Workshop Title
Feeling like a thousand paper cuts: Reflecting on the sociopragmatics of microaggressions in L2 teaching and intercultural communication

Abstract
Despite the myth that microaggressions are a form of extreme political correctness that interferes with our conversations, I’d argue microaggressions are real and hurtful, like a thousand paper cuts (Sue, 2021). They appear in our everyday exchanges and can convey insulting or alienating messages even unintentionally. Though brief, microaggressions are prevalent in our normal day-to-day interactions, marginalizing certain individuals or communities.

This workshop introduces some research from psychology with authentic examples of microaggressions related to language education. Although we language teachers may consider ourselves highly exposed to cultural diversity and relatively immune to prejudices, we may still become targets or inadvertently display hidden biases. This underscores the importance of raising our sociopragmatic awareness of what constitutes offensive behavior in intercultural communication as well as our metapragmatic handling of how we might respond to microaggressions. You are invited to participate and contribute valuable insights to help create safe spaces in our classrooms and communities.

Speaker Bio
Noriko Ishihara is Professor of Applied Linguistics/TEFL at Hosei University and facilitates professional development courses for language teachers in Japan, the US, and elsewhere with a focus on instructional pragmatics and intercultural awareness. Her research interests include instructional pragmatics, criticality in language education, and teacher development.

For more information of the speaker, please visit this link: https://researchmap.jp/n-ishihara?lang=en

Event type

Hybrid (at Utsunomiya University’s EPUU Commons and online on Zoom)

Registration & Inquiries

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If you have any inquiries, feel free to contact us at tochigi@jalt.org.