scholarly journals The role of international student interactions in English as a lingua franca in L2 acquisition, L2 motivational development and intercultural learning during study abroad

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 495-517
Author(s):  
Gianna Hessel
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
International Student ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Intercultural Learning ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Student Interactions ◽  
European Universities ◽  
Intercultural Interactions ◽  
The Uk

Crossing borders features prominently as a theme in study abroad, not only in terms of students’ physical border crossings but also in their intercultural interactions with second language (L2) speakers whose background (linguistic and otherwise) they may perceive as markedly different from their own. Researchers have had a long-standing interest in study abroad participants’ interactions with other L2 speakers abroad for their perceived potential to enhance L2 development, L2 motivation and intercultural learning processes. The focus of existing studies in this area has been on the interactions of study abroad participants with host national students, while their interactions with other international students who are also L2 users abroad have received far less attention, despite the ever-growing international student populations at European universities. This study examined students’ views regarding the role that lingua franca (LF) interactions with other international students played in their L2 acquisition, their L2 motivational development and their intercultural learning during study abroad. The data were derived from an empirical study that involved 81 German ERASMUS students who were studying in the UK for up to one academic year. The students’ views were elicited at the end of their stay with open-ended questionnaire items, and their verbal responses were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The analysis of the students’ reflections revealed a number of functions in each of the three areas, highlighting the potential of international student interactions as a viable source of L2 acquisition, L2 self-motivation, and intercultural learning during study abroad.

scholarly journals Investigation of International Students’ Perception of ‘Community’ in a British Higher Education Institute

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathrine Angela Jackson ◽  
Fay Harris ◽  
Russell Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
International Student ◽  
Global Community ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Student Community ◽  
Research Students ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Future Work

This paper investigates the perceptions of members of our international student community by giving them a voice and a platform to explore their feelings as part of a Higher Education institute in the UK and whether they consider that the university is a global environment. Our data is based on a series of structured interviews with twelve students from twelve different countries, inclusive of four postgraduate research students. Our findings reveal that our international students commonly feel part of multiple smaller communities but interestingly, they were less sure of their part within an institute-wide community. The postgraduate students’ perceptions of community were quite divergent when compared to the undergraduate perceptions, which we will continue to explore in our future work. Our data supports the perception from international students that their university is a global community, but there were distinct differences in how individuals defined it and some limitations to consider. Some defined it as students and staff of different nationalities being present at a university whilst other definitions relied on cultural characteristics within the institution as a whole. We reflect upon the implications of our research as these perceptions shape international student opinion of Higher Education institutes and what is understood by the term ‘global community’.

scholarly journals International Students’ Perceptions and Experiences of British Drinking Cultures

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 572-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Thurnell-Read ◽  
Lorraine Brown ◽  
Philip Long
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
International Student ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Heavy Drinking ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Drinking Habits ◽  
Public House ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

While the increased scale and importance of international students to the UK Higher Education sector is now well established, little is known about the ways in which students from non-UK countries experience and interact with the heavy drinking culture that predominates on and near many British universities. Drawing on qualitative interviews, this article analyses the perceptions, attitudes, and experiences of British drinking cultures held by international students studying on postgraduate courses at a UK university. Students report prior awareness of alcohol consumption being important to British culture and recount both positive and negative experiences of witnessing and, for many, participating in drinking alcohol. Students make ready comparisons with the drinking habits and attitudes of their own culture. Further still, many made a distinction between the public house, or ‘pub’, as a welcoming and friendly social space, and bars and nightclubs, where a far greater risk of exposure to violence and harassment was perceived. The article provides theoretical insights to support future and more wide-ranging research into mobile drinking cultures and also suggests practical implications to inform stakeholders with interests in the welfare of international students in the UK in relation to the provision of effective and proactive policies which address the impact of British drinking cultures on international student integration and well-being.

scholarly journals International Student Recruitment Strategies in Finland and China

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Suvi Jokila
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
International Students ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
International Student ◽  
Recruitment Strategies ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
International Student Recruitment ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Private Actors ◽  
Different Sources

The recruitment of international students has become a global phenomenon. Prospective candidates planning to study abroad rely on different sources of information in their decision-making processes, provided by different national, institutional and private actors. Thus, more analysis of the mediators facilitating this encounter of recruiters and students is needed. This study analyses how study choices in Finland and China are constructed by analysing the embeddedness of national recruitment strategies in websites, the construction of study choices as capitals and the trust-building devices (dispositifs) employed in the websites. Data consist of textual material from four websites representing educational offerings in Finland and China, targeted for international students searching for information in their study-abroad decision-making. This study puts forward three arguments. First, the analysed websites reflect the national strategies on the recruitment of international students; however, the approaches the websites use vary greatly. Second, websites construct expectations that build on a holistic study-abroad experience. Third, non-governmental websites employ commercially oriented dispositifs to distinguish or affirm choices.

scholarly journals International student migration and the postcolonial heritage of European higher education: perspectives from Portugal and the UK

2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 373-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Ploner ◽  
Cosmin Nada
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
International Students ◽  
International Student ◽  
Postcolonial Theory ◽  
Student Migration ◽  
European Higher Education ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Industrialised Countries ◽  
Identity Formations

AbstractWhilst the presence of international students from so-called ‘developing’ or ‘newly industrialised’ countries has become a ubiquitous phenomenon in European higher education, few scholars have explored the underlying postcolonial trajectories that facilitate student migration to many European countries today. In this article, we seek to narrow this gap by critically engaging with the postcolonial heritage of European higher education and the ways in which it informs much student migration in today’s era of neoliberal globalisation. We propose a three-fold approach to reading this postcolonial heritage of higher education which comprises its historical, epistemic, and experiential (or ‘lived’) dimensions. Whilst such an approach requires a close examination of existing postcolonial theory in higher education studies, we also draw on qualitative research with student migrants in Portugal and the UK to show how the postcolonial heritage of European higher education is negotiated in everyday contexts and may become constitutive of students’ identity formations.

scholarly journals International students and motivation to study at postgraduate level – some evidence from China

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-87
Author(s):  
Grażyna Rembielak ◽  
Xiang Li ◽  
John Wilson
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Pull Factors ◽  
Push And Pull Factors ◽  
Branch Campuses ◽  
International Branch Campuses ◽  
European Universities ◽  
Postgraduate Level ◽  
Push And Pull ◽  
European University

This paper investigates reasons why students decide to study abroad, taking into consideration push, pull and individual psychological factors. The research took place in China in a European university branch in Shanghai, where international students were surveyed. Although up to date there was a lot of research on international students’ motivations to study abroad, testing various push and pull factors models, and there is only one piece of research looking specifically at students motivations with regards to international branch campuses but at Arabic context. The gap created the opportunity for the present investigation. This paper is the first piece of research that examines international students’ motivations to select a European university branch in China. The findings indicate that pull factors could be more important in influencing students to study at international branches of European universities.

scholarly journals The Class of 1951–2: The Institute of Archaeology and International Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Stevenson
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
International Student ◽  
History Of Archaeology ◽  
International Student Recruitment ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
Training Courses ◽  
The Uk ◽  
University Training

This research note aims to draw attention to a little-studied aspect in the history of archaeology: the relationship between university training and international students. The article provides a brief background to the social and political context of international student recruitment in the UK (principally, but not exclusively, from the Commonwealth) before turning to the status of museum training courses in the Institute in the 1950s, which, it is argued, was a key concern for students coming from abroad. Six of these students are then briefly introduced: Richard Nunoo (Ghana), Justus Dojuma Akeredólu (Nigeria), Mom Chao Subhadradis Diskul (Thailand), Syed Ashfaq Naqvi (Pakistan), Braj Basi Lal (India) and Bijan Bihari Lal (India).

scholarly journals Three Levels of Push-Pull Dynamics Among Chinese International Students’ Decision to Study Abroad in the Canadian Context

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Mian Chen
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
International Student ◽  
Student Mobility ◽  
Chinese International Students ◽  
Student Migration ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Migration Flows ◽  
The Individual

The extant literature on student migration flows generally focus on the traditional push-pull factors of migration at the individual level. Such a tendency excludes the broader levels affecting international student mobility. This paper proposes a hybrid of three levels of push-pull dynamics (micro−individual decision-making, meso−academic marketing, and macro−national marketing) to paint a more accurate picture of student migration flows. A case study of 15 semi-structured interviews with Chinese international students at a Canadian university was conducted to illuminate the underresearched reality that universities and Canada as a nation offer additional incentives, in conjunction with individual/familial reasons, for study abroad. The paper concludes with recommendations for new research directions arising from the present study.

scholarly journals Recent Trends and Issues in International Student Mobility

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans De Wit
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Brain Drain ◽  
International Student ◽  
Student Mobility ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Education ◽  
Income Generation ◽  
Pull Factors ◽  
International Student Mobility ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
The Uk

Institutions of higher education recently emphasized a view of international students as a source of income generation. Like the UK and Australia, other countries have also introduced out of state fees for international students. The competition for international students has increased even among traditionally sending countries. Selected recruitment of top talents is also a trend. Reputation and employability are the pull-factors for international students: in turn, "brain drain" is a problem in developing countries at the end of the chain.

scholarly journals Loving Neighbor as Self: Translating the Study Abroad Experience into Intercultural Friendships on the Home Campus

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1108-1128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly A. Pengelly
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
International Student ◽  
Culture Shock ◽  
Domestic Students ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
Intercultural Competencies ◽  
Friendship Needs ◽  
Significant Attention ◽  
Study Abroad Students

Universities focus significant attention on internationalization to prepare empathyglobally minded graduates by engaging students in study abroad programs and expanding international student enrollment. However, scholarship has not yet considered the role returned study abroad students play in meeting friendship needs of international students. This research aimed to determine if such experiences impact friendships between participants and internationals. Four basic themes emerged: isolated application of intercultural competencies, differences in empathy experiences, friendships between study abroad and international students, and institutional contributions. Key findings revealed institutions do not teach study abroad students to utilize their experience in fostering empathetic friendships withinternational students and should consider how the experience can more effectively impact intercultural friendships rather than focusing solely on domestic students’ reverse culture shock.

scholarly journals Sense of Belonging, Intercultural and Academic Experiences among International Students at a University in Northern Ireland

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elida Cena ◽  
Stephanie Burns ◽  
Paul Wilson
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
International Student ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Cultural Barriers ◽  
Academic Challenges ◽  
Cultural Challenges ◽  
The Uk

Higher education institutions have a strong interest in attracting international students, however, there is little research on international students' experience while studying in the UK and how this relates to their adjustment and belonging. This research was conducted with 16 international students at a HE institution in Northern Ireland, using qualitative interviews to examine academic and socio-cultural challenges they experience while studying and living in a country different from their own. Findings suggest that the academic challenges posed by a different educational system, issues affecting social relations within the campus, and living in a homogenous society can have an impact on the international student experience. Adjustment challenges were primarily attributable to language and cultural barriers. These findings highlight that it is vital for institutions to better understand students’ needs and tailor their services to enhance international students’ learning experience. 

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