Report on the 19th SPACE Conference

The 19th international space (European Network for Business Studies and Languages) conference that recently took place in Spain provided valuable insight into several areas of interest. Most notably, methods on how to successfully enhance the internationalization of higher learning institutions were shared through mobility and joint degrees programs. Furthermore, the conference provided an academic forum for a highly professional and earnest discourse on pertinent topics of relevance for higher learning institutions, which this year pivoted around intercultural awareness and dialogue. In sum, the space network provides a wealth of academic and administrative advantages that the academic sphere could greatly benefit from.mobility, internationalization of higher learning institutions, intercultural awareness

Developing Intercultural Awareness through a Study Abroad Program

Purpose of Study To examine how pre-service teachers (PSTs) can develop intercultural Awareness through study abroad experiences

Applying intercultural awareness to curriculum development in Art, Design and Architecture

Through selecting and synthesising the existing literature surrounding international students, the recurrent foci have been explored and a new simple model of the international student sojourn has been generated. This model is driven by a holistic concern for the support and development of staff and students, and has been used to open a dialogue between staff and students in order to raise intercultural awareness within the disciplines of art, design and architecture. It is suggested that the collaborative fostering of intercultural awareness is the necessary first step towards developing an internationalised curriculum (Nilsson, 2003; Harrison & Peacock, 2010). This poster session will demonstrate how the model has been used to structure a workshop in the school of art, design and architecture, in which staff and students have engaged in dialogue and formulated a good practice agenda for internationalising the curriculum. The disciplines of Art, Design and Architecture present their own specific challenges for internationalisation due to the culture-bound nature of aesthetics. It is important to find out how current international students and staff cope with these challenges, and to share good practice across their disciplines. It has been discovered that in the UK certain traditions prevail, such as the emphasis on the individual creative process as well as drawing by hand before using technology, which are at odds with process of design training in other parts of the world. It is hoped that by creating increased intercultural awareness, we will be able to design curricula that will enable us to capitalise on the diverse range of experiences that international students bring to the UK. The model and workshop structure can be adapted for use by participants within their own disciplines, and the poster session will encourage delegates to explore this

The impact of studying abroad on students’ intercultural competence: An interview study

This paper presents qualitative research examining to what extent sojourns abroad engage their participants in intercultural interactions and whether or not such experience translates into students’ intercultural growth. The results of the study demonstrated that studying abroad did not provide students with ample opportunities to immerse into the local community and fully discover a new cultural environment. However, students surrounded by local and their fellow international students met foreign cultures, which motivated them to explore and interpret the encountered diversity, and thus equipped them with knowledge about foreign cultures, sensitizing them to cultural diversity. Sometimes such contacts challenged students’ preconceived judgments and stereotypes of specific cultural groups, their ways of thinking, valuing and acting, and resulted, to a lesser or greater extent, in rethinking these, leading to changing attitudes and values. International experiences also stimulated students to self-analyze their own cultural identity, and thereby contributed to their growth in self-awareness in this respect. By offering opportunities for experiencing cultural differences and prompting students to develop coping strategies and to make references to the home culture, the sojourn is thus of significant importance for tertiary students, allowing for fostering their intercultural development to a certain degree

Internationalizing education: evaluating the growth of intercultural communication and competency in students through an international negotiation project using an online law office

Graduates will need to be able to recognize and appreciate culture in a way that minimizes conflict, promote understanding and to establish a relationship of trust and confidence. The need for competency in intercultural communication and an awareness of ethical challenges sets out a challenge for academics. This study examines the types of learning and characteristics developed by students when working on a ten‐week international negotiation project. It questions whether the study was an effective learning tool to raise consciousness of cultural diversity and effectively address the ‘stumbling blocks’ identified in intercultural communication. Using the findings from this, the study will consider the factors academics should consider when designing high quality, equitable and global study programmes in order for students to develop cross‐cultural capacities and aptitudes in order to be able to perform, professionally and socially, in a multicultural environment

Exploring Cultural Differences in HCI Education

The discipline of human-computer interaction has become a subject taught across universities around the world, outside of the cultures where it originated. However, the intercultural implication of its assimilation into the\ud syllabus of courses offered by universities around the world remains underresearched. The purpose of this ongoing research project is to provide insights for these implications in terms of the student and teacher experience of HCI. How this subject is socially represented across the different universities studied is a key question. In order to develop intercultural awareness of these questions\ud universities from UK, Namibia, Mexico and China are collaborating in a multiple case study involving students and lecturers engaged in evaluation and design tasks. Findings will then be used to propose an international HCI curriculum more supportive of local perspectives. This paper describes the initial steps of this study and some preliminary findings from Namibia, India and Mexico about cognitive styles and cultural attitudes

Improving intercultural communication skills: A challenge facing institutions of higher education in the 21st century

Following discussion of the rationales for improving students' intercultural communication skills, this article described how the professors at the University of Rhode Island and their counterparts around the world use the Internet as a mechanism for improving a student's intercultural awareness and sensitivity. Using the Internet, students here and abroad debate on timely, relevant topics to become aware of how people of different cultures see things differently. In addition, they write and exchange cross-cultural dialogues and explanatory notes to become interculturally sensitive. In this way, the students meet with their future partners of the global workplace, while honing their computer skills, writing skills, and enhancing their intercultural awareness and sensitivity. However, those in higher education who want to implement this kind of Internet-based teaching technique on a permanent basis must first address several difficult issues, including how to find like-minded professors here and abroad who are willing to participate. If correctly used over time, these techniques (international e-mail debate and cross-cultural dialogues) can improve students' intercultural awareness and sensitivity. Assessment of whether or not this improvement lasts over a period of time presents a quantitative problem. Defining intercultural sensitivity practically and satisfactorily is the first task facing educators interested in following this path toward improved communication. One of the greatest challenges facing the institutions of higher education of the 21st Century is how to improve intercultural communication skills of their students. Accompanied by a yet-to-be-developed instrument for quantitative measurement of long-term outcomes, projects like the international e-mail debate and cross-cultural dialogue may well become the tools for understanding and negotiation in the new global environment. --

Adopting Intercultural Communication Issue in Teaching English

Cultural assimilation and intercultural awareness has been an important hub of modern language and communication studies, underlining a shift that reflects a greater significance of the inseparability of language and culture, and the need to prepare students for effective intercultural communication to thrive in a global work environment. A thriving global workplace requires effective communication skill across cultures in this era of globalization and mass migration. Under the tutelage of such backdrop, this article addresses the terrain of adopting intercultural awareness in EFL classroom teaching/learning and aims at linking culture with language in pursuit of excellence in borderless effective communication. The study, in other words, investigated the linguistic aspects that could be affected by certain cultural dimensions (e.g., beliefs, traditions, taboo words, habits, and norms, religion, social factors, etc.) in intercultural communication. This paper uses a questionnaire device to receive some university teachers' self-reported feedback. This article maintains qualitative and quantitative research methodology. The analytical research result shows that in teaching English, it is necessary to incorporate and develop aspects of cross-cultural awareness as a part of course curriculum to immerse students in effective intercultural communicative competence (ICC)