Internationalisation at home: Creating an equitable virtual space for language learning

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the impact of telecollaborative practices grounded in internationalisation at home (IaH) on foreign or additional language learning and intercultural understanding. Two higher education institutions (HEIs) from Taiwan and Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) collaboratively re-innovate a virtual learning space, originally designed for third-year university students, to facilitate equitable access to intercultural communication experiences for first-year university language learners. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected through student e-portfolios, social networking sites, and reflections to evaluate the effectiveness of the telecollaborative learning design in achieving its goals. Findings demonstrated that the telecollaborative practices not only afforded students opportunities to practice with peers from native-language countries but also prompted them to strengthen their sense of belonging and identity the more their intercultural knowledge broadened and deepened. Future research is suggested to explore the potential impact of IaH initiatives on a broader range of tertiary students.

KEYWORDS:

• internationalisation at home (IaH)
• intercultural knowledge and competences
• telecollaboration
• qualitative study
• Taiwan
• Aotearoa New Zealand

Acknowledgment

We thank the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, ROC, under grant numbers112-2628-H-224 -001 -MY3 and 112-2410-H-224 -012 -MY2 for financially supporting this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Leechin Heng

Leechin Heng has recently been awarded a PhD in Education from the University of Canterbury, Aotearoa New Zealand and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Teacher Education in Taiwan. Her research interests include higher education, language acquisition, inclusive education, diversity and inclusion, and sociocultural studies.

Hui-Chin Yeh

Hui-Chin Yeh is currently a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Applied Foreign Languages at the National Yunlin University of Science and Technology in Taiwan. She is acknowledged in the Scopus database as one of the World's Top 2% Scientists. Her research interests include teacher education and digital learning and literacy.