Month: February 2021

In what ways do you feel challenged or privileged as a communicator across cultures and languages?

Both Alden, Hedda and Marty come from different backgrounds. During our discussion we used Aldens native language, that being English. From the reading, Jane Hayman states that he then owns the discourse. We’re all from educational systems where we have the opportunity to learn a second language, but the emphasis on diving deeper into the cultural background of that specific language and culture is missing from both American and Norwegian schools. We all feel challenged in that way, that we know the language, but not so much the culture. Coming from western countries, we all have access to apps and the internet, where if we wanted to, would be able to learn another language from apps such as Duolingo. We are all very privileged to be able to travel abroad and experience the cultures we meet first hand.

Having grown up in today’s society, we all feel privileged to be able to express ourselves both through language and other social media platforms without judgement. However, we acknowledge that other races and ethnicities within our communities are not so fortunate. We can read and hear about their struggles, but will never be fully able to understand or comprehend what they are going through. Although we come from very open-minded cultures, there is still a lot of taboo surrounding hot topics such as abortion and same sex marrige. If you express opinions about disliking them in Norway, you will not be met with understanding and an entertainment of that discourse.

In Norway the childrens TV channels used to display characters who only spoke in the dialect that is used in the capital. Friends of ours who spoke a different dialect would then use the capitals dialect when they played with dolls or were roleplaying as children. This issue was brought up within society, and has now changed so that they display a range of dialects so everyone feels inclusive. Alden also expressed experiences with feeling judgement from the Chinese community when he tells them he doesn’t know the language.

Thank you!

By Orestis, Julia and Hedda

The article by Macdonald and Sundararajan showed how there isn’t a disconnect between the expectations of domestic and international students. The disconnect is not cultural, it is generational. Younger generations are growing up in a more globalized world and are therefore more open to cross-cultural experiences in the classroom. 

From an international perspective, it would be helpful if universities incorporated stronger advising in professional English language writing. Also, with the fully online environment, it’s challenging to have connections with professors to ask for additional help — such as stopping by office hours or staying a few minutes after class. 

One thing that is different about the international education and American education experience is the emphasis on personal experience. Especially in the MAPC program, students are encouraged to share their personal stories and relate the class material to their personal lives. For instance, in Norway the writing process is more strict — you might be able to add your personal opinion in the conclusion but otherwise it is very fact-based. 

A major benefit of having a class full of international and domestic students is the diversity of people and information shared. The sharing of different perspectives makes the education experience more effective. If we stay in our own groups of similar people, it’s hard to open up to other cultures. Multicultural classrooms benefit everyone involved.

Thank you!