Personal Space Differences

 

          Personal Space Differences

    We each have a amount of space we like to keep around ourselves. This is often referred to as personal space. This is the subject I studied about this week in my TESOL class as we learned more about cultural differences and how they affect teaching English as a foreign language.

I am going to refer to two different articles for my information in this blog post. The first is found at this website   https://westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/book_of_body_language/chap9.html. I am unsure of the author. The second a lesson transcript by Professor Ivers of BYUI and is found here: https://content.byui.edu/file/b224d5c7-20ff-4f88-9660-7bfb4d1669fc/2/Personal%20Space%20Differences.html.

    Professor Ivers points out that we all have differing amounts of personal space we feel comfortable maintaining. These space requirements are often culturally instilled in our psyche. Germans, generally maintain a large personal space. In Japan, there are large men who are hired to "assist" loading on to passenger trains and subways. Anther name for these men are 'pushers' as they shove and push passengers into the crowded trains to insure more people fit. The Japanese culture allows for a closer amount of personal space.

 While I think we here in the USA are more in the middle of those two, even here there is a large difference of opinion between different areas (southern, northern ...) and the size of the town or city we reside in. In the 'Book of Body Language' the reasons for this difference is noted as cultural also. They speculate it is due in part to the closeness between housing. Those of urban living tend to have a larger need for personal space, while those in large cities have a smaller need for their personal space.

    Regardless of the size of the distance required, I found it intriguing we each need a set amount of space. Even animals have their own requirements for space. This was an interesting subject.

When I become a teacher, I will need to account for the different spatial needs of my student. Learning a foreign language will already be hard. It will be up to me to understand the student's needs so I do not make it any harder.

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