The link below is to a lengthy piece about native and non-native English speakers working together globally within organizations where English has been mandated as the “lingua franca” either formally or informally.  Reading the whole analysis is probably overkill as far as how it relates to our course, but the example of the role organizational culture (and cultures of different geographic regions too I suppose) plays in the process of sharing information/knowledge, even among those that want to share this information, is interesting.

We can draw similar parallels in our classroom environment given the high percentage of students that do not speak English as their first language.  This class is hard enough, but throw in a language barrier and it is truly admirable the effort and performance exhibited by so many that could very easily choose to give up instead.  Congratulations to those of for whom English is not your first language — perhaps the attached study will give us all some insight into the kinds of choices we can make to make the communication barrier lower for everyone.

Walking Through Jelly: Language Proficiency, Emotions, and Disrupted Collaboration in Global Work. By Tsedal Beyene, Pamela J. Hinds, and Catherine Durnell Cramton. Harvard Business School, 2009.