Large culture refers to the social, historical, political and economical aspects that integrate the cultural baggage of a specific community, which influences people’s personality and learning process. For instance, there are some cultures which are defined as individualistic, such as the United States and Europe in general. People belonging to this type of culture behave in a way that is very centered on their own persona, giving great importance to privacy, autonomy, and their personal goals. On the other hand, collectivist societies, like China, appreciate collaboration, tolerance, norms and hierarchies. This is why, in general, collectivist cultures have low Tolerance of Ambiguity, and they use rules to avoid uncertainty, while individualist cultures are willing to take risks and like changes, which demonstrates that usually they have a high level of Tolerance of Ambiguity.
This classification of cultures according to people’s behavior and characteristics is very relevant for language learning, since it shows that people prefer or use certain styles of learning which are culturally and socially established. That’s why people coming from certain collective cultures prefer group work and autocratic teachers, while individualistic people prefer to work by their own and like to feel in charge of their own learning.
It is essential for every teacher to pay attention to this important aspect of learning so as to try to adapt our teaching style to the context we are working in. This is because, within our own society, there are many different types of “large cultures” that vary according to geographical or economical factors and have very distinctive features. For instance, it is not the same to be teaching in a high-class school than in one that is located in a shanty town, because although both groups of students share some historical or political aspects, the difference related to economic issues makes a great distinction regarding their social roles, skills, language, personality and even their beliefs and interests. In short, large culture and its various types are also very important for the teacher, since students’ interests and beliefs are shaped by these culture-related features affecting the dynamism of the learning and teaching process, as we can see in the following video:
Small culture refers to the actual location where learning takes place and where teacher-student relationships are built. Most of the time, this actual place is the classroom, but language learning can also occur in less formal situations. Within the classroom many different phenomena take place, and I call them phenomena because they are dynamic and unique processes that are different in every situation. One of those phenomena is related to the student’s perspectives on the teacher’s role. All students, whether we like it or not, have opinions about their teachers, identifying some categories that are often repeated.
These categories are: the hunging judge, entertainer, co-learner, Babysitter, etc.
Studies regarding this relationship have shown that there are 3 main teaching approaches:
- Autocratic: When the teacher is the ultimate authority and he is the only model to follow.
- Democratic: When the teacher is still seen as an authority but he acts as a guide for the students and encourages participation.
- Laissez-faire: When the teacher gives too much freedom to the students and they end up doing whatever they want.
In most cases students rejected the 2 extremes, but they felt very comfortable with the second approach. I believe this is because most people don’t like to feel intimidated and to be treated like empty vessels in a place where you have no opportunity to speak up your mind. Or, on the other hand, to be left completely alone with no guidance or support is absolutely discouraging as well. So the best alternative as teachers is to keep having the control in the classroom, but making sure that the students are also taking control of their own learning.
If you wish to learn more about different teaching approaches and how students respond to them CLICK HERE
A second language learning environment is a setting where the target language input is natural, and unlimited, since that language is the main vehicle for communication. An example of this would be learning English in the United States or any English speaking country.
On the other hand, foreign language learning environments refer to locations where the target language is not the primary mode of communication and therefore the input of the target language is very limited, for instance, learning English in Chile. In most cases, learning a language in a foreign language learning environment leads to an excessive emphasis on form and structure rather than to using the language for communicative purposes. In fact, there is a video on internet that shows this exact situation with a Chilean student.
But the main problem is that if they learn the rules by memorizing them, most problably, they will not be able to use them in connected speech and consequently, this will lower the students’ motivation and their level of English proficiency. Fortunately, what teachers can do is to try to simulate the learning of the target language in a second language environment by providing activities that are centered in developing communicative skills. In addition, since the input is limited to the language that they get in the classroom, teachers can try to encourage students to look for some other sources related to their interests to get enough input to develop a better proficiency in the foreign language.
