A Contract Manager Abroad: Cultural Awareness in Asia

When western workers go to Asia to work, they need to learn about the culture of a country that they live in. So, the manager should avoid unnecessary problem that related to cultural differences. To avoid unnecessary problems, managers need to overcome not only the obvious language difficulties but also differing corporate cultures, work methods, national cultures, and beliefs. These problems can be best overcome by adopting a holistic approach and accepting that neither the Western way nor the Eastern way is the only way to manage.

In order to avoid unnecessary problem related to culture differences, contract-based project can be the best choice. In Asia, negotiations can be somewhat of a ritual at times where co-operation and mutual good faith resolution between the parties are always anticipated not least because the avoidance of litigation is a predominant feature (Low, 1996). This may not, in theory, be so far removed from the fundamental principles of the New Engineering Contract (NEC) contracts in the UK. Western contract managers need to adopt a holistic way of contract management thinking and to utilize return of personal
experiences, in particular those associated with cross-cultural management and politics, to organize multinational dispersed e-teams in accordance with a clear matrix of responsibilities based upon the trust equation of computer-mediated communication, competence, credibility, consistency, support, respect and honesty to achieve good collaboration.

Comic Strips: A Study on The Teaching of Writing Narrative Text to Indonesian EFL Students.

Citation : Fika Megawati and Mirjam Anugerahwati, Comic Strips: A Study on The Teaching of Writing Narrative Text to Indonesian EFL Students. TEFLIN JOURNAL, 2012, P.184-205

This research was done by Fika Megawati in MAN Bangil.  She used Collaborative Classroom Action Research in conducting this research. This research was conducted in order to know whether the implementation of Comic Strips can improve students’ English writing skill in Narrative Text. Comic strips helps students to find their idea, it is also can be attractive to students, since it consists of several pictures.

This study was conducted in two cycles. The procedures included planning, implementing, observing, and reflecting. In first cycle, the achievement of the students improved, but the improvement had not met the criterion of success yet because only 61% (not 100%) achieved the target score, 70.On the other hand, in cycle two, the achievement of the students had met the criterion of success. 31 students achieved the target score, 70. The improvement of the students score had met the third criterion of the success.

The researcher suggested that this study could be used by other teachers who want to improve writing skill, and also it is suggested that the teacher should give students attractive stories.

The Importance Of Teaching Culture In The Foreign Language Classroom.pdf

Citation : Thanasoulas, Dimitrios (2010): “The Importance of Teaching Culture In Foreign Language Classroom”,  Radical Pedagogy ICCAP. p.1-25

Culture regulates our lives at every turn. It is important to learn culture, in order to foster “empathy with the cultural norms of the target language community” and ‘an increased awareness of one’s own ‘cultural logic’ in relation to others’(Willems, 1992, cited in Byram, Morgan et al., 1994: 67). Teachers should teach this “cultural thing” to avoid misunderstanding among students with different background. So in conclusion, foreign language teachers should teach foreign culture.

Increasing students’ knowledge of the target of culture including people’s way of life, values, attitudes, and beliefs, and how these manifest themselves or are couched in linguistic categories and forms should be allowed in culture teaching. Students must be able to know how to behave, just like how their speech of act, their etiquette, connotation, and students also must know what appropriate and inappropriate behavior are. Students should also familiarize themselves with various forms of non-verbal communication, such as gesture and facial expressions, typical in the target culture, in order to avoid miscommunication and misinterpretation.

imroving students' speaking skill through communicative language teaching method

Citation : Efrizal, Dedi (2012): “Improving Students’ Speaking through Communicative Language Teaching Method at Mts Ja-alhaq, Sentot Ali Basa Islamic Boarding School of Bengkulu, Indonesia” International Journal of Humanity and Science, p.127-134

English has an important role in this era. English is used by many countries in order to communicate with people who are from different country. In Indonesia, English is taught in non-religious and religious institutions. In conclusion, in this era, to be able to communicate in English is important.

The purpose of this research is to improve students’ speaking ability by using communicative language teaching method which has communicative competence as the goal of language teaching and to develop techniques and procedures for teaching language skills. This research was designed in CAR (Classroom Action Research). The respondents of this research are VII A students of Mts Ja-alhaq, Sentot Ali Basa Islamic Boarding School of Bengkulu which consist of 25 students.

The research has four cycles in which each cycle consists of planning, acting, observing, reflecting and, evaluating. The data shows that in pre-assessment students’ speaking is 0% (excellent), 0% (very good), 20% (good) 36% (low) and 44% (failed).In cycle one there is an improvement. 0% (excellent), 8% (very good), 24% (good), 32% (low), 36% (failed).Although there is improvement, the researcher was not completely satisfied, but the researcher realized that this method will be succeed. The researcher then did the second cycle. In cycle II the students speaking achievement is 0% (excellent), 16% (very good), 44% (good), 20% (low) and 20% (failed). In cycle III students’ speaking achievement is 12% (excellent), 20% (very good), 56% (good), 8% (low) and 4% (failed). In cycle IV students’ speaking achievement is 24% (excellent), 48% (very good), 28% (good), 0% (low) and 0% (failed). This research indicates that the using of Communicative Language Teaching method can improve students’ speaking achievement at the first year students of Mts Ja-alhaq, Sentot Ali Basa Islamic Boarding School of Bengkulu academic year 20011/ 2012.

The Implementation of Theme-Based Teaching to Improve Students’ Speaking Skill (A Classroom Action Research at One Elementary Schools in Bandung)

Citation : Lathufirdaush, Fitria. The Implementation of Theme-Based Teaching to Improve Students’ Speaking Skill (A Classroom Action Research at One Elementary Schools in Bandung), Journal of English and Education, p.9-16.
The research is done on July until August at one of elementary schools in Bandung. This research was designed in Classroom Action Research which concludes 32 students of the elementary school. In this article it is clearly stated that this research is aimed to identify the improvement of young learners’ speaking skills by implementing themed-based teaching since speaking skill is claimed as the most important skill to be mastered. There are some aspects in speaking skill, including vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. Furthermore, the reason why the researcher chose theme-based teaching as an approach is because theme-based teaching offers lot of opportunities to students to speak up. Additionally, theme-based teaching is also assumed as the appropriate approach to be implemented to students since it has the same idea with curriculum 2013 about integrating the teaching and learning activities under one theme with the intention of enabling students to acquire in-depth study of the content (“What are thematic”, 2012).
This research shows that there are some improvements in each cycle after implementing theme-based teaching. The researcher chose “Friend” as the theme. In cycle 1 the students still got the low scores. There are 2 students who can’t mention the vocabularies, and 7 students who can mention all vocabulary that had been taught by the teacher, there are also a lot of mispronounces, and the students could not expresses their ideas through sentences. In cycle 2 the students can mention all keywords that the teacher has been taught although there are some mispronounces. Furthermore in cycle 2, the students can use their expression by using sentences. The meaningful activities have an important role in improving students’ skills, in this research the example of the activities are drilling, and playing games.
It can be concluded that the aspects of speaking (vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar) have been improved.

Strategies to Raise Cultural Awareness and Create Multicultural Materials and Activities in The Language Classroom

Citation : Tristana, Ana. Strategies to Raise Cultural Awareness and Create Multicultural Materials and Activities in The Language Classroom, Revista De Lenguas Modernas, p.383-390.
This article is aimed to help language teaching professionals to explore their cultural beliefs and develop skills to evaluate and create cultural materials and activities in the language classroom, since nowadays they face the challenge to incorporate culture in their instructional practice. As we know that nowadays, meeting someone from another country is not possibility anymore, it is reality that almost happened in real life. But somehow the language educators didn’t put cultural aspects in their instruction although it is a must for educators to evaluate cultural aspects in teaching and learning process. There are many reasons why this could happen. First is the assumption that language alone is enough to communicate successfully. Second is the lack of resources that address culturally relevant and appropriate issues. Third is the lack of opportunities for language teaching professionals to receive training in the field and develop cultural awareness themselves. Fourth is in some cases the apparent feeling that there is no need to explore cultural matters.
There are some strategies to raise cultural awareness and create multicultural materials and activities in the language classroom. First is reflecting on one’s own preconceptions about cultures. Consequently, requiring teacher to carry out thorough self-analysis before embarking in the task of educating their students is imperative to increase their knowledge about themselves and the world. Second is to provide culturally meaningful instruction is by carefully selecting and creating materials and activities. There are some approaches according to Ommagio, Frankenstein Approach, a little of facts from every culture, the 4-F Approach, folk dances, festivals, fairs, and food, the Tour Guide Approach, monuments and cities, and the “By-the-Way” Approach.The third is to choose the relevant material, educators should evaluate the materials and the activities before they are implied in the classroom. Hernandez-Sheets (2005) suggests three types of examinations: availability, appropriateness, and ideological perspective examinations to be carried out at the beginning of the school year or course.
From the explanation above, I suggest the educators should apply this strategy in teaching language in order to raise cultural awareness. Because, teaching language doesn’t mean we, as an educators, only teach language but also teach cultural awareness. By doing so, we will achieve the tolerance.