Implicit exclusion
I’m one of the project managers at Hyper Island in Stockholm (for another three weeks at least). I prefer the slightly more stick-up-your-arse and much more descriptive title “learning facilitator”.
This is the first year the programs (Interactive Art Director and Digital Media) are executed in English in the Stockholm school, where I work. I’ve been looking forward to the challenge. Speaking English while on vacation, and speaking English in everyday life are two quite different things.
However, the interesting aspect which I’ve been thinking about a lot is exclusion. To be more precise, the exclusions that most likely would occur when three-fourths of the people at a working place speak Swedish, and the rest don’t.
Swedes tend to be the best among Europeans at English (the British and Irish excluded, of course), but that doesn’t mean that we’re comfortable speaking English to each other. My perception is that we’re not.
And so, we tend to switch back to Swedish whenever we’re out of the meeting room. Whenever we’re by the coffee machine, or at lunch, and only Swedish speakers are present, we feel silly speaking English and switch a more comfortable language.
The problem this causes is that every time we do this, and a non-Swedish speaking person passes by, we have excluded them. They have no chance of overhearing (“overhear” doesn’t have any equivalent in Swedish, by the way) a conversation and joining in. The instant the Swedish speaking group switches to English says “you’re not from here” and hints “you don’t belong here”.
Before the fall semester started, I made a decision to always speak English to the other co-workers when I’m outside my room. When it comes to the students, I try speaking English to them at all times. This way, I don’t ever have to make judgment calls. I feel that I’m including people. And I get a chance to become better at English in everyday situations.
