Closing The Classroom Cultural Gap

Teaching university students EFL in Japan is a joy. It can also be very challenging. I created this website with the goal to help both language teachers and students in the EFL classroom. 

​

I want us, as educators, to see beyond the surface of issues related to participation. Rather than creating presumptions about a student's personality, learning ability, interest, and general unwillingness to participate in the classroom, we should put more effort into understanding how specific cultural factors impact learning for our students.

​

Here are some helpful questions to consider:

​

1. Are my activities culturally relevant to Japanese ELs?

2. Are my expectations on participation culturally sensitive to my students?

3. What are some ways I can incorporate culturally responsive teaching methods?

4. How can I build student-student and student-teacher rapport?

5. What are culturally-related reasons why my students are silent in class? (Being shy does not count!)