Berlitz Language School, founded in 1878, is where I taught English.
The unique quality of this school, besides its international setting, is their reputation of helping people of differing nationalities communicate. The school is known worldwide, and teaches 54 languages in all. The school in which I taught English is located in my hometown of Krakow, Poland. The teaching approach emphasizes individual instruction. With small groups (no bigger than four people) and one-on-one classes, students can be sure to receive the personal attention they need to help them reach their goals.
Berlitz has over 60 Language Centers in the United States alone and connections to hundreds more around the globe. Maximilian Berlitz created the Berlitz Method style of teaching in 1878, and this highly effective, conversational style of teaching has remained at the heart of their language instruction ever since. This teaching method is used and supported by many partner-corporations such as Sesame Workshop, Sonic, and Crystal Cruises, who offer a language class for their customers before setting off on the cruise ship. The small class size helps each student reach the level of understanding desired to speak in a second language.Levels range on a scale from one to ten, or beginning to advanced levels, and classes are organized by level of proficiency.
The Instructor The instructors for Berlitz are from varied nationalities, as you would suppose, and each faces the challenge of teaching a language which is a second language to them. Instructors teach practical language as it is used in real-life situations, and have to expect the unexpected. The axiom, “you cannot not communicate,” is central for all instructors in that we all knew everything we did would affect the student’s appreciation for the language being learned.According to Stewart and Cash (2006), on global differences, language differences are magnified in the global market. North Americans, according to researchers, tend to value precision, directness, explicit words, power speech forms, and use of “I” to begin sentences. Other cultures value the group or collective rather than the individual and rarely begin with “I” or call attention to themselves.
Student The students who use the services Berlitz offers range from the very young to adult. Classes are arranged not only by the proficiency level, but also, whenever it is feasible, by age.While the existing proficiency level of incoming students is considered, age also plays a factor in the decision to place students. Student participation is mandatory.
Unlike many schools where students come and go as they please, language students are usually a bit more intense in their approach to learn a new language; especially if it is related to future employment possibilities. This analysis will include ideas generated by other communication theories, but I will focus on information flow, and decision making as they relate to Organizational Communication Theory and student participation.Organizational communication occurs within a particular social system composed of interdependent groups attempting to achieve commonly recognized goals. These goals, as they are defined within this particular organization, are priorities for all the teachers within this organization.
This analysis will show how we communicate within the organization as a whole, and also how individual roles develop thoughts that generate into ideas which either create a communication problem or attempt to solve one. The problem I encountered while doing this work involved a variance in the flow of information, and how it affected the power to make decisions.I hesitate to say there is a single policy that could be developed to help control this variance because of the cultural boundaries set by those participating. Although Berlitz allows instructors a certain amount of latitude in dealing with variance, there is an overtone of scrutiny, whether applied or inferred, that each instructor has to consider. Variance The level of variance it takes to be considered a problem is when it is enough to disrupt classes.
The amount of time each student gets to spend on actively applying their new language is so important that any deviance is regrettable.The type of variance that occurs is also a factor, and is usually interpreted as a conflict. Wilmot and Hocker (2007) define conflict as an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scarce resources, and interference from others in achieving their goals. As it relates to Berlitz, conflict arises when information from their headquarters makes its way down the chain of command. By the time it reaches the instructor it has been interpreted and re-interpreted, and can be confusing at best.The interpretation of information is solely based on paradigms already in place as it travels around the world to its destinations.
However, I cannot find fault in this aspect of the company simply due to the nature of the work. It is how the employees, at least at the level I worked, interpreted and handled the variances created by the flow of information that made the job difficult. In other words, if a memo came down the ranks that stated all teachers should refrain from overly-friendly-conduct with students, it was left to the teachers to define “overly-friendly-conduct.If the same memo were sent to a corporation all housed at the same location, the definition of “overly-friendly-conduct” would be easier to ascertain. So, it is both the diversity in employees, as well as distance that affect the outcome of such memos. The problem only occurred, though, when teachers would try to make the memo mean what they wanted it to, especially if there was some attraction to one of the students.
My experience with Berlitz was a very positive one, yet I could hear confusion in other teachers’ speech patterns as these memos filtered down to us.Theorizing is a very basic form of human activity” (Beebe and Masterson, 2006, p 29). They say that a theory has two basic functions: to explain and predict. In the case of the conflict, or variance involved while working for Berlitz, I will build a foundation for Structuration Theory by using a sociological theory known as Social Constructionism and another theory called Globalization theory. Developed by Peter L.
Bergman and Thomas Luckmann, in their 1966 book The Social Construction of Reality, they uncover the ways individuals and groups create a perceived reality.
