Cultural and Linguistic Differences
Cultural and Linguistic Differences
Cultural and Linguistic Differences
Shabana P. Siddiqui
ECE 405: Children and Families in a Diverse Society
Inst. Lammert-Arndt
6/14/12
Linguistic Differences 01
People from all walks of life have gathered in the United States to live their lives. What
follows is a flood of cultural and linguistic differences. The way one person from a particular
culture would say” hi” could be another person’s cultural way of saying “bye”. When children
from different cultures, who have had cultural teachings instilled in them, unite in a classroom
setting, there is some amount of confusion and frustration. Maria a Spanish student in Mr.
Bennett’s class, is experiencing difficulty in her classroom assignments and in expressing herself
in the classroom.
Marias bilingualism is addressed with frustration and hopelessness. Mr. Bennett
expresses frustration about Marias lack of comprehension and that her parents are not
responding to his notes. Mr. Bennett has good interests and wants to help Maria but he isn’t sure
how to go about it. Maria’s unwillingness to respond to Mr. Bennett in the classroom can be due
to cultural differences. It’s possible that students in Mexico do not freely engage in a classroom
discussion with the teacher. The fact that her parents won’t respond to Mr. Bennett’s notes
home, maybe because of a lack of comprehension of the English language on the parents part.
Following are possible reasons for Marias behavior, her tardiness, and her parents’ lack
of involvement in her education: the fact that Maria won’t speak in class could be because she
may be feeling shy or may be children don’t engage in a conversation with the teacher in her
culture. Her tardiness could be the result of mismanagement of time on her parent’s part. It’s
possible that she goes to sleep late, and
Cultural and Linguistic Differences
Shabana P. Siddiqui
ECE 405: Children and Families in a Diverse Society
Inst. Lammert-Arndt
6/14/12
Linguistic Differences 01
People from all walks of life have gathered in the United States to live their lives. What
follows is a flood of cultural and linguistic differences. The way one person from a particular
culture would say” hi” could be another person’s cultural way of saying “bye”. When children
from different cultures, who have had cultural teachings instilled in them, unite in a classroom
setting, there is some amount of confusion and frustration. Maria a Spanish student in Mr.
Bennett’s class, is experiencing difficulty in her classroom assignments and in expressing herself
in the classroom.
Marias bilingualism is addressed with frustration and hopelessness. Mr. Bennett
expresses frustration about Marias lack of comprehension and that her parents are not
responding to his notes. Mr. Bennett has good interests and wants to help Maria but he isn’t sure
how to go about it. Maria’s unwillingness to respond to Mr. Bennett in the classroom can be due
to cultural differences. It’s possible that students in Mexico do not freely engage in a classroom
discussion with the teacher. The fact that her parents won’t respond to Mr. Bennett’s notes
home, maybe because of a lack of comprehension of the English language on the parents part.
Following are possible reasons for Marias behavior, her tardiness, and her parents’ lack
of involvement in her education: the fact that Maria won’t speak in class could be because she
may be feeling shy or may be children don’t engage in a conversation with the teacher in her
culture. Her tardiness could be the result of mismanagement of time on her parent’s part. It’s
possible that she goes to sleep late, and
References: Considerations in Teaching Culturally Diverse Children. ERIC digest(1992). Retrieved June 14, 2012 from http://www.ericdigests.org/1992-4/diverse.htm. York, S. (2006). Roots and wings: Affirming culture in early childhood programs (revised). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.