Examples of Current Issues in a Multicultural Classroom

   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.