Publications

Chapter

Language(s): English

Abstract:
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) into education is growing, expediting the optimization of personalized adaptive language learning (PALL). This chapter discusses the foundations of personalized adaptive learning, explaining its importance for language learners. The potential of AI in language learning and an overview of VR–assisted language learning are presented with a particular focus on the potential of AI embedded into VR, which enables PALL experiences. The role of AI-enhanced high-immersion VR is explained with examples of providing language learners with individualized and contextualized learning environments through immersive real-world based scenarios and simulations. The chapter pinpoints current challenges and future avenues for exploration.

Chapter

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Chapter in "Lingua Ex Machina: AI, Multilingualism and Interculturality" which explores the evolving role of AI in shaping language, communication and intercultural encounters. The term ‘Lingua Ex Machina’ (literally ‘language from the machine’) encapsulates the paradox of AI acting as both a tool for bridging linguistic and intercultural divides, and a potential amplifier of inequalities. This edited volume brings together critical perspectives on the impact of AI on language diversity, translation, education and the production and dissemination of knowledge. From questioning whether AI is more than a sophisticated ‘parrot’ to examining its effects on minor languages and intercultural education communication and research, the contributors highlight both the promises and drawbacks of machine-mediated communication. They also urge readers to reflect on the future of language, advocating for a reflexive approach to technology that prioritises agency, diversity, and critical engagement. This interdisciplinary book is an essential read for students, scholars, and practitioners interested in multilingualism, intercultural communication education, and the implications of AI.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Provocative, interdisciplinary, and daringly critical, AI for Critical Interculturality doesn’t spoon-feed ready-made answers but rather inspires readers to think, question and interrogate interculturality alongside AI. In a world where AI is often feared as a threat to human intelligence and creativity, the book flips the script by positioning AI as a valuable partner in the study of interculturality as both a scientific and educational notion. How could AI help us dismantle biases, interrogate knowledge production/dissemination and foster deeper self-reflexivity in the broad field of Intercultural Communication Education and Research? What happens when we treat AI not as a passive tool but as an active interlocutor – one that mirrors our ideological blind spots and pushes us toward sharper criticality and reflexivity? Through rich theoretical and conceptual insights, real-world cases and interactive activities, this book equips readers to unmask ideologies in AI-generated knowledge about interculturality; leverage AI as a mirror to expose and confront personal and systemic biases; consider some language stratagems to disrupt linguistic norms in human-AI dialogue. More importantly, the author asks us to forge an ethical and non-utilitarian partnership with AI. This boundary-shattering work invites students, educators and researchers of interculturality to envision and co-create the future of intercultural studies.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
An Introduction to AI and Intercultural Communication Education is the first, historic volume to explore the intersection of AI and intercultural communication education, interrogating both the transformative possibilities and ethical dilemmas posed by emerging technologies. Through diverse scholarly perspectives, the book examines how AI tools, ranging from language models such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek to generative image systems, could reshape the way we teach, research and conceptualise interculturality. While AI offers innovative opportunities for virtual exchanges, automated translation and accessible learning, it also risks reinforcing stereotypes, Western-centric epistemologies and reductive narratives if used uncritically. The contributors address pressing questions: Can AI facilitate decolonial and reflexive approaches to intercultural communication education, or does it inevitably reproduce dominant paradigms? How can educators harness the potential of AI while safeguarding against its pitfalls, such as algorithmic bias and the erasure of indigenous knowledge systems? Combining theoretical critique with case studies, the volume highlights the need for ethical frameworks that prioritise epistemic justice, pluralistic perspectives and human agency in AI-assisted intercultural communication and education. This book is an indispensable resource for students, researchers and educators interested in the complexities of technology-mediated learning, as well as the broader fields of higher education, intercultural studies and internationalisation and globalisation.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
The mass migration of human populations to urban areas has resulted in unprecedented challenges for city services. To address and find solutions for these emerging issues, decision-makers must embrace the smart city and Society 5.0 paradigms, which comprehensively tackle various dimensions of the problem and ensure adaptability to evolving citizen needs. Central to the success of these paradigms is technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI). AI’s transformative capabilities enable the expansion of services, automation of tasks, efficient operationalization and processing vast amounts of data to address urban challenges, aligning with several sustainable development goals (SDGs) such as sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11). Municipalities require strategic plans that empower them to adapt to the AI, Society 5.0 and smart city paradigms, involving multiple stakeholders, including businesses. This study presents a multi-criteria analysis system designed to support decision-making in this complex context, considering the subjective nature and inherent complexity of the decision problem. The system development involved input from key decision-makers with relevant expertise, utilizing methodologies such as cognitive mapping and the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory technique applied in a neutrosophic environment to analyze cause-and-effect relationships between factors affecting adaptation initiatives. Based on a constructivist, process-oriented approach, the developed analysis system can assist decision-makers in navigating uncertainty during evaluations of technology integration. This holistic and comprehensive system promotes informed decision-making within the AI, Society 5.0 and smart city contexts, contributing to the achievement of relevant SDGs.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
The postdigital era signals a profound ontological rupture in knowledge governance, reshaping the foundations of epistemic authority, intellectual agency, and pedagogical ethics. AI is not a neutral tool but an active agent in automating exclusions across epistemic domains—the systems through which knowledge is produced, legitimized, and accessed. In discussing AI-driven epistemic transformations, the very nature of what we mean by epistemic is called into question. By bringing decolonial and postdigital perspectives into dialogue, this study interrogates how AI-driven infrastructures perpetuate and reconfigure colonial and neoliberal logics. Drawing on Floridi’s philosophy of information, Hayles’ posthumanist critique of cognition, and Stiegler’s theory of technics, it examines how algorithmic governance, predictive analytics, and generative AI (GenAI) transform the conditions of education. Rather than merely embedding objectivity, these systems reinforce technocratic norms while marginalizing non-Western and Indigenous knowledges. As machine-learning technologies increasingly shape educational environments, they call for urgent reconsideration of justice and relational knowledge-making. In response, the paper proposes pedagogical frameworks that resist commodification and standardization, advancing pluralism, historical consciousness, and democratic participation. Education must not passively accommodate AI’s epistemic architecture but instead reclaim its transformative, deliberative role—challenging algorithmic enclosures and cultivating an inclusive, reflexive postdigital knowledge society.

Chapter

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Chapter in "Lingua Ex Machina: AI, Multilingualism and Interculturality" which explores the evolving role of AI in shaping language, communication and intercultural encounters. The term ‘Lingua Ex Machina’ (literally ‘language from the machine’) encapsulates the paradox of AI acting as both a tool for bridging linguistic and intercultural divides, and a potential amplifier of inequalities. This edited volume brings together critical perspectives on the impact of AI on language diversity, translation, education and the production and dissemination of knowledge. From questioning whether AI is more than a sophisticated ‘parrot’ to examining its effects on minor languages and intercultural education communication and research, the contributors highlight both the promises and drawbacks of machine-mediated communication. They also urge readers to reflect on the future of language, advocating for a reflexive approach to technology that prioritises agency, diversity, and critical engagement. This interdisciplinary book is an essential read for students, scholars, and practitioners interested in multilingualism, intercultural communication education, and the implications of AI.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Digitally enabled technologies and pedagogies, including the use of AI technologies, have become integral to higher education. Despite this, online teaching continues to give rise to particularly strong and variable affective responses, responses which orient the academics who feel them towards possible futures, whether desired or feared. In this paper, we consider what affective imaginaries might be informing the future of online teaching within higher education. We describe four affective stances which we interpret from our interviews with influential senior academics in Australia and the United Kingdom, and reflect on how affective imaginaries of online learning may be speaking academic practice into being. We conclude that giving legitimacy to the affective may support the collective potential of academics to mobilise their visions and hopes for higher education going forward.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) offer the prospect of manipulating beliefs and behaviors on a population-wide level (1). Large language models (LLMs) and autonomous agents (2) let influence campaigns reach unprecedented scale and precision. Generative tools can expand propaganda output without sacrificing credibility (3) and inexpensively create falsehoods that are rated as more human-like than those written by humans (3, 4). Techniques meant to refine AI reasoning, such as chain-of-thought prompting, can be used to generate more convincing falsehoods. Enabled by these capabilities, a disruptive threat is emerging: swarms of collaborative, malicious AI agents. Fusing LLM reasoning with multiagent architectures (2), these systems are capable of coordinating autonomously, infiltrating communities, and fabricating consensus efficiently. By adaptively mimicking human social dynamics, they threaten democracy. Because the resulting harms stem from design, commercial incentives, and governance, we prioritize interventions at multiple leverage points, focusing on pragmatic mechanisms over voluntary compliance.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This book adopts an interactional pragmatics and multimodal approach to the study of im/politeness, offering unique insights for better understanding intercultural interactions in today’s globalised world. The volume explores face/identity and its relation to im/politeness, not only through language but through gestures as well. In addition, this study brings greater awareness to analyses of interactions with participants from different cultural backgrounds, specifically drawing upon data from authentic video-recorded interactions between Finnish and French speakers in both personal and professional contexts. Detailed analyses of interactional situations across different phases of life, from family meals to social interactions between students and friends to coaching at work, elucidate both the ways in which face/identity are co-constructed during interactions through an intercultural lens and offers new directions for its further study. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in pragmatics and intercultural communication.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Lingua Ex Machina: AI, Multilingualism and Interculturality explores the evolving role of AI in shaping language, communication and intercultural encounters. The term ‘Lingua Ex Machina’ (literally ‘language from the machine’) encapsulates the paradox of AI acting as both a tool for bridging linguistic and intercultural divides, and a potential amplifier of inequalities. This edited volume brings together critical perspectives on the impact of AI on language diversity, translation, education and the production and dissemination of knowledge. From questioning whether AI is more than a sophisticated ‘parrot’ to examining its effects on minor languages and intercultural education communication and research, the contributors highlight both the promises and drawbacks of machine-mediated communication. They also urge readers to reflect on the future of language, advocating for a reflexive approach to technology that prioritises agency, diversity, and critical engagement. This interdisciplinary book is an essential read for students, scholars, and practitioners interested in multilingualism, intercultural communication education, and the implications of AI

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This paper considers the histories and geographies of educational disinvestment in England through the lens of Ruth Wilson Gilmore’s ‘organised abandonment’. The concept of organised abandonment refers to the intentional disinvestment in particular communities by state and capitalist interests. Such disinvestment makes groups vulnerable to precarity and harm, entrenching racialised and classed dispossession. Drawing on findings from school- and community- based research in Bristol, England, we show how organised abandonment, when applied to education, functions in two interrelated ways: by ‘abandoning places’ – the material, social and economic infrastructures of children’s lives, and; by ‘abandoning futures’ – the circumscription of educational aspirations and the foreclosing of alternatives for young people. The paper argues that the concept of organised abandonment not only offers a useful lens to recognise longstanding, active, and deeply felt structural injustices in education, but it also underlines the political necessity of reparative action for the field of education.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Practicing Digital Ethnography offers a comprehensive introduction to the essential methods, concepts, and practices of conducting ethnographic research in digital environments. Written by sixty global contributors across twelve chapters with accompanying case studies and concept explorations, this book provides both theoretical foundations and practical guidance for digital ethnographic work. It covers research approaches for diverse digital contexts including social media, virtual spaces, video games, and hybrid physical-technological settings, while addressing the deployment of tools like artificial intelligence, big data, mapping technologies, and multimodal methodologies. The book examines ethical challenges specific to digital research environments while maintaining a commitment to reflexive, co-present research that acknowledges how our interactions with digital technologies transcend boundaries of citizenship, race, gender identity, age, and ability. Practicing Digital Ethnography is ideal for students and researchers in anthropology, media studies, science and technology studies, and communications who seek to understand contemporary hyper-mediated environments, as well as professionals outside academia who need practical, accessible guidance for conducting rigorous digital research.

Chapter

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Chapter in "Lingua Ex Machina: AI, Multilingualism and Interculturality" which explores the evolving role of AI in shaping language, communication and intercultural encounters. The term ‘Lingua Ex Machina’ (literally ‘language from the machine’) encapsulates the paradox of AI acting as both a tool for bridging linguistic and intercultural divides, and a potential amplifier of inequalities. This edited volume brings together critical perspectives on the impact of AI on language diversity, translation, education and the production and dissemination of knowledge. From questioning whether AI is more than a sophisticated ‘parrot’ to examining its effects on minor languages and intercultural education communication and research, the contributors highlight both the promises and drawbacks of machine-mediated communication. They also urge readers to reflect on the future of language, advocating for a reflexive approach to technology that prioritises agency, diversity, and critical engagement. This interdisciplinary book is an essential read for students, scholars, and practitioners interested in multilingualism, intercultural communication education, and the implications of AI.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
In the field of Software Engineering (SE), educational institutions are confronted with the demanding responsibility of aligning their curricula to provide students with the competencies — soft and technical — demanded by the evolving job market. Moreover, workplaces are becoming increasingly international, highlighting the competencies required in collaborating with people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Competency models offer essential input for curriculum design. Moreover, educators may need to construct their own competency models when international guidelines fall short. To prepare students for future workplaces, curriculum designers necessitate knowledge to address demands of the international working environment. To gain a deeper understanding of the needs in the international SE context, we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify and analyze existing SE competency models and their construction, as well as investigate communication, collaboration, intercultural, and language competencies embedded in these models. This SLR identified 29 competency models across diverse application domains and purposes, constructed using a range of mono- and multi-method approaches, and offering multiple use scenarios for diverse stakeholders. We identified and collected an extensive collection of communication, collaboration, intercultural, and language competencies from the competency models in addition to the elements of the competency model construction process. Regarding identified competencies, communication and collaboration embody as core components in SE competency models whereas intercultural and language competencies are depreciated. Moreover, competency models and their construction lack international aspects. These findings highlight gaps in current competency models and offer insights into curriculum design to better prepare students for international SE environments.

Article / Journal

Abstract:
How can higher education institutions contribute more effectively to achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal 4: inclusive and quality education for all? This paper explores the question through the case study of Elimisha Kakuma, an association supporting young refugees in Kakuma Camp, Kenya, in accessing higher education abroad. In collaboration with American, Canadian and UK universities, Elimisha assists students throughout the admissions process, offering tailored support to navigate cultural barriers, application procedures, and financial challenges. Beyond admission, Elimisha prepares students for their transition to life abroad, equipping them with academic skills, emotional resilience, and practical tools for adaptation. The association also provides a dedicated study space within the camp, fostering a learning community supported by resources such as computers, books, and academic mentoring. Through online learning opportunities, students engage early with their future universities, developing a sense of belonging before departure. This paper argues that Elimisha represents a best-practice model of NGO-university collaboration, showing how partnerships beyond academia can create meaningful opportunities for displaced learners. By analysing the strengths and challenges of this initiative, drawing on a field visit to the camp (January 2025) and twelve semi-structured interviews with students, association staff, and university partners, the paper identifies effective strategies and scalable solutions for improving refugee access to higher education worldwide.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Stepping into the vibrant and uncharted margins of Intercultural Communication, Education and Research (ICER), this edited volume challenges the field’s established narratives by actively listening to the thinkers, educators and practitioners whose transformative work has previously been overlooked. Moving beyond clichés, this volume introduces the ‘unsung maverick’ not as a heroic figure but as a precarious rope-dancer performing vital and innovative work without a safety net. Through powerful, first-hand accounts, ranging from autoethnographies to poetic experiments, the contributors pull apart dominant paradigms and reveal how systemic biases and linguistic hierarchies have silenced crucial perspectives. Representing a platform for methodological rebellion and epistemic justice, this book showcases how interculturality is lived and reimagined from the ground up. For anyone ready to move past the usual references and discover the fertile and creative potential at the edges of ICER, this edited volume urges us to listen, learn and help shape the conversation about interculturality today.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This timely edited volume challenges the potentially simplistic blame narratives surrounding artificial intelligence (AI), urging instead a shared ethical responsibility among users, researchers, policymakers, and others. Rejecting the notion of AI as an autonomous 'evil', the book interrogates how human choices embedded in power structures, colonial legacies, and ideological frameworks can shape AI's impact on intercultural relations. Through decolonial critiques, dialogic experiments, and perspectives from the Global South, the contributors expose algorithmic biases, epistemic injustices, and governance gaps, while advocating for collective agency. From African Ubuntu ethics to Moroccan linguistic and cultural equity, and the political economy of creative industries, the book portrays AI as a mirror of human complexities and contradictions rather than a scapegoat. A vital resource for students and scholars of intercultural communication education and research, this book calls for reflexive engagement with AI, emphasising co-accountability over unfounded dread.

Chapter

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This chapter examines how sociotechnical affordances of activist education and digital interaction enabled a pedagogical practice aimed at disentangling learners from colonial legacies of gender, sexuality, and race. Specifically, I focus on a 2021 Faveladoc class, a documentary-making workshop held via Google Meet for young favela residents in Rio de Janeiro, organised by the grassroots NGO Raízes em Movimento. Led by Joice Lima, a Black social scientist and activist, the class explored what it means to inhabit a gendered, racialised body shaped by desire within a peripheral space. The interactions among the instructor, the young participants, and the digital and discursive affordances at play gave rise to a situated collective that actively resists (in)securitisation—that is, the process of framing certain populations as existential threats. As territories predominantly inhabited by Black working-class communities, favelas have been key targets of Brazil’s (in)securitisation, subjected to intensified policing and the persistent ‘crossfire’ between the state and organised crime. Against this backdrop, this chapter analyses how this dialogical digital setting fostered unlearning of patriarchy, racism, and LGBTQI-phobia — ultimately repositioning language as hope.

Other publication

Language(s): English

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Digital intercultural experiences are shaped by broader sociocultural dynamics, including migration, corporate discourse, and social activism. This volume offers a comprehensive exploration of ‘digital interculturality’, drawing on insights from intercultural communication studies, sociolinguistics, and adjacent fields. The contributors examine how digital technologies—such as social media platforms, translation apps, and artificial intelligence—mediate intercultural encounters, identities, and meaning-making processes. Together, these perspectives advance our understanding of the entanglement of intercultural communication with digital technologies, laying the groundwork for ‘digital interculturality’ as an emerging interdisciplinary field.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This research explores how intercultural dialogue through a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project enhances students’ understanding and integration of Indigenous perspectives. The initiative connected Norwegian Early Childhood Teacher Education (ECTE) students with Canadian Teacher Education students to explore Sámi and Métis cultures. Using a qualitative design, focus group interviews with ECTE students employed a hermeneutic approach to interpret experiences and cultural reflections. These insights, analyzed systematically, demonstrated the COIL project’s effectiveness in facilitating intercultural dialogue, fostering intercultural competence, and encouraging self-reflection among participants. Participants developed invaluable skills for integrating Indigenous perspectives into future educational roles, supported by facilitation that enhanced cross-cultural dialogue and language skills. This study underscores the need for frameworks supporting sustained cultural engagement, acknowledging sample size limitations. Findings advocate for the broader integration of intercultural collaborations in strategies, emphasizing education that enhances cultural competence. Future research should expand with larger samples and varied cultures, using longitudinal studies to assess the impacts on professional development and optimize collaboration educational contexts.

Chapter

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This chapter considers games and play in the context of intercultural education. The chapter explores three viewpoints that have been of interest to scholars and educators for decades. These include the issue of perspective-taking and role-play, the question of learning to embrace anxiety and uncertainty, and the power of agency. By contrasting concrete examples with theoretical views, the chapter builds an argument for the potential as well as risks related to games as a potential tool in the intercultural educator's toolbox.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
The digital age has profoundly transformed Holocaust remembrance through the influence of digital archives, connectivity, and emerging technologies. This research investigates the transformation of personal memories into connective memory shaped by online social platforms, Internet search tools, and artificial intelligence. It employs an analysis of digital memory platforms and conducts interviews centered on a specific case study examining the memory patterns of a Holocaust survivor. The increasing reliance on algorithmic mediation raises concerns about the potential distortion and manipulation of historical narratives. This study highlights the need for human agency in memory construction and the challenges of technologically mediated memory. It suggests that collaborative efforts involving scholars, survivors, and community members should continue to play a central role in developing technological tools for remembrance. The implications extend beyond Holocaust memory, informing discussions on the digitization, preservation, and ethical dissemination of technologically mediated historical knowledge in the twenty-first century.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This book addresses the importance of sustainability and environmental worldviews and the role of intercultural competencies in achieving SDGs acceptance and their effective implementation. Particularly since the pandemic, there is a growth in online education, and this offers opportunities for educators and students that can be exploited with a focus on sustainability. The book provides examples of virtual exchange including Global South and Global North with tools ranging from Project-Based and Community-Based Service Learning, Debates, Environmental Games and Simulations, Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality, and Accessibility and DEI issues. Additionally, issues of social justice and digital colonialism are a thread through several of the chapters. By providing a broad range of global learning experiences from scholars across several continents from various disciplines that include various post-secondary education based on tools and best practices, the book is a great resource to academics, researchers, and students on approaches to education that prepare the learner for praxis and effective implementation of sustainable solutions for their professional and social future perspectives.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This edited volume explores the specific ability of the school setting to promote intercultural education as an approach to address contemporary, societal issues of justice and social inclusion. Highlighting the importance of schools as one of the first areas where diversity is encountered and experienced, this book offers case study chapters on the most recent pedagogical approaches, research questions, and frameworks for intercultural education and teaching. To address these approaches, the book uses comparative studies, systematic reviews, case study analyses, and theoretical and conceptual discussions. Written by an international team of experts in the field, chapters address new challenges in curriculum development for intercultural education and illustrate innovative ways to provide instruction through the use of technology and the arts. Fusing conceptual and methodological approaches, the book examines interculturality and associated instruction within schools, further exploring the frameworks and methodologies that govern contextually based, culturally responsive education. Offering in-depth treatment of cutting-edge pedagogies used to teach interculturality in culturally diverse settings, this book will be of interest to educators, researchers, and students studying intercultural education and studies, multicultural education, and the sociology of education more broadly.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This edited volume provides a comprehensive examination of the intersection between internationalization of higher education and digital transformation, with a focus on insights from Morocco. Through a series of chapters authored by experts in the field, the book covers a wide range of topics, including critical thinking in intercultural education, the transformative impact of internationalization on educators and students, technological integration, challenges, opportunities, policy perspectives, and future directions.

Book

Language(s): German

Abstract:
In Japan findet jährlich eine Vielzahl von Amateur-Comic-Events, darunter die größte Comic-Messe weltweit, die Comiket, statt. Entgegen dem globalen Trend zur Digitalisierung im Comic-Bereich wird ein Großteil der dortigen Werke nach wie vor von den Künstler*innen selbst verlegt, gedruckt und herausgegeben. Katharina Hülsmann nimmt die Kultur japanischer Fan-Comics (sog. dōjinshi) in den Blick: Wie entwickelte sich eine solch solide Infrastruktur in Japan und warum hält sie sich bis heute? Welche Anschlussmöglichkeiten haben dōjinshi an ein globales Fandom, wenn sie sich im Internet eher wenig verbreiten? Und was treibt japanische Amateur-Künstler*innen an, ihre Werke mit viel Aufwand herzustellen und mit anderen Fans zu teilen?

Book

Language(s): German, English

Abstract:
Das Buch vermittelt einen disziplinübergreifenden und multiperspektivischen Einblick in die Frage nach der Menschenähnlichkeit von Maschinen bzw. der Maschinenähnlichkeit von Menschen sowie nach den Herausforderungen von Künstlicher Intelligenz in der Bildung, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. In den theoretisch fundierten Beiträgen werden zum einen erkenntnis- bzw. grundlagentheoretische Dimensionen gegenwärtiger KI-Entwicklung erläutert. Diskutiert werden Fragen nach der Menschenähnlichkeit von KI, nach dem zukünftigen Miteinander von Menschen und Maschinen und insbesondere die Frage nach den Grenzziehungen zwischen Menschen und Maschinen: Können KI-Systeme ein Bewusstsein, ein Verständnis oder eine Art von intentionalem Handeln entwickeln? Müssen wir also nicht nur von intelligenten, sondern von eigenständigen, kaum noch von Menschen unterscheidbaren KI-Agierenden sprechen? Vor diesem Hintergrund werden dann Herausforderungen in Bildung, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft thematisiert, die durch die rasanten Entwicklungen der Künstlichen Intelligenz entstehen: Wie werden sich Institutionen, Praktiken und Werte verändern, wenn KI in pädagogische Entscheidungsprozesse eingreift, wirtschaftliche Abläufe neu strukturiert oder kulturelle Muster neu ordnet? Das Buch bietet einen anschaulichen Überblick über die Vielfalt der Disziplinen und Perspektiven, die sich mit KI beschäftigen und beleuchtet KI als Spannungsfeld, welches durch kontrastive Gegenüberstellungen von Hoffnungen und Befürchtungen, von Möglichkeitssinn und Skepsis gekennzeichnet ist.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This book offers various perspectives from media studies, interpersonal communication, and intercultural communication on the experience and effects of being othered, excluded, and treated as less than. Its three sections cover: 1) expressions of otherness in everyday life, 2) experiences of otherness in media discourses and 3) strategies against otherness in social interaction. This book challenges the expression of otherness that is frequently related on texts of colonialism and of western social hegemonic characteristic of the Global North, therefore giving voice to perspectives from the Global South, in a pluralistic reading. The collection of contexts in which the expression of otherness is highlighted in this book, are presented in the perspective of the powerless other. As a receiver involved in a communicative process, the othered individual is approached in relation to his identitarian demonstrations, both in daily life, face-to-face and virtual contexts and in critical situations. These range from households to school and to media environments, therefore enhancing a thorough perspective on the phenomenon of othering in plural contexts.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This edited volume presents the latest achievements of postdigital scholarship in the field of future studies. Showing that current policy frameworks are dominated by capitalist imaginaries, the book insists on the development of radically different futures. This task is approached in five different ways. The book begins with an overview of the many ways to approach postdigital imaginations as emancipatory practices, followed by some urgent reimaginations of older ideas. It moves on to critiques of current practices, policies, and imaginaries, and develops postdigital research methods for the development of emancipatory educational imaginaries. Showcasing some recent interventions in educational politics, policy, and practice, it links presented work on postdigital imaginations with recent postdigital inquiry related to the geopolitics of postdigital educational development. This book is suited for educators, policy-makers, and any researcher fascinated by the unbounding of education from capitalist imaginaries and reframing it within an emancipatory future.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This open access book outlines how the digital platforms that mediate so many aspects of commercial and personal life have begun to transform everyday family existence. It presents theory and research methods to enable students and scholars to investigate the changes that platformization has brought to the routines and interactions of family life including intergenerational communication, interpersonal relationships, forms of care and togetherness. The book emerged from a seminar jointly funded by the Collaboration of Humanities and Social Sciences in Europe project, the Norwegian Research Council and The Australian Centre of Excellence for the Study of the Digital Child.

Book

Abstract:
This book introduces a new theory of national identity, arguing that the nation does not only represent an abstract “imagined community” but also represents embodied cultural and discursive practices. Drawing upon a detailed case study of Serbian Londoners, this truly interdisciplinary study positions media as constitutive of national identities. The author contends that nations come into being and are sustained through everyday interpersonal communication practices that have increasingly become mediated, especially for migrants. She develops the concept of "doing nation" to argue that we should think of the nation as a dynamic process. Situated first within a particular migration context, the concept is then applied more broadly as everyday communication practices are becoming increasingly mediated worldwide. Covering a breadth of key theories and concepts in this field, including diaspora, ethnicity, nationalism, cosmopolitanism, social media affordances and polymedia, this book will appeal to scholars and students researching digital media, migration, identities, nationalism and cosmopolitanism in the social science disciplines.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
The study explores the effectiveness of ChatGPT in fostering intercultural pragmatic competence, focusing on Japanese learners of English. Using Kecskes’ sociocognitive framework, the research examines ChatGPT’s role in conversations involving meaning negotiation and repair mechanisms. The study analyzed over 10,000 responses generated by ChatGPT during interactions with 45 students from different nationalities, ranging from upper-beginner to upper-intermediate proficiency levels, in simulated social situations. A comprehensive examination of AI and participant responses and feedback yields a sophisticated understanding of the AI strengths and flaws, along with intercultural communication repair strategies for meaning negotiation. Specifically, findings reveal that while ChatGPT effectively models certain cooperative aspects of communication, it struggles with maintaining relevance and lacks human-like repair strategies. Students often initiate self-repair instead of other-repair, indicating limited interactive feedback from ChatGPT. Furthermore, excessive information. On the positive side, ChatGPT encourages confidence in students through predictions and co-constructed phrases, although its performance is repetitive and lacks deep contextual understanding. The study recommends cautious use of ChatGPT in pragmatic learning and highlights the need for more advanced frameworks to enhance AI’s role in intercultural communication education.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This article employs Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis (CTDA) to analyze the affective public surrounding the hashtag #christiantiktok. We find that “Christian TikTok” discursively negotiates the unpredictable visibility affordances of TikTok’s algorithm by ascribing layers of spiritual significance to how the algorithm delivers content. Our research uncovered four key themes to this spiritualized conceptualization of algorithmically controlled visibility: (1) Algorithm as directed by the hand of God, (2) Context collapse as an evangelism opportunity, (3) Boosting visibility as a spiritual obligation, and (4) Invisibility as persecution. Following our analysis, we develop an understanding of the “spiritual algorithmic imaginary,” building on Bucher’s concept of the “algorithmic imaginary.” Functioning as both a networked performance and an affective framework, the concept of the spiritual algorithmic imaginary theorizes how certain spiritual users sacralize their participation in and understanding of digital platforms.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Research on women and hostile behaviour in video games has largely focused on women as victims rather than perpetuators of hostile behaviour. In this study, by utilizing discourse analysis, we examine how women’s hostile behaviour is discussed in the subreddit r/GirlGamers, and how the ideal gaming woman is discursively constructed in these discussions.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Speakers may resort to different inferences and expectations in intercultural encounters. These expectations are influenced by speakers’ socialization processes in speech communities and networks, as well as by the local interactional demands and power dynamics in the communicative situation. While interactional sociolinguistic studies have unveiled intercultural mismatches in how contextualization asymmetries operate in the here-and-now of interaction, less attention has been given to speakers’ normative expectations of good and bad social encounters, as reflected in retrospective accounts of interactional experiences. This article uses critical discursive psychology to examine social interactional ideologies, as German and Chinese students (home and exchange students, respectively) reflect on their experiences in a virtual intercultural game. As an analytical tool, we use the notion of “interpretative repertoires,” i.e., culturally shared ways to construct generally recognizable versions of objects. Our analysis of reflection reports written by the game players shows repertoires addressing ideal behaviors and ideal group features, which tend to place the German students in a more favorable position than the Chinese students. We discuss how local and historical power dynamics are blended in the repertoires and point to the need to critically engage with the social interactional ideologies that exist – but often go unnoticed – in intercultural settings.

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Language(s): English

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This two-part special issue of the Journal of Intercultural Communication Research addresses the state of past, present, and future theorizing in intercultural communication scholarship. Articles in this issue touch on one or more of the following themes: engaging in theorizing, not theory; acknowledging identities and voices at the margins; questioning and resisting colonial legacies; prioritizing praxis and social engagement; and humanizing intercultural communication. The empirical and reflexive essays in this issue are guided by diverse theoretical perspectives and each provides a snapshot of the past, present, and future state of intercultural communication theorizing.

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Language(s): English

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The #StopAsianHate hashtag movement emerged as a challenge to the rising tide of racism in the United States during the coronavirus pandemic and contributed to the legislation of the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act. Our research brings together concepts from social movement studies as well as network science and celebrity-fandom studies to examine a corpus of tweets about the movement. We employ a mixed-methods design combining structural topic modeling with digital discourse analysis. Even though the movement rose up against White Supremacist structural racism, we find that right-wing provocateurs with large followings often hijacked its hashtags to amplify sporadic Black-on-Asian violence. But the active participation of Asian celebrities such as BTS, with their own huge followings online, bolstered the movement. Their posts and statements about anti-Asian violence were heavily reposted and dominated the digital discourse. Crucially, we show how their fans helped boost the movement’s anti-racist agenda by repeatedly posting similar messages in concert, which we compare with the offline fan practice of “chanting” as a form of collective identity performance. While theories like the logic of connective action view digital activism as individualized and decentralized, our research elucidates its hierarchical structure and the oversized role of provocateurs and celebrities in raising the visibility of competing claims and agendas by re-contextualizing hashtags. At the same time, culture industries and practices can create bottom-up solidarities that can have a political impact by raising particular agendas in the digital attention economy.

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Language(s): English

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Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is important when different cultural speakers learn Mandarin as a Foreign Language (MFL). The use of virtual reality (VR) has been shown to be effective for improving ICC. Hence, this study investigates a production-based instructional strategy where students use VR to view and create VR environments with cultural elements for learning MFL to determine if this strategy was effective with the current cohort of students (2023). In addition, it would be investigated whether there was a difference in ICC between the 2019 cohort and the 2023 cohort. The study employed a quasi-experimental method to assess ICC using the Survey of student’s Intercultural Competence (SSIC) and gauged the improvement within the 2023 cohort. Next, the ICC between the 2023 and 2019 cohorts was compared to determine if there was a significant difference. Data was analysed using paired-samples t-tests and thematic analysis for the open-ended responses. There was a significant improvement in ICC after the intervention for the 2023 cohort, which was supported with the open-ended response. However, the t-test results indicated no significant difference in ICC between the 2019 and 2023 cohorts. However, the 2023 cohort seemed to be more motivated, confident and eager to continue using VR. The findings indicate that VR when combined with an appropriate pedagogy could improve students ICC. The use of VR and this production-based instructional strategy could be used in other languages and could possibly be used to improve linguistic and communication skills.

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Language(s): English

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In the digital age, spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) emerges as a powerful tool for intercultural education, enabling immersive experiences that transcend geographical boundaries. However, prevalent research often reduces learners to passive observers, constraining the cultivation of intercultural competence. This study addresses the gap in current research by examining the effects of learning devices and interaction components within SVVR environments, based on embodied cognition theory, on intercultural competence. Additionally, it also focuses on student engagement during intercultural learning in SVVR environments, an aspect that previous studies have insufficiently explored. Using a mixed-methods approach with 80 participants from China and Indonesia, we compared four distinct learning environments: Basic Learning Environment (BLE), Virtual Reality Learning Environment (VRLE), Basic Guide Learning Environment (BGLE), and Embodied interactive Learning Environment (EILE). The findings indicate that the EILE, which achieves a higher level of embodied interaction, significantly enhances intercultural competence and learning engagement compared to other conditions. Specifically, EILE group showed superior emotional and cognitive engagement, as well as diverse and proactive behavioural patterns. This study underscores the importance of educational design in SVVR, showing that careful consideration of learning devices and interactive components can promote active learning, deeper understanding, and positive learning behaviours.

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Language(s): English

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Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is an increasingly critical construct in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education and global professional contexts, particularly amidst rapid globalization and digital transformation. This article systematically reviews prominent ICC frameworks, concurrently addressing the inherent challenges of integrating ICC within EFL curricula in non-English-speaking environments, with a specific focus on China. Furthermore, it investigates the impact of emerging technologies, such as advanced language learning tools, on fostering intercultural learning and interaction. Drawing upon established models, including those proposed by Byram and Deardorff, this study proposes a novel hybrid ICC model that integrates cultural adaptability, digital literacy, and multilingual identity, extending these traditional frameworks to address modern intercultural communication needs. The empirical validity of the proposed model is substantiated by its robust global fit statistics, including Chi-Square (𝜒2) and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA). A brief analysis of local fit (residuals) further corroborates the model’s structural integrity and explanatory power. The interpreted model is an extension of the originally specified frameworks, aiming to meet the demands of contemporary intercultural communication. The paper concludes by offering actionable recommendations for educators and institutions committed to enhancing ICC development within digitally mediated and culturally diverse learning ecosystems.

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Language(s): English

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The current system for training educational managers in Kazakhstan remains focused on technical and administrative skills, which is inadequate in the context of digital transformation and the age of artificial intelligence. There is a research gap regarding the integration of sustainable social development and new pedagogical models, socio-formation pedagogy, into the management education system. The purpose of this study is to develop a structural-functional model of education that will facilitate the development of professional competencies in future educational managers. The methodology employed includes analysis, modeling, and a quasi-experimental approach, incorporating quantitative analysis of changes in student competencies before and after completing the course. The sample consisted of 150 fourth-year students from three Kazakhstani universities specializing in educational management and related fields. Data were collected using a Likert-type questionnaire and analyzed using the Student’s t-test and other statistical methods to assess the significance of the changes. The results demonstrated that students’ skills significantly improved across all three categories following the implementation of the model. Digital competency increased by 3.2–4.5 points, which was attributed to the active use of digital tools (p < 0.001, t = 10.5). Strategic thinking also improved, albeit at a less significant level (3.1–4.3 points, p < 0.001, t = 9.8), which can be explained by the need for experience and additional learning time to acquire strategic planning skills. Intercultural competencies, essential for working in a globalized educational environment, grew by 3.0–4.2 points (p < 0.001, t = 11.0) due to international online meetings where students interacted with peers from other cultures. The proposed model addresses existing research gaps by integrating the concepts of sustainable social development and social design into management skills training. Its implementation contributes to the development of educational leaders capable of ethical leadership, critical thinking, and effective management of educational transformations. Similar content being viewed by others

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Language(s): English

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first_page settings Order Article Reprints Open AccessArticle A Learnt City: The Mediated, Affective, and Experiential Layers of London by Giota Alevizou 1,* [ORCID] and Photini Vrikki 2 [ORCID] 1 Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK 2 Department of Information Studies, University College London, London WC1E 7BT, UK * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Societies 2025, 15(9), 253; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15090253 Submission received: 30 June 2025 / Revised: 27 August 2025 / Accepted: 3 September 2025 / Published: 11 September 2025 Download keyboard_arrow_down Browse Figures Versions Notes Abstract This article reconceptualises London as a learnt city, a dynamic learning ecosystem co-produced through digital mediation, affective experience, and embodied practice. Focusing on international university students in London, a transient, hyper-digital city, we employ a participatory reflective-mapping methodology to examine how urban learning unfolds across mediated, affective, and experiential layers of city life. The mediated city describes students’ imaginaries shaped by digital media and mapping apps. The affective city captures emotional registers, such as nostalgia, autonomy, and (dis)orientation, that emerge during urban adaptation. The experiential city foregrounds embodied engagements: movement, infrastructure use, routine navigation, and elective belonging. These three dimensions interweave to form an “urban collage,” revealing how students continuously remake both their identities and the city itself through integrated online and offline practices. The article advances critical urban and communication studies by contesting technocratic and neoliberal framings of urban learning. It positions learning as inherently spatial, affective, and relational—a sense-making process enacted in everyday urban experiences. By framing the city as a contested site of knowledge production and identity formation, this article contributes to debates in digital urbanism and critical digital pedagogy. The learnt city concept offers a novel lens for understanding how global cities—characterised by frictions of belonging and mobility—are lived, known, and shaped by those negotiating their multiple mediated, affective, and material dimensions.

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Language(s): English

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This article deals with an innovative mechanism for developing students' intercultural communicative competencies (ICC) employing multimedia tools. The research examines how multimedia resources, such as video conferencing, interactive digital platforms, virtual simulations, and multimedia storytelling, can effectively foster intercultural understanding, empathy, and communication skills among learners. Through qualitative and quantitative methods, the study evaluates changes in students’ ICC before and after multimedia-based interventions, highlighting specific strategies and tools that significantly enhance intercultural competencies.

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A multi-level governance of resilience is fundamental in creating supportive spaces for the defense of human rights. Starting from the concepts of inclusive city and the right to education, this article will explore the support for refugee students in academia, with examples of best practices from Italian universities. Universities, as places of culture, knowledge dissemination, and cultural defense, on one hand, and as public institutions rooted in the community, on the other, have a duty to strive to improve the very societies they inhabit. Creating supporting activities for the integration of refugees into the university system falls not only within the so-called Third Mission of universities: it also responds to one of the goals set by UNHCR for 2030, which is to achieve 15% of refugees enrolled in university. This article will highlight how universities as public institutions have a moral duty to defend human rights, and promoting the access of refugees to the higher education system definitely works in this direction. However, universities alone cannot succeed in ensuring a truly successful path for such fragile users: it is essential to create a multi-level supporting network with other entities at both local and national levels.

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Language(s): English

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This article introduces a practice-based approach to intercultural communication (IC), proposing an epistemological integration that foregrounds how interculturality is enacted through socially and materially situated practices. Rather than framing IC within structural (macro) or individualist (micro) paradigms, the article focuses on the performative (meso) dimensions through which people “do” IC in context. Key concepts such as practical intelligibility, teleoaffectivity, bundles of practice are introduced to offer a generative vocabulary for analysing how IC is negotiated, sustained, and sometimes opposed. The article concludes with methodological suggestions for studying IC qua practices.

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Language(s): English

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The application of virtual reality (VR) technology in teaching is increasingly widespread. This study leverages VR to create cross-cultural teaching contexts and develop speech recognition models for language learning. An ecological model of language learning based on VR is constructed, and a cross-cultural contextual VR system is implemented and introduced into language education. Testing reveals that the system achieves a speech recognition efficiency of 99.7% and a correctness rate of 99.5%. Moreover, a comparison of pre- and post-test data between experimental and control groups shows that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in English proficiency (p < 0.05). Overall, the cross-cultural contextual VR system demonstrates a significant positive impact on language learning outcomes.

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Language(s): English

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This research explores the evolving role of speaking etiquette in intercultural communication within the digital age. With the increasing shift from face-to-face communication to virtual platforms, traditional norms of communication etiquette are undergoing significant changes. The study addresses the challenge of adapting these norms, traditionally rooted in non-verbal cues and in-person interactions, to digital environments where communication is primarily text-based or mediated through video conferencing. Using a bibliometric approach, this research analyzes trends in the literature on speaking etiquette and intercultural communication, mapping the intersection of key concepts such as digital literacy, emotional intelligence, and cultural adaptation. The findings highlight a clear shift toward incorporating technological and emotional intelligence skills into traditional communication practices. Additionally, the research identifies a gap in the literature regarding the adaptation of speaking etiquette to digital platforms, suggesting that future research should explore these interactions in greater depth. The study's implications underscore the need for updated communication strategies that integrate digital competencies to improve intercultural interactions in an increasingly digital world. These insights provide a foundation for enhancing global communication practices, particularly in multicultural and virtual settings.

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Language(s): English

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This article explores the evolving dynamics of adolescents’ digital media practices and their implications for socialization, identity, and well-being. The research, conducted over two years with students aged 14-19 in Bo- logna, employed a mixed-method approach to examine media habits be- fore and after the pandemic. Findings reveal increased screen time, shifts in communication toward more functional interactions, the challenges of fragmented identity across platforms and the pivotal role of group chats in peer dynamics, often amplifying misunderstandings and exclusion.