Abstract

This study is an examination of what cross-cultural situations students and teachers find most difficult in adult English as a second language (ESL) classrooms in Vancouver, British Columbia. Cross-cultural situations include any encounter (verbal or non-verbal) with a person from a different culture. Seventy-six advanced to upper-advanced ESL students and 20 teachers from Vancouver adult ESL schools filled out questionnaires detailing situations of cross-cultural communication. The participants rated their level of comfort and understanding on Likert scales and made written comments for each situation in the spaces provided. Nineteen students and 10 teachers were also interviewed orally and asked to elaborate on their questionnaire responses. The results from the Likert scale data and the most frequent and salient oral and written comments suggested that students had the most difficulty with language/pronunciation, classroom discussion, talking to the teacher, students and teachers acting superior, knowing when students or teachers are being impolite, accepting criticism from students, dress and hygiene, teaching style, and personal space in the classroom. Teachers rated students acting superior, cross-cultural conflicts (in general), disagreement with students, managing the interaction of loud and quiet cultures, language/pronunciation, and student unresponsiveness, adjustment, expectations, emotions, and free time as most difficult in the classroom. The findings suggest problem areas for researchers, curriculum developers, and teachers to focus on in order to improve cross-cultural communication in Vancouver adult ESL classrooms.