Building Peace through Communication in an English Language Classroom at a Higher Education Institution

As the interaction and exchange of cultural diversity through globalization increase in our modern world so does the need for strategies to reduce the risk of cross-cultural conflicts. This qualitative action research study aimed to explore the intersection of language learning and peace education in a multicultural university setting. Specifically, this study focused on the researcher’s role as an English professor to encourage intercultural exchanges that promote peaceful communication and explore pedagogical tools to incorporate in class to help students manage, resolve, and transform conflict. Using a two-cycle exploratory action research approach, data were collected through student surveys, individual interviews, focus group discussions, student feedback forms, and reflection journals. The first cycle involved fifteen participants in a course on conflict resolution skills taught by the researcher, and the second cycle involved nine students in a low-intermediate English class where the content was incorporated into the language course. Thematic analysis was conducted on the interviews and focus groups. The findings from the student feedback and reflection journals helped to create a curriculum to be implemented in the English-medium classroom. The findings confirmed the importance of implementing conflict resolution skills in the English as an Additional Language (EAL) classroom at a multicultural university. The implications for social change from this research include the development of valuable tools to be used in the classroom to guide students to utilize appropriate language to bring about peaceful communication so that they can graduate with the necessary skills to become competent cross-cultural communicators.