A Cross-cultural Awareness Workshop: Language, communication and difference

This article reports on a one day cultural awareness workshop developed over four years by Victoria Odeniyi and Gillian Lazar, lecturers from English Language and Learning Support (ELLS) at Middlesex University in north London. ELLS provides workshops and tutorials in academic writing and English language development to both UK-based and international students studying in Britain. Depending on the student profile, ELLS lecturers draw on the methodologies of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and academic literacies in trying to meet the needs of each learner. ELLS is located within Learning Resources (LR), which includes library, computing and audio-visual services. Many students who seek out ELLS also frequently come into contact with LR staff members, who might be librarians, computing or audiovisual staff or other members of Learning Resources. Unlike ELLS lecturers, these staff members do not have any TESOL background, and may not be fully aware of the complex linguistic and cultural factors influencing students’ communication and behaviour. Thus, the workshop was initially developed by peers (lecturers from ELLS) to be delivered to peers (staff in LR). While TESOL teacher training focuses primarily on training students to become ESL/EFL teachers, we believe that there may well be a role for TEFL trainers in training other staff in effective ways of communicating with language learners.