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Cultural Note. When a person is not a native speaker of a language, it is easy to lose control of a conversation
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When a person is not a native speaker of a language, it is easy to lose control of a conversation. Native speakers may not give all the information you need to understand something, or they may interrupt you before you are finished speaking. They may misunderstand something you say, or you may misunderstand them. Staying in control of the conversation and guiding it are possible even if you are not a fluent speaker of the language. There are different skills that you can use to help you guide the conversation. They are:
- asking for focused explanation;
- holding your turn;
- correcting misunderstandings;
- summarizing;
- other ways of guiding the conversation.
The following are definitions and examples of each skill:
1 Asking for focused explanation. Focused explanation is like focused repetition, except that you are asking someone to give more information or another explanation.
1) Use question words.
For example: “Where do you want me to put it? ”
2) Repeat the word(s) that came just before the word you want repeated.
Make your voice rise as it would with a question. For example:
A: “Put the eraser next to the ashtray.”
B: “Put it next to the…? ” (The speaker will then say, “ashtray”)
3) If you cannot repeat the words the other person has said, ask the
speaker directly. For example:
“Could you say that last part again? ”
“Could you repeat what you said after___? ”
Ask the speaker to explain what he said. Guide the speaker to use different words, examples or more details:
Ways to ask for focused explanation /repetition:
“ I understand this, but could you explain the (other/next/first/last) thing you said? ”
“ I got what you said about the first part, but I didn’t get the next part.”
“Do you mean that I need to enter more than one piece of information in the computer? (Also: Did you mean …?)
“Can you give an example of this? ”
“I’m not sure (how/ when/ where) to enter the data.”
2 Holding your turn. When you hold your turn, you are telling the other person that you have not finished speaking and that you will say something in a few seconds.
Show that you want to speak, but you need time to think first.
Ways to Hold Your Turn
“ This weekend? ” (Repeat part of the other person’s question, with a question voice)
“I think…” “Uh…” “Well…” “I’m not sure….”
“Let me see…” “Let me think…”
“Just a ‘sec’” (Just a second) “Um, how can I say this…”
“Let me try to say this correctly…” “Well, let me think for a minute…
3 Correcting Misunderstanding. If you feel your partner did not understand you correctly, interrupt and explain what you mean.
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