Popping the Erasmus Bubble: Perceptions of Intercultural Awareness and Competence of Incoming Erasmus+ Students and the Preparation Challenge

Clive William Earls

doi:doi:10.11648/j.her.20180303.13

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Popping the Erasmus Bubble: Perceptions of Intercultural Awareness and Competence of Incoming Erasmus+ Students and the Preparation Challenge

Clive William Earls

Published in Higher Education Research (Volume 3, Issue 3)

Received: 2 August 2018 Accepted: 28 August 2018 Published: 27 September 2018

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Abstract

The Year Abroad is an important point of departure in many students’ lives, not only exposing them to new personal and academic contexts and challenges but also to providing them with the opportunity to grow and develop linguistically and interculturally. This article presents the findings of an empirical study comprising one-to-one semi-structured interviews with incoming Erasmus+ students at Maynooth University, and marries this with the dearth of research on outgoing students in multiple contexts, alongside the anecdotal shared experiences of previous outgoing domestic students at Maynooth University. The article examines the key issues of social media and social networks within the process of developing intercultural awareness and competence prior to and during the sojourn abroad, and the lack of sufficient and effective preparation of students before mobility which emerge as the two dominant issues in the empirical data obtained through anonymous module evaluations completed by students. The article culminates by discussing the development and piloting of a preparatory module at Maynooth University to address this preparation challenge. The empirical data generated from students matriculated in the piloted preparatory module indicates a strong desire for, and positivity towards, a well-developed, fully accredited, elective module integrated into students’ degree programmes prior to their sojourn abroad.

Published in	Higher Education Research (Volume 3, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.her.20180303.13
Page(s)	45-54
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2018. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Intercultural Awareness, Intercultural Competence, Year Abroad Preparation, International Students

References

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Clive William Earls. (2018). Popping the Erasmus Bubble: Perceptions of Intercultural Awareness and Competence of Incoming Erasmus+ Students and the Preparation Challenge. Higher Education Research, 3(3), 45-54. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20180303.13

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Clive William Earls. Popping the Erasmus Bubble: Perceptions of Intercultural Awareness and Competence of Incoming Erasmus+ Students and the Preparation Challenge. High. Educ. Res. 2018, 3(3), 45-54. doi: 10.11648/j.her.20180303.13

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AMA Style

Clive William Earls. Popping the Erasmus Bubble: Perceptions of Intercultural Awareness and Competence of Incoming Erasmus+ Students and the Preparation Challenge. High Educ Res. 2018;3(3):45-54. doi: 10.11648/j.her.20180303.13

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@article{10.11648/j.her.20180303.13,
  author = {Clive William Earls},
  title = {Popping the Erasmus Bubble: Perceptions of Intercultural Awareness and Competence of Incoming Erasmus+ Students and the Preparation Challenge},
  journal = {Higher Education Research},
  volume = {3},
  number = {3},
  pages = {45-54},
  doi = {10.11648/j.her.20180303.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20180303.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.her.20180303.13},
  abstract = {The Year Abroad is an important point of departure in many students’ lives, not only exposing them to new personal and academic contexts and challenges but also to providing them with the opportunity to grow and develop linguistically and interculturally. This article presents the findings of an empirical study comprising one-to-one semi-structured interviews with incoming Erasmus+ students at Maynooth University, and marries this with the dearth of research on outgoing students in multiple contexts, alongside the anecdotal shared experiences of previous outgoing domestic students at Maynooth University. The article examines the key issues of social media and social networks within the process of developing intercultural awareness and competence prior to and during the sojourn abroad, and the lack of sufficient and effective preparation of students before mobility which emerge as the two dominant issues in the empirical data obtained through anonymous module evaluations completed by students. The article culminates by discussing the development and piloting of a preparatory module at Maynooth University to address this preparation challenge. The empirical data generated from students matriculated in the piloted preparatory module indicates a strong desire for, and positivity towards, a well-developed, fully accredited, elective module integrated into students’ degree programmes prior to their sojourn abroad.},
 year = {2018}
}

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T1  - Popping the Erasmus Bubble: Perceptions of Intercultural Awareness and Competence of Incoming Erasmus+ Students and the Preparation Challenge
AU  - Clive William Earls
Y1  - 2018/09/27
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Author Information

Clive William Earls

School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Maynooth University (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Maynooth, Ireland

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Clive William Earls. (2018). Popping the Erasmus Bubble: Perceptions of Intercultural Awareness and Competence of Incoming Erasmus+ Students and the Preparation Challenge. Higher Education Research, 3(3), 45-54. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20180303.13

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ACS Style

Clive William Earls. Popping the Erasmus Bubble: Perceptions of Intercultural Awareness and Competence of Incoming Erasmus+ Students and the Preparation Challenge. High. Educ. Res. 2018, 3(3), 45-54. doi: 10.11648/j.her.20180303.13

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AMA Style

Clive William Earls. Popping the Erasmus Bubble: Perceptions of Intercultural Awareness and Competence of Incoming Erasmus+ Students and the Preparation Challenge. High Educ Res. 2018;3(3):45-54. doi: 10.11648/j.her.20180303.13

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@article{10.11648/j.her.20180303.13,
  author = {Clive William Earls},
  title = {Popping the Erasmus Bubble: Perceptions of Intercultural Awareness and Competence of Incoming Erasmus+ Students and the Preparation Challenge},
  journal = {Higher Education Research},
  volume = {3},
  number = {3},
  pages = {45-54},
  doi = {10.11648/j.her.20180303.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20180303.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.her.20180303.13},
  abstract = {The Year Abroad is an important point of departure in many students’ lives, not only exposing them to new personal and academic contexts and challenges but also to providing them with the opportunity to grow and develop linguistically and interculturally. This article presents the findings of an empirical study comprising one-to-one semi-structured interviews with incoming Erasmus+ students at Maynooth University, and marries this with the dearth of research on outgoing students in multiple contexts, alongside the anecdotal shared experiences of previous outgoing domestic students at Maynooth University. The article examines the key issues of social media and social networks within the process of developing intercultural awareness and competence prior to and during the sojourn abroad, and the lack of sufficient and effective preparation of students before mobility which emerge as the two dominant issues in the empirical data obtained through anonymous module evaluations completed by students. The article culminates by discussing the development and piloting of a preparatory module at Maynooth University to address this preparation challenge. The empirical data generated from students matriculated in the piloted preparatory module indicates a strong desire for, and positivity towards, a well-developed, fully accredited, elective module integrated into students’ degree programmes prior to their sojourn abroad.},
 year = {2018}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Popping the Erasmus Bubble: Perceptions of Intercultural Awareness and Competence of Incoming Erasmus+ Students and the Preparation Challenge
AU  - Clive William Earls
Y1  - 2018/09/27
PY  - 2018
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20180303.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.her.20180303.13
T2  - Higher Education Research
JF  - Higher Education Research
JO  - Higher Education Research
SP  - 45
EP  - 54
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-935X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20180303.13
AB  - The Year Abroad is an important point of departure in many students’ lives, not only exposing them to new personal and academic contexts and challenges but also to providing them with the opportunity to grow and develop linguistically and interculturally. This article presents the findings of an empirical study comprising one-to-one semi-structured interviews with incoming Erasmus+ students at Maynooth University, and marries this with the dearth of research on outgoing students in multiple contexts, alongside the anecdotal shared experiences of previous outgoing domestic students at Maynooth University. The article examines the key issues of social media and social networks within the process of developing intercultural awareness and competence prior to and during the sojourn abroad, and the lack of sufficient and effective preparation of students before mobility which emerge as the two dominant issues in the empirical data obtained through anonymous module evaluations completed by students. The article culminates by discussing the development and piloting of a preparatory module at Maynooth University to address this preparation challenge. The empirical data generated from students matriculated in the piloted preparatory module indicates a strong desire for, and positivity towards, a well-developed, fully accredited, elective module integrated into students’ degree programmes prior to their sojourn abroad.
VL  - 3
IS  - 3
ER  -

Copy | Download