Excerpts from Amanda’s Narrative
Amanda had been in Canada for 4 months when I spoke with her. She was attending the university language program in preparation for her undergraduate study. She was admitted to the program with a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) spoken score of 23 out of 30.
Figure 6. Artistic representation of Amanda’s story, photo taken by Amanda
Amanda’s description of her artistic representation.
I chose this picture as the representation of my academic acculturation story in Canada for three reasons. First, I felt somewhat protected by the big tree beside me, resembling the language program protecting me from the actual undergraduate study stress and my parents securing my educational expenses. Then, the moon on the top left corner reminds me of home when I miss home. The picture was taken around the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival. I was homesick. I got very homesick alone abroad when I encountered problems, especially when I got sick. When the doctor told me that I had to have an operation, I called my mom right away. Regardless of anything else, I needed to hear her voice to make me feel safe. Lastly, the light is still there in the picture, just like my hope to learn English well eventually, although I am not clear how yet.
Amanda’s narrative excerpts.
The happiest thing that happened since I arrived was meeting another Chinese girl in a Chinese girl chatroom. We immediately got along very well and became good friends. We go shopping or exploring around in town together. Making a new friend made me happy. Because everything was so new and different here and I was all by myself. Sometimes, I really felt helpless. So, when I made a good friend, somehow, I felt that I was not that alone anymore, as if I had someone to fall back on when I found myself in trouble.
But I am in Canada, and I know being able to speak English well is extremely important to me for my future. I am very eager to improve my oral English. Although I know I need to speak more to improve, it is really difficult to speak with others in English when you cannot communicate in English to begin with.
The language barrier is the main reason for my inability to communicate. For instance, I noticed some native speakers might not understand me simply because of the way I pronounce words. They had to find out the mispronounced words to understand or I had to find a way to explain. This process is time-consuming, which drags down the communication speed and also the conversation enthusiasm. It just feels like if you were holding hands with your beloved one and were just about to hug each other for intimacy when, “Boom!” a truck comes through without warning and then you get in a messy accident. That was how I felt when someone had to point out and correct my pronunciation mistakes to carry on the conversation.
Also, my English pronunciation has impact on my grades in the language program. Whether it is a presentation or debate, my clarity of expression is always part of the grade, together with grammar and fluency. I actually found after I came to Canada that grammar and vocabulary did not influence communication as much as pronunciation.
However, pronunciation was totally neglected in my spoken English education in China. I had taken TOEFL test preparation courses for almost two years but my teachers just taught me test skills. For the speaking, I might have practiced speaking testing modules a lot but I never really knew the pronunciation mistakes I was making because my teachers never cared about my English pronunciation. My language courses here cover some common pronunciation mistakes, but I feel it is not enough to help solve my pronunciation problems fundamentally.
