{"id":18,"date":"2024-04-04T01:18:35","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T01:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/multilingual\/3-supporting-faculty-academic-skills-staff\/"},"modified":"2024-05-08T15:11:19","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T12:11:19","slug":"3-supporting-faculty-academic-skills-staff","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/multilingual\/3-supporting-faculty-academic-skills-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"6.3. Communication in higher education institutions: cultural and linguistic challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This part will help you to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>undestand the issues of multiple languages in higher education, the challenges that appear in the communication in higher education institutions due to the diversity of languages and cultures in them, and which benefits are seen as result of spreading internationalization.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To reach these goals you are expected to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>watch the introductory video that presents an example range of people\u2019s cultural and linguistic challenges in higher education;<\/li>\n<li>read about the benefits and challenges of academic exchange and mobility, one aspect of internationalization of higher education institutions;<\/li>\n<li>to check your knowledge and understanding with an activity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: left;\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/283\/pages-video-icon50.png\" alt=\"video icon\" width=\"50\" height=\"50\"><\/p>\n<h4>Video<\/h4>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<p><strong>People\u2019s experience with multiple languages in higher education<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Watch this introductory video about the staff and students of the University of Tartu Narva College. They will tell you shortly about themselves, where have they lived, which languages they speak and what is their experience with different languages and intercultural communication in the learning situations in higher education.<\/p>\n<p><\/p><div class=\"ratio ratio-16x9 mb-3\"><div class=\"video-placeholder-wrapper video-placeholder-wrapper--16x9\">\n\t\t\t    <div class=\"video-placeholder d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t        <div class=\"overlay text-white p-2 w-100 text-center d-block justify-content-center align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t            <div>To view third-party content, please accept cookies.<\/div>\n\t\t\t            <button class=\"btn btn-secondary btn-sm mt-1 consent-change\">Change consent<\/button>\n\t\t\t        <\/div>\n\t\t\t    <\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: left;\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/283\/pages-book-icon50.png\" alt=\"reading icon\" width=\"50\" height=\"50\"><\/p>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<h4>Reading<\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Academic exchange and mobility in higher education: benefits and challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">When talking about multilingual universities, the notion of internationalization comes along, and most often people have the academic exchange and mobility issues in mind, although there are much more components included.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/p><div class=\"accordion mb-3\">\n        <div class=\"accordion-item accordion-item--white\">\n        <h2 class=\"accordion-header\" id=\"accordion-69e23ad28cad5-heading\">\n            <button class=\"accordion-button collapsed\" type=\"button\" data-bs-toggle=\"collapse\" data-bs-target=\"#accordion-69e23ad28cad5-collapse\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-controls=\"accordion-69e23ad28cad5-collapse\"> You can read more about the components here:<\/button>\n        <\/h2>\n        <div id=\"accordion-69e23ad28cad5-collapse\" class=\"accordion-collapse collapse\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-69e23ad28cad5-heading\">\n            <div class=\"accordion-body\">The main components of internationalization of higher education are: global competition for talent, recruitment of international students and staff, development of international branch campuses, students, staff and scholars exchange programs (such as Erasmus in the EU, Chevening in the UK, Fulbright Programme and International Visitor Leadership Program in the USA\u2026 ), internationalization of the curriculum, and research and education partnerships between institutions regionally and internationally (Khorsandi Taskoh, 2014). )<\/div>\n        <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to the idealistic view, the trends of internationalization are expected to create a more democratic and equal world with regard to international cooperation and also to broaden the academic knowledge of students and academic staff. Instrumentally, there is this commonsense approach to create a more transparent and flexible system that enables to integrate university degrees, grading systems etc. over several countries.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">However, the pressure on higher education institutions as well as staff and students being more and more internationally active and visible can have both benefits and challenges at the same time. There is some evidence already that short-term academic mobilities may have a positive impact on a personal level \u2013 changing people\u2019s attitudes towards the target foreign language and culture from neutral to more positive as well as their language competences (Khoroshilova et al., 2015: 992), or\u00a0 contributing to the personal growth of individuals concerning students\u2019 motivations or enhancing their local and cosmopolitan identities within a plethora of affiliations (Weibl, 2015).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Yet, Ward (2001: 1) has clearly stated that \u201csignificant intercultural interaction is unlikely to occur spontaneously to any large extent, and it is almost certain that interventionist strategies would need to be introduced to promote more and better intercultural activities\u201d. It means that welcoming international exchange students may be of gain for the institution, but it brings up challenges for university staff, who are expected to intervene actively to make such promoting activities and intercultural communication happen in the first place. As Castro et al. (2016: 1) argue, \u201cinstitutions and their staff should be aware of the discursive field of internationalisation in higher education, take a critical stance and analyse their own role in student mobility\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The competitiveness between the institutions and people may seem an inevitable or even necessary side of how things should work nowadays. But on a personal level, first of all, it actually creates an unequal situation for those, who are not native speakers of the widely spread languages, especially English, or those, who happened to live in countries where the educational system has failed to deliver such language skills.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Although the lifelong learning principle is supposed to be present in our societies, the main component of internationalization such as student or staff exchange and academic mobility are not as easily accessible to the people with families and children. Spending a week, a month or a semester abroad might seem like an attractive opportunity, but if you have someone you are responsible for, it may be complicated both emotionally and practically.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Yet, the concept of internationalization has changed during the last decades and does not only include persons travelling. It has two interdependent pillars \u2013 \u2018at home\u2019 and \u2018abroad\u2019. This \u2018at home\u2019-aspect includes the curriculum, and the change here is that the international dimension of the curriculum has progressed from area studies and foreign-language approach to the integration of international, global, intercultural and comparative perspectives into the teaching and learning process and program content with the emphasis on student learning outcomes (international and intercultural knowledge, skills, and values). Academic mobility does not only include people, but also programs (twinning, franchise, virtual) and providers (branch campus) mobility (Knight, 2012).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">All in all, as the internationalization has become an inevitable part of higher education, we should learn to deal with it by researching thoroughly all its aspects, benefits as well as challenges.<\/p>\n<p>Sources:<\/p>\n<p>Castro, P., Woodin, J.A., Lundgren, U. et al. (2016) Student mobility and internationalisation in higher education: perspectives from practitioners. Language and Intercultural Communication, 16 (3). pp. 418-436. <a href=\"http:\/\/eprints.whiterose.ac.uk\/94617\/3\/WRRO_94617.pdf\">http:\/\/eprints.whiterose.ac.uk\/94617\/3\/WRRO_94617.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Knight, J. (2012). Student Mobility and Internationalization: trends and tribulations. <em>Research in Comparative and International Education, Volume 7 Number 1<\/em>. pp. 20 \u2013 33. <a href=\"http:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.2304\/rcie.2012.7.1.20\">http:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.2304\/rcie.2012.7.1.20<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Khoroshilova, S., Kostina, E., Liliya Bezdenezhnykh, L., Vezirov, T. &amp; Shibaev, V. (2015).\u00a0 Academic Mobility: The Impact of Short-Term Language Courses Abroad on the Development of Language Competences. <em>Procedia \u2013 Social and Behavioral Sciences 214<\/em>, pp. 992 \u2013 999<\/p>\n<p>Khorsandi Taskoh, A. (2014). A Critical Policy Analysis of Internationalization in Postsecondary Education: An Ontario Case Study. Ontario: Western University.<\/p>\n<p>Ward, C. (2001). The impact of international students on domestic students and host institutions. Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.victoria.ac.nz\/cacr\/research\/international-students\/the-impact-of-international-students-on-domestic-students-and-host-institutions\">https:\/\/www.victoria.ac.nz\/cacr\/research\/international-students\/the-impact-of-international-students-on-domestic-students-and-host-institutions<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Weibl, G. (2015). Cosmopolitan identity and personal growth as an outcome of international student mobility at selected New Zealand, British and Czech universities<em>. Journal of International Mobility, no 3,(1)<\/em>, 31-44. https:\/\/www.cairn.info\/revue-of-international-mobility-2015-1-page-31.htm.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: left;\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/283\/pages-icon50.png\" alt=\"activity icon\" width=\"50\" height=\"50\"><\/p>\n<h4>Activity<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Do you remember, which issues these people brought out about the issue of different languages or culture in universities?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><div class=\"video-placeholder-wrapper video-placeholder-wrapper--fixed\" style=\"height: 650px;\">\n\t\t\t    <div class=\"video-placeholder d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t        <div class=\"overlay text-white p-2 w-100 text-center d-block justify-content-center align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t            <div>To view third-party content, please accept cookies.<\/div>\n\t\t\t            <button class=\"btn btn-secondary btn-sm mt-1 consent-change\">Change consent<\/button>\n\t\t\t        <\/div>\n\t\t\t    <\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"video-placeholder-wrapper video-placeholder-wrapper--fixed\" style=\"height: 650px;\">\n\t\t\t    <div class=\"video-placeholder d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t        <div class=\"overlay text-white p-2 w-100 text-center d-block justify-content-center align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t            <div>To view third-party content, please accept cookies.<\/div>\n\t\t\t            <button class=\"btn btn-secondary btn-sm mt-1 consent-change\">Change consent<\/button>\n\t\t\t        <\/div>\n\t\t\t    <\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"video-placeholder-wrapper video-placeholder-wrapper--fixed\" style=\"height: 650px;\">\n\t\t\t    <div class=\"video-placeholder d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t        <div class=\"overlay text-white p-2 w-100 text-center d-block justify-content-center align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t            <div>To view third-party content, please accept cookies.<\/div>\n\t\t\t            <button class=\"btn btn-secondary btn-sm mt-1 consent-change\">Change consent<\/button>\n\t\t\t        <\/div>\n\t\t\t    <\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"video-placeholder-wrapper video-placeholder-wrapper--fixed\" style=\"height: 650px;\">\n\t\t\t    <div class=\"video-placeholder d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t        <div class=\"overlay text-white p-2 w-100 text-center d-block justify-content-center align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t            <div>To view third-party content, please accept cookies.<\/div>\n\t\t\t            <button class=\"btn btn-secondary btn-sm mt-1 consent-change\">Change consent<\/button>\n\t\t\t        <\/div>\n\t\t\t    <\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<hr>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This part will help you to: undestand the issues of multiple languages in higher education, the challenges that appear in the communication in higher education institutions due to the diversity of languages and cultures in them, and which benefits are &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/multilingual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/multilingual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/multilingual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/multilingual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/multilingual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/multilingual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":583,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/multilingual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions\/583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/multilingual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}