Culture and Written Discourse: Intercultural Rhetoric, Multilingual Writing

            I enjoyed reading the Kubota articles “Unfinished Knowledge: the Story of Barbara” and “Japanese Culture Constructed by Discourses: Implications for Applied Linguistics Research and ELT.” In the first article “Unfinished Knowledge: the Story of Barbara,” Kubota makes an interesting point identifying issues of power and discourse. TESOL scholars and educators need to remember that by “speaking for ELLs” they are denying them the opportunity to speak for themselves. As the article states, “a common conception underlying these articles is that Western academic traditions emphasize such values as individualism, autonomy, creativity, voice, and critical thinking, whereas the cultural background of ESL students, particularly those from East Asia, reflects quite opposite characteristics, such as collectivism, memorization, and respect for authority,” (p. 11). I was surprised when I read that Atkinson believed “critical thinking” as being a Western cultural tradition and not for ESL pedagogy. I do not think that it is fair to assume that a certain culture does not value critical thinking, especially in the Asian culture because they tend to respect authority, because then it may be a self-fulfilling prophecy. After reading Barbara’s story, I was glad to see that she was able to open herself up to getting to know and understand cultures that were different from her own, especially since she had no previous experience with other cultures. I think that it is important for teachers, who feel that they are not familiar with other cultures, to think outside the box and experience different cultures from their own because it will help them to better understand their culturally diverse students’ language and culture. But how do are we suppose to teach the importance of cultures without stereotyping?

            After reading the second article “Japanese Culture Constructed by Discourses: Implications for Applied Linguistics Research and ELT,” it made me reflect on what I have been learning in my bilingual courses and the importance of teaching culture in the classroom. According to this article, there are three models for teaching culture: the acculturation model, the pluralist model, and the critical multiculturalism model. In the acculturation model, the students’ cultures are treated as deficits and it is more concerned with teaching the dominant language and culture. The pluralist model recognizes and respects native cultural and linguistic traditions of ESL students' and wanted to preserve their native language and culture. “This model fails to interrogate the constructed nature of cultural differences and to give ESL students access to discourses of power,” (p. 26). The last model focuses on critical multiculturalism and critical literacy. This view indicates that ESL professionals need to go beyond simply affirming and respecting the culture of the Other and romanticizing its authentic voices-they need to critically explore how cultural differences as a form of knowledge are produced and perpetuated and how they can work toward transforming the status quo,” (p. 27-28). As a bilingual elementary education major, we have talked about these three models. So after reading these articles, I also question, “Should teachers not take into account any cultural differences if they are to avoid stereotyping?”