ITA programs train graduate students to understand cultural and linguistic differences in teaching. One such difference is the amount of explicitness native speakers of English use while speaking and teaching, especially compared to those from collectivist cultures. This article offers an overview of differences between collectivist and individualistic cultures, implications for ITAs, and assignments to increase explicitness and interaction in teaching.

Collectivist and Individualist Cultures

Collectivist cultures are ones in which self-identity is with the group; family and work group goals are above individual needs or desires. Individualist cultures emphasize personal achievement and the rights of an individual over those of the group.

Hall (1981), an anthropologist who studied Native Americans, placed cultures on a continuum from high to low in terms of context. Note that cultures are placed on a continuum; the identifying characteristics are generalizations whose ranges vary. The descriptions below, drawn from Hall’s research, have been published extensively.

Collectivist, or High Context, Cultures

In a high context culture, more emphasis is on the context, around a message, than on the words themselves. In collectivist cultures, communication relies on nonverbal cues (Bennett, 1998, p. 10). Information is assumed. Focus is on the group, family, reputation, tradition, and relationship between the speakers. These cultures are often homogenous with a great deal of shared knowledge.

• People tend to have wide networks of contacts and know a little information about many subjects. They like to be well-informed.

• Many professionals are cross-trained and work in groups.

• The head of the group or organization holds a strong leadership role and takes responsibility for the group.

• Information is usually gathered holistically, or deductively, forming principles from theory, not raw data.

• Time may be flexible, with less importance placed on punctuality.
  
  

Arab, Asian, Greek, Spanish, French, Italian, African and African-American, Native American, Latin and South American, and Southern American are classified as high context cultures. Group culture advantages are group identity, protection, security, and perhaps less crime for fear of shaming the family. Disadvantages include concern about reputation, less personal freedom, and responsibilities to others that interfere with work, school, and personal time. Traditions are valued; change occurs slowly.

Individualistic, or Low Context, Cultures

Hall (1981) defines a low-context culture as one in which more focus is on the message and words than the context and on the individual identification.

• Relationships and status are more equal; people are less formal.

• Emphasis is on tasks and what needs to be done.

• People specialize in one field, with in-depth knowledge in few subjects. They identify more with a job title than the company they work for.

• Learning is analytical, inductive, starting with data to make a conclusion. Research is quantified to form a conclusion.

• Time is considered a valuable commodity.
  
  

Examples of individualist cultures include Germans, Canadians, Americans, the English, and Scandinavians. Advantages in individualistic cultures are that change and “progress” happen more quickly. One can pursue individual goals and aspirations. Disadvantages are feelings of isolation and less protection from family and employers.

Again, a culture isn’t completely either high or low context; they range on a continuum, and groups within a country can show features on both ends of the range.

Implications in the Classroom

Cultural Differences Between the Roles of Instructors

In collectivist cultures, the instructor is viewed as higher status, the authority, and is honored. Titles and last names are used. Neither teachers nor students will point out a mistake to avoid shame. Communication is one-directional.

In individualist cultures, there is less formality and status. Instructors may use their first name and admit mistakes. Students are expected to engage in two-directional learning, with questions, comments, or even challenges to the material presented. International students often struggle with participation and interrupting for clarification, even with classmates.

Communication Differences in Presentations

Communication in higher-context cultures is often circular and laced with metaphors, analogies, and implications. Presentations can be an entertaining art form. Main points, if included, come at the end of a lecture.

Teachers expect more of students, and bosses likewise of subordinates; leaders talk around a point and listeners determine it themselves. To spell ideas out for them is insulting and a violation of individuality (Hall, 1981, p. 113). To illustrate, an ITA from Greece teaching a physics lab quickly read the instructions and offered little elaboration and asked no comprehension questions. When a student asked a question, she replied that the answer was in the textbook.

In an individualist culture, communication is primarily to exchange information, so it is explicit, direct, linear, and to the point (Bennett, 1998, p. 12). Main ideas are stated in the introduction, and transitions and rephrasing add clarity. Listeners in low-context cultures require more detail than those in high-context cultures (Hall, 1981, p. 127).

Teaching Explicitness to ITAs

Assignments that include giving introductions with background information, stating main ideas, paraphrasing, rephrasing questions, and interacting with the audience not only compensate for weaknesses in clarity but also build fluency. Moreover, students are more likely to ask questions in a comfortable, interactive environment.

ITAs from collectivist cultures teaching in individualist cultures often need to learn such techniques. It is important to explain that discourse differences are cultural and used in both writing and speaking, as not to imply that individualist ways are superior to their native cultures. Also, ITAs should know that North American students are not insulted by explicitness; conversely, for example, in Chinese (which ranks as a highly contextual culture), speakers use elaboration, or telling someone more than he or she needs to know, to “talk down” to someone (Hall, 1981, p. 92). ITAs should also know that college students have varying levels of knowledge about subjects, so paraphrasing terms helps fill in gaps, gives listeners time to take notes, and compensates for possible pronunciation errors.

Activities to Help ITAs Build Explicitness in Teaching

• ITAs write 10 difficult field-specific words in sentences containing synonyms, a context, or examples that make the meanings clear. With roots and influences from many languages, English has a vast amount of vocabulary, making paraphrasing common and easy. “Do you understand?”, “Comprehend?”, “See what I mean?”, and “Get my point?”all have the same meaning. Illustrating this helps nonnative speakers deduce meaning from context. ITAs need a thesaurus, a book, or an app like http://www.thesaurus.com, or they can right click on a highlighted word in Microsoft Word for synonyms. Demonstrating this on the overhead computer screen first is important. Sentences should be checked with the instructor before ITAs record them.

• Students compare a written paragraph with a transcript of a lecture to identify repetition, rephrasing, examples, and tangents (LeBauer, 2000, pp. 8–18).

• Students outline main ideas and circle paraphrases and transitions of a transcript of a lecture from http://www.ted.com before watching it.

• Students watch a lecture of their choice on http://www.ted.com or another source and outline the main ideas. They deliver the talk in their own words. This assignment has proven most effective for implementing native-like organization.

• The definition presentation (Smith, Meyers, & Burkhalter, 1992, p. 61) requires ITAs to present a term, its importance, a definition, a rephrasing of the definition in everyday words, a relevant example, two checks for comprehensibility, and questions of the audience. Any questions asked must be rephrased to check for comprehension. Practice asking indirect questions ahead of time helps; we take turns having each ITA in the “hot seat.” One student sits in front and everyone asks a personal question, all of which are rephrased before being answered.

• After the definition presentation, ITAs have a recap presentation during which they must review the previous lecture byeliciting all the information from the audience with questions and hints. To prepare, students should review intonation of questions as well as phrases to give clues and positive feedback. (See Smith, Meyers, & Burkhalter, 1992, pp. 98–104, 75)

• ITAs must engage in interactive small talk prior to a presentation for 1 minute. This can be quite difficult for them.

• ITAs practice classroom management when classmates “misbehave” during their presentations. Slip a note instructing someone to talk to a classmate, read a newspaper, or ask inappropriate questions like “Are you married?” or “What’s happening after class?”.
  
  

It takes time to implement cultural differences in presenting ideas. However, if ITAs struggle to understand classmates from other disciplines, they quickly realize the need to add explicitness in their own teaching. After each presentation, we discuss the presenter’s strong points and effective strategies.

We cover the activities above in the listed order, except that the topic of students’ choice, called general interest, comes after we have completed presentations on a visual, a definition, its recap, a process, and presenting to a group, for which they discuss academic articles. As the expectations build, so do the students’ levels of confidence, which is most essential for anyone teaching in another language and culture.

References

Bennett, M. J. (1998). Intercultural communication: A current perspective. In M. J. Bennett (Ed.), Basic concepts of intercultural communication: Selected readings (pp. 1-20). Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.

Hall, E. T. (1981). Beyond culture. New York, NY: Doubleday.

Lebauer, R. S. (2000). Listen to learn; learn to listen: Academic listening and note-taking (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Pearson/Longman.

Smith, J., Meyers, C., & Burkhalter, A. J. (1992). Communicate: Strategies for international teaching assistants. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.

Denise Mussman teaches English for academic purposes at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, where she developed its ITA Seminar. She is a board member of MIDTESOL and the editor of New Ways in Teaching Writing, Revised, published by TESOL Press in 2014.