5/22/20; Week 5: Response to Cultural Miscommunications Videos

It is clear from the two videos we watched (Brother Ivers’ lecture on cultural miscommunication and the HSBC commercials) that cultural differences can cause a host of misunderstandings. I experienced this on my mission in Italy. For example, Italians are very passionate and when they talk, they talk with loud voices, lots of hand gestures, and they can sound very intense. Once toward the end of my mission, I was training a new sister missionary from the U.S., and on her first Sunday, she still didn’t speak Italian very well, so she didn’t really understand much of what was said in Relief Society. To me, I had grown accustomed to how Italians spoke, and it felt like a nice, typical Relief Society lesson in Italy, but once we left, she was very worried and asked me seriously what everyone had been arguing about so intensely. I explained to her that they weren’t actually arguing at all – that’s just how Italians talk!

That’s just one example of one cultural misunderstanding I witnessed on my mission, but there were plenty more I saw and experienced, and plenty more that I have seen and experienced in other areas of my life as well. I enjoyed learning in the videos we watched about some of the specific cultural miscommunications that can arise, but I know that I can’t possibly be aware of all cultural miscommunications I could possibly have before I start teaching. So, to me, the more important thing I learned from these videos was the overarching theme that when interacting with people from other cultures, it is important not to make assumptions based on my own cultural paradigms about what their behavior might mean. I need to be aware that when someone does something that seems rude to me, rather than assume they are being rude, I need to look into the matter, ask them why they are behaving that way, and learn more about their cultural paradigms before I judge their behavior.

I also think it’s important that when we see cultural clashes in our classrooms, we help our students understand the cause of those clashes. It’s not enough just for us as teachers to understand our students’ behavior. If we want to help our students successfully adapt to American culture (assuming you’re teaching foreigners moving to America), we need to help them understand the cultural miscommunications as well.

I plan to teach ESL classes to adults in America, but I don’t yet know where in America I will teach, so I don’t know yet what the main demographic of my students will be. Once I do, I would like to do some research on the cultures my students will be coming from. Can anyone recommend a good source I can use to help me get to know my students’ cultures better, once I know what their main cultures are? That way I can try and prepare at least somewhat for potential cultural miscommunications that may arise.