Calling all English Teachers in Asia!

Greetings all English teachers!

As some of you may know, I am currently working on my Master of Arts in TESOL back home in Orlando at the University of Central Florida. I’m nearly finished, but before my work here is complete I am being asked to conduct some research. My colleagues and I have been examining other areas on native and non-native EFL instruction and have devised a survey eliciting teacher opinions.

So, I am in need of your help! If you are currently (or have previously been) teaching English as a foreign language in Asia and could spare five minutes (at your desk) to complete this short survey, I would be incredibly grateful. The survey is fairly straightforward and, of course, completely confidential. There's a short section for you to add your comments as well. :)

Please share the survey with their native/non-native English teacher friends/colleagues as well. The link is provided below:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/embeddedform?formkey=dFc5VmRURXlnQl80aWtBWTd4RHNTdGc6MQ

The more participants, the merrier, so tell a friend! Most of our respondents will have experience in South Korea, but if you know anyone with experience in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan or southeast Asia that would be very helpful as well.

Thank you so much, your responses are immensely appreciated!

All the best,
Charlotte :)

Playing with Geert Hofstede's Dimensions of Culture

Geert (Hassel)hofstede...

School is back in session, and my first assignment is due today: a paper on Geert Hofstede's Dimensions of Culture. The great news? It was actually fun!

While the highly essentialist nature of this model has its obvious limitations, this comparison tool provided by the website of The Hofstede Centre gives a surprising amount of general insight between cultures, dividing them into five dimensions and giving a nice explanation at the bottom page about what they all mean.

It's fun to play with too! Below is a screenshot of the United States and South Korea. The differences in individualism are incredible to see quantified.

The tool is here: http://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html

 

It's also interesting to look at the generalized differences between cultures like Sweden and Saudi Arabia, China and Canada. Some things are surprising!

However, while I see the value in such a  generalized view, I cannot also help but conjecture that a model like this downplays the complexity of individuals and of culture. What do you think?