my communities of practice
Thank you for your interest in working with me. I am standing on countless people’s shoulders to be at this point today. Thank you to all the others in my ‘communities of practice’ for continuously having my back. Yes, I am talking about you. Over the past years, I have been in the lucky position of observing things coming full circle. I would like to share some stories about my values, beliefs, and passions with you.
Before getting an idea of all my professional profiles (solution-focused coach and trainer for (virtual) business communication/intercultural competence) I would like to invite you to take a step back and to reflect about yourself at the same time.
Mostly, we skip this part in our private and professional lives and just think about the next steps to move forward without acknowledging what has already worked in the past, even if it was only a tiny step.
When you feel ready to change perspective, to connect the dots differently, and to stretch your comfort zone together with me, I could be an ideal agile learning companion for you (or your employees) in our future coaching (1:1) or training (1:1 or group) sessions.
multiple linguistic & cultural identities
Looking back at three decades of professional development offers the opportunity of noticing my general pattern of moving constantly between getting the big picture and zooming in on tiny details of international communication. Yes, every human being is unique with individual perceptions, thoughts, and actions in a situation with communication partners. Nonetheless, we are highly influenced by multiple linguistic and cultural identities, groups or communities of practice we belong to.
The moment we have to take a decision (often within seconds), there may be huge tensions between how we want to behave (individual mindset) and how we have to behave (group mindset). Thus, whenever we communicate with a person – be it in our first or in any other language – we adapt to the context. My personal level of intercultural adapatability and flexibility has highly been influenced by two areas.
business experience
Firstly, learning about the complexity of the business world in the ecosystem of a brewery in my early twenties. There everything was connected and every employee or every tiny machine was important to keep things going. For two years, I was changing departments between sales and accounts, purchasing and human resources, marketing and even production.
I finally joined my favourite place, the buzzing world of the international team in the company’s export department. As a freelance in-company trainer focusing on business communication and intercultural competence, I have been able to learn from my course participants about current and future ways of working in many different companies and industries in the Ruhr area in Germany.
Secondly, starting in the nineties, I was in the lucky situation of accompanying my husband, when he took part in international triathlon competitions. The world of triathlon was an excellent research area for me, as I observed Global English in full swing.
I did not have any idea of its existence or English as a lingua franca (as academics call it) until attending my first IATEFL BESIG conference in 2010. IATEFL BESIG played a key role in my CPD and I am happy to give back to this wonderful community as a volunteer.
Suddenly, all the pieces seemed to fall into place, a feeling, which was even intensified after the publication of the Companion Volume in 2018.
Nevertheless, the world of sports had more to offer for me, although orthopedic specialists had officially finished my thriving life as an active volleyball player due to knee problems at the tender age of 18.
Against all odds and against medical advice, I learned freestyle in a course offered by triathletes, met my husband there and very slowly redeveloped as an athlete.
global English & the sports formula
In my late forties, I decided to tick two items off my bucket list. Running a half-marathon and presenting for the first time at an international conference. As I had realized how closely these two topics are , I talked about “The Sports Formula and Business English Communication“.
What mental hacks could be useful to calm down, raise to the occasion, and know the personal limits of stretching your comfort zone? This does not mean that everyone is supposed to become an triathlete or do yoga. Going for a walk could already make a big difference.
a triathlete's mindset
Δ The “why“ powers it all
Δ Know it’s going to be hard
Δ Break it down and celebrate
Δ Feel the emotions, but press on
reviewing & celebrating
Focus on all the aspects of your wellbeing in a circular way. Find a balance between everything that is important for you. Allow yourself looking back and celebrating what you have achieved on a regular basis.
Finally, my Master of Arts in Science of Teaching and Learning Languages, sports, agile learning, as well as solution-focused coaching and training were able to come full circle.
When the topics of my online sessions in different international contexts did not only focus on spreading the word about English as a business lingua Franca (BELF), I added the title:
11/2015 IATEFL BESIG Sitges/Spain
“The sports formula and business English communication”
11/2018 IATEFL BESIG Iasi/Romania
Keynote “Going beyond intelligibility in BELF
Workshop “Using AR and VR in business English training?”
02/2019 IATEFL BESIG webinar
10/2019 IATEFL BESIG Berlin/Germany
“Evaluate digital material – thinglink© + storytelling”
02/2020 IATEFL BESIG for EVO
05/2020 SIETAR Europa webinar
“Balancing accent, identity and culture” (recording)
08/2020 BESIG Russia webinar
08/2020 JALT BizCOM SIG (Japan) webinar
10/2020 IATEFL PronSIG (online conference)
11/2020 avrami business communication IDEENTAG (online)
11/2020 IATEFL BESIG (online conference)
“Inclusive BELF practices boost job performance”
05/2021 GiLE Hungary (online conference)
“Make your voice heard and tune your ears for a global
orchestra”
06/2021 IATEFL international online conference – PronSIG Showcase
10/2021 IATEFL PronSIG (online conference)
“The impact of linguistic profiling on decision making”
11/2021 IATEFL BESIG (online conference)
“From BE practitioner to agile learning companion”
12/2021 ENRICH-2021: 1. International Conference on ELF
“From perfection to connection: De-mystifying English
at the international workplace through (B)ELF awareness
activities” with Virginia López Grisolía (Argentina)
When the topics of my online sessions in different international contexts did not only focus on spreading the word about English as a business lingua Franca (BELF), I added the title:
11/2015 IATEFL BESIG Sitges/Spain
“The sports formula and business English communication”
11/2018 IATEFL BESIG Iasi/Romania
Keynote “Going beyond intelligibility in BELF
Workshop “Using AR and VR in business English training?”
02/2019 IATEFL BESIG webinar
10/2019 IATEFL BESIG Berlin/Germany
“Evaluate digital material – thinglink© + storytelling”
02/2020 IATEFL BESIG for EVO
05/2020 SIETAR Europa webinar
“Balancing accent, identity and culture” (recording)
08/2020 BESIG Russia webinar
08/2020 JALT BizCOM SIG (Japan) webinar
10/2020 IATEFL PronSIG (online conference)
11/2020 avrami business communication IDEENTAG (online)
11/2020 IATEFL BESIG (online conference)
“Inclusive BELF practices boost job performance”
05/2021 GiLE Hungary (online conference)
“Make your voice heard and tune your ears for a global orchestra”
06/2021 IATEFL international online conference – PronSIG Showcase
10/2021 IATEFL PronSIG (online conference)
“The impact of linguistic profiling on decision making”
11/2021 IATEFL BESIG (online conference)
“From BE practitioner to agile learning companion”
12/2021 ENRICH-2021: 1. International Conference on ELF
“From perfection to connection: De-mystifying English
at the international workplace through (B)ELF awareness
activities” with Virginia López Grisolía (Argentina)
When the topics of my online sessions in different international contexts did not only focus on spreading the word about English as a business lingua Franca (BELF), I added the title:
11/2015 IATEFL BESIG Sitges/Spain
“The sports formula and
business English
communication”
11/2018 IATEFL BESIG Iasi/Romania
Keynote “Going beyond
intelligibility in BELF
Workshop “Using AR and VR
in business English training?”
02/2019 IATEFL BESIG webinar
10/2019 IATEFL BESIG Berlin/Germany
“Evaluate digital material –
thinglink© + storytelling”
02/2020 IATEFL BESIG for EVO
05/2020 SIETAR Europa webinar
“Balancing accent, identity
and culture” (recording)
08/2020 BESIG Russia webinar
08/2020 JALT BizCOM SIG +
CEFR & LG SIG (Japan)
webinar
10/2020 IATEFL PronSIG
(online conference)
11/2020 avrami business
communication IDEENTAG
(online)
11/2020 IATEFL BESIG
(online conference)
“Inclusive BELF practices
boost job performance”
05/2021 GiLE Hungary
(online conference)
“Make your voice heard and
tune your ears for a global
orchestra”
06/2021 IATEFL international
Online Conference
– PronSIG Showcase
10/2021 IATEFL PronSIG
(online conference)
“The impact of linguistic
profiling on decision
making”
11/2021 IATEFL BESIG
(online conference)
“From BE practitioner
to agile learning companion”
12/2021 ENRICH-2021: 1. International
Conference on ELF
“From perfection to
connection: De-mystifying
English at the international
workplace through (B)ELF
awareness activities” with
Virginia López Grisolía
(Argentina)
Regular contributions to IATEFL BESIG Conference Selections and
IATEFL BESIG Business ISSUES (newsletter) (IATEFL BESIG Members Area)
Lichterfeld, K. (2019). (Business) English as a lingua franca and the CEFR Companion Volume – Implications for the classroom. Humanising Language Teaching, 21(2).
https://www.hltmag.co.uk/apr19/business-english-as-a-lingua-franca
Lichterfeld, K. (2020). Dealing with accent, identity and culture when using ELF. SIETAR Europa Webinar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-yGImpaGlI
Lichterfeld, K. (2021). Communication Competences: Make your voice heard and tune your ears for a global orchestra. In: Proceedings of the first GiLEYouth International Conference for Employability, 6-15. GiLE Journal of Skills Development.
Lichterfeld, K. (2021). Boosting Employees’ Intercultural Job Performance with a Flexible Business English as a Lingua Franca (BELF) Mindset as Agile Learning Companions. Humanising Language Teaching, 23(4).
since 2008
This list only consists of my personal highlights or some key readings that I have recently come across. Please find further references in my publications.
Please find references about English as a Business Lingua Franca (BELF) in the resources of the blog.
Camerer, R. and Mader, J. (2012). Intercultural Competence in Business English. Cornelsen.
Council of Europe, Council for Cultural Co-operation. Education Committee. Modern Languages Division. (2001). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge University Press.
Council of Europe (2020). Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Companion volume with new descriptors.
https://rm.coe.int/common-european-framework-of-reference-for-languages-learning-teaching/16809ea0d4
Edmondson, A. C. (2018). The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation and Growth.Wiley.
Gibson, A. C. (2021). Bridge the Culture Gaps: A toolkit for effective collaboration in the diverse, global workplace. Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
Glaser, J. (2014). Conversational Intelligence. How Great Leaders Build Trust and Get Extraordinary Results. Bibliomotion.
Graf, N. (2019) Intro Agiles Lernen für CL Sprint am 15/3/2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjQoKL3c
Graf, N., Gramß, D. & Edelkraut, F. (2019). Agiles Lernen. Neue Rollen, Kompetenzen und Methoden im Unternehmenskontext. 2nd edition. Haufe-Lexware GmbH & Co. KG.
Hansen, H. (2022). Unmuted: How to Show Up, Speak Up, and Inspire Action. Bloomsbury.
Hancock, M., McDonald A. & et al. (2022). PronPack: Connected Speech for Listeners. Hancock McDonald ELT.
Liebert, K. (2020) Integrated Learning Ecosystems. eLearning TV (2020) Summit webinar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDsLzJ50Liw
Lippi-Green, R. (2012). English with an Accent. Language, Ideology, and Discrimination in the United States. 2nd edition. New York: Routledge.
Marschall, S. & Paterson, L. (2017). The brave athlete. Calm the f*ck down and rise to the occasiosn. Boulder: Velopress.
McKergow, M. (2021). The Next Generation of Solution Focused Practice. Stretching the World for new Opportunities and Progress. Routledge.
Nagai, N. et al (2020). CEFR-informed Learning, Teaching and Assessment. Springer Education.
OECD/Asia Society (2018). Global Competence in a Rapidly Changing World.
Wenger-Trayner, E. & Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015). Communities of Practice. A Brief Introduction.
https://wenger-trayner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/07-Brief-introduction-to-communities-of-practice.pdf