Language barrier

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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.
Contents
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1 Language barrier and communication 2 Language barrier and migration

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2.1 Auxiliary languages as a solution 2.2 Language Barrier for International Students in U.S 2.3 The Language Dominance Based on Colonisation

3 Other uses of "language barrier" 4 Misconceptions about the "language barrier" 5 References 6 See also 7 External links

[edit]Language

barrier and communication

Typically, little communication occurs unless one or both parties learns a new language, which requires an investment of 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.

[edit]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 Australia, 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.[dubious discuss]

[edit]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, Ido, and Volapk. 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.

[edit]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). [1] 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. [2] 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). [3]

[edit]The

Language Dominance Based on Colonisation

Nigeria was British colonization, and British people forced Nigeria people to use English. Nowadays, because of the colonization, Nigerian prefers to use English than use their own language, therefore, the use of English is rapidly spreading among the upper classes. The role of English in education is quite domineering and important in Nigeria, and English has overwhelmingly dominated the print media, too-the most prestigious newspapers and magazines are all in English. Although Nigerian government educates Nigerians own language, Nigerians are more literate in English than their own languages to be able to read newspapers in such languages. So, in Nigerian, language becomes a problem, too, which will cause some barriers for the people in Nigeria.

[edit]Other

uses of "language barrier"

SIL discusses "language as a major barrier to literacy" when a speaker's language is unwritten.

[edit]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 francas 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.
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