Difficulty Understanding in a Group
Author: Chinari Yamano, Kwansei Gakuin University
Review/editing: Aaron Rotsinger, University of St Andrews
Situation: Yuto joined an international student project at school. Students from many countries came. One day, in a group activity, the teacher said, “please try to speak only in Japanese for 10 minutes.” One student in the group, David, tried very hard and spoke a lot of Japanese. Of course, he made some mistakes, but it didn’t matter. Everyone understood him and the group was very happy to talk to him. However, another student, Rachel, just said, “I don’t understand Japanese.” She was silent the whole time and did not join the talk. None of the other students really spoke to her, and she seemed quite disappointed.
Question: What went wrong here? How could the other students have helped Rachel? What could Rachel have done?
Speak slowly and use simple Japanese words so Rachel can understand better.
Use gestures or body language to help explain ideas.
Use a little English to help Rachel understand what is happening.
Let Rachel just listen without pressure to speak if she is not ready.
Continue the activity without Rachel, even if they don’t understand.
Put Rachel in a group with people who can speak both languages, so she can get help.
Give Rachel a small role, like keeping time or writing notes.
In a situation like this, how can you help someone who does not understand the language very much at all?
How do you feel when you do not understand the language?
What can the teacher do to help everyone join the talk?