Strategies for
Communicating
With Non-Native
Speakers of English
Trying to communicate effectively
with international students whose fluency in English is limited
can be a most frustrating experience. While it is true that the
student has the ultimate obligation to improve, the immediate
objective -- to understand and to be understood -- is a shared
task. The following strategies can help to make the process of
communic ating less frustrating for native and non-native
speakers alike.
- Speaking slowly and
clearly, at least initially, is a great help. Often,
students who have had limited exposure to English have
heard only pronunciation tapes (or English teachers,) and
are unaccustomed to regional accents and conversational
speed. They tend to listen for each word separately;
consequently, the normal speed of a conversation and
running together words may only communicate a garbled
message to the student. Speaking slowly, clearly and
evenly will help the student to develop an
"ear" in English. On the other hand, volume,
contrary to what might be believed, is actually more
distracting than helpful in communicating with a
non-native speaker.
- Formal English is
generally easier for the non-native speaker to
understand than informal English. When a native speaker
wants to clarify a point to another native speaker,
he/she generally uses progressively more casual language.
The contrary is true of the non-native speaker. Speaking
more formally includes:
- Elimination of
slang and informal expressions. For example,
"That is not necessary," is easier to
understand than "You don't have to do
that."
- Limiting the use
of two and three-word verbs (run into, get
across, etc.). For example, "I will organize
that," is easier to understand than
"I'll set it up."
- Using Latin-based
root words in place of more casual choices.
Latin-rooted words in English generally indicate
a more formal or academic speaking style, and the
non-native speaker is more likely to have studied
a more formalized, generic form of English in
his/her home country or intensive ESL program.
In all cases, an
important point to remember is that it is impossible for
the student to compensate for twenty or thirty years of
Americanism. A for mer student of English at Kellogg's of
Mexico, for example, sat through the better part of an
important meeting with board members from Battle Creek
mystified by the expression, "That's peanuts,"
and wondering what nuts had to do with cereal production.
"That's not a significant amount of money"
would have saved him much frustration.
- Use of the
"understanding response" improves the
chances of accurate communication on both speakers'
parts. If vocabulary, grammar, or pronunciation
deficiencies obscure what the student is trying to say,
restating what the student seems to have been saying is
helpful: "So, what you are saying is that you don't
see any long-term solutions to this problem." The
understanding response serves two purposes: it allows the
native speaker to clarify what has been said, and also
reinforces a grammatically correct way to express the
thought for the student.
- Repeat ideas that have
not been understood by the student, using equivalent
neutral expressions. For example, if the statement,
"You need to take that course," produces a
blank look from the student, the idea could be restated
as,"That course is required for you," or
"You are required to take that course."
- Asking the student to
summarize the conversation that has taken place can
also help to determine if the student has under stood. In
Asian cultures, for example, a common conversa tional
convention is a smile and a nod, whether or not agree
ment, or communication, has resulted. A "yes"
response from a student to a questions such as "Is
this clear to you now?" may therefore indicate quite
the contrary. Asking the student to restate the
communication therefore serves as a check, and can avert
future frustrations and misunderstandings caused by
assuming that the student has understood.
- When possible, putting
the communications with the stu dent in written form enhances
comprehension. In cases of limited proficiency, words
that are spoken in the foreign lan guage have an
ephemeral quality for the student; they seem to disappear
before their meaning can even be dealt with. While it may
take time for the student to understand the written form
as well, the tangibility of written communication is
reassuring to the non-native speaker in the initial
stages of exposure.
An important consideration in the
use of any of these strategies is acceptance of the fact that
communication with a non-native speaker is by nature more
time-consuming than with a native speaker. Assuming an attitude
of patience during the first attempts to communicate is thus
crucial. A conservative estimate is that, if a task or
conversation requires ten minutes for a native speaker, fifteen
to twenty minutes will be necessary for the limited proficiency
non-native speaker to do the same.
Patience is also needed in
waiting for the non-native speaker to respond. Often, the student
is trying to organize mentally a response in his/her first
language, translate that response into English, and verbalize the
response to the listener. Rather than supplying the response for
the student, waiting a few extra seconds can increase the
student's confidence in his/her ability to function in English. 
-- Elizabeth A. Usovicz
