Cross-Cultural Relations in Higher Education

Metahumaniora ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 281
Author(s):  
Muhamad Adji

AbstrakProgram BIPA (Bahasa Indonesia bagi Penutur Asing) memberikan kesempatanpada orang asing untuk mempelajari bahasa Indonesia sebagai pintu gerbang untukmengenal Indonesia lebih dalam lagi. Dengan semakin banyaknya orang asingmengunakan bahasa Indonesia, semakin terbuka kesempatan bagi bahasa Indonesiauntuk menjadi bahasa internasional. Hal itu dapat dilakukan melalui strategi kebudayaan.Strategi kebudayaan yang dapat dilakukan dalam mengenalkan Indonesia dalampembelajaran BIPA adalah melalui pengenalan budaya lokal yang menjadi ujung tombakdari kebudayaan Indonesia. Kebudayaan lokal yang hidup dalam masyarakat setempatmemberi kesempatan bagi orang asing untuk melihat dan memahami kekayaan budayaIndonesia yang beragam. Tulisan ini bertujuan mengetahui pengetahuan dasar mahasiswaasing terhadap budaya Sunda dan bagaimana respon mereka dengan dijadikannya budayaSunda sebagai bagian dari pembelajaran BIPA. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitiandeskriptif dengan pemerolehan data melalui kuesioner dan referensi kepustakaan. Hasilpenelitian menunjukkan bahwa pengenalan aspak-aspek budaya lokal, dalam hal inibudaya Sunda, dalam pengajaran BIPA merupakan kebutuhan utama bagi orang asingagar dapat bertahan hidup dan beradaptasi dalam lingkungan sosial budaya tempatmereka hidup serta membangun kesalingpengertian dalam hubungan lintas budaya. Olehkarena itu, hal-hal yang penting bagi orang asing adalah budaya lokal yang dirasakanlangsung dalam kehidupan keseharian mereka di Indonesia.Kata kunci: budaya Sunda, pengajaran BIPA, respon, orang asing, lintas budayaAbstractThe BIPA program (Indonesian for Foreign Speakers) provides an opportunity forforeigners to learn Indonesian as a gateway to know Indonesia more comprehensively. With theincreasing number of foreigners using Indonesian language, the more open the opportunity forIndonesian language to become an international language. This can be done through a culturalstrategy. The cultural strategy that can be done in introducing Indonesia in BIPA learning isthrough the introduction of local culture that is the spearhead of Indonesian culture. Local culture hat lives in local communities provides opportunities for foreigners to see and understand Indonesia’s diverse cultural richness. This paper aims to find out the basic knowledge of foreign students towards Sundanese culture and how they respond to the use of Sundanese culture as part of BIPA learning. This research is a descriptive study by obtaining data through questionnaires and literature references. The results show that the introduction of aspects of local culture, in this case Sundanese culture, in the teaching of BIPA is a major need for foreigners to survive and adapt in the socio-cultural environment in which they live and build understanding in cross-cultural relations. Therefore, the things that are important for foreigners are the local culture that is directly affected in their daily lives in Indonesia.Keywords: Sundanese culture, BIPA teaching, response, foreigners, cross-cultural


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaw Owusu-Agyeman

Purpose The current study examines the moderating effect of supportive campus environment on the relationship between cultural diversity and students’ sense of belonging in a university in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was designed and used to gather data from a sample of 2,026 registered undergraduate students. Using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 software, the data gathered were analysed by way of hierarchical regression analysis. Findings Results of the hierarchical regression analysis revealed that supportive campus environment and cross-cultural interaction serve as strong predictors of students’ sense of belonging. Furthermore, a simple slope analysis showed that supportive campus environment enhance: the positive relationship between cross-cultural interaction and students’ sense of belonging; and the positive relationship between students’ interaction with diverse peers and their sense of belonging. Originality/value This study addresses important knowledge and practical gaps in the relationship between supportive campus environment, cultural diversity and students’ sense of belonging in higher education. The results further highlight the significance of institutional structures, policies and practices that aim at enhancing students’ sense of belonging and reducing possible feeling of otherlings that arise due to a lack of supportive campus structures.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 218-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elina Lehtomäki ◽  
Josephine Moate ◽  
Hanna Posti-Ahokas

This study engages with current debate around global education and internationalization of higher education(HE). There is an identified need to critically reflect on how global education commitments are introduced to HE students, and how the debates are brought to individual as well as institutional levels. The study explores how students in a Finnish university develop their understanding of global education, citizenship and potential dispositions towards global responsibility. The students participated in an international seminar on the global Education for All (EFA) process, with purposefully planned participatory activities and cross-cultural dialogues, and reflected on their learning about the global process in assignments. A rigorous qualitative thematic analysis was conducted on the students’ written learning assignments ( n = 43). The analysis revealed that students learned about the global EFA process and targets, and reflected on general and personal significance of the process as well as the connections between the local and global. They placed the responsibility for educational transformation in three distinct levels: the ‘other’; ‘we’; and ‘I’. The findings suggest that purposefully designed learning activities guide students to develop their understanding of global education and to disposition themselves as responsible future education professionals, both prerequisites of global citizenship and transformation of education.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 73-89
Author(s):  
Margarita Kefalaki ◽  
◽  
Michael Nevradakis ◽  
Qing Li ◽  
◽  
...  

COVID-19 has greatly impacted all aspects of our everyday lives. A global pandemic of this magnitude, even as we now emerge from strict measures such as lockdowns and await the potential for a ‘new tomorrow’ with the arrival of vaccines, will certainly have long-lasting consequences. We will have to adapt and learn to live in a different way. Accordingly, teaching and learning have also been greatly impacted. Changes to academic curricula have had tremendous cross-cultural effects on higher education students. This study will investigate, by way of focus groups comprised of students studying at Greek universities during the pandemic, the cross-cultural effects that this ‘global experience’ has had on higher education, and particularly on students in Greek universities. The data collection tools are interviews and observations gathered from focus groups.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Alonso Varo Varo

This practical case presents the use of an External Provider (EP) as an alternative approach to the traditional telecollaboration setting where a partnership with a foreign higher education institution is established. Usually, these partnerships involve language exchanges between learning partners who mutually practice each other’s native language. Instead, an eight-week cross-cultural Virtual Exchange (VE) in Spanish between US college students studying Spanish and trained Colombian university students was organized through an external language platform to foster the US students’ Intercultural Competence (IC). It is concluded that the use of an EP brings an undeniable level of flexibility to the organization of the VE, and makes manageable the integration of this type of program in higher education language classes. Additionally, this article assesses the value of this approach by looking at the effect of VE on the US students’ self- assessment of IC after the videoconference exchanges. Data from quantitative surveys and student blogs show a significant increase in the students’ IC after the program.


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