Lin Zhu
Every time she speaks, Linda Bui inevitably draws the attention of the entire class, no matter whether she likes it or not, by the way she speaks English.
A nursing major at Pierce College who emigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam in 2004, Bui speaks English with a heavy accent.
It makes her school life in America difficult — sometimes even painful.
She will always remember the day when one of her classmates refused to be in the same learning group with her because she couldn’t make herself understood.
“I cried,” she recalled, with tears in her eyes.
The outpouring students from all over the world brings along diversity and dynamic to college campuses around the country, but these new-comers are also faced with the challenges of communicating properly and effectively with their native-born peers.
“They come here with their strengths, gifts and talents they have,” said Barbara Anderson, speech communication department chair. “But they may not have the opportunity to begin studying English yet, or they did study it but come in with different ability levels.”
One of the most obvious obstacles in effective communication seems to be the accent.
Feeling more comfortable speaking in their native languages, students are also trying hard to speak English in a more Americanized way. But it’s not an easy mission.
“I hate my accent,” said Thu Vo, an international student from Vietnam studying at Pierce to become a dental hygienist.
Vo has become used to repeating her words maybe several times in a conversation with her instructor or classmate.
Sometimes she has to write her words down for others to read. She thinks overcoming her accent is the biggest challenge in speaking English.
Anderson agrees with her.
She has had students taking her Speech 101 class who are “very bright, hardworking and dedicated” students, committed to be professionals. But they always had trouble talking to potential employers.
“Once the potential employers hear their accent, the door is shut,” said Anderson. “And that’s wrong.”
As a way to help students get the skills they need in a more quickly and organized way, the speech communication department offers Speech 113, English Speech as a Second Language.
“The intention of the class is to help students have more of an American accent or American-sounding skills,” said Anderson.
And she has an even more ambitious plan to offer this kind of class at different stages.
“My fantasy would be for every level of ESL in the English department, for every level working up to English 101, we would have a counterpart or companion class where students taking that level of English will take the same level of accent reduction or conversation class,” she said.
“I want to see that stumbling block removed from our students because they are very deserving to move forward instead of being stocked. It’s a partnership between us and the students.”
Another obstacle in communication results from the cultural differences.
“It’s not customary for students from many other countries to expose themselves and share their views with the whole class.” “Students may come to Pierce not only having no public speaking experience, but also with different ideologies in terms of education,” said Anderson.
In order to improve the quality of communication, she suggests more patience on the part of the listener and more practice on the part of the speaker because communication is a two-way activity.
“Take the opportunity to speak whenever you have a chance to,” she advises.
Students can volunteer to speak and do presentations in class and at work.
Anderson stressed that students from other countries be willing to talk to people about what’s going on in the world, debate with people and present arguments with people in a positive way.
Students also need to learn to observe or to watch how other students become effective.
“Notice what people with good communication skills do verbally or nonverbally to get their ideas across,” said Anderson. “But remember to be your own person and have your personality.
“You don’t have to have perfect English to make a difference in people’s lives by what you say.”