A thesis submitted in comprehensive fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Communication Science at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2014. Year 2014 / Globalisation is not a new subject since people and various organisations have been sharing information as well as buying from and selling products from each across national and international borders. In addition the expansion in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has changed the nature in which education is offered and consumed internationally. Globalisation and the spiralling evolution of ICTs has become the driving force for transformation in higher education sectors. Many universities have adopted or incorporated international trends in education and research. This new culture is aimed at producing graduates who are well suited and qualified to actively and productively participate in the global economy. This research provides a comprehensive study on globalisation, international communication and internationalisation of higher education. This study exposes profound observations about current international initiatives and drawbacks to internationalisation at a tertiary institution in the heart of a rural village in South Africa.

This exploratory study aims to find out the challenges multinational corporations are facing when communicating about the ecological pillar of sustainability internally. By conducting an in-depth investigation of one multinational company, the study identifies three themes which imply potential drawbacks for the company’s goal to become an environmental pioneer within the operating industry. The first obstacle is related to the abstract content and intrinsic character of the sustainability idea. Furthermore, complex international business structures including different target groups hamper the internal sustainability communication, which pursues a peculiarly wide audience and is therefore dependent on the multiplier effect for the spread of information. Moreover, the intrinsic value of sustainability causes a priority lack, perception difficulties of the communicated messages as well as gaps between attitude and behavior. A long time period is required in order for the internal communication to achieve a change. All in all, especially the abstract, voluntary and intrinsic character of sustainability makes the communication uniquely difficult and thus demanding an overall change of the society’s attitude and prospect towards the topic.

Title Communication challenges perceived by leaders of different sized virtual teams, and how they are managed: Experiences from leaders within Swedish organizations Authors Daniella Larsson & Matilda Wahlgren Level Master thesis, 30 credits Key words Virtual teams, Communication challenges, Virtual leadership Background The recent years’ rapid technological development has made it possible to communicate solely through technological channels, and thus enabled organizations to implement virtual teams into their businesses. Virtual teams are allowing organizations to have the most qualified members in their teams, regardless of their geographical location. New ways of working entails for new challenges, not least regarding communication. Awareness of these challenges, and how they can be managed, provide the prerequisites to succeed with the virtual leadership. Research Questions Which communication challenges do leaders, of different sized virtual teams within Swedish organizations, perceive? How do the leaders manage the perceived communication challenges? Purpose The purpose of this study is to describe and understand leaders' perception and management of communication challenges in leading different sized virtual teams within Swedish organizations. Further, the aim is to broaden the academic field of virtual teams by adding valuable contributions to the scarce research. This, by suggesting a developed theoretical framework, based on the experiences from leaders within Swedish organizations. Method The study follows a qualitative research method and abductive approach. Semi-structured interviews with twelve leaders of different sized virtual teams were executed. The chosen organizations are of various industries to retain generalizability. Frame of Reference Four theoretical blocks constitute the frame of reference. The first block is leadership, which includes e-leadership and competencies. The second block is group development theories, with insights from two different approaches. The third grouping, communication, involves theories both regarding conventional and virtual teams. The fourth and final provides insights regarding trust. Findings The findings of this study show that all virtual leaders perceive communication challenges within their leadership. The identified challenges are teambuilding and relationship creation, miscommunication, inclusion, performance follow-ups, communication overload and technology. The findings also reveal that the identified challenges are managed in different ways. Further, some deviances were found, regarding how the leaders perceive and manage these communication challenges, depending on the team’s size.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Each year thousands of international students enroll in universities across the United States of America. However, we know very little about the challenges they encounter to become competent intercultural communicators in the American academic system. Therefore, the purpose of this is to use the basic components of Deardoff’s Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) model to explore the challenges international students face to acquire requisite attitudes, knowledge, and skills to achieve ICC. The study was conducted through in-depth interviews with eight foreign students who were enrolled in a large Midwestern university during the time of this study. Participants described about their experiences with the intercultural communication that took place between them and their American peers and professors. Results the thematic analysis revealed the presence of four main themes and several sub-themes.

Abstract  Even though there have been enormous efforts towards the inclusive practices of young children with special educational needs (SEN) globally. Young children with SEN might still have different experiences related to their integration in mainstream environments depending on each school, municipality, country, and country. The study is aimed at exploring the teacher’s accounts of how children with SEN are integrated socially into practice in a mainstream school environment. It also investigates the main challenges faced by special needs children inside their classrooms, as reported by teachers working at one of the mainstream primary schools. The study was based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with five primary school teachers and teaching assistants. Thematic structural analysis was used to identify the study's main themes. These themes were focused on; a) the teachers’ accounts in relation to the social integration among primary school children (with and without) SEN, b) the participation of children with SEN in the social activities of the primary mainstream school, and c) the communication challenges encountered in the teacher/student interactions.  The teachers’ accounts in relation to the social integration among primary school children showed different benefits for children with and without SEN, as well as challenges which act as barriers to the children’s social integration in a mainstream school. The results further showed that the children's participation in the social activities of mainstream school was not as presumed within a mainstream school environment, one of the reasons was the restrictions of Covid 19. Finally, the main challenge encountered in the teachers- students' relations was related to the communication difficulties of children with SEN. In a mainstream school, the social integration of young children with SEN is challenged by several factors that act as barriers to their fullest social involvement.

The Zimbabwean Education Act of 1987 stated that English was the official language of learning and teaching (LoLT) from grade four upwards. From grade three downwards, the mother tongue was to be used. That Education Act was later amended in 2006, to extend the use of the mother tongue up to grade seven. As a college lecturer, I have observed that there is tension between policy and practice. English and indigenous languages are vying for supremacy as the LoLT from as early as the Early Childhood Development (ECD) level. For the majority of these learners, English is a second language. This research aims to investigate problems emanating from the use of English as a second language (ESL) in learning and teaching Environmental Science (ES) at primary school level. Its objectives are to investigate the usefulness of the language policy currently in use in Zimbabwe as well as to investigate empirically, how grades four to seven teachers and their pupils communicate in class during ES lessons; and identify problems resulting from the use of ESL during ES lessons at primary school level and suggest solutions to these problems. I purposively chose ES because I developed interest in that subject when I taught it at college level where I observed many students teaching it for almost three decades. Most of the pupils these students taught struggled to communicate in ESL. My research was not intended to test existing theory. Therefore I chose an inductive (qualitative) approach. I adopted the phenomenological case study in which I collected data from the natural setting, namely: three purposively selected primary schools. I did my pilot study at the fourth school. I used four methods of data collection, namely: direct observation, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis. The participants were grades four to seven teachers and their pupils. Findings of this study show that pupils were not willing to participate in class oral discourse. When teachers asked questions, pupils usually gave one-word answers. Teachers and pupils spoke the same first language (L1). So, when they failed to express themselves coherently in English, they code-switched to their L1. When that happened, most of the pupils were eager to talk. They gave correct responses in their L1. Group discussions were very lively when they were held in the pupils’ L1. But when teachers instructed the pupils to discuss in English, many pupils were silenced because of their limited English proficiency (LEP). It was very evident that ESL was a barrier to the learning of ES for many learners. Pupils faced conceptual and communication problems because most of them were not yet proficient enough to use ESL effectively to learn ES. Participants welcomed code-switching to L1 as a solution to their limited English proficiency. / Educational Studies / D. Phil. (Education)