Papers by Emilia Wąsikiewicz-Firlej
Oceánide, 2014
La identidad de un estudiante de idiomas ha adquirido recientemente una importancia propia en el ... more La identidad de un estudiante de idiomas ha adquirido recientemente una importancia propia en el ámbito académico, en torno a la naturaleza del lenguaje y su aprendizaje. El éxito de esta idea en el campo de la enseñanza de idiomas ha sido provocado, por una banda, a causa de los logros postestructurales o posmodernos en los estudios lingüísticos, y por otra banda, gracias al enfoque constructivo o construccionista del aprendizaje humano. Asimismo, los estudios socio-culturales más críticos, tales como el enfoque ecocrítico, destacan el papel activo y relevante del aprendiz en el proceso de la creación de significados en el contexto de segundas lenguas / lenguas extranjeras, por lo que se señala las limitaciones derivadas de tomar al hablante 'nativo' como modelo. El ámbito de la pedagogía de la lengua, bajo un término genérico como el de la autonomía, trata de explicarse a través de los avances en el campo de la lingüística y la psicología, sin embargo, el presente artículo trata de demostrar las dificultades que el alumnado tiene para asumir su nueva identidad como usuarios legítimos de un idioma extranjero. Un análisis del discurso de una entrevista con estudiantes participantes en una estancia de un semestre en un entorno multilingüe y multicultural nos permite profundizar en sus identidades como usuarios y aprendices de una lengua. Este análisis, como método, nos ayuda a definir el discurso pedagógico normativo como un constructo ideológico dominante posicionando la identidad lingüística de dichos estudiantes y exhibiendo su consciencia lingüística.
In the following manuscript the author undertakes to present the notion of languaging as it has m... more In the following manuscript the author undertakes to present the notion of languaging as it has mainly been worked out in the field of linguistics. Language researchers, e.g., Halliday (1977; 1985), Lado (1979), Swain (2005; 2006) mention the term on various occasions giving it different interpretations. Sociocultural studies associate the notion with the primary semiotic function of language as meaning making out of all possible linguistic resources and perceive it as standing in contradiction to the narrow compartmentalised conception of language. Swain (2005; 2006), in turn, drives the notion from Vygostky’s (1986) claim of a close correspondence between language and cognition and presents languaging as a way of learning as talking-it-through. Languaging also appears in the philosophical concept of autopoesis worked out by Maturana and Varela (1973, 1980). All these strains are presented here to be compatible with most contemporary ecological and experientialist cognitive approaches to language offering drastic consequences for language pedagogy.
This book features contributions addressing the area of specialised and professional discourse an... more This book features contributions addressing the area of specialised and professional discourse analysis at both the micro- and macro-levels. It offers analyses of the language of medicine, sports, bureaucratic forms, and advertisements, and academic language. Throughout the volume, specialised discourse is approached from a variety of linguistic, literary and cultural perspectives, as well as from those of content analysis, discourse analysis, membership categorisation devices, and semantic/pragmatic analysis. All the chapters here are of undoubted importance in their own rights, but the value of this volume lies particularly in its holistic view on specialised and professional discourse, specifically in the way it examines both their co-texts and contexts, on the one hand, and the practical applicability of discourse analyses and the potential to create connections with other disciplines on the other.
Frontiers in psychology, May 23, 2024
Introduction: rationale, gap in research, research questions, structure Between February and Dece... more Introduction: rationale, gap in research, research questions, structure Between February and December 2022, due to the war in Ukraine, Poland admitted 3.37 million refugees from conflict zones, who were added to 850 thousand Ukrainian economic migrants already living on its territory. As reported by UNHCR (2023), in mid-2023, over one-quarter of the Ukrainian population continued to be displaced, and around 1 million Ukrainian refugees still resided in Poland. Most refugees are mothers with children, some of whom started schooling in Poland within about a week of their arrival. To show the scale of the increase in multiethnicity of Polish schools, in 2009, 9,610 non-Polish pupils were schooled in Poland and in 2019, the figure was 51,363. However, Frontiers in Psychology frontiersin.org Szczepaniak-Kozak and Wasikiewicz-Firlej. /fpsyg. .
Journal of Intercultural Communication, Aug 30, 2022
This paper investigates the interplay between language and intercultural communication with a spe... more This paper investigates the interplay between language and intercultural communication with a special focus on the importance of working knowledge of foreign languages other than English for a satisfactory experience during longer sojourns abroad. Its authors present a revised understanding of the role of lingua franca English and a local language (here Polish) in intercultural relationships, especially the crucial influence of local languages on conversational control and social integration while in a foreign land. Our study has shown that lingua franca English is insufficient to successfully function abroad, and individuals deciding to resettle need to invest in learning a local language which, in the longer perspective, emerges as a medium for in-depth intercultural communication pertaining to self-positioning, relation building and meaning-making of the new semiotic budget.
The monograph focuses on the interrelations between language and intercultural communication, wit... more The monograph focuses on the interrelations between language and intercultural communication, with particular emphasis on the importance of foreign language skills in shaping positive personal, professional and educational experiences of students during longer stays abroad, mainly within the Erasmus+ programme. The authors present a critical perspective on the understanding of the role of English as a lingua franca in intercultural relations and highlight the key role of the local language (in this case, Polish) in the processes of conversational control and social integration. The monograph begins with a literature review that focuses on the types of motivations underlying the decision to go or stay abroad and invest in learning the local language. In the next chapter, the authors focus on methodological aspects of narrative research in the context of intercultural communication. The theoretical part is followed by the presentation of the findings of a study based on a narrative interview, which over the course of two years (2018–2019) involved 53 respondents – representatives of 24 countries, who share the experience of an extended stay in Poland for educational or professional purposes. Contrary to popular belief, the research revealed that English is not sufficient to function abroad successfully. The results indicate that people who decide to stay abroad for a longer period should invest in learning the local language, which sooner or later becomes a medium of deep intercultural communication in terms of positioning themselves, building relationships and increasing their cultural and linguistic resources.
Drawing on critical theories in linguistics (Fairclough, 1989, 1992), the concept of hegemony (Gr... more Drawing on critical theories in linguistics (Fairclough, 1989, 1992), the concept of hegemony (Gramsci, 1971/1991) and mostly ecological linguistics, the authors aim to revisit the process of foreign language learning from the perspective of how learners position themselves in relation to the target language they learn/use (Firth & Wagner, 1997). Questioning the native speaker norms in second language acquisition , as indicated by theoretical considerations and empirical research (Cook, authors of the present paper delve into critical language awareness of foreign language speakers. This, as they claim, may be indicative of power relations inscribed in language use and manifested by learner positioning either as a legitimate language user (empowered) or, alternatively, as an incompetent learner/user (disem-powered and self-marginalized). The included research is a replica of the study carried out on foreign language teacher practitioners (see Lankiewicz, Wąsikiewicz-Firlej, & Szczep...
Porta Linguarum Revista Interuniversitaria de Didáctica de las Lenguas Extranjeras, 2016
The concept of self-marginalization and empowerment in applied linguistics can be derived from th... more The concept of self-marginalization and empowerment in applied linguistics can be derived from the so-called critical school, whose sociolinguistic findings pertain to power (Fairclough 1989, 1992) and hegemony (Gramsci, 1971/1991). It offers new perspectives for the perception of a second/foreign language acquisition process. Thereby, with reference to the notions of multicompetence (Cook, 1991), plurilingualism and multilingualism (Kramsch, 2008), metrolingualism (Otsuji & Pennycook, 2010; Pennycook, 2010), the concept of English as a Lingua Franca (Jenkins, 2007), translingual practice (Canagajarah, 2013), and particularly the ecological metaphor in language acquisition (Kramsch, 2002a) and learning (van Lier, 2004), which demystify linguistic normativity, we offer a survey study into the teacher language awareness pertaining to their self-perception as language users. The article concludes with implications for foreign language teacher education in the era of globalization and autonomization of the language learning process.
Monografia jest poświęcona wzajemnym relacjom między językiem a komunikacją międzykulturową ze sz... more Monografia jest poświęcona wzajemnym relacjom między językiem a komunikacją międzykulturową ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem znaczenia znajomości języków obcych w kształtowaniu pozytywnych doświadczeń osobistych, zawodowych i edukacyjnych przez studentów przebywających przez dłuższy czas za granicą, głównie w ramach programu Erasmus+. Autorzy przedstawiają krytyczną perspektywę postrzegania roli języka angielskiego jako lingua franca w relacjach międzykulturowych i podkreślają kluczową rolę języka lokalnego (w tym wypadku polskiego) w procesach kontroli rozmowy i integracji społecznej. Monografia rozpoczyna się od przeglądu literatury, który skupia się na rodzajach przyczyn leżących u podstaw decyzji o wyjeździe lub pobycie za granicą oraz inwestowania w naukę lokalnego języka. W kolejnej części przedstawiono teoretyczne i metodologiczne aspekty badań narracyjnych w kontekście komunikacji międzykulturowej. Rozważania kończy prezentacja wyników badania opartego na wywiadzie narracyjnym, w którym na przestrzeni dwóch lat (2018–2019) udział wzięło 53 respondentów – przedstawicieli 24 krajów doświadczających dłuższego pobytu w Polsce w celach edukacyjnych lub zawodowych. Wbrew popularnym przekonaniom badanie wykazało, że znajomość języka angielskiego nie wystarcza, by swobodnie funkcjonować za granicą. Uzyskane wyniki wskazują, że osoby decydujące się na dłuższy pobyt poza krajem pochodzenia, powinny zainwestować w naukę języka lokalnego. W dłuższej perspektywie staje się on środkiem pogłębionej komunikacji międzykulturowej pomiędzy rodzimymi mieszkańcami a obcokrajowcami, którzy za jego pomocą mogą budować trwalsze relacje, kreować własną pozycję w społeczności przyjmującej, a zarazem powiększać osobiste zasoby kulturowo-językowe.
Glottodidactica. An International Journal of Applied Linguistics
This article aims to map current state policy and governmental responses to migrant integration i... more This article aims to map current state policy and governmental responses to migrant integration in Poland, as well as to identify pressing needs and key challenges in this area, with a particular focus on language and education. It draws on a literature review and analysis of legal documents and reports on migrant integration and language policy for 1989–2020. When analysing the data, particular attention was paid to the declared state policy on migrant integration and its actual implementation, as captured in the Supreme Audit Office (NIK 2015, 2020) and Migrant Integration Policy Index reports (MIPEX 2015, 2020). The research shows that the scope of integration activities and their effects have been unsatisfactory to date. The situation of migrants in Poland was dubbed “equality on paper” in the MIPEX 2020 report. Current programmes and activities are not fostering full integration of migrants. Apart from housing and employment issues, a lack of language skills and education that ...
Contrary to subsequent studies focused on the construction of corporate identity, this article ai... more Contrary to subsequent studies focused on the construction of corporate identity, this article aims to examine the stakeholder’s perception of corporate identity projected to the public through language and visual manifestations on corporate “About us” pages. A qualitative, data-driven approach has been taken in the study. The results, based on data collected from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with twenty professionals, demonstrate the interviewees’ deep scepticism towards corporate narrations, which are interpreted as persuasive and serving corporate ends. Thus, online projections of corporate identities do always match actual images held by stakeholders. The interviewees have emerged as critical readers of corporate communications and active constructors of corporate image.
A case is one of the basic concepts in medicine and sharing information about new cases of diseas... more A case is one of the basic concepts in medicine and sharing information about new cases of diseases belongs to the oldest forms of medical communication. In this chapter, the state of the art of research on the genres of medical case reporting is discussed. In detail, two perspectives are adopted. On the one hand, its definition as well as history are provided in order to demonstrate the evolution of the genres as a result of developing medicine and changing intellectual thought styles. Moreover, the case report, along with other case-related genres, is presented to point to its characteristic features, the most important one being that it is relatively patient-focused in that it reports a particular case of a disease in a given patient. This fact allows it to be studied within the patient-centred models of medical practice. Additionally, approaches from which researchers have studied it so far are demonstrated. These include: qualitative, quantitative and linguistic approaches as w...
Applied Linguistics Papers, Mar 26, 2018
The existing studies on pragmatic competence of English teachers, e.g., J. Majer and Ł. Salski (2... more The existing studies on pragmatic competence of English teachers, e.g., J. Majer and Ł. Salski (2004), E. Krawczyk-Neifar (2004), M. Savič (2016), A. Szczepaniak-Kozak and E. Wąsikiewicz-Firlej (in press), indicate that it is not varied and requires improvement in certain areas. These deficiencies might be interpreted as a result of not only the absence of pragmatic competence (PC) modules in teachertraining education but also a relatively low frequency of English teachers' contact with native speakers (NS) of English (A. Szczepaniak-Kozak 2010). Nevertheless, we know very little what shape teacher PC takes, including the way it differs from that represented by NSs. Additionally, to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies based on data collected in naturalistic settings (lessons of English). Consequently, this paper attempts to fill in this gap in research by presenting the methodology and conduct of a case study, based on classroom observation of teachers' pragmatic performance, to investigate whether there are differences in the PC represented by non-native teachers (NNTs) and native teachers (NTs) of English. The findings indicate that NTs do not hold the upper hand in this regard and that a demonstrable linguistic and pragmatic competence, along with appropriate professional training, are better indicators of diverse pragmatic input. On this basis, we propose that some degree of proficiency in pragmatics and its teaching should be a requirement for a certificate or diploma for future foreign language teachers.
Neofilolog
This paper attempts to take a critical look at the narrative interview in order to identify the m... more This paper attempts to take a critical look at the narrative interview in order to identify the methodological pitfalls and challenges posed by this widely-applied research tool. It analyses the research process in a project involving sixty-four 3rd year students of applied linguistics at a large university in western Poland in the summer term of the academic year 2018/2019. The project included three stages: (1) interviewing a person from another country studying in Poland about their intercultural experiences; (2) transcribing the interviews and (3) presenting the results of their analysis in the form of a written report. On completion of their assignments, the students were asked to share their reflections on all stages of their research in an anonymous survey study. The questionnaire data was juxtaposed with analysis of the student transcripts and reports in order to identify and compare the student and the teacher perspectives on methodological aspects of narrative research. Th...
Scripta Neophilologica Posnaniensia
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become an indispensable element of corporate communicat... more Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become an indispensable element of corporate communication. Engagement in social initiatives enables companies to stabilise their positive image, present their values and communicate with stakeholders. Although in recent years the LGBT community has more and more frequently been the addressee of such corporate actions, this theme has rarely been explored by scholars. The present paper aims to investigate how corporate initiatives related to CSR are communicated to the LGBT community as one of the corporate stakeholders. Due to the scarcity of subsequent research, the current qualitative study is of an explorative character and has taken the form of a case study. Three brands renown for addressing the LGBT community, i.e. Ben and Jerry’s, Levi’s and Absolut Vodka, have been selected for the study, which analyses the relevant communication practices. The study primarily aims to specify the image of the LBGT community emerging from the campaign...
Neofilolog
Acquisition of pragmatic competence (PC) in a foreign language is a gradual process, which is not... more Acquisition of pragmatic competence (PC) in a foreign language is a gradual process, which is not trouble-free and effortless even for advanced learners. Since most of the existing research on PC has focused on learners of English, this paper constitutes an attempt to investigate this matter from the perspective of foreign language teachers, with particular attention paid to teachers of English in Poland. Its aim is to investigate whether individual differences influence the acquisition of PC on the basis of data collected during classroom observations and in interviews with teachers. This way the authors endeavor to answer the question whether PC of the teachers depends on their general linguistic ability in English, their educational background and teacher preparation, or the stage of their career development.
Taikomoji kalbotyra
This paper investigates the use of literature in ESL reading classes and its role in developing c... more This paper investigates the use of literature in ESL reading classes and its role in developing cultural awareness. The theoretical part focuses on the role of understanding students’ own culture as the fundamental step in developing cultural awareness. Thus, reading literary texts is understood here as text interpretation from native and foreign linguistic and cultural perspectives, defined by Kramsch as “third space”. The study presented in the second part of the paper attempts to verify the effectiveness of Hanauer’s (2001) method of Focus-on-Cultural Understanding in developing cultural awareness, focusing on gender perception, as one of the most fundamental aspects of culture. The study describes 1st year English philology students’ work with selected extracts from the novel Japanland: a year in search of wa by Karin Muller. It aims at identifying students’ perception of gender roles in their own culture and comparing and contrasting them with those dominating in other cultures...
Applied Linguistics Papers
Family Language Policy (FLP) is a pioneering yet dynamically thriving interdisciplinary field of ... more Family Language Policy (FLP) is a pioneering yet dynamically thriving interdisciplinary field of study, which successfully integrates language acquisition, multilingual studies, sociolinguistics and ecolinguistics. The present paper reports on the longitudinal case study of a Polish-Japanese family residing in the UK and the development of their family language policy. Through a specific focus on narrative data and observations, obtained in two cycles of research in 2014/15 and 2017, it illustrates the parents' attitudes towards their minority languages (Polish and Japanese, respectively), the majority language (English) and their child's multilingualism. Irrespective of the parents' positive attitudes towards multilingualism and their declared efforts to raise a trilingual child, the original study (E. Wąsikiewicz-Firlej 2016) showed the dominance of the majority language in the family, and pointed to substantial difficulties in the maintenance of minority languages, which was mostly explicated by the child's agency in shaping FLP. The results of the first stage of the study (2014/15) have been juxtaposed with the data obtained in 2017 in order to verify the parents' declared vs. actual language management, as well as the dynamics of FLP over time. The findings have confirmed the assumed dynamic character of the family's language policy, which is shaped by a range of constantly changing micro and macro factors, contributing to a better understanding of FLP sociolinguistic ecology.
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Papers by Emilia Wąsikiewicz-Firlej