Ali El Mahmoud
Language barriers can be frustrating when you visit a country and you do not speak its language. Most of us have experienced being lost in translation during trips to nations whose people do not share features of our linguistic repertoires. For our communications, we memorized a few basic phrases; invested in a reliable digital translator; exaggerated the use of our body language; and/or we demonstrated our show-but-not-tell skills. For example, we pointed out items, landscapes, or locations on the pictures we had on our phones or our maps.
On the other side of the conversation, there was (ideally) a person who answered our questions with short sentences, simplified grammar and vocabulary, a lot of repetitions, and a slow and loud delivery. This speech register is often referred to as foreigner talk.
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According to Dela Rosa and Arguelles (2016), foreigner talk occurs when native speakers make linguistic and conversational adjustments to the conversation to accommodate non-native speakers and help them participate in the oral interaction. Linguistic adjustments require a change in phonology and grammar, whereas conversational adjustments consist of modifications of the content of the message (p. 47). The aim of foreigner talk is to facilitate communication (Ellis, 2009, p.45).
I had recently a medical condition that helped me notice that foreigner talk is almost nonexistent in Montreal.
I am trilingual. In addition to Levantine Arabic, I am fluent in both English and French, so in Quebec, I roughly experienced a communication breakdown because I feel at ease speaking the two Canadian official languages. However, in the last few months, I suffered from an ear infection that reduced my hearing ability. According to my doctor, I was hearing 20% less in my left ear, which often caused me discomfort. I had to ask people to repeat what they said, not because I did not understand, but rather because I could not hear a part of their speech. This usually happened in retail stores when I went shopping or when I ordered or received service over the phone.
What I noticed though was funny and interesting. The moment that I requested a repetition and said, ‘Pardon?’ (English or French), the interlocutor switched instantly from English to French (if the conversation was in English), and the opposite, from French to English (if the conversation was in French). To my surprise, foreigner talk never occurred, and there was no scaffolding of any sort. Neither francophones nor anglophones adjusted their interactions. Instead, they code-switched.
The significant linguistic context in Quebec and language laws that were applied from the late 1960s until today had a great impact on the lives of everyone (Gérin-Lajoie, 2022, p. 307). A simple request in a conversation (Could you repeat please?) reveals an indirect implication of the laws in my opinion. For instance, both francophones and anglophones took me as an immigrant, but from two different angles. I know that I am not white, so for French speakers, even though I was trying to speak French, my English is stronger because English is global, and most immigrants speak English. Whereas from an anglophone point of view, a newcomer to Quebec took francisation classes, and therefore, French is their dominant second language.
In both ways, Montrealers avoided the foreigner talk and assumed that I know another language, a quality that is rarely found elsewhere, perhaps. What about you? Have you ever experienced something similar?
References
Dela Rosa, J. P. O., & Arguelles, D. C. (2016). Do modification and interaction work? A critical review of literature on the role of foreigner talk in second language acquisition. Journal on English Language Teaching, 6(3), 46–60.
Ellis, R. (2008). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford University Press.
Gerin-Lajoie, D. (2021). Bill 101 and English minority language education in Quebec. In L. O’Donnell, P. Donovan & B. Lewis (Eds.), La Charte: La loi 101 et les Quebecois d’expression anglaise (pp. 303-321). Presses de l’Université Laval.
