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Text simplification is crucial in bridging the comprehension gap in today's information-rich environment. Despite advancements in English text simplification, languages with intricate grammatical structures, such as Greek, often remain under-explored. The complexity of Greek grammar, characterized by its flexible syntactic ordering, presents unique challenges that hinder comprehension for native speakers, learners, tourists, and international students. This paper introduces a comprehensive dataset for Greek text simplification, containing over 7500 sentences across diverse topics such as history, science, and culture, tailored to address these challenges. We outline the methodology for compiling this dataset, including a collection of texts from Greek Wikipedia, their annotation with simplified versions, and the establishment of robust evaluation metrics. Additionally, the paper details the implementation of quality control measures and the application of machine learning techniques to analyze text complexity. Our experimental results demonstrate the dataset's initial effectiveness and potential in reducing linguistic barriers and enhancing communication, with initial machine learning models showing promising directions for future improvements in classifying text complexity. The development of this dataset marks a significant step toward improving accessibility and comprehension for a broad audience of Greek speakers and learners, fostering a more inclusive society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The British Army is regularly ranked as the best training provider in the UK, with the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force also in the top ten. The Military train a lot of people, from the most basic infantry training to advanced skills and leadership courses. At the pinnacle of this is the Defence Academy, which provides world-class professional defence and security education for UK military, civil service and the defence industry and for allies and partners from across the world. This article is based on the Prince Philip Lecture 2024 delivered by Major General Rowell at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies at its Whitehall, London, headquarters on 10 July 2024. An abridged version of the first part of this paper appeared in Education Journal No. 568, 17 July 2024. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the emotional aspects of international student mobility (ISM) from African countries to a higher education institution in China. While there is increasing scholarly attention to the role of emotional experiences in ISM, most of this work has focused on Western destinations with a long history of education mobilities. Information on newly emerged, non-Western ISM destinations is comparatively limited. Drawing on ethnographic research of 15 months at a Chinese university, this article shows how emotions shape and re-shape pre-arrival aspirations, daily interactions, and post-graduation plans among students from African countries. Specifically, the study shows that many students confront emotional dissonance and perform diverse forms of ‘emotion work’ in attempts to find a sense of familiarity and belonging while studying abroad. This is significant as it speaks to students’ agentive subjectivity in contending with emotional challenges and navigating complex ‘emoscapes’. The paper argues that a focus on emotions contributes to a more nuanced, multifaceted understanding of contemporary educational mobilities. It illuminates how students’ multiple emotions are continuously articulated and circulated with and within these ISM flows apparently driven by economic forces in the global higher education market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces Hans Ulrich Vogel, a Swiss-German sinologist, and his contributions to the field of Chinese studies. Vogel's research focuses on the history of money, particularly in China, and he has studied various aspects of money, including cowries and salt monies as currencies in Southwest China. He is also knowledgeable about salt production, mining, and the history of science and technology in relation to money. Vogel has made significant contributions to sinology and has a particular interest in football. The article highlights his accomplishments, including his role in the administration of the Erasmus student exchange program, his various visiting professorships and fellowships, and his involvement in numerous projects funded by third-party funds. Vogel's strategic insight led to the introduction of the Bachelor-Master curriculum and the establishment of the European Centre for Chinese Studies at Peking University. He also played a key role in the development of the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies and the China Center Tübingen. Vogel is highly regarded as a teacher and has supervised numerous Master and doctoral theses. The article concludes with a collection of papers by contributors who have worked with Vogel, highlighting his significant impact on the scholarly world. [Extracted from the article]

Student mobility has grown substantially in the past decades. Study abroad opportunities provide long-lasting advantages for students but, at the same time, represent complex decisions for applicants, usually involving a high degree of uncertainty. This paper aims to obtain a deeper understanding of study-abroad decision-making in higher education by combining marketing and behavioral economics perspectives. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with North African scholarship holders and adapted the customer journey framework to a study abroad decision context. Three stages of the customer journey were considered: the pre-application stage, the application stage, and the post-admittance stage. Loss aversion, group identification, social norms, endowment effects, and priming, as core concepts from behavioral economics, were identified and enriched the practical implications of the customer journey framework. Higher education institutions may benefit from our findings when designing their communication and recruiting strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African students studying abroad and returning home to conduct research face several challenges. The purpose of this article is to describe the dilemma of a Kenyan student conducting research in Kenya, for her Australian-based doctoral studies in inclusive education. The research explored instructional strategies and Indigenous knowleges used by teachers to support students with disabilities in classrooms. The student had to negotiate positionality as an insider and outsider. This paper contributes to the literature on the experiences of African doctoral students returning home from Western universities to conduct research. It also contributes to knowledge of the positionalities of a researcher and also to the growing literature on methods of conducting research in education. This article also adds to the literature on the use of Indigenous methodologies in research in education. I explain how I transitioned from insider to outsider and vice versa during conversations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances the conceptualisation and application of intellectual capital, a key concept in the intellectual migration framework, to understand international student mobility. The intellectual migration framework contends that higher-education and highly-skilled migrants acquire, upgrade and utilise intellectual capital for upward career and social mobility. This paper argues that intellectual capital is not the sum of different forms of capitals, but a complete package with human, cultural and social capitals working in synergy through the agency of migrants. Focusing on higher-education students at the beginning of the intellectual migration continuum, it analyzes how intellectual capital is differentially accumulated at various stages of the educational process. Drawing on 51 semi-structured interviews with Chinese international students in North America, we learn that pre-migration intellectual capital, due largely to parents and family, reflects social inequality in contemporary societies whereas that obtained while studying abroad reveals more on individual agency. As such, intellectual capital accumulation abroad serves as a mediating process, especially for those with less privileged backgrounds. Supportive international higher education sectors in both sending and receiving countries can also assist students in their intellectual capital cultivation process and contribute to alleviating educational inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper forms part of a larger international project on understanding the rights of the child and developing functional comparative methodologies for assessing approaches recognising the autonomy of a child. As a starting point, it trials a method across the Australian states and territories. The paper will explore the divergence in approaches to the legal recognition of the autonomy of the child. Although the method is ultimately intended for international application in a larger ongoing/future study, it has been adapted for use in the Australian state/federal systems as an initial methodological trial. The method as adopted for this analysis will compare a range of legal age-based distinctions such as the age of criminal responsibility, minimum school leaving age, minimum age for the consumption of alcohol, tobacco and obtaining a driver's licence, the age for sexual consent both with agebased peers and adults, and the ability to independently receive medical treatment and legal counsel, as well as assessments of the extent of children's rights, such as legal involvement and consultation rights. The article will analyse the utility of the proposed methodology for international comparisons of the legal autonomy of the child. It will also comment upon the challenges in understanding and recognising the legal autonomy of the child in a federal jurisdiction with distinctions between internal jurisdictions. It will conclude with observations on the function of a yardstick for the comparison of rights of a child generally, as well as observations on the results of the applied method in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current knowledge and available equipment are not sufficient for quantitative risk assessment of nanomaterials. Therefore, to assess the risks of activities involved with these materials, many qualitative methods have been introduced. Control banding-based methods are the most popular and widely used methods that have been evaluated and modified many times. Therefore, this study examines the use of these methods by Iranian researchers in comparison with other researchers from all over the world. Search for eligible papers was conducted on Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and SID databases with "Control banding," "Control banding methods," "Risk assessment," "Risk management," "Nanomaterials," and "Nanoparticles" keywords. After identifying the main papers, "Related articles" and "citations" options in Google Scholar and ResearchGate were used to identify additional studies. Forty-eight articles have been reviewed which 7 of them were conducted in Iran. Comparison of Iranian studies with foreign studies showed the following: foreign studies have used all CB-based methods, more or less; but Iranian studies used only the NanoTool method and in two cases the guidance method, In many foreign studies, quantitative methods were used along with qualitative methods, while in Iran, only these qualitative methods were used. In Iranian studies, these methods were used only to assess the risk of engineered nanomaterials, while in some foreign studies, the risk of incidental nanomaterials was also investigated. Iran is one of the leading countries in the field of nanotechnology. So, this level of familiarity and use of risk assessment methods for activities involved with nanomaterials is absolutely not enough. Therefore, it is recommended that appropriate measures be taken to familiarize companies and academic centers with nanomaterial risk assessment methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper analyzes a remembered shared experience of cocurricular designing and coteaching an experiential learning pilot project in a university study abroad program (SAP) that emphasized social justice. Purpose: We look back because the pilot program is a significant demonstration of what complexities can arise when feminist educators bring their own politics and pedagogies to experiential learning and study abroad education contexts; we understand this as valuable because "experience" broadly is complex. Memory is crucial to feminist educators because it indicates the development of care, ethics, pedagogy, politics, and priorities, and so, we ask: what pedagogical insights can be gained through revisiting our enmeshed personal/professional memories of cocurricular designing and coteaching an experiential learning series for study abroad students? Methodology: We use self-study and memory work to analyze memory objects (curriculum materials) and narratives (of teaching) to explore this pedagogical work and highlight generative tensions that emerged while employing a critical feminist approach to work not initially conceptualized with this framing. Findings: We uncovered three key tensions: personal, community, and racial that troubled emergent issues related to difference, discourse, and positionality. Implications: This project offers pedagogical insights into how oppression and inequality may enter experiential learning and study abroad spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the intercultural experience of two Mexican students who made a credit mobility during a scholar semester at a foreign university was analyzed. The analysis was based on semi-structured interviews and reflective reports. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used to analyze the intercultural experience. The experience of the participants was followed in three moments: before traveling, during their stay and on their return to their home university. The results indicated that previous intercultural experience helps to lessen the symptoms of acculturative stress, but the personal attitude influenced the way the students faced their life abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving inclusion and equity in international business (IB) education remains a challenge, given the rising costs of college tuition and the increasingly diverse and non-traditional student population. These changes may reduce the feasibility and relevancy of activities, such as study abroad programs, and an MNE-centric IB curriculum for a significant number of college students today. To overcome these challenges, in this paper, we share our findings from a case study on a virtual service-learning project that fostered cross-border interactions between undergraduate students in North America and small business owners in Central America. Over the course of one semester, students worked to draw connections between their unique individual backgrounds and skill sets, connect IB and global strategy concepts to small business operations, and deepen their understanding of sustainable development. Our findings demonstrate that this practice can enhance student enjoyment, academic learning, professional growth, and civic learning. Overall, virtual service-learning can be effective as an alternative teaching and learning approach to address the significant challenges in IB education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intervenes in debates on Chinese higher education and social (re)production strategies in the contemporary African diaspora, developing the link between 'Chinese' capitals, social status and spatial mobility. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with both disadvantaged and middle-class African international students, I unpack how migration to China will enable them to accumulate prized forms of capital and position advantageously in different spheres of African society. The paper focuses on two 'Chinese' capitals – specifically high proficiency in the Chinese language, and exposure to and internalisation of Chinese lifestyles and practices – which are convertible to profit, distinction and secure coveted jobs in their respective home countries. By exploring how China's 'in the middle' position within the global political economy and exercising its soft power over peripheries are reflected in the ways these African students and their families play the 'class game' and make higher education choice, this paper moves beyond the 'West' vs. 'the Rest' gaze and nuances an emergent mobility pattern within the Global South. I conclude by presenting an argument that in seeking these 'Chinese' capitals, the students and their families may enhance China's geopolitical standing and facilitate its movement towards the 'core' within the arena of the world (knowledge) system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on the importance of 'time spent' in understanding the international student experience. Short‐term mobility programmes (involving stays of between 1 week and 2 months) attracting less privileged students, such as the relatively new Turing Scheme in the United Kingdom, have been hailed as a potential 'solution' to the fact that, traditionally, wealthier individuals have been far more likely to engage in study abroad. However, we do not yet know how short‐term and longer duration programmes compare in terms of the value they confer to students (in relation to their experiences and outcomes). How likely is it that short‐term mobility at undergraduate level is as valuable, according to different measures, as mobility lasting 6 months to several years (as with degree mobility)? This paper reviews some of the evidence to date on shorter duration mobility, addressing how value in international study is constructed and conferred and how this relates to 'time spent'. The paper concludes by arguing that the picture is mixed: although short‐term mobility will be beneficial to students, those engaging in longer term exchanges (usually more privileged students) are likely to derive greater benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities across the globe are implementing internationalization programs. These programs often focus on language development, study abroad programs, and developing the international reputations of professors. In this paper, we present data from interviews and ethnographic observations of university internationalization trainings in Brazil. We asked: How (do) professors in Brazil make sense of the national/organizational internationalization initiative? Drawing on decolonial theories and scholarship about organizational paradoxes, we found two primary paradoxes arise in internationalization directives: the paradox of relying on the English language and the paradox of mobility. Ultimately, we argue that university internationalization is a highly political communicative act, which perpetuates systems of oppression and dominance and can cultivate discursive and material violence. We suggest that internationalization projects must take perspectives from a variety of global locations into account in order to roll out decolonized programs that are more equitable and attainable across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study, it is aimed to examine the studies in foreign literature on aesthetic labor. Within the scope of the study, scientific publications such as articles, papers, and books with "Aesthetic Labor", and "Aesthetic Labor" in the study title and published in journals in Scopus, and Web of Science databases were analyzed by document analysis technique. The data set of 181 scientific studies in the Web of Science database and 168 in the Scopus database, the most cited studies, the number of citations by years, keyword analysis, title, and summary analysis, relationship analysis between authors, author, and journal information, number of publications in countries, The number of publications by years, types of studies, journals and impact factors were examined in terms of various bibliometric indicators such as the most productive authors. According to the findings of the study, the most cited studies in the field of aesthetic labor, the most cited authors, the most cited year, the most studied countries, the most studied genres, journals, and prominent keywords were analyzed. It is aimed to provide information and guide the researchers who will work in the field of organizational behavior by analyzing the studies on aesthetic labor in the literature related to the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore how and why the realisation of the ritual act of congratulating may turn out to be challenging for foreign learners of Chinese. Congratulating and other ceremonial ritual acts are not only used when someone participates in an actual ritual event: they are also required when they are mentioned in mundane events, like casual interactions when someone talks about a family birthday or wedding. We define congratulation as an interactional move and systematically examine its conventional realisation patterns through a typology of speech acts. We approach congratulating moves by combining a speech act‐anchored analysis with the field of study abroad and interaction ritual research. The results of our analysis show that various ritual occasions may trigger different types of inappropriate uses of congratulating by foreign learners of Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International students leave their countries to pursue their educational goals in a different country and must adapt to succeed. However, they may face challenges when adapting to and learning a new culture. This study investigates the challenges common to international students in their host countries and summarizes the publishing trends. A literature search of peer-reviewed articles published in Scopus, Taylor & Francis, EBSCO Host, Web of Science, Springer, PubMed, and Wiley Online over 21 years (2002–2022) was done for data collection. After the screening, a total of 175 articles were included in this review and analyzed with content analysis. The findings show that the top four destinations for international students (USA, UK, Australia, and Canada) produced the most articles about international students' challenges. Additionally, most papers investigated more than one challenge, and sociocultural (82.9%) and academic challenges (82.3%) were the most researched, with language issues as the primary cause. The results also show no changes or improvement in the challenges of international students in 21 years, and areas such as psychological and economic challenges need more research. These challenges and other trends found in the articles are discussed and directions for future research are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates feelings and emotions in intercultural development through an analysis of students' journals. It looks into the affective reactions to life in Spain and how these relate to the intercultural development of a cohort of 26 American students participating in a calendar year study abroad programme (SAP) in a Spanish university, a pertinent study given that Spain, which hosts 9,5% of total American students abroad, has become the third preferred destination of American university students (Institute of International Education, 2019). Although the literature on cultural dissonance highlights the prevalence of feelings of distress when sojourners are removed from their social support systems, findings divulge a myriad of feelings classified into 9 areas that show a balance between uncertainty and stress of study abroad (SA), and excitement and feelings of well-being. Departing from affective reactions, analysis has likewise been conducted on how students come to terms with a different reality. Data evince that understanding new meanings and symbols is done through a comparative/contrastive problematising orientation through which SA is presented as challenge rather than as threat. The paper concludes that SA and reflection upon it contribute to reassess and shift frames of reference, influencing intercultural development and personal growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, youth across the planet have begun to mobilise, motivated by the perceived injustices associated with the causes, consequences and politics of climate change. However, education systems lag behind, preoccupied with the "what" and "how" of climate change, rather than engaging it as a social issue in which students themselves are implicated. In this paper, we share the results of our participatory research exploration into youth and climate change through an international education project, in which 99 students from 13 countries joined virtually in a climate change learning experience, culminating in the collaborative development and presentation of a White Paper to the 2018 IPCC Cities and Climate Change Conference. Grounded in a critical global citizenship education framework, this project provides a site to explore climate change education from the perspectives of diverse youth, who inform possibilities for climate change education that addresses justice, individualisation and emotionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Sharpe's (2016) wake work theory, this paper highlights how one Black undocumented student used a study abroad experience to negotiate his dis/comfort and take up ontological space a liminal space. I argue that choosing to study abroad while risking uncertain access back in the United States is wake work. Escaping the wake, albeit short, was an intentional move to resist his liminal space, given his Blackness and immigration status. Findings reveal wake work occurred through (1) Movement: The beginning, (2) The escape, and (3) The return: Re‐entering the wake. Practical Takeaways: Study abroad programs should assess how they are being inclusive in engaging undocumented students about these programs and identify successful practices and approaches to support those interested.Universities should partner with schools and independent organizations that provide study abroad opportunities for undocumented students. For example, the California‐Mexico Studies provides three academic programs for undocumented students 21 years and older to study abroad for 4 weeks in Mexico.Because DACA is a renewable program under the Obama‐era, no new students can apply for DACA which means more students entering higher education will be undocumented without DACA. As we enter a post DACA era, universities and study abroad programs will need to create and implement global learning programs and opportunities for undocumented students.Scholars working with, and alongside undocumented students should use more asset‐based theories and methodologies to highlight the experiences of Black undocumented students in higher education (see Santa‐Ramirez, 2021, 2022; Shelton & Thompson, 2023). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the Lang‐Track‐App, a smartphone application and backend system to aid second language acquisition researchers in implementing the experience sampling method (ESM). Surveying research participants with the Lang‐Track‐App multiple times per day can yield exceptionally rich data that can be analyzed in multiple ways. This article explains the different Lang‐Track‐App components and describes workflows for both researchers and participants. To demonstrate the step‐by‐step implementation, we present a recent study of language use in study abroad as a test case in which we used the Lang‐Track‐App to collect ESM data about frequency and qualitative aspects of language use. A selection of findings from this study highlights the richness of ESM data and how they can be analyzed at various levels. Researchers wishing to use the Lang‐Track‐App to implement the ESM in their own research can access the full open‐source code and documentation via GitHub (https://github.com/HumlabLu). A one‐page Accessible Summary of this article in non‐technical language is freely available in the Supporting Information online and at https://oasis‐database.org [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been widely acknowledged that systems engineers require international competencies to address global problems and participate in diverse teams to enable them to work with people who think differently and whose beliefs and culture might be different. However, practical approaches to build these competencies in graduate‐level systems engineering programs are few. This paper offers an approach to facilitate learning for the international competencies required to be a successful systems engineer in an international arena. Most systems engineers pursuing master's degrees are working full time and some are taking classes in a web‐based or distributed mode. This renders most of the methods suggested for teaching international competencies in undergraduate (or full‐time graduate) curriculums untenable, that is, requiring a second language, studying abroad, or other time‐intensive or location‐specific activity. The aim of this paper is to derive a model that provides a guideline on how to facilitate learning of the international competencies and support the competencies building process with the required flexibility expected of a graduate level learning program. The competency building model was derived from literature and piloted using a COVID‐19 case study; the case study is based on a typical systems engineering exercise combined with social learning aspects that initiate the development process of international competencies. The model provides an example of how some of the international competencies can be integrated into existing systems engineering curricula and the example case study illustrates a specific implementation for part‐time, graduate students. This research offers a transition from theory to application and identifies practical approaches to transfer international competencies to graduate students. As highlighted by literature and by the case study pilot, by facilitating exposure to different problem perspectives, as well as deliberate reflection and analysis during teaching interactions, these competencies can be built. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of informal peer support as a bridge for participation by foreign national prisoners in prison activities (e.g. education, work, sports activities, library) and services (e.g. psychologist, doctor). A total of 51 individual interviews, following an appreciative inquiry perspective, were conducted with foreign nationals in four prisons in Flanders (Belgium). In terms of leading foreign nationals to prison activities and services, the findings reveal four types of informal peer support: informational support, instrumental support, emotional support, and social companionship. Moreover, during participation in these prison activities and services, three types of informal peer support emerged: informational support, instrumental support, and social companionship. Peer support seems to be a 'form of survival' for foreign nationals to overcome barriers experienced in accessing prison activities and services and difficulties during participation in such prison activities and services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper details several piezoelectric energy recovery interface circuits that have been widely studied at home and abroad to rectify the AC power generated by piezoelectric energy harvesting devices into DC power for direct utilization or storage, and divides the energy recovery circuits into single-stage, bipolar, and three-stage interface circuits according to the purpose and number of interfaces. According to the different interface circuits, the development history of each interface is introduced in detail, and a preliminary outlook on the piezoelectric energy harvesting circuit is provided for further improvement by related researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study presents an overview of theories related to e-learning barriers and e-learning behavior. Research and synthesize relevant studies at home and abroad. From related studies, identify barrier factors affecting the online learning behavior of students. Then, the research model and hypotheses for the study are presented. In this study, the author identified 5 barriers affecting students' online learning behavior in Ho Chi Minh City: economic barriers (ECOB), interaction barriers (IB), psychological barrier (PB), environmental barriers (ENI), and regulatory institutional barriers (RIB). Previous studies revealed that using linear regression. The paper uses the optimum selection by Bayesian consideration for e-learning barriers and e-learning behavior. Get the results, then make recommendations and solutions to help educational administrators reduce barriers to increase students' effectiveness in online learning in a better way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Last year, a party of senior nurses visited the Fuenlabrada, an innovative and paperless hospital in Madrid. Here, Noel Scanlon describes what they found, and what it means for the future of the NHS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study illuminates important aspects of the complex power dynamics present when study abroad programmes take place between institutions based in the Global North and host communities based in the Global South. It explores the commercialisation and performance of home, showing how the provision of global education services has become a new form of work in the neoliberal economy that pervades lives in Thailand and other study abroad destinations. This paper does not argue that this labour is exploitative, but instead that study abroad programmes should be aware of the effort put forth by hosts to satisfy desires for a homestay experience and should engage in reciprocal relationships with host communities that reject contrived notions of authenticity. Given the recent disruption of international travel and study abroad programmes, the findings in this paper offer important considerations for higher education institutions as they rebuild exchanges with host communities like those profiled in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research considered the strategic relations of Sudan with regional countries and beyond during the factions within the period of the Salvation government. It also showed that the political quarrels among the Islamic Movement on how to design the general scope and settings for Sudan's external policy, with its requirements at all levels. The research used a semi-empirical method and also a descriptive method to study the foreign policy of Sudan (2010-2018) including experiences and challenges. It basically explained the international relations which characterized the policy bargain between countries. The findings of the research are that, although Sudan during the period covered by the present study, Sudan's external relations confronted with several challenges especially so in then. Prevailing situation characterized by the diplomatic confrontations among the major countries. Although Sudan's government kept carefully monitoring that situation to maintain careful steering amid those challenges, yet the country couldn't quite successfully develop an external policy with an effective strategic dimension both regionally as well as internationally. The most notable recommendations in the paper also refer to the fact that Sudan should have adopted a more balanced policy so as to maintain the country's own political stability, and to share benefits with its external partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educating global citizens has become part of higher education in international studies. Scholars argue that education includes having a global worldview that critically evaluates complex challenges in an ever-changing environment. Most agree that something more than classroom lecture is required to transform students' perspectives, but debates exist about exactly what "more" means. Short-term study abroad courses have evolved as one way to offer a global experience to students, especially those who must balance work, school, and family life while also facing the economic restraints of higher education. These programs, however, have been criticized as providing little more than a voyeuristic view into the lives of others with no real experience with cultures, development of global citizenship, or true engagement with global issues. This study assesses the impact of a short-term study abroad program on students' perceptions of their role as global citizens and identifies pedagogical tools that increase the likelihood that students will embrace global citizenship as a transformative learning experience. Using reflection papers and photo elicitation, this article shows that immersive short-term study abroad experiences that include extensive community engagement have the potential to change students' perception of the world and the way they see their role in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As advancements in technology rapidly progress and the enrollment of international students continues to increase concurrently, understanding the impact of social media on their experiences has become an area of significant academic interest in the recent decade. This integrative review employs a hybrid review approach, integrating bibliometric analysis with structured review, to provide a comprehensive overview and systematic synthesis of the literature on social media use among international students. One hundred twenty-one studies retrieved from the Web of Science database were analyzed to delineate the evolution of the field and identify the influential journals. The paper further proposes an integrative framework that thematically summarizes the phenomenon, aiming to highlight the potent components in students’ transitions. This review offers insights into the evolving landscape of social media use among international students, identifying potential directions for future study and policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although common barriers to studying abroad are well documented, this paper proposes a more-overarching barrier is that prevalent evaluation strategies provide little evidence of how study abroad contributes to discipline-specific learning outcomes. Such direct evidence is likely to encourage more employers to view studying abroad as adding value to a graduate resume and hence motivate more students to participate. Studying abroad is often represented in the literature as delivering a transformative impact for all students, regardless of their specific academic programme. While this may be true, it frames the benefits of studying abroad as being generic and supplementary to any discipline-specific curriculum. This paper provides a specific example derived from an Australian national data set and reviews other methodologies that can deliver outcomes data for specific disciplines and for different study programmes, enabling more effective programme evaluation and more effective promotion of the benefits of studying abroad for different students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on in-depth interviews, this paper shows how study abroad men with upper-class backgrounds manage their image as enviable others, particularly in the context of their military experiences and understanding of military service. They view military service as a useful way to secure militarized masculine citizenship and launder their contaminated image as enviable others in order to live and work in South Korea. This understanding of military service as an individualized benefit deviates from the dominant construction of military service as a patriotic duty expected of all male citizens; at the same time, the meanings and values study abroad men attach to militarized masculine citizenship reveal the powerful workings of the triangular relationship between men, military service, and citizenship in Korea. The findings here complicate the commonly understood association between Korean men, military service, and citizenship, revealing the highly classed as well as gendered nature of military service and the meanings/values of militarized masculine citizenship. Furthermore, the role of American education and English skills within the military and beyond also reveals the ongoing effects of US imperialism and the American military presence in Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The numbers of UK students choosing to study abroad for a period has increased steadily over the years, with many students citing academic, professional, linguistic and cultural reasons as their key motivations. However, while there is an abundance of literature on the advantage of study abroad (SA) for linguistic learning, there is less known about the academic impact of studying abroad. In addition, because SA is largely a process of self‐selection, this makes it difficult to derive unbiased estimates of its impact on academic achievement. Using data on students from a London‐based Russell Group university, and categorising SA students as those who participated in credit‐seeking SA programmes through Erasmus or bilateral/multilateral agreements with partner universities, this paper uses individual fixed effects to compare the post‐SA grades for students who sojourned with their expected grades had they not sojourned, as well as with their non‐SA counterparts. The results are quite robust across subgroups and indicate that grades in year 3 are less than expected for the SA group, given their pre‐sojourn grades. To tackle the problem of self‐selection, outcomes for SA students were compared to the group who applied but did not eventually study abroad, and to the outcomes for students who did not apply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guided by the notion of 'flexible citizenship', as a strategy to accumulate and exchange different forms of capital across national borders, our ethnographic study followed eleven Chinese international secondary school students' transnational lives. This paper is focused on how instrumental goals of flexible citizenship cover over the emotional and existential qualities of these youths' lives. To orient this concern, we turn to Rizvi's conception of 'cosmopolitan learning' highlighting learners' relational awareness of their 'situatedness' in a hyper-connected world. Our analysis shows that student participants' understandings and practices were laced with emotional and moral sensitivities emerging from the intersecting transnational regimes of family, nation-states, and capital. Governed by home and host cultural logics and power discourses, the students were pushed and pulled into an instrumental flexible citizenship. They lacked dialogical spaces and pedagogical supports from teachers and parents for their cosmopolitan learning; we suggest stakeholders in East–West study abroad take notice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper compares two existing approaches to studying electrical contact phenomena: in foreign studies, measurement results are presented as the resistance of one contact connection, while in domestic studies, as the contact resistivity. Graphite was chosen as the studied material. For the first time, the results of an experimental study of the contact phenomena of MPG-7 graphite in the temperature range 350–750 K are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time abroad is an ever more common feature of study for many university students. Students of languages, in particular, are encouraged or required to spend a period of time abroad as an integral component of their degree. While research on study abroad is abundant, studies addressing the socialisation of Irish students during their time abroad are limited. In an effort to better understand this issue, the research reported in this paper examined factors that enhanced or hindered students of Spanish from an Irish university integrating into a host country/city during two academic semesters spent at partner universities in Spain or Latin America. Students completed an online survey on their return home in order to ascertain their experiences of integration in the local communities where they lived. Results show that students who made efforts to join sport/social activities and who engaged in activities with native speakers of Spanish had a positive experience of integration. This paper also makes recommendations that may be relevant for students and institutions in their preparation for study abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author discusses the study of Juan-Garau and Pérez-Vidal on the contextual features of study abroad (SA) on the acquisition of foreign language proficiency. The author mentions the exposure of the linguistic input on the language development and the improvement of the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) undergraduates. Also mentioned are the progress in the areas of syntactic and lexical complexity and listening skills of the participants in the SA context.

This paper is the result of a case study on the foreign students from Warsaw (winter semester 2015-2016), their view on the city and their behavior as tourists. In this case study we applied a questionnaire and analyzed the resulting data in SPSS in order to understand why the students chose Warsaw, if they were involved in tourist activities and if the tourist market from the city and beyond can satisfy their needs. This paper may be useful for policymakers in cities with large numbers of foreign students since it highlights the needs and relation of foreign students regarding tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to understand the effect of international mobility in higher education on Brazilian education inequality by examining the Science Without Borders programme for undergraduate students. The SWB aimed to award 101,000 scholarships for Brazilian undergraduate students to conduct part of their studies in a foreign university between 2011 and 2015. This paper draws on research on education inequalities and international mobility to investigate the patterns of inequality among undergraduate students participating in the SWB, considering the period of higher education expansion in Brazil. Using the ENEM datasets, inequality of access and inequality within the programme were analysed. The results show that students with parents with higher levels of education and higher income were more likely to participate in the SWB programme. Moreover, students with higher parental education and family income tended to study at a prestigious university during the programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the effectiveness of the application of the professional knowledge and competencies of Kazakhstanis who have graduated from foreign universities. Based on the results of a survey of 1,111 Kazakhstanis who completed their studies abroad and in-depth interviews with 44 graduates of foreign universities, the authors consider how effectively Kazakhstani graduates of foreign universities apply their knowledge and competencies in Kazakhstan and abroad. At the same time, this research analyses the main motives of Kazakhstanis for studying abroad, the factors preventing the use of intellectual potential in Kazakhstan, as well as the reasons that prompted them to stay abroad or return to Kazakhstan. According to the results of the study, the use of the intellectual potential of graduates is influenced by: the high degree of bureaucracy in the country (34.5%); low wages (28.3%); and the absence of the conditions necessary for effective work (26.8%). Only 21.3% of the survey participants fully apply their acquired knowledge and skills at work. This research was funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although it is well‐established that female participation in study abroad programmes is higher than the male participation, less is known about how this gap has changed over time. Using student‐level data from the nationally representative surveys of three European countries (France, Germany and Italy), this paper begins by examining changes in the relationship between gender and participation in study abroad programmes between the beginning of the 2000s and the mid‐2010s. It then explores to what extent these changes can be explained by different characteristics of men and women. The results suggest that in none of the countries there is evidence of a systematic decline over time in women's over‐representation in study abroad programmes. However, the size of the gap is consistently significantly reduced (or even the sign of the gap reversed) once gender differences in observable traits are accounted for. Field of study and academic performance are important factors contributing to the gender disparity in study abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nineteenth-century art critics analyzed in parallel the works of Celia Castro and the Mira sisters, given that they were contemporaries. In the following paper, we propose to study relevant aspects of Castro's life that set her apart from the artistic development of Magdalena and Aurora Mira, mainly for two reasons. The first is that she was a milestone in the history of national art, as she was the first artist to obtain a scholarship from the Chilean government to continue her studies abroad, in 1901. Moreover, once she returned to the country, after spending more than 25 years in France, she laid the foundations of a group of painters from Valparaíso known as the "Porteña Generation", which puts Celia Castro as a pioneering artist in Chilean female art. Along with the above, it was possible to unveil the mystery of the relationship between her and Salvador Allende, due to the fact that in some investigations it was pointed out that the painter was the politician's grandmother; nevertheless, it was possible to correct this fact that for years has been present in her biography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the production of cosmopolitan capital among students participating in the DC Public Schools Study Abroad Programme, an initiative that has been lauded as shifting the narrative of equitable access to global learning. We draw on a framework of Bourdieusian ideas about cultural capital, as well as community cultural wealth perspectives to illuminate findings from a multi-year, mixed-method study of the programme. Our focus is on how students, many of whom identify as belonging to minoritised groups within the US, experience global travel and its varying effects as related to the production and expression of cosmopolitan capital. By examining how cosmopolitan capital is mobilised and enacted in a myriad of ways by youth in a globalising urban space, we engage and contribute to the literature on internationalisation and elite making, inviting a more relational definition of 'elites'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks into the intercultural development of a cohort of 26 American students in Spain. Spain constitutes the third preferred world destination of American sojourners. Starting from an analysis of students' knowledge areas about the host culture, this study explores the relationship between intercultural knowledge and other dimensions of intercultural competence through students' journals. Results indicate that sojourners increase their knowledge of 13 areas of the host culture, especially of issues related to food and drink, daily life, house, and institutions and services. Data also reveals that the acquisition of and reflection on culture-specific knowledge instigates intercultural development by honing awareness of intercultural verbal and non-verbal communication and the processes inherent in adjustment to life in the host country, learning from experience, and critical stances. The paper concludes that informed and critical reflection on sojourners' experiences of otherness during study abroad, facilitated by an intercultural orientation program, favors positive attitudes towards the outgroup and enhances the intercultural attitudes of empathy, curiosity or willingness to adjust, along with the intercultural skills of communicative awareness, cultural awareness, awareness of the self and the other, action-taking, or suspending judgement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on an analysis of 2600 study abroad alumni responding to a survey that spans more than 25 years. Our inquiry focuses on evaluating how programme length, housing arrangements, number, and type of co-curricular activities impact alumni's attributions of personal growth and their attitudes towards global engagement and future social relationships. This paper is also informed by a 5-year alumni follow-up study. Our study finds that the type of housing and participation in co-curricular activities have a significant moderating effect on alumni attributions. With rare exception, programme length does not have a significant impact on reported outcome measures. We conclude the paper with a discussion of how these findings can help guide future research and administrative programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper extends interdisciplinary research into young people's experiences of studying abroad. Whilst there is ample evidence for the growing significance of international student mobility in shaping young people's identities and future life chances, few efforts have been made to account for the perspectives of young people who have no first-hand experiences of travelling abroad. Building on the concept of imaginative geographies, this paper flips around the analytical lens used to explore representations of international student mobility and develops a nuanced understanding of the ways in which mass-mediated images and discourses shape understandings of self and others. Drawing on field research conducted with Nepali university students in Kathmandu, the first part of the analysis makes evident that a greater degree of global connectivity between young people studying at home and abroad does not necessarily translate into a fuller understanding of distant places and people, as these connections are always underpinned by local status hierarchies. The second part of the analysis calls attention to the various ways in which dominant imaginaries of mobility and place are being internalised and reworked differently depending on people's social identities and their lived experiences. The findings presented in this paper therefore contribute to broader debates in geographical research on the uneven power relations that underpin mobility practices and shape people's identities in an interconnected world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Shows how one-on-one instructors use different practices to conduct elicitations. • Shows how one-on-one instructors employ embodied resources to conduct elicitations. • Illustrates how simultaneous joint attention to form and meaning can be accomplished. • Provides insights for instructors to reflect on their own interactional decisions. This paper explores instructor elicitation practices used in mandatory one-on-one instructional sessions to prompt learners of Japanese to incorporate specific linguistic items in their responses. Specifically, the study is based on a corpus of 15 h of video-recorded interactions in a study abroad program in Japan. Drawing on multimodal conversation analysis, the study investigates: (1) how instructors design and sequentially place elicitations to prompt learners to use a specific target language form while engaging in meaning-focused activities; and (2) how these elicitation designs and placements affect the accomplishment of the intended pedagogical goal. The findings contribute to the understanding of elicitation practices for specific pedagogical purposes and yield empirically based insights that can inform interactional decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a reconceptualisation of international students' transitions into and through UK higher education. We present two case studies of students which explore their transitions in terms of their academic speaking skills from pre-sessional courses into their disciplinary studies. Students describe how the development of their confidence and performance in academic speaking was contingent on a number of factors and micro-moments, and how this progress into and within disciplinary studies often involved regression and discomfort. Nevertheless, they also talked of developing strategies to overcome challenges and the resultant learning. We argue that transitions to disciplinary studies in terms of academic speaking can be more helpfully understood as non-linear, fluid and rhizomatic. This study offers valuable insights for individuals and institutions to move away from a fixed student lifecycle perspective to consider instead how reciprocal, embedded and on-going support for international students may better reflect students' experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overrepresentation of female students in study abroad programmes across the Western world represents one of the major gaps in scientific research on study abroad. In this paper, I explore possible theoretical and empirical explanations, drawing on Personal Investment Theory and investigating study abroad motivations and decisions of a nationally representative sample of higher education students in the Netherlands between 2006 and 2015. The analyses specifically focus on the role of parents, academic self-concept and perceived goals in female and male students decision-making process to participate in study abroad programmes. The results reveal that maternal educational attainment level potentially plays a crucial role in explaining the decision-making process of both male and female students, as well as in explaining the overrepresentation of female students. The findings indicate that female students whose mothers have a medium educational attainment level are more likely to study abroad for exploration motives, whereas female students with lower educated mothers are more motivated by professional development purposes. As such, the results suggest mothers might motivate their daughters to study abroad in order to achieve intergenerational social mobility. Together, the presented findings offer fresh theoretical and empirical explanations of the gender gap in study abroad. Furthermore, the generated insights open up new directions for future research, indicating particularly the potential of social reproduction theories for explaining the gender gap in study abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]