Integrating Intercultural Competence in ESP and EMI: From Theory to Practice

Abstract

As internationalisation policies like English-medium Instruction (EMI) are increasingly implemented in European higher education, EMI and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) classrooms become small international spaces where local students' intercultural skills can be developed. I suggest that the internationalised higher education poses challenges also to non-mobile students, who find themselves in culturally diverse classrooms where English is used as the medium of instruction. The aim of this study is twofold. It first attempts to provide a research-based framework that accounts for the reasons why Intercultural Competence (IC) should become a learning outcome in ESP and EMI courses, with an emphasis on ESP. Second, it explores two ways in which this integration could take place drawing on Holmes & O'Neill's ethnographic model (2012). The seminar genre is proposed to showcase IC integration, as participation helps students practice their English skills and provides them with opportunities to develop disciplinary knowledge while debating on a specific topic. In brief, this study suggests that both ESP and EMI courses have the potential of preparing students for a future professional career in a globalised world and that ESP lecturers, in particular, emerge as the best prepared professionals for teaching intercultural skills.Key words intercultural competence, English for specific purposes, English-medium instruction, internationalisation at home. MARTA AGUILARVol. 6(1)(2018): [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43] Sažetak Sa sve češćom primenom politika internacionalizacije u evropskom visokom obrazovanju (npr. nastava stručnih predmeta na engleskom jeziku [EMI]), EMI i ESP (engleski jezik nauke i struke) učionice postaju mali internacionalni prostori u kojima je moguće razviti međukulturne veštine lokalnih studenata. Mišljenja sam da internacionalizovano visoko obrazovanje predstavlja izazov i za nemobilne studente, koji studiraju u kulturno diversifikovanim učionicama gde se nastava odvija na engleskom jeziku. Cilj ovog rada je dvostruk. Najpre ću pokušati da prikažem istraživački okvir kojim obrazlažem zašto bi interkulturna kompetencija (IK) trebalo da postane ishod učenja na EMI, a naročito na ESP kursevima. Drugo, na osnovu etnografskog modela Houmza i O'Nila (2012), u radu se ispituju dva načina na koje je ovu integraciju moguće izvesti. Žanr seminara (grupne rasprave) predlaže se kao ilustracija načina integracije IK, jer učešće pomaže studentima da razvijaju veštine engleskog i pruža im mogućnost da usavrše disciplinarno znanje kroz debate na određene teme. Ukratko, ovaj rad sugeriše da i ESP i EMI kursevi imaju potencijal da pripreme studente za buduću profesionalnu karijeru u globalizovanom svetu, kao i da su nastavnici engleskog jezika nauke i struke najobučeniji za nastavu međukulturnih veština.Ključne reči međukulturna kompetencija, engleski jezik nauke i struke, nastava na engleskom jeziku, internacionalizacija kod kuće.

The Esp Lecturers’ Self-Development Competence in Higher Educational Context

“…The objective of the article is to reveal the role of the competency-based approach as a theoretical foundation for the training of ESP teachers, to analyze the features of the competency of self-development of ESP teachers in the context of higher education, to reveal the methods of formation of this competency. To achieve this objective, such methods as analysis of theoretical sources, systematization, classification, generalization of scientists" positions (Aguilar;Bakić-Mirić, 2013;Corrizzato & Goracci, 2013;Dobrova, 2017;Janulevičiene & Rackevičiene, 2015;Kubacheva, 2014;Maiier, 2017;Nor Yazi Hj Khamis et al, 2014;Stefanowicz-Kocoł & Đorđević, 2017;Venkatraman & Prema, 2013;Veselinova, 2017) on the competencies that ESP teachers should gain, and first of all, on the self-development competence were made use of. ESP teacher training programs (Profil, 2017(Profil, , 2018 for higher education institutions were also investigated.…”

“…Speaking about the competency-based approach to ESP teachers" training, we emphasize that the concept of competence is revealed as the ability to successfully respond to individual and social needs, act and fulfill the assigned tasks. The analysis of theoretical data shows that scientists consider such problems of formation of the ESP teachers" competencies as their identification and validation (Venkatraman & Prema, 2013), integrating intercultural competence in the process of professional training of ESP teachers (Aguilar, 2018), developing a conceptual basis for determining system competencies of the future ESP teacher (Nor Yazi Hj Khamis et al, 2014), the formation of their methodological competence (Maiier, 2017), written communication skills (Mancho-Barés & Arnó-Macià, 2017), the mastery of which will facilitate effective teaching of ESP. Particular attention is paid to the formation of critical thinking (Piršl, Popovska, Stojković, 2017) and the development of critical thinking skills through self-evaluation (Janulevičienė & Kavaliauskienė, 2012).…”

ESP, EMI and Interculturality: How Internationalised Are University Curricula in Catalonia?

“…In this scenario, ESP courses, which (unlike EMI) are not explicitly addressed by internationalisation policies, 'survive' in new curricula depending on their traditional presence and on the question of how much room can be made in new curricula for 'ancillary' subjects like languages (an explanation that stems from the elective nature of ESP courses), and which takes us back to Swales et al's (2001) notion of 'fragility'. Such a view, together with the apparent lack of coordination between content and language lecturers, neglects the potential of ESP (especially EAP) to prepare undergraduate students for participation in EMI (Terraschke & Wahid, 2011), to hone their disciplinary academic skills through situated EAP teaching (McGrath & Kaufhold, 2016), and to raise awareness about intercultural communicative competence while teaching English for specific purposes (Aguilar, 2018). Considering the weight that content courses have in new curricula, and the unequal power relations between large departments responsible for disciplines that are central to the degree and the limited number of ESP faculty available, it is not surprising to find ESP being overshadowed by EMI.…”

“…While internationalisation and language policies of Catalan universities place great emphasis on EMI, they do not usually mention ESP courses (Mancho-Barés & Arnó-Macià, 2017). However, ESP courses can be considered a fundamental part of an internationalised curriculum inasmuch as they are designed to develop the linguistic and intercultural skills that students need to function effectively in international work and study settings (Aguilar, 2018). Foreign language teaching (and thus language teacher education) should be related to intercultural education (Byram, 2014), which, at university level, suggests that ESP courses could play a prominent role in internationalising curricula, somehow acting as a hinge.…”

Analyzing English for Academic Purposes textbooks in China: A study of intercultural issues

“…He stressed that many typologies of the study styles of students with a Confucius heritage cultural background are reductive and essentialist (O'Dwyer, 2017), although this view was not based on empirical findings. Despite the on-going debate over whether or not intercultural differences influence Chinese students' EAP learning, there are currently few empirical studies concerning intercultural issues in EAP (Aguilar, 2018). In this regard, the current study aims to contribute to the field by solving the following problems: How are the students' home and target cultures, concerning CoL and CR, represented in the contents of the chosen EAP textbooks published in China?…”