Continuing Education
By SUSAN HANCOCK and KERRY BEACH
8 MAY/JUNE 2011 AIB UPDATE
Continuing Education
OVERCOMING
LANGUAGE BARRIERS
in Training Programs
PRACTICAL TIPS FOR ENSURING CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND
LITERACY ISSUES DON’T UNDERMINE YOUR FOOD PLANT’S
EDUCATION AND TRAINING EFFORTS.
The United States has been termed a melting pot due to the diverse blend of cultures
and languages that make up the country.
This is especially reflected in the food industry. A person can get a glimpse of global
integration by simply stepping foot into
most of the food plants throughout the nation. Many food plants face the challenge
of delivering training to a group of people
who do not speak the same language.
One of the greatest challenges that
many of these facilities face is the need to
provide consistent, meaningful training
that can be delivered to employees in a way
that speakers of each language represented
can understand. If the language barrier
weren’t enough of a challenge, many of
these plants must also deal with the added
hurdles of cultural differences and literacy
issues that are not overcome through standard written policies or verbal training sessions. An AIB instructor recently worked
with one company that had more than 20
different languages spoken in the plant,
and many of those employees could not
speak English or read and write in their
own languages.
Now that more and more companies
are participating in the Global Food
Safety Initiative we have seen an increased
demand for training efforts. Certain audit
scheme standards, such as SQF, outline
specific language and training requirements. For example:
5.2.11.4 A sign advising people to wash
their hands, and in appropriate
languages, shall be provided in
a prominent position.
6.3.5.1 Training materials and the delivery of training shall be provided
in language understood by
staff.
So, how can learning be designed and
delivered to a global audience of learners
with diverse cultures, ranges of languages
and literacy? When applied, these suggestions help food plants deliver effective
training to a multilingual group and
meet the requirements of several GFSI
standards.
»Assess the knowledge base of the
target audience before you develop
and deliver. You need to know the level of
language understanding of the learners you
are training. A language assessment should
be part of the new hire evaluation and/or
part of the new hire orientation. The assessment should determine an employee’s
language abilities in written and oral form.
It is not uncommon for an employee to
have strength in one area and weakness
in the other.
Within the training plan, which indicates the topics on which each employee
must be trained, the languages understood
by the employee should be identified.
Once the level of English understanding
is known, you can determine if translation
and interpreter services are necessary, and
plan your training session accordingly.
»Translate training materials. Translation by a linguist is valuable and critical to
ensure a well-written training document,
but it takes time and skill. It is important
that a content expert familiar with the language, as well as cultural customs, review
the material to ensure that appropriate
vocabulary is used.
Software translators should be used
with caution. A single word may have multiple meanings and the wrong translation
could have a significant impact on message.
One of our auditors found an unsettling
sign posted at a facility that had used translation software. The sign in English stated,
“Anyone found smoking outside of this
designated area will be fired.” However, the
term the software offered for “fired” was
that for firing a gun. The translated sign
AIB UPDATE MAY/JUNE 2011 9
Continuing Education
stated, “Anyone found smoking outside of
this designated area will be shot.”
One recommendation is to present
the bulk of the training in the primary
language spoken at the facility with significant visual supports, then offer mini
review sessions and competency evaluations in other languages spoken. This gives
participants the opportunity to be exposed
to content in its original form, but also
allows them to comment and question in
their comfort zone.
slang and jargon, or slurs their words.
As a presenter, take the extra effort to
speak clearly and pronounce your words
correctly. It is not necessary to speak
any louder or slower than you normally
would.
Avoid using filler words, such as “um”
or “like” because they can easily confuse
non-native English speakers. Also avoid
using colloquialisms, such as “gonna,”
“ya’ll,” etc., because they are most likely
not part of the non-native English speakers’ vocabulary.
»Use the services of an interpreter.
Acronyms, idioms, and other jargon
Some facilities may use an interpreter to are very difficult for a multilingual group
interpret the training presented in real- to understand. It is a good idea to deliver
time. However, this option is not always your presentation to a colleague before
practical as it can be costly, and because the training begins and ask them to
there are often multiple languages
identify any complex words that
represented in the group
roup of
you need to replace. If you
learners. If an interpretretr
will refer
to acronyms,
Acronyms, idioms,
er is used, you mayy
suc as “HACCP” or
such
and other jargon are very
hire a professional
“
“SSOP”
throughdifficult for a multilingual group to
or use the services
out the training,
understand. It is a good idea to deliver
of an employee
make sure you exyour presentation to a colleague before
who speaks Engplain the meaning
the training begins and ask them to
lish well enough
of the acronym at
identify any complex words that you
to translate for his
le
least
once in the
need to replace.
or her co-workers.
beg
beginning
of the preRegardless, make sure
re
senta
sentation.
that the English presenter
enter
In addition,
ad
avoid refuses straightforward
d language
Amer
erences to American
culture. For
and that the trainingg materials either
example, if you re
refer to Abraham
display easy-to-understand
erstand words or
Lincoln in a program for participants
are free of text altogether.
from Singapore, the reference may have
If using interpreters that are not content no meaning.
experts to interpret training, be sure that
the facilitators have enough exposure to the »Acknowledge and support the
content that they can “speak the language” secondary need of learning a secof the content, in addition to speaking ond language. Many participants view
the language of delivery. Terms such as courses in a non-native language as an
“product zone,” “food-contact surface,” or opportunity to improve their language
“Good Manufacturing Practices” should be skills. Acknowledge and address this by
reviewed with the interpreters before the creating additional support activities or
training session begins.
giving participants handouts on the training provided so that they are able to review
»Speak clearly and simply. It’s some- the material on their own time. They may
times hard enough for native English be more comfortable asking a close friend
speakers to understand another native or family member to translate the written
English speaker if they are from a different material than asking the presenter or superregion of the United States because there visor for help. Many learners are unwilling
are so many dialects used. It can be even to admit that they didn’t understand the
more difficult for a non-native English training presentation because they feel
speaker to understand a verbal presentation embarrassed, intimidated, or afraid to ask
when the presenter speaks quickly, uses for help.
10 MAY/JUNE 2011 AIB UPDATE
»Be consistent. For policy training and
other training that must be repeated, video
record an interpreter doing a one-time
instruction (WITH pictures) to save the
cost of hiring a translator every time.
»Create a visual presentation. Use
of visual, multimedia presentation is an
effective way to convey a message. Create
PowerPoint presentations that display only
pictures and animation – no written words.
Write out a script for the presentation and
translate it into each language spoken at
the facility, then add a voiceover in each
language. Have the voiceover narrator follow the script exactly. This way the same
presentation can be used for each training
session in each language represented. For
an added feature, have an employee who
speaks the language available at the end of
each training session to do Q&A.
»Evaluate learning competency.
Many training standards, including new
federal regulations, not only require
adequate training be delivered, but also
require some documentation proving that
learners understood the material. One way
to assess information retention is to offer
practical group participation exercises at
the end of the training session. Encourage
questions and comments to make sure that
you have delivered the material effectively
and haven’t missed the mark.
Another particularly useful evaluation
method often used when teaching a particular skill is to explain and demonstrate
the activity and then have the participants
repeat the activity as part of the evaluation. This will help you determine if the
learner understands how the task needs
to be done, but will not help you gauge
if (s)he understands why it is important.
Demonstration of competency is especially
effective for such tasks as cleaning, casing
and palletizing product, or running a lab
analysis. Partnering demonstration with
oral examination using interpreters will
maximize confidence in employee understanding and ability. AIB
The authors are instructional design manager
and publications coordinator, respectively, for
AIB International.