INTERCULTURAL NEWS
Human Resources and Intercultural Communication
For her PhD studies Victoria ORANGE-SIBRA looked at the intercultural differences between the job interview in English and in French. She was particularly interested in describing what an interviewer and interviewee are likely to say and expected to say in such a situation. Job interviews are particularly interesting as a research subject because, unlike some other situations, in job interviews the aim is to make a good impression and to stand out favourably against the other applicants. The language and cultural knowledge and skills needed for this is difficult to learn, even in one's own culture, and all the more complicated in another one.
Victoria has been putting what she learnt during her studies into practice over the last few years teaching international human resources students and human resources managers on the corporate level. Victoria also offers coaching to prepare for job interviews in another language and culture.
English as a common language, a lingua franca
Despite being welcomed by some and deplored by others, it cannot be denied that English functions as a global lingua franca. However, what has so far tended to be denied is that, as a consequence of its international use, English is being shaped at least as much by its non-native speakers as by its native speakers. This has led to a somewhat paradoxical situation: on the one hand, for the majority of its users, English is a foreign language, and the vast majority of verbal exchanges in English do not involve any native speakers of the language at all. On the other hand, there is still a tendency for native speakers to be regarded as custodians over what is acceptable usage. Thus, in order for the concept of ELF to gain acceptance alongside English as native language, there have been calls for the systematic study of the nature of ELF—what it looks and sounds like and how people actually use it and make it work—and a consideration of the implications for the teaching and learning of the language.
So what are the implications for teaching and learning the language?
It would seem that individuals using English as a lingua franca come across problems such as misunderstandings due to false cognates, e.g. to intend in English is the verb pretender in Portuguese, therefore a typical error is I pretend to discuss .... instead of intend, misunderstandings due to pronunciation errors and misunderstandings related to cross-cultural pragmatics, amongst others. Fortunately, there are teaching techniques that can be used to avoid these misunderstandings: first of all teachers need to know whether students are communicating with native or non-native speakers and adapt their lessons accordingly, whilst raising awareness about the fact that this is something the students should consider when using English. Then, teachers should be very observant and pick up on and point out any recurrent mistakes that could lead to misunderstandings in terms of loan words, pronunciation and formal and informal language in particular. Finally, discussing differences in behaviour in different cultures would also help raise about potential misunderstandings.
References : ELT Journal Volume 59/4 October 2005; published by Oxford University Press.
http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/content/59/4/339.full.pdf
http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/linguafranca.htm
Testimonials
"Victoria was very helpful and thorough in helping us understand the details and culture of France. She was able to illustrate points through personal experience and stories. This made things far easier to grasp. She was also very knowledgable about various aspects of France."
Sarah and Brad
"Victoria conveyed the information well and with feeling. She was particularly good at asking us the right questions. This training will help me reduce the amount of time it'll take to integrate, I'm very pleased with it"
David
"Victoria was very professional, well-informed, prepared and effective"
Bridget