{"id":346,"date":"2026-07-25T05:12:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T05:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/culcom\/?page_id=346"},"modified":"2026-07-25T05:18:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T05:18:52","slug":"past-talks-2025-26","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/culcom\/past-talks\/past-talks-2025-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Past talks 2025\/26"},"content":{"rendered":"

William Agius (ZHAW\u00a0School of Engineering) on language, culture and communication in aviation<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

On 14 November 2025, CULCOM hosted a talk by\u00a0William Agius, Deputy Head of the Centre for Aviation of the School of Engineering at the ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, which explored the critical role of language proficiency and cultural knowledge in aviation safety. As a global industry, aviation constantly navigates challenges arising from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds amongst both crews and passengers. The discussion focused on the use of English as a lingua franca, highlighting how \u2018aviation\u2019 English differs significantly from everyday English, which complicates the notion of a \u2018native\u2019 speaker. The talk concluded by stressing the importance of specialized testing that accurately meets the specific requirements of the aviation industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

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William<\/a>\u00a0is the Deputy Head of the Centre for Aviation of the School of Engineering at the ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences. William\u2019s research focusses on test and rating scale development in contexts of (English) language use for specific purposes as a lingua franca. He is the lead developer for the ELPAC<\/a> test suite for air traffic controllers and pilots.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Hel\u00e9na Stakounis (Education Specialist) on language matters and the student experience at the internationalised university<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

On 25 February 2026, CULCOM hosted a talk by\u00a0Hel\u00e9na Stakounis, Education Specialist and Founder of Language Caf\u00e9<\/a><\/em>. The talk explored the experiences of home and international students at an internationalised university. International students and home students are typically classed as two distinct groups with different sets of needs. However, Hel\u00e9na\u2019s yearlong ethnographic study at a UK university revealed that regardless of background or culture, international and home students face similar challenges and have more in common than that which we make think divides them. In her talk, Hel\u00e9na discussed what the data revealed particularly in terms of the language challenges all students faced in both the social and academic contexts of the internationalised university. She proposed a framework called the \u2018language promise\u2019 to respond to the \u2018language problem\u2019 for a more linguistically just and inclusive student experience where language matters and intercultural communication strategies are given the importance that is required.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Hel\u00e9na\u00a0<\/a>is a teacher, manager, and assessment specialist with extensive experience in the private and Higher Education sector. She is the Founder and Owner of\u00a0Language Caf\u00e9<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a school which brings together people across cultures and countries to learn language and become part of a shared community. <\/em>\u200bHer book Language Matters at the Internationalised University: From Practice to Policy<\/a> was recently published by Routledge.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

William Agius (ZHAW\u00a0School of Engineering) on language, culture and communication in aviation On 14 November 2025, CULCOM hosted a talk by\u00a0William Agius, Deputy Head of the Centre for Aviation of the School of Engineering at the ZHAW Zurich University of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1699,"featured_media":0,"parent":337,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-346","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/culcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/culcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/culcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/culcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1699"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/culcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/culcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":354,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/culcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/346\/revisions\/354"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/culcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/culcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}