A Foreing Language Teacher as a Culture Mediator

A FOREING LANGUAGE TEACHER AS A CULTURE MEDIATOR

The mediation between cultures, that of the mainstream population and that of the linguistically diverse student populations, must be multidirectional. That is, members of the mainstream can also benefit from learning about the various cultures that PEP students represent. Teachers can play an extremely valuable role in creating a truly multicultural environment in their school by giving a prominent place to PEP students' culture in everyday school life.
A mainstream classroom teacher can play in the education of students is that of a person who facilitates the acquisition of English as a second language, especially the cognitively - demanding academic type of language that is used in content area classes. Whether in the classroom, the playground, or the school hallway, the teacher provides the student with valuable information about the new language as well as feedback regarding the student’s own language.
As a proficient speaker of English, the teacher can provide a valuable model for students that they may not get from their peers. Teachers need to provide students with feedback about their language, but they need to do so indirectly and implicitly, avoiding the mere correction and replacement of the student’s utterances.
A mainstream classroom teacher is a representative of the mainstream culture and a mediating agent in the socialization and acculturation of the student into the mainstream school community. In the case of students who come from a cultural background that is vastly different from that of the mainstream population, there is a need for developing and maintaining the social and cultural bridges between the students’ home culture and that of the school. Teachers can help students who come from a cultural background that is different from that of the school by making the norms of the school culture as explicit as possible, but in a non-threatening way. Students need time to learn...