Bridging Cultural Divides: Role Reversal as Pedagogy

ABSTRACT

Research on the education of international students sheds light on the difficulties of studying in a foreign language, but often underplays the opportunities provided by cultural diversity in the classroom. This study, prompted initially by the authors’ experiences of the contrasts between East/West learning styles, explores how education systems, language, and cultural orientations inform students’ approaches to learning. It explains how role reversal in the classroom can be implemented in higher (university) education settings, to generate deeper perspectives of meaning and understanding when teaching internationally diverse cohorts to show how imaginative postgraduate student engagement can not only bridge cultural differences, but also capitalize upon them. While the apparent polarization between East and West educational system stereotypes served as the catalyst for the search for effective pedagogies of engagement, the proposed methods were found to have universal application, clearly resonating with culturally diverse cohorts studying in the UK. The approach benefits international business teaching as cultural, national, and institutional perspectives become explicitly incorporated into course material, using the students’ own background, knowledge and experience as resources to add value.

KEYWORDS:

• Role reversal
• pedagogies of engagement
• higher education
• diverse cohorts

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stephanie Slater

Stephanie Slater is a Reader in International Marketing, Strategy and Business at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, UK. Her research focuses on the role of culture in international marketing, strategy and business. Her East West interest developed from her earlier experience working in industry in Japan. Dr Slater has published in international journals such as International Business Review, Business History, Journal of Business Research, Management Decision, International Marketing Review, Journal of Marketing Management.

Mayuko Inagawa

Mayuko Inagawa is a lecturer in the School of Modern Languages at Cardiff University, UK, where she teaches Japanese. She holds a PhD grounded in Applied Linguistics and Sociolinguistics from the University of Queensland, Australia. Her areas of research explore language contact and change, language in media and World Englishes, with special reference to Japanese contexts.