MANAGE A MULTICULTURAL CLASSROOM

Including topics of global interests  Environmental issues (An Inconvenient Truth, Cool it)  Consumerism  Education (Waiting for Superman)  Family  Language (American Tongues)  Food (Food Inc, Tapped)  Digital Technology (Growing Up Online, Digital Nation)  Mass Media (Mickey Mouse Monopoly)  Maybe stay away from US politics? Play with multimodal texts

Incorporate topics to explore cultural differences & similarities Cross cultural comparisons:  marketing campaigns in different countries;  international events bid videos from different countries (World Cup, Olympics)  cultural artifacts brought by students

Rhetorical Analysis: Nivea Men’s

Actively seek opinions from international students  Textual analysis of highly symbolic literary texts.  Reader response essays  Even in grammar lessons!  How to write and use punctuations in different languages?  How do punctuations give meaning in different languages?

Use writing to promote in-class discussion  ESL students may be quiet in class for several reasons:  They don’t understand what the teacher says.  They don’t understand what the other students say.  They are afraid of speaking.  They are afraid of saying “stupid” things.  Teachers may write key points on the board.  Give students time to write down their thoughts/questions. (And then “force” them to participate in discussion.)

Be aware of the different educational culture the students come from  Discuss/survey students’ educational culture.  How do classrooms look like in your home country?  How do teachers teach in your home country? Do they lecture through the textbooks or do they let you read first and ask you questions in class?  Do you ask your teacher questions back home? When and how? In China, for example, Ss never interrupt teachers during a lecture. Qs are saved after class.  Do you often do group work in class back in your home country?

“Facework”: Chinese students in US classrooms  Face in classrooms: Saving face for oneself and for others.  Chinese Ss may be hesitant to speak up in class b/c they are afraid of “losing face”.  When you ask whether they understand the course material, they are likely to say yes or to nod their heads even when they don’t quite understand it.  At the same time, Chinese Ss may not want to challenge/disagree with others b/c they don’t want others to lose face. Reference: Liu, J (2002). Negotiating silence in American classrooms: three Chinese cases. Language and Intercultural Communication, 2(1),