Abstracts – Session Two

12:20 – 1:20 – 6EN – 516

Chair:  Neera Jain

Lan Nguyen: What Vietnamese University Teachers of English Understand about Intercultural Communicative Competence

Why do Vietnamese learners of English not feel confident to speak English with foreigners after studying English for a long time? While, in the era of globalization, language teachers’ role is to help language learners become more interculturally competent in communicating with people from different cultures by enhancing their Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC). Aligning with the current context, my research project aims to explore Vietnamese university teachers of English (VUTE) beliefs and practices about ICC by applying a multimethod research design in which an online survey was conducted in Phase One and a case study was conducted in Phase Two. In this presentation, I will introduce some preliminary findings from the data collected from 107 VUTE from the online survey and 6 VUTE from 13 semi-structured interviews to partially answer what VUTE understand about ICC. The initial findings show that although VUTE are aware of the importance of ICC and express their willingness to integrate more cultural elements into their English lessons to enhance their students’ ICC, their foremost goal of teaching English still focuses on linguistic knowledge and ability to help their students get good performance in the exams. Some of the factors affecting VUTE’s perceptions of ICC will be also demonstrated in this presentation.
Keywords: Teachers’ perceptions, teachers’ beliefs, intercultural communicative competence, globalization, Vietnamese university teachers of English.

Hui Lin: A case study of how the role of SENCo influences New Zealand SENCos’ teacher identities

To create an inclusive educational setting, New Zealand, like many countries, has incorporated the role of Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) into mainstream schools. Given the complexity of the SENCo role and an increasing number of children with special needs in New Zealand, it is interesting that there appear to be only three studies that have focused on SENCos in the New Zealand context, none of which focuses on their identities. Hence, the aim of the study presented in this proposal was to develop an in-depth understanding of how the SENCo role influences New Zealand SENCos’ teacher identities. Adopting a multiple case study strategy, five SENCos from five primary schools in Auckland, New Zealand, were interviewed and shadowed. Relevant documents were also analysed. Using Gee’s approach to discourse analysis, the findings showed that the SENCo role influenced participants’ identities in four major ways: a) a stronger sense of agency than experienced as classroom teachers; b) growth in teacher expertise in relation to special needs; c) a great deal of emotional engagement and d) a perception that their expertise and value were not sufficiently recognised by teacher colleagues, the senior management team and the Ministry of Education. The findings contribute to a fuller understanding of how the SENCo role influences SENCos’ teacher identities. The study also suggests ways of supporting SENCo identity and points to the need for further research, using different methods, to develop a fuller understanding of how the role of SENCo influences SENCos’ teacher identities.

Penny Lin: Understanding the donation decision of brain donors in an arts-based project: Through the lens of Confucianism

Engaging in research conversations is never easy, but talking about death and brain donation is the most arduous task of my research experience. To answer the question: “How do brain donors feel and what do they think about donating their brains to medical research?” I embrace my artist/researcher/nurse identity and engage in arts-based methods—a powerful way for people to express their feelings and thoughts that are difficult to talk about in interviews. In seeking to learn from donors’ perspectives in-depth, thus, I engage in 2-step data collection sessions. Followed by an interview, I created artworks together with my participants. In this presentation, I will share my research vignette: how I use my nursing knowledge and a/r/tography—an arts-based research methodology—to talk about death and brain donation.

I will, also, include part of my analysis on the data collected through both the interview and artwork creation sessions. The focus is on the key concepts of how the brain donor participants related to their social relations and their wish to donate their brain to research. I saw the connections between donors’ belief in their moral duty to help others and Confucian’s core values: ren仁 (humanness or benevolence), yi 義 (right, rightness), li禮 (etiquette), zhi 智 (wisdom, knowledge), xin 信 (trust). I came to the realisation that the philosophy of Confucianism is the best fit for my topic. This appreciation offered me the opportunity to interpret donors’ feelings and insights through Confucian’s values.