What is wrong with silence in intercultural classrooms? An insight into international students’ integration at a UK university

Wang, S. and Moskal, M. (2019) What is wrong with silence in intercultural classrooms? An insight into international students’ integration at a UK university. Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education, 11(Winter), pp. 52-58.

Abstract

Recent research has reported a common tendency for international students to be silent in the classroom, identifying language competence and cultural difference as main barriers to participation. However, insights into the integration of international students within the classroom context remain rather limited. Grounded in the framework of Lave and Wenger’s community of practice, this paper examines the issue of silence in verbal participation of postgraduate international students of different socio-cultural backgrounds in a UK university context. Findings reveal tensions in classroom activities resulting from different perceptions and attitudes towards oral participation. Comparative analyses in different classroom communities and peer interactions were carried out to provide implications for practice to better integrate international students within educational context.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Wang, Sihui and Moskal, Professor Marta

Creator Roles

Wang, S.: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft
Moskal, M.: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing – review and editing

• Authors: Wang, S., and Moskal, M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education; College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Culture, Literacies, Inclusion & Pedagogy
• Journal Name: Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Institute for International Studies in Education
• ISSN: 2151-0393
• ISSN (Online): 2151-0407
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2019 Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education
• First Published: First published in Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education 11(Winter): 52-58
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License