ERIC Number: EJ1422229
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1467-5986
EISSN: EISSN-1469-8439
Available Date: N/A
Intercultural Communication during Pandemic: New Ways to Build Intercultural Dialogue and Relationships
Zala Volcic; Ilanda Tran; Vaasanthi Palepu; Rijul Baath
Intercultural Education, v35 n1 p42-61 2024
The article explores how intercultural relations can be fostered at the level of an undergraduate university degree during the pandemic. It offers one specific intervention within intercultural education to provide new ways of thinking about how intercultural relations can and do happen. By drawing on the "self-reflexive narratives" of the article's authors -- a university lecturer and three students -- we consider the ways in which intercultural education can enable people from diverse cultures to build a learning community. On the basis of a thematic analysis, we explore the role of reflection and action in the creation of intercultural knowledge that can lead towards developing meaningful relations and can assist in further supporting students in their well-being. We first map some key issues in intercultural education at the university level and provide a short literature review. Secondly, we briefly describe our intercultural initiative. We put our narratives into conversation in order to facilitate deeper understanding of how to build meaningful intercultural relationships, while learning, and collaborating together. Our goal is to reflect on perceptions of "the quality" of intercultural relationship experiences at the level of a university degree and to show how complex relational work fostered intercultural collaboration during the pandemic. On the basis of our inductive research, we offer an original approach to fostering intercultural education based on four stages: constructing and fostering an initial encounter; promoting group participation; emphasising reciprocity; and constructing activities to promote trust and care. Our experience demonstrated how forming intercultural relationships can meaningfully help students with their expectations, aspirations, and ultimately, careers.
Descriptors: Intercultural Communication, COVID-19, Pandemics, College Students, Cooperation, Interpersonal Relationship, Foreign Countries, Student Diversity, Foreign Students, School Closing, Distance Education, Computer Mediated Communication
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A