“Cool my doubt is erased”: constructive disagreement and creating a psychologically safe space in multicultural student teamwork

Abstract

This paper investigates the roles of disagreement and trust in multicultural teamwork on an English-medium master’s programme at an Austrian business university. The teamwork project – assigned by the content teacher – took place mostly outside the classroom and simulated business practice both in terms of the tasks and the multicultural context. Each team comprised two Austrian students and two international students, resulting in an English as a lingua franca (ELF) setting. The teams were observed and audio-/video-recorded, with the analysis focusing on an early stage of the project where they laid the groundwork for the team mental models in terms of establishing the team goals, relationships and communicative practices. Additionally, retrospective interviews were conducted at the end of the project with each of the team members and the lecturer to gain emic insights into the project. The findings suggest a symbiotic relationship between disagreement and trust, in which high levels of trust and the construction of a psychologically safe space allow the team members to disagree with and challenge each other without damaging their relationships, leading to better decisions. In turn, these decisions can contribute to a sense of shared success that strengthens the team’s joint identity.

Taking ELF off the shelf: Developing HE students’ speaking skills through a focus on English as a lingua franca

“…Toomaneejinda & Harding (2018) showed that participants in ELF academic group discussion used a wide range of strategies to express disagreement, including shift of focus, turn-management practices and use of gaze. Komori-Glatz (2018) demonstrated that high levels of trust supported the ability to disagree and challenge one another. Additionally, joking, talking about shared interests, exploring others' cultural background and "letting pass" strategies (Firth, 1996), the latter describing instances in which inaccurate language use is not flagged up, facilitate intercultural team work in HE (Komori-Glatz, 2017).…”

Developing Collaborative Thinkers: Rethinking how we Define, Teach, and Assess Class Participation

“…Supporting also means being forgiving of mistakes and disagreeing constructively (Komori-Glatz, 2018; C. E. Larson & Lafasto, 1989). Critically Evaluating Collaboration requires a willingness to disagree (Andrews & Rapp, 2015;Komori-Glatz, 2018;Nussbaum, 2008). This may involve identifying gaps in logic, improving upon others' ideas, and offering alternative perspectives and possibilities, while still remaining respectful and open-minded.…”

Disagreement Strategies used by Speakers of English as a Lingua Franca in Business Meetings

“…The majority of studies on ELF disagreement acts were conducted in an academic setting (e.g., Bjørge, 2012;Komori-Glatz, 2018;Matsumoto, 2018;Toomaneejinda & Harding, 2018). One main study is by Bjørge (2012), who followed a comparative approach by comparing the linguistic forms for disagreeing found in business English textbooks and the ones used by international students in simulated negotiations.…”

“…While much of the early research on ELF interaction mostly focused on such cooperative aspects, more recently, other questions have been raised concerning ELF users' disagreement practices. In particular, ways of expressing conflicting opinions in ELF interactions have been investigated in academic settings (Bjørge, 2012;Komori-Glatz, 2018;Matsumoto, 2018;Toomaneejinda & Harding, 2018), informal settings (Jenks, 2012;Konakahara, 2015Konakahara, , 2017, with little attention to professional business contexts (Marra, 2016). Consequently, little is known about how ELF users display disagreement in real-life business contexts.…”