Mobility programmes — Beyond-the-classroom learning

KUCHING (March 28): Mobility programmes in universities are no longer just about travels, as they are increasingly recognised as a powerful platform for transformative and immersive learning.

Additionally, they offer opportunities for students to experience cross-cultural learning and communication using English as the language of communication.

Through these programmes, students and educators engage with language and culture in meaningful ways.

This was highlighted by the Faculty of Education, Language and Communication (FELC) of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) through its two short-term mobility programmes.

The first involved the Sekolah Tinggi Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan (STKIP) Persada Khatulistiwa of Indonesia last October, followed by another with Thailand’s Prince of Songkla University (PSU) in January this year.

“The short-term mobility programme aims to expose and encourage the use of English as a language of communication in the context of the global world.

“Besides that, it also aims to encourage cultural exchange between FELC students and their counterparts from partnering universities,” said Dr Yvonne M Campbell, the deputy dean (industry and community engagement) of FELC.

According to her, in multilingual contexts, English functions not solely as a set of grammatical rules, but as a dynamic tool for intercultural communication.

“In the FELC short-term mobility programme, workshops and discussions, students are exposed to the use of English in intercultural settings.

“For instance, the workshop conducted by Dr Dean Yeo of FELC, entitled ‘Using English For Academic Communication’, explores linguistic sensitivity and encourages students to examine how terminology, word taboos and culturally embedded meanings influence interaction across communities.

“Besides that, these programmes also encourage exchange of knowledge and the context of different multicultural and multilingual settings in intercultural communication.

“During their talk on ‘Enhancing English Language Proficiency in Multilingual Contexts’ carried out under the FELC X PSU mobility programme, lecturers from the PSU, Dr Bayatee Dueraman, Wimonrat Rattanayat and Wardah Sadeeyamu highlighted the importance of respecting students’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds, especially where English is the third or fourth language,” she elaborated.

Yvonne also pointed out that an effective approach to language learning would involve the use of the language in real life.

In this sense, she said FELC’s short-term mobility programme encouraged the ‘Buddy System’, where Unimas students were paired with those from the partnering universities to encourage communication and sharing of ideas in English.

She added that as part of the programme, cultural visits, heritage exploration and community engagement could provide opportunities for students and lecturers alike to immerse in the history and culture of Sarawak.

“With the guidance from the ‘buddies’, students from abroad got to experience and learn about Sarawak through English as their medium of communication.

“For our FELC X PSU programme, our guests were brought to the Borneo Cultures Museum as well as a tour around the Kuching Waterfront.

“The ‘buddies’ served as the ‘tour guides’ to the PSU students, explaining the history and culture of Sarawak to their Thailand counterparts.

“This activity encouraged the use of English to communicate their ideas and knowledge among the students.

“As for the students from STKIP Persada Khatulistiwa, they were brought to experience life in Kampung Santubong,” she said.

Adding on, Yvonne said under the FELC x PSU short-term mobility programme, the students were given the opportunity to develop videos of their experience in Sarawak, as means to complete the language learning experience; namely, with English being used to express their opinions and ideas.

“Our mobility programme encourages activities whereby students have the opportunity to express their opinions and ideas creatively.

“By narrating their journeys through multimedia formats, students become active interpreters of culture rather than passive observers.

“Such reflective practices encourage critical-thinking about representation, identity, and the ethics of cross-cultural engagement.”

Yvonne also tagged another activity meant to encourage the use of English among the participating students – the presentation of their cultures.

“Using English as a medium of communication, the students presented the uniqueness of their culture,” she said.

These activities culminated in the cultural performances, including music and dance, to further reinforce the role of embodied learning conducted under this mobility programme, Yvonne pointed out.

“The students engaged in acts of mutual appreciation, aimed at fostering a sense of shared humanity and collective celebration, upon sharing the artistic traditions with one another.”

According to Yvonne, when language and cultural experience intersect within academic mobility, participants can gain more than knowledge: they develop empathy, adaptability, and a deeper awareness of global interconnectedness.

“Our short-term mobility programme nurtures long-term professional relationships, inspires ongoing collaboration between institutions, and encourages the learners to view cultural differences as a unique experience that bonds,” she added.