Writing Across Borders: Thinking about cultural assumptions
Instructors need to be aware that cultural differences influence the knowledge students bring to the classroom and what they consider appropriate to discuss
A student talks about the difficulty presented by topics related to popular culture
An instructor talks about appropriate topics for class discussion or assignments. Politics, gender, and sexuality may be considered completely inappropriate topics in the students' home countries.
The instructor also explains that taking a critical stance is not encouraged in many students' home countries and being asked to do so may make students very uncomfortable.