Discourse

I once taught an English conversation class that was 50% Brasilian/Mexican and 50% Japanese and Korean. Guess which group was more outspoken? If you guessed the Brasilians, you would be correct. The Brasilians dominated the class, demanded my attention, and kept up a lively energy in the classroom. The Asian students were quieter and more reserved. It was definitely unbalanced.

Before you jump to the default "Asians are quiet and shy" stereotype, listen...

What do you think the Brasilians thought of their Asian classmates? They complained about their lack of participation. "Why are they so quiet?," they asked me, "Don't they like us?" "Why are they so shy?" The Asian students said, "They are so loud, why do they not let anyone else speak?"

In the next class I brought in a basketball, a "bowling ball," and a rugby ball. "Today," I announced, "We're doing to learn about discourse styles." For all of you English teachers out there, yes, I'm referring to the work of Susan Steinbach!

"Discourse styles? What is discourse?" Silvana shouted out. Well, not shouted, but you get the picture.

"Discourse is the way people communicate, I'm talking about conversatoin styles. We're going to talk about how different cultures communicate." I explained.

I had a few students come up and demonstrate (without speaking) a round of bowling. One student took the ball, stepped ahead of the others and "rolled the ball" down the lane. When he was done, another student stepped forward. I then jumped in. "What if I were to grab the ball out of the hands of the one bowling? Is that acceptable?" Everyone agreed that doing so would be rude.

I next had students demonstrate basketball. One student held the ball, and 2 others were trying to steal the it from her. She then started down the "court," and another student stole the ball and took off in the opposite direction. "Is it OK to steal the ball in this situation? Is it OK for everyone to grasp at the ball at the same time?" Everyone agreed that this was acceptable.

I finally had a small group demonstrate a rugby scrum--minus the violence. A student grabbed the ball and started "running down the field." Another student jumped in, pushed him aside, and stole the ball. Another student pretended to knock that student to the ground, and went in another direction. "What's going on here?" I asked. "Chaos," a few students replied. "Is it OK to steal the ball? change directions? Push people in order to get to the ball?" Everyone agreed that this was acceptable.

I later talked about the work of Susan Steinbach. She is an English teacher who described discourse styles in terms of sports.

Bowling reflects the conversation styles of "high-context" and hierarchical cultures. Turn-taking is very important. It is considered rude to just break into a conversation. This is typical of some Asian cultures, Swiss German culture, according to Steinbach.

Basketball represents the conversation style of North Americans, Australias, and British. Conversations can be fast paced, can change direction, and the object is to speak and be heard.

Rugby represents a conversation style in countries like Latin America, Greece, or Russia. It is normal and acceptable to interrrupt, raise your voice, and start speaking while others are still speaking. Consider where the weather is hot (or cold, in the case of Russia) and the food is spicy---you'll probably find a rugby style of conversation.

Afterwards, it was understood that the Asian students aren't necessarily "quiet" or "shy," but they were waiting their turn to speak. Brasilians realised that they needed to allow for others to jump in. The Asian students began to take chances--they jumped into conversations, and spoke out a lot more.

It is interesting to think of the "sports" we play in our lives. Being from where I'm from, we're rubgy players all the way....