C 9. Barnga – An Intercultural Simulation
Level: All Levels
Barnga is an intercultural simulation designed to explore factors related to communication problems in intercultural situations. Participants will have the opportunity to experience how people of differing cultures play by different rules. They learn and practice skills to function effectively in a cross-cultural group by playing a simple card game in small groups. Conflicts begin to occur as participants move from group to group, each of which has slightly different game rules. In discovering that something has gone wrong, players undergo a minor culture shock similar to actual experience. They must then struggle to understand and reconcile these differences. The simulation is entirely interactive.
It is followed by an interactive debrief in which participants explore successful strategies for deriving maximum benefits from intercultural interactions in areas such as providing services to a diverse population, diversity and cross cultural clashes in the workplace, negotiation and conflict resolution skills and creative problem solving. Participants also explore various definitions of culture and their implications for intercultural communication. Involving intensive interaction between participants, Barnga also explores the fundamental aspects of unexpected change and the resulting communication breakdowns. This session will be of interest to front-line workers, group facilitators as well as managers.
Ron Lavoie is LINC manager at the Ottawa community Services Organization (OCISO). He has also worked as an English for Academic Purposes instructor, LINC Assessor, and Canadian Language Benchmarks consultant. In all of his work, Ron has maintained a strong and developing interest in Intercultural Communication. He is also very fond of chilli peppers.
