A mixed method study of language learning motivation and inter-cultural contact of international students

The mixed-method study presented in this paper investigates the changes in direct and indirect inter-cultural contact and language learning attitudes and effort of international students in the United Kingdom. 70 international learners of English were asked to fill in a questionnaire three times during one academic year in an international foundation program. An additional ten students and two of their English language tutors were interviewed at the end of their study period. We analyzed variations in language learning motivation as well as in the frequency and type of contact the learners experienced at three distinct points of time during the international study programme. The results indicate that whereas written and media contact increased in frequency during the academic year, the participants engaged in less frequent spoken contact at the end of the period investigated. The qualitative and quantitative data show that contact experiences, socio-environmental factors and learner internal variables have a dynamic impact on each other and they together can play an important role in the language learning experiences of international students

Dymplexity: new theories, new contexts and new labels for mobile students

In their article ‘A guide to interculturality for international and exchange students: an example of Hostipitality’, Fred Dervin and Heidi Layne discuss two locally-produced documents designed to help international and exchange students acclimatise to life in Finland. Drawing on Derrida, Bauman, Bakhtin and other theoretical approaches to cultures, to interculturality and to discourse analysis, they find that the documents seek to impose on visiting students the norms of an essentialised Finnishness. In this response, I adopt a simpler theoretical position to reflect on theoretical neologisms, and to challenge what is fundamentally a binary statement of the issue, and one which potentially misrepresents the documents by drawing on concepts which are no longer apt, and by ignoring some key factors of the context of their production and use. I suggest that dymplexity might be a more appropriate term than hostipidality for considering intercultural aspects of student mobility

Creating the Profile of Participants in Mobility Activities in the Context of Erasmus+: Motivations, Perceptions, and Linguistic Needs

With millions of participants, Erasmus+ is a unique opportunity to study, train, gain work experience or volunteer abroad. However, the lack of language competences is still one of the main barriers to participation in European education, training, and youth programs. This work aims to identify, analyze and present the language needs of the participants involved in mobility activities supported under Erasmus+ Key Action 1. Data were collected by means of an online questionnaire to identify all the necessary information regarding the language needs of the Erasmus+ KA1 Mobility participants as well as their motivations to participate in the mobility. Also, in order to collect additional information in creating a profile and identifying the linguistic needs of all the Erasmus+ participants, a series of semi-structured interviews with Erasmus+ key stakeholders and with Erasmus+ National Agency Officers was conducted. Findings from the online questionnaire and interviews revealed important considerations regarding the language needs of the participants, their motivations and expectations, as well as their challenges/difficulties during the mobility. The contribution of this manuscript is to provide a piece of new knowledge regarding the Erasmus+ KA1 participants profiles emphasizing the need for new strategies to facilitate further mobility in the context of Erasmus+ and enhance the idea of multilingualism across Europe