You might have a look on the web page of Doug Medin, it could be a good starting point for your research...http://www.wcas.northwestern.edu/psych/people/faculty/faculty_individual_pages/Medin.htm

I teach the same subjects in my (Bulgarian) language Bulgarian students and in English Turkish students. English is not our maternal language and this is part of problem - people think and remember in their maternal language, but listen and try understand explanation in English -they use less number of words, simple sentences, they work slowly because time for understanding is more then situation, where explanation is on maternal language. This is the reason for changing teaching methods - for these people I use images, movies, e-based lectures, more practical examples, not only speak and write on the board. When I use web- based lectures and examples the assessment of these people is better than traditional education. I published my results of this research in The Forth National Conference with International Participation on E-Learning in Higher Education(11-13.05.2012, Svishtov), but unfortunately it is in Bulgarian language.

Andreas, Thomas, Vaneta and Shima,

Your insight has been helpful in many ways. I believe that cultures learn and project their learning differently.On one hand, making lists of what-to-do tasks in the U.S. or in European Countries is only a reflection of culture.

On the other hand, Native Americans in my country use long turn-takings when talking to an audience. One person can talk for half-an-hour and then it is the moment for somebody else to speak.

As Vaneta and Shima point out, teaching these individuals is not the same as teaching an person with a European background.

I believe that teaching English to someone who is culturally different requires going beyond the European perspectives, but the North American and the European teaching trends are tremendously helpful as well.

Vaneta, is there a way, I can read your presentation? Is there a way you could explain it to me online?

Thank you Andreas, Thomas, Vaneta and Shima and to anyone who wants to chip in.

Indeed different cultures have different impact on the target language learning. In other words, the impact of the first culture on the target culture is obvious in the foreign language classroom from the beggining levels to the advanced one. For us, in Algeria, teachers cannot do an exercise where there is a little boy wanting to make dating with a girl, for a one reason it clashes with religious teachings. Also pictures of some of the prophets in one of the books of English for the intermediate students made waves in the Algerian newspapers. Besides, the thinking frame of English differs from English: the Arabic thinking is spiral while the English one is direct.

Indeed culture has a real impact on second language learning.

Thank you Bouri, I appreciate and I thank you indeed for your perspective. Yes, I believe that in North America they tend to think in one direction, but not everybody does that. The American academic way of thinking is unidirectional indeed, but with a more global world, we all need to learn from each other's culture.

Can you give me an example of spiral thinking? I mean something that one of your students has produced orally or in writing that shows that he is going in circles instead of cutting to the chase. Thank you.

:)

Hi Jose, I will translate part of my presentation in English and will send you by e-mail in next 2-3 days.

Ok, I guess that if I have a question, I can ask some questions again? Thank you Venetta.

Hello Jose,

Just a quick note with a pointer: I am interested in "culturally responsive teaching". With that keyword a number of publications should appear. I look forward to seeing more in this conversation when I check back in.

Sure Manuela,

I found in ERIC a number o titles. For example:

1. A Lesson for American Managers: Learning from Japanese Experiences in the U.S.

2. Conflict Management Styles of Turkish Managers.

3. Machismo as a Factor Affecting the Use of Power and Communication in the Managing of Personnel Disputes: Brazilian Versus American Men Managers.

I observe, however, that most of the research has been geared towards business. It seems to me that teachers and other researchers would benefit from a research-based ethnographic approach to get better results from students who belong to other cultures other than dominant ones. I would end by saying that school districts and stakeholders in general would benefit as well.

Could anyone add a comment or two about this topic?

Hello Jose, here is a book on culturally responsive teaching. I will also try to send you some article references. But this is a good start.

Gay, G. (2010). Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice (Multicultural Education Series)

Thank you Manuela.

I believe the book was written to provide answers for the American environment(s). Yet, the world is bigger and we need to include the voices and the research by other people in other countries. Even if their voices have not been heard.

Do you know someone from Finland and South Korea who could write about what they are doing to enhance and promote good teaching and in turn good evaluation results among their students?

I lived in the United States 15 years. I did my MA and my doctorate there. I worked six years in primary, secondary and college levels. I know how good you are, but I wish to know more about African teachers, Arab teachers, Asian teachers and teachers from other European countries.

How does culture affect their students' learning? How does a dominant culture interfere with the way their kids acquire English as a second language?

Dr. Gay's book is a good starting point, as is the case of Luis Moll, Lisa Delpit, Shirley Brice-Heath, and what have you. They have made a wonderful contribution to the field of research. But, there are kids who live in war torn areas who go to school and repeat sentences like: "When I grow up, I want to be a paramilitary or a guerrilla like my father".

Thus, can someone tell me how to deal with and help those kids overcome themselves and their cultures?

Thank you indeed Manuela.

I agree that a lot of the research (in almost any field) is based on few cultures. Thank you for bringing up these very challenging questions! I have worked with a colleague in South Korea on a project related to learning about and engaging in Intercultural Competence and Citizenship. What would you like to find out about contexts in South Korea? So much, as you point out has to do with rather diverse backgrounds and different contexts even in the same geographical area.

I also feel that we can learn from other research areas. Ochs and Schieffelin, for example, looked at the sociolinguistic background in first language acquisition in cultures that had previously not been studied. If we learn how our students in different settings are socialized, it will help us as educators understand them better.

I look forward to seeing more answers here as the interface if culture and education is of great interest to me.

Hi Manuela,

I read a little of O&S's comments on sociolinguistics on affect keys and various linguistic comments.They are awesome. I believe that they are entering and uniting the fields of sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics in many a way.

I consider that their research could be used to assess and empower those individuals who have historically been taught not to talk. Researchers on social class, gender, race, politics, religion and what have you might benefit from reading them.

Thanks for the info.

As we are aware that culture determines the way we speak and act in public and in the midst of our private lives, can we and our students overcome our limiting cultural backgrounds without abandoning who we are?

Labov talked about self hatred in terms of hating our own pronunciation when we have a non prestigious type of pronunciation.

How can we resist such a diaglossic feeling? How can students be helped to love their cultures even though a dominant forceful culture cut off their hair, prohibited them to use their mother languages,killed their ancestors, put their parents in jail, and and talk them explicitly and implicitly into becoming a group they are not? How can they become elements of change within themselves without destroying the culture of others?

Jose, I try to find your e-mail to sent short translation of my works, but unfortunately this was not possible. I prepare for you 3-4 pages with examples and pictures. if it is interesting for you, send me e-mail. My email is: [email protected]

Dear Jose,

You might consider the book, Geography of Mind, by Richard Nesbitt. He and his graduate students discovered that mainland Chinese do not perceive the world as western Europeans do, and I believe this insight has enormous implications for the way in which both cultures learn about their respective worlds. As an extension of this insight by Nesbitt, I'm quite sure that in general different cultures (may) learn differently and, perhaps, should be taught differently or evaluated differently within the context of western culture. Further, since the English language is the lingua franca of the world, at least for the time being, and since western culture wrapped in the milieu of English seems to hold the same position culturally, there are at least two very interesting problems to consider, first, how does the spread and, sadly, imposition of western culture on the globe affect learning in non-western cultures, and, second, what can those different cultures tell us about the diversity of learning styles that have all up to this point in time been adaptive, i.e. successful from the perspective of the evolution of those diverse cultures?

Vanetta, my email address is: [email protected]. I would like to read what you wrote in your presentation. I wrote to you directly but I don't know if I got though to you.

Anthony and others, thank you for your comments.They have been valuable and it is so difficult to make what the illiterate does not understand about the wonderful treasures of literacy. Victoria Purcell Gates wrote: "What does the world look like through the eyes of a non literate," taking into consideration that literacy and illiteracy are two different cultures (Purcell Gates, 1997) that can't understand each other.

I wish to help many teachers in my country to in turn help students, but administrators belong to a different culture. They can't see through my eyes or at least it seems they want to blind fold those who ask questions.

How can I create bridges among all these different subcultures in my geographic place? Help anyone?

Thanks. José Lobo.

Interesting question Jose. I do agree different cultures learn differently. I would wonder if the culture or beliefs definitely out rank science and the desire to learn/change as well?

Jean, Good point. I believe that science like being literate as Purcell-Gates states is part and parcel of a culture. It is a manifestation of a highly literate culture. Thank you to you all and I hope you can help me understand this from other perspectives. Maybe I am wrong I can't see through other people's eyes.

Jose, I think as human beings we learn in the same fashion, but as cultures and countries, our evaluation process of what is valuable may measure the outcomes differently.

Yes Bill. I think so too, but the context around us makes us different. I believe that British teach and learn differently from a people, for instance, in the Amazon jungles. Content needs to be taught differently.

Rachel this is great input. Thank you so much. I wish anyone could add more to the conversation. I thank you all because you are all stars.

Hi Rachel,Monticelli, This is a wonderful topic. Sorry I couldn't answer appropriately last time. You mentioned something before. It was " the idea was that cultural differences made teaching methods that work for one group not work well for another." To tell you the truth Victoria Purcell-Gates from Harvard Univeristy observed this too in regards to Apalachian kids in the United States who are having a hard time at school because school teachers, administrators and what have you do not know how to teach them. This means that they don't know their culture.

Another instance is poor kids in the Northern Coast of Colombia. Many of them are Afro-Colombian kids and they get bad results in national standardised tests.

Also, I believe that we teachers are not linking the word CULTURE with the way WE teach. We may be using European and Northamerican methods, but they might work in Europe and Northamerica, but this does not prove they work with disenfranchised kids in developing nations.

Please look at the following three videos and see how these can focus on their games, playing instruments, but at the same time, they can't focus in class. Yet, when they play games, they stay focused:

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYHLpvsCuGg

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv46GYAQdIw

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkBLDuVguBg

Sorry they are in Spanish, but you can observe how they interact and how there is a logic in what they do.

Could other researchers add something to this topic? We teachers in the world need to be more effective bearing in mind our cultural differences

Our cultural background has no doubt a great influence on the way we learn and on our learning styles and preferences; it's an interesting area to study- it needs taking multicultural groups and observing them for sometime.

I agree Fikirte. In my culture, teachers give students lots of things to memorize. When they evaluate them, they want them to analyze, think critically, and what have you. Obviously, these students tend to fail but they were never taught to analyze and draw conclusions on their own. What do you think about it? Thank you.

Individuals of collectivist, masculinity, short uncertainty avoidance, and long term orientation cultures tended to be more oriented to the Reflective Observation (RO) mode of Kolb's LSI. However, individuals of individualistic, weak uncertainty avoidance, and long term orientation cultures tended to be more of the Active-experimentation ( AE) mode. In addition, individuals of femininity cultures tended to be more of the CE mode. Overall, the information processing (AE and RO) modes were more contributory to the cultural values compared to the perception (CE and AC) modes.

Wow Rachel!!! I wonder if your experience and mine reflect in other areas of the world as well.

Learning styles are more likely to be due to individual cognitive differences but there may be some differences due to the education systems that these cultures have. Some education systems use a lot of memorising or rote learning such as China others may have a more creativity oriented system. Also if the system is very competitive or if it is more cooperative as these will affect the teaching methods. The dominant methodology may become the preferred method for the students from that culture simply because it is the only one they are familiar with. How adaptable any particular student is will probably determine how successful they are if they move from one culture to another. There is a need to research this area as there is an increasing number of international students travelling to other countries.

I agree Gary. There is a need for more studies since many international students are moving to industrial nations. There is however a trend that has not been studied yet. This means that there are international visitors and international workers coming to developing nations because of the economic crises in Europe and the United States and elsewhere. In both cases, the host culture needs to know the culture of the newcomer and the newcomer needs to know the culture of the host nation. A two-way research is indeed needed in terms of culture, adaptation, and learning towards success. I wonder what other researchers think about this topic.

I would say, everyone have their own learning style. As there are many International students at local as well as abroad studying in various varsities, it would be a good idea to do more research to find out the impact of culture to the learning styles.

I couldn't agree more Leela.

Excellent comment Kakoli. This really helps to understand culture from a social class perspective as well.

I agree Kakoli 's comments, and also I think may depend on students' family contexts, and on studies of first years of school.

Hello, everyone!

(I know that the discussion is towards 'culture' and not 'professions'...)

I mostly teach Brazilians, but when I first read the lead question I remembered about how differently my students use to take notes.

Medical doctors take note in one different way from economists and accountants.

Crisaidi, can you please tell us how both groups do it differently? Thanks.

Crisaidi, can you please tell us how they take notes differently in Brazil? Thanks.

That is what I noticed without any interest or study:

Medical doctors make lists of words in the end of their notebooks and memorize them quicklier than other students.

Economists and accountants make sheets of: verbs, house vocabulary, difficult pronunciations, articles, etc.

Crisaidi, what you just mentioned has to do with culture too. Doctors and business people function differently and do things in their cicles in distinct ways. Thank you indeed. I wonder what other differences researchers and professionals in general may have overlooked in terms of learning.

I agree with you Audra, but I was thinking about educational settings. As I am a language teacher/professor, I have observed that my students use rote learning as a way to survive in their academic world. I have seen that they spend lots of time memorizing definitions. The problem arises when they take an international test. They don't know how to make decisions, how to analyze unknow information, and how to conclude. I thus believe that their local cultural ways of learning English and other subjects become limitations when they have to deal with demanding international assessment instruments. I am interested in getting my students to be more metacomuticatively aware of their limitations as much as I am aware of my limitations as a researcher.

Hi, there is also a whole literature on the cultural-specificity of executive functions (that play a role in learning). Barbara C. Lust and Su Jyn have published a recent article about this.

Normally, it is difficult to us to learn od different cultures since, we are accustomed to our customs and try to learn the different customs from ours and it in occasions provokes rejection or that we understand the things of erroneous from. This we can observe it seeing since the persons be have when they know new customs. 

Isabelle Barrière from Long Isand University. Thank you for recommending the article by  Barbara C. Lust and Su Jyn. It was very interesting, but I am still wondering if people from different cultures learn differently. I found an article by professor Courtney Cazden and she found that Alaskan children tend to become silent when participating in classroom discussions because they wait for their elders to speak first.  This was negatively perceived by their teachers and their way of interacting had an bad impact on their grades. 

I do believe that our world cultures do influence the way we learn in educational settings. 

José Lobo, I understand your question, but when you said that some of your students weren't able to analyze questions in international tests, I remembered about students with poor backgrounds. Those who haven't been well introduced to the alphabet nor practice reading from early age. 

Crisaidi Bento Sodré, thank you for your answer. I believe that the poor backgrounds of students may have an effect on the way they learn. Also,  a person`s culture does have an effect on the way we learn and face up to things in life. I remember that in cultures such as the Paliyans of South India, adults communicate very little at all times and become almost silent at the age of 40. This cultural behavior goes in opposition to the American cultural value of being assertive or being able to express yourself in order to defend your rights. (LOBO, 2012) Thus both communication and learning are necessarily culturally situated phenomenons as well. .

Dear all, your words have helped me discover how education and culture have been so long neglected because they are seen as two separate entities. My research students are struggling with how to put together the data analysis section in their papers, They understand the words they read, but when they produce sections of their papers, they do not make sense. I have thus designed a methodology that may embrace their ways with words as Shirley Brice Heath put it in her Trackton and Roadville research. 

Dear Jose,

This is a very interesting question indeed. In some professional domains it might even be essential to address the learning approach in education to reduce work-related risk. This is definitely the case in the maritime industry where I am involved. We face the ultimate goal of turning crew members from the most varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds into a functioning team.

hi. certainly they will. learning is affected and formed by the socio-cultural context in which they learn or acquire language. the cultural setting and norms can affect our learning . as our background knowledge, they can help us to develop our cognitive frameworks. the same concepts occurring in different contexts can lead to different outcomes. best