Globalisation and its sibling, internationalisation, have led to the development of multilingual, multicultural universities, which are often branded as pathways to global success. However, these universities may not adequately consider the challenges that stakeholders face in adapting to these new environments. This paper investigates the…

This study explores the effects of participation in short-term summer study abroad (SA) programmes in Spain on second language (L2) learners' attitudes towards Spanish. Both quantitative and qualitative findings indicate that participants' international experience improved their attitudes with regard to L2 learning. More importantly, participant…

People who learn a foreign language hold various mental images about the target language country, its culture and society. These images are recognised as a valuable source of information for developing the cultural component of a foreign language programme. However, explorations of mental images of Korea held by students enrolled in Korean…

As part of its ambitious Belt and Road initiative, the Chinese government, cognizant of the fact that establishing strong people-to-people bonds locally, regionally, and internationally will be key to the initiative's success and that languages will play a pivotal role in facilitating this, has called for the diversification of language programmes…

Given the widened access to Chinese higher education, a large proportion of students studying at Chinese colleges come from rural lower-class families and encounter different challenges in English language learning. By using Bourdieu's social theoretical lenses, this case study explores how the interplay of capital, habitus and social fields…

In the context of the exponential growth of multicultural campuses worldwide and the consequent need for students to engage in intercultural interaction, this article reports on parts of the findings of a study examining the relationships between learners' backgrounds (language and intercultural experiences) and their intercultural views and…

The goal of this article is to examine intercultural experiences and the cultural identity reconstruction of Chinese international students in Germany by focusing on their cultural learning, and use of multiple languages including English as a lingua franca (ELF), German and Chinese. Three rounds of individual interviews over 1 year were conducted…

Attitudes and motivation seem decisive in successful language learning (Dörnyei, Csizér, and Németh 2006. "Motivation, Language Attitudes and Globalisation: A Hungarian Perspective." Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.). Research in Spanish multilingual contexts analysing the influence of the L1 on attitudes and motivation to learn foreign…

Informed by Dörnyei's L2 Motivational Self System and intended to fill a gap in learning motivation research on languages other than English (LOTEs), this study investigated learners' motivation for three language clusters -- Southeast Asian (Vietnamese, Thai and Malay), Northeast Asian (Japanese and Korean) and European (German, Spanish and…

Internationalising higher education (HE) shows tensions between recruiting international students as a means of securing income and meeting their particular educational needs towards practices of caring for their social, psychological, intercultural and educational well-being. This paper briefly outlines the extent of current HE…

The article reports the views of 20 Chinese English as a foreign Language (EFL) students on the strengths and weaknesses of native English-speaking (NES) teachers in EFL teaching. Responding to an open-ended questionnaire and in-depth interviews, EFL students named the following as NES teachers' strengths: native language authenticity, cultural…