Yhtorod Dadzie
Prof. Iseakul
1 February 2017
Univ-150
Language Barriers
Auda me? Aidez- moi? Ndibatsireiwo? There are many ways to ask for help. Consequently, language barriers prevent students from asking for it. Students who have English as their second language know that they can be hard to understand. Some students refrain from asking for help because they are fearful.
When students are aware that their English is not up to par, they tend to keep to themselves. They do this because they know that it is hard for people to understand them. Due to this, they tend to shy away from talking. Personally, English is my first language yet I, at time, I have an accent. This makes it hard for others to understand me. When I was younger and people did not understand what I was saying, it made me feel less than. When others find it hard to understand someone, it makes that person feel insecure. Another problem which attributes to students refraining from asking questions is the constant correction from others of their pronunciation of words. Although people think they are helping, they are actually hurting. This is because when someone thinks they are saying something right but constantly gets corrected on their grammar it hurts their self-esteem. Due to this, student, with language barriers tend to keep to themselves and refrain from asking questions.
Most students who have English as their first language think that asking for help makes them look stupid, so just visualize how students with language barriers feel. One of the main reasons students do not ask for help is because of fear of humiliation. Because of the schema that relates asking questions to stupidity, students are scared of looking stupid. Therefore, they do not ask questions. The fear of looking stupid or incompetent is so strong that students would rather fail a class. What students like this fail to understand is that failing a class solely because they are afraid of looking incompetent is true stupidity. They also need to understand that because they pay the professor to teach them, they have the right to ask the professor any question to ensure they receive the most out of the class.
To overcome these barriers student, need to gain confidence and not care so much about what other people think about them. Students should view pronunciation corrections as constructive criticism and not as people making fun of them. On the other hand, students who have English as their first language need to be more considerate of those in the process of learning English. They need to understand that English is one of the hardest languages to learn and help uplift students in their process of learning. Students who have English as their second or third language need to put aside their fear of pronouncing words incorrectly and being made fun of and focus on their grades. Also, they need to understand that the professors are only here to help them become better.