Note to the Gentle Readers of this Blog. I am totally aware that some of the recent postings on this blog may be a bit boring to some – there are no homey pictures of Huê, nor any tidbits about food, friends, or travel. But beginning with the posting on Desk Art , I’ve had input from folks involved in teaching here in Viet Nam. This has been a stimulating and worthwhile exchange for me and for others interested in cross cultural work. For those of you who have not been a part of the conversation, be sure to read the comments below each posting.
In the post Different Perspectives , my colleague Lam Anh made an excellent comment. As always, he challenges my preconceptions and ideas with his well written thoughts. I decided his comment was too good to be consigned to the comment section where few people would see it, so have made it a stand alone posting. In his comment, Lam Anh hits many topics, not just classroom issues.
I look forward to more feedback from all of you.
Yes, you mentioned the blind men feeling the elephant, then why don’t we put our minds together so that we can see the whole elephant as it is? (Though I know that is really a big one.)
I am with you that students here are less active; they speak less and seem to participate less in class. I agree that many students have been in a non-interactive environment, especially at lower levels; and I don’t deny the fact that many classes here are basically lectures as opposed to an interactive environment. But a closer observation finds the same thing in other meetings also, not only in the class; not only in a foreign language but in the mother tongue as well. (I’m curious to know what HanoiMark saw at staff meetings? And what difference?) Obviously, there is something more than that; something culture-based that people can’t see at first sight and on the surface and a good teacher should investigate the issue to find out what is the proper way to do.
Certainly it isn’t because students are discouraged to ask questions by the teacher, at least in language classes. It is true that in the past, the English textbooks at high schools here were, for the most part, grammar-based and translation-based and some teachers did *lecture*. But today, English textbooks have put on a new face. Teaching materials partly determine teaching methods. I can’t imagine teaching those textbooks the other way… I wonder about the language teachers that Triet mentioned in Ho Chi Minh City. They can *lecture* a content-based/ dialogue-oriented textbook? And doesn’t the change in chair type at Hue College of Education that Doug mentioned mean something? Doesn’t the fact that the English Department used to divide the class into halves to make them smaller say something? (Not this year, for some reasons.) Certainly students are not discouraged to speak in English classes by the teacher.
Tu hit a good point of losing face. Yes, the Westerners focus on GUILT, the Easterners emphasize FACE. The Americans say they *agree by disagreement*, the Vietnamese think *silence means consent*, the Westerners *speak out their thoughts*, the Vietnamese *curl their tongues seven times before saying * (Americans may argue they do say *think twice* but the Vietnamese say *seven*.) If only you could see the *push-and-pull* in a Vietnamese student wanting to say something in class. That can’t be seen but just be felt; that can’t be examined from outside but from inside. Yes, we *learn by mistakes* but the notion of face plays a big part here in Vietnam.
The Vietnamese concept of modesty should be acknowledged, too. Have you ever noticed the fact that when you, as a teacher, asked a question in class, no one answered, but if you took nerve to call a certain name, very likely, he/she gave you a perfect answer? Didn’t you ask yourself why? Have you ever seen that the silent ones in class might talk more when you put them in small groups? Did you feel surprised and ask yourself how come? Have you ever questioned yourself why an individual in the class knew the answer very well but kept mute and urged his/her friend to say it out loud for him/her?
Of course, I’m not saying this to defend passive learning. I just take this opportunity to pose questions for debate and supply some food for thought. A single factor means nothing but they altogether count.
And…Once in my graduate class in Boston, a male student from (?), who is among the more silent in the class wrote in his journal that American teachers tend to judge students’ participation through what he/she says in class but they don’t know that people don’t say in class doesn’t necessarily mean people are not working. They are working in their minds!
A-ha!
Yes, that folk was and his response was eye-opening, at least to me…
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