Foriegn Students

A detailed Summary of Foriegn Students

Sitting in my speech class last year I noticed something that was different from any class I was taking at the time or any other time. It was not the teacher or her teaching style. I observed the difference when I looked around the classroom at my peers. The students in my class were very diverse. The class was made up of freshmen through seniors and also three or four middle-aged persons. Yet, that was not the diversity that I found so differentiating it was that most of the freshmen through seniors were foreign exchange students. Those students came from countries such as Malaysia, China, Russia, and Asia. I had never really engaged in much conversation with a person from a foreign country, but this was speech class so communication with my peers was a must. I admit before I had a chance to talk to the exchange students I was guilty of a common practice. I was guilty of stereotyping. In my mind I had already assumed that the exchange students probably did not speak or understand our language very well and were going to be very shy towards their American peers. A couple of days into the class it turned out that my stereotype assumptions were not entirely true. As most stereotypes tend to be.

Two important aspect of a classroom environment, which foreigners have stereotyped, Americans are with listening and speaking. When an American is talking to someone, they alternate between looking briefly into the listener's eyes and looking away slightly. When they are listening, they look almost constantly at the speaker's eyes. Americans tend to distrust people who do not look into their eyes while talking to them and sometimes assume such persons are dishonest or have something to hide. In many countries looking directly into higher authorities eyes if considered as a sign of disrespect. In American conversations participants alternate frequently, usually after the person speaking has spoken only a few sentences. Americans prefer to avoid arguments; if argument is unavoidable, they prefer it to be restrained, unemotional and carried on in a normal conversational tone and volume. People from other countries, however, may be more accustomed to speaking and listening for longer periods when they are in conversation. They may enjoy arguing, even vigorous arguing, of a kind that Americans are likely to find very unsettling.

These are few stereotypes that I feel are played out and experienced by foreign exchange students in an American classroom. Even though I never could experience these stereotypes as a foreigner would because they are of normal culture to me, I feel the stereotypes are not degrading in anyway. The stereotypes just reflect a difference in culture.

Americans generally believe that the ideal person is an autonomous, self-reliant individual, which leads to the stereotype of American individualism. Most Americans see themselves first as separate individuals, and second as representatives of a family, community or other group. Citizens expect to be left alone by government interference. Other cultures often view this behavior as selfishness. Also, Americans are generally believed to be responsible for their own destinies and for almost everything that happens to them. Independence and individual achievement are valued above the needs of the group. Privacy is related to independence. As a part of this privacy, people will expect to be called or have an appointment to see them in advance. Most will be unhappy if someone were show up without letting them know beforehand. Many people will also not want to be disturbed at irregular hours, such as late in the evening, early in the morning, or during meal times. Because many Americans enjoy being alone and independent, they maybe perceived as cold, self-centered and lonely by foreigners.

Some common stereotyping of Americans that a foreign exchange student might have or aspects that are different from their own culture in a classroom environment have to do with American's ideas on time, conversation topics, eye contact, work ethic, and individualism.

Another stereotype is that most people in the US believe that action and hard work are morally right and that inaction or procrastination is laziness and morally wrong when it comes to work ethic. Achievement is viewed as extremely important to a sense of self-worth and accomplishment. This leads people to conclude that Americans place more emphasis on doing than on being. Practicality and efficiency are considered the most important factors in the achievement of any task. Practical solutions should be chosen over most others. This can result in a disregard for other factors, especially human factors, which can lead to stereotyping Americans as cold and uncaring. Competition in US is viewed as healthy and essential to economic success and to a democratic society. It is believed to bring out people's talent and skill and to create the best atmosphere for progress. Foreigners may perceive this as an unwillingness to cooperate as a whole or a group.

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Approximate Word count = 6707
Approximate Pages = 27 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous