Abstract:

Korean students and Brazilian professors in a foreign language classroom are bound for many culture shocks as the learning cultures and teaching cultures of each country differ in their cores. Teachers expect students to assume a protagonist role in their learning process and students expect teachers to be the primary source of the knowledge they hope to obtain. As both agents of the teaching-learning situation believe their counterpart is at fault when not assuming a primary role, unmet expectations give room to frustration. To avoid students from drifting further apart in the necessary relationship with teachers, some strategies need to be developed. In this study, I found that assigning well planned and clarified projects with a preparation-presentation-debate structure helps bringing foreign teachers and Korean students classroom cultures to a gathering point where expectations can finally meet.

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