From: Mercedes Monaco
Submit: Post Message
Date: 11 Dec 1996
Time: 21:15:34
I'm using one of your fieldnotes in my paper and was wondering if you'd prefer me to use your name or leave it confidential. If I don't hear from you, I'll leave it confidential. Here's the paragraph so far:
Language did not seem to be too overwhelming of a barrier for communication at the site. One undergraduate writes of an experience with a boy he describes as having "little understanding of English" (A., 1996). The undergraduate still seems to be in touch with how the child is doing. He writes, "He had a wonderful time at memory (a game) and when he got one right I would get all excited and shake him around and he couldn't stop smiling." (A., 1996). The child was limited in his ability to tell the undergraduate verbally how he was doing, but this did not seem to hurt their interaction. The undergraduate was able to assess the child's level of enjoyment and what was causing this enjoyment (getting on right). The undergraduate was able to demonstrate his excitement by shaking the child and the child was able to demonstrate his enjoyment through smiling. Even though there was a language barrier, the undergraduate and the child were able to have a comfortable, fun interaction with nonverbal communication.