The Language Barrier:
We
began delivering our course, Business Decision Making with Cases, on Monday.
The
course is 3 weeks long and covers concepts in finance, marketing, operations,
and strategy, using local African businesses as case studies. Each case
describes a business problem, and students use both qualitative and
quantitative data to identify the root causes of the problem, debate various
solutions, and finally recommend an implementation plan.
There’s
just one problem – most of our students don’t speak fluent English. In fact,
English is their 3rd language, after Kenyarwandan and French. For
obvious reasons, this makes a lively case discussion difficult.
Dean
Tumwesige, our main contact at the university, has a compelling explanation for
the lack of English:
“There’s
no incentive to learn English well for these students. Everybody in Rwanda
speaks the local language, and so they can get by quite easily. If you go to
Uganda, you will find that most people speak excellent English. This is because
there are 56 tribes in Uganda, each with a different language. They therefore
need to learn English to communicate with each other, not just with
foreigners.”
He
elaborated further:
“We
want you to always teach in English, since it is the language of international
business. Even if these students stay in Rwanda, they will be interacting with
businesses around the world. They need to understand the importance of
effective communication.”
Microfinance:
I
taught a case on microfinance yesterday, and I could categorize the students
into two distinct groups within the first thirty minutes. I am sure that these
groups are fairly consistent across any classroom in the world (feel free to
categorize yourself!)
Group
A:
These
were students who arrived early, sat in the front row, spoke excellent English,
and prepared the case. They were eager
to contribute to the case discussion and impress the instructor and their
peers.
Group
B:
Group
B students arrived 10-15 minutes late and sat near the back. They chatted
amongst themselves during the class, texted on their phones, and were generally
in the class because their fellow Group B members were in the class.
There
were however, certain anomalies. In the middle of my case, I asked a fairly
straightforward question. As usual, my Group A’s had their hands in the air,
and my Group B’s had their fingers on their phones.
I
continued to scan the room when I encountered a third group of students, who I
will call Group C. These young men and women were clearly paying attention;
their brows were knitted in concentration. But not even one of them had their hands
up. If they were interested and paying attention, why did they choose not to
contribute? I was puzzled, but moved on.
After
class, one of the Group C’s (whose name was Ismail) came up with a Group A (whose
name was Violet)
“He
wants to thank you for the class. He understood most of it but is not confident
to speak in English. Can he contribute to the class discussion in French?” said
Violet.
I
literally laughed out loud. I explained I would have to spend all my time on
Google Translate if Ismail spoke in French.
Ismail
nodded, shook my hand, and vowed to improve his English over the next 3 weeks. I
could tell that he meant it.
Ismail
and his fellow Group C’s are very brave. I could never take a course where the
language of instruction was French or Spanish. Most students (myself included)
shy away from situations that expose their inadequacies. Kudos to the Group C’s
for taking a risk and striving for self-improvement.
The Class
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