Multiculturalism and multilingualism in higher education: Intercultural activity participation and opportunities for language learning

Multiculturalism and multilingualism in higher education: Intercultural activity participation and opportunities for language learning

• Tsang, Art The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Aubrey, Scott The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Yuan, Rui University of Macau

International Journal of Multilingualism, (0), -, 2023

Routledge

2023

• F Learning & Teaching
  • FE Medium of Instruction, Language of Teaching, Bi-& Multilingual Education, Problems of Bilingualism, Code-mixing & Code-switching

Intercultural Activity Engagement Intercultural Communication Language Background Learners' Views

• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Post-Secondary Education

Against the backdrop of internationalisation and growing attention to intercultural experiences in tertiary education, this mixed-methods study examined, in part I, language learning benefits reaped by active participants in intercultural activities. As English is widely used for communication among multilinguals, part II of the study focused specifically on English. We set out to investigate the relationship between individuals' language background (actual and self-perceived English proficiency) and intercultural participation, as well as their views of the formal English language education they received prior to entering universities. The participants (n = 518) recruited from two universities in Hong Kong responded to a questionnaire and 11 of them also attended individual semi-structured interviews. Overall, five categories of benefits emerged from the interview findings, namely psychological benefits, proficiency enhancement, identification of problems, communicative strategies for accommodation, and communicative strategies for expression. A weak positive correlation was found between self-rated English speaking proficiency and participation. The interviewees also commented on the formal English education they received from curricular and environmental perspectives. Copyright ©2023 Routledge.

• English

Journal Articles

• 14790718

• 10.1080/14790718.2022.2164769

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/en/bibs/f5bab1d0

2024-05-17