Plenary presented at the annual CoTESOL convention, Denver CO, November 11, 2011

1. Andrea
DeCapua
Helaine
W.
Marshall
The
College
of
New
Rochelle
Long
Island
University
PART
I

3. “Culture
acts
as
a
filter
or
set
of
lenses
through
which
we
view
and
interpret
the
world
around
us.”
DeCapua,
A,
&
Wintergerst,
W.
2004.
Crossing
cultures
in
the
language
classroom.
Ann
Arbor,
MI:
University
of
Michigan
Press.
(

5. I
never
care
about
reading
un0l
I
come
here
In
my
country
nothing
to
read
but
here,
everywhere
print,
words
and
signs
and
books
and
you
have
to
read

6. Needs of SLIFE
• Develop basic literacy skills
• Learn basic and grade-level subject
area concepts
• Develop academic ways of thinking
• Adapt to cultural differences in learning
and teaching

7. Two
Aspects
of
Culture
1 Ways
of
Thinking
2
Individualism
/
CollecQvism

8. Ways
of
Thinking
~
Derived
from
Learning
• Western-­‐style
formal
educaQon
• Informal
ways
of
learning

9. Western-­‐Style
Formal
EducaQon
• Abstract
knowledge
• ScienQfic
reasoning
• Logical
deducQon
• Formal
school
seVngs
• Literacy
as
central
(Anderson-­‐LeviX,
2003;
Flynn,
2007;
Grigorenko,
2007;
Ozmon
&
Carver,
2008)

10. Informal
Ways
of
Learning
• Revolves
around
immediate
needs
of
family
and
community
• Grounded
in
observaQon,
parQcipaQon
in
sociocultural
pracQces
of
family
and
community
• Has
immediate
relevance
• Centered
on
orality
(FaulsQch
Orellana,
2001;
Gahunga,
Gahunga,
&
Luseno,
2011;
Paradise
&
Rogoff,
2009)

11.
Sample
Task
(Luria,
1976)

12. Sample
QuesQon
What
do
dogs
and
rabbits
have
in
common?
(Flynn,
2007)

13. Academic
Tasks
• DefiniQons
• What
is
a
tree?
• True/False
• Denver
is
the
capital
of
Colorado.
• New
York
City
is
the
capital
of
New
York
State.
• ClassificaQon
• Categorize
these
objects

14. ContrasQng
Ways
of
Thinking
and
Learning
Academic
PragmaQc
• ClassificaQon
• Cooking
• SorQng
• Childcare
• Sequencing
• Farming
• Compare/
contrast
• Crajs
• Defining
• Religious
pracQces

15. A
ConQnuum
of
Ways
of
Thinking
&
Learning
SLIFE
Informal Western-style
Learning Formal
Education

16. Cultural Dimensions
of:
Individualism
and
CollecQvism
(Hofstede,
2001;
NisbeX,
2003;
Oyserman
&
Lee,
2008;
Triandis,
1995;
2000)

17. Individualism
• Personal
efforts
praised,
rewarded
• Personal
interests,
desires,
primary
• Personal
judgments
• Personal
responsibility
• Self-­‐actualizaQon

18. CollecQvism
• “We”
rather
than
“I.”
• People
see
themselves
as
part
of
an
interconnected
whole
• “Web”
of
relaQonships
• Group
is
more
important
than
any
single
individual

19.
CooperaQve
Learning
à
Individual
Responsibility
SAMPLE
ROLES
• Checker
• Datakeeper
• Group
Leader
• Keyboard
Operator
• Materials
Manager
• Messenger
• Permission
Giver
• QuesQoner
• Reader
• Reporter
• Summarizer
• Timekeeper
• Word
Analyst
• Writer/Recorder

20. AssumpQons
of
North
American
Teachers
and
Learners
1. The
goals
of
instrucQon
are
a) to
produce
independent
learners
b) to
prepare
the
learners
for
their
future
2.
The
learner
brings
along
a) preparaQon
for
academic
tasks
b) an
urge
to
compete
and
excel
as
an
individual
(Adapted
from
DeCapua
&
Marshall,
2011)

21. (Ibarra,
2001)