Language barrier
Encyclopedia
Language barrier is a figurative phrase used primarily to indicate the difficulties faced when people who have no language in common attempt to communicate with each other. It may also be used in other contexts.
occurs unless one or both parties learns a new language
, which requires an investment of much time and effort. People travelling abroad often encounter a language barrier.
People who come to a new country at an adult age, when language learning is a cumbersome process, can have particular difficulty "overcoming the language barrier". Similar difficulties occur at multinational meetings, where translation services can be costly, hard to obtain, and prone to error.
In 1995, 24,000 of the freshmen entering the California State University system reported English was their second language; yet only 1,000 of these non-active speakers of English tested proficient in college-level English(Kahmi-Stein&Stein,1999). Numbers such as these make it evident that it is crucial for instruction librarians to acknowledge the challenges that language can present. Clearly use of English is a key complicating factor in international students' use of an American university library.
Language difficulties impact not only information-gathering skills but also help-seeking behaviors. Lack of proficiency in English can be a major concern for international students in their library use as it relates to asking for and receiving assistance.
Lee (1991), herself a former international student, explains that international students tend to be acquiescent and believe they school is the one place in the English-speaking world where they should be able to compete on an equal basis. International students are receptive and strongly motivated.
For international students, concerned with proper sentence structure and precise vocabulary, this alteration of words and positions can be much more baffling than it is to native English speakers. The use of synonyms, a necessity in keyword searching, is a difficult to master, especially for students with limited English vocabulary (F. Jacobson, 1988).
, Canada
, or New Zealand
, most Spanish emigration has been to Latin America
, and Portuguese emigration to Brazil
. And even if the destination country does not speak the emigrant's language, it is still more
likely to receive immigration if it speaks a language related to that of the emigrant. The most obvious example is the great migration of Europeans to the Americas. The United States
, with its dominant Germanic
English language
, attracted primarily immigrants from Northern Europe, where Germanic tongues were spoken or familiar. Southern Europeans, such as Italians, were more likely to move to Latin American countries.
In the first half of the twentieth century, a second approach to auxiliary languages emerged: that there was no need to construct an auxiliary language, because the most widely spoken languages already had many words in common. These words could be developed into a simple language. People in many countries would understand this language when they read or heard it, because its words also occurred in their own languages.
This approach addressed a perceived limitation of the available auxiliary languages: the need to convince others to learn them before communication could take place. The newer auxiliary languages could also be used to learn ethnic languages quickly and to better understand one's own language.
Examples of traditional auxiliary languages, sometimes called schematic languages, are Esperanto
, Ido
, and Volapük
. Examples of the newer approach, sometimes called naturalistic languages, are Interlingua
, Occidental
, and Latino Sine Flexione
. Only Esperanto and Interlingua are widely used today, although Ido is also in use.
Not only language barrier will cause international students’ anxiety, Chen, the counseling instructor at The University of British Columbia, Canada, conclude that “Second Language Anxiety, Educational Stressors, and Sociocultural Stressors” (51-56) are the three biggest challenge for international students.
In order to solve the stress that international students have, some scholars gave some suggestions, including deal with the problems with a positive attitude and educate international students to use various ways to help them solve their problems, especially during the orientation periods (Olivas and Li 219-220).
was a British colony
, and was forced to use English. Because of this, Nigerians use English rather than their own languages, and the use of English is rapidly spreading among the upper classes. The role of English in education is important, and English dominates the printed media.
Although Education in Nigeria
uses Nigerian languages, most Nigerians are more literate in English.
s and traditions of its members learning more than one language, an adaptation which while not entirely removing barriers of understanding belies the notion of impassable language barriers.
For example there are an estimated 300 different languages spoken in London alone, but members of every ethnic group on average manage to assimilate into British society and be productive members of it.
Language barrier and communication
Typically, little communicationCommunication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
occurs unless one or both parties learns a new language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
, which requires an investment of much time and effort. People travelling abroad often encounter a language barrier.
People who come to a new country at an adult age, when language learning is a cumbersome process, can have particular difficulty "overcoming the language barrier". Similar difficulties occur at multinational meetings, where translation services can be costly, hard to obtain, and prone to error.
In 1995, 24,000 of the freshmen entering the California State University system reported English was their second language; yet only 1,000 of these non-active speakers of English tested proficient in college-level English(Kahmi-Stein&Stein,1999). Numbers such as these make it evident that it is crucial for instruction librarians to acknowledge the challenges that language can present. Clearly use of English is a key complicating factor in international students' use of an American university library.
Language difficulties impact not only information-gathering skills but also help-seeking behaviors. Lack of proficiency in English can be a major concern for international students in their library use as it relates to asking for and receiving assistance.
Lee (1991), herself a former international student, explains that international students tend to be acquiescent and believe they school is the one place in the English-speaking world where they should be able to compete on an equal basis. International students are receptive and strongly motivated.
For international students, concerned with proper sentence structure and precise vocabulary, this alteration of words and positions can be much more baffling than it is to native English speakers. The use of synonyms, a necessity in keyword searching, is a difficult to master, especially for students with limited English vocabulary (F. Jacobson, 1988).
Language barrier and migration
Language barriers also influence migration. Emigrants from a country are far more likely to move to a destination country which speaks the same language as the emigrant's country. Thus, most British emigration has been to AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, or New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, most Spanish emigration has been to Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, and Portuguese emigration to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. And even if the destination country does not speak the emigrant's language, it is still more
likely to receive immigration if it speaks a language related to that of the emigrant. The most obvious example is the great migration of Europeans to the Americas. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with its dominant Germanic
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, attracted primarily immigrants from Northern Europe, where Germanic tongues were spoken or familiar. Southern Europeans, such as Italians, were more likely to move to Latin American countries.
Auxiliary languages as a solution
Since the late 1800s, auxiliary languages have been available to help overcome the language barrier. These languages were traditionally written or constructed by a person or group. Originally, the idea was that two people who wanted to communicate could learn an auxiliary language with little difficulty and could use this language to speak or write to each other.In the first half of the twentieth century, a second approach to auxiliary languages emerged: that there was no need to construct an auxiliary language, because the most widely spoken languages already had many words in common. These words could be developed into a simple language. People in many countries would understand this language when they read or heard it, because its words also occurred in their own languages.
This approach addressed a perceived limitation of the available auxiliary languages: the need to convince others to learn them before communication could take place. The newer auxiliary languages could also be used to learn ethnic languages quickly and to better understand one's own language.
Examples of traditional auxiliary languages, sometimes called schematic languages, are Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
, Ido
Ido
Ido is a constructed language created with the goal of becoming a universal second language for speakers of different linguistic backgrounds as a language easier to learn than ethnic languages...
, and Volapük
Volapük
Volapük is a constructed language, created in 1879–1880 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a Roman Catholic priest in Baden, Germany. Schleyer felt that God had told him in a dream to create an international language. Volapük conventions took place in 1884 , 1887 and 1889 . The first two conventions used...
. Examples of the newer approach, sometimes called naturalistic languages, are Interlingua
Interlingua
Interlingua is an international auxiliary language , developed between 1937 and 1951 by the International Auxiliary Language Association...
, Occidental
Occidental language
The language Occidental, later Interlingue, is a planned language created by the Balto-German naval officer and teacher Edgar de Wahl and published in 1922....
, and Latino Sine Flexione
Latino sine Flexione
Latino sine flexione , or Peano’s Interlingua , is an international auxiliary language invented by the Italian mathematician Giuseppe Peano in 1903. It is a simplified version of Latin, and retains its vocabulary...
. Only Esperanto and Interlingua are widely used today, although Ido is also in use.
Language Barrier for International Students in U.S
Nowadays, more and more students study abroad. Along with all the problems that international faced, language barrier becomes the biggest problem for international students, especially in America. In addition, this kind of language barrier make many students feel helpless and over stressed. Nowadays, many researches prove that the difficulty of language barrier for international students. Selvadurai mentioned the problem of language barrier, identification of classroom atmosphere and faculty-student relationship as cause of difficulties for international students in his research which published on 1998. In all the factors, he said that the language is “the first barrier encountered by international students” (154).Not only language barrier will cause international students’ anxiety, Chen, the counseling instructor at The University of British Columbia, Canada, conclude that “Second Language Anxiety, Educational Stressors, and Sociocultural Stressors” (51-56) are the three biggest challenge for international students.
In order to solve the stress that international students have, some scholars gave some suggestions, including deal with the problems with a positive attitude and educate international students to use various ways to help them solve their problems, especially during the orientation periods (Olivas and Li 219-220).
Language Dominance Based on Colonisation
NigeriaNigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
was a British colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
, and was forced to use English. Because of this, Nigerians use English rather than their own languages, and the use of English is rapidly spreading among the upper classes. The role of English in education is important, and English dominates the printed media.
Although Education in Nigeria
Education in Nigeria
Education can be referred to as an act or process of developing and cultivating, ones mental activities or senses; the expansion, strengthening, and discipline, of ones mind, faculty, etc.; the forming and regulation of principles and character in order to prepare and fit for any calling or...
uses Nigerian languages, most Nigerians are more literate in English.
Other uses of "language barrier"
- SIL discusses "language as a major barrier to literacy" when a speaker's language is unwritten.
Misconceptions about the "language barrier"
It is sometimes assumed that when multiple languages exist in a setting, there must therefore be multiple language barriers. Multilingual societies generally have lingua francaLingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
s and traditions of its members learning more than one language, an adaptation which while not entirely removing barriers of understanding belies the notion of impassable language barriers.
For example there are an estimated 300 different languages spoken in London alone, but members of every ethnic group on average manage to assimilate into British society and be productive members of it.