iv Expected Behaviours in a Canadian Classroom

Consider the following expectations of students in a Canadian classroom and how that may be challenging for those outside the system. Bear in mind that students in the Canadian system have been “trained” to develop these behaviours from an early age: this is part of our school culture.

Expected Classroom Participation	Possible Cultural (Style) Conflict
Brainstorming	Throwing out half-baked ideas might involve losing face, making a fool of oneself. Also the leader should “know” and not be asking for help.
Demonstrate a broad understanding of Canadian life	Will probably lack vocabulary and experience basic to an understanding of Canada and its principally western culture. They will also lack much of the shared knowledge that makes up so much of your communication. (Nursery rhymes and stories; Sunday school in a predominantly Christian society; common literary and TV references, for instance Shakespeare, the Bible, The Simpsons).
Locate and integrate several pieces of specific information in extensive and visually complex formatted texts.	Not only will the formats be strange (government forms, workplace documentation), they may also deal with totally unfamiliar issues.
Access information ideas and information, using a variety of techniques (multimedia).	May not be familiar with handling the media (Internet, library, recording equipment) that is expected.
Present ideas and information using a variety of techniques	May not be familiar with accessing, synthesising, presenting information in oral format to peers and instructor.
Interpret gestures, stance and eye contact	Body language may send a different message than intended/may be read differently.
Observe gender portrayals in literature, inclusion and exclusion, stereotyping, respectful and disrespectful displays.	The subliminal messages may be impossible for a newcomer to assess because they are in direct opposition to the expectations of the student. (avoiding eye contact to show respect, gender roles)
Address audience appropriately and in correct context.	May not know the Canadian audience. May have had very limited contact with children, teens, elders, women, etc. since arriving in Canada.
Evaluate the subtleties and distinctiveness of ideas and information.	Abstract ideas and subtle distinctions are the last steps of language acquisition. Some topics will be totally foreign to the learner’s experience
Chooses appropriate context and language to enhance precision, unity and coherence in written work.	While we focus on organising our writing to facilitate comprehension, other cultures may focus only on content leaving the onus on the reader to make sense of the material.
Has confidence, sensitivity and flexibility to deal with audience feedback	Confidence will generally be low. May have great difficulty reading the audience reaction—-body language, restlessness, expectation of participation.
Able to scan and skim texts to extract information rapidly and effectively.	May need a lot more time to identify main ideas and locate key words. May not distinguish main idea from details. Separating essential information from a wealthy of detail is a CLB 11 skill.
Can summarise and synthesise longer texts. Can paraphrase appropriately.	May feel it is inappropriate to re-write (tamper with) written text. “How dare you” put the expert’s text into your own words. (Imagine writing your own version of sacred texts)
It is assumed that the mature student brings a lot of prior knowledge to the classroom.	Prior knowledge may be extraordinarily rich but very different that what is expected, e.g. May have experience of survival in a refugee camp but no experience of managing household accounts.
Edits for verb use, subject and verb agreement, pronoun reference, parallel structure Spelling, capitalisation and punctuation, proper references quotes, etc. Neatness and formatting	While editing for a native speaker implies improving style and checking for errors overlooked, the ESL learner will have many doubts about all of these points and will need much more time and assistance to do the editing.
Is encouraged in the expression of diverse ideas. In Canada we can agree to disagree.	Will be very uncomfortable, will fear loss of face, if ideas are not “right”. Seeks the universally accepted answer and is not happy exploring gray areas. Will need to find consensus (give in, agree) in order to belong in the group.
Uses language to enhance and facilitate group interaction	Will expect group interaction to be ‘led’ rather than ‘facilitated.’ Looks to the leader to give clear direction and does not feel it is acceptable to question the leader’s views—-especially in the presence of the group. (loss of face) Group may choose an inappropriate leader--the oldest male in the group-- and will not part from the course he has chosen.
Students invite and reflect on the responses of others to ensure that their communication is clear and achieves their purposes effectively. An atmosphere that invites risk-taking is essential.	Not likely to feel comfortable with peer feedback unless very well integrated to the class. “Others” are readily available to mainstream students; they can test materials on family members or friends from different walks of life. The newcomer's family probably does not speak English and contacts outside the family and ethnic community will be limited.
Formulates goals and plans for personal language learning based on self-assessment of achievements and needs.	Relatively recent in our school system. Completely unknown in many other countries. Goals and plans are pre-determined and from ‘above.’
Formulate goals and plans to direct language learning, investigate how various topics influence decisions and explain how new knowledge reshapes understanding. High degree of meta-cognition required.	Has probably never been encouraged to examine thought processes. Tasks and questions may be meaningless.
Explain how new knowledge reshapes understanding of texts. Evaluate implications of differing perspectives.	Difficult vocabulary and difficult concepts, new to the student—it will take time and guidance to ensure that the exercise itself is understood.
Language is essential to thought.	When the language differs, the thought will differ as well. (Asian system of counting, different organisational structures for ideas, presentation of information, etc)
Students are asked to participate, debate, present, offer opinions, make comparisons, present arguments for and against, paraphrase	In previous schooling may only have been asked to absorb (memorise) ‘knowledge.’ Rote learning of pre-digested materials is frequent.
Relationship to the teacher.	May find it hard to respect a leader (teacher) who is younger, female, or who has a relaxed and informal approach to the class. May also find it strange that the teacher admits to not knowing the answer, or asks for students to give their opinions.
Students are asked to express opinions openly, consider the opinions of others, experiment with language, examine multiple perspectives.	May be accustomed to being given one point of view and will want the “right” answer.
Plan and facilitate small group activities	The idea of working with a group to solve a problem may be unfamiliar. May expect the leader (teacher) to show the way and impose order. When the teacher does not do this, it may be perceived as a weakness (the teacher doesn’t know how to lead)

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