Each of our classrooms is affected by the
larger socio-cultural setting outside of it. The
way we teach and the way we learn reflect our
lives outside of school, including where we
were born, where we have lived, where we have
gone to school, even how our families have
interacted. As teachers, these aspects of our
lives are inextricably linked to how we think
and act, which in turn affect the way we teach
and interpret our students’ behavior.
Within the language classroom, the immediate
setting can also affect the way students
interpret written or oral texts. As teachers, we
should ask ourselves: How is the student feeling?
Is the student hungry today? Is he or she
angry? Who is sitting next to whom? Does he
or she want to be in the class? What happened
before class began? Are the desks in a row or in
a circle? Contextual issues such as these affect
the way our students interpret and respond to
our teaching and to their classmates.
In a foreign language class, students and
teachers usually share the same native language
and the same expectations of an educational
system. In a second language setting, however,
the students in a given class probably do not
have a language in common other than the
target language, and they may not have similar
expectations or prior educational experiences.
In fact, the foreign language teacher may have
an advantage over the second language teacher
because she has a better understanding of her
students’ expectations and backgrounds. In
both second and foreign language classrooms,
however, the unique social, cultural, and historical
background of each student and teacher
affects the way each teaches, learns, responds
to, and interprets others.