Neo-Confucianism Is a Philosophy Which Was Born TEST1

teaching English to non-English speaking people for the purpose of conflict resolution

This paper presents a discussion regarding the importance of teaching English to non-English speaking people for the purpose of conflict resolution. The writer uses several examples of common conflicts in which the understanding of the English language would have made communication much easier. There were six sources used to complete this paper.

GETTING PEOPLE ON THE SAME PAGE IN COMMUNICATION

With the technological boom of recent decades and the globalization process of the world, the need for a universal language is becoming crucial. Today, more than ever before, people are dealing with each other on international levels in business, as well as social relations. This new blending of the world's cultures and nations has brought forth the very real understanding that a universal language is going to become paramount to the success of the process. English has been called the universal language for many years. While there is no recognized true universal language, the English language is being taught in many nations where English is not the resident first language. With the increased business dealings that are occurring, because of the Internet ability as well as world globalization, conflict resolution is going to become quite important. For conflict resolution to work at its optimum level of success, it will be important to the future to have a universal language, and since so many nations already feel this is English, it would be advantageous to accept is as such and use it as the language of conflict resolution procedures around the world. Teaching English to speakers of other languages will become more vital in conflict resolution as time moves forward.

Before we can fully understand how important English will be to future conflict resolutions we first must understand what conflict resolution is all about. Conflict resolution is the way in which conflicts are addressed and handled. Conflicts resolution can be germane to social situations, public situations and work situations. When the term conflict resolution is used however, it is usually used in the context of employment relations or business problems. Conflict resolution is the means by which the conflicts are mediated and resolved hopefully to everybody's satisfaction. Conflict resolution is the ultimate in communication because it is when communication must be at its best so that it does not muddy the issues of the conflict. When there are several languages involved in a conflict of any kind it can lose something in the translation and the communication breaks down (Spat, 1998). People in airports speaking with ticket agents have had tremendous trouble worldwide getting their conflicts resolved. People who do business overseas also have problems resolving conflict when the parties involved speak different languages (Spat, 1998). When there are two languages in a conflict resolution it is weakening the tool that is being used. Languages do not translate exactly therefore something will be lost in the meaning or intent if the same language is not used. English is not only a language that is being taught around the world today, it is also a language that has many words to use to express oneself. This provides valuable communication abilities to all involved.

America is beginning to recognize the importance of English as an internationally accepted conflict resolution language, and has set up various programs around the nation to teach English to non-English speaking immigrants (Pean, 1999). Among the skills they are shown to use their newfound language with is conflict resolution.

The most important reason that there needs to be a universal language for conflict resolution is that without one, people are left to make assumptions which can be dangerous. Assumptions about what someone meant or how things were interpreted can cause the conflict to deepen. Even with an interpreter there is no guarantee that the translation will be smooth or exact. Teaching English to non-English speaking residents will remove the middle person and allow those in conflict to resolve their own issues (Pean, 1999).

Many conflicts arise over misunderstood meaning and assumptions. There are programs at high schools and colleges today that work off the assumption problem. The program has the students verbalize what they think someone is like outside of the classroom based on their classroom behavior. The results are often amazing and completely inaccurate (Ferrechio, 1999). Conflict resolution without a universal language is similar to this problem. If the parties involved in the conflict speak different languages the assumptions are going to be made based on loose and not always accurate translations as well as mistaken body language and social cues. Because different cultures have different body language cues it is important not to depend on those for the purpose of conflict resolution. In some nations getting close to someone physically to speak is considered rude, while in other cultures it is an expected and accepted way to communicate (Vickers, 1998). Regardless of the cues that are non-verbal, if everyone involved used the same words then the conflict could be discussed and resolved (Ferrechio, 1999).

Using English as a universal language for the purpose of conflict resolution will enhance the equality of participants when it comes to gender roles as well. Many western nations treat women equally and they have their right to their opinion in business and other matters (Boel, 1997). However there are other nations in the world who do not view the female as equal. During conflict resolution if all parties speak English it puts the woman on an equal plane with the man and allows her to speak to them with a "neutral" language.