Global Communication Competencies
What this is
Most NEI students study because their work brings them into contact with colleagues and clients who do not share their native language. What they are up against goes beyond the language itself. It includes the ways people interact in an international workplace: giving reasons, summarizing what was decided, recommending a course of action, disagreeing without causing offense, and building on what someone else said.
Those five behaviors are the subject of this page. All five can be developed using a normal Question Set, without changing how you run a 1:1. Correction at the student's level, typing corrections in the chat box, pronunciation work, the Replay Challenge, the notes, and the 80% talk time target all stay exactly as they are.
The five competencies
These already come up in your 1:1s, whether or not anyone names them. Over a single lesson a student explains what their team actually does, sums up what the two of you just worked through, says what they would do about a problem, pushes back on something you said, or picks up your point and adds to it. That is the whole list. None of them are advanced. A Green-level student can give a reason in four words.
Explaining
Focuses on the reasoning, the context, and the result.
Summarizing
Paraphrases a discussion into its essential points on request.
Recommending
Offers a course of action, not only an observation.
Challenging
Disagrees or raises a concern in a polite and professional manner.
Collaborating
Builds on what others say and invites input without being prompted.
The phrases are not a script to hand out at the start of a lesson. They are what you supply after the student has tried. If what comes out is weak, blunt, or missing, give the better version and type it in the chat box, the same as any other correction. Type the phrase only, not a complete sentence: the phrase is what the student can reuse.
Practicing meaningful communication
Whenever an answer is worth developing, go one step further before moving on.
- "Can you explain the business problem SAP solves?"
- "What changed at your company after you started using it?"
- "How would you explain SAP to a new employee in Singapore?"
That last one is closest to the task the student's job requires. The general-purpose follow-ups are Why?, Can you explain that further?, and What was the business impact? They work on almost any answer.
Then wait. Students often need three to five seconds to assemble an explanation. Count five in your head, lean forward, nod, and look like you are expecting an answer.
It asks for a consequence, so it cannot be answered with another fact, and it stays on work the student already knows well. "What makes those months so busy?" does the same job. Ask one question, not three.
Three levels of questions
When a topic is worth developing, progress it three levels rather than moving on. The levels move the student from naming, to describing, to reasoning. They work on non-work topics as well, which matters. You will not reach Level 3 on every topic, and you should not try to.
Definition
Application
Impact
Start your own follow-ups at Level 2 or Level 3. A common mistake is to stay at Levels 1 and 2 and then continue with the Question Set questions. Level 1 has one real use: when a student uses a term you do not know.
The why is attached to the question, so the reason comes back with the answer and it cannot be answered with a yes. "What kinds of things did you do there?" is Level 2: it can be answered with a list.
Creating opportunities
Three opportunities are worth creating on purpose. They will not all appear in a single 1:1, but two of them usually can.
Recommendations
Turn an opinion into an action, then make the student defend it. "What would you recommend?" "What should management do about it?" "If you had two weeks and no budget, what is the first step?" Do not accept the first recommendation as final. Either reject it so they have to offer something else, or ask for more detail about a specific part of it.
Challenges
State a position and invite disagreement. This is the behavior students are least likely to attempt on their own, so it will rarely arise unless you create it. For example: "I think working from home is always better than the office. Do you agree?"
When a student does disagree, it may come out blunt. "No. Your idea is not good." is a successful attempt at the behavior and a failure of phrasing. Give them the better version, typed in the chat box, and have them say it again. If the student does not disagree at all, push once more before you supply anything.
"I see your concern, but..."
Summaries
The right moment is after a long answer that took some back-and-forth to build. Ask: "That was a lot of detail, good job. Can you summarize what we just discussed in about thirty seconds?"
Four things happen here: the attempt is acknowledged, the replacement is supplied, the phrase alone is typed, and the student produces it. The content was already fine. It was the phrasing that needed you, so developing the content instead leaves the blunt version in place.
The answer was already complete, with a reason, a rejected alternative, and a first step. Accept it, then add a complication so they have to defend a second recommendation. Asking them to explain the same ground again is the thing to avoid.
Adapting to the student level
Global communication scales with the student the same way correction does. The behaviors are the same at every level. What changes is how much you ask for and how hard you push. A Green-level student defending an opinion may manage one because-clause, and that counts as a full success. A Red-level student who gives you a correct, simple, undefended answer has not been pushed.
| Level | Correction level | Competency focus | How to develop it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Correct only basic grammar and unintelligible words. Yes/no and choice questions. Maximum encouragement. | The very first step of Explaining. | When a simple "yes" arrives, give them "Yes, because..." and type it. Accept a single because-clause as a full success. |
| Blue | Explain correct forms. Focus on mistake patterns. Wait for a pause. | Explaining, and early Summarizing. | Ask "why?" throughout the 1:1 and wait through the silence. When an answer is minimal, co-construct a better version and ask for a summary. |
| Orange | Correct most mistakes. Push for natural phrasing. | Explaining, Summarizing, Recommending. | Develop meaningful ideas through definition, application, and impact. Challenge their opinions to promote polite disagreement. |
| Red | Correct nearly everything. Fast pace. They want to be pushed. | All five. | Disagree with them on purpose. Ask for recommendations and be firm in your positions. |
Three patterns worth watching for
- Avoidance. "Yes." where "Yes, because..." was expected. Ask why and stay quiet. Do not fill the silence or move to the next question.
- Compression. Answers are consistently one short sentence. Set an expectation and a clock: "Talk to me about that for one minute. I will time sixty seconds. Three, two, one, go!"
- Deference. Agrees with everything, including things they clearly do not agree with. State a mild opinion of your own and invite pushback.
All three are normal, and they are reasonable habits in a workplace where disagreeing is not the norm. They are still worth working on.
If the student is Green
One step, and then adequate silence. The answer stops at what, not why, so the reason is the one thing still available. Stacking a second instruction on top of it is more than a Green-level student can hold.
If the student is Red
Impact first, so the recommendation has something to aim at, then a constraint so they have to defend a specific fix. Asking a Red-level student the Green-level question wastes the turn.
Seeing it in a 1:1
Ian. Creating recommending and summarizing opportunities with a Blue-level learner.
Ian. Taking a Level 2 response to Level 3.
Danny. Creating a debate, so the student has a position to push back on.
Quick reference
The five competencies
- Explaining. The reasoning, the context, the result.
- Summarizing. A discussion paraphrased into its essential points.
- Recommending. A course of action, not only an observation.
- Challenging. Disagreement or a concern, raised politely.
- Collaborating. Building on what someone else said.
The three question levels
- Level 1, Definition. Name it or describe it.
- Level 2, Application. Put it in context.
- Level 3, Impact. Reason, result, or consequence.
The habit
- Push past the first answer on anything worth developing, then wait five seconds.
- Create the opening for disagreement. It will not appear on its own.
- Supply the phrase after the attempt, never before it.
- Type the phrase only, then have the student say the whole sentence again.
- Ask one question at a time.