Posts

6/03/2021 Week 7: Culture and Psychology

Image
  Many aspects of how we behave and think have to do not with our personal life experiences or our genetics, but with the culture in which we are immersed in. Although Western culture predominates today, in many places the cultural border means that tribes living in the same region do not understand each other by language or by customs and mentality. Psychology with culture tries to deal with the human mind based on diversity and with the cultural heritage that we receive. Culture encompasses the clothes we wear, the language we speak, the food we eat, even the way we greet each other, how we think, feel even the way we relate to each other that is why there is a very strong connection between culture and psychology, culture on all aspects of our behavior, cognition, and emotion. In Africa, especially in Madagascar, it is considered that women who give birth to twins are cursed and must kill one of them, or give them up for adoption, even leave home, It is very sad what that mo...
2 comments
Read more

1/06/2021 Week 7: Differences in Manners

Image
 It amazes me to think that although as human beings we have most of the similar routines, how our customs can vary from one country to another. Professor Ivers from BYU teaches in the video that aware of the cultural differences in manners around the world, for example in Argentina one of our customs when we eat is to put our hands on the table without resting our elbows, it is rude to have a hand under the table, or even eat with your hands without using a fork and knife when in other cultures that are allowed and are normal. The same is what can happen in our TESOL classrooms since there can be general situations such as at lunchtime where there can be different ways at the moment of eating. We have to be attentive as teachers as this can cause embarrassment, or anger among classmates due to their customs. All these situations make us see that it is not only to go and give a class, but to teach values, respect, and love for others and for being different from us. How important i...
6 comments
Read more

6/ 01/ 2021 Week 7: Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom

Image
    A monkey was at a high and safe tree branch watching the beautiful and agitated river flowing below him. The monkey spotted a fish swimming against the current and seemed obvious to the  monkey that the fish was struggling and in need of assistance, so the monkey decided to act. The kind and brave monkey risks himself to finally reach out and snatch the fish from the threatening waters, placing the fish in a safe and dry place. The monkey immediately got back to his tree branch and full of joy observed the fish jumping up and down with excitement, but soon settled into a peaceful rest. The monkey couldn’t be happier, he had helped another creature! It was written by Leonardo R. Please  This illustration seemed very interesting to me because it shows us that communication occurs in interaction with the other, and in the classrooms of the school where we find all kinds of settings that specifically influence intercultural interaction.  In classrooms where...
2 comments
Read more

5/27/2021 Week 6: Attributional Tendencies

Image
  When I read about Attributional Tendencies I found it very interesting how each culture differs in this regard. Professor John J. Ivers from BYU-Idaho University says that “ Attributional tendencies refer to what do we attribute success, to what do we attribute our failures, and to what do we attribute the successes of others, to what do we attribute the failures of others.” The interesting thing about this is that each one of us perceives the events of our life according to the culture from which we come. For example, in the image, you can see that people who live in Europe and North America is more individualistic and for them, success comes internally due to their talents and skills, as a result, that leads them to be successful and that its faults come from an external way. On the other hand, for the people who live in Africa and Asia, success comes collectively like their family and if they are not successful it is due to them.   Each of us sees reality through the g...
Post a Comment
Read more

5/26/2021 Week 6: Personal Space Differences

Image
  As a teacher, I have the opportunity to go to the classroom every day and be close to my students. Even though in the pandemic we have to keep our distance, many times it becomes difficult since students have questions when they carry out their activities or if we can look in their notebooks, and it has happened to me that when I approach them, many of them turn back. This leads me to wonder if the student is shy or embarrassed. I believe that everyone has their personal space and should be respected. Professor John J. Ivers from BYU-Idaho University says that we "have to be very careful [because] there is some very serious room for misinterpretation”. It is incredible how culture can dictate the distance that can exist between one person and another .   In my culture like Argentina, it is very common to be close to people, we greet each other with a kiss, hugs, we touch while we speak, and everything in other cultures is not allowed. For example, in Germany, it may seem i...
Post a Comment
Read more

5/24/ 2021 Week 6: Individualism vs. Collectivism

Image
  According to the article Understanding Collectivist Cultures: “Collectivist cultures are usually contrasted with individualistic cultures. Collectivism stresses the importance of the community, while individualism is focused on the rights and concerns of each person. Where unity and selflessness are valued traits in collectivist cultures, independence and personal identity are promoted in individualistic cultures.”     From my perspective, I consider that in today's world that we are living individualism can be perceived more in people, because the sooner we become independent and achieve things by our own means and talents, the better. However, if we have this perspective we can have a negative impact in the classroom with our students since there may be a lack of communication between them or teamwork. Collectivism in contrast to individualism makes us more empathic with the other person that we think about the well-being and need of the other instead of thinking ab...
2 comments
Read more

5/24/2021 Week 6: Differences in Emotional Expressivity

Image
  Emotions are part of our daily life. We express them through words, body language, or facial language. There are six universal emotions like happiness, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, and Fear. However, each of us expresses emotions in different ways. Do you know that the signs and gestures of body language have different meanings according to the culture to which we belong? Professor John Ivers from BYU-I taught: “Emotional expressivity is one of the things that are more easily misunderstood than many other things in cross-cultural differences. It’s very, very easy to interpret different ranges to misinterpret differently ranges of emotional expressivity.”  He even taught that there is a scale of emotional expressiveness where we can find groups with, high tolerant expressiveness (Hispanic and middle-east Europeans), those in the middle (USA), and low tolerant expressiveness (Asian, Scandinavian) who not show their emotions in public. Being so different in term...
1 comment
Read more