The World of Intercultural Classrooms
The world is developing to a point where people from different countries come together in schools to study. People from all walks of life converge in a classroom to study a common subject but there seems to be a lot of difficulties. Most of the people have come from different backgrounds and they find it difficult to adapt to the new situation. This paper will discuss how issues of microaggressions, intercultural competencies, bias, privilege, cultural variations and hegemony of English manifest in the classroom as depicted in the movie "Culture A Different Place Intercultural Classroom 19 32".
Microaggressions and Intercultural Conflict
The international students experience a fair share of microaggression especially from the people of the country. According to the discussion at hand, many people try to give their views depending on their culture. The Americans, on the other hand, are defensive of their actions and do not understand the difficulties faced by the other international students. It not only happens in class but outside too. Esteban complains of an incident where somebody would ask about how he is doing but is too busy to listen to the response Esteban was to give (Arnold, 2014).
The Role of Intercultural Competencies
Professor Larry Ford is a man in the middle of all this confusion but is able to manage them better because of his Intercultural competencies. He has the abilities such as cognitive and behavioral skills that enable him to connect to the different cultures in his class. This has made him become one of the few people to whom the international students can relate to as he has better, appropriate and effective communication skills.
Cultural Differences and Communication Challenges
Ming is an international student from the Peoples Republic of China who struggles with communication. He explains a situation when he was called to the office by Professor Ford. He was asked if he copied his work from a book but he said it is something he would never do (Arnold, 2014). In short, the professor is more inclined to the American way of education and does not allow other forms demonstrated by international students. He wants to get personal opinions which Americo and Ming are not easily adapted to based on their culture.
Privilege and Cultural Variation
The Americans have more privilege in class depending on the mode of teaching they have been brought up in. Ming finds it extremely difficult to interrupt the professor but that seems not to be an issue with the Americans. Americo feels that her opinion does not really matter since her culture only allows her to speak if she has something very important to say. The Americans are more privileged and can continue with their studies much better because everything is normal.
Cultural Differences in Speech and Arguments
Most of the people in the class come from different cultural backgrounds. This is manifested in the mode with which they carry out themselves, their speech and also in how they argue. Ming says that The Americans speak like a machine gun which is not common in their culture. Katya, on the other hand, argues all the time because her culture allows her to stand for herself. Estebon argues with Charlie and Katya jumps in because of the vast cultural differences that do not allow them to have a common ground.
The Hegemony of English
The hegemony of English is seen in the movie as everybody tries to speak English even though they have their personal languages. Ming is Chinese but he tries to speak English, Estebon is Spanish but speaks English. The same can be seen in Katya, Americo and Simon who are all struggling to speak English as it is not their first language (Arnold, 2014). English has dominated the world and everybody tries to speak it as depicted in the movie.
Reference
Arnold, R. (2014, July 10). CULTURE A Different Place Intercultural Classroom 19 32 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xquMVmuNM5c.
