Theorizing ‘cultural authenticity’ in Australian youth tourism: English language schools, the Anglophone West, and holding a koala

Stanley, Phiona; Wight, Craig

Abstract

This study considers cultural adaptation through tourism, focusing on language-travelers: hybrid education-tourism consumers whose voices remain relatively silent in tourism studies. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with students, teachers, and managers in Australian English language schools to understand what young-adult language-travelers expect from their Australian experiences and the implications for language schools. The findings propose that sojourners’ experiences are framed by pre-visit imaginaries of object authenticity, wherein the “object” is both Australian culture and the wider Anglophone “West.” Such imaginaries are found to be validated by language schools, which face pressure to balance letting students glimpse the “backstage” and staging out-group imagined “authenticities,” such as by hiring fun, approachable, and above all White teachers. We identify opportunities for language centers to understand their role within tourism as cultural mediators and suggest ways forward in promoting and inculcating critical intercultural competence among language-traveler sojourners.

Citation

Stanley, P., & Wight, C. (2024, May). Theorizing ‘cultural authenticity’ in Australian youth tourism: English language schools, the Anglophone West, and holding a koala. Presented at International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, USA

• Presentation Conference Type: Presentation / Talk
• Conference Name: International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry
• Start Date: May 15, 2024
• End Date: May 18, 2024
• Acceptance Date: Mar 14, 2024
• Online Publication Date: May 18, 2024
• Deposit Date: Mar 20, 2025
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: English language learners, youth tourism, intercultural awareness, Whiteness, authenticity, social imaginaries, Anglophone “West”
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/4181036
• External URL: https://icqi.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/051524-QI2024-In-Person-Program.pdf