I am Senior Lecturer in TESOL Education in the School of Education at UNSW. Prior to taking up my current post, I was Reader in Applied LInguistics at University of Warwick, UK. Even prior to that, I spent around 14 years living and working in Japan as an EFL teacher and lecturer in language education and intercultural communication.
My teaching and research is largely connected to the question of how the language teaching endeavour can be reconceptualised from the perspective of intercultural communication, specifically how the development of intercultural competencies can be embedded within the language teaching and learning process. I draw on multi-disciplinary concepts and theories in order to address these issues, particularly meta-pragmatics, intercultural communication, SLA theory, discourse studies, and social psychology. I regard intercultural learning as a necessary but not inevitable (i.e. automatic) outcome of language learning. My specific aim is to contribute to both theory and practice by using classroom data to help illuminate how intercultural learning is instantiated within particular interactions in the classroom.
I am also increasingly interested in issues surrounding the internationalisation of education and the higher education classroom as a site for intercultural communication and intercultural learning.
My teaching and research is largely connected to the question of how the language teaching endeavour can be reconceptualised from the perspective of intercultural communication, specifically how the development of intercultural competencies can be embedded within the language teaching and learning process. I draw on multi-disciplinary concepts and theories in order to address these issues, particularly meta-pragmatics, intercultural communication, SLA theory, discourse studies, and social psychology. I regard intercultural learning as a necessary but not inevitable (i.e. automatic) outcome of language learning. My specific aim is to contribute to both theory and practice by using classroom data to help illuminate how intercultural learning is instantiated within particular interactions in the classroom.
I am also increasingly interested in issues surrounding the internationalisation of education and the higher education classroom as a site for intercultural communication and intercultural learning.
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INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION EDUCATION by Troy McConachy
Books by Troy McConachy
The volume sees the learning of pragmatics as a challenging yet enriching process whereby the individual expands their capacity for understanding how meaning making processes influence social relationships and how assumptions about social relationships shape the interpretation and use of language in context. This locates pragmatics within a humanistically oriented conception of learning where success is defined relative to the enrichment of human understanding and appreciation of difference. The book argues that intercultural understanding is not an “add on” to language learning but central to the learner’s ability to understand and construct meaning with individuals from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Chapters analyse teachers’ and learners’ ways of making sense of pragmatics, how their assumptions about social relationships impact their perceptions of language use, and how reflection on pragmatic judgments opens up possibilities for developing intercultural understanding.
This book will be of interest to students and scholars in intercultural communication, language education, and applied linguistics.
Book Chapters by Troy McConachy
The volume sees the learning of pragmatics as a challenging yet enriching process whereby the individual expands their capacity for understanding how meaning making processes influence social relationships and how assumptions about social relationships shape the interpretation and use of language in context. This locates pragmatics within a humanistically oriented conception of learning where success is defined relative to the enrichment of human understanding and appreciation of difference. The book argues that intercultural understanding is not an “add on” to language learning but central to the learner’s ability to understand and construct meaning with individuals from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Chapters analyse teachers’ and learners’ ways of making sense of pragmatics, how their assumptions about social relationships impact their perceptions of language use, and how reflection on pragmatic judgments opens up possibilities for developing intercultural understanding.
This book will be of interest to students and scholars in intercultural communication, language education, and applied linguistics.