Do your employees struggle with English? The English language is among the hardest to master for foreign-born speakers, and solving this issue is critical to getting the job done. Word order, pronunciation, vocabulary, rhythm and tone can all hinder communication and jobsite effectiveness. All these areas can be modified to improve communication and, while we generally think it’s the speaker who needs to change, discourse goes in two directions. Listeners also can modify their behavior to improve communication. Following are a few examples.Heat or hit, sleep or slip?
For speakers: Spanish speakers tend to say “heat” instead of “hit,” or “peach” instead of “pitch.” This is because the soft vowel sound /I/ in “hit” doesn’t exist in Spanish. To make the correct sound, drop the bottom jaw and relax and flatten the whole tongue against the bottom of the mouth.
For listeners: When we hear an accent, some tend to tune out. Instead, tune in.
Ask for clarification. The speaker said, “That was a great pitch, eh?” but all you understood was, “That…grey peach, eh?” So ask, “Are you talking about a peach, like fruit?” Note that this is more efficient than repeating what you heard, as in, “Are you talking about a peach or a pitch?” because the speaker may not hear the difference between the two words and simply answer, “Yes!”
Use context. You suspect he might be talking about baseball, because the conversation is taking place in front of a game on TV. So you could ask, “Are you talking about fruit or baseball?”
Blame yourself! Often, we don’t want to embarrass someone, so we don’t ask. In fact, it may be more embarrassing for someone to sense they aren’t understood but aren’t being given a chance to clarify. Take the fault by saying something like, “My hearing isn’t so great. Would you repeat that, please?” Even if they know it’s not your hearing, they’ll understand you’re trying!
He speaks too fast!
For speakers: Speaking too fast is often blamed for miscommunication. You don’t need to talk more slowly, but you may be shortening vowels, making each syllable the same length, using equal stress on each syllable, not pausing enough between thoughts or breathing shallowly from the upper chest.
Instead, try to widen and lengthen vowel sounds by exaggerating your mouth movements and taking in more air before you speak; use an international phonetic alphabet (IPA) dictionary to learn and practice word stress; pause briefly to take a breath after a thought. Pausing will slow you down and let the listener process what you’re saying. Take longer, deeper breaths before speaking. Breathing shallowly makes you breathe more quickly, which makes you sound rushed. Breathing deeply not only relaxes you, it really can help you speak more clearly.
For listeners:Again, tune in, not out. Use context and ask clarifying questions. Listen carefully to notice what the speaker is doing. Once you’re familiar with a speaker’s patterns of speech, you’ll understand him or her better. As a simple example, “Jess, no problem,” can be easily interpreted as, “Yes, no problem.” (“J” often stands for “Y” with Spanish speakers.)
Improving workplace communication increases morale, motivates your team and opens up new opportunities for all. Taking these simple steps to understand and be understood can be game changing for everyone involved.
Michelle Deya Knoop, MA, has coached accent and taught English for more than 20 years to people from more than 40 countries. In 2011, she founded EnglishWorks to support language and communication in the North Bay business community. For more information, please visit www.englishworks.us or call (415) 595-0362.
