Xenophobia and Intercultural Communication: Turkish Students in the Erasmus Program

AB Üniversiteleri Erasmus Koordinatörlerinin Türk Üniversitelerinin Erasmus Öğrenci Değişim Programına Katılımı ve Türk Erasmus Öğrencileri Algısı/The Perception of Erasmus Coordinators of EU Universities on Turkish Universities

Every year, European higher education institutions have numerous Erasmus opportunities for students who wish to embrace the experience of study abroad and intercultural exchange. The high involvement of the Portuguese University of Minho in the promotion of the Erasmus Program has resulted in many undergraduate and graduate students being interested in participating in the program. In light of this, the Erasmus coordination of the university’s Department of Production and Systems (DPS) has decided to develop a continuous improvement tool that brings together information from its Erasmus students in mobility “out” and shares individual experiences with future participants. To this end, three different online questionnaires were developed and applied before, during, and after the experience. Results from the second questionnaire applied during the Erasmus Program suggest difficulties with academic support from host professors and in relationships with host university staff. Despite that, results also suggest high levels of satisfaction and identification with the host university, positive host campus non-discrimination experiences, and good levels of intercultural competence, particularly in awareness. No significant relationships were identified considering respondent gender, type of class, or language of the class (only two exceptions were identified). The results show an overall positive “during Erasmus” experience.

As an important contributor to higher education and tourism industry both inside and outside of the European Union, Erasmus programme provides the significant framework for many studies in academic literature. One of the important issues which Erasmus students encounter is the issue of prejudices and stereotypes between them and local students and residence. The aim of this research is to examine the successfulness of the Erasmus programme in reducing prejudice and stereotypes between Erasmus and Turkish students/residents from the perspective of contemporary knowledge on contact theory. Accordingly, the qualitative research on Erasmus students who took their course at Akdeniz University Tourism Faculty in Antalya Turkey was conducted. The three main categories were derived after the content analysis of obtained data: Erasmus students' initiative, positive as well as the negative aspects of Erasmus process. The results of this study provide new perspective on how the prejudice reduction is being examined and in which direction should individual parties in Erasmus programme work in order to improve the overall success of the same.

Tourism is one of the main factors that encourage students to participate in the Erasmus programme, and many Erasmus students are eager to travel while studying abroad. The article highlights an important segment of the Polish tourism market, namely foreign students enrolled in the Erasmus programme. The article aims to identify opportunities for the tourism industry associated with Erasmus students in Poland, taking into account experiences of other countries. The study is based on empirical data obtained from the Polish Tourism Organization and from Erasmus Family in Cordoba, a Spanish travel agency for the period 2015-2018. In addition, the author conducted a literature review, analysed relevant documents, and relied on her own observations. The growing socio-economic benefits of the Erasmus programme for countries participating in the programme stimulate competition between them in an attempt to attract more international students, where success of particular host countries and their educational institutions depends on a number of factors, including those associated with tourism. Significant competitive advantages can be achieved in this respect by combining the efforts of educational institutions and those responsible for tourism policy.

Erasmus program is a successful example of European integration and a symbol of European identity. Identity is a sense of belonging to a category defined by the general characteristics and recognized by other members. Definition of individual identity - "what you have with some people and what distinguishes you from others." The Erasmus program is a function of integration policy in Europe. It is both a political tool and a social process with active and passive elements. A passive element means that we explore how identity as a social process changes European integration. An active element is a political impact. We can differentiate political and cultural European identity. Both identities are important because the political European identity implies that an individual identifies himself with the European Union, but a European cultural identity suggests that the individual shares a common culture, social similarities, ethics, values, and religion. However, in order to achieve this process of European integration by more people and peoples, a more integrated sharing is needed not only of political ideas but also of values, science, goods and cultures. Библиография: Bruter 2004: Bruter, M. Civil and cultural components of a European identity: A pilot model of measurement of citizens’levels of European identity, 279. https://books.google.bg/ Habermas 1999: Habermas, J. The European Nation-state and the pressures of globalization, 354-360. Oborune 2013: Oborune K. Becoming more European after ERASMUS ? The Impact of the ERASMUS Programme on Political and Cultural Identity. In: Journal of Transdisciplinary Studies, Vol. 6, No. 1, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sarajevo, page 186-190. http://epiphany.ius.edu.ba/index.php/epiphany/article/view/60/61 Papatsiba 2005: Papatsiba, V. Student mobility in Europe: An academic, cultural and mental journey? Some conceptual reflections and empirical findings, p. 5-6. Sigalas 2006: Sigalas, E. Remaining proud of their national identity, yet uniting ever more closely? The Erasmus students as the role model European citizens, University of Reading, UK, Department of Politics and International studies, p. 20-23. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.544.9284&rep=rep1&type=pdf Sigalas 2009: Sigalas, E. Does Erasmus Student Mobility promote a European Identity?, p.12. https://ideas.repec.org/p/erp/conweb/p0036.html

Lijphart was the first to emphasize the necessity to study the impact of student mobility upon European integration, but mobility programmes have only been studied in the last decade. The European Commission points to the ERASMUS programme as a successful example of construction of European identity; however, this assumption hasn’t yet been empirically proved on an European scale. This paper has been devoted to research of the impact of the ERASMUS programme on fostering European identity in Europe. In academic literature at least two different understandings of the European identity can be distinguished: political and cultural European identity. The quantitative survey (in which 12’173 respondents from 37 European countries took part) provides justification that only every third of students feel more European after studying abroad and that there are different understandings among ERASMUS students regarding what it means to be European. Survey results showed that ERASMUS students feel more European than non‑ERASMUS students and that the ERASMUS students understand European identity as being cultural and political.

Üniversite kütüphanelerinde sunulan hizmetlerin kullanıcı gereksinim ve beklentilerini karşılaması, onlarda tatmin duygusu yaratması, günümüzde kullanıcı odaklı hizmet anlayışını benimseyen kütüphanelerin verimliliğinde önemli bir etmendir. Bu yüzden kütüphanelerin, kullanıcılara sunulan hizmetlere yönelik beklenti ve memnuniyet düzeyleri hakkında bilgi edinmeleri önemli bir konudur. Küreselleşme olgusu ile birlikte kütüphaneler, kullanıcı kitlesi ve hizmet politikalarında önemli dönüşümler yaşanmaktadır. Avrupa öğrencilerinin hareketliliğine yönelik küresel bir eylem planı olan Erasmus, Avrupa Birliği ülkeleri ile aday ülkelerin yükseköğretim kurumları arasındaki işbirliğini destekleyip geliştirmek amacıyla, 1987 yılında başlatılmıştır. Türkiye sözü edilen programa 2004 yılında katılmıştır. Bu araştırmanın amacı, küresel bir üniversite olan Anadolu Üniversitesi’ne yurt dışından Erasmus Programı ile gelen öğrencilerin kütüphane memnuniyet düzeylerini belirlemek ve burada elde edilen bulgularla geldikleri üniversitelerin kütüphaneleri ile ilgili algıladıkları memnuniyet düzeylerini karşılaştırmaktır. Çalışmanın verileri, 2010-2011 öğretim yılında, Erasmus öğrencisi olarak Anadolu Üniversitesi’ne gelen 74 öğrenciden anket yöntemi ile sağlanmıştır. Verilerin toplanmasında, “Anadolu Üniversitesi Kütüphane ve Dokümantasyon Merkezi Erasmus Öğrenci Memnuniyet Anketi” kullanılmıştır. Toplam 13 soru ile öğrencilerin kütüphane memnuniyet düzeyi saptanmaya çalışılmıştır. Verilerin çözümlenmesinde IBM SPSS Statistics 19 programından yararlanılmıştır. Çalışmanın sonucunda Erasmus Değişim Programı ile Anadolu Üniversitesi’ne gelen öğrencilerin büyük bir kısmının kütüphane hizmetlerinden memnun oldukları belirlenmiştir.

This research is the content analysis of 502 Erasmus students’ experiences published in the website www.20erasmus.eu. One of the main purposes of the Erasmus Student Exchange Program is to maintain across-cultural dialogue through student activity, to remove preju-dices and thus to strengthen interaction and join EU citizens under such concepts as “Euro-pean Consciousness” and “Being European”. The purpose of this study is to determine how successful the Erasmus Student Exchange Program is through the shared Erasmus expe-riences of the participating students. in conclusion, in this research, it is observed that the students talked highly positively about the Erasmus experience. The students described this process as enjoyable and produc-tive. it could be argued that the Erasmus experience contributed to students’ “individual development” rather than “academic development”. it could also be maintained that one of the key purposes of the Erasmus exchange program is to remove prejudices by mainta-ining student mobility and cross-cultural dialogue and to unite societies under the European Consciousness and European People understanding via strengthening interactions between EU member citizens. Data collected in this research present evidence that the Erasmus pro-gramme has reached this aim.

A pilot empirical investigation was carried out to gain insights into what impacts the Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) Erasmus student mobility programme had on the participants’ cultural biases, and their affective attitudes towards the target culture, in which the Erasmus study/internship took place. A further aim of this small scale study was to pilot the interview questions for a lager scale qualitative study. The six participants were selected by convenience sampling to complete a 24-open-ended-item interview schedule, which was analysed by protocol analysis. It was found that all of the Erasmus student respondents perceived that they became more open towards the world and other cultures. Next, they experienced false beliefs about the target culture to a minor extent. Furthermore, the students at the host Erasmus partner institution had certain but limited cultural information about Hungary and they mainly know about the capital. Also the participant Erasmus students gathered information about the target country and culture before commencing their studies or traineeship aboard. Finally, all of the respondents perceived that during their Erasmus programme their positive experiences abroad outnumbered the negative ones and they would be willing to return as tourists to their Erasmus target country some day. The data analysis also detected that the interview items can yield information to study Erasmus students’ cultural biases and attitudes. However, an extension of the protocol with further cultural bias related items can be beneficial.

This article presents evidence that the effectiveness of receiving personal benefits from one's country EU membership may have been overestimated. Based on the findings of a longitudinal survey on Erasmus students' attitudes towards the EU, it shows that the beneficiaries of the EU-funded programme did not strengthen their EU support over time. The data analysis controls for a number of alternative explanations and finds that they did not affect the failure of the Erasmus study-abroad experience to instil higher levels of EU support. Neither EU money nor personal contact with other Europeans was capable of influencing students' support for the EU. The empirical results highlight that the increased expectations from both the Erasmus programme and the egocentric utilitarianism thesis are likely to be ill-founded.

Overseas Education Process of Outgoing Students within the Erasmus Exchange Programme

Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) has become one of the most important‎ competences in today’s world that is becoming increasingly intertwined at all levels and in all its segments. ‎Within the educational system, the ICC is recognized as a key competence. In the theoretical part of the‎ paper, ICC models are examined with the aim to identify variables that contribute to its strenghtening.‎ Bennett’s Developmental Model served as a basis for this research. This study aims at getting insight ‎into Erasmus students’ experiences with intercultural communication. A qualitative methodology was‎ employed, and data were analysed using thematic analysis. The results show that all respondents, ‎through the Erasmus programme experience, enhanced their knowledge, skills and awareness related to‎ intercultural communication. Important competences identified for intercultural communication include ‎skills of efficient nonverbal communication, active listening, question-asking, participation in common ‎activities, use of technology and humour. The results of this research show that Erasmus experience helps ‎develop ICC skills, awareness of one’s own culture, self-confidence and life skills.‎

The issue of the research is related to the account of nationally determined personality traits of a foreign student in the model of intercultural educational communication on the principles of anthropological linguodidactics. The relevance of the work is in determining the criteria for modeling intercultural learning communication in relation to Turkish students of the initial stage of education (levels A0-A2). The result of this study is the creation of a personally oriented Russian language teaching model for Turkish students of the preparatory faculty. Unlike traditional models, the proposed model is built into the anthropological paradigm of constructing educational models, taking into account primarily the existential needs of the Turkish language personality, as well as the mechanisms of interaction of the individual in the process of educational intercultural communication. The purpose of the work is to use the possibilities of anthropological linguodidactics in relation to intercultural communication, to identify the center and the periphery in the communicative space of Turkish students studying Russian language in order to enter the philological faculties of Russian universities. As the main method of research, we distinguish the method of constructing a learning model based on the principles and provisions of anthropological linguodidactics; the latter also involves the extensive use of practical methods: observation of interpersonal communication in groups of Turkish students, interviewing, and generalization of communication experience in the classroom and beyond. The material of the study is a real ongoing in the classroom of Turkish students learning process on the Russian language, as well as video and audio recordings of the process. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that educational intercultural communication is considered from the perspective of modern methodological science - anthropological linguodidactics. The theoretical significance of the work consists in the construction of a model of educational intercultural communication with the definition of the center and the periphery in relation to the Turkish students of the preparatory faculty. The construction of this model can help methodologists, theorists and teachers, practitioners optimally organize the learning process for the language training of Turkish students who intend to enroll in Russian universities. The study revealed a certain minimum of personal properties of Turkish students, significantly affecting their educational intercultural communication in the early periods of their stay in the training of preparatory faculties of Russia. This work allows to draw a conclusion about the prospects of further study of educational intercultural communication from the perspective of anthropological linguodidactics.

At the start of 2000 a new scenario emerged in Europe thanks to the Council of Europe and the European Commission who, in support of the Bologna Process (1999), laid the foundations for disseminating the value of multilingualism and multiculturalism. The aim was to create a framework of actions to make citizens more aware of respecting diversity in languages and cultures and pave the way for integrating the varied geographical realities present in Europe. Language instruction was a priority identified as a tool for developing socio-cultural awareness and, within this scenario, universities played a key role. In particular, University Language Laboratories, previously regarded as language learning resources for small numbers of students, became University Language Centres, gaining status as fully-fledged academic places for the dissemination of multilingualism and multiculturalism, where intercultural communication, learning by doing, autonomous language learning, self-assessment and European Language Portfolios, communicative strategies and social inclusion, creativity and knowledge-sharing became key concepts to be internalised and implemented in academic communities. Indeed, the enhancement of cultural and democratic growth among young learners and citizens, in general, assumed paramount importance. The impact of the Lifelong Learning and Erasmus programs, strongly encouraged by the Bologna Accords, and later the internationalization process of European universities, further strengthened the need to promote linguistic, social and cultural growth in academic societies. Based on these premises, the purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it will discuss the importance of investigating how University Language Centres present the aforementioned concepts through their actions, focussing principally on the language used on their websites. Secondly, it will propose a potential project framework in which the CercleS community will be invited to share ideas and experiential knowledge in representing itself and its mission to potential users.

It was only in 2004 that the European Union, originally composed of Western European countries, began to include the so-called Eastern European countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary), which had transitioned from socialism to democracy. This was followed by Romania and Bulgaria joining in 2007 and Croatia in 2013. The very nature of the European continent, with its diverse peoples, languages, histories, and cultures, has undoubtedly necessitated policies that recognize, acknowledge, and seek to reduce differences as much as possible, with the ultimate goal of uniting them. In particular, the EU member states, which were originally composed of Western European countries, may have been in dire need of policies to bridge the gap with the countries that underwent communism after World War II, as many of them joined the EU in the 2000s. The policy direction of cultural integration with former communist countries aligns with the general trend of European integration. However, it is being promoted in various ways, taking into consideration the special history and situation of these countries. The goal is to provide opportunities for people to understand each other's history and culture, fostering interactions that contribute to overcoming cultural differences and forming strong bonds. In particular, the former communist countries have an economic gap with existing EU member states due to past political and economic changes. The EU is working to provide economic infrastructure and industrial support to these countries, strengthen cooperation, and promote cultural integration with Western European countries. Such directions and policies continue to be promoted for cultural integration between existing EU member states and former communist countries. Examples of these initiatives include the European Capital of Culture project and the Erasmus Program, which aim to foster cultural understanding and integration among future generations through education, ultimately working towards the goal of European integration. In any case, it is clear that the country of 'Croatia' and the city of 'Rijeka,' which gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991 and were not initially recognized by not only European citizens but also the world, seized the opportunity of the European Capital of Culture 2020 project to establish closer communication and cooperation with Europe and the global community. We expect that they will continue progressing on the path of 'integration' while preserving 'cultural diversity' in the future.