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3
GROUPS OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE ENGLISH AS A SECOND
LANGUAGE –
Understanding
the challenge of communication
A.
English Thinkers
These are
people who are so proficient in English that they
think, and may even dream, in English. While
English is not their first language, they process
information the same way as people who are fluent
in English.
Processing
information is a two-step procedure. They hear
the information and process its meaning.
B.
English Translators
These are
people who understand English, but who still need
to mentally translate words into their own language
before they understand the meaning. English translators
are not quite at the stage of thinking and dreaming
in English.
Processing
information is a three-step procedure for them.
They hear the information, they then mentally
translate the words into their first language
and, finally, they process the information in
their first language.
When they
reply in English, the process is reversed. They
think in their language, mentally translate to
English, and then speak.
C.
English Stumblers
We are
all English Stumblers on occasion. We hear or
read a word which we do not understand, then interpret
it as-best-as-possible (having regard to its context),
and finally process it to react.
In these
situations, we become three-step processors.
When we interpret a word that we do not understand,
we give the word our best-guess-meaning. This
is similar to translating, but it involves guessing.
When newcomers
are grasping at the meaning of words, they are
English Stumblers. They are guessing at the meaning
of a word. Usually there are different meanings
which they could give to a word. This sometimes
results in so many possible interpretations that
communication becomes a gamble, or breakdown.
This is
best illustrated by an example in English.
I once
heard a woman referred to as a “pusillanimous,
meretricious, minx”. My mind went blank.
My thought process was as follows:
What is
your interpretation of these words?
Are you
able to process the information, understand and
react? Are you smiling? That is what we usually
do when we are expected to respond, but do not
understand what has been said to us. A smile
can say a thousand words. We can only hope that
some of the words in our smile are the correct
response.
Smiles
in the workplace are a delight, but beware of
grins from the perplexed.
Whenever
we interact with people who have English as a
second language, we must be constantly aware that
they are dealing with a three-step process to
understanding.
Our challenge
is to make ourselves understood, rather than expect
others to understand us.
© 2001
Leon Snaid
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