Language Blog
Misinterpretation is Easy
It’s not hard to fall into a pit of misinterpretation, even among fellow residents of the same country. See how easy it is by reading the dialog below. Both speakers are from India, where there are at last 27 known languages. Both speakers are communicating in English, the national language of India.Speaker A: “My grandfather lived for 96 years and he never used glasses.”
Speaker B: “Yes, I know, some people in my family also drink directly from the bottle.”
The misunderstanding is due to the two meanings we may derive from the same word, a frequent occurrence in English. What’s missing is an important cue to make the distinction between spectacles/eye wear and glass containers for beverages.
Both called ‘’glasses.” Speaker A is talking about longevity and eyesight and the second about drinking habits. If the first speaker had said “he never WORE glasses,” the misunderstanding would probably never have occurred.
Has something like that ever happened to you? Communication coaching increases awareness of why your listener might be having difficulty understanding you and how to bridge those gaps more easily.
The Importance of “Small Talk”
Communicating in American English in workplace-related subjects, while challenging, can be accomplished with practice and effort by immigrants working in a corporate or medical business environment. Carrying on ‘’small talk’’ is something quite different. Casual and unscripted conversation with native speakers of American English is an essential component of language development and social integration.Social conversation is especially difficult for Chinese immigrants. A new study, by Research on Public Policy in Canada has found that Mandarin speaking immigrants had made little or no significant progress in their clarity of speech, fluency, and intelligibility after seven years in an English-speaking environment. Researchers also found that the Mandarin speakers in their study had significantly fewer conversations of significant duration with native and non-native speakers of English than did their counterparts from other language backgrounds.
There are many possible reasons for this gap in communication. Mainland Chinese learn English from textbooks through reading and writing with no opportunity to work on listening and speaking skills. As an American high school student, I learned French in this manner, with 90% of classroom instruction as grammar and translation. To this day, I am unable to comfortably conduct a conversation in French, although I can read it and write it fluently. If people are uncomfortable with being able to speak and comprehend English well, they will feel discouraged or afraid about participating in a conversation because they are afraid that others don’t understand them. Better to keep their dignity….and their silence. Additionally, silence is considered by the Chinese to be a virtue reflecting humility. Unfortunately for them, in the West, people tend to expect and appreciate participation and speaking out, so their silence or discomfort is not received well by colleagues or supervisors.
To a greater or lesser extent, the experiences of other immigrant groups can mirror the challenges faced by the Chinese and the American workplace suffers from the lack of small talk and camaraderie between native and foreign-born speakers of English. A focus on listening, speaking, and pronunciation in workplace language training is a good way to break down these fears. Providing a ‘’safe place’’ at work with an instructor who is not a co-worker who might judge them negatively can be a powerful help to immigrants who speak English only during the day for business and resume use of their native language when they return home at the end of the day. To foster the soft skill of engaging in casual conversation, break room or cafeteria tables can be set aside in gathering places as “English Only” tables. This can serve both to encourage the immigrants to speak socially to one another in the common language of English as well as to invite native-English speaking co-workers who wish to interact more with those whose native language is not English. Common gathering rooms can become more ‘’mosaics’’ than “silos” of various language groups. Communication is a two-way street. The burden of communication should not rest solely on the shoulders of the non-native speaker. Native speakers should not “zone out” or shut down when they are communicating with someone who speaks with an accent, but seek more sensitive interaction. Creating a relationship’ with a sensitive, trusted native speaker will go a long way towards helping the skilled foreign-born worker overcome his conversational and listening challenges.
Are English Classes a Practical Fit for Your Business?
In today’s workforce there continues to be a growing number of workers who have emigrated from other countries, and this trend will continue for decades to come. The United States Census Bureau predicts that there will be between 39 and 43 million Spanish speakers in the U.S. by 2020. This number has increased 233% since 1980 and as of 2012 there were 38 million Spanish-speaking people in the U.S. Today, there are fewer and fewer organizations throughout the country that do not have some employee population whose first language is not English. HR Magazine conducted an interview with employers and identified many reasons why English as a Second Language (ESL) programs in the workplace make sense and have a positive impact on the bottom line. Among the most common (findings from study are noted below in bold):- Improve compliance with safety and other policies: What does it cost an employer for each accident on the job, or each employee lawsuit?
- Boost worker productivity by improving comprehension: What does it cost when a task must be redone because the worker did not understand instructions…and did not admit it or ask for help?
- Ensure that workers understand pay and benefits: What is the cost of misunderstandings resulting in poor morale, performance, and turnover?
- Improve customer service: Can you track “ungained business” when a customer hangs up the phone in frustration and calls your competitor instead?
- Prevent waste resulting from worker error: What is the cost for each manufacturing error if it gets detected in time…and if it doesn’t?
- Enhance communication and relationships among workers and managers: It is well documented that ‘’engaged’’ employees who respect their managers are more loyal to the company and are more productive.
- Improve recruitment and retention: Immigrants are known to be hard workers and, contrary to many employers’ beliefs, are more loyal and less likely to leave for more money when their employer has helped them improve their English on the job. Historically they are a fertile recruiting source for additional workers of the same high caliber as well.
- Help low-wage workers improve earning and productivity potential: How much does it cost to advertise for, interview and train new managers rather than promote proven and loyal employees who can fill the job?
- Plan for future workforce needs. As noted earlier, the number of non-English speaking workers is rising, and will probably continue to do so. Having a plan in place will help to ease any future potential communication barriers.
Pronunciation is Key
Take a step back and really listen to your words. Ever notice how some of our expressions create a visual that has very little relevance to the concept being expressed? Consider “I’ll keep my ear to the ground,” for example. It can only be puzzling for someone newly arrived from another country! Another example might be “I see a lot of red flags with that report.’’ What does a red flag signify if you don’t understand American sports? It’s so important to use real words conveying real meaning when we speak to people who grew up in other countries. You will get more understanding if you say “I’ll pay close attention to what’s happening and what I hear around me” and “ There might be problem areas in that report.’’ Think about your listener before using this type of description.
The LanguageLady is often asked about what a person can do by himself to improve how well people understand him. I’ve written before about the importance of slowing your rate of speech. This entry will talk about something else you can do without lessons…pronounce the final consonant on all of your words ending with a consonant. This is probably the most common error among all speakers, both USA-born and those born in other countries. In the former instance, it’s simply sloppy. In the latter, it creates non-comprehension. Why? When the speaker and the listener speak the same native language, they are able to understand poorly pronounced or incomplete words because they use the same playbook (aha! Another American sports analogy!). That’s why we understand the President when he says ‘goin’ and doin’ and drops the final g from a lot of words when he is speaking to the general population. And why we can understand what someone means when they say “pitcher” to refer to an image and not someone throwing a ball or a container for liquid. And why we can understand when someone says “I axed him” and know that there has been no bloodshed, only a question.
But…..when the listener and the speaker have different native languages, a mispronunciation creates a different word in the mind of the listener, a word that is not the intention of the speaker, and a word that can change the entire meaning of a sentence. An example might be when someone means “hold” but says “hole.” Or leaves off the final “d” in “board,” making the word sound like “bore.” I’m sure you can think of countless others. For foreign-born speakers, this is a challenge since words in many languages end with vowels and an open mouth. You must close your mouth to pronounce a consonant, an uncomfortable feeling for many. The results you will see will be worth the effort. The easiest thing to do to increase the clarity of your communication and be understood correctly the first time, is to visualize the written word and pronounce the final consonant.
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You think English is easy? The LanguageLady never ceases to marvel at how complicated it can be. Consider the following sentences. Can you pronounce them correctly?
It’s time to polish the Polish furniture.
The bandage is wound around the wound.
The dump was full and had to refuse more refuse.
The farm was used to produce produce .
The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present .
There are many similar examples to prove the same point…..English is a crazy language with few clear guidelines on these pronunciation pairs. Those growing up in the US have no difficulty reading the above sentences. Check them out with your foreign-born friends or colleagues. So have some patience (patients? they sure sound alike) with those who don’t have the same frame of reference that you do. Goes a long way towards positive intercultural interactions.