Students’ readiness for international academic mobility programs: Evidence from Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNUHCM

Le Tan Cuong

doi:10.46223/HCMCOUJS.soci.en.10.2.992.2020

10 (2) 2020

Students’ readiness for international academic mobility programs: Evidence from Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNUHCM

Author - Affiliation:

Le Tan Cuong - University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU HCM , Vietnam

Corresponding author: Le Tan Cuong - cuonglt@hcmussh.edu.vn

DOI:10.46223/HCMCOUJS.soci.en.10.2.992.2020

Abstract

As a major aspect of internationalization, international academic mobility has been among the most discussed issues in higher education worldwide in recent years. However, while more and more institutions in many countries show substantial interest in implementing international academic mobility programs, the practices seem to be surprisingly in slow progress in Vietnam higher education . The current study, therefore, aims to fill up the gap by exploring the reality of implementing international academic mobility programs and surveying students’ readiness as well as expectations for international academic mobility programs in the setting of the faculty of English Linguistics and Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University- HCM city. Using data from a semi-structured interview with the faculty dean, a semi-structured interview with 5 students having just coming back from an international academic mobility program to the Philippines in early 2020 and a questionnaire among 78 students coming from 4 continuous cohorts, the findings evidence that (1) Intra-national mobility programs outperform the international ones, (2) Students expect more orientational activities and support from the faculty, (3) Students show high level of readiness for international academic mobility programs, (4) Students are more open-minded in choosing where to go and what to do during international academic mobility programs. Recommendations are well elaborated at the latter part of the study as references for institutions that are considering internationalizing their curricular. The study hopefully sheds light on the feasibility of implementing international academic mobility programs in the setting of Vietnam higher education.

Keywords

academic mobility programs; internationalizing the curriculum; readiness for mobility; VNUHCM

Full Text:

PDF

Cite this paper as:

Le, T. C. (2020). Students’ readiness for international academic mobility programs: Evidence from Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNUHCM. Ho Chi Minh City Open University Journal of Science – Social Sciences, 10(5), 52-67. doi:10.46223/HCMCOUJS.soci.en.10.2.992.2020

References

Aba, D. (2019). Investigating higher education students’ intercultural readiness for academic mobility. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education, 4(2), 280-304.

Albuquerque, A. (2013). Academic mobility: A non-machiavellian means to global citizenship. Paper presented at the Proceeding of SPACE AGM and Conference, Portugal.

An Association of Colleges report. (2019). The impact of Erasmus+ in UK FE colleges. Retrieved October 20, 2019, from https://www.aoc.co.uk/system/files/Erasmus%2B%20college% 20impact%20report%202019.pdf

Aramburu, L. (2015). The ERASMUS phenomenon: Symbol of a new European generation? Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 23(1), 147-149. doi:10.1080/ 14782804.2014.1002312

Bracht, O., Engel, C., Janson, K., Over, A., Schomburg, H., & Teichler, U. (2006). The professional value of ERASMUS mobility. Retrieved May 10, 2019, from https://www.eurashe.eu/library/modernising-phe/mobility/professional/WG4%20R%20 Professional%20value%20of%20ERASMUS%20mobility%20Teichler.pdf

Byram, M., & Dervin, F. (2009). Students, staff and academic mobility in higher education. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Egron-Polak, E. (2017). Academic mobility in higher education worldwide-where are we. Where might we go in the future. Retrieved May 15, 2019, from https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/sites/ eacea-site/files/1.presentation_eva_egron_polak.pdf

Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature. (2010). Faculty annual report 2010. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: University of Social Sciences and Humanities VNU HCM.

Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature. (2011). Faculty annual report 2011. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: University of Social Sciences and Humanities VNU HCM.

Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature. (2012). Faculty annual report 2012. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: University of Social Sciences and Humanities VNU HCM.

Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature. (2013). Faculty annual report 2013. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: University of Social Sciences and Humanities VNU HCM.

Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature. (2014). Faculty annual report 2014. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: University of Social Sciences and Humanities VNU HCM.

Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature. (2015). Faculty annual report 2015. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: University of Social Sciences and Humanities VNU HCM.

Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature. (2016). Faculty annual report 2016. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: University of Social Sciences and Humanities VNU HCM.

Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature. (2017). Faculty annual report 2017. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: University of Social Sciences and Humanities VNU HCM.

Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature. (2018). Faculty annual report 2018. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: University of Social Sciences and Humanities VNU HCM.

Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature. (2019). Faculty annual report 2019. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: University of Social Sciences and Humanities VNU HCM.

Ha, P. (2016). Highest number of Vietnamese international students in Japan. Retrieved May 17, 2019, from http://vietnamnet.vn/vn/giao-duc/du-hoc/du-hoc-nhat-ban-du-hoc-my-du-hoc-sinh-viet-nam- dong-nhat-o-nhat-337144.html

Hashim, A., & Gibbs, A. (2020). Enhancing mobility in ASEAN. Retrieved May 19, 2019, from Asia-Europe Institute website: https://aei.um.edu.my/aei-occasional-paper-29#

Iosava, L. (2019). Internationalization and academic mobility: Trends and prospects in Georgian higher education. In A.W. Wiseman (Ed.), Annual review of comparative and international education 2018 (pp. 255-267). Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Limited.

Kabanbayeva, G., Gureva, M., Bielik, P., & Ostasz, G. (2019). Academic mobility and financial stability: A case of Erasmus student exchange program. Journal of International Studies, 12(1), 324-337.

Khramova, A. Y., Khramov, V. Y., & Ivanov, V. G. (2013). Academic mobility of students as a key factor for professional competences development of future engineers. Paper presented at 2013 ASEE International Forum, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Klemenčič, M. (2019). 20 years of the bologna process in a global setting: The external dimension of the Bologna Process revisited. European Journal of Higher Education, 9(1), 2-6. doi:10.1080/21568235.2019.1570670

Knight, J. (1994). Internationalization: Elements and checkpoints (CBIE Research No. 7). Retrieved May 20, 2019, from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED549823

Knight, J. (2006). Higher education crossing borders: A guide to the implications of the general agreement on trade in services (GATS) for cross-border education. Retrieved May 22, 2019, from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED503284

Knight, J. (2007). Cross-border higher education: Issues and implications for quality assurance and accreditation: Research report. Retrieved May 25, 2019, from https://upcommons.upc.edu/bitstream/handle/2099/8109/knight.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Knight, J. (2019). Understanding international program and provider mobility in the changing landscape of international academic mobility. SFU Educational Review, 12(3), 41-47.

Maadad, N., & Tight, M. (2014). Academic mobility. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Limited.

Mizikaci, F., & Arslan, Z. U. (2019). A European perspective in academic mobility: A case of Erasmus program. Journal of International Student, 9(2), 705-726.

Monastyrskaya, T., & Medvedeva, N. (2019). International academic student mobility as a factor for enhancing the leadership potential of the university. In P. Kyriakidis, D. Hadjimitsis, D. Skarlatos, & A. Mansourian (Eds.), Geospatial technologies for local and regional development (pp.325-338). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Pham, L. (2019). International graduates returning to Vietnam. Singapore: Springer.

Pietsch, T. (2010). Wandering scholars? Academic mobility and the British world, 1850-1940. Journal of Historical Geography, 36(4), 377-387.

Rostovskaya, T. K., Maksimova, A. S., Mekeko, N. M., & Fomina, S. N. (2020). Barriers to students’ academic mobility in Russia. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(4), 1218-1227.

Rustemova, A., Meirmanov, S., Okada, A., Ashinova, Z., & Rustem, K. (2020). The academic mobility of students from Kazakhstan to Japan: Problems and prospects. Social Sciences, 9(8), Article 143.

Siekierski, P., Lima, M. C., Borini, F. M., & Pereira, R. M. (2018). International academic mobility and innovation: A literature review. Journal of Global Mobility, 6(3/4), 285-298.

UNESCO. (1998). World declaration on higher education or the twenty-first century: Vision and action. Retrieved May 27, 2019, from http://www.unesco.org/education/educprog/wche/ declaration_eng.htm

DOI: https://doi.org/10.46223/HCMCOUJS.soci.en.10.2.992.2020

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.