Summary


Bryan’s background in various cultural and linguistic academic settings has helped him devised this concept and subsequent pedagogical practise. The idea seeks to encourage learning across ‘neighbourhoods’ or linguistic boundaries. In an academic setting, this looks at tapping and utilising the existing pool of linguistic and cultural variation within the classroom on a given topic. Interdisciplinarity is at the heart of this practice tied with the idea of linguistic hospitality, coined by Paul Ricoeur, the notion of welcoming foreign cultures and languages into one’s own. This practice is very much in the embryonic stages, but presents the opportunity to take a different perspective on language in western education while merging the borders of subject-based teaching.


This video is a recorded interview between Dr Bryan Brazeau, the pedagogy leader, and Daniel Reed, one of the project officers. This conversation contains the a full description of the pedagogy, it's objectives and the potential benefits. Summary points of this conversation are inlcluded below:


Key Points of the Interview:


  • Fundamentally links language to knowledge. “Everything we know, we know through language and communication”.
  • Students encouraged to identify where they feel like they start to move outside of their intellectual and academic comfort zone, then how to build bridges to extend these boundaries.
  • Pedagogy influenced by the ideas of the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur articulated in his essay “Translation as Challenge and Source of Happiness” published in the collection: On Translation
  • Pedagogy is associated with problem-based learning with an element of multilingualism added to it.
  • Bryan has used this strategy in his own teaching when looking at the AIDS crisis as a specific case study example for how intercultural and multilingual research and discussions can provide a more holistic and inclusive learning experience for students and indeed staff.
  • Not necessarily limited to linguistic variation within the classroom but capturing the different experiences of students within the classroom, perhaps before university, and using this as a resource to share and learn from each other in a ‘student-led’ environment.
  • It should be used as a tool or an ideological lens to view the other content within a module or degree. One which can be applied to different contexts that appreciates a multilingual, interdisciplinary and intercultural approach.

Measurable Benefits


  • Celebrating existing international and different cultures within a classroom and utilising them as powerful and academically enriching resources.
  • Understanding the importance of interdisciplinarity and helping students recognise the limitations of a single discipline approach. This is vital to encourage to foster a sense of real-life learning and preparation for the working environment.
  • Understanding that educational backgrounds can cause a different style of learning, not necessarily that international students are not as proficient at the western teaching model.

Student Feedback

This section contains quotes and comments made by students during the interview stages of the project. After gathering pedagogies such as this one, we described them to a pair of peers and asked them to reflect on the efficacy, potential and impact whereby they produced these comments:

  • "Good idea, allows for connections with individuals they wouldn’t usually work with"
  • "This sounds really enjoyable because it allows bonding; I already experienced something similar and found it highly engaging and a great experience
  • "This is a great technique especially when learning languages // learning languages from scratch is a great task to bond over"
  • "Tasks that allow for communication between students"

This quote was raised by a student about their experience with the curriculum at Warwick without prior knowledge of this pedagogy. However, it comprehensively highlights its importance in reshaping the learning environment.

  • "The content is euro-centric, the discussion is dominated by English students, despite the degree’s emphasis on considering other cultures. No highlighting or focus on other country’s experience given the multi-culturalism in the classroom."