CCU 7

Citation:
Sultana, Sharmin. (2011). Teaching English in a cross-cultural context: challenges & directions, Nepal English language teachers association, 16(1-2): 114-123. 

After read this article journal, I have learnt that the main purpose of this research is to analyze the challenges faced by the teachers and learners, and finally, recommends some directions to embrace the challenges. Teaching English in a cross cultural context raises a number of challenges. Though we can successfully generalize and predict certain student thought, emotion and behavior patterns, there will always be exceptions to any rules we might formulate. The first and foremost problem faced in teaching English in a cross-cultural context is the language itself. Both teachers and learners face some limitations in different ways, dealing with language. The content of the language class can also be the issue of challenge.

The most challenges occur in teaching English in a cross cultural context are related to:

1.      Native English speaking teacher

Native english speaking teacher usually expect that the achievement of their students’ learning process will like the way he/she is. However, the students got problem to  follow the instructor sometimes or even they do not understand anything.

2.      Non-native speaker teacher

Some of Non-native speaker teacher are being under-estimate by their students. they think that Non-native speaker teacher are not that good compared to Native English speaking teacher. However, Non-native-speaker teacher of English are not necessarily worse off than native –speaker colleagues: they can be, and often are, as ‘expert’ in English and ELT methodology as native speakers.

3.      The learners

accuracy, appropriacy and fluency are the challenges that they usually afraid of because English is not their mother tongue.

4.      Content.

The content can be a problem because they taught by different language so it can be confused for them and can be ambiguous.

5.      Culture Shock.

This happen when there is a big cultural difference that might happen in the classroom such as Ethnocentrism, Discrimination, Stereotyping, Cultural Blindness Cultural Imposition.

Based on those challenges that happen in in teaching English in a cross cultural context, the teacher have to overcome so thatthe students will achieve the goal of the learning process itself. Personally, I think that teaching English in a cross cultural context is neither easy nor difficult. It is challenging. We can overcome the problems if we use the appropriate way to teach them.