Intercultural encounters and their influence on willingness to communicate in a second language other than English

ABSTRACT

As a consequence of accelerating globalisation there has been an emphasis on developing international students’ proficiency to communicate in a foreign language. However, willingness to communicate in a foreign language other than English is an issue less discussed. This case study is an attempt to clarify expats’ experience of living in Denmark and their willingness to communicate in Danish. The participants include representatives of different nationalities temporarily living as expats studying and/or working in Denmark. The findings suggest that expats’ willingness to communicate in Danish is highly influenced by their position in society, level of socialization with the Danes and knowledge of English.

Voksende globalisering har medført en stigende interesse for at udvikle internationale studerendes evne til at kommunikere på et fremmedsprog. Der har imidlertid været mindre fokus på viljen til at kommunikere på et andet fremmedsprog end engelsk. Dette case studium er et forsøg på at afdække udlændinges oplevelse af at bo i Danmark samt af deres vilje til at kommunikere på dansk. Deltagerne i studiet er udlændinge betegnet som expats, der midlertidigt arbejder og/eller studerer i Danmark. Resultatet viser, at viljen til at kommunikere på dansk påvirkes af position i samfundet, grad af socialisering med danskerne samt kendskab til engelsk.

KEYWORDS:

• Cross-cultural communication
• foreign language education
• globalisation
• intercultural awareness
• intercultural dialogue
• second language learning

Disclosure statement

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

Notes on contributor

Gertrud Tarp is an independent scholar and educator. She concluded her PhD ‘Agent Agendas in Student Exchanges. A Grounded Theory Study’ at the Department of Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg University, Denmark. Her research interests include English as a lingua franca, foreign language education, intercultural communication and student voices.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.