Blind spots of internationalization of Higher Education: 'Lived experiences of students in three versions of the international classroom'

Project description 

In recent decades, there has been a noticeable trend at traditionally non-English speaking universities towards English Medium Instruction (EMI) in order to attract more international students. As a consequence, the student population is more heterogonous than ever before. This increased diversity of the classroom in regards to linguistic and cultural repertoires (including educational background) means that the setting for content learning has changed.

This project contributes to an understanding of “the international classroom” as seen from the perspective of the students. In the projects students were observed at three different courses that all were taught in English but offered three different versions of the international classroom. The study rests upon a great amount and variety of data obtained in many different teaching and social situations. However, the analyses of the data uncover a number of “blind spots” of university internationalization, including the challenges involved – for students as well as examiners – in running oral exams when students have limited experience with this exam form. This in turn sheds light on assumptions that are taken for granted by both teachers and local students regarding what constitutes a “decent oral exam”.

The project also shows how students navigate in the setting of an international classroom, how they use Facebook for obtaining information and how they assign each other different roles in a more or less successful way. Lastly, the project sheds light on how internationalization means something different in different contexts and what challenges are exclusive for the international classroom.

Download the entire PhD project as a PDF here. 

Project participants

The PhD project is conducted by Camilla Falk Rønne Nissen. 

Project period

The project was published in 2019.