scholarly journals Intercultural competence of university teachers: a challenge of internationalization

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Zelenková ◽  
Dana Hanesová
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
English Language ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Medium Study ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Significant Deficit ◽  
Intercultural Mediators

Abstract The aim of the authors is to respond to the growing demands on the intercultural competence of university teachers due to intensified internationalization pressures on higher education, especially due to the growing number of students and teachers’ international exchanges. They report on an intercultural course design responding to this need, presenting a case study from Slovakia. First, they define the need of intercultural competence of university teachers, especially those teaching in English-medium study programmes. Then they share a) findings from a needs analysis preceding the design of a new curriculum for an intercultural competence course (ICC) at Matej Bel University (MBU) with three aims (development of linguistic, cultural and pedagogic competences); and b) results from action research during piloting the ICC course. A comparison of 2011 and 2018 surveys pointed to the growing dominance of the English language, including an increasing command of English by MBU teachers. The ICC curriculum, tailored to the pre-identified teachers’ needs, proved to be a feasible way of facilitating their intercultural competence. Its implementation revealed persistent prejudices and difficulties associated with overcoming them. It also confirmed a significant deficit in preparing university teachers for their role as intercultural mediators in English-medium courses.

Environmental service-learning approach in higher education – a descriptive case study on student-led life cycle assessments of university cafeteria meals

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Johannisson ◽  
Michael Hiete
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Course Evaluation ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Graduate Course ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Descriptive Case Study

Purpose This study aims to share experiences of an easy to adapt service-learning approach in a graduate course on life cycle assessment (LCA). Specifically, it reports on how students helped the university’s cafeteria to assess meals by conducting an LCA for 25 meals and identifying environmental hotspots. Design/methodology/approach A descriptive case study of a graduate course at Ulm University is presented. The course included lectures and problem-based exercises, both theoretical and software assisted. A course evaluation was conducted during the course and one year after completion to poll improvement potentials, as well as its impacts on students’ everyday life. Findings It was found that although it was the first LCA for all students, the resulting LCA information of 25 different meals were homogeneous, comparable to the scientific literature and beneficial to the cafeteria’s sustainable development strategy. The concept of service-learning had a higher impact on students’ motivation than a good grade and active-learning is explicitly requested by students. The course design sensitized students to the real-life problems of LCA and made their consumption patterns more elaborate and ecological. Furthermore, this digitization of higher education could be carried out with only minor changes in the present COVID-19 pandemic situation. Originality/value As the subject of service-learning in natural sciences is still expandable, this study presents an easy to adapt case study on how to integrate such an approach into university curricula dominated by traditional learning. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this case study presents the first published LCA university course explicitly describing and evaluating a service-learning approach. The topic touches the everyday lives of students, allows comparisons between different student groups, is easily scalable to different group sizes and credits, and supports learning both how to study in small groups and cooperation between groups to ensure comparability of LCA results.

scholarly journals English Language University Teachers’ Difficulties in Research Engagement: A Case Study in Vietnam

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Huong Hoang Le
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Research Output ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Research Engagement ◽  
Cultural Framework ◽  
The One

The study uses a qualitative case study framed within a socio-cultural framework to investigate Vietnamese English language university teachers’ difficulties in their research engagement. The study was conducted among 21 English language university teachers in Hong Duc University in Vietnam. Skype semi-structured interview was employed to collect necessary data to explore teacher participants’ perceived obstacles to research. The findings of the study show that there was a gap between Vietnamese authorities’ expectations of research outputs and the realities of English language university teachers’ research capabilities. Such gap has caused serious challenges to those teachers and prevented them from effectively engaging in research. On the one hand, Vietnamese authorities hope to increase universities’ research output to keep up with the international academic ranking. On the other hand, the working realities of university teachers hinder their engagement in research. However, no official investigation has been done to reduce such gap and the enforcement of research activity in universities has been taken for granted. In this sense, the significance of this study is an opportunity for English language university teachers to voice their opinions about the enforced nature of research activity in universities in Vietnam.

Facebook as Complementary Teaching Material: Reconceptualizing the Context Boundaries of Formal and Informal Learning in EFL Higher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (9) ◽  
pp. 23-35
Author(s):  
Iman Abbas
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
English Language ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Survey Analysis ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Formal Curriculum ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Skills Learning

This article is a case study that aims to understand and explore a teacher's perspective about integrating Facebook as an informal social platform into the EFL classroom in a higher education context in Oman. The study further aims to identify the attitudes and perspectives of a group of students belonging to the same context. Research data came from semi-structured interviews with a teacher participant and a survey questionnaire with student participants. The study provides a set of findings based on interview data analysis and questionnaire survey analysis. The study's findings revealed the teacher and students' positive attitudes and perspectives towards the role of Facebook in boosting pedagogical practices and increasing English language skills learning. This study contributes to knowledge by providing insights on the integration of Facebook as an informal platform into the formal curriculum-based learning in TESOL. The insights and findings are of value to the teachers and instructors in EFL higher education contexts. Pedagogical implications for ESL (English as a second language) and EFL (English as a foreign language) and researchers are offered in the light of these results.

Professional Development Landscapes

2017 ◽  
pp. 98-111
Author(s):  
Beril Yucel ◽  
Meral Güçeri
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Action Research ◽  
English Language ◽  
Collaborative Action Research ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Collaborative Action ◽  
English Language Teachers

This chapter aims to present two action research case studies conducted in the English Language Schools of two universities in Turkey and discuss the long-term effects of this Professional Development activity on teachers' professional lives. In both of these studies, teachers were involved in collaborative action research. The first case study discusses a small scale collaborative Action Research project which targeted 16 English language teachers. Case Study Two, on the other hand, is a large scale project which explores 160 English language teachers' collaborative action research study. Detailed information about each case study is provided by highlighting the aims, institutional contexts, participant profiles, methodology used and findings. Teachers' perceptions about action research and the long-term impact of it on their professional growth are also discussed. Conclusion part highlights the factors that need to be taken into consideration while setting up collaborative action research projects in institutions. Finally, future research recommendations are made.

Theoretical and practical considerations in the design of an intercultural communication course

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-191
Author(s):  
Teresa Yi-jung Hsieh
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Communication Course ◽  
Teaching Activities ◽  
Backward Design ◽  
Constructive Alignment ◽  
Active And Collaborative Learning

Abstract The aim of this article is to highlight theoretical and practical considerations in design of an intercultural communication course. The first part of the article considers intercultural competence, and uses Bourdieu’s notions of education to frame the design of an intercultural communication course. This is followed by discussion of general principles of intercultural course design; the concepts of backward design and constructive alignment as they relate to an intercultural communication course; and finally, the importance of including active and collaborative learning/teaching activities within course design. The remainder of the article draws on a case study of an existing Australian undergraduate course in intercultural communication to highlight how this course may be redesigned in line with the pedagogical principles discussed in the first part of the article.

E-Information Literacy Index of University Teachers of Maharashtra, India: A Case Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 432
Author(s):  
Prakash Bhairu Bilawar ◽  
Shamprasad M Pujar ◽  
Somanath Dasharath Pawar
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Information Resources ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
Internet Services ◽  
Present Survey ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Assistant Professors ◽  
Use Of Internet

The purpose of this paper is to propose an e-information literacy index that provides realistic values to distinguish whether university teachers are literate in regard to awareness and use of e-information resources by explaining the characteristics of e-information literate teacher. The present survey attempts to formulate e-information literacy index of university teachers by taking into consideration three components viz. awareness of e-resources, availability of ICT facilities and use of internet services and search techniques to retrieve e-information. The findings shows that 60.52 per cent teachers are e-information literate. Amongst the teachers, the index for Assistant Professors is highest followed by Professors and Associate Professors. It indicates that Assistant Professors are more e-information literate than their superiors. Amongst the universities, the index of Shivaji University, Kolhapur is highest. As far as author’s consciousness, there are several indices meant for different purposes but in the higher education sector to define the characteristics of e-information literate university teacher in terms of an index is unique and special.

scholarly journals Structuring the learning disabilities module: A course design based on case study

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 108-120
Author(s):  
Gül Kahveci ◽  
Nerguz Bulut Serin
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Action Research ◽  
School Psychologists ◽  
Course Design ◽  
School Psychologist ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
School Counsellors

Children with learning disabilities are at greater risk of being victims of sexual abuse in schools. This paper discusses 4th year pre-service school counsellors’ specific knowledge related to self-confidence and skills to execute the prevention and support processes on the topic of sexual abuse in children with learning disabilities. Qualitative research data from the questionnaire answers received from 80 pre-service school counsellors were analysed using thematic analysis with an action research format. The results demonstrated that their preparation program was inadequate and needed more content relating to child sexual abuse. The results also showed that the knowledge of the pre-service school psychologists related to sexual abuse, the prevention and support processes for sexual abuse increased significantly after application of the action research content. These results are promising, but more research is needed to see if the increased knowledge in turn leads to application in practice and better care for victims. Keywords: Childhood sexual abuse; school psychologist; learning disabilities; action research, prevention and support processes.

scholarly journals Structuring the learning disabilities module: A course design based on case study

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 108
Author(s):  
Gül Kahveci ◽  
Nergüz Bulut Serin
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Action Research ◽  
School Psychologists ◽  
Course Design ◽  
School Psychologist ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
School Counsellors

Abstract   Children with learning disabilities are at greater risk of being victims of sexual abuse in schools. This paper discusses 4th year pre-service school counsellors’ specific knowledge related to self-confidence and skills to execute the prevention and support processes on the topic of sexual abuse in children with learning disabilities. Qualitative research data from the questionnaire answers received from 80 pre-service school counsellors were analysed using thematic analysis with an action research format. The results demonstrated that their preparation program was inadequate and needed more content relating to child sexual abuse. The results also showed that the knowledge of the pre-service school psychologists related to sexual abuse, the prevention and support processes for sexual abuse increased significantly after application of the action research content. These results are promising, but more research is needed to see if the increased knowledge in turn leads to application in practice and better care for victims. Keywords: Childhood sexual abuse, school psychologist, learning disabilities, action research, prevention and support processes.    

scholarly journals Challenges and Strategies of University Students in English-medium Instruction (EMI) Classes: A case study

2021 ◽  
pp. 9-25
Author(s):  
Kamran Akhtar Siddiqui ◽  
Hassan Syed ◽  
Zafarullah Sahito
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
English Language ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
National Language ◽  
School Level ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
English Medium Instruction ◽  
Continuous Use

English language has grown to be a lingua franca of the present day world. Therefore, even non- English European and Asian countries have adopted English as a medium of instruction. English has continuously been the medium of instruction in the higher education of Pakistan in spite of having a great linguistic diversity and national language Urdu as the medium of instruction at school level. This study aims to explore the perceptions of undergraduates about EMI, challenges they face in EMI classrooms and solutions they suggest for mitigation of their issues. The qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews reveals that students perceive EMI to be beneficial for higher education, employment and progressive thought. However, they face challenges related to teachers’ English proficiency, code-switching, vocabulary and receptive as well as productive skills. They suggest that English-proficient instructors, continuous use of English, language support from university can help them overcome these challenges effectively.

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