Varieties of languages and cross-cultural communication Essay

Varieties of languages and cross-cultural communication - Essay Example My spoken English differs from my written English, and they can acquire various forms. The register I use to speak in the classroom, during a presentation or with the teachers is not the same which I use to speak with my family and friends during a spontaneous conversation. Besides, my written English in a chat or informal e-mail has many oral characteristics (use of slang, contractions, colloquial words, repetitions), but my written formal English has the vocabulary that I usually do not speak, and I take care of the style and grammar. I live in a country with many immigrants, whose native language is not English. Many of them have learned English after they came, or in their countries of origin, where the taught language differs from the daily spoken language. When these people go to work or study, they can encounter cross-communication problems with native speakers. For example, when we engage in teamwork with foreign students, these problems often appear. Sometimes, due to the accents and pronunciation from their native languages, there could be problems of misunderstanding. When they write, they could use words that they find in their bilingual dictionaries, but these words have not the intended meaning in English, or they sound strange because they are not used in those contexts. Therefore, I try to speak louder and slower with foreign speakers, and I avoid slang and colloquial words they might not understand if they have not lived in the United States for a long time.