Unpacking Transnational Social Capital and its Effects: Insights from an International Study Experience in Belgium

This paper studies (trans)national social capital gained through an international study experience in Belgium. Drawing upon a multi-method alumni study, we explore different types of (inter)national networks of male and female graduates, the extent to which different networks remained after graduation as well as effects on personal and professional development and organizational performance. Findings show that graduates have particularly gained networks with non-co-nationals which evolve from bridging relations at the outset to bonding relations while particularly networks with the host population remain limited. After returning home, bonding social interaction relations remain most important, irrespective of the nationality of the graduates, whereas information sharing and collaboration networks survive better among co-nationals, particularly when these are triggered through national alumni chapters. Our study finds network effects on individual's intercultural skills, knowledge and attitudes, their professional career and organizational performance, with intercultural gains being particularly high for networks with non-co-nationals from other continents.

TRANSNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL MOBILITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: AN INTERNATIONAL REVIEW

Анализируется опыт зарубежной высшей школы в формировании транснациональной образовательной мобильности. Представлены эмпирические результаты исследований зарубежных ученых, занимающихся данной проблематикой. На примере Великобритании, США, Китая, Австралии и стран Западной Европы показана роль образовательной мобильности в формировании транснационального человеческого и культурного капитала, влияние образовательной мобильности на проектирование индивидуального образовательного и карьерного маршрута человека. Транснациональная образовательная мобильность рассматривается в контексте формирования культурного капитала как приобретение международного опыта, расширение языковых и профессиональных знаний, развитие социальных и межкультурных навыков, способствующих созданию новой культурной идентичности и укреплению транснациональной идентификации личности. Подчеркивается, что с развитием транснациональной образовательной мобильности в научно-педагогической литературе появляется термин «международная профессиональная компетенция», связанный с формированием сквозных навыков (transversal skills) человека. An international review of the formation of transnational educational mobility in higher education abroad is analyzed. The research results by foreign scientists dealing with this empirical issue are presented. The role of educational mobility in the formation of transnational human and cultural capital, the influence of educational mobility on the formation of an individual educational and career path of a person is shown on the example of such countries as: Great Britain, USA, China, Australia and Western European countries. Transnational educational mobility is considered in the context of the formation of cultural capital as the acquisition of international experience, the expansion of linguistic and professional knowledge, the development of social and intercultural skills that contribute to the creation of a new cultural identity and the strengthening of transnational identity, personality identification. Giving rise to cosmopolitanism, person’s educational mobility contributes to the creation of a new cultural identity and transnational identification strengthening. A man who is able to see and understand intercultural differences, to solve intercultural problems, is able to form his identity in the context of intercultural and multicultural relations. It is emphasized that with the development of transnational educational mobility, the term “international professional competence” appears in the scientific and pedagogical literature, associated with the formation of transversal personality skills. Transversal skills are analyzed as basic skills, independent of a person’s professional qualifications and not tied to any particular profession, but are applicable to a wide range of situations in life. It is emphasized that the strengthening of cross-border educational mobility is observed not only in the public sector of higher education, but also in the private sector, which contributes to an increase in the number of educational institutions leading to the expansion of availability of higher education and obtaining various academic degrees and titles.

Teaching Languages for Specific Purposes: Perceptions, Methodological Perspectives, Practical Issues and Challenges

Language skills are becoming increasingly important in organisations and businesses who want to be competitive on an international level. Mastery in foreign languages is considered not just an excellent tool to bridge gaps between people coming from different countries and to create strong sentimental and professional relationships, but above all an instrument that enables workers to considerably improve their career prospects. Knowing how to use a language in specific circumstances and purposes gives people a very strong bargaining power, especially in the labour world. Whereas up to twenty or thirty years ago, speaking a foreign language was a very important prerequisite for just a few, like managers or diplomats, today it has become of fundamental importance in all professional circles. In fact, in today’s European society, languages and intercultural play a fundamental role in getting to know different people and in obtaining professional and economic development. This explains why today there exists a need to diversify the language training market with courses in foreign languages for specific purposes, be it for tourism, for call centers, for business and so on, focusing on acquiring the necessary terminological, interdisciplinary and intercultural skills needed for specific jobs. Such courses imply addressing the immediate and very specific needs of the learners involved, having as their driving force, both in the preparation stage as well as in the development stage, the needs analysis of the learners. In terms of implementation and methodology, such courses have to be totally learner-focused, practically oriented and, above all, applied to professional contexts, providing a method of learning, teaching and assessing basic skills or abilities in the language, not simply according to the particular needs of the students but also in line with the specific requirements of the vocational domain. This obviously presents a number of challenges which need to be discussed and analysed from both the educators’ and the students’ point of view, given that such courses need to address the immediate and very specific needs of the learners involved, which in turn should serve as the basis for informed curriculum practices, such as syllabus design, materials development and instructional design. It also necessitates a threefold framework design, consisting of an individual theoretical component of learning, an individual practical component as well as the provision for group work and practice. All this has serious ramifications on teacher training and formation courses, and requires methodical collaboration and cooperation from all stakeholders involved, be it the educational institutions offering the course, the employer or any authority requesting the course as well as the learners themselves.

Competencias interculturales y competencias emocionales en los estudiantes de ciencias sociales y turismo de la Universidad Nacional José Faustino Sánchez Carrión

La investigación tuvo como objetivo general determinar la relación entre las competencias interculturales y las competencias emocionales de los estudiantes de ciencias sociales y turismo de la facultad de educación de la universidad nacional José Faustino Sánchez Carrión. Se realizó un muestreo censal que abarco 176 estudiantes. Se recogieron los datos para la primera variable con el cuestionario de competencias interculturales del centro de estudios interculturales UNED- España, con ligeras adaptaciones; para la segunda variable se utilizó el cuestionario sobre competencias emocionales de Daniel Goleman. Por protocolo se hizo una prueba de confiabilidad alfa cronbach a ambos instrumentos obteniendo valores de 0.937 y 0.917 respectivamente, que representan una alta confiabilidad. La correlación entre las variables fue medida por el coeficiente de correlación de rangos de Spearman. Para la correlación entre competencias interculturales y competencias emocionales se obtuvo un coeficiente de 0.578 refleja una relación moderada entre ambas variables. Para las correlaciones entre competencias interculturales con: autoconciencia; autorregulación; motivación se obtuvieron los coeficientes 0.298; 0.456; 496 respectivamente. En estos tres casis son correlaciones débiles. La correlación entre competencias interculturales con: empatía; habilidades sociales se obtuvieron los siguientes coeficientes0.521 y 0.548 respectivamente. En ambos casos son correlaciones moderadas. Estas correlaciones débiles y moderadas con 00 de error nos indican que existe una relación entre ambas variables. The overall objective research was to determine the relationship between intercultural skills and emotional skills of students in the social sciences and tourism education faculty of National University José Faustino Sánchez Carrión. One census sampling spanned 176 students was conducted. Data for the first variable with the questionnaire intercultural competence center for intercultural studies UNED Spain, with slight adjustments were collected; for the second variable the questionnaire on emotional competencies Daniel Goleman was used. By protocol was made a Cronbach alpha reliability test both instruments obtaining values of 0.937 and 0.917 respectively, representing high reliability. The correlation between variables was measured by the coefficient of Spearman rank correlation. For the correlation between intercultural skills and emotional competencies a coefficient of 0.578 reflects a moderate relationship between the two variables was obtained. For correlations between intercultural competencies: self-awareness; self-regulation; 0.298 motivation coefficients were obtained; 0.456; 496 respectively. In these three cassis are weak correlations. The correlation between intercultural competencies: empathy; social skills were obtained the following coeficientes0.521 and 0.548 respectively. In both cases are moderate correlations. These weak to moderate correlations with error 00 indicate that there is a relationship between the two variables.

Developing Intercultural Competence Through Design Thinking

Cultural competence, as the ability to interact effectively with the culturally diverse others, is a key component to your success in the globalized world. Developing cultural competence gives us an insight how to benefit from the diversity within intercultural interactions. Everyone may misinterpret the cultural differences due to the low level of cultural competence. That can influence further cooperation with different cultures. Therefore, it is very important to foster students’ intercultural skills, in particular by using different learning techniques and implementing new ideas into the traditional teaching methods. One of them is design thinking as a practice that encourages collaboration and can help students to manage intercultural challenges. Hence, the research problem for this study is to reveal the correlation between the development of students’ intercultural competence and design thinking method application. The purpose of the study is to summarize and synthesize the research on cross-cultural interactions and design thinking to build a framework that shows how the implementation of the design thinking method into the learning process facilitates the development of students’ intercultural competence. The tasks of the research are:a) to review the main contributions to the field of design thinking by analysing multidisciplinary studies on how design thinking fosters development of variety competences including intercultural competence;b) to design the framework to reveal the correlation between the components of intercultural competence and the stages of design thinking process;c) to observe the changes in the students’ intercultural competence level by analysing learners’ responses to the case of intercultural misunderstanding at the beginning of studying the cross-cultural communication classes and after finishing the course.d) The study uses mixed approaches such as quantitative and qualitative methods, scientific literature studies, intercultural competence assessment, grouping, comparative analysis, synthesis, inductive and deductive methods.The key results are presented in the framework that demonstrates the ways how design thinking method supports the development of intercultural competence. This framework can be used by educators to teach intercultural competence and everyone involved in cross-cultural interactions, and who would like to benefit from the diversity.

International non-verbal business etiquette of the XXI century: semiotic aspect

The purpose of the article is to identify the features of non-verbal etiquette signs in the context of international business etiquette of the XXI century. Methodology. The method of cultural analysis was applied (to identify the features of the representation of culture by means of intercultural communication in the context of business etiquette); method of structural, functional and system analysis (to identify the features of international business etiquette as a multi-component system); semiotic method (for the study of non-verbal international business etiquette as a complex sign system), etc. Scientific novelty. Business etiquette in the context of international communicative competence is investigated; analyzed an important component of international business etiquette - non-verbal etiquette as a complex system that functions in the global socio-cultural space and consists of non-verbal etiquette signs, relations between them, and non-verbal rules of international etiquette; the non-verbal international business etiquette is considered in a semiotic aspect. Conclusions. International business etiquette is a dynamic system, some aspects of which are constantly changing with the development of international business and globalization. However, despite the fact that cultural differences in business communication in the context of globalization trends in the world socio-cultural space are minimized, certain delicate aspects remain in force, which must be taken into account in intercultural communication. The study revealed that the rules of non-verbal international business etiquette and its semiotic system have remained unchanged for many centuries and are largely due to the specifics of national cultural codes. Intercultural skills are essential to achieve effective and productive international negotiations. Facial expressions, gestures, and other non-verbal cues characteristic of a particular culture are an important part of the international non-verbal business etiquette of the 21st century.

ACTION-ORIENTED LANGUAGE TEACHING: OPINIONS OF STUDENTS OF FRENCH ABOUT SHORT FILM SHOOTING PROJECT

The aim of this study is to analyze efficiency of teaching French with a short film project and to reveal learners' opinion. In this study, case study, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was preferred. This study was conducted with 10 students of Anadolu University, Faculty of Education, French Language Teaching Department. The data is collected through observation and group interview techniques. Macro and micro tasks were assigned in order to develop learners' linguistic and extra linguistic skills during 8-weeks. Furthermore, products such as scenario, banner, short-film etc. have also been analyzed as documented data. Observation and interview notes were coded by two researchers and 92% reliability was achieved; 6 themes and 15 subthemes were thus forged. According to findings, the motivation of the participants increased. Possible reasons for this are the different and fun activities, creating a concrete product and feeling successful. In group work a positive synergy observed among good associates, but learners’ discussion, co-deciding and cooperation skills need to be improved. Participants stated that their creativity, socio–cultural, self-learning and self-assessment skills have developed. In conclusion, project-based learning, supported by action-oriented approach, helps to increase student motivation, creativity, intercultural skills and autonomous learning skills. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0880/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Predicting global entrepreneurship: An exploratory study

Globalization provides international career opportunities and options, such as entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship education is currently promoted in both national and European educational strategies. For university students, the viability of this career option depends on their own motivations, perceived competencies, and professional objectives. This study uses a structural equations model analyses the factors that affect the intention to create an international company. It focuses on how intercultural skills, cognitive cultural intelligence, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and linguistic competence affects students’ motivation to create a company with an international vocation. The results of the study show that proficiency in a foreign language, language competence, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy are relevant factors. The research also discusses the implications of these results for teaching in higher education institutions. There is a need to update graduates’ employability skills and the competences that future teachers must acquire.

INTERCULTURAL PARTNERSHIPS THAT FOSTER CULTURAL COMPETENCE

Institutions of higher education (HE) are emphasizing their capacity to (a) foster equitable access; (b) incorporate global perspectives into teaching, learning, and research; (c) build international and intercultural competence among students, faculty, and staff; and (d) establish relationships and collaborations with people and institutions throughout the world. At Minnesota State University, Mankato, instructors have responded to this emphasis with a specific course for pre-service teachers: Human Relations in a Multicultural Society. Based on this experience, the authors based the course on a foundational theory and engaged in scholarship related to teaching and learning. Adaptations were made in one major assignment, a cultural partnership, so that college students could diversify their perspectives and enhance their intercultural skills, even during a pandemic. For three semesters during the pandemic, instructors facilitated virtual “buddy” matches with students at a university in Armenia (English language classes in Spring 2020) or with students in various US cultures (Alaska Natives in 2020 - 2021). The series of related assignments included establishing a partnership, interviews, shared virtual activities, and reflection. This report briefly reports the analysis of data collected with the IDI in Spring 2020, the latest semester for which data was available for this project.