This book is an excellent collection of research-based papers, presenting a wide range of international scholars' orientations, viewpoints, and critical stances on cultures of learning in various contexts in different countries.
The book consists of sixteen chapters divided into four differently themed sections. The first part focuses on the concept of learning cultures, elaborated and redefined through a combination of both teachers' and learners' values, expectations, and attitudes within an educational context. A cultural synergy model is proposed as a two-way acculturation that engages participants in developing mutual awareness and understanding of each other's culture. A study of Anglophone and Chinese views on scholarship and learning reveals more commonalities than differences, which is due to contemporary China's rapidly changing cultures of learning.
The second part explores changes in cultural heritages and learning. Studies of Chinese English students show the positive and lasting effect of Confucianism with some changes in educational aims and contexts, and a high appreciation of verbal praise in the Chinese culture of learning. Kenyan and Tanzanian teacher education reform emphasizes the importance of the sociocultural context in classroom talk. A Lebanese case study discusses differences between high school and university students' perceptions of learning behaviours. An empirical study on Vietnamese students provides rich data about their collective understanding of reticence. An exploration of how Malaysian English textbooks reflect a glocal cultural content ends the second part.
The third part investigates learners' perceptions and expectations of a ‘good’ English teacher. Kazakh students' perceptions indicate an influence of different cultural traditions on learning and teaching, with multiple heritages present in Khazakh society. There are differences between Iranian students' and teachers' views about teacher efficacy and gender. Significant differences are revealed in a comparison of Finnish and Thai students' expectations regarding the teacher's position; the former view teaching as a profession, but Thais regard it as an interdependent culture of communication. Lastly, teacher identity is reconceptualized in a qualitative case study with Australian-trained ethnic Vietnamese teachers of English through their negotiation between English as a foreign language (EFL) and English as an international language (EIL) contexts.
The fourth part examines the dynamics of socialization and motivation in cultures of learning. One study shows a strong influence of learning beliefs and parental socialization on the Euro-American and Chinese children's cultures of learning. Aspects of motivation, demotivation, and remotivation are deeply explored in the three last chapters. While interest and self-efficacy are the main motivational orientations for Omani students, who are strongly influenced by their social networks, low motivated Iranian students of English are demotivated by internal factors. Finally, Japanese EFL learners' developmental processes of remotivation are investigated through various antecedent conditions over time with unintentional and intentional short or long-term coping and adaptive strategies.
This book is definitely worth reading. It redefines the concept of learning cultures within different contexts. The book will be beneficial for language learners and teachers but also useful for Western and Asian academics, to cultivate a greater understanding of the cultural influences affecting English Language Education within a global classroom context.
