The teachers in the individualist country usually teach students using individualist approach while teachers in the collectivist countries teach students using collectivist approach. However, teachers and students do not usually share the same educational culture in language classrooms. The purpose of this study has two: first, to examine individualist and collectivist characteristics; second, to ascertain the students’ teaching preference whether it is individualist or collectivist approach in a British university. Participants were 19 students who study Japanese language through institution wide language program at a British university in the South of England. The collected data consist of two: questionnaire and an informal interview, both of which were conducted at the end of spring term 2019. The data were analysed using mixed methods. The quantitative results showed that students preferred a mixture of both educational cultures. The ratio of individualist:collectivist:neutral position was 74:11:16 in spite of the fact that this study was conducted in an individualist education culture. Keywords: Collectivist, educational culture, higher education, individualist, Japanese learning.
Critical thinking is one of the non-subject related learning goals which students are expected to develop in British education. Undergraduate students are offered to study language through the Institution-Wide Language Programme (IWLP) in the UK and most language teachers use Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Paying attention to these two facts, this study investigates if CLT helps develop students’ critical thinking. Using Hofstede et al.’s educational culture as a framework, the underlying pedagogies for both CLT and critical thinking were identified and the similarities and differences are compared. It was concluded that CLT helps to develop students’ critical thinking as it shares with critical thinking pedagogies and elements of an educational culture. However, the pedagogy of independence was not shared. It is suggested that language teachers should give students the opportunity to think for themselves during class in order to encourage students’ independence using CLT.
The increasing number of international students is studying at British universities. This study investigates multicultural students' preferences on teaching and learning which was conducted at a university in the South of England during 2009/2010 academic year. In the literature review, the framework used in this study is explained. The study sample was 34 students who were studying Japanese as a non-credit module. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected using questionnaires. The results showed that some students' preferred pedagogy appeared to be altered and influenced by British educational culture regardless of students' previous educational culture. In addition, the sample participants' preferred pedagogy are identified into given categories based on the framework of the study. Those who are in the teaching profession are encouraged to take into consideration of the educational cultures and teaching and learning practices from non-Anglophone countries.
This study investigates if there are any cultural influences on language teaching staff in a multicultural British university language centre operating overseas. Language teaching staff who work at British universities in the UK usually involve only two cultures (British and their mother tongue culture). If non-native nationals are involved in two cultures, it is expected that they would conform to the host country's culture. Language teaching staff in this study involve at least three cultures, that is, British, their mother tongue culture and the host country's culture. In the case of the involvement of the three cultures, where do the majority of non-native nationals conform to in a multicultural workplace in the host country? Is it the institution's country's culture where they are based in their educational operation or the host country's culture? This study looks at individual value orientation in decisionmaking and problem-solving. Discourse analysis of e-mails between 20/10/2013 and 20/01/2014 was used to focus on two main language staff (French and Japanese). The results showed that teaching staff in the multicultural workplace seemed to alter and replace their own value orientations on a mix and match basis, which may affect their preferred culture. It is also suggested that cultural acquisition could occur regardless of the establishment of one's cultural preference.Keywords British culture, French culture, Japanese culture, multicultural workplace Introduction "Three (gardens, bouquets and flowers) are related and part of the same social reality" (Hofstede et al., 2005, p. 286). The metaphor of gardens, bouquets and flowers represents society, organisations and individuals respectively. Individuals are under the influence of organisations which are also under the influence of society. It is hypothesised that an individual's value orientation and actions are influenced by the organisations and society. This metaphor also explains why those who were born, educated and work in a particular culture usually conform to their country's value orientations. Value orientation is defined as the "preferred and shared ways of perceiving the individual´s role in relation to the group, relating to each other, conceding and managing time, approaching risk-taking, and understanding tasks and relationships" (Christopher, 2012, p. 192). Value orientation usually becomes a basis for their actions of problem-solving and decision-making.Organisations and society have become increasingly more globalised and multicultural. It is common that the workplace involves more than one culture. Language centres at universities have always been a multicultural working environment. In the context of the language centres in British institutions, the non-native language teaching staff (who were not born and brought up in the UK) in the UK usually involve British and their mother tongue culture and they readily conform to British culture. However, what is the case for the non-native individuals who work in a multicultural workpl...
An increasing number of international students, whose teaching and learning practices are very different from that of the UK, is studying in the U.K. This study poses the question of whether Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is the most optimum language teaching approach in today's multicultural society regardless of cultural differences. The Japanese teaching method (Japanisation) was presented as an alternative teaching method to CLT, and the study investigates any impacts on multicultural students in Japanese language teaching at a university in the South of England. The study was conducted for one semester using two classes in 2009/2010. Two teaching methods, Japanisation and CLT, were applied. The concept of Japanisation is drawn from the study of the Japanese car manufacturing industry and transferred to the language teaching context. Three tests provided quantitative data to generate data. The quantitative results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the two teaching methods regarding the attainment in the first two tests. However, Japanisation was associated with significantly higher results in the final test, compared with CLT. The implication of this study is embedding elements of Japanisation and Japanese educational culture in the Japanese language teaching will possibly enhance students' learning of reading and written skills. Those who develop the teaching curriculum are encouraged at a strategic level to examine other educational cultures and teaching practices from non-Anglophone countries and assess how they may be combined with CLT to reflect new international characteristics of teaching and learning environments.
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