What is intercultural communication? At its foundation, intercultural communication's objectives are to establish and understand how people from different cultures behave, think or do. Once this is appreciated it is then possible to help people overcome intercultural differences and make for a better environment.
Having studied in the local educational system for more than a decade, my learning process had always been done via imitation and observation, to reproduce the right answers when called for. More often than not, disapproval was expected from the tutor when the wrong answer was given. As such, voicing out questions and opinions in class was never encouraged in the education culture.
Even at the university level, Singapore’s education culture is still clearly evident. Many of our university lecturers come from diverse cultural backgrounds and believe in interaction and discussion to facilitate learning. Now recall a scenario in which the lecturer poses a question to the students in the lecture theatre. How many students actually offer to answer?
Time and again, lecturers/tutors end up answering their own questions after periods of awkward silence. Some eventually adapt to the culture and stop posing questions to the students, while others continue trying. Effective intercultural communication can be applied in this scenario. By understanding the local education culture, teachers can try to see the perceptions of the students and organise the lesson in a different manner, stating the expectations of the students. The body language and verbal messages are important in encouraging the students to voice their opinions; instead of rejecting with disapproval, responding positively to an incorrect answer could potentially invite conservative students to open up. Edited 04/10/11
