Research Proposal

RESEARCH THESIS PROPOSAL

1. A field of study for the thesis
Internationalization at home and the intercultural competency development in higher education in China: How do domestic students develop their intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in the process of internationalization in higher education?

2. the context of the study
As stated above, this research will investigate how Chinese students develop their ICC in the internationalization process of higher education in China. More specifically, the approaches studied here are mainly the interaction and communication between home students and international students. Choosing this topic to study is a combination of reflection on previous studies and the current situation of higher education in China.
In this part, I am going to introduce the general background of my study, via making a brief review on previous research that are closely related to this project.

Internationalization in higher education:

The term internationalization began to be used widely by higher educational sector in the 1980s to promote international studies, educational exchanges, and technical assistance (Klasek, 1992). Since then, there has been an explosion in the number and types of international initiatives undertaken by higher educational institutions, organizations, and governments (Knight, 2012, p. 27).

In the globalization process, higher education can no longer be viewed in a strictly national context (Zha, 2003), and “internationalization” has been one of the most critical factors shaping higher education in the last three decades (Knight, 2012). Looking back into the previous studies and reports, there are various reasons for arguing that internationalization becomes increasingly important in the higher educational sector in this globalizing world.

“Internationalization” is generally defined as increasing cross-board activities amidst persistence of borders. According to Rudzki (1995), the

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