Author: Fiona Price - our EAP4SJ SIG extraordinary member I really enjoyed attending the BALEAP PIM: EAP and Intercultural Communication on Friday 17 June and appreciated the online option which made attending possible. 9:45 Welcome & Plenary Session 1 by Professor Adrian Holliday: Unlocking the intercultural expertise our students bring with them. Professor Adrian Holliday began his plenary session by denying the relevance of equating cultural difference in terms of nationality to ability, attitude or expectation around academic writing, saying there was no evidence to support this view and that such problems arose from institutional circumstances rather than cultural differences. He said that academic writing was problematic for all students entering university, given that all admissions enter university courses at the required level. He proceeded to present his ideas by highlighting essentialist views of how culture is perceived, which create blocks to intercultural communication, and the dichotomy between alternative non-essentialist views as threads that invite intercultural communication to flow. Holliday defined culture as “ …a seamless extent of diverse practices, values and products within which we construct ‘cultures’ for organisational identity and political purposes”. He emphasised that cultural hybridity is a natural state and this view of inhabiting and negotiating multiple, hybrid realities is not new but was in practice before the arrival of modernist colonialist thinking. He went on to define intercultural communication as being, “Whenever and wherever we encounter cultural practices and values that lead us to position or re-position ourselves”. I loved his description of EAP tutors as insider / outsiders who can accompany students in ethnographic exploration and his description of ‘so-labelled’ international students as intercultural travellers. He used ‘so-labelled’ in reference to the essentialist use of labelling, as in for example, learner types, saying that a decolonised state means we can get rid of the use of labels. Professor Holliday ended his plenary by establishing the need to create spaces for intersubjectivity and saying we all need help to get to the emergent world. It was a such a fascinating, informative session that I’m looking forward to watching it again when the recording becomes available on the BALEAP website so I can pick up on all the things I missed and / or didn’t quite catch, the first time. 11:00 -11:35 Debra Jones followed on with her session Towards an Intercultural Pedagogy: What Role Can EAP Play? She highlighted her research interests on the impact of internationalisation and how teaching and learning has adapted to more diverse cohorts, adaptations, to which she annotated – “if at all”. I thought this made a very relevant and immediate connection to Professor Adrian Holliday’s initial comment that problems of academic writing relate to institutional circumstances rather than cultural differences. Evidence of contributing institutional factors can be found within the internationalisation process. The impact of institutionalising has been visibly economic rather than academic. Widening participation and the inclusion of a more diverse and less prepared student population to higher education has not been matched with adaptations to systems, in response and to accommodate this change, to support more diverse cohorts, meaning that equity and equality of language level on entry to courses cannot be assumed as given. Debra Jones’ session made clear links echoing Holliday as to the need for questioning and challenging essentialist views. In addition, she made explicit reference to social justice. 11:50 – 12:25 Jim McKinley expanded on Holliday’s definition of culture as ‘a seamless extent of values, practices and products’ to offer 10 top tips for Fostering intercultural competence in and beyond EAP classes in UK higher education. 12:30 – 1:05 Christina Laporda took us on an exploration of what intercultural competence encompasses and what it does not. 2pm Plenary Session 2 by Professor Prue Holmes The second plenary of the day was by Professor Prue Holmes – EAP and IC: Understanding our Intercultural (dialogical and embodied) selves – as practitioners, as learners. Professor Holmes highlighted the following implications for the EAP practitioner: 3:50 – 4:25 Ramzi Merabet presented his session on De-essentialising the international students: belonging, interculturality and endured realities. Making a clear connection to Holliday’s plenary, his session raised awareness of the realities of the everyday experience of students labelled as international and raised thought-provoking questions. All in all, a lot to reflect on and interesting references to follow up on when slides and recordings are published. Exploring the implication of intercultural spaces through the lens of social justice is a view I am particularly interested in and it seemed to be both an implicit and explicit focus within the content of the day.
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Emerging Voices in ELT: Exploring ESOL practitioners’ identities from an intersectional perspective6/15/2022
Currently fully immersed in her PhD study, Paula is exploring, from an intersectional perspective, the identities of ESOL lecturers working in the college context in Scotland. Based on research done in a broader TESOL context (a necessity based on the scarcity of ESOL research in Scotland), it seems apparent that a very narrow profile of teachers is preferred, usually white, usually first language English speakers, and usually middle class. However, if we have a close look at the ESOL students that are currently being taught in Scottish colleges, their identities seem to be very varied in many different aspects: culturally, linguistically, and of course in terms of education, age, and class. Therefore, there seems to be a mismatch between the identity of teachers and learners which creates a division between both groups in a way that may not have a positive effect on learning and on the profession and that seems to be stopping people from different backgrounds entering the ESOL profession. It is worth then asking the question that starts any piece of research: Why? And what is the potential impact of it on lecturers, students and ultimately on the future of the profession? Recently, our SIG inbox received a request from a colleague looking for tips on how to diversify their staff team in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) department. Last year, I took a sideways step into a Human Resources (HR) role, an element of which allows me to contribute to some of the institutional initiatives linked to ‘Equity, Diversity and Inclusion’. So, when we received the request, I was approached to see whether I had any insights on the issue. My initial reply was brief but well-received and got me thinking that perhaps this was a topic worth exploring in a bit more depth. So, below are some personal musings, professional insights and useful resources shared in the hope of aiding us all to take sustainable action - at a societal, institutional and individual level - to further diversify our EAP community and create a more inclusive working environment to benefit everyone. Societal observations My first pondering may seem an obvious one; EAP is not happening in a vacuum. To be more specific, EAP is operating within societies, education systems and institutions which are built on structural inequalities. These structural inequalities exist because the system was built and continues to be maintained on what Anne Hathaway described in her speech at the 2018 Human Rights Campaign awards dinner as an ancient, inherited, habitual, damaging and widely accepted myth. “That myth is that gayness orbits around straightness, transgender orbits around cisgender, and that all races orbit around Whiteness” (cited in Bopaiah 2021, p19) In turn, this rigged system leads to a lack of equal opportunities which can appear invisible at first glance. However, hard evidence of the inequality and lack of diversity across UK higher education can be found in statistical reports from Advance HE and reports on the gender pay gap and ethnicity pay gap. There may be another school of thought that recognises the visibility of inequalities but succumbs to a sense of inevitability. The - ‘How can we possibly change the system?’ - argument. In this short opinion piece, Dr Robert Livingston, a social psychologist in the faculty of the Harvard Kennedy School, uses the analogies of staggered starts on a running track and providing different levels of support to different children in a family context, to exemplify that sometimes, it is absolutely necessary and appropriate to treat people differently to provide equitable opportunities for success. Whilst he discusses the issue with a lens on the inequalities experienced by Black and minoritized ethnic people, the principle can be applied across all protected characteristics and those not captured within the Equality Act 2010, such as socio-economic status and in our discipline, the issue of whether or not English is your first language. At this point, I’m reminded of the image of an apple tree presented by Maha Bali, on slides 15 to 17 of her Keynote talk at the BALEAP 2021 Biennial Conference, and also the myriad of ways that colleagues suggested this could be redrawn. Inequality of opportunity manifests in many ways for many reasons. The question remains, what can be done to address it? Institutional considerations At this point I’m going to move away from the societal issues to more pragmatic institutional considerations that could aid in removing barriers to access to the EAP profession. These are innovations that have become more apparent to me since moving into HR, and I would strongly recommend liaising with HR and EDI experts within your organisation to discuss options that may be beneficial within your specific context. They’ll provide valuable insights on what has and hasn’t worked well in the past and will highlight any legal considerations. As the recruitment landscape becomes increasingly competitive, there is a move towards the concept of hiring for potential and training for skill. This is leading to a growth in the use of apprenticeships across universities. Given that the cost of qualifications required to develop a career in EAP could be a barrier to entry for many people, perhaps degree apprenticeships could provide an alternative entry point into the field of EAP for people from a range of backgrounds and circumstances. Another opportunity which may be of interest to organisations who offer English Language Teaching qualifications is offering a proportion of scholarships to applicants from underrepresented groups as a form of positive action. The funded course could be followed up with a paid internship - perhaps over a Presessional programme - to provide further opportunity for the candidate to apply their learning and further boost their employability prospects. Another area of expertise HR departments focus on, is mitigating barriers of entry to an organisation. Consequently, they often develop institutional policies to support hiring managers in attracting candidates for the job. These policies commonly include advice on using, clear, simple, gender-neutral language in job adverts, removing candidates’ names from long lists and ensuring diversity in recruitment panels from longlisting through to interview. If you’re unsure of similar policies within your organisation, it’s worth searching your intranet or reaching out to HR colleagues to find out more. Individual Interventions Staying with the concept of attracting candidates for the job against a competitive recruitment landscape, there is much within your agency as a hiring manager that can be built into the recruitment process. Some initiatives we’re piloting at the institution I work for in both academic and professional services roles include:
Initial feedback from the hiring managers piloting some of these approaches seems to be that the interventions are creating a more positive application experience as well as leading to more diverse recruitment. A point of reflection is how many of the above do we or could we apply to provide a more equitable recruitment experience for EAP posts? And what other interventions could we introduce? Again, if you’re unsure of what you can reasonably enact within your institution, have a chat with colleagues in HR. You could also speak with colleagues in other departments who are hiring managers to find out what approaches that are taking to diversify their staff community. Could these be transferable to EAP recruitment? Summary Of course, I’m mindful of the limitations of this blog; these ideas and signposts predominantly touch upon better understanding the concept of equity in an effort to achieve diversity. Indeed, some of the suggestions may seem like quick wins. But as detailed in this report from consultancy firm McKinsey & Company, creating the conditions for inclusion is the long game and requires sustained mindfulness to enact system and behavioural change. This is a point that requires considerably more reflection and exploration. If there’s interest out there, perhaps it’s a conversation to come back to later in the year. I’m also aware that this piece has been written from a UK-centric perspective. However, I hope despite this that there are points that may be useful for experimentation and further discussion across different global contexts. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. What of the above do you already use in your institution? What have been the outcomes? Are there any you’re interested in piloting in your institution? What alternative initiatives are you using to good success? I’m sure our wider community would be grateful to hear your insights and experience too. So, feel free to share comments below. Reference Bopaiah, M (2021) Equity : How to Design Organizations Where Everyone Thrives. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Oakland, California |
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