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Faculty of Education and Language Studies > People Profiles > Inma Alvarez

Inma Alvarez

Head of Spanish/Snr Lecturer (Spanish)

The Open University Faculty of Education and Language Studies Department of Languages


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Profile

Head of Spanish, Senior Lecturer, Department of Languages, Faculty of Education and Language Studies

Teaching Interests

Inma Álvarez has more than 20 years experience teaching Modern Languages and Dance courses at Higher education institutions in the U.S.A., U.K. and Spain.

She has taught general language courses at all levels as well as courses for specific purposes (e.g. business Spanish, Latin American literature, Contemporary Spain, translation and interpreting) at the University of Michigan (USA), University of St. Andrews (Scotland), University of Wolverhampton and University of Northampton. At the Open University, Inma has contributed to the development of all courses in the Spanish programme from beginners to advanced, including contributions to print and online resources and residential schools materials. She has also been involved in the development and piloting of an electronic European Language Portfolio (ELP) for adults and in the development of a Beginners' Chinese course. Currently she is an external examiner for the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Leeds.

Inma has also teaching experience in the area of dance studies. She has taught dance anthropology at the London Contemporary Dance School and dance analysis and notation at the Conservatorio Superior de Danza “María de Ávila” in Madrid. She has also been an external examiner for the BA (Hons) Theatre Dance, Goldsmith/The Laban Centre. At present she is a member of the Language of Dance Board of Trustees.

Her main teaching interest is in the area of intercultural studies.

Research Interests

Inma's general research interest is in the area of human communication. She has been researching on intercultural competence in language teaching and learning, translation skills, strategies for intercultural communication, multimodal reading and writing across cultures.

Inma is also interested in communication in the performing arts, especifically in how these arts are documented and how expression occurs in the multiple interpretations during performances.

She has experience as a PhD and EdD supervisor in both languages and the arts.

Current Research

At present Inma is involved in two research and scholarly projects:

Three-year collaborative life-long learning European project (2011-2013), Performing Languages, on drama, language and intercultural learning.

Three-year collaborative project (2009-2011) on Emotion and moral value in art
The project is in partnership with academics from Universidad de Murcia, Universidad del País Vasco and Universidad Politécnica de Valencia. Funded by the Ministerio de Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain (Ref: FFI2008-00750/FISO). The group is working on a concept of the aesthetic that includes moral aspects of the artistic, in particular its connection through the expression and reception of emotions. The research will focus on different artistic forms, specially, literature, photography and documentary cinema, dance, and opera. The issue of the relationship between art and morality has re-emerged vigorously both in philosophy and in art. The modern view of artistic autonomy has been strongly contested but nevertheless autonomist positions continue to value the specificity of the criteria concerning artistic value. This project focuses on epistemological issues of the work of art that have been particularly important in the discussions between autonomists and moralists about the moral value of art, such as the nature of the aesthetic experience, fiction as a mode of enunciation/ representation, style and the expression of emotions, interpretation and imaginative resistance. An adequate approach to the relationship between art and morality needs to pay attention to the common elements in the moral and aesthetic experience of the world as well as their expression in art. Therefore it is essential to analyse how the attitude towards the world of the subject of the representation and its expression in the presentation of the content constitute the work of art, how they are perceived in their interpretation and how they contribute to its value.

Publications

Book Chapter
Álvarez, Inma and Kan, Qian (2012). Supporting intercultural learning For beginners’ Chinese language learners at the Open University, UK. In: Jin, Lixian and Cortazzi, Martin eds. Researching Intercultural Learning: Investigations in Language and Education. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 209–234.
Alvarez, Inma (2012). El arte de recrear: el concepto de autenticidad en la danza. In: Giménez Morte, Carmen ed. La investigación de danza en España. 2012. Valencia: Ediciones Mahali, pp. 243–253.
Alvarez, Inma (2012). From paper to the web: the ELP in the digital era. In: Kühn, Bärbel and Perez Cavana, Maria Luisa eds. Perspectives from the European Language Portfolio: Learner autonomy and self-assessment. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 125–142.
Álvarez, Inma (2011). Learning about Chinese-speaking cultures at a distance. In: Fenoulhet, Jane and Ros i Solé, Cristina eds. Mobility and Localisation in Language Learning: a View from Languages of the Wider World. Intercultural Studies and Foreign Language Learning (5). Oxford: Peter Lang, pp. 145–172.
Álvarez, I. (2010). Consideraciones éticas en la investigación de la danza. In: VV, AA ed. La investigación en danza en España 2010. Valencia, Spain: Ediciones Mahalia, pp. 175–185.
Álvarez, Inma; Beaven, Tita and Garrido, Cecilia (2008). Strategies for acquiring intercultural communication. In: Hurd, Stella and Lewis, Timothy eds. Language Learning Strategies in Independent Settings. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters, pp. 179–195.
Álvarez, Inma and Garrido, Cecilia (2001). Strategies for the development of multicultural competence in language learning. In: Coleman, James A.; Ferney, Derrik; Head, David and Rix, Rob eds. Language-learning futures : issues and strategies for modern language provision in Higher Education. London: CiLT Publications, pp. 150–163.
Álvarez, Inma and Beaven, Tita (2001). Destrezas interculturales en una comunidad virtual. El sitio A buen puerto de la Open University. In: Gimeno Sanz, A. M. ed. Tecnologías de la información y de las comunicaciones en la enseñanza de E/LE, 5-8 de septiembre de 2001. Universidad de Valencia, pp. 239–249.
Conference Item
Álvarez, Inma (2012). Artistic value and spectators’ emotions in dance performances. In: Art, Emotion and value, 4-8 July 2011, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Spain.
Álvarez, Inma (2010). The CEFcult project: assessing oral proficiency in an intercultural professional context. In: Languages in Higher Education 2010: Raising the Standard for Languages, 1-2 Jul 2010, London, UK.
Álvarez, Inma (2010). Natural and artistic bodies in dance. In: Proceedings for the European Society of Aesthetics, 27-29 May 2010, Udine, Italy.
Álvarez, Inma (2009). Time as a strand of the dance medium. In: Proceedings of the IV Mediterranean Congress of Aesthetics, Art and Time, 22-25 Jun 2008, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan.
Álvarez, Inma (2009). The expressive condition of the dancing body. In: 67th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Aesthetics, 22-24 Oct 2009, Denver, USA.
Álvarez, Inma; Tita, Beaven and Pérez Cavana, María Luisa (2009). Enhancing the ELP for the 21st Century. In: European Confederation of Language Centres in Higher Education (CercleS) Seminar, The Role of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the European Language Portfolio in Higher Education, 17-19 Sep 2009, Padua, Italy.
Álvarez, Inma (2007). Cultural frontiers of expressive strands in dance performances. In: XVIIth International Congress of Aesthetics, Aesthetics Bridging Cultures, 9-13 Jul 2007, Ankara, Turkey.
Álvarez, Inma (2005). Disciplined minds: fitting an intercultural dimension in language teaching. In: International Association for Languages and Intercultural Communication (IALIC) 6th Annual Conference, Europe Inside Out, 9-11 Dec 2005, Brussels, Belgium.
Álvarez, Inma and Garrido, Cecilia (2004). Teachers roles and training in intercultural education. In: CiLT Conference, Navigating the new landscape for languages, 30 June-1 July 2004 , London.
Beaven, Tita and Álvarez, Inma (2002). Developing intercultural competence for the knowledge society: The Open University, A buen puerto website. In: Setting the Agenda in Higher Education, CiLT, 24-26 June 2002, Manchester, UK.
Edited Book
Álvarez, Inma; Pérez, Hector, J. and Pérez-Carreño, Francisca eds. (2010). Expression in the Performing Arts. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Journal Article
Alvarez, Inma; Beaven, Tita and Comas-Quinn, Anna (2013). Performing languages: an example of integrating open practices in staff development for language teachers. Journal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society, 9(1), pp. 85–92.
Álvarez, Inma (2007). Foreign Language Education at the Crossroads: Whose Model of Competence? Language, Culture and Curriculum, 20(2), pp. 126–139.
Garrido, Cecilia and Álvarez, Inma (2006). Language teacher education for intercultural understanding. European Journal of Teacher Education, 29(2), pp. 163–179.
Beaven, Tita and Álvarez, Inma (2004). Translation skills for intercultural purposes: An on-line course for non-specialist learners of Spanish. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 17(2), pp. 97–108.
Álvarez, I (2003). Consideraciones sobre la contribución de los ordenadores en el aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras. Vida Hispánica, 28 pp. 19–23.