Who dont you understand and why

1
Who dont you understand and why?

Ian McMaster, editor-in-chief Business
Spotlight ETAS, SIG Day, Basel, 12 September
2009
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Advantages and disadvantages
3
What do you think?
4
With which three nationalities do
German-speakers say they have most communication
problems in English at work?
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Native speakers and non-native speakers
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Three typical comments and a question

• Most communication in English is between
  non-native speakers. Communication
  betweennon-native and native speakers is
  therefore rare.
• Non-native speakers communicate well with each
  other. Problems arise only when native speakers
  are present.
• Why are language-learning audio products biased
  towards native-speaker accents? There should be
  more non-native speakers because learners need
  practice.
• Does that make sense?

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A few quotes...
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...we might want to argue that roughly 80 per
cent of all spoken interaction in English is
between non-native speakers, for example between
a Turkish secretary and a Japanese supplier. For
most learners, therefore, interactions with
native speakers will be rare.

• Source Ronald Carter, quoted in Controversies in
  
• Applied Linguistics, Barbara Seidlhofer (ed)

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Mr Graddol says the majority of encounters in
English today take place between non-native
speakers. Indeed, he adds, many business
meetings heldin English appear to run more
smoothly when there are no native English
speakers present."

• Source Michael Skapinker, Whose language,
  Financial Times, 9 November 2007

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Barbara Seidlhofer, professor of English and
applied linguistics at the University of Vienna,
says relief at the absence of native speakers is
common. When we talk to people (often
professionals), this observation is made very
often indeed. We havent conducted a systematic
survey of this yet, so what I say is anecdotal at
the moment, but there seems to be very widespread
agreement about it. "

• Source Michael Skapinker, Whose language,
  Financial Times, 9 November 2007

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The class cassettes/CDs are interesting as they
are rich in non-native speaker accents, which is
often of real importance to students who most
need to communicate with non-native speakers. I
think that it is difficult to learn how to deal
with a difficult Chinese customer if you are used
to perfect British accents.

• Source Rory Braddell. Review of Business
  Basics, OUP, in the ELTA-Rhine Newsletter, June
  2007.

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So what did we find?
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• Business Spotlight
• Survey
• Feb-April 2007

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Survey design

• Population
• Readers of Business Spotlight, German edition
• Sample
• 1,330 readers. Results shown here are based on
  the 1,058 who were in work but not teachers. Of
  these,55 were men and 45 women.
• Survey period
• February 2007 to April 2007

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Which foreign languages do you need at work?
(All professions constantly, often, now and
again, seldom BS survey, 2007)
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With whom do you speak English at work? (All
professions. BS survey, 2007)
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Which tasks do you have to do in English? (All
professions constantly or often. BS survey,
2007)
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Which tasks cause you particular difficultiesin
English? (All professions BS survey, 2007)
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With whom do you speak English native speakers
(NS) or non-native speakers (NNS)? (All
professions. BS survey, 2007)
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With which countries do you personally have
business contacts in English? (All professions,
BS survey, 2007)
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Who do you find it easier to communicate with in
English at work? (All professions. BS survey,
2007)
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Why do you have communication problems in English
with native speakers? BS follow-up online
survey, 2007

• They speak too fast 86.1
• They use unknown expressions 60.0
• They use too many idioms 57.4
• They use difficult words 55.7
• They dont speak clearly enough 55.7
• They have a heavy accent 45.2
• I cant make myself understood 15.7
• They talk too much 13.0
• They make grammatical mistakes 1.7

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Why do you have communication problems in English
with non-native speakers? BS follow-up online
survey, 2007

• They dont speak clearly enough 61.3
• They have a heavy accent 58.5
• They make grammatical mistakes 52.8
• I cant make myself understood 23.6
• They use difficult words 11.3
• They speak too fast 10.4
• They use unknown expressions 10.4
• They talk too much 4.7
• They use too many idioms 2.8

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With which nationalities do you have the most
communication problems in English?
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With which nationalities do you have the most
communication problems in English?

• Chinese 34.2
• Americans 32.5
• French 24.2
• Indians 21.7
• Japanese 21.7
• British 20.8
• Italians 11.7
• Russians 11.7

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A more realistic summary

• Most communication in English is between
  non-native speakers. Communication
  betweennon-native and native speakers is
  therefore rare. No. NNS must communicate (well)
  with both groups.
• Non-native speakers communicate well with each
  other. Problems arise only when native speakers
  are present.No. There are communication problems
  with both NS and NNS, though to some extent of
  different types.
• Why are language-learning audio products biased
  towards native-speaker accents? There should be
  more non-native speakers because learners need
  practice.There should be both NS and NNS
  speakers, aimed at the specific problems caused
  by each group.
• Does that now make sense? I hope so!

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A little dictation
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Which model of English?
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Which type of English is more important for you
in your job? (All professions. BS survey, 2007)
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Q What is International English?
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A We dont know!
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OK. So what is English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)?

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Grammar and vocabulary

• NO PROBLEM
• Non-standard use of who/which (a country who)
• Dropping the third person s (our firm
  operate)
• Non-standard use of definite articles (sign
  contract)
• Use of all-purpose question tags (isnt it?,
  no?)
• Use of redundant prepositions (discuss about)
• Use of redundant adjectives (black colour)
• Overusing that-clauses (We want that)
• Pluralization of non-countable nouns
  (informations)
• PROBLEM
• Unilateral idiomacy

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Remember our dictation?
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Our firm operate in 20 different countries. We
also have last week signed joint venture in
China, who is important big market for
future.We want that we will sign more such
agreements. Our staffs are now collecting
informations and discussing about the possiblity
to move into India. If we would do this, it
would be a big step forward, isnt it? We
certainly are sinking so.
36
I wanted that SMEs have a personal
interlocuter. Günter Verheugen,
Vice-President, European Commission
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How important is it for you to speak English
correctly? (All professions. BS survey, 2007)
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One should not aim at being possible to
understand but at being impossible to
misunderstand.

• Source Roman rhetorician Marcus Fabius
  Quintilian, quoted in John Humphrys, Lost for
  Words

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Which is better?

• Shut the window!
• Would you mind please shutting the window?
• Source Rudi Camerer, European Language
  Competence.

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What learners need is a form of English that is
like native English, but without the cultural
baggage."

• Source Julie Moore, in Natural Language
  Learning, English Teaching professional, January
  2005

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Communication skills

• Speak at an appropriate speed
• Use simple(r) vocabulary
• Use simple(r) sentence structures
• Avoid unnecessary abbreviations, acronyms
• Avoid culturally-specific references
• Use repetition and rephrasing
• Checking for understanding
• Summarize frequently
• Let it pass / change topics

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Contact

• Ian McMaster, editor-in-chief,
• Phone [phone]
• Email i.mcmaster_at_spotlight-verlag.de
• Business Spotlight
• Spotlight Verlag GmbH
• Fraunhoferstr. 22
• 82152 Planegg/München
• Germany
• Internet www.business-spotlight.de