Difficulty Entering a Conversation
Author: Toko Yasui, Kwansei Gakuin University
Review/editing: Aaron Rotsinger, University of St Andrews
Situation: Two international students and two Japanese students were put together for some group work . At first they all talked together, but the international students were able to speak much more quickly than the Japanese students, and eventually the Japanese students got really tired found it difficult to remain in the conversation. Eventually, the Japanese students just gave up and sat there quietly while the international students discussed everything. As a result, they didn’t contribute much to the group work and didn’t get as much experience as the international students.
Question: What went wrong? What Japanese students should do for joining the conversation and avoid such situation? What international students should do?
The international students were too impatient to wait for the Japanese students.
The international students felt that it was difficult to communicate with Japanese students because of the different accent.
The international students thought the Japanese students don’t want to speak a lot.
The international students didn’t really like the Japanese students and didn’t want to talk to them.
The Japanese students were too concerned about understanding everything and should have tried to say more, even if they didn’t follow the conversation perfectly.
How much effort should we make to include everyone in our conversation? Why?
What are some other ways you can overcome differences in speaking speed when working together?
Should teachers always try to group people with similar language levels?