18/05/2022 - W05 Culture Paradigms


A sentence can say more than a text, Mexican intellectual Carlos Fuentes said, "We shall know each other or we shall exterminate each other." What does it mean to know the other? There are many barriers that prevent understanding without context or without knowing the actions of a person. These can be cultural, economic, sociological, or ethnic. Which create paradigms, on which conceptualizations of something are based. Paradigm is described on the Merriam-Webster site as, "an outstandingly clear or typical example or archetype". Using simple words, I can say paradigm means the pre-established form we have of a concept or situation. Thus we can understand that a paradigm can show us some correct behavior in a different culture or country, while in our country it can be the opposite.

"We shall know each other or we shall exterminate each other." 

In real life, we ​​face endless paradigms on which our idiosyncrasy is based. We already know that this will be very different, in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, or Japan, there will be similarities, but in general, they will be very different. A point of reference is the United States, it is common for the rest of the world to know of that country through its singers, movies, television, or news, but the United States has little knowledge of what the rest of the countries are really like. But in truth that can happen in any country, in a more local way.


As an EFL Tesol teacher, each classroom we teach will be very different from another. In my country, the most common thing is that they are all from the same locality or social environment, but even so, there will be very different paradigms between them, either because of religion or home education. We must be aware of all this so that we can include each of our students in a favorable environment for learning. In large cities we may have classrooms with a greater diversity of students from other countries, we must take into account the paradigms of each of them.


Is it possible that people who arrive in a country with a different culture should be aware that they must learn the local customs to adapt faster? An EFL Teacher can be a means to help these students? Or, should the teacher expect more effort from them?





Comentarios

  1. My Little Pla.net19 de mayo de 2022 a las 3:59 p.m.

    Great Job! I agree that we should be very aware so we can help our students who may be in a more relaxed environment so they don't struggle so much through our rigid schedules.

    ResponderBorrar
  2. Tonya19 de mayo de 2022 a las 10:58 p.m.

    That Carlos Fuentes quote is so powerful. Unfortunately we see it coming true in negative ways more and more every day. You are right that the paradigms are endless in real life. The cool thing is teachers have so much power to affect change for the good.

    ResponderBorrar
  3. iSABEL21 de mayo de 2022 a las 12:10 p.m.

    I liked your questions. I used to live only six months in the USA, and I learned some of the local customs. I have three sisters living there, and they have lived its culture through their sons and daughters. But they have taught their children our culture too. Even though they don´t live in Mexico, my sisters' families live in many Mexican customs.

    ResponderBorrar

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