Rethinking Internationalization of Higher Education: Technology, Intercultural Sensitivity, and EMI

Abstract

Amid intensive global competition in higher education (HE) for more than a decade, HE institutions of many non-English-speaking societies were recently faced with additional challenges during the excruciating time from pandemic. As the institutions have gradually overcome the time, the landscape of EFL education in line with the internationalization of HE is now differently viewed in terms of the place of technology in education as well as the issues of increased intercultural sensitivity and efficient English-medium instruction. This presentation focuses on these issues and seeks to rethink how these can be embedded into the internationalized HE in the post-pandemic era. First, based on a study on intercultural communication via an online social platform between Korean EFL learners and U.S. college students, the effect of technology on intercultural sensitivity of the learners from a Korean university devoted to internationalization and English-medium instruction. The technology, which hosts either synchronous videoconference classes or asynchronous message boards, is also examined to shed light on the relationship between motivational orientations and participation in online EFL classes. The quantitative analysis of the survey data and the subsequent qualitative analysis of the interviews reveal that these different technological interventions are closely related with the HE context of EMI. The findings further highlight the need for balanced, diversified uses of technology in EFL education over the next decade-key insights for developing a sustainable EMI policy in a truly global HE campus.