The Two-Way Street of Communication: Expectations on a Listener When Communicating with a Native English Speaker

Now, I’ve spent a long time talking about all the things that a non-native English speaker can do to improve their communication function. And there’s still an abundance of things that non-native English speakers can do.

BUT…

It’s important to pause and recognize the flip side of that interaction.

The listener.

Conversation and communication is a two-way street. You cannot communicate by yourself - you need someone to listen.

And we know there are good listeners and bad listeners.

What are some things though, specifically for listening to non-native English speakers that we need to keep in mind?

Scenario.

Let’s imagine you, as a native English speaker, call customer service to dispute a recent credit card charge discrepancy on your phone bill. You upgraded your phone, have a new phone plan, but thought you would receive some phone credits and a discounted phone plan for at least 12 months.

You call in, get connected with a customer representative quickly (phew!) but when they answer, you have an immediate moment of pause. As they are introducing themselves, you process that they are not a native English speaker - at least not to your ears and certainly not native to your local region.

What do you do?

Do you request to speak to someone else? (….cough…Karen)

WHAT DO YOU DO?

1. Don’t Be A Dick.

It can be important to check your ego and firstly, recognize you are speaking to a human being. You are calling a company to deal with a problem you are facing, but first and foremost, you are speaking to another human being with their own thoughts, feelings, circumstances, problems in life, and priorities.

They are working for the company you are calling into, so they are being paid by that company to help you. AND, they are person that should be treated respectfully. You don’t start randomly swearing off or yelling at strangers on the street. Don’t be a dick just cause they’re now on the phone.

2. The Burden Of Communication.

The burden of communication does not solely fall onto the speaker. Listeners play a major role in the success of an interaction. Otherwise, there would be no need to distinguish good listeners from bad listeners. Otherwise, all students in a classroom would perform the same way since the teacher communicates the same way to all of them.

Instead, the burden of communication also falls on the listener. As a listener, you have to try. You have to give feedback, nod your head, engage with the speaker, ask questions to follow-up, clarify, and repeat.

You can’t just check out or solely push the conversation along so that it’s your turn to speak and rant.

In the scenario, listening intently to what the customer representative has access to and doesn’t have access to doing is important. You don’t yell or get angry at a cop for not being able to put out a fire. Maybe the problem you are presenting is not something the representative can fix. But it requires you to listen and ask active questions to determine that. It’s not the customer representative’s fault that the phone directory tree directed your call to them. They are simply a customer representative - they didn’t raise their hand saying they could help fix your problem. Maybe you navigated to them incorrectly yourself when you navigated the phone directory tree yourself.

Communication is not just about hearing words; it's about actively listening and comprehending the message being conveyed. Native English speakers should engage in active listening by asking clarifying questions, providing feedback, and showing genuine interest in the conversation. You would expect these things are being done between two native English speakers. Why not extend that to non-native speakers?

3. Patience & Empathy.

It’s important to understand that non-native English speakers are aware that their English doesn’t sound the same. They notice things, even if they cannot fully articulate the specifics of how it is different. And many times, they are already putting in extra effort to the best of their ability to improve their pronunciation as they see possible.

You, as a native English speaker, need to listen attentively, without. preconceived notions or judgments. You need to not expect perfection in pronunciation and instead come with a willingness to meet halfway.

So what if they pronounced a word ‘incorrectly’. If you understood it or could discern the correct word, they communicated it to you. If you didn’t understand it, you could slow them down and request clarification to repair the communication breakdown.

Non-native English speakers might sometimes struggle to find the right words or express themselves fluently. As a listener, you can greatly contribute to the success of the communication by giving the speaker time and space to articulate their thoughts. Encouraging them and confirming you understand what they are trying to communicate can help them gain confidence.

4. Cultural Sensitivity.

Communication between different cultures can regularly cause miscommunications because there are often unspoken rules and traditions to communicating. Being aware of these predispositions and tendencies can be helpful for you as a native English speaker to navigate, encourage, and ultimately facilitate a successful interaction.

For example, if you were in a Japanese business meeting as a junior employee, you don’t speak unless spoken to. Doing otherwise may be disrespectful and not follow the hierarchy of interaction. But let’s say a Japanese business person is meeting with you in North America. The junior employee seems quiet, reserved, and isn’t communicating as openly despite flying across the world to attend this meeting.

If you don’t recognize the cultural difference, you may incorrectly assume they aren’t interested in working with you, or perhaps keeping things hidden or not expressing their thoughts openly about concerns.

These can have rippling effects on your business relationship, your ability to communicate openly, and directly create a chasm or fissure between the two working parties.

5. Adaptation to Different English Accents.

There is research into the rapid adaptation to foreign-accented speech for native English speakers.

A study by Clarke and Garrett (2004) explores this exact phenomenon and brief exposure to non-native English speech suggests that adaptation can occur within as few as two to four sentence-length utterances. That means that you, as the native English speaker, can adapt. Your brain processing is flexible and can adjust and improve your recognition to accommodate the deviation from native English speech.

And it’s something that is done without your direct intervention. All you need to do is not be a dick and request to stop speaking with them.

Xie et al. (2018) extend on Clark and Garrett’s research to suggest evidence that such adaptation transferred to a different talker of a same accent. That is, the rapid adaptation benefits you get extend towards additional speakers of that same non-native English accent.

So Reflect On Your Role As a Listener.

I think it’s important to remind ourselves that effective communication is a partnership between the speaker and the listener. While non-native speakers do put in considerable effort to improve their English language skills, native English speakers also have a pivotal role to play in the success of these interactions. That relationships cannot be so one-sided and the responsibility cannot fall solely on one party.

Patience, empathy, cultural sensitivity, and active listening are expectations that listeners should bring to the table.

In a world where diversity is celebrated, understanding and adapting to different accents, dialects, and communication styles should be seen as an opportunity to learn and grow. Ultimately, recognizing that the responsibility of successful communication lies with both the speaker and the listener fosters a more inclusive and enriching exchange of ideas, experiences, and perspectives.

References

Constance M. Clarke, Merrill F. Garrett; Rapid adaptation to foreign-accented English. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 December 2004; 116 (6): 3647–3658. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1815131

Xie X, Weatherholtz K, Bainton L, Rowe E, Burchill Z, Liu L, Jaeger TF. Rapid adaptation to foreign-accented speech and its transfer to an unfamiliar talker. J Acoust Soc Am. 2018 Apr;143(4):2013. doi: 10.1121/1.5027410. PMID: 29716296; PMCID: PMC5895469.