How do we decide
what level of formality to use? When do
we stand a little straighter? How do we
ask for that extra time off?
Negotiating the
communication and social skills required for successful everyday exchanges is
difficult enough when you speak English as a first language and are familiar
with the predominant culture.
Understanding how to use language most successfully is often much more
challenging than learning the linguistic components. Consider function and form:
Function - what you
are trying to achieve with the
language
Form – the language,
gestures, intonation, structures you use
to achieve the function
Example:
Function:
to ask for more information on the company policy regarding sick time.
Form:
“Could
you tell me, please, how sick time works here?”
“Tell
me about my sick time rights.”
“What
to do, I sick?”
“Give
me time for sick.”
“Forget
it – I was sick, I wasn’t going to come in – what was I supposed to do?”
The above examples
illustrate the importance of learning, How
We Do Things Here. You can see that
the effect on the listener in each of the preceding examples will likely elicit
responses ranging from helpfulness to hostility. A great success for a teacher, supervisor or administrator is to
play a part in helping someone learn these sorts of skills. Of course, in order to do this, we need to
take apart our own communication techniques and determine how we really do these things.
Be open with your
students. The communication issues can
be among the most perplexing (and often frustrating) aspect of
integrating. Allow people to ask
questions and discuss these sorts of issues in class and be willing to examine,
somewhat objectively, How We Do Things
Here.