SESSION 4
Cultural and Professional Aspects
CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING
Relationships between language and culture
 Customs: Play an important part in language
learning because they directly affect interpersonal
exchanges. What is polite in one culture might be
offensive in another.
 Beliefs and Institutions: Has a strong emotional
influence on ELLs and should always be respected.
While customs should be adaptable, like switching
registers, no effort should be made to change the
beliefs or the institutional values of an ELL.
Differences should be addressed respectfully.
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Studying the history and various art forms of a culture
reveals much about them and offers opportunities to tap
into knowledge.
CULTURAL VARIABLES
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Individual vs. Collective: Being aware of our own
teaching style and preferences so we can provide
a wide variety of activities in different modes so
all cultures have opportunity to experience
education in familiar ways.
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Some cultures respond differently to cooperation and
competition
The respect of an ‘authority’ figure.
Gradually introduce students to a wider array of
learning experiences
New Immigrants Share their Stories
CULTURAL VARIABLES
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High Context vs. Low Context in Language: A
culture’s tendency to use high-context messages
over low-context messages in daily
communication.
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High Context: prefer in-groups which leave many things
unsaid because they are culturally implicit. Words and
word choices are extremely important as a complex
message can be communicated with few words to
insiders. (French Canadian, French, Russian, Italian,
Spanish, Greek, Arab, Chinese, Japanese)
Low Context: needs to be more explicit when
communicating, and individual word choice is less
important (German, American, English, Australian,
English Canadian)
CULTURAL VARIABLES
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Nonverbal Behaviors: Cultures have different
nonverbal behaviors
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Nodding means “yes” in English, “no” in Greek
Differences should be explained and respected
TEACHING AND LEARNING STYLES
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Cooperative group work: Based on the premise that
many cultures are more comfortable working in
collaborative groups. Even though this is true, some
students may feel that the teacher is the only academic
authority and should answer questions rather than peers.
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Include culturally sensitive learning materials and text.
The key to any reading program is extensive reading
Avoid materials that distort or omit certain historical
events, portray stereotypes, contain loaded words, use
culturally offensive speech, portray gender roles, elders,
and family inaccurately
TEACHING AND LEARNING STYLES
Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning
TEACHING AND LEARNING STYLES
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Show and Tell: A good strategy for raising multicultural
sensitivity. Misunderstandings can be worked into
discussion by asking to share an incident that lead to
cultural misunderstandings.
Diversity in the Classroom
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Visual/holistic vs. Verbal/linear-sequential: Some students
learn best through seeing information (text, charts,
pictures) and others prefer to hear the spoken message.
Still others learn through tactile experiences.
Holistic-analytical learner: processes information as whole or
broken down into pieces.
 Verbal-imager tends to represent information either as words or
images
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CULTURALLY INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM
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Achieved only by those who study the cultures of their
students. Ideas to create a culturally inclusive
classroom as follows
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Textbooks- observe the roles of males, females, people of color, and ethnic
minorities
Analyze the nonverbal communication you use and focus on teaching students
what you mean
Communicate respect and interest in students and their cultures
Classroom sends a positive, welcoming message
Encourage home/school interaction. Attend cultural celebrations in your
students’ communities
Assess content and not only language ability
Avoid using students as translators for their parents.
Understand the cultural conflict between the dominant school culture and the
minority home culture
FACTORS INFLUENCING LANGUAGE
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Social Factors: gender, social status, age,
occupation, and educational level have impact on
language acquisition. How learners perceive
themselves and what opportunities available to
them influence their attitudes toward education.
Previous Schooling: children who have not had
the opportunity for schooling ma feel that they
are too old for the elementary education they
need and are struggling to obtain. Many
immigrant children are highly motivated and
struggle silently to obtain the education they
need.
LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
Lau vs. Nichols: Cannot discriminate based on
language and must provide appropriate
educational accommodations to non-English
speakers
 Castaneda vs. Pickard: 1978 Texas segregation
of ELL’s only permissible when the benefits of
remedying language barriers outweigh the
adverse affects of segregation
 Title VI Civil Rights Act, 1964: No person
because of race, color or national origin shall be
excluded from participation or denied benefits, or
otherwise subject to discrimination if program
receives federal funds.
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LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
Title VI: Prohibits denial of equal access because of
limited English proficiency. Specifically prohibits
programs that don’t teach English as soon as possible,
Dead End track programs. Requires parents receive
information in a language they can understand,
prohibits SpEd classification based solely on inability
to speak English.
 Equal Education Opportunities of 1974: Requires
schools to design language programs to climate
language barriers in schools.
 Plyler vs. Doe: 14th amendment prohibits states from
denying a free public education to undocumented
children. Prohibits schools from requesting
documentation of legal status (K-12)
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THE DREAM ACT
Undocumented Shadows
EFFECTS OF REGULATIONS
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Programs are designed based on regulations set
forth by state and local governments. The
following have been identified as promoting high
standards for ELLs:
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Learning is facilitated through cooperative, productive
efforts of the teacher and the students.
Language and literacy should be developed throughout
all instructional activities.
Content is contextualized using the skills and
experiences of home and community.
Students are challenged cognitively.
Students need to be engaged in warm, instructional
conversation when working on activities.
ROLE OF THE ESL TEACHER
• Advocating for Students:
• Explore options to participate in school band,
science club, match club, sports teams, etc.
• Encourage families to make full use of public
resources like the public library. Programs
provided after school for families as well.
• Local establishments like the YMCA, parks,
museums to help families enjoy recreational
facilities.
NEEDS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
Inhibition: Students may be inhibited about
trying to say things in their target language.
They might worry about what others think of
their speech. They might be afraid of making
mistakes or shy about speaking in front of others.
 Attitudes: Typically evolve from internalized
feelings about oneself and one’s ability to learn a
language. If people experience discrimination
because of accents or cultural status, their
attitude toward the value of second language
acquisition may change.
 Anxiety: Less able to express individuality,
which makes expression of a new language even
more threatening and uncomfortable.
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NEEDS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
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Self-Esteem: All learners can experience stress if forced to
go beyond their comfort level. Using techniques that
decrease stress and emphasize group participation rather
than getting the ‘right answer’, reducing anxiety.
Teachers’ Expectations: Expectations regarding learning
goals should be high for all students. Expectations for
behavior should be clearly stated and posted.
Classroom Culture: Teacher is responsible for
establishing an effective classroom community in which all
kids feel safe. Provide demonstrations and scaffolding as
needed, but all kids encouraged to make guesses and take
risks.
STRATEGIES FOR COLLABORATION
Plan meetings at hours when parents can attend.
 Maintain a friendly main office with translation
services.
 Invite parents to help out in the classroom.
 Call parents or send home hand-written notes in first
language with good news about children
 Encourage parent-to-parent communication and
hotlines
 Provide school materials in native language
 Provide handouts of parents’ rights
 Create a classroom newsletter for parents
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PLANNING FOR TRANSITIONS
Transferring poses some concerns
High school offers less school support to individual
students
Students experience lower grades
School attendance suffers
Academic motivation drops
Mental health problems such as substance abuse,
depression
Helping with transitions
Visit the new campus
Meet the freshman principal, counselor, former students
Holding a question/answer session for incoming students
Registering
FEEDBACK OF PARENTS/CAREGIVERS
Advisory Committees
 Autism Advisory Committee (AAC)
 Citizens’ Advisory Committee for Special Education
(CACSE)
 District English Language Advisory Committee
(DELAC)
 GATE Parent Advisory Committee (GAC)
 Migrant Education Parent Advisory Committee
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Parent Education/Involvement Task Force
Parent Teacher Association
School English Learners Advisory Committee
(SELAC)
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Organizations and Publications Relevant to ESL
TESOL (Teachers of English Speakers of Other
Languages
 Bilingual Association of Florida
 (CAL) Center for Applied Linguistics
 (OELA) U.S. Department of Education’s Office of
English Language Acquisition Language
Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for
Limited Proficient Students
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