Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound
SMART allows us all to think through a problem in an efficient and accurate stance. By utilizing smart we can break down cultural differences and understand how others may react. This allows all of us to think clearer and more direct.
Strategic learning is when we are familiar with metacognition and our own thinking.
This allows us to actively think as someone who understands, breaks down, and develops a solution to a problem. By using our own thought process we can figure out different solutions or fix our inaccuracies, for example in language and culture.
Now we need to determine HOW we want to accomplish this task. After thinking about our strengths and weaknesses, it is easier to approach the task in an effective way.
By "planning our approach", we are able to think through a problem completely, before even facing it. This allows us to accurately plan an "escape" or "solution" to said problem.
“Metacognition is the use of reflective awareness to make timely adjustments (self-regulation) to behaviors that support a goal-directed process” (para. 1).
metacognition revolves around the ability for someone to think as an individual, and recognize their own thoughts. Without metacognition, we would be blank slates unable to be an individual.
As you can see, even actions seemingly as small as hand gestures or seating arrangements can cause some large miscommunications. As Helena explains, our own world view is likely anything but “normal”. Instead, it is a combination of our unique accumulated experiences throughout life influenced by a myriad of factors. As responsible global citizens, it’s crucial for us to acknowledge how those influences may affect our perception of the world and how we communicate.
Many different cultures use visual signs in different ways. By explaining or asking we are able to understand, communicate, and respectfully acknowledge others differences. As the learner you should be prioritizing another's culture over your own.
On the other end of the scale, cultures using low-context communication (also frequently referred to as more direct culture) tend to favor more explicit communication that doesn’t require as much interpretation on the part of the receiver
low-context communication makes things clearer and more easily accessible to a new learner. By not over-analyzing or over-explaining something we are able to learn/teach quicker and much more substantially.
Being aware that a culture we are interacting with may have some norms that are below the surface reminds us to keep our eyes, ears, and minds open.
When interacting with a new culture you need to remember that you are the student. By taking visual queues and asking questions we are able to adapt, appreciate, and include ourselves in cultures. A major example is going to a foreign country, many have different standards and manners compared to the US, and prioritizing understanding is incredibly important.
To me, the culture of volunteering involves selflessness and commitment to learning and growing.
I agree, volunteering is something that definitely is mostly selflessness. But, there are examples where both benefit, for example it could be a requirement for a Greek life organization, in that case it isn't selfless at all because we have something to gain
Languages that are majority languages in some places in the world can become minoritized in another. For example, when immigrant families come to the U.S., they bring their languages with them and usually continue to speak them at home.
I've personally witnessed this and find it super interesting. When my family moved here from Italy in the 30s, my great grandparents didn't want to speak Italian because they wanted my grandmother to be as American as possible, this caused my family to mostly lose the language as a whole.
Educational contexts, which are intended to provide equal opportunities to all students, can end up introducing and reproducing the categories of dominant versus marginal, center versus periphery, and standard-acceptable versus nonstandard-unacceptable.
How can people like myself, someone who only speaks one language, use this information to learn and teach others about the variety of languages?
Groups with economic and political power have the ability to majoritize and standardize one language variety over others.
There are a lot more global languages (English, mandarin, French, etc) that are commonly spoken among people even if they use a minority language at home. It's really interesting to look back and wonder if another country colonized the US before the western European countries, could we be speaking a different language?
power is the ability to influence or control others and language can be used to exercise that power.
Language allows us to communicate, therefore those with more language capability can communicate with more people. This allows people to gain "power" because they control the conversation.
Distinct ways to approach learning was captured in the idea of learning styles,
This term "learning styles" is constantly brought up in all aspects of life and learning. For example, many teachers, especially in high school, tend to ask for information on which "learning style" works best for a specific student. Whether it is in-person/online, hands on or visual, there's many different terms and examples of learning.
They might pick up a few words or phrases they didn’t know before
This is directly how children learn their own language, and every time I have travelled to another country I start doing the same. Language does come naturally to everyone, you just have to put yourself in the right situation.
if it is a routine, you probably do these actions without thinking about the specific procedures of how to get to your destination.
Procedural knowledge is probably the most relatable skill. Throughout my own life I go places, complete tasks, and explore things on my own based on information that's been provided to me unknowingly my entire life. Whether it's travelling to a destination I'm familiar with, or eating lunch, many easy everyday life skills are almost automatic.
Cognitivism is a vastly different learning theory from behaviorism.
While behaviorism relates more towards natural "greed" towards either bettering ones situation or protecting themselves from something that harms their situation. Meanwhile cognitivism explores ones own mental thought process towards a situation.
You might realize at this point that we too (as authors) have a language ideology in this book. Our ideology promotes the message that every language matters.
While every language does matter, that doesn't mean you have to be fluent in every language. Understanding basics of parent languages go a long way globally, and learning to use hand gestures and other forms of communication unlock communication skills we don't even know we have.
In both scenarios, your friend and Ross use language – the words “I’m fine” – but indirectly communicate that they are not fine at all. What’s the difference here?
Language extends beyond just speaking. Even in my everyday life I use hand gestures and other signals to indicate what I'm talking about. When you go to a presentation the speaker (at least a good one) constantly moves their hands to describe what they are talking about. There are many workarounds to language that we have to understand.
There is no secret code and no shortcut to language learning but there is a way to understand how humans learn languages
There is no secret because we all know the real anwser. To learn a language you need to open up your mind and be okay with new information. That is the only way to improve. Trying to directly translate word for word harms our mental state and learning capabilities
What if someone said you could only swim in the pool if you were an Olympic-level swimmer?
The mindset of "you have to be at the top level to do something" is an idea pushed into our brains at a very young age, obviously not to this extent but in many other examples. As someone who swam in high school and saw a range of different swimming levels, the idea of being the best at something to be proficient is unbelievably incorrect. While you can be above average, learning to swim, ride a bike, or paint like the first sentence said, all takes effort, energy, and time. This also applies to learning a new language, you don't have to be fluent to have a conversation, and you don't have to make yourself upset over the fact you aren't the best, it takes time.