Language Centre

In order to highlight the ways in which language may be ideologically bound to specific performances of selves, this qualitative project examines the relationships between conceptualization, performance and revelation of queer sexualities by bi-lingual, English-speaking Japanese men and women and their experiences with English language and culture. Written, narrative auto-ethnographies in the form of linguistic and sexual literacy narratives were completed by 8 participant-researchers who were both originally from and living in Japan at the time of this project and who self-identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Framed by theories of communities of practice, imagined communities and narrative identity construction, the auto-ethnographies were then analyzed by the authors and fellow participant-researchers in order to more deeply contextualize and deconstruct the writing in light of this project's main research questions. Additionally, I completed a semantic analysis of all narratives and analyses in order to further highlight these writers' affective stances towards languages and cultures, emotions which have influenced language acquisition motivation and sexual identity performances.

With university computer labs and self-access centers now a reality, using email for cultural and language exchange has become increasingly more practical. Though research illustrates the effectiveness of asynchronous communication via email as an excellent opportunity for developing reading, writing, and vocabulary skills, effective implementation of such activities can be a challenge. In this paper, I will review the development of email exchange activities at three universities in Western Japan and highlight the importance of instructor support and student feedback.

The Learner Development Forum has been a part of the JALT National Conference for the last several years. This year's 85-minute Forum brought together teachers from primary to tertiary contexts exploring how learner autonomy can be fostered across the curriculum, both inside and outside of class. Seven presenters shared their experiences and research in a poster format. After brief introductions from each presenter, participants had a chance to view posters and talk directly with presenters, after which they had small group discussions to process themes that emerged from the Forum. This session ended with a brief whole group discussion. This paper summarizes the presenters' poster content and refl ections on participating in the Forum.

Lectio praecursoria puheviestinnän väitöskirjaksi tarkoitetun tutkimuksen Communicating interculturality in the workplace tarkastustilaisuudessa Jyväskylän yliopistossa 24.10.2015. Vastaväittäjänä toimi professori Fred Dervin (Helsingin yliopisto) ja kustoksena professori Maarit Valo.

This is the first special issue that JPHE hosts—and could there be a more suitable forum for an issue dedicated to exploring and encouraging a critical dialogue around transformative intercultural communication teaching practices in higher education (HE)? What has led us to engage with the theme of making intercultural education meaningful is a shared observation that there seems to be an increasing disconnect between recent developments in intercultural communication theory and practice. With so much critique published over the years, we are perplexed as to why traditional notions of culture still prevail not only in mainstream intercultural communication research but also in institutional discourses in HE and in popular discourses as articulated by the people who sit—or have once sat—in our classrooms. In this editorial and Special Issue, we approach intercultural communication from a critical angle, akin to the theorization of interculturality as a discursive and contingent, unst...

Researchers examining the underpinnings of cultural adaptation have overwhelmingly adopted Kim's (2001) theory of cultural adaptation. Kim (2001) defined cultural adaptation as "the dynamic process by which individuals, upon relocating to new, unfamiliar, or changed cultural environments, establish (or reestablish) and maintain relatively stable, reciprocal, and functional relationships with those environments" (p. 31). This process is a multi-step process, involving the enculturation, deculturation and acculturation of newcomers to a culture, where the ultimate goal is complete assimilation into the new culture (Kim, 2001). However, complete

Malgorzata Lahti 0000-0002-0396-4695 Today's workplaces are characterized by interactions among people with diverse backgrounds. These interactions may occur face-to-face or in technology-mediated settings; as interpersonal exchanges between co-workers, supervisors, and subordinates or between business partners and clients; in small groups and teams or as one-off encounters with customers. The persons engaged in these interactions jointly strive for the shared goals of their organization though they may come from different countries, speak different first languages, or identify with different ethnic, gender, or age groups. This chapter explores the role of diversity in different workplace contexts and situations. First, we unpack the concept by presenting the objective and subjective approaches to workplace diversity. The objective approach considers nationality, ethnicity, gender, or age-related differences as biologically determined facts. Subjective diversity, on the other hand, focuses on people's individual and shared experiences and their practices of integrating and standing out within their work lives. Following a discussion of the challenges of the objective approach, the chapter offers a framework for exploring workplace diversity as a subjective social construct. The framework is based on concepts of identification and othering, the complexities of disadvantage, language competences, and the construction of a shared culture.

This article offers an interpersonal communication perspective on relational processes in a workplace affected by the international flow of labor migration. We investigate how temporary migrant workers and their foreign colleagues perceive developing interpersonal relationships with each other through an analysis of in-depth interviews with employees of a Finnish recruitment agency and Polish metal workers it has recruited. The recruitment agents talk about their relationships with the recruited Polish workers; the Polish workers also describe their relationships with their Finnish colleagues at the customer company. The context under investigation emerges as rich in relational processes. The development of intercultural workplace relationships is analyzed in terms of motives for and against engaging in relational growth, as well as behaviors enacted to develop or not develop relationships.

Researchers examining the underpinnings of cultural adaptation have overwhelmingly adopted Kim's (2001) theory of cultural adaptation. Kim (2001) defined cultural adaptation as "the dynamic process by which individuals, upon relocating to new, unfamiliar, or changed cultural environments, establish (or reestablish) and maintain relatively stable, reciprocal, and functional relationships with those environments" (p. 31). This process is a multi-step process, involving the enculturation, deculturation and acculturation of newcomers to a culture, where the ultimate goal is complete assimilation into the new culture (Kim, 2001). However, complete

In this study the ethnomethodological method of membership categorisation analysis is applied to examine how members of an internationally dispersed team share cultural knowledge in their Skype™ chat conversations through mobilising categorisation as 'cultural knower' and 'not knower' for oneself and the others. Four recurring ways of sharing cultural knowledge were identified as the participants managed the distribution and completion of tasks, and attended to building mutual understanding in the unfolding interaction. The findings illustrate that cultural knowledge sharing is dynamic, situational and collaborative. Rather than hindering or enhancing interaction, culture is an interactional accomplishment with fluid referents, boundaries and membership. These observations problematise the predominant accounts of internationally dispersed teaming as either fraught with intercultural misunderstanding and conflict, or brimming with innovation and synergy.

Malgorzata Lahti 0000-0002-0396-4695 Today's workplaces are characterized by interactions among people with diverse backgrounds. These interactions may occur face-to-face or in technology-mediated settings; as interpersonal exchanges between co-workers, supervisors, and subordinates or between business partners and clients; in small groups and teams or as one-off encounters with customers. The persons engaged in these interactions jointly strive for the shared goals of their organization though they may come from different countries, speak different first languages, or identify with different ethnic, gender, or age groups. This chapter explores the role of diversity in different workplace contexts and situations. First, we unpack the concept by presenting the objective and subjective approaches to workplace diversity. The objective approach considers nationality, ethnicity, gender, or age-related differences as biologically determined facts. Subjective diversity, on the other hand, focuses on people's individual and shared experiences and their practices of integrating and standing out within their work lives. Following a discussion of the challenges of the objective approach, the chapter offers a framework for exploring workplace diversity as a subjective social construct. The framework is based on concepts of identification and othering, the complexities of disadvantage, language competences, and the construction of a shared culture.