Author: Rachel Zhou Yanqiu Knoke Della Sakamoto Izumi
Publisher: Routledge Ltd
ISSN: 1464-5173
Source: International Journal of Inclusive Education, Vol.9, Iss.3, 2005-09, pp. : 287-311
Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.
Abstract
Recent research has documented silence/reticence among East-Asian international students, including Chinese students, in Western/English classrooms. Students' communication competence and cultural differences from the mainstream Euro-American society have been identified as two primary barriers to participation. Placing emphasis on individual characteristics of Chinese students, however, without considering aspects of the educational context with which those characteristics interact, may over-simplify and distort the mechanism underlying their silence in the classroom. Based on a qualitative study of Chinese students' experience of sharing indigenous knowledge in classroom settings of Canadian academic institutions, it is argued that the pursuit of diversity in the classroom may be compromised by classroom interactions, through which, for instance, the dynamics and quality of the knowledge exchange of students from different socio-cultural backgrounds may be adversely affected. Within this conceptual framework, the concepts ‘silence', ‘culture difference' and ‘indigenous knowledge' are re-examined; the concepts ‘reciprocal cultural familiarity' and ‘inclusive knowledge sharing' are advocated. … [W]hen I did participate, mostly because I was required to. … Students took turns to present something and that is your topic. You have to say something but even then I didn't feel that good because it seems … they didn't feel that interested, … like they couldn't follow my ideas, follow my perspective. And so it seems difficult to communicate. I think that is not just because of the language, it seems we see the same thing in different ways. (Chinese student in this study)
Related content
Rethinking Critical Thinking: Indigenous students studying at university
Teaching Education, Vol. 15, Iss. 4, 2004-01 ,pp. :
By Savage Catherine Hindle Rawiri Meyer Luanna H. Hynds Anne Penetito Wally Sleeter Christine E.
Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 39, Iss. 3, 2011-08 ,pp. :