Search

In a period when international flows of higher education students are rapidly increasing and diversifying, this paper reviews recent research evidence about the experiences of ‘home’ students – those who are not mobile and study in their home nation. This is situated within the concept of ‘internationalisation at home’, which asserts that these students should also receive an international educational experience: through interaction with international students, curriculum development and new pedagogic approaches. However, the evidence to date suggests that this is considerably more problematic than might be imagined. For example, home students across the world are often found to resist intercultural group work and generally to avoid contact with their international peers, leading to concerns about unequal access to transformative experiences and powerful knowledge. The conflict between ‘global worker’ and ‘global citizen’ approaches to internationalisation is discussed, as well as the increasingly hegemonic role of English. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The rapid and wide spread of English has given rise to its lingua franca status, which in turn, changes the nature of English and English teaching at the tertiary level. This paper, based on a survey, discusses some of the problems with the current English curriculum used in Chinese universities and proceeds to offer some suggestions for a more appropriate university English curriculum in China in the context of English as an international language. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the framework of the internationalization and globalization of higher education and competition for international students, the paper examines how language policy in higher education shapes the provision of study programs in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. It concludes that study programs in the Baltic states mostly follow the convention of a monolingual curriculum offered in the official national language, or Russian, as the largest minority language in the Baltic states, or English. Comparative analysis of international student flows also shows that while students from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are leaving to study in predominantly English-speaking countries, which dominate in the global competition for international students, language policy laws in the Baltic states, except for Estonia, remain protective of the use of the official language in public higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationalisation has brought about remarkable changes at universities all over the world. In the case of the University of the Basque Country (Spain) this is reflected in the increasing presence of English-medium instruction. This paper examines two issues: the university community's perception of (1) the term international university and its interaction with languages and culture; and (2) the effect of English on attitudes towards the minority language, Basque. The participants were 589 subjects (students, teachers, and administration personnel) whose views were sought by analysing their responses to two open questions. Results show that there is a strong association between the presence of different languages and cultures in the conceptualisation of an international university. As for the impact of English on Basque, international students and teachers were mainly positive, whereas local students and administration personnel harboured a more reluctant attitude. Finally, we conclude that it is essential to raise language and cultural awareness in the implementation of multilingualism in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border higher education has created a need to build capacity – particularly in the internationalization dimension – for national quality assurance agencies to evaluate cross-border education provided by foreign educational providers, or jointly by local and foreign institutions. This is quickly becoming a key issue in the Asia-Pacific region. National accrediting agencies in Asia, which implement accrediting tasks domestically, are attempting to internationalize themselves through internal and external approaches. The main purpose of this article is to analyze the impact of this cross-border accreditation on national quality assurance agencies in the Asia-Pacific region. The approaches that national quality assurance agencies adopt to enhance their internationalization are discussed, as are the efforts the regional networks make to help Asian quality assurance agencies build capacity. Taiwan's case and the challenges it is faced with are also addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]