Diverse Learner Strategies

Recognizing Unique Characteristics of Culturally Diverse Students Based on Background

The number of culturally and linguistically diverse students is increasing in our nation and is the fastest growing group of school-aged students in the United States (Rodriguez & Lindo, 2018). More students are coming from unique backgrounds, experiences, cultures, and languages than ever before. It is important to acknowledge the different learning styles and needs that each of these students bring to the classroom. Below are unique learning characteristics for three immigrant student groups including Chinese, Mexican, and Russian students. These characteristics should be taken into account and leveraged in instructional strategies when engaging these students. Teachers should work to maintain at least a basic account of their students’ cultural characteristics such as these.

Immigrant Group

Unique Characteristics

Chinese

·        Respect elder people, teachers, and scholars (Sit, 2013)

·        Memorization is a key component of learning.

·        Modest, diligent, and hard working

·        Attentive listening is believed to be a virtue, so silence does not mean they are not engaged.

·        Taught not to question authority, so they may not ask many questions.

·        Value thoughtful questions after sound reflection

·        Believe in having strong aspirations to be successful in their studies (Mao-Jin, 2001)

Mexican

·        Family is very important (Vela et al, 2017)

·        Loyalty and solidarity to the family unit, includes family connectedness, identity, mutual activities, and cohesion.

·        Value parental support and mentoring

·        Value gratitude, optimism, and grit

·        Desire to achieve intrinsic goals by doing activities that contribute to their personal growth.

·        Desire to have passion, motivation, and purpose

Russian

·        Close friendships are important (Salikhova, 2013)

·        Communities are highly valued.

·        Less individual-minded and self-oriented than American counterparts

·        Russian culture is more collectivist focused.

·        Rapid social and economic changes is occurring in Russia is changing the landscape of school and jobs.

·        Students tend to choose vocations based on communal needs rather than individual needs

References

Mao-Jin, W. (2001). The cultural characteristics of Chinese students: A study of basic attitudes and approaches to their English studies. RELC Journal, 32(1), 16-33, https://doi.org/10.1177/003368820103200

Rodriguez, C. & Lindo, E. (2018). Culturally responsive practices in special education evaluations: A review of literature. Journal of the Texas Educational Diagnosticians’ Association, 47(2), 9-12.

Salikhova, N. (2013). Characteristics of personal value-meaning systems: A comparative study of American and Russian university students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 86, 349-354. Doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.08.577

Sit, H. (2013). Characteristics of Chinese students’ learning styles. International proceedings of economics development and research, 62(8), 36-39, https://doi.org/10.7763/IPEDR.2013.V62.8

Vela, J., Sparrow, G., Ikonomopoulos, J., Gonzalez, S., & Rodriguez, B. (2017). The role of character strengths and family importance on Mexican American college students’ life satisfaction. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 16(3), 273-285, doi: 10.1177/1538192716628958


Writing Across Content Areas for Diverse Learners

Writing across the curriculum can be a highly beneficial and productive strategy for diverse learner groups. This strategy can integrate culturally responsive teaching to meet the unique needs of English language learners (Campbell & Filimon, 2018). Writing across the curriculum also gives students the opportunity to learn course material at a greater depth (Saulnier, 2016), and it promotes critical thinking which creates deeper learning.

References

Campbell, Y. & Filimon, C. (2018). Supporting the argumentative writing of students in linguistically diverse classrooms: An action research study. Research in Middle Level Education, 41(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/19404476.2017.1402408

Saulnier, B. (2016). The application of writing across the curriculum (WAC) techniques in a systems analysis & design flipped classroom. Information Systems Education Journal, 14(4), 13-19.


Math Instructional Strategies for Diverse Learners

There are several instructional strategies for math that can be used to leverage learning in diverse student groups. These strategies are teaching self-regulation and math anxiety in students, systematically and explicitly teaching math vocabulary, giving math problems a real-world application, mathematical writing, and using personalized technology that are tailored to individual students.

Math anxiety is a common problem among students of all ages. It is correlated to lower achievement in mathematics and can be detrimental to students’ success. Therefore, it may be beneficial for teachers to use strategies that help minimize it. Some strategies may include curricular ease such as retesting or self-paced learning (Iossi, 2007). These strategies can give students the opportunity to see their improvement and work to learn the math skills that they are prepared for. Teachers can also demonstrate non-instructional strategies such as positive self-talk and relaxation therapy involving deep breathing, skipping difficult problems, and pacing (Mutlu, 2019). These math instructional strategies may encourage risk taking and increase self-efficacy in math which can help increase performance and outcomes.

The systematic teaching of math vocabulary is another essential strategy for teaching math especially to multilingual students. Direct instruction of mathematical keywords can impact students’ math comprehension and increase math vocabulary use in class (Valley, 2019). Some multimodal strategies may include writing down the words, reading the words aloud, underlining the words in word problems, and practicing identifying the words using examples and simple games. Math vocabulary is essential to mathematical comprehension and greater depth of vocabulary knowledge can benefit all students.

Another instructional strategy is to give math problems a real-world application (Rapp, 2009). This may take many forms. For culturally and linguistically diverse students, this may mean applying math problems to students’ culture, heritage, language, and background. Tailoring math concepts to social or global issues may help gifted or visual-spatial learners (Rapp, 2009). Word problems and other theoretical math scenarios can also be tailored to student interest and context.

Writing across the curriculum is another evidence-based, highly effective strategy to use in math instruction. Writing in all courses will allow students to learn material at a much greater depth (Saulnier, 2016) and promotes critical thinking and deeper learning. Additionally, mathematical writing can introduce or allow students to practice language conventions and specific formats of mathematical writing in the field. Writing in math can also give students the language and vocabulary to articulate questions and ideas which can help them learn the ideas at a deeper level.

Activities and games using technology can be a highly effective strategy for math instruction as well as math personalization. Personalized instruction is backed by strong evidence of effectiveness and can often be seen in technology tools for math instruction. Technology supports may include modeling, scaffolding, slowly fading prompts and supports, providing meaningful practice, and giving timely feedback (Kaczorowski, Hashey, & DiCesare, 2019). These types of technology-based practice have been shown to have positive effects on students’ mathematical achievement.

References

Iossi, L. (2007). Strategies for reducing math anxiety in post-secondary students. College of Education Research Conference, 30-35. http://coeweb.fiu.edu/research_conference/

Kaczorowski, T. Hashey, A. & Di Cesare, D. (2019). An exploration of multimedia supports for diverse learners during core math instruction. Journal of Special Education Technology, 34(1), 41-54. https://doi.org/10.1177/0162643418781298

Mutlu, Y. (2019). Math anxiety in students with and without math learning difficulties. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 11(5), 471-475. https://doi.org/10.26822/iejee.2019553343

Rapp, W. (2009). Avoiding math taboos: Effective math strategies for visual-spatial learners. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus, 6(2), 1-12.

Saulnier, B. (2016). The application of writing across the curriculum (WAC) techniques in a systems analysis & design flipped classroom. Information Systems Education Journal, 14(4), 13-19.

Valley, V. (2019). The impact of math vocabulary on conceptual understanding for ELLs. An Online Journal for Teacher Research, 21(2), 1-19.


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