TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS IN

A MILITARY CULTURE

by Sohvi Siponmaa, MA, Finnish Naval Academy

THE FINNISH NAVAL ACADEMY

• FOUNDED IN 1930 • 102 EMPLOYEES, 400 STUDENTS• TODAY WE TRAIN:

CADETS – NAVAL AND COAST GUARD OFFICERS TO BE (C1 – C2)PETTY OFFICERS (A2 – B2)RESERVE OFFICERS AND RESERVISTSPERSONNEL

THE FINNISH NAVAL ACADEMY CONTINUED…

• FIELDS OF SPECIALTYMARITIME ENGINEERINGNAVIGATION NAVAL WARFAREC4MARINE OPSMARITIME SURVEILLANCE

• RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

• OPERATIONAL READINESS

SUPERSHORT CV

• GRADUATED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI IN 1990

• NATIONAL DEFENCE COLLEGE 1992 – 2007

• FINNISH NAVAL ACADEMY 2007 –

• TEACH ENGLISH (AND SWEDISH), TRANSLATION, TERMINOLOGY

• FASHION, ANTIQUE SUMMER COTTAGE, HEAVY METAL, FOOD, AMERICAN LITERATURE, SITCOMS

OUTLINE

• COMMUNICATION IN THE NAVY – WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT IT?

• FINNISH COMMUNICATION

• REMEDIES• ORAL EXERCISES WE

DO• WEBSITES & BOOKS• THE FUTURE

THE NAVY WAY• HOMOGENEOUS CULTURE

OTHER WAYS OF THINKING EXIST!

• INTROVERTED CULTURESUSPICIOUS OF THE NEW

• MACHO CULTURECOMPETITIVE

• HIERARCHIC CULTURESTIFFENS CONVERSATION

• HIGHLY PROFESSIONAL, NO-NONSENSE CULTURESMALL TALK SKILLS!

• CURT CULTUREDIRECT AND INSENSITIVENO GRAY AREAERROR-INTOLERANT

FINNISH COMMUNICATIONQUIET, MONOTONOUS, SLOW

GET THE MESSAGE ACROSS!GET THE MESSAGE ACROSS!REASSURANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT!REASSURANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT!

ASK FOR HELP! ASK AND GIVE FEEDBACK! GESTURES, BODYLANGUAGE, FACIAL

EXPRESSIONS, EYE CONTACT – SHOW SOME PASSION!

PRACTICE INTONATION! PRACTICE PRONUNCIATION OF INDIVIDUAL

WORDS! BE PROUD OF NATIONAL IDIOSYNCRASIES

MAKING IT WORK…

PARAPHRASE! GENERALIZE! AS MILITARY MEN: KNOW YOUR

PROFESSIONAL VOCABULARY! INCORRECT GRAMMAR SIMPLE SENTENCE STRUCTURE,

UNFINISHED SENTENCES REPETITION OF SIMPLE PHRASES BEING HESITANT (“Um…”, “Er…”, “Hm…”),

MAKING CORRECTIONS, LOSING TRAIN OF THOUGHT, STARTING ALL OVER – THEY ARE ALL OK!

MAKING IT WORK…

MIND YOUR TONE OF VOICE! EFFECT OF STATUS: “DO NOT BECOME

TONGUE-TIED WITH THOSE SENIOR IN STATUS OR RANK OR CURSORY WITH THOSE JUNIOR IN STATUS.” (Staley, Tongue and Quill)

LEARN IDIOMS! “What’s up?” CULTURAL DIFFERENCIES IN

COMMUNICATION BE POLITICALLY CORRECT AND SENSITIVE

TO PEOPLE AND SITUATIONS! ACCOMMODATE! CHANGE THE TARGET LANGUAGE!

ORAL EXERCISES WE DO

• JOKE• ”NEWSCLIP” • FAST REACTIONS

FINISH THE SENTENCE

TELL A STORY/GIVE A SPEECHTIMING

• TWO DIFFERENT SETS OF (PERSONAL) QSASK ME Q NUMBER 8

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THREE THINGS THAT…?HAVE YOU EVER…?WHY WERE YOU…?

ORAL EXERCISES CONTINUED…

• TONGUE TWISTERS & REPEATING

Is there a pleasant peasant present?• IDIOMS• TALKING ABOUT CURRENT

ISSUES • WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE

TEXT?• THEATER, STAND-UP COMEDY, MOVIES• SMALL TALK PARTY • RECESS

ORAL EXRECISES CONTINUED…

• PRESENTATIONPROFESSIONALS PRESENT

• EXPLAIN HOW A PIECE OF TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT WORKSIN LAYMAN TERMS

• EXPLAIN WORDSCROSSWORD PUZZLES

• PUT IT IN OTHER WORDS”ETA retarded due to suspended pilotage, resulting in severe deterioration of cargo”

• ORAL SUMMARY WITH OR WITHOUT COFFEE AND CAKE

ORAL EXERCISES CONTINUED…

• DRAW A PICTURE

• BOARD GAMES

• CASES – WORK-RELATED

• PRACTICAL SITUATIONSRIFLE RANGE

BRIDGE AND ENGINE ROOM

PHONE CALL

WEBSITES

• thefreedictionary.com• sitepal.com• englishcentral.com• webchef.eu• ESLgold.com• freerice.com• edu.fi/etalukioetusivu• oppiminen.yle.fi

BOOKS

• PETER WATCYN-JONES

• IDEBANK, Otava

• CAMPAIGN, Macmillan

• ENGLISH FOR THE MARITIME INDUSTRY, Idris

• CHECK YOUR ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR TOEFL, Bloomsbury

THE FUTURE

• CLIL• VIDEO

CONFERENCE• vocaroo.com• SOCIAL MEDIA• MOODLE

Virtual Learning Environment

THANK YOU FOR THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!LISTENING!

ANY QUESTIONS?ANY QUESTIONS?