Saturday, May 19, 2012
Week 3 Blog Assignment
When reading the assignment I immediately said to myself that I don't treat anyone differently when communicating with them . I treat everyone with respect and courtesy. Well after rethinking that statement, I realized that there are some groups of people who I do treat differently.When a parent comes to me who does not speak english well or who does not speak english at all I do have to communicate differently because I dont speak any other language but english. I have to find someone to translate what I need communicated ,and when I let the parent know I am looking for some one who can assist us, I find myself using hand gestures like pointing to myself and pointing away as to tell the person I will return with help.I seem to speak a little slower to them and make sure that I have eye contact the entire time as to connect with them some way. Three strategies that I have used to help me communicate more effectively is to speak clearly,make and keep eye contact, and make sure that I am aware and mindful of the cultural differences and language barriers that I am faced with regularly with some of the individuals I come in contact with.
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3 comments:
Debra,
I said the same thing to myself, and realized I do communicate differently with different people, sometimes it is due to professionalism, and sometimes it is personal. Becoming more aware of my own style has been very interesting. When I was in Honduras and trying to communicate I too used a lot of hand gestures.
I teach in a school where most of the parents do not speak English and this has been a challenge. In addition to using those strategies that you mentioned, I also try to learn some Turkish (the main language here), hopefully this will help.
You brought up a valid point about how to talk to English Language Learners. They seem to have a hard time understanding us from time to time, therefore, the more gestures and nonverbal cues we give them, the better. I also appreciate the fact that you treat all people the same. It makes things easier.
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