Abstract
Nowadays a growing number of students opt for overseas academic experiences. This sets a challenge to educational institutions to develop new ways and methods in support of international students’ sociocultural and linguistic adaptation. In this regard, tandem language learning could be considered as an effective tool in complementing the formal education at university level as it helps create a positive learning environment and involve students in new academic experiences. The present study investigates the interrelation of tandem language learning and sociocultural adaptation of international students. It presents theoretical overview on current scientific approaches to disclosing the notion of communicative competence, speculates on correlation between sociocultural adaptation and language proficiency, advocates the concept of sociolinguistic accommodation. Drawing on qualitative data collected from observations, surveys results and self-reports, the study reveals the multifaceted role of language, the way it contributes to sociocultural well-being of international students as well as suggests some practical solutions on tandem language learning that might considerably enrich the educational curricula along with teaching repertoire of university educators.
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Almazova, N., Rubtsova, A., Eremin, Y., Kats, N., Baeva, I. (2020). Tandem Language Learning as a Tool for International Students Sociocultural Adaptation. In: Anikina, Z. (eds) Integrating Engineering Education and Humanities for Global Intercultural Perspectives. IEEHGIP 2022. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 131. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47415-7_19
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