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Learning Dialogue in a Higher Education English Course - Mirja Hämäläinen and Eeva Kallio

Mirja Hämäläinen and Eeva Kallio

Traditional business English teaches telephoning, meetings, small talk. Mirja Hämäläinen's university course goes deeper, using Bohmian dialogue to develop ethical thinking through English as a lingua franca. Some students report even their spouses are happier.

Traditional business English courses teach telephoning, emailing, meetings, small talk, but workplace problems go deeper. Mirja Hämäläinen designed "Dialogue: Constructive Talk at Work" at the University of Tampere, teaching English as a lingua franca through Bohmian dialogue. The course includes four extra places for non-Finnish speakers to make the multilingual approach authentic. Co-author Eeva Kallio brings adult developmental psychology, identifying three levels of thinking directly relevant to dialogue practice: absolutism (stuck in one viewpoint), relativism (seeing multiple perspectives but unable to choose), and integrative thinking (holding multiplicity while still making decisions). Students read Edgar Schein on organisational learning and Michael Stone on workplace forgiveness. Feedback consistently includes: "I have learnt so much about myself." One student reported even their spouse was happy they took the course. The teacher's stance matters: Hämäläinen admits incompleteness, presenting herself as a learner; which may explain why students note the relaxed atmosphere.

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