HS
According to Tani (2005), One of the most visible differences that Asian students bring to class is a low level of in-class participation. Lei (2003) also reveals a stereotype in the USA that there was a prevailing image of black girls as “loud” and “visible” and Southeast Asian male students as “quiet” and “inconspicuous”. It is not hard to notice that most Asian students in our classroom are also quiet and reluctant to express our thoughts unless we are called to. At the same time, we are talkative outside the lecture time and during small group discussions. What are the reasons?
Firstly, I think the type of instruction we received in our home countries has a strong impact on our behavior in the classroom. The traditional lecture-style teaching in most Asian countries is teacher-centered and does not provide many opportunities for students to raise questions during the lecture. For example, asking questions during a lecture is equivalent to showing lack of preparation before class and lack of respect to teachers, and by doing so a student discredits the teacher, an outcome which is not acceptable. Thus, we are accustomed to listening, thinking and taking notes instead of asking questions and expressing ourselves.
Secondly, the non-native speaker illusion and relatively inadequate English communication skill may also decrease the willingness to participate in the classroom. As for me, because of my “non-native speaker” identity, I always worry about the mistakes I may make when I speak in public. I tended to be blushing and very nervous when I spoke in front of my classmates. I also need to reflect myself when I was speaking in order to correct my mistakes as soon as possible.
It’s also possible that the traditional Confucianism culture has an influence on this situation. Most Chinese people are influenced by Confucianism whose value stresses the importance of harmony over conflict, and of collective rather than individual self-expression (Lei, 2003). These ideas may result in Chinese students preferring to ask questions and talk in private with teachers and classmates rather than in class.
The quietness in the classroom is not a decline of communication, it’s likely that Asian students just need more time to get used to new classroom culture.
References:
Lei, J. L. (2003). (Un) Necessary toughness?: Those” loud Black girls” and those” quiet Asian boys”. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 34(2), 158-181.
Tani, M. (2005). Quiet, but only in class: Reviewing the in-class participation of Asian students. In Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australia Conference, Sydney, New South Wales. Retrieved September (Vol. 5, p. 2007).
Sometimes I have the same issue, growing up in Haiti where the instruction was a teacher center style of teaching. We were not allowed to ask questions. I spend two years of my middle school in Canada, it was a type of culture shock when I see how students were interacting with their teachers. For my part, I am not so worried about the mistake but mostly about my interpretation, sometimes I feel I do not interpret things the same way as a native speaker would. I really do not know if it is a language barrier or a cultural barrier or maybe both.
As one of the quieter students with Chinese background, I think your post explains very well the reasons why we tend to be less willing to express our thoughts in class. This is probably what a class in China may be like: everyone is talking happily during the break, then the bell rings and the teacher comes in, the whole class suddenly becomes silent. Even if we are also encouraged to respond to the teacher actively, such kind of teacher-student relationship is not good for an open discussion. Individual personality can be a factor, but the national personality of Asian people may be more conservative due to the influence of the cultural background.
Fangzhe