International students’ intercultural communication in the digital age: A comparative case study of a Chinese university and a Swedish university

Research Project, 2023 – 2024

With the increasing adoption of online teaching resources in universities worldwide and the transnational flows of popular cultural artefacts, the boundaries between online and offline communication have between blurred in and out of the classroom. The prevalence of online courses during the COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the digital dimensions of students’ intercultural competence. Nevertheless, there is a sheer paucity of research on how international students’ intercultural experiences are shaped by their digital practices for both academic and non-academic purposes. Given the distinct digital and linguistic environments in China and Sweden, this research project aims to investigate the diversity of international students’ intercultural experiences in the digital era. Meanwhile, both China and Sweden are precipitating their momentum in internationalization of higher education by launching English-medium-instruction (EMI) degree programs to attract international students. We hereby choose to situate this project in the EMI context. The comparative lens provides an exploratory base for understanding and theorizing the very notion of intercultural communication that can be applied to different digital environments. Practically, the research findings can shed light on the cultivation of digital competence and global citizenship as the common objective of internationalisation of higher education (IHE).