I directly
involved in an intercultural conflict when I was in high school. It happened in
my English class in an English education center in Hanoi. My teacher is
American. Students in the class are mostly high school students, undergrads and
postgraduates. The conflict happened during the discussion session in class. When
the teacher asked the class for their opinions, none of the students said anything.
The teacher kept asking but no one dared to speak. He stopped asking and his
face was so red. The awkward silence lasted for few minutes till the teacher
said “Excuse me” and went out of the room. We were all shocked and decided to
have the oldest student in the class to go talking to the teacher. Still, the
class at that day was canceled. In the following lesson, the teacher shared to
us that he had talked to his Vietnamese friends and understood why we did not
speak during the discussion. However, he encouraged to be more active and participated
in the discussion, at least just in our class. Afterwards, the situation got
better. Although we all were still quite shy, we eventually spoke more in the
class.
The reason
for the conflict is the difference between Vietnam and US education. In Vietnam,
education is teacher-centered. Teachers are gurus who transfer personal wisdom
and initiate all communication in the class. Students are expected to respect
teachers by listening and doing what they are told to do. Also, discussion
between teachers and students is not encouraged in class. On the other hand, US
education is student-centered according to what the teacher shared with us. Teachers
and students are equal. Students can initiate some communication in the class. And
teachers are experts who transfer impersonal truths and their main role is to
help students to learn.
What I
learned from the conflict is adaptation. In intercultural communication, it is
not about which is better or what is right or wrong, but it is how one person
can adapt to the situation that counts.
