In the article ‘’ Examples of Current Issues in the Multicultural Classroom’’ which is
written by Merfat Ayesh Alsubaie,it is mentioned that there is a significant
relationship between culture and language.This relationship affects the
learning process in multicultural classrooms.There are some problems for both
teachers and students in multicultural education. It is hard to manage a
multicultural classroom because of the unfamiliarity between the people,their
cultures,and languages.The issues that teachers and students face in a
multicultural classroom are low academic achievement, adjustment to a new cultural
environment,and trust problems with self as well as the new culture.
Firstly, teachers and students who are from
different cultures and have different backgrounds can face with some problems
in the teaching/learning process.Teachers role is important in this issue.They
should have knowledge about approaches to help his students to make them feel
comfortable in the classroom.In multicultural classrooms,if some of the
students’ cultures are different from the culture of their new classroom,their
academic achievement can be affected badly.For example,a Chinese student who
has a Western education background can have difficulty in communication and interpersonal
contacts of a Eastern education system.So,the student may prefer to abstain or
does not want to express himself clearly,and this causes a low academic achievement.
Secondly,adjustment to a new cultural
environment is another issue in multicultural classrooms.Unfamiliar and new
environments make students reluctant to join the activities,discussion parts.
Besides,some activities which require interaction and communication may not be
applicable for all students.Because every student has different cultural
background in education,the activities such as
group study, individual learning,or cooperative learning can affect the
learning process badly. Adjustment process is an important issue for students
to become familiar with the system and the culture.
Thirdly,for multicultural classrooms,trust
problem is a significant issue.The confidence between teacher and students
affect students directly. For example,if we contrast our teacher-centered and
individual studying educational culture with the system of Finland which is
student-centered and based on activities,group studying education,a Finn
student will probably feel really nervous and hesitate to do the assignments or
activities individually in a multicultural classroom in Turkey. To provide the confidence,teacher should modify the techniques and
approaches he uses by taking into consideration the cultures and educational
backgrounds of the students. So,the students can feel respected and safe with
the other students and his teacher.
To sum up,the author mentioned the problems
in multicultural classroom. According to the aim of the author,the
article is really brief and thoughts about multicultural classroom are clear. I
think as the way he does; the problems we can face in multicultural classroom
are come from the backgrounds of students and educational culture.To prevent
the problems as low academic achievements,adjustment to a new cultural
environment,and problems with self as well as the new culture,teacher has an
important role for the adaptation period of the students with the help of
modified approaches,techniques.
