CRITICAL CULTURAL AWARENESS AND INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONALISM
A PRE-SESSIONAL CASE STUDY ON ENGAGING WITH DIVERSITY AND MULTILINGUALISM
Resumo
This paper explores how learners and educators develop critical cultural awareness as part of their engagement with transcultural communication. We conceptualize this awareness as an understanding of the diversity that exists within and across societies, essential to recognizing and valuing multiple perspectives. Framed within a critical approach to transcultural communication, the paper draws on insights from language and citizenship education as well as broader debates on cultural dynamics. We explore how learners and educators can relate to cultural nuances they encounter during their language learning and professional development journeys. We examine how learners and practitioners develop expertise for effective communication in diverse multilingua-cultural settings. Building on this foundation, the paper re-examines the notion of independent professionalism as it relates to educators’ roles in supporting transcultural engagement. We highlight the transformative potential of translanguaging pedagogy and reflexive awareness of multilingualism in Higher Education. Drawing on classroom observations and interviews with EAP tutors on UK university pre-sessional courses, we investigate perceptions and practices surrounding academic support in increasingly diverse settings. The study considers how tutors respond to linguistic and cultural complexity and reflects implications for both EAP and subject specialists. Finally, we consider how professional autonomy is shaped by current higher education policy and practice. We position educators as reflective professionals situated at the interface of research and practice, arguing that fostering independent, critical engagement is key to navigating today’s changing academic landscape, including challenges brought about by generative AI.
Keywords: Critical Cultural Awareness; Diversity in Higher Education; English for Academic
Purposes (EAP); Professional Autonomy; Multilingualism; Transcultural Communication.
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