The sociocultural ontogenesis of international students’ use of pragmatic strategies in ELF academic communication: Two contrasting case studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 186 ◽  
pp. 364-381
Author(s):  
Shuyuan Liu ◽  
Celeste Kinginger
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Academic Communication ◽  
Pragmatic Strategies

Email requests in an ELF academic setting

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-79
Author(s):  
Judit Dombi
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
First Language ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
The Past ◽  
Address Forms ◽  
Academic Communication ◽  
Pragmatic Strategies ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract Email messages have become the prevalent medium in academic communication between students and faculty at Hungarian universities. Over the past decade communication with international students of diverse language and cultural backgrounds has made the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) typical in a previously culturally homogeneous setting. This paper analyzes email requests written by international students of various first language (L1) backgrounds (N = 37). The aim is to characterize requests in terms of directness, strategy use, request modification, address forms and closings. Findings shed light on three salient features of ELF requests: an overall preference for direct strategies, a limited range of internal modifiers, and uses of mostly formal, though not always academic address forms. Given the goal-driven nature of ELF interactions, the paper argues that these characteristics may serve as pragmatic strategies to preempt misunderstanding and to enhance intelligibility. Furthermore, interactants’ wish to express identity and their engagement in constructing new norms specific to their unique ELF contexts may also underlie their pragmalinguistic choices.

scholarly journals The internationalisation of higher education in the regions: case of Latvia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inga Jekabsone ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
International Students ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Complex Concept ◽  
Internationalisation Of Higher Education ◽  
The Government ◽  
Local Students

Internationalisation is set as a horizontal priority of higher education in the context of the quality assurance by the government of Latvia. However, higher education institutions (hereinafter – HEI) in Latvia find it challenging to attract talented international students and academic staff, especially in the regions, thereby the internationalisation rates in HEI differ. The internationalisation is a complex concept – it is understood not only by the attraction of international students and academic staff, but also by internationalisation of local students and staff as well as by creation of inclusive environment for both – international and local students and staff. Taking into account before mentioned, the aim of the research is to analyse the dimensions of the internationalisation of regional HEI in Latvia. During the research, six regional HEI in Latvia were analysed in the context of diverse aspects of internationalisation. Recommendations to regional HEI were developed based on the analysis of case studies. The analysis showed that the internationalisation in the regional HEI in Latvia are mainly focused on attraction of international students and on student and academic staff mobility. At the same time, some of the regional HEI set the internalisation as a priority while others focus more on local students and regional needs. However, most of regional HEI in Latvia lag behind the average EU un national internationalisation rates.

scholarly journals "You Just Use Your Imagination and Try to Fix It": Agential Change and International Students

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Blair Matthews
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Culture Shock ◽  
Direct Result ◽  
Cultural Learning ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Shock Models ◽  
The World ◽  
The Way

Although interest in the experiences of international students has increased, the theoretical frameworks that are used to explain their experiences (such as culture shock, models of acculturation, cultural learning or intercultural dimensions) all share a tendency to use culture to explain behavior, denying agency, and leaving changes in the way that subjects engage with the world poorly explained. Using Margaret Archer’s concept of reflexivity (2003, 2007, 2012), this study shows how participants’ agency changes as a direct result of their experiences as international students. Drawing on case-studies of two students at a university in the southwest of England, this article shows that subjects must confront new constraints and opportunities, compelling them into reflexive deliberation, necessitating a change in agency.

scholarly journals International students’ linguistic transitions into disciplinary studies: a rhizomatic perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doris Dippold ◽  
Marion Heron ◽  
Karen Gravett
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Uk Higher Education ◽  
Developing Strategies ◽  
Speaking Skills

AbstractThis paper offers a reconceptualisation of international students’ transitions into and through UK higher education. We present two case studies of students which explore their transitions in terms of their academic speaking skills from pre-sessional courses into their disciplinary studies. Students describe how the development of their confidence and performance in academic speaking was contingent on a number of factors and micro-moments, and how this progress into and within disciplinary studies often involved regression and discomfort. Nevertheless, they also talked of developing strategies to overcome challenges and the resultant learning. We argue that transitions to disciplinary studies in terms of academic speaking can be more helpfully understood as non-linear, fluid and rhizomatic. This study offers valuable insights for individuals and institutions to move away from a fixed student lifecycle perspective to consider instead how reciprocal, embedded and on-going support for international students may better reflect students’ experiences.

Cross-Cultural Communication in Multi-Ethnic Educational Space

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 24-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Воевода ◽  
Elena Voevoda
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
The State ◽  
Cultural Communication ◽  
Teaching Process ◽  
Cultural Conflicts ◽  
Cross Cultural Communication ◽  
Academic Communication ◽  
Regions Of Russia

Migration processes that have embraced the whole world and serve as one of the specific features of the 21st century have necessitated revision of priorities in preparation for cross-cultural communication. Traditionally it was common practice to prepare students for cross-cultural communication abroad while today, Russia numbers hundreds of multi-ethnic and multi-cultural companies and organizations both in the private and the state sectors. University authorities take certain efforts to help international students adapt to the teaching process. But no one considers it necessary to prepare Russian students for facing other cultures that are represented by their peers from the various regions of Russia. Lecturers face the same problem and often fail to realize that students who are seemingly reluctant to work in the classroom are culturally motivated. In both cases, the cultural clash may create communication barriers in academic communication and provoke inter-cultural conflicts. That explains the necessity of systematic work with the aim of preparing both students and lecturers for cross-cultural communication in the multi-ethnic educational space.

scholarly journals Experimental Contrastive Pragmatics Using Robots

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-107
Author(s):  
Kerstin Fischer ◽  
Alicja Depka Prondzinska
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Bad News ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Interaction Partners ◽  
Intercultural Differences ◽  
Pragmatic Strategies

Abstract In this paper, we explore how robots can be used to study pragmatic strategies across a number of languages. Robots can assume many of the roles played by human interaction partners in a range of situations. They can be programmed to produce specific behaviours, each time repeating a behaviour in an identical way for as often as necessary. Thus, robots can be useful tools for investigating human behaviour in certain situations and even in cross-cultural contexts. We explore this use of robots in two case studies – one which investigates the delivery of bad news in Danish, German and English, and one which examines the giving of feedback in Danish, German and Polish. In both studies, systematic intercultural differences become apparent in the pragmatic strategies that are adopted. On the basis of the results, we discuss the advantages, potential pitfalls and possible solutions of using robots in the study of contrastive pragmatics.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document