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Are We Speaking the Same Language?

by Carol Westby

Successful learning in schools in the United States requires more than fluency in English; it requires learning “how to do school” and feeling comfortable in the educational environment. Mainstream education typically involves presentation styles and teacher-student interactions that are unfamiliar to students from many cultures. Edward T. Hall, a noted anthropologist, claims:

Education is deeply rooted in culture. In the United States, whites are most typically brought up in some version of the northern European tradition. This makes problems for everyone else, because educators . . . practice an unconscious form of cultural imperialism which they impose indiscriminately on others. . . . I refer not so much to content as to how learning is organized, how it is presented, its setting, the language used, and the people who teach it, the rules by which they play, as well as the institutions themselves.
Even when teachers and students are speaking the same language, teachers may not be communicating effectively with students. Researcher Susan Philips explains that minority students’ efforts to communicate are not understood by
teachers who do not have the needed cultural knowledge. She adds that in the U.S. it is a teacher’s position and authority that puts the burden of understanding onto the student.
As educators, we must become aware of when our communication style and expectations may be responsible for the difficulties students experience comprehending the required curriculum content rather than any deficit on the part of the student. The following columns give more examples of concepts teachers need to be aware of and help students to understand.

Cultural variations in Nonverbal Communications
Perception and Use of Time Mainstream American classrooms are run by the clock. An opening pledge begins at 8:30; literacy block follows until 10:00; math begins at 10:05. Testing is even more time bound. Time is of the essence—faster is often considered better. To appear intelligent, students must perform quickly and finish within the given time limits. Native American, Latin, and Middle Eastern cultures are less bound to this view of time. In these cultures, activities take place “when the time is right” and need not be started and completed within a specified time frame. Students from those cultures may not respond to efforts to have them complete a task as quickly as possible, either because they do not view speed as critical or because they have not previously had to manage time in the way demanded by U.S. classrooms.	Teaching Methods Beliefs about how learning occurs vary across cultures. In mainstream American culture, adults assume that for learning to occur, children must be explicitly taught with words. In many cultures, learning occurs more often by observing others. Children are encouraged by adults to “watch me.” Adults may seldom give verbal explanations. Children watch until they can do the task. Children from some non-mainstream cultures may expect teachers to show them how to do the tasks; the concept of learning by trial and error can be uncomfortable, and they may lack the problem-solving strategies expected from this kind of instruction.	Group Versus Individual Orientation Mainstream American culture values and encourages individual achievement. Students are singled out for accomplishments in sports, arts, and academics. From infancy, children are encouraged to display their abilities, and the child who displays the best skills is publicly rewarded. In contrast, in a number of cultures a high value is placed on being part of the group and not appearing better than others in the group. In these cultures, showing how well one can do is socially inappropriate, and students may be hesitant to perform if they feel their performance will separate them from their peers. Also in such cultures, students may not be expected to perform a new, unfamiliar task alone. They expect assistance from peers and readily give assistance to peers—a behavior that mainstream American teachers may view as cheating.

Cultural variations in Nonverbal Communications

Perception and Use of Time

Mainstream American classrooms are run by the clock. An opening pledge begins at 8:30; literacy block follows until 10:00; math begins at 10:05. Testing is even more time bound. Time is of the essence—faster is often considered better. To appear intelligent, students must perform quickly and finish within the given time limits. Native American, Latin, and Middle Eastern cultures are less bound to this view of time. In these cultures, activities take place “when the time is right” and need not be started and completed within a specified time frame. Students from those cultures may not respond to efforts to have them complete a task as quickly as possible, either because they do not view speed as critical or because they have not previously had to manage time in the way demanded by U.S. classrooms.

Teaching Methods

Beliefs about how learning occurs vary across cultures. In mainstream American culture, adults assume that for learning to occur, children must be explicitly taught with words. In many cultures, learning occurs more often by observing others. Children are encouraged by adults to “watch me.” Adults may seldom give verbal explanations. Children watch until they can do the task. Children from some non-mainstream cultures may expect teachers to show them how to do the tasks; the concept of learning by trial and error can be uncomfortable, and they may lack the problem-solving strategies expected from this kind of instruction.

Group Versus Individual Orientation

Mainstream American culture values and encourages individual achievement. Students are singled out for accomplishments in sports, arts, and academics. From infancy, children are encouraged to display their abilities, and the child who displays the best skills is publicly rewarded. In contrast, in a number of cultures a high value is placed on being part of the group and not appearing better than others in the group. In these cultures, showing how well one can do is socially inappropriate, and students may be hesitant to perform if they feel their performance will separate them from their peers. Also in such cultures, students may not be expected to perform a new, unfamiliar task alone. They expect assistance from peers and readily give assistance to peers—a behavior that mainstream American teachers may view as cheating.

Cultural Variations in Verbal Communication
Questions Teachers rely heavily on questioning. Cultures vary considerably in terms of who asks questions, what type of questions are asked, and why they are asked. In all cultures people generally ask genuine questions when they need information. In mainstream American culture, however, adults engage in much pseudo questioning with children: i.e., asking questions to which they know the answers. They do this from the time children begin to talk: e.g., “What’s this?” (said while looking at a picture book). Teachers do this all the time—asking for information about the lesson they have just taught. Mainstream American children know that the adults asking the questions know the answers, and they recognize these pseudo questions as requests to perform. Some cultural groups rarely ask pseudo questions. Native American children are unlikely to answer a question if they think the adult should know the answer. To do so would be insulting because it would suggest that the adult does not know. Shirley Heath notes that members of a black community in the Carolina Piedmont seldom asked pseudo questions. Pseudo questions were usually asked by an adult following some transgression of the child: e.g., “Who ate the last piece of cake?” A pseudo question signals to children that they are in trouble. Similarly, a Mississippi psychologist explains that she sometimes receives the response “I didn’t do it! Not me!” when she asks the question “Who discovered America?” Students believe they are being accused of a bad deed.	Reasoning Process In everyday conversation, speakers and listeners rely heavily on the context to communicate meaning. In school, however, particularly beyond the early elementary grades, the meaning of most lessons must be transmitted by words. There are not other visual, auditory, or tactile-kinesthetic contextual cues present. Many students, including ELL students, do not have personal experiences to bring to the lesson. Formal Western education trains students to reason from the words. For example, they may be given a question couched in a syllogism: All mammals are warm-blooded. A tapir is a mammal. Is a tapir warm-blooded? Students are expected to answer, “Yes, a tapir is warm-blooded because it’s a mammal.” To answer this question, students need not know that a tapir is a large South American rodent. Students who are unfamiliar with the expectation that they are to reason from the information in the question will often attempt to personalize the task and respond by saying they don’t know what a tapir is.	Language Organization Talking with friends is different from talking about a lesson in class. Conversational discourse is symmetrical: that is, anyone can talk at any time, and participants can assist one another in carrying on the conversation by helping each other find necessary words and clarify ideas. In contrast, classroom instruction uses a lot of asymmetrical communicative interaction: one person talks and the other listens. Asymmetrical communication requires more language organization skills because speakers are responsible for organizing the entire discourse to be understandable to the listeners. Without their assistance, speakers must constantly remember the topic and make certain that each statement is related to the topic and to preceding and following statements. Culturally different students may experience problems with this type of discourse because they have never been expected to produce it. Consequently, tasks such as telling a story may be overwhelming, and their performance may appear disorganized.

Cultural Variations in Verbal Communication

Questions

Teachers rely heavily on questioning. Cultures vary considerably in terms of who asks questions, what type of questions are asked, and why they are asked. In all cultures people generally ask genuine questions when they need information. In mainstream American culture, however, adults engage in much pseudo questioning with children: i.e., asking questions to which they know the answers. They do this from the time children begin to talk: e.g., “What’s this?” (said while looking at a picture book). Teachers do this all the time—asking for information about the lesson they have just taught. Mainstream American children know that the adults asking the questions know the answers, and they recognize these pseudo questions as requests to perform.
Some cultural groups rarely ask pseudo questions. Native American children are unlikely to answer a question if they think the adult should know the answer. To do so would be insulting because it would suggest that the adult does not know. Shirley Heath notes that members of a black community in the Carolina Piedmont seldom asked pseudo questions. Pseudo questions were usually asked by an adult following some transgression of the child: e.g., “Who ate the last piece of cake?” A pseudo question signals to children that they are in trouble. Similarly, a Mississippi psychologist explains that she sometimes receives the response “I didn’t do it! Not me!” when she asks the question “Who discovered America?” Students believe they are being accused of a bad deed.

Reasoning Process

In everyday conversation, speakers and listeners rely heavily on the context to communicate meaning. In school, however, particularly beyond the early elementary grades, the meaning of most lessons must be transmitted by words. There are not other visual, auditory, or tactile-kinesthetic contextual cues present. Many students, including ELL students, do not have personal experiences to bring to the lesson. Formal Western education trains students to reason from the words. For example, they may be given a question couched in a syllogism:

All mammals are warm-blooded.
A tapir is a mammal.
Is a tapir warm-blooded?

Students are expected to answer, “Yes, a tapir is warm-blooded because it’s a mammal.” To answer this question, students need not know that a tapir is a large South American rodent. Students who are unfamiliar with the expectation that they are to reason from the information in the question will often attempt to personalize the task and respond by saying they don’t know what a tapir is.

Language Organization

Talking with friends is different from talking about a lesson in class. Conversational discourse is symmetrical: that is, anyone can talk at any time, and participants can assist one another in carrying on the conversation by helping each other find necessary words and clarify ideas. In contrast, classroom instruction uses a lot of asymmetrical communicative interaction: one person talks and the other listens. Asymmetrical communication requires more language organization skills because speakers are responsible for organizing the entire discourse to be understandable to the listeners. Without their assistance, speakers must constantly remember the topic and make certain that each statement is related to the topic and to preceding and following statements. Culturally different students may experience problems with this type of discourse because they have never been expected to produce it. Consequently, tasks such as telling a story may be overwhelming, and their performance may appear disorganized.