Roles of Mobile Devices Supporting International Students to Overcome Intercultural Difficulties

Sociocultural theory emphasises the mediational role of tools in learning. International students usually find themselves in a vicious cycle, experiencing difficulties when engaging with local people and culture which might provide the mediation necessary to develop their intercultural communicative competence. Yang (2016) further points out that "mobile technologies provide alternative mediational tools that might help students to break this cycle" (p. 2). This paper, developed from Yang's (2016) doctoral research, examines the roles of mobile devices in overcoming international students' intercultural difficulties during study abroad. Eight international students participated in the study and were asked to keep diaries and attend interviews for four weeks. A content analysis approach was applied to examine the students' use of mobile devices and situations. The findings revealed that for overcoming intercultural difficulties, the international students utilised mobile devices as search tools, social tools, service providers, presentation tools, and capture tools. Although the students showed some awareness of mobile devices as mediational tools, the problems that require the ability to analyse sociocultural contexts need further support from educators and technologies. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]