Multilingual communication experiences of international students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

While an increasing literature on multilingualism addresses the key role of language in access to social resources, including crisis communication, little attention has been paid to practices of English-mediated multilingualism. Based on semi-structured interviews with 10 international students from South Asia and Southeast Asia receiving their higher education in China, the study reveals what language-related challenges international students encounter, how they mobilize their multilingual resources to enhance their access to crisis communication and build a shared community, and how their multilingual competences are valorized and enacted in the shifting paradigm of the China-oriented new economy addressing mutual accountability in South-South cooperation. The study suggests that English-mediated multilingualism in China fails to bridge the needs of international students of diverse backgrounds. The study also calls attention to the shifting paradigm of multilingual studies and the necessity of addressing the real world problems of health communication in a diverse context.

English language teaching and learning during Covid-19: A global perspective on the first year

“…English language related studies during the Covid-19 process (between March 2020 and February 2021) (Aji et al, 2020;Allo, 2020;Almekhlafy, 2020;Andriivna et al, 2020;Ariyanti, 2020;Astuti & Solikhah, 2021;Atmojo & Nugroho, 2020;Bailey & Lee, 2020;Chiatoh & Chia, 2020;Dahmash, 2020;Davies et al, 2020;Destianingsih & Satria, 2020;Farrah & Al-Bakry, 2020;Fatima, 2020;Fitria, 2020;Forrester, 2020;Fuad et al, 2020;Fuentes Hernández et al, 2020;Gao & Zhang, 2020;Hadianti & Arisandi, 2020;Hafidz, 2020;Hakim, 2020;Hamid, 2020;Hartshorn & Mcmurry, 2020;Hazaea et al, 2021;Hodges et al, 2020b;Hopp & Thoma, 2020;Huang et al, 2021;Kamhi-Stein et al, 2020;Karakuzu et al, 2020;Karataş & Tuncer, 2020;Karim & Hasan, 2020;Kawinkoonlasate, 2020;Khafaga, 2021;Kholis, 2020;Krishan et al, 2020;Kusumawati, 2020;Li et al, 2020;Lie et al, 2020;Loo, 2020;…”

“…Due to English being the lingua franca, it is taught in almost all segments of education from kindergarten to higher education across the world (Baird & Baird, 2018;Deniz et al, 2016;Nunan, 2003). Considering this long-established value of English among other world languages (Li et al, 2020), the teaching and learning of English proportionally shared the problems caused by the pandemic. However, one advantage that most language teachers and learners gained during this period of uncertainty is that online teaching of English was already being practised prior to the Covid-19 outbreak and some English language teachers and learners have become accustomed to online lessons in English courses (Atmojo & Nugroho, 2020).…”

Jezik u doba pandemije kovida-19: terminološka rešenja u srpskom i španskom jeziku

“…Dosadašnja istraživanja iz oblasti jezika u vezi sa ovom temom tek ozbiljnije kreću, mada je i do sada objavljen značajan broj radova (prvenstveno u Kini). Oni se najpre tiču (ne)postojanja pristupa informacijama o pandemiji na manjinskim jezicima i uopšte jezičke raznolikosti i višejezičnosti u vremenu date zdravstvene krize Piller, Zhang & Li, 2020;Zhang, Wu, 2020;Li, Xie, Ai & Li, 2020), problema prevođenja i terminoloških problema (Zheng: 2020), (kritičke) analize diskursa političkih govora, medijskih izveštaja, tekstova na društvenim mrežama, nastave jezika u doba pandemije i izazovima pred kojima se nalaze kako učenici, tako i nastavnici (Gao, LX., Zhang, LJ., 2020. itd.…”

The Views of International University Students About Online Education

“…There are studies in the literature on online education of international students during the epidemic process. In these studies, the perceptions of international university students regarding online learning (Demuyakor, 2020); online learning experiences during the Covid-19 outbreak (Ferdvez, Supiastutik, Angin, 2020), multilingual communication experiences (Li, Xie, Ai, & Li, 2020); the views on their use of information and communication technologies (Adıyaman & Adıyaman, 2020); challenges and learning experiences in online classrooms (Karkar-Esperat, 2018); the Covid-19 outbreak and higher education along with international mobility and social protection of students (Bilecen, 2020) have been dealt with. Despite these studies, it is not known exactly to what extent international university students are satisfied with online education arrangements in the online learning process, and it is stated as a topic that needs investigation (Bilecen, 2020).…”