Cultural and Linguistic Competence Using Gaming and Simulation to Understand Barriers to Intercultural Communication AfrICANDO 2007 September 21, 2007 Using Gaming and Simulation to Understand Barriers to Intercultural Communication AfrICANDO 2007 September 21, 2007

AKWAABA Welcome Twi (tree)

BARNGA A Simulation Game on Cultural Clashes By Thiagi (Sivasailam Thiagarajan)

Objectives of BARNGA Participants will: Realize that in spite of many similarities, people from other cultures differ in the ways they do things; Learn that they must understand and reconcile these differences to function effectively in a cross-cultural group; HAVE FUN!

Agenda Introduction Go-Round – who’s here and why What is BARNGA? Form small groups at different tables Study game rules and practice Relinquish rules – NO TALKING!!!! Tournament begins Play several rounds Discuss together Final thoughts Celebrate!

Simulation Abstraction or simplification of some real life situation or process. Participants usually play a role that involves them in interactions with other people and/or elements of a simulated environment (slice of reality) Time is compressed Safe – (fire drill, flight simulator, Shoot Don’t Shoot, etc.) Provides specific framework for implementing the discovery method which proceeds as follows: 1. Immersion in a real or contrived problematic situation 2. Development of a hypothesis 3. Testing hypothesis 4. Arrival at conclusion

Game Activity in which participants follow prescribed rules that differ from those of reality as they strive to attain an challenging goal People seem to enjoy setting aside logical rules of everyday life to enter an environment with different dynamics Attaining goal involves competition Games are challenging since goals have a probability of being achieved (usually 50%) Goals do not always have to include competition Games are a form of play that enhance an individual’s cognitive and creative growth Games provide an attractive and instructionally effective framework for learning activities

Simulation/Game Combines the attributes of a simulation (role-playing, a model of reality) with attributes of a game (striving toward a goal, specific rules) It may or may not involve competition and may be relatively high or low in its modeling of reality Simulations and game activities may be designed to be instructional if they help participants learn new skills or values applicable beyond the game/simulation itself

Form small groups at each table

Game and Tournament You will have about 5 minutes to study the rules and practice playing “Five Tricks”. Rules will be taken away and NO VERBAL COMMUNICATION ALLOWED. You may gesture or draw pictures, but you may not speak, write or sign words. Tournament begins. You will play silently at your home table for a few more minutes. Tournament scoring and movement is explained on the Guidesheet. At the end of each round, players move as outlined on the Guidesheet. The end of each round will be signaled by presenter.

LET’S PLAY!

Reflection What were the steps of play? What went through your mind when: 1. BARNGA was introduced? 2. you first began to learn the game? 3. the rules were taken away and words were banned? 4. you first had to move? 5. when you began to play with others from different tables?

Reflection Did what you were thinking and feeling change during play? What were your greatest frustrations and/or successes? We have mentioned several major problems which arose during BARNGA. What were some of the underlying causes? What specific real-life situations does BARNGA simulate? Have you had any parallel real-life experiences? Are there any similarities between the Tournament rules in BARNGA and real-life “movement rules”?

Application What is your next important encounter with groups different from yourself? What experiences do you want to have during that encounter? What can you do to increase the probability of having such experiences? What is the single most important principle you learned from BARNGA today?

CONGRATULATIONS! You have just been BARNGATIZED!

Presenter: Gwendolyn Willis-Darpoh, Ph.D. Senior Research Analyst American Institutes for Research 1000 Thomas Jefferson Street, NW Washington, DC (202) (Phone) (202) (Fax) Website: