Masked pedagogy : negotiating self, topic and expertise in conversation-for-learning

The research examines interaction between unacquainted teachers and students of English as a foreign language in the conversation lounge of a private university in Japan. It draws its primary data from an assigned task in which students were asked to make conversation with on-duty teachers. Such institutionalized conversation practice, or 'conversation-for-learning' (Kasper 2004), is problematized in the thesis of research, as it is taken to paradoxically blend elements of institutionality with the interpersonal goals of conversation making. Focussing on the role of the teacher, the research aims to illustrate the way in which such tensions are resolved at the level of self construction in the supposedly conversational event. In the Japanese context of English language learning, the 'native speaking' teacher may often be portrayed as the authentic embodiment of an Anglophone culture. It is here argued that the problematics of such 'authenticity' are compounded by the staged normativity of conversation-for-learning, in which the teachers appear to be 'playing' themselves to a heightened degree of reflexivity. The self is thus seen to be interactionally emergent in a dialectic of conversationality and institutionality. In the current setting of the research, the 'English-only' policy and official recommendation that students pre-select a topic of interaction prior to approaching a teacher present two significant elements of institutionality which are explored through discourse analysis. The participants' negotiation of topic and expertise further provides an interactional means of analyzing the interpersonal and intercultural facets of self construction in the first-time educational encounters. In addition, the research draws on ethnographic methods of data generation, as it seeks to qualitatively ground the interactional events in the voiced experience of the participants. The thesis concludes with some suggestions which may help both teachers and students to overcome the challenges of non-acquaintanceship and constraints of institutionality to the pursuit of conversation-for-learning.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Masked pedagogy : negotiating self, topic and expertise in conversation-for-learning

The research examines interaction between unacquainted teachers and students of English as a foreign language in the conversation lounge of a private university in Japan. It draws its primary data from an assigned task in which students were asked to make conversation with on-duty teachers. Such institutionalized conversation practice, or 'conversation-for-learning' (Kasper 2004), is problematized in the thesis of research, as it is taken to paradoxically blend elements of institutionality with the interpersonal goals of conversation making. Focussing on the role of the teacher, the research aims to illustrate the way in which such tensions are resolved at the level of self construction in the supposedly conversational event. In the Japanese context of English language learning, the 'native speaking' teacher may often be portrayed as the authentic embodiment of an Anglophone culture. It is here argued that the problematics of such 'authenticity' are compounded by the staged normativity of conversation-for-learning, in which the teachers appear to be 'playing' themselves to a heightened degree of reflexivity. The self is thus seen to be interactionally emergent in a dialectic of conversationality and institutionality. In the current setting of the research, the 'English-only' policy and official recommendation that students pre-select a topic of interaction prior to approaching a teacher present two significant elements of institutionality which are explored through discourse analysis. The participants' negotiation of topic and expertise further provides an interactional means of analyzing the interpersonal and intercultural facets of self construction in the first-time educational encounters. In addition, the research draws on ethnographic methods of data generation, as it seeks to qualitatively ground the interactional events in the voiced experience of the participants. The thesis concludes with some suggestions which may help both teachers and students to overcome the challenges of non-acquaintanceship and constraints of institutionality to the pursuit of conversation-for-learning

The (in)justice of EMI: a critical discourse analysis of two key stakeholders’ views on the Polytechnic University of Milan court case

While English-medium Instruction (EMI) continues to be appealing for various stakeholders, it also raises some epistemological and ethical concerns, which have in the past found expression in polarized debates. A well-known example is the 2012 Milan court case, in which the academic staff sued the Polytechnic University of Milan over its attempt to promote an EMI-only policy. Now almost ten years after the case, the motivations of the key proponents and opponents of the policy are yet to be explored in depth. In order to explain how different interpretations of EMI could result in such unreconcilable positions, in this paper we adopt a new analytical angle, focusing on two elite participants: the rector who promoted the policy and the lawyer (also a faculty member) who represented the lecturers in court. Via a critical discourse analysis of interviews to these participants, we aim to unveil how different stakeholders from the same context frame EMI in relation to ideas of justice/injustice. Results indicate that, despite comparable personal commitment to education and similar understandings of language/power interactions, the participants evaluate English against different frames of reference (i.e. a horizon of globalized education, versus the traditional national understanding of the goals of education). This leads to diametrically opposite evaluations of the growing presence of English in higher education. Sebbene l’English-medium Instruction (EMI) continui ad essere attrattiva per vari attori, essa solleva anche questioni etiche ed epistemologiche, che in passato hanno trovato espressione in aspri dibattiti. Un noto esempio è rappresentato dalla caso di Milano del 2012, in cui lo staff accademico fece causa al Politecnico di Milano per il suo tentativo di promuovere una politica di esclusivo EMI. Ormai a quasi dieci anni dal caso, le motivazioni dei principali sostenitori e oppositori dell’iniziativa rimangono ancora parzialmente inesplorate. Al fine di spiegare come differenti interpretazioni dell’EMI abbiano potuto sfociare in posizioni talmente inconciliabili, in questo studio si adotta una nuova prospettiva analitica, concentrata su due partecipanti élite: il rettore che promosse la politica e l’avvocata (lei stessa appartenente al corpo accademico) che rappresentò gli accademici in corte. Lo scopo è quello di rilvelare, tramite un’analisi critica del discorso delle interviste di questi partecipanti, come attori provenienti dallo stesso contesto posizionino l’inglese in relazione a idee di giustizia/ingiustizia. I risultati indicano che, nonostante un comparabile impegno personale verso istruzione e una simile comprensione delle interazioni lingua/potere, i partecipanti giudicano l’inglese sulla base di diversi quadri di riferimento (ossia un orizzonte di istruzione globalizzata, contro i valori nazionali tradizionalmente attribuiti all’istruzione). Questo a sua volta risulta in valutazioni antitetiche della crescente presenza dell’inglese nell’istruzione superiore

New insights into the trend towards English as a medium of instruction in European higher education through transdisciplinary participation

The drive towards English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) in universities in non-English-dominant countries can generate heated debates, yet the drivers of EMI are still not fully understood. This position paper argues for transdisciplinary participation in order to shed new light on the drivers of EMI. Transdisciplinary participation is conceptualized as engaging with theories, methodologies and practices in other disciplines in order to approach a topical issue in a new way. We exemplify transdisciplinary participation as bringing together applied linguists and those involved in academic governance to re-theorize the rise of EMI as linked to steering at a distance governance reforms that have swept across the European higher education sector since the 1980s. Showcasing three cases from across Europe, we argue that steering at a distance may shed new light on the drivers of EMI. At a more general level, we highlight how disciplinary positioning shapes the creation of knowledge

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570