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| ARTICLES |
| DEVELOPING CULTURAL AWARENESS AND ACCEPTANCE IN THE CULTURALLY-DIVERSE CLASSROOM |
| Cynthia McCartney, Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas, USA |
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As an instructor of ELLs in Texas Intensive English Program
(TIEP) at Lamar University, I have had students from many different
cultures and backgrounds in my classes. In these classes, I have
observed that students tend to communicate primarily with students from
their home country. Students who are the sole representative from their
culturemay experience a feeling of isolation. When this occurs, steps
must be taken to foster a sense of community in the classroom. In my class, from the first day, everyone learns the country of
origin of each student in the class. We do this as we introduce
ourselves and use the map on the wall to show the location of each
homeland represented. As we work on developing speaking skills, I
include everyone in every discussion and inquire about how the topic
relates to their culture. Subsequent student-led discussions follow this
pattern. Students from different backgrounds and cultures become
connected and work together collaboratively. The result is that everyone
is included, and this develops communication skills in the classroom.
This is especially helpful in beginning and low intermediate ELL classes
to develop listening and speaking skills. |
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