With Apologies to Mark Twain
Prof “Uncle Dick” Baldauf
With Sue Monk & Ravinder Sidhu
Internationalising the Curriculum
 Internationalisation
 Large Scale Policy Decisions
 University level decisions
 School Level Decisions
 Course Level Decisions
 Individual experiences, identity and
agency
Internationalisation
 World wide phenomenon in tertiary
education (+ Globalisation)
 Offering programs in English to
attract international students and
prepare local students for global
situations – MOI, EMI, CLIL, CBI,
ICLTHE
 Productive cross-cultural encounters
Internationalisation of Graduates
Know, that is, to have a critical awareness of local
and global perspectives on issues of professional,
political, environmental and social significance;
2. Do, that is, be able to communicate effectively with
people from other cultural backgrounds other than
their own about these issues;
3. Be, that is be responsible global citizens able to
engage with issues of equity, social justice and
sustainability (Green, 2012)
4. However, this has implications for lecturers too.
1.
Large Scale Policy Decisions
 There are statements made at the national level about
the need for internationalisation, e.g.:
 White Paper, Australia in an Asian Century.
“Australians need to build Asia-relevant’ capabilities—
both broad-based and specialized”
 Invests responsibility in schools, universities and
vocational institutions to build this capacity.
University Level Initiatives
 Universities have translated these policy statements




into local requirements:
UQ’s Global Strategy & Internationalisation plan
http://www.uq.edu.au/international/docs/global_strat
egy_and_internationalisation_at_UQ.pdf
Teaching and Learning Enhancement Plan
Internationalisation of the curriculum award (2012)
School Level Policies / Actions
 What we did
 Internationalisation Committee meetings
 School retreat with invited speakers
 School ‘audit’
 What we found
 Rich and extensive range of skills & experiences amongst staff
and students
 What we are planning
 Highlight expertise in the school


Workshop series
Internationalisation page on SoE website
 Address issues raised in audit
Course Level Opportunity
 These requirements are expected to be translated into




action at the course level.
Different courses will have different requirements. Not
a case of one-size-fits-all.
Co-constructing courses ; international literature
Rationales & strategies:
Whalley, TR 1997, Best practice guidelines for
internationalizing the curriculum, Ministry of
Education, Skills and Training, Victoria, British
Columbia
Individual Experiences, Identity
and Agency
 Lecturers do this in various ways drawing on their:
 Experiences
 Identity
 Agency
 In this talk, I am going to try to give you some ideas of
how I have tried to do this, and to provide some
examples about the importance of understanding
internationalisation via language and cultural issues.
 So, what about me?
“A Connecticut Yankee in King
Arthur’s Court”
(Mark Twain, 1889)
 In a case of internationalisation, a Yankee engineer from
Hartford, CT (Hank) is accidently transported in time to
the court of King Arthur, where he fools the inhabitants
into thinking he is a magician – solar eclipse of 528; and
he stuns the English of the Middle Ages with feats of
engineering. He attempts to modernise the past, but fails
to prevent the death of Arthur, and the Catholic Church of
the time grows fearful of his power. It all ends badly.
 Mark Twain’s humorous satire of romantic notions of
chivalry inspired by a dream of himself inconvenienced by
the weight of his cumbersome armour.
Personal Experiences
 Grew up (outside of) Hartford Connecticut (Yankee)
 At Uni, interested in history, culture and politics
 Peace Corps training / Volunteer in rural Malaysia 1966-1968
 Married a Malaysian
 MEd and PhD in Hawai’i (Applied Methodologist)
 Director of Testing – in American Samoa (fa’a Samoa)
 James Cook University - 1976 – so “A Connecticut Yankee in
King Arthur’s Court” Yard – Australia
 Like Hank (the Yank) I had had cross-cultural experiences –
We bring who we are/our experiences to internationalisation
Identity
 How do our experiences, our notions of self and other, and
language shape our identity?
 Are these Essentialist and or Dynamic?
 American (Yankee)
 (Honorary) Sabahan / Red haired devil
 Kamaina / Hoale
 Australian (Queenslander)
 International citizen
 Professor / Editor / Male / Older / Cancer survivor
 Identity shapes how we approach internationalisation, the
perspectives we take, and how others see and react to us.
Agency
 How’s it gonna happen? The research in language
planning indicates that macro (national) and meso
(university) policies have to be translated to the local /
individual level if they are going to work.
 These policies and their expectations need to be clear,
there needs to be training, and most importantly,
individual lecturers need to become involved, accept
agency, and not be resistant.
 However, ultimately, internationalisation depends on
student agency – that students can internalise.
Moving to Practice
 Various people have prepared programs for researchers and
practitioners for a successful sojourn in another country to
increase the probability of successful adjustment to another
culture. Three criterion are:
 Good personal adjustment – I feel comfortable here
 Good interpersonal relations with hosts – gets along well
 Task effectiveness (Brislin, et al, 1986, p. 14-15) RB_PCV
 Ineffective sojourns affect latter sojourners.
 These same issues apply to internationalisation, except it is
often both the lecturer and student who are negotiating the
sojourning experience.
 Critical Perspective: Making the familiar strange.
Critical Incidents – Cultural Assimilators
 They depict cross-cultural encounters in an interesting




way.
Get people involved in asking – what happened and why?
They can act as a way of developing global/multicultural
perspectives.
They can be a way to stimulate students to be involved in
courses / to create discussion.
Today’s cultural assimilators are drawn from a project by
Brislin, et al. (1986) where 100 were developed and tested
with sojourners. How do they work? My examples.
What’s in a Name?
 Professor Baldauf is an American-born lecturer in
English as a second language who has lived and
travelled for periods of time in Asia. An Australian
staff member, originally from Central Europe,
overheard an Asian HDR student referring to Professor
Baldauf as “Uncle Dick” and became concerned about
the appropriateness of the behaviour (on the part of
the student and the professor), and wondered whether
to report the incident to the HoS.
 What is the best probable explanation for what the
staff member overheard?
Possible Responses – You Decide
 (1) American academics are more casual than
Australians, so the use of first names is generally
acceptable in university situations there.
 (2) The Central European staff member expected very
formal relationships between Professors and students
– e.g., Herr Doctor Professor, and was shocked by the
inappropriateness of the causal reference.
 (3) The staff member suspected that inappropriate
sexual conduct might be occurring.
 (4) The student was being rude / didn’t know how to
address his/her professor properly.
Discussion
 (1) Most American university teachers are professors, so the
usual greeting would be Professor Baldauf. Select again.
 (2) Although forms of address are quite formal in central
Europe, the staff member had lived in Australia for some
time, so knew that Australians are more casual. Select again.
 (3) Although student-staff relationships are forbidden, there
is no indication anything untoward is occurring. Select again.
 (4) Interpersonal relationships in parts of Asia are based
family associations. The use of Uncle was an affirmation that
s/he was his student. Professor Baldauf uses this device to try
to reduce the social distance some students feel with Prof. 
Keep on topic!
 Professor Baldauf in his ESL/EFL and language planning
lectures, which typically have a majority of overseas MA
students from a number of different countries, tries to
draw examples from a variety of situations and cultures.
Some students have complained his slides are off topic and
have approached the HoS saying that Professor Baldauf is
not keeping on topic – they came here to learn about the
EFL from a Western perspective, as some would like to
teach in Australian schools.
 What is the best possible explanation for what the
students’ are complaining about?
Possible Responses – You Decide
 (1) As an American trained academic, Professor
Baldauf is not familiar with Australian schools, so he
uses examples of things he is familiar with.
 (2) Professor Baldauf is lazy and does not prepare his
lectures well. He comes to class unprepared.
 (3) The literature on ESL/EFL is international, and
teacher training for this cohort needs to fit with
various local standards.
 (4) Professor Baldauf is trying to use materials familiar
to his students to better connect with them.
Discussion
 (1) Professor Baldauf has taught in Australia since 1976, and
supervised prac students in schools. Select again.
 (2) Professor Baldauf prepares slides and handouts for his
class, suggesting he is not lazy. Select again.
 (3) The literature on ESL/EFL is international, and students
will return to a variety of placements. While QLD schools are
a focus, most students need a more internationalised
experience. Comparing the familiar with the strange – critical
theory, helps to accent particular points. 
 (4) Students come from a variety of countries, so it is not
possible to be an expert in or provide materials suitable for all
situations. Select again.
Teachers Should Teach!
 Professor Baldauf in his ESL/EFL and Language
Planning lectures, which typically have a majority of
overseas English teachers from different countries,
tries to get the students to teach parts of the course.
Some of the students complain to the HoS that
Professor Baldauf is not doing his job – they feel they
are unfairly being asked to do class preparation and
teaching which the lecturer should be doing.
 What is the best possible explanation for what the
students are complaining about?
Possible Responses – You Decide
 (1). Asian students expect lecturers to lecture and
students to take notes.
 (2). MA level teachers are expected to bring skills and
practices to the course and share these with others.
 (3). Professor Baldauf is being lazy, and is asking the
students to do his work for him.
 (4). Many international students have weak English
and are afraid to speak in class, or to comment on
Blackboard. They prefer the lecturer to talk / present.
Discussion
 (1) Most students realise the lecture / memorise
traditions do not apply in Australia. Select again.
 (2) The course is being co-constructed with the
participants providing them with opportunities to revision their practice in the light of research and the
experience of others. 
 (3) Co-construction requires students to bring their
expertise to the classroom, so mutual learning is
occurring. True, but not the best answer. Select again.
 (4) Course participants are English teachers so the
standard of English is adequate for them to contribute.
Select again.
Workshop: Cultural Assimilators
 Please get into groups of 4. I will give each group a
cultural assimilator.
 Please read the scenario and the possible explanations,
and then discuss the latter. What do you think of each
of the alternatives? Which is the one that best explains
the situation?
 You will then present the scenario and the alternatives
to the group.
Cultural Assimilators Are:
 56. Going to language class
 61. Who’s in charge?
 82. Assessment of his efforts
 89. The feelings and conversations of a sojourner
 90. Oh! So proper!
 91. Failure to appear at the appointed time
 93. The eager teacher
(Brislin et al. 1986)
Some Other Issues to Consider
 What is the key issue that is being raised, and does it
appear as part of internationalisation?
 These vignettes were done 27 years ago – there has
been a lot of cultural change – are they still valid?
 These were done from a British / American cultural
perspective – does this apply in the same way to
Australian situations?
References
 Brislin, R. W., Cushner, K., Cherrie, C. & Yong, M.
(1986). Intercultural Interactions: A Practical Guide.
Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
 Green, W. (2012). Seminar to School of Education.
Brisbane.
 Twain, M. (1889). A (Connecticut) Yankee in King
Arthur’s Court. Charles Webster and Co.
 Whalley, TR 1997, Best practice guidelines for
internationalizing the curriculum, Ministry of
Education, Skills and Training, Victoria, British
Columbia