Is it possible for young people to develop intercultural understanding through an ocean-crossing sailing voyage? What would happen to intercultural communication in a tall-ship space? This article unpacks the process of interculturality construction and participants' identity negotiation within an ocean-sailing setting. It applies an analytical…

In the context of Virtual Exchange (VE) it is often assumed that participants will be naturally prepared to interact online successfully with their international partners. However, there is ample evidence in the literature to suggest that VE participants are usually unaware of effective communicative strategies in synchronous and asynchronous…

Higher education institutions are constantly being challenged to equip graduates with relevant knowledge and skills for entering an increasingly diverse and globalized economy and workforce. The authors summarize internationalization efforts in higher education as an alternative to the traditional study abroad experience, and they describe how one…

Intercultural group work (IGW), where students from different nationalities work together, is one important way to develop intercultural competence, a key skill for engineering students. This longitudinal, qualitative study of five master's engineering students follows their individual experiences in IGW and the affordances and challenges this way…

Combine Collins' (1998) concept of outsiders-within, Habermas' (1985, 1990) theory of communicative action, Saukko's (2005) notion of dialogic validity, and new limitations are revealed about ideal speech situations. As explained by Dillon (2014), an ideal speech situation uses "reason not to dominate or bully [participants in a discussion]…

This descriptive pilot study investigates and evaluates nursing students' perceptions of their learning gains and the factors contributing to academic integration within a one-week Intensive Programme (IP) course, part of the Nordplus Programme. Nordplus encourages mobility and curriculum development across Nordic and Baltic higher education. The…

Global competence is an increasingly important disposition for today's society. Prospective teachers will have to be able to teach effectively in multicultural classrooms as well as develop dispositions of global competence in their future students. This pilot study was aimed at investigating what aspects of global competence should be integrated…

In many contexts of multilingualism, language learners can initiate communication in the target language (TL), or a contact language (such as English). Patterns of use emerging from these choices affect TL development. They also vary between individuals. Willingness to communicate (WTC) needs to be investigated in ways that capture these…

This paper delves into the underlying phases involved in designing, developing, and deploying Augmented Reality (AR) applications and game-based scenarios that will be implemented during intercultural exchanges among students in two different academic institutions in Sweden and Cyprus. Building on principles of design-based research (Barab &…

In many contexts of multilingualism, language learners can initiate communication in the target language (TL), or a contact language (such as English). Patterns of use emerging from these choices vary between individuals and affect TL development. Willingness to communicate (WTC) needs to be investigated in ways that capture these variations. So…

In contexts of transnational migration, language skills provide the key to employability and successful integration into host country societies. To enhance the learning process, and facilitate transitions into the workforce, integrated programs of L2 learning have been developed in several Nordic countries. In these undertakings, language…

This article explores current Internationalization of the Curriculum (IoC) practices and perceptions among teaching staff at a middle-sized Swedish University. It provides information about the background and theoretical framework, explaining the main concepts and the growing importance of IoC in the last decade, touching common myths and…

This article concerns knowledge negotiations as an aspect of interactional power in three-way interaction between Arabic-speaking women, Swedish-speaking midwives and interpreters in Swedish antenatal care. The notion of epistemic stance is used to investigate how all three participants negotiate knowledge, and how this affects the ongoing…

This article explores how a third space could be constructed in an outdoor setting. It uses at-sea sail-training to substantiate the construction of a third space. It uses Yin-Yang philosophy to enrich existing theories of third space and experiential learning. The finding reveals that the thirdness of the oceanic space has a positive impact on…

Integration is vital to student well-being in higher education but integrating new students from different countries can be challenging. To ascertain students' integration into their new environment, this mixed method study combined the data collected from weekly diary entries of home and international students at the start of one engineering…