Even though it was shown by the Classroom Observation that students were quiet
most of the time and they did not seem to volunteer to share their opinion with the class, it
was observed that they indeed listened attentively to the teacher. They were able to answer
quite effectively the teacher’s questions, and when asked to perform some activities, they did
so without much reluctance. It was also noted that the students tended to reserve their
responses unless they were called upon. Furthermore, they reported an unsafe classroom
atmosphere that made them feel uncomfortable when being called upon:
In general, the class was not stressful, but it started to seem threatening when you
(the researcher as a teacher of the class) called upon each student. You provided very
limited time for us to think about the answer and we were afraid of saying things in
English and making mistakes. (Student # H1)
However, when allowed to participate in their L1, it was found that students were
more active in sharing their opinions with the class, and were able to make a critical response
toward the passage. However, because they did not feel comfortable expressing their opinion
in English, they were assigned to write their English response to the critical questions after
reading, and present it orally in class. The following is an excerpt of their response toward the
passage, ‘The Impact of Culture on Psychology’:
I think I am an individualist because I always have my space. I don’t want to live with
friends every time. I have goals and I can complete it by myself. I don’t care if other
people don’t like me, but I care about my family. On the other hand, if I work with
other people in groups, I always respect their ideas. (Student # H2)
Cultures possibly make each individual different because of the environment. People
who live in the same family or same culture usually have some similar behavior. But
if they live in different environment, they usually have different behavior. Beliefs also
have an impact on cultural difference. If they have different beliefs, the culture will be
different, too. (Student # L4)
Transformed Practice and Evaluation
At this final stage, students identified their source of difficulty