discovering missions - Southern Nazarene University

245187 Disc Missions ins 9/6/07 1:04 PM Page 116
116 Intercultural Communication
flections and accents properly, something that is more difficult for adults. Part
of that is because adults tend to try to reproduce what they hear without trying
to copy what they saw.
1. Listening
2. Speaking
3. Reading
4. Writing
Natural Order of Language Learning
A second technique of language acquisition is repetition. One must listen
to (and watch) an indigenous informant say things in the target language and
then repeat, repeat, and repeat again. There is no way in language learning to
bypass the need for repetitive practice. Along the way every language learner
will make a lot of mistakes. Because making mistakes is an inescapable part of
learning a language, learners must be prepared to laugh at themselves often,
something that a missionary to the Xhosa people had to do when he confused
ngena (“enter”) and phuma (“leave”) and thus testified that the Holy Spirit had
left him! All language learners need to hear what one language teacher used to
say, “You’ve got a million mistakes to make. So, let’s get started!”
The third technique of good language learning is that of language usage.
One does not learn to swim or play basketball by reading books about swimming
or basketball even though some things about those sports can be learned
that way. It is the same with language acquisition. To learn a language, one
must use it in live-language situations. One must speak to people who know
only that language, using whatever has been learned to that point, much as a
child does. “Learn a little; use it a lot. Learn a bit; use it a bunch,” Tom Brewster
used to say. 7
Most linguists say that total immersion is the best way to learn a language.
In total immersion, the target language itself is used as the vehicle of instruction.
In total immersion, English speakers learning Spanish never have Spanish
explained to them in English. Everything is done in Spanish. To adult learners,
total immersion learning may seem like it is going very slowly at the beginning,
but in the end the actual acquisition of the language will be more rapid
than with any other method.
Communicating Nonverbally
Communication is, of course, about more than just words, sentences, and
even tone of voice. In fact, Albert Mehrabian, psychology professor at UCLA,