Mediation – a competence in context Michael Byram University of Durham, England. m.s.byram@dur.ac.uk

Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) A transparent language In a (supra-national) European polity To discuss both technical and contextual factors

Internationalisation e.g. in universities Description via activities : -- study abroad -- teaching languages and cultures -- preparation for work in a global economy -- staff mobility -- presence of foreign teaching staff in an educational institution -- teaching courses in other countries and/or franchising courses -- presence of foreign students in courses -- courses with international comparative themes -- joint or double degree courses shared by two or more institutions -- joint research projects in two or more institutions.

Description as outcomes/products: Graduates: ‘internationally knowledgeable’ and ‘interculturally competent Instrumental commodification versus critical ‘educationalism’ what kind of relationship with ‘others’ internationalist (citizenship)and cosmopolitan (citizenship)

Mediation In mediating activities, the language user is not concerned to express his/her own meanings, but simply to act as an intermediary between interlocutors who are unable to understand each other directly – normally (but not exclusively) speakers of different languages. Examples of mediating activities include spoken interpretation and written translation as well as summarising and paraphrasing texts in the same language, when the language of the original text is not understandable to the intended recipient. (Council of Europe, 2001: 87)

Translation and interpretation Translation: the user/ learner receives a text from a speaker or writer who is not present, in one language or code (Lx) and produces a parallel text in a different language or code (Ly) to be received by another person as listener or reader at a distance (…) Interpretation: The user/ learner acts as an intermediary in a face-to-face interaction between two interlocutors who do not share the same language or code, receiving a text in one language (Lx) and producing a corresponding text in the other (Ly).

E. Hoffman – ‘Lost in Translation’ 1989 The words I learn now don’t stand for things in the same unquestioned way they did in my native tongue. ‘River’ in Polish was a vital sound, energized with the sense of riverhood, of my rivers, of my being immersed in rivers. ‘River’ in English is cold – a word without an aura. It has no accumulated associations for me, and it does not give off the radiating haze of connotation. It does not evoke. (p. 106)

Hoffman - ‘Lost in Translation’ 1989 Because I have learned the relativity of cultural meanings on my skin, I can never take any one set of meanings as final (…). It’s not the worst place to live; it gives you an Archimedean leverage from which to see the world (p. 275)

Winch, P (1964) Understanding a primitive society Reality is not what gives language sense. What is real and unreal shows itself in the sense that language has (…). If then we wish to understand the significance of these concepts, we must examine the use they actually do have – in the language’ Seriously to study another way of life is necessarily to seek to extend our own, not simply to bring the other way within the already existing boundaries of our own, because the point about the latter in their present form is that they ex hypothesi exclude that other.

(State) education and society Learning to serve the economy Learning to belong Learning to be a ‘educated’ person (lifelong)

Learning to belong in nationalist theory (…) the purpose of education is not to transmit knowledge, traditional wisdom (…) its purpose rather is wholly political, to bend the will of the young to the will of the nation. Schools are instruments of state policy, like the army, the police, and the exchequer. (Kedourie, 1966: 84 – my emphasis)

FLT and national identity Although not clearly stated by the parents, the second category (of doubts about immersion schooling) may be seen as being related to Japanese cultural identity. (...) [parents] speak of a concern that their children’s ‘Japaneseness’ or Japanese identity might become confused or they would become more ‘foreign like’ in their way of thinking or ‘acting’. Their concerns have even extended to fears that their children might want to live abroad as a result of graduating from the immersion programme. (Downes, 2001: 169)

Learning about ‘them’ and ‘us’ By learning languages, pupils have opportunity to become familiar with other cultures. Such insight provides the basis for respect and increased tolerance, and contributes to other ways of thinking and broadens pupils’ understanding of their own cultural belonging. In this way pupils’ own identity is strengthened. (http://www.utdanningsdirektoratet.no/dav/78FB8D6918.PDF - Jan 2005 - my emphasis)

Questions Mediation: - is mediation just a variation on translation and interpretation or should we also teach conflict resolution? - how can mediation be assessed – since anything that is taught has now to be assessed?   FLT and nationalism/internationalism: - is FLT – especially ELT – a threat to national identity in your country? - should FLT/ELT focus only on skills for the workplace and be ‘neutral’? should FLT/ELT focus as much on ‘us/our culture’ as on ‘them/their culture’? Internationalisation – internationalist or cosmopolitan - Do you talk to ‘international’ students as an internationalist or a cosmopolitan?