Cultural Aspects Can Affect Comprehension

There are many books that teachers assume students will understand because there are common elements that most students see everyday; however, English Language Learners' prior experiences may have been substandard or interrupted, so reading texts that assume certain prior knowledge becomes difficult. The cultural differences for some English Language Learners (ELLs) can result in a lack of background knowledge and thus loss of comprehension. 


For example, the book Julius: The Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes has many examples of cultural differences that may inhibit comprehension for English Language Learners. One part in the story that may be hard to understand is the "uncooperative chair" that Lilly has to sit in when she is being mean to her baby brother. Many children may not know this term, or they may not know what taking a "time-out" is because of cultural differences. This can be taught to English Language Learners by acting this concept out. Another section of the book that may confuse ELLs is when Lilly says, "If [my baby brother] was a food, he'd be a raisin." This food may not be well-known in different cultures or it may not be known as disgusting as it is in most American cultures, so this comparison could cause confusion. In order to build background knowledge of raisins, have the students try them and vote as a class on their popularity. Another cultural difference that may be hard to understand is that the family in the book is having a celebration for the baby after he is born. Not all cultures have parties for events like these. This concept can be clarified through a brief discussion. Last, the book mentions lullabies. This vocabulary term may be unfamiliar to some students, especially because lullabies are not sung in all parts of the world. Once again, the class could quickly act out what this term means so there is not a culture difference affecting comprehension.


There is another book that has a few examples of cultural differences: The Little White Owl by Tracey Corderoy and Jane Chapman. There are many words and phrases in the English language that have multiple meanings. In the book, the little owl "didn't mind" that he was all alone. Mind can mean a brain or can mean bothered by something. The book also says that they could "pass the time", which some students could take literally as handing a clock to the person next to them. Pre-teaching these multiple meaning words can better comprehension. The other elements in this book seemed easily comprehensible because of the pictures, so I chose another book to analyze.


Another book with some cultural differences that may be hard to comprehend without further instruction is Gingerbread Boy by Jan Brett. One element in this story that may be better understood with further instruction is understanding what gingerbread and gingerbread houses are. What better way to explain this than to taste it? As the students are creating their ginger masterpieces, explain that this is a tradition that many people take part in in the United States. Another concept that is hard to understand when learning a new language is the vocabulary in this book such as "licking his chops".  Because chops has multiple meanings (cuts, cut of meat, lips), this part would be hard to understand. The  best way to help English Language Learners would be to pre-teach the vocabulary with a non-linguistic representation and review the words during the story. 


Overall, teachers should be aware that there are some cultural differences in literature that may be hard for English Language Learners to understand. It is our job to find a way (or many ways) to explain these foreign concepts. While teaching and explaining these ideas to English Language Learners, all other learners will also be deepening their understanding.