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Diversity among the World

Edrienne B. Brown
Wesleyan College
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Diversity among the World

As a human being, we are educated on a certain form of diversity depending on our

native background. However, how do we know which term is the correct policy to use on this

strong and bold phrase? If someone were to go on Google and type define diversity, Google

would provide the smallest detail and say a range of different things. This answer is given

because it is hard to actually define what a diversity really is. Even in many places, diversity is

recognized in a cultural background, linguistic background, and even both culturally and

linguistically term. My resource focused deeply on the people who were not like me, people who

came from different homes and different nationality.

While being raised in America for my whole life, I saw the different variations of a

culturally diverse communities. A culturally diverse community was a mix of people coming

from a cultural group that is not Eurocentric or of mainstream America (Smith 77). Many of my

classmates could not share the same entertainment due to religion beliefs and practice because of

their diverse community. Some of the students beliefs made them miss their educational time to

celebrate their traditional holidays. However, I was use to growing up with that, seeing all of

these different culture walk the same halls as me, wear the same clothing, and even speak the

same language as me.

Unfortunately, I was not as exposed to diversity as I thought. When I sat down in my first

college class, it was like the whole world was put in a pot. Different people from different places

that I never even heard of speaking to each other. Was this the true meaning of diversity? Seeing

people from hidden countries on the map. Was this the definition Google warned me about when

it said that Diversity is a range of things? Or was it just the American viewpoint of the world?
Being exposed to other ethnic groups and backgrounds made me wonder what a non-

American would think about the term Diversity. So, I explored the environment around me and

met a non-American who was willing to share her opinion. Her name was Catherine (Xin) Tang
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and she grew up in Guangzhou, China. Even though she have only been studying in America for

a full year, her image of diversity changed.

She mentioned that in her hometown, she did not even have a clear definition of the word

diversity. The reason for it is because in China, majority of the people were the same race with

the same cultural beliefs, it was very uncommon to see a lot of people from around the world.

The educational system was quite similar, but she struggled with the cultural conflict. She states,

Some conflict could be avoided, if we know about other peoples culture. Because people are

from so many different places and different backgrounds, it gives an idea of what a diversity

could mean.
After her year experience in America, her definition of diversity have improved to a

higher form. Tang believes, diversity is more than respect. It equals acceptance and equals

friendship with cultural differences and communication. With acceptance to different

backgrounds, it helps us to achieve a diverse community. However, at the end of her interview

she mentioned that knowing little things about diversity made her curious to talk to others

outside of her community and learn the differences and similarities.

Coming from two different culture, we did not share the same spark for learning about

diversity. In my opinion, the little you know about a cultural diversity, the more you are willing

to grasp the idea of it. However, in a linguistic atmosphere everything around us can change.

How to teach people when their first language is something other than English?
Being culturally diverse can also have a negative effect when it comes to communication.

A movie called Dear White People, by Justin Simien, is a story about a group of black students

trying to navigate a predominantly white Ivy League school. During the scenes of this document,

red flags were shooting left and right in my head. The description of the movie was about

navigation. However, I witnessed separation among the diverse community. The black students

had their own dining hall and didnt allow for others to eat with them. I imagined what their
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definition of diversity was. They wanted to be welcomed into a majority minority school, but

vaguely listened to their other peers.

On the contrary, some of this conflict came from stereotypes. Within a cultural diversity,

stereotyping a certain belief and behavior is very common. The whites expected the blacks to act

in a certain way. While the black population rebelled against the false belief of their culture.

However, due to the poor communication of the two racial background, many conflict occurred.

If cultural diversity had a higher focus, maybe we as human being would recognize each other as

one. This reflects back on Catherine Tang quote, Diversity is more than respect. It equals

acceptance and equals friendship with cultural differences and communication.

Another form of diversity is linguistic diversity. A linguistic diversity is when a person

have a home or native language other than English (Smith 77). As native English speakers,

sometimes our school system classify the wrong group of people of having a disability just

because they are not good at our language. This definition reminds me of the ted talk Dont insist

on English!, by Patricia Ryan. She states, We English teachers are the gatekeepers. And you

have to satisfy us first that your English is good enough. Because of the low knowledge of how

to test for their understanding, these non-native speakers are put in a low level class or not even

accepted.
Ryan also clarify that, when students come to us from abroad, we may not be giving

them enough credit for what they know, and they know it in their own language. A linguistic

diversity has a strong impact on so many non-Americans today. As teachers of the 21st century, it

is best to know the difference of language differences and language disorders (Smith 78). One of

the ways of testing the abroad students are by testing them in their own language. However, the

linguistic diversity is growing day by day and some teacher may have fear of working with

students of diverse background.

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The article Linguistic Diversity and Classroom Management, by Mary Elizabeth Curran,

focused on how non-native speaker felt in an English classroom. She started her research lecture

speaking Spanish to an English speaking classroom to gather how they felt in that time frame.

Some of the students response were I couldnt understand you, so I just tuned out until you

spoke English, It took us a long time to do the assignment, or I was angry; it seemed like a

waste of my time. Curran experiment showed the same effect on the students who come to

school with English not being their first language.

Curran goes on to saying, the results of this simulation coincide with research that

shows that when students first languages are valued and fosteredthey are actually more

successful academically because they are allowed to draw on a richer and larger source of

background schemata. Allowing the comfort of speaking a native language should be praised

upon. This goes back to Patricia Ryan quote when she said, we English teachers are the

gatekeepers. And you have to satisfy us first that your English is good enough. As a class of the

21st century, education systems should not border up these students language and force them to

understand our language or be labeled with disability when they fail to please the gatekeeper.
Allowing students to talk in their native language for a while will help the student feel

welcome instead of feeling like it is a requirement to speak the same language as everyone else.

Some other good ways of welcoming students to a U.S cultural classroom is to give them a

personal buddy to work with. Even changing the way a teacher lecture his or her classroom can

make a difference. For example, if the student first language is not English, allow a visual picture

so the student can obtain a sense of idea of what is being taught.

In conclusion, when cultural and linguistic diversity is brought into a classroom, it is

challenging too teach the students, but it is not impossible. Understanding before labeling is the

key to making non-native speaker feel welcome in a new environment with different

backgrounds. Diversity is everywhere and it is our job to learn from it and grow from it.
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References
Curran, M. E. (2003). Linguistic Diversity and Classroom Management. Retrieved from

http://proquest.com/
Ryan, P. (2010 December). Dont insist on English! Retrieved from

https://www.ted.com/talks/patricia_ryan_ideas_in_all_languages_not_just_english?

language=en
Simien, J. (2014). Dear White People. Retrieved from Wesleyan College.
Smith, D. D., Tyler N. C. (2010). Introduction to Special Education.
Tang, C. X. (2016). Diversity Between two Worlds.