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As intercultural learning has been increasingly regarded as essential in higher education, researchers have promoted it through integration of digital storytelling into cultural exchange activities. However, most studies have focused on the utilization of only one language whereas the effects of multilingual digital storytelling on students' intercultural learning is understudied. To help bridge this gap, in this study, the effects of creating bilingual digital stories with students in an English-speaking country on the intercultural learning of students in a Chinese-speaking country were investigated. Data included students' learning portfolios and reflective essays and were analyzed utilizing content analysis and matrix coding query. The findings revealed that the students became more critically aware of their own and others' cultural diversity and sensitive to the uses of both English and Chinese language and multimedia resources for communication with people from different cultural backgrounds. They also reported multiple advantages associated with their cross-cultural online interactions, specifically in the domains of language acquisition and cultural understanding. However, they also highlighted challenges, notably the difficulties in coordinating meeting schedules and overcoming communication barriers. Implications and limitations are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite significant advances in the conception of cultural teaching and learning in recent decades, some unresolved problems remain. In Intercultural Learning, the cultures between which learners mediate still appear as bounded, nation-type cultures. In Transcultural Learning, it is unclear how learners could acquire knowledge of an unstable, dynamic, and hybrid object. This article suggests Cognitive Cultural Didactics, which relies on the concept of cognitive scripts, i.e., generic mental representations of everyday activities. Cognitive Cultural Didactics reconsiders cultural learning as the additive acquisition of cognitive scripts that govern everyday interactions in geographically more remote locations. By doing so, the cognitive paradigm can resolve some of the current intercultural and transcultural learning limitations. Moreover, Cognitive Cultural Didactics has essential implications for Anti-Racist Pedagogy. It may serve as an antidote against a racist mindset that puts people into binary categories based on skin colour, place of birth, or parents’ place of birth (‘Us’ vs. ‘Them’).

This study examines the impact of intercultural learning, from the perspective of home versus host country, on the academic performance of Chinese students in an Australian university’s transnational education program. It integrates transformative learning theory and cognitive load theory as the conceptual framework and compares the academic performance of students who remained in China with those who went to Australia to complete the same Australian university degree. Using a difference-in-differences approach, our analysis revealed a significant performance difference between the Australia-based and China-based groups by year level after controlling for academic ability. The findings have practical and policy implications for student support and transnational education program management in Australian universities. The study highlights the need for tailored support to help Chinese (and possibly other international) students during their first year of arrival in Australia. It also calls for embedding intercultural learning into discipline-specific programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad is the property of Frontiers Journal, Inc and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The interdisciplinary project uses the different meanings of the German term “Küche” to promote subject-specific, subject-matter-didactic and interdisciplinary competences. Through the tasks set by the participating disciplines "Nutrition" and "Fashion and Design", learning products are developed within their own discipline, which are made available to the other discipline for transformation. The target product is an annotated wallpaper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This program evaluation aimed to investigate the benefits and challenges of an international, intercultural, e-community-engagement experience involving youth and higher education students. The authors sought to understand the meaning that participants would make of an international, intercultural, e-community-engagement experience. Design/methodology/approach: The program evaluation component of this project was qualitative, participatory and action-oriented. It was composed of online reflection sessions with small, international groups of higher education students from Iraq, India, Morocco, South Africa and the USA immediately following each of five interactive exchange sessions with youth from South Africa. It also included one culminating reflection session to which all of the higher education student participants were invited and a written questionnaire that was completed by the youth participants at the conclusion of the project. The reflection sessions were recorded and transcribed. Transcripts and survey data were reviewed for emergent themes. Findings: Cultural exposure emerged as the primary theme with participants valuing the opportunity to learn about different cultures and to connect with individuals from across the globe. Research limitations/implications: This program evaluation was not designed as a generalizable study. This pilot initiative provides evidence of the potential value and importance of international, intercultural e-community-engagement experiences for youth and higher education students. Practical implications: The potential value of technology to build exchange opportunities for young people is immense and largely untapped. International, intercultural e-community-engagement initiatives can be made available to students globally with relatively limited resources. A highly structured and focused plan provides clarity about expectations and requirements for students. A high level of commitment is required by all participants, including the faculty coordinators. Social implications: Although the project was brief, exposure to numerous countries and cultures allowed participants to challenge their assumptions about different peoples and places in the world. The potential benefits for greater compassion and understanding of communities and cultures in an international context are high. Originality/value: This program evaluation contributes to and extends the literature on the possibilities and challenges of international e-community-engagement; it demonstrates the potential for e-community-engagement across multiple countries to broaden students' exposure to and interest in global perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the internationalisation of higher education and explores the opportunities and challenges faced by LSP teachers when attempting to integrate interculturality in LSP courses and their everyday teaching – that is, when they aim at interculturalisation at home (Jones, 2020). It examines, among others, the instruments developed within the European Higher Education Area to introduce the intercultural component into education across Europe, the role of LSP textbooks in fostering and supporting intercultural language learning, the benefits of interculturalised syllabi and activities in LSP courses, and the contribution of LSP teachers to the interculturalisation of LSP classrooms. These issues are addressed from a pragmatic standpoint in an attempt to spark conversation and provide clear pointers for further advancement in the field.

This study reviewed thirty-seven articles on intercultural learning supported by technology. The results are reported in terms of strength of evidence and relationship among research variables. The results indicated the following strength of evidence: (1) moderate evidence showed higher frequency of the technology usage in higher education or above; strong evidence revealed that technology was applied more frequently in studies with large sample than in those with small sample; (2) moderate evidence demonstrated most of the main findings were obtained from studies related to higher education or above; (3) moderate evidence illustrated that the main finding was intercultural learning outcome and it was frequently obtained using various measuring instruments; (4) there was moderate evidence that mixed research was prevalent in the reviewed studies, and most of the main findings were obtained through mixed research; (5) strong evidence showed that computer vision technologies had the most significant impacts on participants' intercultural learning. In addition, the following five relationships were identified: participants and technology, participants and main findings, instruments and main findings, types and main findings, and impacts of technology on intercultural learning. Taken together, the implication of this research provides reliable evidence for driving innovation in technology-assisted cross-cultural learning studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercultural education has constituted an interdisciplinary teaching principle in Austrian upper and lower secondary curricula since 1992 and was reinforced by a decree in 2017. Literary texts have been identified as promising resources and valuable tools for initiating intercultural learning through their frequently inherent multi-perspectivity encouraging students to empathize with characters, consider different perspectives, contrast viewpoints, relate stories to personal experiences, and reflect on diverse ideas. However, research on the implementation of intercultural teaching and learning using literature in foreign language classrooms has so far mostly focused on upper secondary education and has frequently related to using postcolonial fiction writings. To counter the knowledge gap on the implementation of intercultural learning in lower educational levels, this study adopts a literary science approach to explore the potential of picturebooks in early secondary EFL classrooms. Using The Little Green Jacket (Dee, 2020), it specifically examines perspective-taking as a key dimension of intercultural learning. Through written learner reflections, the research study assesses whether students in two Austrian EFL classrooms (n = 35) can adopt a different viewpoint. The findings show that most students are successful, or at least partly successful, in perspective-taking and mostly describe emotions of sadness but also hopefulness in their reflective writings. Thus, the study suggests that picturebooks have the potential to facilitate perspective-taking as an essential dimension of intercultural education among young EFL learners with low language proficiency, highlighting their largely untapped potential in early language education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercultural encounters are important sites for intercultural learning. Hence the teaching of English as a foreign language should include possibilities for learners to engage in such encounters. It is theoretically suggested and empirically supported, that encounters with texts and images can be fruitful for intercultural learning. Picturebooks constitute one form of literary text that is suitable for teaching foreign languages to children. This study suggests that purposefully selected picturebooks can create affordances for intercultural encounters in the early English as a foreign language classroom, thus contributing to intercultural learning from an early age. Selected learner data collected in a qualitative multiple case study with learners from 8 to10 years old, interacting with two English language picturebooks, were analyzed using deductive, qualitative content analysis. The analyses showed that learners displayed awareness of several intercultural encounters with and between characters in the picturebooks, especially encounters that included the two child protagonists. These encounters were based on multiple cultural group affiliations, including affiliations based on a more traditional as well as an extended view of culture, which included non-human groups. It is concluded that, based on a non-essentialist view of culture, the selected picturebooks and their teaching sequences created affordances for learners' awareness of different cultural affiliations, which is considered a prerequisite for engagement in intercultural encounters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the concept of inclusive internationalization within the context of global higher education, emphasizing its critical importance in expanding access and equity for all students. It outlines the transformative role of internationalization in enhancing learning experiences, promoting diverse cultural perspectives, and fostering essential skills for global citizenship. The urgent need for inclusive strategies is particularly highlighted in Uzbekistan, where government reforms aim to improve academic quality and broaden international opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds, including those from rural and socio-economically disadvantaged regions. By leveraging existing frameworks such as the Erasmus+ program, the European Universities Initiative, and national education reforms, Uzbekistan can develop comprehensive strategies to facilitate inclusive internationalization. Additionally, the article discusses the significance of effective partnership assessments, mobility initiatives, and resources to enhance inclusivity in higher education. Through a commitment to innovative practices and community engagement, Uzbekistan's higher education institutions can emerge as key players in global education, fostering a more equitable academic environment and contributing to societal transformation and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 21st century, intercultural competence and intercultural communication play an increasingly important role in every segment of life, including education. What does it mean to be interculturally competent or to be able to communicate interculturally? Human communities, society, culture - they are in a constant state of change. Culture is therefore dynamic and never static, just like the language associated with it. One of the main characteristics of intercultural competence is that those who possess it can deal flexibly with change. The coexistence of cultures - like every interaction - is at least bilateral, but we can only transform this way our environment, our society, into a world in that it is worth living together. This will only work if the most diverse groups of the society participate: the national majority, the national or autochthonous minorities, the long-established locals and people with a migration background. Why is this urgently needed and how can it be ensured that students gain practical experience during their training and promote their intercultural attitude? Teacher candidates have to be well prepared for their educational work, which will most likely be characterised by multiculturalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of English and its increasing importance in intercultural encounters have challenged essentialist perspectives of culture in English language teaching. In addition to using English as a means of communication, students are expected to develop intercultural awareness, which allows them to analyse and reflect on their intercultural encounters and to participate in social activities. Such a need draws great attention to language teachers' perceptions of and engagement in intercultural teaching. As a narrative inquiry, this paper examines the reflections of English language practitioners who have returned from an overseas study experience and have become English language teachers in China. It focuses on their study abroad experiences, encompassing both their achievements and challenges in the context of intercultural learning, and examines how these experiences have influenced their current involvement in intercultural teaching. The findings help shed light on the shifts in teachers' perceptions of intercultural encounters and how the processes of making sense of intercultural experiences inform their orientation towards intercultural learning. The paper considers the importance of helping teachers use their experiential understanding of language and culture to generate a critical pedagogical stance to promote intercultural education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing an interculturally competent STEM workforce is the need of time. Research has demonstrated that STEM students find it challenging to work with individuals from diverse backgrounds. This study used Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) instrument to understand the intercultural learning gains of technology students by administrating the survey in the program's first year and final year. The data were analyzed using multivariate statistics to assess the intercultural learning gains of the students. The study results indicate that students demonstrated a statistically significant increase in intercultural competence as they progressed from their first year to their final year of college. The study also indicated that having an intercultural mindset and participating in intercultural activities such as study abroad programs or intercultural mentoring can help students internalize intercultural competence and make meaningful gains on the intercultural development continuum. The study also provides recommendations to help students develop interculturally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognising and appreciating linguistic diversity and different cultural identities is an important educational goal for the development of our societies [Council of Europe 2007. From Linguistic Diversity to Plurilingual Education: Guide for the Development of Language Education Policies in Europe. Council of Europe Publishing; 2020. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment – Companion Volume. Council of Europe Publishing]. This paper presents the results of a quasi-experimental pre–post control-group study on the implementation of multilingual teaching activities in teaching French as a second foreign language at secondary grammar schools in Germany (in total n = 221 students, a convenience sample of 207th grade classes). Results of analysis of questionnaires and interviews with students show a positive appreciation of multilingual teaching activities, especially among students with migration background who have been raised plurilingually, and an increase in the appreciation of multilingual teaching activities among students who have been raised monolingually in the lingua franca German. Furthermore, the results indicate that the intervention was relevant to students’ intercultural learning in terms of fostering their appreciation of multilingual teaching activities, even though the teaching materials prepared for the study were not implemented consistently in all participating classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study offers an account of the coming out by Amy, a 20-year-old student of Japanese in Boston who has 'been out to most' as a cisgender lesbian woman, to Yoko, a 19-year-old student of English in Tokyo who experiences culture shock with Amy's revelation. The data originated from an exchange on Google Hangouts that was part of a US–Japan telecollaboration project. Our goal is to examine the impact of this coming-out event on the students' experience of the virtual exchange and on their long-term cross-cultural understandings of LGBTQ+ issues and sexual diversity. We first analyze how Amy and Yoko managed the critical event discursively. We then examine the participants' retrospections collected at the end of the project and again about 5 years later. We find that the two students co-constructed the coming-out event as one of transforming culture shock into a mutual opportunity for interpersonal bonding and intercultural learning. Nevertheless, they also reproduced stereotypical constructions of the US as a country that is open to sexual diversity and Japan as a country where queer lives are invisible. We call for the inclusion of LGBTQ+ identities and gender and sexuality diversity in language pedagogy and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad is the property of Frontiers Journal, Inc and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad is the property of Frontiers Journal, Inc and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This white paper is a conceptual summary of a think tank discussion sponsored by The Forum on Education Abroad. Following the traditional use of “white paper” as a call to action in specific contexts, this paper defines the contexts of programming for education abroad and for domestic diversity education and argues for an incorporation of their differing perspectives into the general category of intercultural learning. The result of the application would be that intercultural learning in education abroad would continue to expand its current emphasis on the developmental experience of contemporary global cultures to include more transformational experience of historical and political context, while domestic diversity education would expand its current focus on transformational experience of historically situated power inequities to include more developmental experience of contemporary domestic multicultural relations. Several illustrations of practical application of the ideas follow the call to action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being globally competent is significant for students to effectively navigate the complexities of the interconnected world and live a high quality of life. Yet little is known about how intercultural learning activities impact adolescents' global competence. In this vein, this study aims to examine the impact of intercultural learning on adolescents' global competence as well as the potential moderating effect of school discriminatory climate. Using a sample of 211,554 students representing 7,012 schools across 26 economies, this study reveals a noteworthy inverted U-shaped effect of intercultural learning. Specifically, as students' participation in intercultural learning activities increases, their global competence initially grows and subsequently declines after reaching a critical turning point. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that the curvilinear effect of intercultural learning is significantly moderated by the prevailing climate of discrimination within schools. The curvilinear pattern is more pronounced when discrimination levels are low (-1SD) and becomes comparatively flatter under conditions of high school discrimination climate(+ 1SD). Further policy and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Project-based learning is of great importance for German as a foreign language (DaF) instruction, as it allows learners to practice their language skills and intercultural competence in purposeful activities in a hands-on way. This article presents an innovative project for DaF instruction, in which DaF students from the German department of the University of Oran2 will translate and synchronize an episode of the Algerian series "Achour 10" into German. The challenge of taking on the roles of the characters in "Achour 10" and adapting the dialogues into German and then performing them synchronously is a challenge for students, but it is a practical way to promote individual competence development in a collaborative way. This oral presentation activity demonstrates the fluency and pronunciation of DaF students and encourages them to communicate cultural differences in a dialogue. This article describes the process of the different phases, as well as the strategies for implementing the project proposed by the teaching team. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Die Ausführung von Projektarbeiten ist für den DaF-Unterricht von einer großen Bedeutung, dadurch haben die Lernenden die Möglichkeit, ihre Sprachkenntnisse und ihre interkulturelle Kompetenz in zweckmäßigen Aktivitäten handlungsorientiert zu trainieren. In diesem Beitrag wird ein innovatives Projekt für den DaF-Unterricht vorgestellt, bei dem DaF-Studierende aus der Deutschabteilung der Universität Oran2 eine Folge der algerischen Serie „Achour 10“ ins Deutsche übersetzen und synchronisieren werden. Die Schwierigkeit die Rollen der Serie „Achour 10“ bzw. die Stimmen zu übernehmen und die ins Deutsche zu adaptieren und dann sie synchron zu spielen stellt in diesem Projekt eine Herausforderung für Studierenden aber eine praktische Weise die individuelle Kompetenzentwicklung in einer kollaborativen Weise zu fördern. Diese mündliche Präsentationsaktivität demonstriert die Geläufigkeit und Aussprache der DaF-Studierenden und fordert sie auf, kulturelle Besonderheiten in einem Dialog zu kommunizieren. Dieser Artikel beschreibt den Ablaufprozess der verschiedenen Phasen, sowie die Strategien zur Durchführung des Projekts, die vom Lehrerteam vorgeschlagen wurden.

Collaborative International Online Learning (COIL) provides students meaningful and valuable engagement with students in another country to reach the goals of academic programs at the participating institutions. The strategy has demonstrated benefits for nursing students, including the acquisition of self-awareness, empathy, cultural humility, and leadership skills. The aim of this study was to share the results of the partnership in a COIL project using digital technology between a university in the United States and a university in Spain. The goals of this collaboration were twofold: to expose students in the U.S. and Spain to an international experience on mental health and to provide a comparative view of their respective health care systems. The chosen technique focuses on perceptions of mental health and how mental health care is delivered in clinical settings. A total of 166 students took part in this experience. The virtual exchange allowed students and faculty to share best practices in caring for people with mental illness. Nursing students providing care to COVID-19 patients reflected on lessons learned during the pandemic and its impact on community mental health. Small group activities such as icebreakers, homework assignments, and reflections were used to share and compare experiences. Students completed COIL surveys, which demonstrated that students from both countries perceived learning gains using evidence-based best practices related to key nursing concepts in a mutually respectful virtual exchange. The results show a perceived increase in the comprehension of mental health-related content and enhancement of clinical practice. Therefore, the COIL methodology is a feasible option as it allows for an intercultural exchange with an in-depth examination of content from the learners and teaching perspectives. In addition, it prepares students to work in international teams virtually.

Utilizing mobile phones for education, particularly in mobile-assisted language learning (MALL), enhances comprehensive learning, intercultural communication, and metacognitive skill development among preservice teachers. This approach fosters the acquisition of intercultural communicative competence (ICC). Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of MALL integrated with metacognitive skills to promote preservice English teachers’ ICC. This pre-experimental study with one group design involved 28 preservice English teachers at a university in Mataram, Indonesia. The ICC and metacognitive questionnaires were utilized to collect the data, and the collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical analysis using IBM SPSS devices. The results show that MALL helped preservice English teachers become autonomous learners and actively engage in self-regulating their cognitive abilities to think critically, adapt, and interact within diverse cultural contexts. MALL integrated with metacognitive skills significantly affected preservice teachers’ ICC, and the level of metacognitive skills influenced the success of improving their ICC. The implication of MALL can delve into the pedagogical approaches and design principles that optimize MALL interventions within mobile learning environments.

This study reports on the results of a semester-long Chinese-American telecollaborative exchange via WeChat, in which students from China and the U.S. shared thematically similar songs in their respective languages and discussed relevant cultural topics that were suggested by the students. Various types of qualitative data collected from the exchange (i.e. WeChat group discussion transcripts, videoconferencing audio recordings, final reflection journals, and end-of-semester interviews) showed that the students participated actively in the program and were able to engage in in-depth conversations on various topics with their partners through WeChat group discussion and one-on-one videoconferencing. Many students attributed their positive experience to the intrinsic ability of music to engage college students. In order to evaluate the students' intercultural learning, Byram's intercultural competence assessment model was adopted to guide the data analysis. Results showed that the students demonstrated evidence of developing four types of intercultural competences during the exchange: interest in knowing other people's way of life and introducing one's own culture to others, knowledge about one's own and others' culture for intercultural communication, ability to change perspective, and knowledge about the intercultural communication process, with particularly overwhelming evidence indicating the prominence of the first two types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Images determine how we perceive the world and ourselves as part of the world. Through images, we divide the world into an ideologically questionable "I/we here - you/the others there". This article is dedicated to this phenomenon and examines the community-building power of imagery using case studies and with regard to recent findings in the field of image studies. Finally, it discusses why and how community-building images can be addressed in art education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A class of fifth grade children draw what is important to them. The project allows children to express themselves individually, while it aims to show what the children have in common and to depict their community as a "class picture" at the same time. Regular discussions in class, some very personal, accompany the work progress. The resulting pictures provide an insight into the children's lives and values and offer an opportunity to reflect on how to understand symbols and how to learn interculturally in art lessons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a research study of a three‐semester elementary Italian language curriculum at a large Midwestern research university that incorporates intercultural competence (IC) training through cognitive dissonance image analyses, conversations with native speakers, classroom discussion, and reflections to determine the impact of this curriculum on learners' development of IC. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered over three semesters to assess students' IC and identify insights into the developmental processes. Students' development of IC was measured in pre‐ and posttests using the Intercultural Development Inventory. Students demonstrated positive growth in IC with 9‐point gains in developmental orientation scores (p <.001). Qualitative data from student interviews and reflections were analyzed using the VALUE rubric of the Association of American Colleges and Universities and illustrate that students increased awareness of cultural self and different others, applied openness and curiosity in intercultural interactions, and developed skills for empathy and perspective taking. While previous studies on language courses with no or limited intercultural learning content failed to prove effective in promoting IC growth, this study suggests that purposeful integration of IC materials and activities can promote intercultural development in elementary language learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing a deeper understanding of factors that influence learning and teaching in widening culturally diverse learning environments is necessary in proactively planning supports and pedagogical approaches that encourage integration, intercultural understanding and respect for cultural difference. This qualitative descriptive study reports on the experiences and perceptions of teaching faculty and students (domestic and international) of learning and teaching in postgraduate culturally diverse environments. Three themes were generated from the data: ‘early apprehension’, ‘cautious engagement’ and ‘shared acceptance’, highlighting the multifaceted responses to cultural diversity in the learning environment. These findings illuminate how learning and teaching in widening culturally diverse education settings require careful, sensitive and proactive planning and supports. The individuality of learning experiences, self-preservation of identities, narrow perceptions of cultural difference and unconscious ‘othering’, influenced learning behaviours, integration and cohesive learning. The findings also highlight the necessity of adopting culturally responsive pedagogies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports quantitative findings of a project investigating the in-progress formation of EFL students’ critical intercultural awareness (CIA) in the Indonesian tertiary context. It examines a 10-week pedagogical intervention using culturally appropriate YouTube clips with intercultural tasks. A one-group pre-test/posttest design was employed involving a cohort of 50 undergraduate participants of mixed gender in five faculties and from varying ethnic groups. An intercultural awareness questionnaire was administered twice before and after the learning intervention. A pairedsample t-test was performed with SPSS 28 to examine the mean differences. The results revealed a significant improvement (Sig. 2- tailed value .001, p < .05) in participants’ CIA scores. This suggests that video clip-assisted intercultural tasks promote the development of abilities to identify, interpret, and critically evaluate the intercultural values embedded in the clips. The study further showed that gender, fields of study and ethnicity did not significantly contribute to the CIA development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of intercultural dimension of internationalisation of higher education and intercultural learning through perception of educators, policy-makers, representatives of civil society sector in Italy and Ukraine. We have attempted to study if internationalisation has operated a shift towards qualitative learning objectives, making universities to focus on intercultural learning within the internationalisation process. For educators the growing presence of debates on intercultural issues has posited a series of challenges on preparing interculturally competent graduates. Methodology used consisted semistructured interviews of the selected experts in both countries. Findings indicate that intercultural dimension of internationalisation can intwine appropriately with the goals of higher education however analysis showed that qualitative outcomes of internationalisation process are rather underestimated at national and institutional levels in both countries. The study underscores the critical importance of integrating intercultural dimensions into the internationalisation of higher education, revealing distinct approaches in Italy and Ukraine, advocating for collaborative efforts between academia and civil society to enhance intercultural awareness and competences, and emphasising the positive potential for a transformative evolution in the future.

Our current multicultural societies require that education addresses diversity and promotes cultural awareness and intercultural learning. Mathematics and science education can also contribute to this aspect of citizenship education and create a culture of belonging for all students. Professional development that integrates intercultural learning with educational practices is still uncommon in the field of science and mathematics teacher preparation and support. This study explores the possibilities to support science and mathematics teachers in implementing intercultural learning through a professional development course. The course was developed in a European setting, based on a theoretical analysis, and tried out with 319 teachers from six participating countries. The impact of the course on teachers' take up of intercultural learning was measured with a pre-post questionnaire. We found that the course strengthened teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and extended their teaching practices with opportunities created by cultural diversity among their students or in their subjects. In addition to that, teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and the perceived cultural diversity in class appeared to be influencing factors for teachers' practices. Based on our findings we recommend that the combination of intercultural learning with educational practices of mathematics and science might be a suitable gateway to provide new intercultural learning opportunities for students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mentored online intercultural interaction offers foreign language learners the opportunity to develop different competences, including intercultural, linguistic, and digital competence (O'Dowd, 2021). Such virtual exchange (VE) projects typically involve computer-mediated communication via, for example, Zoom. However, the use of high-immersion virtual reality (VR) for synchronous online collaboration in VE projects has received little attention. This study investigated the effect of VR on students' levels of presence and engagement, on students' communication and on students' views on using VR for intercultural encounters compared to traditional videoconferencing tools. Twenty-seven university students from the Netherlands and Germany utilised VR to carry out intercultural learning tasks using English as a lingua franca during a four-week implementation period. Participants responded to pre- and post-intervention questionnaires, completed reflection journals, audio- or video-recorded their VR meetings and participated in interviews. Results showed that the levels of presence and engagement and preferences of social VR compared to videoconferencing for intercultural encounters depended on students individually. A VR immersion experience and comfortability scale was created based on the data which showed mixed experiences. VR influenced participants' interactions, topics of conversation and communication strategies when they explored their spaces together. The results showed that students' attitudes towards VR and their subjective experience of VR seem to play an important role in the VE-VR setting. VR provided a safe space for many participants. Positive attitudes towards communicating in the VR environment are highly correlated with positive attitudes towards meeting students from other countries in VR. Implications for language education are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive intercultural interaction and positive changes aggravate cross-cultural communication problems in modern society, caused by contradictions between the values and lifestyles of different peoples. In this regard, the search for ways to transform cultural diversity as a factor hindering intercultural dialogue into a means of mutual understanding and enrichment, into a tool for the development of a socially active and independent personality, capable of being a full-fledged participant in the dialogue of cultures, is becoming more relevant in education. The purpose of the article is to compare the functions of speech activity and culture and show their close relationship; to demonstrate that the methodological meaning of this unity is that speech acts cannot be learned in isolation from culture, and intercultural learning is not just interaction with another culture, but the cultural development of the learner; to consider the intercultural approach peculiarity in learning a foreign language through cognition, evaluation, and comparison of the native culture with the culture of the nation whose language is studied. The research methodology consists of theoretical analysis and generalization of scientific and methodological literature, which considers the basic principles, concepts, approaches to culture, and universal and cultural features in teaching foreign languages; synthesis of modern theoristsʼ views, to demonstrate the importance of the intercultural approach in language learning and personality development. The authors consider the process of joint learning of language and culture, which involves not only the formation of intercultural competence as one of the results of language learning but also the acquisition of a linguistic and cultural picture of the world as the content of this process, as well as the formation of other competencies, abilities, and qualities of a multilingual, multicultural personality. The process of learning a foreign language can be seen as a unique potential for personal development. It is not only about the development of intellectual qualities that allow one to penetrate the mental space of people of a foreign culture and overcome their cultural isolation, but also about the rooting of value and semantic orientations that contribute to the successful self-realization of modern youth as cultural subjects in a multicultural space.

The ability to cope with the challenges of cultural diversity is one of the key competencies that students need to develop in the contemporary world. This actualizes the question of intercultural learning and students' attitudes towards it. The study aimed at development and validation of the instrument to measure students’ attitudes towards intercultural learning. Taking into account the “sources” and processes of intercultural learning available to students, as well as the structure of the attitude, an instrument consisting of four scales were created - each of them includes three aspects of the attitudes: cognitive, affective and behavioral ones. The reliability and validity of each of the instrument were confirmed on a sample of 399 students of Russian universities using statistical procedures such as exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, analysis of the consistency of the scales according to Cronbach's alpha and McDonald’s omega, analysis of extracted mean variance and heterotrait-monotrait ratio. It seems promising to consider various aspects of intercultural learning in further research, adapting and using the scales not only in the higher education system, but also in other contexts and age groups.

The goal of this synthesis is to review literature on the use of telecollaborative pedagogy for the purpose of language teacher education in order to identify themes in teacher intercultural telecollaborative learning. The synthesis reviews 36 telecollaborative studies that were published between 2009 and 2019 and focused on teacher professional development. Thematic analyses of the 36 studies revealed six themes: (a) changes in the focus from exploring telecollaborative learning to examining its application for teacher learning of new competences related to intercultural learning, technology integration, and telecollaboration integration; (b) conceptualization and design of telecollaboration as experiential learning for teacher professional development; (c) intentional enhancement of the transferability of new competences to future teaching; (d) teaching presence and expanded roles of project instructors; (e) explorations of teachers' changing attitudes and perceptions of telecollaborative learning; and (f) teacher preparedness for addressing challenges occurring in telecollaboration. Finally, this systematic review discusses the interrelationship among the six themes and offers implications for future research and practice in line with the current findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]