The challenge of understanding and communicating in a second language in an unfamiliar environment, and confusion about the norms of behavior in a new cultural setting.
Published in Chapter:
Encountering Unfamiliar Educational Practices Abroad: Opportunities or Obstacles?
B Jane Jackson (The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)
Copyright: © 2016
|Pages: 26
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-0169-5.ch006
Abstract
As internationalization efforts intensify across the globe, the number of students who are studying outside their home country for part of their tertiary education has increased significantly. The vast majority of students from East Asian nations (Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Korea, Macau SAR, Mainland China, and Taiwan) study in a second language while abroad, with English the most common medium-of-instruction. As institutions of Higher Education (HE) in other regions compete for students from this part of the world, increasingly, questions are being raised about what students gain from outbound mobility programs. Scholars have drawn attention to the need for systematic empirical research that critically examines the experiences of student sojourners in order to determine the most effective ways to support and enhance their learning (e.g., linguistic, cognitive, social, academic, (inter)cultural, and professional).