Creating a sense of belonging for linguistic confidence
According to Jessica Lander in her new book, Making Americans, 1 in 4 Us residents are immigrants or the children of immigrants, and in the next few decades it will be 1 in 3. Yet, we consistently fail to help create sense of a belonging for newcomers. In interviewing students who have experienced moving to America knowing little English, I encountered stories of disappointment and isolation. One student said, “I never really made friends with the local students. Sometimes people would walk away after a few sentences.” Another mentioned, “No one in my area was interested in talking to me, and I didn’t have an opportunity to connect with others.” Speed Culture Exchange was born from these conversations.
The Speed Culture Exchange is an in-person experience which requires a small web app. Participants sit with small groups of up to four, and when a timer goes off, they rush to complete as many tasks as possible. The tasks are designed to required input from everyone, however they are also designed with low floors and high ceilings, so that even students with extremely limited English can participate. The goal is to create space for both experienced English speakers and beginners to communicate as equals and work together to solve challenges. It is expected that newcomers will have opportunities to develop a stronger sense of belonging, and will in turn engage more with their adopted language (English) through independent learning. A prototype was built in Figma, and several tests were conducted with graduate students who had experience as newcomers. The feedback was mostly positive, however some participants thought the game could work even better as a deck of cards. Further iterations would explore this change in format, along with introducing more task types.
