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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