Language Learning in Ministry: Preparing for Cross-Cultural Language Acquisition

Language Learning in Ministry: Preparing for Cross-Cultural Language Acquisition

© 2021 by Jan Edwards Dormer

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Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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ISBNs: 978-1-64508-323-8 (paperback)

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Digital Ebook Release 2021

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To my parents, Max and Dixie Edwards,

thank you for your missionary service.

Thank you for giving me an identity that I treasure—that of being an MK.

Thank you for your perseverance and humility in learning a new language

and culture that endeared you to those you served.

Above all, thank you for keeping your eyes focused on what really matters:

living lives through which others can see Christ.

CONTENTS

Introduction

1. Misconceptions about Language Acquisition

This initial chapter will address commonly held misconceptions about language acquisition, such as the notion that children pick up languages effortlessly and that full immersion in the target language is best.

2. Principles of Language Acquisition

This chapter will outline several important concepts of second language acquisition. Some of these are the importance of comprehensible input, the value of lowering stress, the notion of respecting a silent period, and the need to use the new language for meaningful communication.

3. Formal Language Learning

This chapter will outline what a good language learning course or school looks like. What kind of curriculum is followed? What kinds of methodologies are used? How do teachers interact with students? What tasks are given for meaningful language use?

4. Informal Language Learning

This chapter addresses informal, learner-driven language acquisition in two types of situations: (1) language acquisition in settings in which formal language study is not available; (2) the ongoing work of the language learner, after formal studies, to continue to acquire the language.

5. Children’s Language & Educational Needs

This chapter addresses the needs of MKs with regard to language and K-12 education. It helps parents understand the relationship between language and academic learning, and provides a set of questions which can help parents make the best decisions for their children.

6. Opportunities for Ministry amid Language Learning

This chapter addresses ways in which the language learning process itself can contribute to ministry in the host country. The goal in this chapter is to paint the language learning period in the life of a missionary in an opportunistic light, showing the many benefits—for self, family, and ministry—which can result.

7. Applying New Understanding to Chart a Path for Success

This final chapter ties together the concepts throughout the book, inviting readers to apply them in designing a plan for their own and their children’s language acquisition. Additional attention is given to considering how personal and family well-being will be maintained during the language acquisition process.

References

Appendices

Appendix A: Language Proficiency Scales

Appendix B: English for Life Curriculum

Appendix C: Second Language Acquisition Self-Assessment

Appendix D: Language Teaching Methodologies

Appendix E: Language Learning Resources to Create

Appendix F: Language Learning Online Resources

Acknowledgments

INTRODUCTION

My Story … and Others’ Stories

After I had spoken at a conference on MK (missionary kid) language issues, a cross-cultural worker said to me, I sure wish I had known all this ten years ago when I was trying to learn Hungarian. I wasn’t surprised, since I hear similar comments every time I have an opportunity to talk to cross-cultural workers about second language acquisition. Such statements always fill me with sadness, because the pain, angst, self-doubt, and sense of failure so frequently expressed concerning language learning usually could have been greatly reduced. More pleasant and positive processes and results are possible—if language learning is approached more realistically and strategically.

I come to this field of missionary language learning from multiple perspectives. First, I grew up in Brazil as an MK. In chapter 5, I will share about my own childhood language learning experience at age ten. Being immersed in a Brazilian school at that age, without support from the school, was quite difficult. Thankfully, we now know much more about childhood language learning and language immersion than was known back then.

While I was struggling in the Brazilian school, my parents were in a typical missionary language school. I was old enough to see the stress they were under. Since my dad kept failing Portuguese grammar tests, at one point he was told that he should go back to America because he would never learn the language. So when we moved to interior Brazil, everyone was surprised that my dad, rather than my academically excelling mom, could better communicate with the people.

Perhaps these early experiences with language learning contributed to my interest in the field of second language acquisition, because shortly after earning a bachelor’s degree in elementary education at Asbury College, I went on to pursue a master’s degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).

Marriage and two daughters came next, along with pastoring a church in Ontario. But it wasn’t long before my husband, Rod, and I felt God calling us to missions. We packed up and moved to Indonesia. and that’s where the stress of language learning hit me full force. I was now an adult trying to learn a language that everyone was telling me was easy. Hearing this just increased my frustration, as I struggled to memorize impossibly long words.

Rod was dealing with language and cultural adjustment in his own way: reading a lot of novels to escape the stress—and possibly to escape my venting about our language classes! I had been trained in language teaching, and yet none of my teachers were using the methodologies that I knew would help me learn. I felt that I didn’t have the authority to suggest changes, so I ended up quitting formal classes much earlier than I should have.

After four years in Indonesia, we switched gears and headed to a new ministry in Brazil. I breathed a sigh of relief at the thought of going to a country where I already knew the language, but I underestimated the helplessness I would feel watching my daughters and husband try to learn Portuguese. Being the only one in the family who spoke the local language brought its own set of stressors as I grew frustrated trying to find the right balance of using Portuguese in the home to help them learn and knowing when and how much to offer help and feedback.

Meanwhile, I had been growing as a TESOL professional. As I developed different types of programs for teaching English in Indonesia and Brazil, I increasingly wondered about the disconnect between what we know to be best practices in teaching English as a second or foreign language and how I had experienced language learning as a missionary. My increased interest in the field of second language acquisition led me to pursue a doctorate in curriculum, teaching and learning—focusing on language acquisition—at the University of Toronto.

On the ministry front, we faced several unexpected turns in the road. After five years in Brazil, our permanent visas were not granted; so we returned to Indonesia. This time, I thought to myself, I will really learn Indonesian. Alas, once again I was in classes that were painfully ineffective, and again I did not persevere. Instead, I spent time talking with our helper, and became fluent with foundational language—the only language I felt I really needed, since all my ministry work was in English.

One remaining language learning experience came about because of a one-year stint in Kenya. Early in that year we spent three weeks in Tanzania learning Swahili. Now three weeks is certainly not enough time to learn a language. But it was in this program that I experienced, as a student, effective adult language teaching for the first and only time. The teacher used modern methodologies focusing on communication, and to this day I retain some of the understanding I gained about Swahili. Because the Kenyans we were working with spoke excellent English, however, I had little opportunity to use the minimal Swahili I had learned.

In my current role in TESOL education as part of a graduate program, I have opportunities to travel to conferences and retreats to speak about language issues to people who are ministering cross-culturally. The laments I have heard, such as the one in the opening line of this introduction, prompted me to engage in a research project—collecting data on how missionaries felt about their language learning experiences. I gathered surveys from 140 individuals, and followed up with a few of them. Although some certainly had good experiences, many did not. Many did eventually learn the language to a highly functional level yet still bore scars from their initial language learning period, speaking of it as a desert—a time they would like to forget. Some still struggled with the language after ten or more years on the field. Others left the field after one term, convinced that they would never get the language—some having been told that they couldn’t have a ministry without high language proficiency.

A Better Way

These stories, coupled with my own experiences, have caused me to think that we might be able to approach the language learning of cross-cultural workers in a better way. We can provide more effective opportunities for language acquisition and better equip missionaries-in-training with an understanding of how additional languages are acquired. We can have a more realistic understanding of the role of language in communication in general, and thus in ministry effectiveness. We can better prepare families for their children’s language learning needs and realities. And, possibly most importantly, we can frame the language learning experience as an opportunity for ministry, not merely as a prerequisite for it.

The Audience

Because this book is written in English, from the experiences and perspectives of a native English speaker, I assume that mainly native English speakers will find it relevant and applicable. So I geared my writing, for the most part, to those for whom English is their native language and who will be learning a second (as opposed to third, fourth, or more) language for their cross-cultural ministry. Many may have learned a smattering of a foreign language in high school or college, but most will not have gained significant communicative competence in that language.

That said, today’s cross-cultural ministry force is blessedly diverse, with nations that formerly received missionaries now sending missionaries out, and formerly sending countries now also receiving missionaries. As linguistic and cultural diversity has increased in missions, many more questions about language have emerged. What should the common language among a multilingual mission team be? Should it be English if the native English speakers are in the majority and the nonnative English speakers have learned some English in school? Should it be the local language because everyone, after all, is required to learn it? But if so, what about those new to the field who haven’t learned it yet? And what about the scenario in which one spouse in a marriage is native to the country of ministry, and thus speaks the language effortlessly, while the other spouse must learn that language in order to minister? How does second language acquisition play out for such couples? Does each person try to learn the other’s native language? Or do they both just focus on the language of ministry?

These and other similarly sticky multilingual issues are not addressed specifically in this book. Nevertheless, I hope the principles highlighted here do provide good foundational knowledge for addressing questions such as these. One exception is found in chapter 5: when discussing children’s language acquisition, I do briefly speak to the situation of missionary families whose native language is not English. When such families place their children in English-medium (international) schools, they are essentially navigating three languages: their home language, the local language of the country in which they are ministering, and the language of the school. This brings its own unique set of challenges.

Appendices

As I sent my book chapters out to some very helpful readers for feedback, I was often asked if I was going to include something that person saw as important in regard to the provision of resources for language learning. My list of appendices grew with each suggestion! I do encourage you to return to the back of the book frequently for suggestions and resources for making your language learning more effective. Many more resources could have been included, and online internet searches can provide helpful ideas, as well as new applications, programs, and websites.

Word Choices

Finally, I want to share some of the choices I made regarding word usage. First, I want to unpack the wording of the title. In the main title, Language Learning in Ministry, the in is intentional. We can minister as we are learning language, and our learning of language should continue throughout our ministry. In the second part of the title, Preparing for Cross-Cultural Language Acquisition, the preposition changes to for. An ideal time to utilize this book is prior to leaving for the place of service, as it can help to set the stage for success in language acquisition.

Second, I opted not to avoid using the word missionary, even though some organizations no longer use the term. I use the term cross-cultural worker wherever it is appropriate, but in some places the more traditional understanding of missionary seems helpful.

Third, I used masculine and feminine pronouns in this text randomly, sometimes referring to he and sometimes to she when talking about language learners. My use of either pronoun is not meant to imply any characteristic regarding either gender.

Lastly, I tried to avoid an overuse of technical, academic terms and jargon. Those reading this as professionals in the field of linguistics or second language acquisition may sometimes wish I had provided more specific or technical terminology, cited more experts, or gone more in-depth in my discussion of theories and research. However, my goal is to build understanding about second language acquisition, not to prove theories or teach terminology. Thus I tried to use common language, while still presenting accurate ideas. I hope that those who are interested in learning more will find the resources they need in the reference list provided at the end of the text.

Reach Out!

I love to hear from my readers! Please feel to reach out to me with questions or comments. I have many additional resources for language learning. My email address is [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you!

Misconceptions

about Language Acquisition

PHIL

I really tried to learn the language for the first two years after we got here. But I just couldn’t get it. I don’t know why I thought I would. I’ve never been a good language learner. Now my kids, on the other hand—they’re the lucky ones. Kids pick up languages easily, right? You should have heard our little Kaitlin when she was only four, jabbering away with the lady who came to clean our house. I wish it could be like that for me!

Like Phil, many people have preconceived ideas about language learning, and these notions usually have some basis in reality. Phil may have taken Spanish in high school, yet not emerged from those classes speaking Spanish. And now Phil sees his four-year-old responding very differently to a new language environment than he is, and he quickly surmises that the difference has something to do with age. To complicate matters further, he assumes that he isn’t a good language learner, because if he were, he would have learned Spanish in high school, right?

Upon closer inspection of Phil’s beliefs, we see many unexamined assumptions. Among them are:

•that Phil’s high school classes provided him with good language learning opportunities

•that some people can learn new languages and others can’t

•that Phil could not have learned the