The Language of Testimonies and Small Group Discussion
Yukako Ueno, joy.yukako@gmail.com
Editors' note: This article is based on a presentation during the CETC colloquium at the 2008 TESOL Convention in New York City on "The Interface of Language and Faith." We are pleased to share it with you here so that it might reach a larger audience.
Through several opportunities in the past few years, I realized that there are needs among Christian EFL students to learn the language related to faith when they communicate with Christians from other countries. In this article, I focus on the language of prayer and testimonies and for sharing one's thoughts in small group discussion. I outline who has this need and why they need to learn this language, and explore what they want to learn.
The Need for This Type of Language: Who and Why
My personal experience as a seminary student in the United States first led me to realize this need, especially when I was asked to pray. I grew up in Japan and became a Christian there. Therefore, I did not have to learn Christian expressions in English. A few years ago, however, I studied at a seminary in South Carolina and found that it was not easy to pray in English. Then, people around me encouraged me by saying, "You can pray in your heart language." This is a very kind thought and I respect their acceptance of other languages and diversity and believe it is important. If I prayed in Japanese, however, the people in the group would not understand what I said. Prayer is for God, and praying in any language is no problem for Him, but at the same time I became aware that often I was encouraged by the words the other person prayed in his or her prayer.
Another type of encouraging sentiment I heard was "You can pray in simple words." However, I felt it would be better if I could express myself in detail with more words. One day before the class started at the seminary, my classmate prayed by saying, "I pray that God will guide the hands of the doctor so that the surgery will be successful." I can express this simply by saying, "God, help the doctor during the surgery." Praying with more words, however, describes our desires or petitions more clearly. I realized that, if people stay overseas for a short time, praying in their native languages with simple words will be acceptable. But they will gradually feel the need to express their faith in English if they stay in English-speaking countries longer term.
The next occasion I encountered this need was when I had a chance to teach English in Korea. Korean Christians are another group of people who need to learn the language related to faith. As Korea sends the second-highest number of missionaries, many mission organizations send out missionaries overseas. For example, SIM encourages Korean Christians to go overseas and serve in various fields. The organization holds English Mission Training Camp every summer and offers the participants classes in English and missions. When I joined the camp in 2005 as an English instructor, I heard that the participants wanted to learn faith-related expressions, especially prayer language. At the camp, I heard missionaries tell the participants about the importance of English when they served in the field and that they could acquire English if they make effort. In the places where missionaries serve, they meet missionaries from other countries and often need to use English to communicate and cooperate with each other.
Last summer and spring, there were opportunities to address the need among EFL learners when I taught Christian staff workers in Japan. They are with KGK, which is under the same umbrella as InterVarsity in other countries. They also needed to learn expressions related to faith because they are holding an international conference in Japan this summer. All the participants are coming from different countries in East and Southeast Asia, and usually they use English to communicate with each other.
The "What" of This Prayer and Testimony Language
There is an obvious reason for the above needs. Even though EFL learners in Japan or Korea learn English for a long time at schools, regular EFL courses do not normally teach specific expressions used in Christian communities. Expressions in the Bible or related to faith can be very different in various languages. Consider these examples in English and Japanese:
- People in the Bible - English: John; Japanese: Yohane
- Books in the Bible - English: Genesis; Japanese: Soseki (meaning "the record of the beginning of the world")
- Typical expressions - English: "In Jesus' name I pray"; Japanese: "Iesu-sama no onamae o toshite oinori shimasu . . ." (means the same as the English words, but Japanese expressions have many honorific forms)
Korean Christians strongly requested to learn words related to prayer and expressions used in a Christian community. Japanese staff workers for Christian organizations requested to learn words related to prayer and expressed fear of joining small group discussions. On the basis of my personal experiences as a learner and teacher, I concluded that what learners want to learn are the exact words native speakers say in their prayers or in discussion in their fellowship or meetings. EFL Christian learners are looking for the specific expressions native speakers use in various settings instead of learning the format of prayer or expressions on different occasions. For example, concerning prayer, learning the words for worship, thanksgiving, confession, and petition is helpful, but they would rather know what a native English-speaking Christian would say when friends or neighbors need encouragement, are in trouble, are looking for a good doctor, or have trouble with colleagues.
The details of how to deal with this need became clear when I taught Christian staff workers in Japan because they wanted to learn specific expressions related to testimonies and small group discussion. Six staff workers attended the English intensive program: Two were advanced speakers who had spent a few years in the United States and the rest were intermediate speakers who had never received any education in English-speaking countries. The program was held for 2 days last July and 1 day last March. One of the tasks in the program was learning to give their testimonies because they were afraid to join small groups in Christian conferences where they had to express their opinions or feelings. This activity was also done in the English training camp in Korea. The task was as follows:
1. Write your 1- to 2-minute testimonies in the class, using one Bible verse.
2. Make pairs. Share your testimonies with your partner. Make suggestions to improve each other's testimony. Practice your testimonies with your partner.
3. Present your testimonies to the class.
During this task, students found it difficult to express changes in their hearts or explain what the Bible verse meant to them personally. While one of the advanced speakers was sharing her testimony, one intermediate speaker asked her to stop and repeat the words that described the moment when she began to understand one Bible verse. She repeated, "God's word came down to my heart." Then he said, "That's a good phrase! I was trying to find a phrase that would express what was happening in my heart."
As a result of this incident, I explained some phrases that would be appropriate for those situations. I pointed out a list of several expressions that would describe those changes in the heart from the English Conversation Handbook for Christians (Kurisuchan Eikaiwa Handobukku, by Tagawa, 1998). This useful book lists common phrases used at church, Japanese and English sentences listed one after another. Here are some examples of the typical expressions Tagawa (1998) suggests:
- God's love warmed my heart.
- I was finally convinced that this was what I had been seeking for.
- God's word came into my heart / touched my heart / encouraged me / caught my attention / did not leave me / gave me strength / comforted me. (pp. 100-101)
After the lessons, I assigned students to revise their testimonies and to e-mail them to me. Some of them started to use the expressions noted above. Here are some sample excerpts from their revised testimonies:
Worker A
I met one scripture. It is II Corinthians 5:16. . . . This word cought [sic] my attention. Bible said God ask me to see new sight, new point of view. By this word, I repented and belive [sic] Jeseus [sic] Christ.
It is clear that the following worker could express his experience slightly more easily:
Worker B
I repent God bottom of heart as I've never done. God made me realize my sin. Next day, I had quiet time and then I read one testimony. This author's situation was like me. It hits [sic] my heart and I found God's love and peace. Doubt about God and Bible made me fear God. But after I found God's love, this made stubborn of my heart soft.
Using fixed English expressions and practicing their testimonies has helped my students.
Small Group Discussion Activities
Another aspect that my students struggled with was joining discussions in small groups. This struggle likely occurred for several different reasons, including their cultural background; however, it was clear that there was a language barrier. All the intermediate speakers had experienced difficulties in explaining their thoughts in small groups, especially after they heard messages at international conferences in the past, and were afraid of joining the small group discussion. For example, unable to express herself well, one said, “I’m sorry. I can’t explain,” and just stopped talking. Another said just simple words and could not explain his thought afterward.
To address this issue, I used the following activities to improve students’ skills in joining small group discussions, with the instructions as follows:
- Listen to a testimony in a small group. Respond to it with your thoughts.
- Read a passage in the Bible. Choose one verse you want to pay attention to. Explain the reason to others in a small group.
- Listen to a message on a Bible passage. Discuss questions related to the message in a small group.
During the activities for small group discussions, students needed to learn not only typical expressions used in general discussion, such as “I see what you mean” and “That’s a good point, but . . .”, but also typical expressions Christians would use in English. This was evident when I asked them to respond to someone’s testimony. Therefore, I listed possible typical responses after someone shared a testimony in a small group:
- I am glad that you did . . .
- God is great / awesome / powerful to do . . .
- I was encouraged to hear that you went through . . .
- I praise the Lord for . . .
- Isn’t it great that God . . .
- I understand how you felt when . . .
- It must have been hard for you to . . .
- I will pray for you so that God . . .
In order to practice using these expressions, after one person gave a testimony, all the other participants chose a phrase and responded to the testimony. For example, one participant said, “Isn’t it good that God provided your need? In your case, it was your mother.” Another said, “I understand how you felt when you failed the exam.” This experience seemed to help my students by giving them expressions and examples for sharing their thoughts in small group discussion.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is apparent that several groups of Christian ESL/EFL learners need to learn faith-related expressions for when they have contact with Christians from other countries in English. In order to learn them, students need explicit instruction in typical expressions used in a Christian community. In my experience, students find it especially difficult to describe the changes taking place in their hearts in sharing their testimonies. Also, it is necessary for them to learn faith-related expressions used in small groups so they can join such discussions with confidence.
Yukako (Yamamoto) Ueno is an MA TEFL graduate of Columbia International University who teaches part-time at International Christian University on the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan. In her spare time she enjoys organic cooking, inviting friends to her home, and taking trips in Japan and overseas.
Reference
Tagawa, S. (1998). Kurisuchan Eikaiwa Handobukku [English Conversation Handbook for Christians]. Tokyo: Inochinokotoba-sha [Word of Life Press].
