CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter will discuss the previous studies of different

researchers about the cultural diversity of the students and its effects.

Cultural Diversity

Cultural diversity is a broad aspect specifically when it comes to learning

environment. According to Delgado and Stefancic (2012), diversity is “the policy

founded on the belief that individuals of different races and ethnicities can

contribute to workplaces, schools, and other settings”. When viewed from a

strengths-based perspective rather than the traditional deficit model of culture,

diversity can contribute to positive learning outcomes and enhanced social

interactions in higher education settings.

According to Public Speaking Cultural Diversity Definitions, that cultural

diversity or multiculturalism is the acceptance of the various ethnic cultures in

schools, organizations, businesses, neighborhoods or cities. At the best it

involves treating impartially and fairly each ethnic group without promoting the

particular beliefs or values of any group.

Effects of Cultural Diversity in the Academic Performance of Students

The uniqueness of the students inside the learning environment has a big

impact towards everyone. Completion of a diversity course requirement reduces

students’ level of racial prejudice, and is associated with students’ cognitive

development and civic behaviors and dispositions (Bowman, 2011).

Differences of the students inside the class are a vital aspect that should

consider by an adviser. According to Futterman, L. (2015), that educators

understand that not all learners are the same, and they continue to treat all the

students in the same manner despite of the differences inside the learning

environment. Hence, addressing cultural difference in the teaching-learning

process is both important and controversial. It is important because the diverse

population of the students is increasing as well as the wide achievement gap

between minority and non-minority students. And it is controversial because

there would be a case of cultural stereotyping and making naïve attempts to

explain different achievements among students.

Being diverse of a student has an impact towards each other within the

class. Based on the idea of Lynch (2016), that a person’s culture and upbringing

has a profound effect on how they see the world and how they process

information. Like for instance, the Asian children see the world in terms of the

relationship between things, whereas the American children see the world in

terms of the objects as distinct entities. He stated the three different theories

about the effects of cultural diversity in learning environment. These includes the:

The cultural deficit theory (students cannot excel in school because the linguistic,

social, and cultural nature of the home environment does not prepare them to do

the required tasks in school); the expectation theory (focuses on how teachers
treat students); and the cultural difference theory (students who are raised in

different cultural settings may approach education and learning in different ways).

According to Wells, A., Fox, L. and Cobo, D. (2016), that diversity runs in

all directions there is increasing evidence that “diversity makes us smarter”. A

finding that selective colleges long ago embraced and increasing numbers of

young parents are coming to appreciate at the K-12 level. They added that

students’ exposure to other students who are different from themselves and the

novel ideas and challenges that such exposure brings leads to improved

cognitive skills, including critical thinking and problem solving.

Based on the idea of Maigne (2017), nowadays diversity and socio-

cultural awareness have become more important than they ever were before. A

multicultural classroom can produce great communicators since the students

have different languages, it can also make the students become open-minded

knowing that each one of them has different cultures and stories and this allows

the learners get deeper understanding in every individuals in the class, the

students can build empathy in the classroom they are able to put themselves in

each other’s shoes,and there will be a celebration of various cultures that serve

as the appreciation of each diverse students.

Rosh (2018) stated the advantages and disadvantages of cultural diversity

inside the classroom. Cultural diversity is advantageous because it gives an

opportunity to each learners acquire information about varied cultures, there

would be a rise in level of maturity in each one of them, they can have a skills for
a bright future, and can learn a new language and culture. Despite of the

beneficial effects of cultural diversity, there are still problems that it may bring

inside the classroom. It can loss the cultural identity of the students, there will be

a separation inside the class, and the teaching quality can be a main problem of

the teachers specially when the students are using various languages.

According to Zapata (2018), that diverse classroom prepares students for

career in job markets with less concern for community or national boundaries.

Various backgrounds in a classroom enable the learners to connect and

cooperate in a comfortable and creative way. This means that when students

learn to communicate with those of other races, ethnicities, and cultures it better

prepares them for the workforce. Furthermore, an integrated classroom

environment fosters creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving. People with

differing viewpoint can each bring something unique to the table.

Button (2018) stated the disadvantages of cultural diversity that includes

language barriers, social tension, and civic disengagement. This means that if

these problem exist in a learning environment there will be a problem rises,

students cannot perform well in class and they may not able to connect with the

other students since they cannot understand each other.

Review of the Related Studies

A study conducted by Yang, D., Olesova, L. and Richardson, J. (2010),

title “Impact of Cultural Differences on Students’ Participation, Communication,

and Learning in an Online Environment”, examined the perceived differences of

participants from two different cultures (1) students’ participation behavior; (2)

students’ communication styles; (3) the impact of cultural differences on their

participation, communication, and learning in an online course. Results showed

that the two groups participated equally but communicated differently in

asynchronous online discussions. And the study concluded that there is a must

for designing and implementing effective online learning environments in an

increasingly globalized world of online learning for researchers, instructors,

designers, and students.

A study conducted by Konan, P., Gabriel, M., Selimbegovic, L., et al

(2014), titled “Cultural Diversity in the Classroom and Its Effects on Academic

Performance”, results indicated that performance benefits as the percentage of

immigrant students increased across nations. Interestingly, these effects

remained significant for both native and immigrant students, once several other

predictors of test performance at the national, school, and individual levels were

controlled for. And the study concluded that the findings challenge the

assumption that the increasing presence of immigrant students in educational

institutions represents a threat to native students’ academic performance.

Another study conducted by Kilgo, C., Troilan, T., Pascarella, E., et al

(2017), titled “Engaging with Diversity: How Positive and Negative Diversity

Interactions Influence Students’ Cognitive Outcomes, showed that in a sample of

over 2,500 students at four-year institutions, 43% of African-American students

reported having a “high” number of negative diversity interactions, as well as

37% of Hispanic students and 40%of Asian students. 25% of white students said

the same. These negative experiences- which may reflect hostile, hurtful or tense

interactions with students who are categorically different from them- have

negative consequences for the development of critical thinking skills and show a

need for cognitive development among some white students and students of

color. On the other hand, all four ethnic and racial groups studied had more

positive diversity experiences than negative, 47% of African-Americans, 56% of

Hispanics, 53% of Asians, and 30% of white students. The study concluded that

positive diversity experiences, which might be associated with constructive

discussions, shared meaningful experiences or friendships across different

races, religions, genders, or ethnicities, encourages students to challenge their

viewpoints and consider complex issues.

A study conducted by Thomas, L. (2016), titled “The Impact of diversity

on Student Engagement and Academic Success”, the results showed that

Hispanic college students reported more frequent experiences with diversity that

did their Black or White peers. And the study concluded that there is no

significant relationship between diversity experiences and GPA, regardless of

gender, race/ethnicity, or generational status.

A study conducted by Maestri, V. (2017), titled “Can ethnic diversity have

a positive effect on school achievement?”, the study investigated the impact of

ethnic diversity on test scores, on top of the effect of the share of non-native

pupils. The researcher used a rich survey of Dutch primary school students and

exploit variations between subsequent cohorts within the same school as her
identification strategy. The study found that ethnic diversity has a positive impact

on the test scores of minority students, in particular for language skills. Moreover,

some evidence of a negative relationship between ethnic diversity and school

social integration. And the study recommended that ethnic diversity stimulates

language proficiency and increases the time students spend studying.