Teaching Taboos : Unconventional Resources for the Rhetoric Classroom

There have been discovered a number of advantages, both practical and personal, associated with the teaching of taboos in class. In the first place, controversial topics such as taboos are quite productive in terms of allowing students to practise the kinds of skills that we teach in the rhetoric classroom. The challenging nature of a unit on taboos encourages students to learn to apply critical thinking skills to academic processes like reading, composition, argumentation, revision, and research presentation.

Also, readings on taboo subject matter are often missing from both the typical rhetoric anthology and the syllabi of our students' other coursework. The subject matter of our particular units on race and gender are also especially suited to the classroom because they help to drive home to students that the ways in which our words are used, and the manner in which we intellectually frame the objects of our discourse, matter. Language taboos are all about who gets to say what and how they can

Once students are convinced that taboos are culturally constructed, it is worthwhile to transition to thinking about the consequences that such taboos have for the lives of real people.

Finally, teaching taboos has brought about some personal benefits for our students that we did not expect. For many of our students, writing is a rather scary proposition. Facing the blank page or the empty screen is something they dread. However, students have expressed to us that our taboo units helped them to feel as though they “broke the ice.” Students felt that, once they discovered that they were capable of writing a paper about such uncomfortable subjects, more conventional assignments seemed easier.

Of course, there are those who have argued that politics and controversy have no place in the classroom. One worry is that a class that is focused on such issues will morph into a platform from which teachers can instill their own political beliefs into their students. We agree that such a classroom structure in which the teacher “resolves” contentious issues by telling students what they should or should not think is both totally inappropriate and contrary to the mission of rhetoric instruction. It is our belief that this potential problem can be avoided if proper care is taken to frame out for students the purpose for which the taboo is being evoked. So long as we continually and consistently attach every reading and every activity to a particular scholarly practice that we expect the students to attempt, we can escape the trap of inculcating our students with our own viewpoints.

READING AND DISCUSSING

Read the tips for travelling teachers and comment on taboos existing in different countries.

Helpful Notes for Travelling Teachers

China

Students may not maintain steady eye contact with you when you are talking to them. Try to be respectful of the culture by not holding eye contact with a single student for too long.

Make sure to begin and end your classes on time, even if there are students looking for help with homework.

Try to avoid putting your hand near your mouth or biting your fingernails. This is considered rude.

Never wave someone over with your finger. Wave them over with a hand and fingers pointed down.

If your students give you gifts, know that it is customary not to open it in front of them.

The student / teacher relationship is generally formal in nature. You may think that your Chinese students are unhappy or disliking your class because they don't smile as much as other students.

France

Avoid discussions of jobs, and financial success or wealth. This is often considered the greatest taboo in France.

Avoid talking about immigration.

The American sign for OK (making a circle with finger and thumb), which teachers often use to show that a student has done something correctly or perfectly means “nothing” in France.

Maintaining eye contact is not customary between strangers. If you hold eye contact with someone on the street or in a store you are suggesting you want a relationship with them. Refusing eye contact, however, suggests that you think you are of a higher status than the other person.

Students will cover their mouth with their hands to gesture that they have made a mistake.

Germany

It is considered very rude to be even a few minutes late.

Never chew gum in public or in class.

The American sign for OK (making a circle with finger and thumb), which teachers often use to show that a student has done something correctly or perfectly refers to female private body parts in Germany.

Avoid discussing how much money people earn. If you are dining out with others, it is considered rude to start your meal before everyone has received theirs.

It is considered bad luck to wish a German person a Happy Birthday before the actual date.

Japan

Teachers should not touch their students (e.g. hand on shoulder, high five).

Take steps not to say or do something that would cause a single student to feel embarrassed. Japanese people are more likely to feel ashamed and insulted rather than innocently embarrassed.

The American sign for OK, which teachers often use to show that a student has done something correctly or perfectly means “money” in Japan.

Be discrete about blowing your nose in the classroom.

Avoid discussing World War II.

Mexico

Avoid discussing pollution.

Avoid discussing illegal immigration.

Avoid discussing religion.

Don't make comparisons between Mexico and the U.S.

Avoid discussing sexuality.

It is considered very rude to take the Lord's name in vain in Mexico. If you are the type of person to use a form of the phrase, “Oh my God,” in your everyday conversation, you may want to practise eliminating it from your vocabulary.

It is considered rude for men to keep their hands in their pocket.

It is helpful to be aware of the taboo in Mexico for young people to live alone or with a girlfriend / boyfriend before getting married.

Mexican people tend to stand very close to one another when engaged in a conversation. It is considered rude to move further away.