Culture Learning Questions

1 When you are speaking your own language with someone who is not a native speaker of the language, do you change the way you speak? For example, do you:

- talk more slowly?

- talk more loudly?

- use simpler words?

- repeat and explain?

- avoid long conversations?

2 When people speak to you in English do they do any of the above?

How do you feel if and when they do these things?

3 Talk about your experience speaking English with a native speaker / speakers. What particular difficulties do you have? What, if anything, do you do to make conversations easier?

 

Cultural Note

When a person is not a native speaker of a language, it is easy to lose control of a conversation. Native speakers may not give all the information you need to understand something, or they may interrupt you before you are finished speaking. They may misunderstand something you say, or you may misunderstand them. Staying in control of the conversation and guiding it are possible even if you are not a fluent speaker of the language. There are different skills that you can use to help you guide the conversation. They are:

- asking for focused explanation;

- holding your turn;

- correcting misunderstandings;

- summarizing;

- other ways of guiding the conversation.

The following are definitions and examples of each skill:

1 Asking for focused explanation. Focused explanation is like focused repetition, except that you are asking someone to give more information or another explanation.

1) Use question words.

For example: “Where do you want me to put it?”

2) Repeat the word(s) that came just before the word you want repeated.

Make your voice rise as it would with a question. For example:

A: “Put the eraser next to the ashtray.”

B: “Put it next to the…?” (The speaker will then say, “ashtray”)

3) If you cannot repeat the words the other person has said, ask the

speaker directly. For example:

“Could you say that last part again?”

“Could you repeat what you said after___?”

Ask the speaker to explain what he said. Guide the speaker to use different words, examples or more details:

Ways to ask for focused explanation /repetition:

“ I understand this, but could you explain the (other/next/first/last) thing you said?”

“ I got what you said about the first part, but I didn’t get the next part.”

“Do you mean that I need to enter more than one piece of information in the computer? (Also: Did you mean …?)

“Can you give an example of this?”

“I’m not sure (how/ when/ where) to enter the data.”

2 Holding your turn. When you hold your turn, you are telling the other person that you have not finished speaking and that you will say something in a few seconds.

Show that you want to speak, but you need time to think first.

Ways to Hold Your Turn

“ This weekend?” (Repeat part of the other person’s question, with a question voice)

“I think…” “Uh…” “Well…” “I’m not sure….”

“Let me see…” “Let me think…”

“Just a ‘sec’” (Just a second) “Um, how can I say this…”

“Let me try to say this correctly…” “Well, let me think for a minute…

3 Correcting Misunderstanding. If you feel your partner did not understand you correctly, interrupt and explain what you mean.

Ways to Correct Misunderstanding

“ Uh, it’s Western Business machines.”

“ Uhm …that’s P-O-N-T.”

“ Uhm, well…. actually my name is pronounced (pronounce your name).”

“I think the homework is actually due tomorrow, not the day after tomorrow.”

“ Actually, I understood the opposite.”

“ I think you may be mistaken. I heard that we do get the day off on

Monday.”

“Let me see. You said to put another butter knife on the table.”

“ Let me see if I understand” ( Repeat the information or explanation briefly)

“ Okay. So I put the cole slaw here?”

“Okay. So you want me to put the knives on this table?”

“So you’re going to remove the napkins now?”

“ So he will call the bus boy? Is that right?”

“ In other words, I need to bring new dishes now.”

Ways to Ask for Meaning

1 Try to repeat the word or phrase that you didn’t understand. Use a question voice: “Cold salad?”

2 Ask for spelling: “Cole slaw? How do you spell that?”

3 Say: “Cole slaw? What does that mean?”

“Uh… I don’t understand. Cole slaw?”

“Excuse me, what does ‘cole slaw’ mean?”