Linguistic Differences

You can expect to learn virtually with students from another country, which means you might encounter different ways of expressing ideas and communicating. You could also learn a different way of seeing the world and ways of viewing the subject material. This will likely happen in most of your classes, but it can be even more evident when you work collaboratively with students in a different country. Or, you could be surprised by the number of ways in which you are similar. 

It’s helpful to build connections with fellow students when working on a project together. This helps to address conflict or misunderstandings if they arise. Ask your classmates and international peers questions about themselves and respond to what they say or write. 

Tips for Communicating with Students Abroad

When you collaborate with students in countries outside your own, you may have to speak in an additional language, or can expect them to speak in their additional language. Practicing patience, good listening and open-mindedness are essential. 

Many GLE projects occur in English, so this page provides guidance on using the many varieties of English that exist around the world. If you are dominant in English, you may meet and collaborate with students where English is not the primary language. Keep in mind these students are doing the same work you are, but with the added challenge of doing it all in a foreign language. Alternatively, you might collaborate with students in a country where English is widely spoken, but the dialect might be quite different from standard US American English. It is easy for speakers who grew up in countries such as the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and Australia to believe that they speak “correct,” “proper,” or even “dominant” versions of English, and that others around the world use “incorrect” or “broken” versions of English. However, the reality today is that many more people around the world use English as an additional language than English as a first or native language. 

So, when you collaborate with students abroad, they will use English in a variety of ways and the responsibility for achieving successful communication falls on both parties, not just our international partners. If you view language differences as interesting and worth understanding, you'll come across as respectful and open to new perspectives and your collaboration will go much more smoothly. 

When Speaking

Make explicit rhetorical moves.

It can be helpful to signal when you are emphasizing a point, changing the topic, or expanding on information. For instance, you might say, “That’s a great idea. Let’s talk more about that,” or, “I know we all need to leave soon. Before we go, can we decide who will do each of the tasks we identified?”

Avoid relaxed pronunciation

Relaxed pronunciation is a very normal way of speaking that we all use every day. For example, we typically slur the syllables of multiple common words so they sound like a single, shorter word. However, this can make comprehension difficult for non-native speakers. Rather than “A dog woulda been a lotta work, and my mom wouldn’t lemme keep ‘ im.” you might say “A dog would have been a lot of work, and my mom wouldn’t let me keep him.”

Avoid slang, metaphor, local or idiomatic terms.

If you catch yourself using slang, metaphor, local or idiomatic expression, you can simply explain it or try to rephrase it in more accessible terms. Rather than "Let's present these two topics back-to-back, " you might say “Let’s present this topic first, and this other topic second.”

Rather than “I take the Brown line to get to class” you might say “I take a train to get to class.” Unless someone lives in Chicago, USA, they may not understand that the "Brown line" is a specific train in Chicago.

Speak at a normal level, and take turns.

Mumbling, shouting, and talking over one another will make it more difficult for everyone to follow and understand the conversation.

When Reading and Writing

Consider the difference between grammar and style, and avoid critiquing or changing stylistic choices.

Style refers to choices that writers make that don’t violate grammatical rules. We know there is stylistic variation in language. For example, native-speakers of English can say they are “in line” or “on line,” or even “in the queue.” These variations do not conform to or violate any linguistic rules, and there’s no reason to critique or correct them.

Keep the course and assignment goals in mind, and let minor errors pass.

You may notice minor grammatical errors when you read, but they rarely affect the meaning of the text. Get comfortable with seeing these kinds of minor errors and not overreacting to them. These are definitely the kinds of moments when you simply need to “let it pass,” and focus on how the writing addresses the course and assignment goals.

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