Chapter 4, Kuma.

Chapter 4 of Cultural Globalization and Language Education begins with a story about an article published in the March 19th, 1998 edition of the Seattle Times. The headline read: “Do Culture Factors Cause Air Crashes?” The story was in response to the crash of a Boeing 747 that crashed into a hill, killing 228 people onboard. The “black box” didn’t reveal any mechanical malfunctioning. Investigators tried to recreate what happened before the crash, and came to the conclusion that the Korean pilot forgot that the auto-pilot was on. The co-pilot, also Korean, noticed this and also realized the impending danger. Investigators thought that, because culturally the co-pilot was disposed to obey and not to question authority, he never spoke up to correct the captain. This cultural ‘deference to authority,’ according to investigators, might have caused the accident.
Kumaravadivelu goes on to create his own situation of what the pilot might have been thinking before his death, armed with the assumptions of the investigators. The authors resulting fictional narrative succeeds in placing doubt in the readers minds as to whether culture really is the possible reason for the plane crash.
According to Chapter 4, stereotypes permeate so much of our daily life; our thinking, what others think of us, how we react to others, how others react to us, all in a variety of different settings. I was glad that the author included in this discussion the idea that stereotypes aren’t always negative, that they can at least seem positive. Even though a stereotype may seem positive, its effect can be negative, as seen in the example given in the book concerning Asian students. These stereotypes, though mostly positive (ex, overachievers, 4.0 GPA, great in math and science) are according to the study cited in the chapter, “reinforced in the school context and contribute to a biased and limited perspective of Asian Americans.”
Reading this chapter reminded me of stereotypes that I’d come across in my travelling and in interacting with people. If you really think about it, stereotypes are everywhere! There have been stereotypes toward me as an American in a foreign country; I was told that it was easy to tell I was an American, just by the way I hurriedly got my bags out of the overhead compartment, was I being the stereotypical “pushy American” or was I in a hurry to catch my next plane? My Italian boyfriend and his family have now been in the US for about 8 years, and the number of stereotypes they’ve come across are at times laughable in their ridiculousness. “Oh, you’re from Italy! Are you in the Mafia?” “Are you gonna make me an offer I can’t refuse?” “Why don’t you sound like Mario and Luigi?”
In reality, stereotypes are always there, but it’s our job as ESL and EFL teachers not to let stereotypes interfere with the education of our students.