TESOL & Culture

Ironically, right before I read the article by Atkinson I was watching an episode of 'Friends.' In the very beginning of the episode Ross (one of the main characters) is getting off the plane after attending to work over in China. He has met a Chinese woman and they have begun dating. His friends welcome the woman by, at a level that presumed she was deaf, telling her that they, "hope she likes their country." In amusement she loudly responds, "I'm from NEW YORK!" 

As I read the article by Atkinson I realized that there is no one correct way to define culture itself. There is no one way to identify to a specific culture either. Culture is defined as fluid and ever changing. (Zamel, 1997). This is the  obvious in the United States, but as an American, how do we define the ever changing cultures of others. How do we get rid of our stereotypes or what we know little about and refrain from continuing to believe that's the only way it will ever be? It also states that instead of looking at a child's background in order to identify them as a student, we must look at them as individuals. As a bilingual education major, I have spent an enormous amount of time in Little Village with Hispanic students. We are constantly talking about developing a student's L1 before worrying about L2; he or she must have the foundations of learning to build upon. When I was in Chicago, I was shocked at how surprised I was to realize that these children were learning the Spanish alphabet, sounds, and phonics. I appreciated how this article emphasizes the different approaches to culture and how one can choose to identify themselves; but also that a student does not necessarily have to 'be' of a certain 'something' in order to learn. They are a student with a history and traditions which are not necessarily set in stone in every single family in today's world.

While reading Holliday and reviewing the chart on pages 57- 59, I kept thinking about the time I spent in Spain my sophmore year of college. "Understand that while people might be deeply influenced by the social structures of their nation, this does not mean that they are confined by them." (Holliday, 2010). As an American in a city where locals refused to speak English, I was the outcast. As my time went on there, I began to make friends with locals. They would ask what we would consider to be silly questions, but they were curious about the stereotypes they so often heard about. This was a critical moment in my own life to evaluate how I looked at the world, especially when I returned home and returned to the majority. Religion, family morals, family traditions, special meals, holidays, clothing, manners, ideals- will be different for all of the students that will one day enter my classroom. I think it is important to be an advocate for each student to share their background. They should share what is important to them, but should not be stereotyped or classified in terms of their learning styles. They should not have faculty members predetermining what paths they have ahead of them in life. My ultimate goal is to help students realize that there are no boundaries to finding success, but still being able to be true to who you are and who you see yourself as.