Intercultural Communication

We recognise, and promote, the importance of the international university. It only serves to support the future of Higher Education, international students, and research.

We have recently led on a series of transnational projects (EU, Brazil, China, Thailand). Their focus is on national and international policies local policies, and the experiences of students and staff.

We explore how virtual exchange can assist sustainable international and intercultural experiences. This covers both mobile and non-mobile university staff and students.

We look at the interplay of language, culture, and identity in contexts of migration and mobility.

Our research looks at how groups and individuals:

• understand interculturality
• engage in intercultural encounters with others from different socio-cultural backgrounds
• adjust and adapt to their new contexts

Our areas of expertise include transnational mobility in the context of Higher Education. We place particular focus on international student adjustment and adaptation.

We are also interested in the development of intercultural communicative competence. This is in relation to the migrant and refugee experience.

This is also known as:

• Collaborative Online International Learning
• Globally Networked Learning
• Telecollaboration

We explore how Virtual Exchange extends authentic opportunities for intercultural and transnational learning. We provide considerable expertise and leadership in designing, delivering, and assessing Virtual Exchange.

We achieve this through research-informed pedagogical practice. This has a strong emphasis on diversity and inclusion. 

Virtual Exchange can play a central role in the future of:

Intercultural Communication

• language learning
• internationalisation of Higher Education
• technology-enhanced learning
• teacher training

Our team hosted the International Virtual Exchange Conference 2020. Its theme was Towards Digital Equity in Internationalisation.

The conference brought together VE researchers, practitioners, and professionals from 47 countries. The event strengthened our position as a leader in the growing virtual exchange community.

We also research other areas of Intercultural Communication. These include:

• English as a lingua franca (a global language of communication)
• language attitudes
• intercultural transitions
• interactions in culturally and linguistically dynamic settings

• Global Citizenship and Multilingual Competences, funded by Erasmus+, 2020-2023
• The Causes and Remedies for Marginalization and Underrepresentation in Global Virtual Exchange Initiatives: A Comprehensive Survey of Stakeholders in Four Geopolitical Sectors, funding by Stevens Initiative ($19,619), 2021
• Language as key to perceptual diversity: An interdisciplinary approach to the senses, 2018-2022.
• Critical Skills for Life and Work (CSLW) Developing the Professional Intercultural Communicative Competence of Highly-Skilled Refugees, funded by Erasmus+ (£125K), 2017-19
• Person-Centred Communication and the care of people living with dementia: Exploring the perspectives of medical students in the UK and Malaysia. ESRC and International Partnership Fund (£14k), 2017–19
• Enhancing the Quality of the International Student and Staff Mobility Experience: A Multiregional Enquiry in Thai Higher Education, funded by Newton Fund Advanced Fellowship (£68K ), 2016–18
• Transient Multilingual Communities and the Formation of Social and Linguistic Norms (TMC), funded by The Danish Council for Independent Research, Humanities