Effective teaching strategies in the culturally diverse classroom

Abstract

Many tertiary institutes in New Zealand have a large percentage of students who have English as an alternative language (EAL). The international students are primarily from Asia and have a Confucian Heritage Culture (CHC) background. The diverse needs of this student set have called for new applications of classroom teaching strategies. The key recurrent message from New Zealand industry, relates to the need for independent minded students with good problemsolving and communication skills in the workplace. Students with CHC backgrounds from Asian countries are not familiar with these skills, since they are not emphasised in their secondary education. This can create challenges for the New Zealand Lecturer who needs to manage the culturally diverse learning skills of the students whilst meeting industry requirements. This paper proposes a range of classroom teaching practices based upon a student-centered approach to learning that encourages EAL/CHC students to be more independent, critical thinkers with appropriate business communication skills.