the goal of this blog.

If we do, we can increase our knowledge, taking a little here and there, which will help us develop and improve the skills and competencies that we will use in our future classrooms and take better care of our future students.

Welcome, everyone!