Cultural Inquiry Process

Participant: Xinyi Luo (MSU freshmen from Zhejiang)

Social Activity Domain

Entertainment in spare
time; What the student
enjoys to do outside of
academics

Student Answers

Family life; structure of

the home

Relating interpersonally

Language
communication

Ways to integrate social activity

into classroom

Watch movies and television.

Reality TV and game shows are the
most interesting in regards to
shows in American culture
Does not enjoy video games
(Chinese stereotype)
Spend time with friends and family
member
Comic books and films based upon
the comics
Resides in a home with her
parents, and grandmother
Has older brother that now lives
with his wife, and son
Eat dinner together
Support one another in goals and
ambitions.
Fellow Spartan friends are
considered family due to her
immediate family being far away
Children do not go against what
their parents say for fear of being
disowned or disappointing them
Very shy around classmates and
those unfamiliar with her
Prefers to use messaging apps to
connect with friends
Does not use Facebook, Twitter or
Instagram due to cultural norms

Difficult to break language barrier

between oneself and professor
Students do not understand what
you say during writing prompts
Hard to make friends for fear of
saying the wrong American phrase

Let the students see

familiar film clips of
canonical texts
Give more creative
opportunities when
assessing by project
Do not assume a
student enjoys one
thing based upon their
culture, ask their likes
Relate the aspects of
family life to larger
themes within the class
Discuss family structure
during texts that have a
big focus on family
dynamics of all kinds

Provide students with a

an open and inviting
space
Let social media have a
class within the class for
communication
whether it be just for
the students or for the
teacher and students
If students cannot
effectively say what
they need in English let
them express in their
native language
occasionally
Allow students to use

Religious background

Societal structure

Work Status

Religion is something that she does

not become too involved in
Her grandfather practices
Buddhism but she and her parents
do not
Religion is not forced upon young
Chinese students within Eastern
China
Xinyi noticed the big difference in
America is there are multiple
religions and children normally
take on their parents religion
Due to censorship laws they are
not allowed to speak negatively
about their government in public
Protesting government decisions
only creates more havoc and they
take more away from the citizens
Police are prejudice against certain
Chinese from different provinces
There are still gender roles, but
they are not as bad as they use to
be
Women have more rights and
freedom away from men now
Child labor laws exist in China
where they cannot work until age
16
Most jobs are only for people 18
and older
Desires to find a job in America to
earn extra cash and gain
independence from parents
Has not had to have a job yet and
even if she gets a degree she does

dictionaries and
translators in class
Have the other students
help break the language
barrier and talk more
with non-native
speakers
Provide small everyday
writing prompts to
assist with academic
and conversational
English
Bringing religion into
the classroom is taboo
However allow students
to share values and
morals based on
religion during
discussion of texts or
ideas as well as essays

Current events become

relevant in everyday
discussion
Allow them to share
their experiences with
government and
formulate it in an
argument, thus showing
them how to create an
argumentative essay
Allow them to speak to
their cultural structures
during assignments
The drive to work can
motivate students to
accomplish goals within
the class
Ask students what their
future plans are to help
them understand why
English is relevant

not have to use it if she does not

want to

School

In china the grade scale is out of

either 100 points or 120 points
Average grade throughout subjects
was 85
Parents and older brother
attended college and have degrees
Average of 87 in her English classes
in China
Students raised hands and stood
up to speak when called upon
No group work during class
sessions
Essays in China gave you specific
prompts and asked you to develop
ideas as opposed to American
asking about personal experience

Provide more lowstakes assessments so

students are so worried
about learning just to
pass
Give students the
opportunity to freely
express themselves
without such a rigid
classroom structure
Allow students to work
in groups or opt out if
they are uncomfortable
working with others
Give students the
option to have a writing
prompt, or to create
their own.