Staff Profile
Dr Alina Schartner
Lecturer in Applied Linguistics
- Email: alina.schartner@ncl.ac.uk
- Telephone: +44 (0)191 208 6593
- Personal Website: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/ecls/people/profile/alinaschartner.html
- Address: Room 2.09
School of ECLS
King George VI Building
Newcastle University
Queen Victoria Road
NE1 7RU
Background
Background:
After graduating with an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Salzburg in Austria, I went on to study for a MA in Cross-Cultural Communication and Education at Newcastle University. I subsequently studied for a PhD at ECLS, investigating the intercultural adjustment and adaptation of international postgraduate students in the UK. I completed my PhD in February 2014.
I was appointed Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at Newcastle University in June 2015, having previously worked as a Research Associate at the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching (CfLaT).
Memberships and professional networks:
- British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL)
- British Educational Research Association (BERA)
- International Association of Language and Social Psychology (IALSP) - three-year term as Secretary (2014-2017).
- Global Collective for Study Abroad Researchers and Administrators
- Critical Internationalization Studies Network (CISN)
Esteem indicators:
In June 2016 I was awarded the James J Bradac Early Career Prize for my work on the international student experience.
Editorial Board Member for the newly established open-access journal 'Trends in Higher Education'
Current leadership roles:
I am currently Degree Programme Director (DPD) for the MA Cross-Cultural Communication programmes.
Recent blog posts:
How to help international students bounce back from Covid-19 | Wonkhe
Research
My research interests focus mainly on transnational mobility, in particular international student mobility and the internationalisation of higher education. I am especially interested in intercultural adjustment and adaptation. I also research in the field of social psychology of communication, in particular the role of 'culture' in professional contexts and the concept of intercultural competence.
Current funded research:
Principal investigator (with Dr Sam Shields):
'A mixed-methods exploratory study of the university experiences of working-class international students in UK universities' funded by the NU HaSS Faculty Research Fund (2022-2023)
Co-investigator:
- Global Citizenship and Multilingual Competences (GCMC), Erasmus Strategic Partnership (2020-2023): https://gcmc.global
Recent funded research:
Principal investigator:
The 'international student experience' in 2021: The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the academic, psychological and sociocultural adjustment of international students in the UK' funded by the NU Institute for Social Science.
A research briefing reporting on key findings from this project can be accessed here.
Co-investigator:
- Critical Skills for Life and Work (CSLW): Developing the Professional Intercultural Communicative Competence of Highly Skilled Refugees, Erasmus Strategic Partnership (2017-2019): http://cslw.eu
- Approaches and Tools for Internationalisation at Home (ATIAH), Erasmus Strategic Partnership (2016-2018): https://research.ncl.ac.uk/atiah/
Doctoral supervision:
I am happy to supervise doctoral research in the following areas: internationalisation in higher education, international student adjustment and adaptation, intercultural transitions in internationally mobile individuals. I offer expertise in mixed-methods research using both qualitative and quantitative methods of enquiry (e.g. interviews, focus groups, surveys and questionnaires).
Current PhD projects I supervise:
- The impact of social contact and vocabulary knowledge on intercultural competence
- Cross-cultural adaptation of Saudi Arabian international ESL students in UK higher education
- Exploring the level of intercultural competence and language proficiency as factors in international students' adjustment in the UK
- International students: the jewel in the crown for higher education in preparing the global leader
- Improving the personal creativity of international higher education business students
Successfully completed PhD projects under my supervision:
- Understanding international postgraduate students' adjustment in a British university: motivations for study abroad and subsequent academic, sociocultural and psychological experiences, Xuan Zhao (2021)
- Cross-cultural adaptation and identity change: A study of Asian student sojourners in the UK, Hanh Pho (2021)
- Internationalisation and students' intercultural competence development, Yuwei Liang (2019)
- A study of international Vietnamese undergraduate students' psychological, sociocultural and academic adaptation and adjustment at a higher education institution in Thailand, Nattaya Srisakda (2018)
I am a regular academic reviewer for several journals, including:
- European Education
- MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)
- Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development
- International Journal of Intercultural Relations
Teaching
In 2022-23 I will be module leader for:
- ALC8013 Introduction to Intercultural Communication (Semester 1)
- ALC8007 Professional Communication in Intercultural Settings (Semester 2)
I also contribute sessions to the following modules:
- ALC8003 Research Portfolio (Semesters 1 and 2)
Teaching and scholarship related activities:
- Virtual exchange project with Indian University-Purdue University Columbus on 'critical intercultural incidents' (March 2023), funded by the NU Virtual Exchange Fund
- Development of intercultural orientation workshops for students on the MA CCC programmes (June-December 2022), funded by the NU Education Development Fund
Publications
- Young TJ, Ganassin S, Schartner A. Culture and Intercultural Communication. In: Tammy Gregersen, Sarah Mercer, ed. The Routledge Handbook of the Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching. London: Routledge, 2022, pp.300-312.
- Schartner A, Young TJ, Snodin N. Intercultural adjustment of internationally mobile academics working in Thailand. Higher Education 2022, Epub ahead of print.
- Young TJ, Ganassin S, Schneider S, Schartner A, Walsh S. Intercultural Challenges for the Reintegration of Displaced Professionals: A Response to the Language Learning Needs of Refugees in Europe. London and New York: Routledge, 2022.
- Young TJ, Mercer S, Ganassin S, Babic S, Schartner A, Schneider S, Walsh S. Intercultural communication and language learning for professional reintegration: 'success stories' from the European refugee crisis. In: American Association for Applied Linguistics Annual Meeting 2021. 2021, Denver, CO, USA.
- Liang Y, Schartner A. Culturally Mixed Group Work and the Development of Students’ Intercultural Competence. Journal of Studies in International Education 2022, 26(1), 44-60.
- Schartner A, Young TJ. Intercultural Transitions in Higher Education: International Student Adjustment and Adaptation. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020.
- Young TJ, Schartner A, Ganassin S, Walsh S. Displacement and Professional Reintegration – ‘Success Stories’ from the European Refugee Crisis. In: European Association of Social Psychology Annual Conference. 2019, University of Bologna, Italy.
- Pho H, Schartner A. Social contact patterns of international students and their impact on academic adaptation. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 2019, 42(6), 489-502.
- Valentine RA, Wakeling LA, Ferrie LJ, Schartner A, Guilding C, Peterson J. Students on Student Induction – A Cross-Disciplinary Action Research Project. ARELCS 2019, 16(2), 1-29.
- Ganassin S, Walsh S, Young TJ, Schartner A. The Critical Skills for Life and Work Project: Intercultural Communicative Competence and the Reintegration of Refugee Professionals in Europe. In: International Association for Intercultural Research 11th Biannual Conference. 2019, Shanghai, China.
- Young TJ, Tullo AS, Schartner A, Smith D, Shanmugaraja P, Ong G, Goodson ML. Communication, person-centeredness and the care of people with dementia: Perspectives of medical students in the UK and Malaysia. In: American Association for Applied Linguistics Conference. 2018, Chicago, Illinois: American Association for Applied Linguistics.
- Robson S, Almeida J, Schartner A. Internationalization at Home: time for review and development?. European Journal of Higher Education 2018, 8(1), 19-35.
- Schartner A, Cho Y. 'Empty signifiers' and 'dreamy ideals'. Perceptions of the 'international university' among higher education students and staff at a British university. Higher Education 2017, 74(3), 455-472.
- Young TJ, Tullo ES, Schartner A. How transculturally appropriate is person-centred communication in the care people living with dementia? Perspectives of medical students in the UK and Malaysia. In: The 67th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA 2017). 2017, San Diego, California: ICA.
- Young TJ, Tullo ET, Schartner A. Person-Centred communication and the care of people with dementia: exploring the perspectives of medical students in the UK and Malaysia. In: 17th Alzheimer's Association International Conference. 2017, London, UK.
- Young TJ, Handford M, Schartner A. The Internationalising University – An Intercultural Endeavour?. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 2017, 38(3), 189-191.
- Young TJ, Handford M, Schartner A. The internationalising university: an intercultural endeavour?. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 2017, 38(3), 189-191.
- Young TJ, Schartner A, Brandt A. Cross-Cultural Communication and Engineering Education. In: Invited talk to Tokyo University staff and Japanese Engineering Employers. 2016.
- Young TJ, Schartner A, Tullo E. Intergroup and intercultural perspectives on communication and living with dementia. In: British Association for Applied Linguistics Intercultural Communication SIG Annual Seminar. 2016, Open University, London.
- Young TJ, Schartner A, Brandt A. Internationalisation of Higher Education: A UK Perspective. In: Invited talk to Tokyo University staff. 2016, Tokyo University, Japan.
- Young TJ, Tullo ES, Schartner A. Person-Centred communication and the care of people living with dementia: exploring the perspectives of medical students in the UK and Malaysia. In: 15th International Conference on Language and Social Psychology (ICLASP15). 2016, Bangkok, Thailand: International Association of Language and Social Psychology.
- Schartner A. The effect of study abroad on intercultural competence: a longitudinal case study of international postgraduate students at a British university. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 2016, 37(4), 402-418.
- Schartner A, Young TJ. The Internationalising University: An Intercultural Endeavour? Perspectives From Around the Globe. In: International Conference on Language and Social Psychology (ICLASP15). 2016, University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, Bangkok, Thailand.
- Schartner A, Young TJ. Towards an integrated conceptual model of international student adjustment and adaptation. European Journal of Higher Education 2016, 6(4), 372-386.
- Young TJ, Walsh S, Schartner A. Which English? Whose English? Teachers’ beliefs, attitudes and practices. London: British Council, 2016. ELT Research Papers 16.04.
- Schartner A. A longitudinal case study of the cross-cultural adjustment and adaptation of international postgraduate students in the UK. In: European Conference on Educational Research. 2015, Corvinus University, Budapest, Hungary.
- Schartner A, Young TJ. Culture Shock or Love at First Sight? Exploring the 'Honeymoon' Stage of the International Student Sojourn. In: Fabricius, AH; Preisler, B, ed. Transcultural Interaction and Linguistic Diversity in Higher Education. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave MacMillan, 2015, pp.12-33.
- Young TJ, Schartner A. Does Cross-Cultural Communication Education ‘work’? An Investigation of International Higher Education Students in the U.K. In: World Conference on Education. 2015, Dublin.
- Schartner A, Cho Y. Perceptions of ‘internationalisation at home’ and ‘global citizenship’ among higher education students and staff. In: 48th Annual Meeting of the British Association for Applied Linguistics. 2015, Aston University, Birmingham.
- Athanasopoulos P, Bylund E, Montero-Melis G, Damjanovic L, Schartner A, Kibbe A, Riches N, Thierry G. Two languages, two minds: Flexible cognitive processing driven by language of operation. Psychological Science 2015, 26(4), 518-526.
- Schartner A. 'You cannot talk with all of the strangers in a pub': a longitudinal case study of international postgraduate students' social ties at a British university. Higher Education 2015, 69(2), 225-241.
- Schartner A. Are we really communicating cross-culturally? The learning and teaching experiences of international postgraduate students on a MA programme in Cross-cultural Communication. In: 7th Annual NE Universities (3 Rivers Consortium) Regional Learning and Teaching Conference. 2014, Collingwood College, Durham University.
- Young TJ, Schartner A. Sojourner Adjustment, Adaptation and Performance and the Study of Inter/Cross-Cultural Communication. In: Annual Seminar of the British Association for Applied Linguistics Special Interest Group in Intercultural Communication. 2014, Edinburgh University: British Association for Applied Linguistics.
- Young TJ, Schartner A. The effects of cross-cultural communication education on international students' adjustment and adaptation. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 2014, 35(6), 547-562.
- Young TJ, Schartner A, Windeatt S. The Internationalizing University: An Intercultural Endeavor? Retrospective accounts of the 'international student experience'. In: The 14th International Conference on Language and Social Psychology (ICLASP). 2014, Honolulu, Hawaii: Department of Communicology, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
- Wright C, Schartner A. ‘I can’t...I won’t?’ International students at the threshold of social interaction. Journal of Research in International Education 2013, 12(2), 113-128.
- Schartner A. ‘I don’t need the British to communicate in English.’ A longitudinal analysis of international postgraduate students’ social networks. In: 46th Annual Meeting of the British Association of Applied Linguistics. 2013, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.
- Young TJ, Schartner A. 'After all this I try to not put people in a box': The effects of cross-cultural communication education on academic adjustment and adaptation. In: 46th Annual Meeting of the British Association of Applied Linguistics. 2013, Herriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.
- Young TJ, Sercombe PG, Sachdev I, Naeb R, Schartner A. Success factors for international postgraduate students' adjustment: exploring the roles of intercultural competence, language proficiency, social contact and social support. European Journal of Higher Education 2013, 3(2), 151-171.
- Schartner A. From the decision to study abroad to the arrival in the host country: Exploring the role of pre-arrival factors in the international student experience. In: 13th International Conference of Language and Social Psychology (ICLASP). 2012, Leeuwarden, the Netherlands.
- Wright C, Schartner A. 'I can’t...I won't?' International students at the threshold of social interaction. In: 45th Annual Meeting of the British Association of Applied Linguistics. 2012, University of Southampton: British Association of Applied Linguistics.