Negotiation in Tertiary-level Educational Contexts: The Use of Mediation as a Mode of Communication in Military English Classes

Abstract

In 2018 the Council of Europe issued a document entitled ‘The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning. Teaching, Assessment. Companion volume with new descriptors’. The innovative feature of this publication was the change of focus from the four main linguistic skills; speaking, writing, reading and listening, to four modes of communication; production, reception, interaction and mediation. This shift and the subsequent important implications for the teaching and learning process, was dictated by the necessity to address dynamically the changing socio-cultural texture of contemporary tertiary-level classrooms, which are typically comprised of culturally and linguistically diverse individuals who require new teaching and learning tools in order to achieve effective outcomes. The focus of the current paper is on the mediation mode, which entails the co-construction of meaning in the social and agentive exchange between students from various cultural, social and educational backgrounds. The paper presents an in-depth insight into the use of different mediation strategies and activities in Military English classes and the benefits of using mediation, for both cadets and their instructors/teachers. These benefits include aspects such as facilitation of the teaching and learning process, but also long-term advantages, such as building students’ autonomy which they will benefit from in their lifelong learning process and future professional life. The final part of the article is dedicated to changes in teaching and learning practices that may be evoked by introducing the mediation mode of communication into Military English classes.

Keywords

• negotiation
• mediation mode
• second language (l2) teaching and learning
• autonomous learner
• military english