2017. As part of on-campus training to prepare students to work with special populations (refugees, immigrants, homeless, vets, etc) I designed one-hour Language Exchanges to (1) engage international students with mainstream college students, (2) give them opportunities to share their cultural backgrounds in meaningful ways and (3) expose mainstream students to the practical problems and emotional, social and cultural dimensions of bridging divides and building community.
Over a period of three years about 50 international, refugee and immigrant students and others with non-Western language fluency were engaged as Language Exchange facilitators. In all, they helped prepare 400 classmates for community engagement work. Some of the languages facilitators used were Twi, Fante, Bhutia, Nepali, Bunong, Jarai, Cantonese, Japanese, Karen, Arabic, Rhade and Thai. Some facilitators were entirely new to their jobs while others were far more experienced, animated and skilled in their performance as shown in photographs (below).
Learners' comments included, “I really enjoyed this exercise and learned a lot.” “This was a cool exercise...” “This was an exercise that forced us to step out of our comfort zone...” “I can imagine how hard it is for those who try to learn a different language, especially if they are refugees now that I learned what it feels like.” “This was an eye opener.”
Ideal training conditions consisted of one language facilitator and one learner because we wanted an intimate experience. We experimented with one facilitator to two learners which led to mixed results. Sometimes college students would ignore instructions to not collaborate; sometimes the presence of a second student was a disruption. About half the exercises were administered under less than ideal conditions. Still, the responses were overwhelmingly positive.
The ideal response to the two combined questions learners completed at the end of their training is to mark on the 1-5 scale a "5-5" score (when for question 1, 1 = easy, 5 = difficult; and question 2, 1 = not enjoyable, 5 = enjoyable). Under best circumstances learners would find the exercise hard but pleasurable, approximating the "flow" learning experience described by Csikszentmihalyi. In reality, 11% returned a 5-5 score, 23% a 4-5 or 5-4 score, and 10% a 4-4 score. In all, 44% of the learners and facilitators together achieved perfect, near perfect or respectably close scores, not bad for an exercise given under varying conditions.
Over a period of three years about 50 international, refugee and immigrant students and others with non-Western language fluency were engaged as Language Exchange facilitators. In all, they helped prepare 400 classmates for community engagement work. Some of the languages facilitators used were Twi, Fante, Bhutia, Nepali, Bunong, Jarai, Cantonese, Japanese, Karen, Arabic, Rhade and Thai. Some facilitators were entirely new to their jobs while others were far more experienced, animated and skilled in their performance as shown in photographs (below).
Learners' comments included, “I really enjoyed this exercise and learned a lot.” “This was a cool exercise...” “This was an exercise that forced us to step out of our comfort zone...” “I can imagine how hard it is for those who try to learn a different language, especially if they are refugees now that I learned what it feels like.” “This was an eye opener.”
Ideal training conditions consisted of one language facilitator and one learner because we wanted an intimate experience. We experimented with one facilitator to two learners which led to mixed results. Sometimes college students would ignore instructions to not collaborate; sometimes the presence of a second student was a disruption. About half the exercises were administered under less than ideal conditions. Still, the responses were overwhelmingly positive.
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| New to some learners — changing their voice, pitch, body language, facial expressions as they seek to understand and connect. |
Language Exchange Rules
1. Place.
The default meeting space is the Green Leaf but by mutual arrangement you can meet in other public spaces. Suggested spaces: Green Leaf, Library (place where it's ok to talk), Cafeteria, Grill, etc. One or two learners is the maximum number.
2. Exercise.
The facilitator reads these rules to start the Exercise:
| "We want to keep the exercise personal and active. (If there are two learners, you must both work hard to participate.) You are not supposed to lean on one another for help because this isn't the point of the Exercise. (So if there are two learners, no talking and sharing between you.) For the next hour or so you will learn as much as you can to speak my language. When we start, I am not allowed to speak English until the exercise is over, so you must try hard to respect the rules. Please turn off your phone. You can write notes for yourself if you want, but no dictionaries, recorders or digital aids. We really want you to practice listening." Although I do truly understand English, for this exercise we will pretend that I don't. Again, respect the rules. Together we can have a bit of fun and learn something about my culture. Ok, everything clear?" Let's get started. Andrew has sent you three tasks. I don't know what they are. Within the hour you must strive to complete the tasks." | To be meaningful, learning on this level has to be intimate. The learner is being pressured to communicate in a new way. An element of make-believe relieves some of the stress and emphasizes the fun nature of the exercise. But the ultimate purpose is serious: cultural insight and exchange. Typical examples: Discover the name of the facilitator’s favorite sport, how to say “mother”and “father” in the facilitator’s language, to communicate to the facilitator the name of the learner’s first grade teacher. |
Example 1, One facilitator: one learner
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| The facilitator (right) has just read the Language Exchange Rules from the laptop screen and the exercise is about to begin. The learner leans forward, attentive. In another minute the facilitator, who is from Ghana and speaks Fante, will pretend not to understand English. |
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| The learner is immediately active. He stands and tries pantomime. |
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| The learner tries sketching to communicate. During this time he is not silent, but the facilitator responds quizzically and in Fante. |
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| Pictures become the common medium through which the learner begins to find answers and complete his tasks. |
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| The learner is reciting words in Fante. A basic exchange has begun. |
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| This exchange involved two learners. According to rules they weren't supposed to help one another, but the social nature of the experience and learning conditions meant the rules were soon broken. |
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| The facilitator reacts strongly. Clearly there’s a miscommunication. In some exchanges learners must communicate something about themselves, for example, the names of their family members. |
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| In this exchange the learners are extremely attentive. The facilitator is pressing them to engage. Most of the tasks revolve around universals such as food, family and the natural world. Questions about movies, technology or organized urban life have been omitted. |
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Learning under these circumstances is not easy. Learners must listen carefully and think in the moment.
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| If learners complete their tasks they are challenged to learn as much of the facilitator’s language as they can in the remaining time. Afterwards everyone relaxes and English once again prevails. Unanswered questions get cleared up which also leads to deeper conversation and exchange. Example 4, Older learner |
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| In this Language Lesson, the learner (left), an adult student, must discover the names of numbers in Fante. (The table devices are there to boost the learner’s hearing.) |
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Finally, the learner completes a survey form. Most participants rated the experience as either a 4 or 5 in difficulty (on a 1 – 5 scale when 1 = easy) and 4 or 5 in enjoyability ( on a 1 – 5 scale when 1 = not enjoyable).
Larger context |
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| Later some of our facilitators were invited to organize an International Party with food and music for the entire Guilford campus. |
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| A great band came out to play and many students came. Like pictures, pantomime, gestures and a few learned words, music is a great way to cross cultural barriers. Conclusion The point of this cultural competency exercise was not to make college students fluent in Sikkimese, Twi or Fante but demonstrate to them that all culture and communication are highly mediated experiences. If they are willing to extend themselves, use their academic knowledge and commit the time and patience then they can — even in a short amount of time — effectively break out of their own (usually American) cultural and language isolation. Set of instructions sent to student signed up for Cultural Competency Language Session Confirmation Instructions 1) Find out the name of the facilitator's home town.
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