Notes from TESOL: Laura

Thursday, 4pm

SAUDI ARABIAN FEMALES IN MIXED GENDERED U.S. CLASSROOMS: FURTHERING INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

UNC-Charlotte IEP… Jeanne McCloskey

• Saudi women in the classroom
  • sit in the front or back
  • preferred to work alone or with another woman… difficult with husband in classroom - sometimes ok if male student from another country or if chair in between
• Culture of the Classroom
  • impossible to define Arab culture
  • resist blanket statements about cultural group
  • interest in future research   
• how to teachers and female Saudis negotiate learning in the classroom?
• Lit Review
  • literature is extremely limited on this population
  • focus is on identity - Muslim, gender… International student… IEPs provided a wealth of info
  • focus on Saudis in regular university classes… also, research on Muslim-American (mostly K-12)
  • Children in K-12 settings
• Education for women in Saudi Arabia
  • elementary through higher ed separated by gender
  • 2009 King Abdullah U for Science and Tech open for men and women
• Successful Strategies
  • understanding and explaining your own subjectivity
  • establishing yourself as a trusted teacher
  • interviews, journals, and social media
  • creating classroom culture
  • design activities around students' interests
  • YOU MUST CREATE A CONNECTION WITH STUDENTS to get "approval" - it takes a long time to do this
  • Girl's night out… coffee dates… cooking day… shopping… sign up for preschool/elementary school… friends and family event
• Open Forum
  • lack of modeling of behaviors - example of new father never seeing a man do certain things like change diaper… 
  • being respectful of culture… but what about mutual respect? if they are going to enter the university, they need to interact.
  • popsicle sticks - to help facilitate good participation… 
  • what about getting information on what the system is like in Saudi… 
  • video project workaround
    • puppets to take on different personae?
  • religious discrimination concerns
    • don't have to accommodate if changing educational values?

Friday, 11:00am

Saudi Women as ESL Students

Expectations, Challenges, Solutions

Self-generated set of solutions will be offered

Problem Statement

• Saudi students in the US
• Islamic tradition
• Gender segregation
  • male teachers for females teach through CCTV or 2 way mirrors
• Coping with cultural differences

Research Questions

1) How well do Saudi women's expectations of Wester educational practices match their eventual experience?

2) Is attending classes in a co-ed environment a challenge for Saudi women? If so, why?

3) What can teachers, student, and their families do to better prepare and help Saudi women succeed in a Western education system?

Context and Study Design - IEP

     where from? married or single?

     interviewed 4 individuals

     69 questions on survey instrument  (Interview)

          also, asked questions about equality and independence

    students were intermediate level or higher - not in U.S. for longer than 11 months

Self-reported Positive self-perceptions, challenges will be discussed

     friendly teachers

     quality of instruction

     academic rigor

     comfort level in classroom?

     respect of cultural values?

     things that surprised in class?

          received grades, attendance, taken more seriously

     

Self-reported negative Perceptions

     Group work

          working with men was not mentioned? wants one-on-one interaction with native speaker

     speed of instruction (grammar class)

     tardiness policy

     the concept and interpretation of plagiarism

     biggest concern - plagiarism?! not group work?!

Challenges

     Working with male students

          no discomfort reported re: having male teachers

          different re: male students… males from other countries ok, but not Saudi males because they may laugh at her 

          majority students seemed to believe that female students should be given the choice to work with men or not

               pressure from families was not felt (except the Riyadh married)

               sometimes student feels like the other men in class might judge her for speaking with other men in the class

     stereotypes of Saudi culture and students

          teachers sometimes don't understand

          Saudi students are normal and should be treated the same as other students

     Traditional clothing

          some students changed, others did not - individual choice was mentioned

Advice for future Saudi women

     follow teachers' advice

     take it easy and it won't be hard

     study English before you come

     if you aren't strong, you can't come here

          people with no self-control should stay home

     

Pedagogical Implications

     Answers to research questions     

     Teacher/admin training

     participation in co-ed group work

     monitoring the pace of instruction

     defining expectations and rules clearly

          SO, what should we do??

               there is a fear of ridicule by Saudi men… 

                    there is a double standard for Saudi women who come to the U.S. and "change"

               recommendation - ask the students what makes them comfortable and talk to them about what to expect in the university