As I sit in my crippled chair next to the exasperating heater, I began to hear many small talks prior to the start of the class. I wondered about the contents of these whispers; who talks to who? what are they talking about? And what medium are they using? It caught my attention that MA was talking MT. Both MA and TA share the same language, Arabic, and sit in the same row. OS and DH sit behind each other and share the same language, Turkish. In front of these two students, two other students who are from the same region, India, sit across from each other. I never have seen these two use their L1. They do not talk to each other that much. Near me, four students talk to each other in their L1, Korean. Sometimes they talk about things that are not related to class, and sometimes they use their L1 when talking about issues related to the class. The students who sit on the right side of the class do not talk that much. There is an Emirati, Turkish, Mongolian, Swedish, and two Korean students.
I wondered many times why the one Korean student does not talk to the other four Korean students. I wanted to ask, but it would be an odd question coming from TA in the class. So what? There was no seating chart--and everyone sat where they felt "comfortable." Even though I spoke Arabic, I did not sit near any of the three students who speak Arabic. So, why should I judge? Nonetheless, I was curious enough to ask my mentor about those students whom I decided to refer to as "The independents." I specifically asked her about the Korean student who does not talk to any of the Koreans in the class even though they are the most dominant nationality in the classroom. Although her answer was not satisfying and the statement that claims that "Asians are shy" is not the best answer, I realized that there are things about our students that we want to know about but may not be able to know about. My mentor, like me, did not have an answer. Also, I generally disapprove of general statements such as the one mentioned above. This "disapproval" may have aroused from my negative experiences with stereotypes and general claims about people. If I told myself that this student is simply shy because of her culture, I would not look for further information. And that "shy" descriptor would block my motivation of knowing why the student does not participate in class, why she/he does not make small talks with her classmates who, some, share the same nationality and tongue. Due to my desire to figure out a reason, I asked the student to fill an information sheet about her/him. I found out that he/she is a really good student. He/She has set expectations for herself. In addition, this is his/her first year in the US, which may be part of the explanation. Unlike many of the students in the class who have been in the United States for more than a year, he/she is relatively a new student in a different country. He/ She is not in any clubs and probably is not completely comfortable with the new college setting. It would be interesting to see how she/he does later on in the semester.
I wondered many times why the one Korean student does not talk to the other four Korean students. I wanted to ask, but it would be an odd question coming from TA in the class. So what? There was no seating chart--and everyone sat where they felt "comfortable." Even though I spoke Arabic, I did not sit near any of the three students who speak Arabic. So, why should I judge? Nonetheless, I was curious enough to ask my mentor about those students whom I decided to refer to as "The independents." I specifically asked her about the Korean student who does not talk to any of the Koreans in the class even though they are the most dominant nationality in the classroom. Although her answer was not satisfying and the statement that claims that "Asians are shy" is not the best answer, I realized that there are things about our students that we want to know about but may not be able to know about. My mentor, like me, did not have an answer. Also, I generally disapprove of general statements such as the one mentioned above. This "disapproval" may have aroused from my negative experiences with stereotypes and general claims about people. If I told myself that this student is simply shy because of her culture, I would not look for further information. And that "shy" descriptor would block my motivation of knowing why the student does not participate in class, why she/he does not make small talks with her classmates who, some, share the same nationality and tongue. Due to my desire to figure out a reason, I asked the student to fill an information sheet about her/him. I found out that he/she is a really good student. He/She has set expectations for herself. In addition, this is his/her first year in the US, which may be part of the explanation. Unlike many of the students in the class who have been in the United States for more than a year, he/she is relatively a new student in a different country. He/ She is not in any clubs and probably is not completely comfortable with the new college setting. It would be interesting to see how she/he does later on in the semester.