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DOI: https://doi.org/10.46502/issn.1856-7576/2022.16.03.4
Information technologies as a means of overcoming
social-cultural barriers in the process of international
students training
Las tecnologías de la información como medio de superación de barreras
socioculturales en el proceso de formación de estudiantes internacionales
Larysa Subota
lorasub@ukr.net
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4740-4486
Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Assistant Professor, Professor, International Relations
Department, Department of Ukraine Language, National Technical University "KhPI”, Kharkiv,
Ukraine.
Oksana Kravchuk
okskravth@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6502-5856
Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Assistant Professor, Department of Language and Literature,
Faculty of Letters, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey.
Zhanna Davydova
davydovazhanna@khimu.edu.ua
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7514-8910
Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Humanitarian and Social-
Economic Disciplines, Postdoc Researcher, Medical Faculty, ETH Zurich, PIHE “Kharkiv
International Medical University”, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Nina Tverezovska
tverezovskaya@nubip.edu.ua
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0672-9308
Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, Professor, Department of Social Work and
Rehabilitation, Faculty of Humanities and Pedagogy, National University of Life and Environmental
Scienсes of Ukraine, Ukraine.
Recibido: 12/05/22
Aceptado: 26/08/22
Abstract
The intensification of the development of digital technologies and their introduction into
educational activities has necessitated the use of digital technologies in the educational
process of higher educational institutions in order to overcome language barriers in the
provision of educational services to foreign students. The purpose of the research lies in
identifying the main problematic aspects and prospects for the application of digitalization
as a means of overcoming language barriers in the education of foreign students. The
methodological base of the academic paper consists of the following methods of scientific
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research, namely: the method of theoretical analysis and synthesis, analysis and scientific
abstraction, comparison and analogy, grouping and cluster analysis based on the k-
means method, generalization and systematization. The results of the conducted
research have made it possible to establish that overcoming language barriers in the
education of foreign students significantly depends on the level of digitalization of the
society and the system of higher education. Intensification of the use of digitalization as
a means of overcoming language barriers in teaching foreign students will make it
possible to minimize the level of language barriers and ensure the improvement of the
quality of the educational process in the online environment through applying digital
technologies, as well as create favourable conditions for conducting a simple and
understandable language for foreign students.
Key words: higher education seekers, digital technologies, educational activity, language
barriers, educational process, digitalization of education.
Resumen
La intensificación del desarrollo de las tecnologías digitales y su introducción en las
actividades educativas ha hecho necesario el uso de tecnologías digitales en el proceso
educativo de las instituciones de educación superior para superar las barreras del idioma
en la prestación de servicios educativos a estudiantes extranjeros. El propósito de la
investigación radica en identificar los principales aspectos problemáticos y perspectivas
para la aplicación de la digitalización como medio para superar las barreras del idioma
en la educación de estudiantes extranjeros. La base metodológica del trabajo académico
consta de los siguientes métodos de investigación científica, a saber: el método de
análisis teórico y síntesis, análisis y abstracción científica, comparación y analogía,
agrupación y análisis de conglomerados basados en el método k-means, generalización
y sistematización. Los resultados de la investigación realizada han permitido establecer
que la superación de las barreras del idioma en la educación de estudiantes extranjeros
depende significativamente del nivel de digitalización de la sociedad y del sistema de
educación superior. La intensificación del uso de la digitalización como medio para
superar las barreras del idioma en la enseñanza de estudiantes extranjeros permitirá
minimizar el nivel de las barreras del idioma y garantizar la mejora de la calidad del
proceso educativo en el entorno en línea mediante la aplicación de tecnologías digitales,
así como como crear condiciones favorables para la realización de un lenguaje sencillo
y comprensible para los estudiantes extranjeros.
Palabras clave: buscadores de educación superior, tecnologías digitales, actividad
educativa, barreras idiomáticas, proceso educativo, digitalización de la educación.
1. Introduction
New challenges and dangers caused by destabilizing factors of the world economic order,
globalization, geopoliticization and regionalization have led to the need to intensify the
development of digital technologies in education, forasmuch as ensuring an
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uninterruptable, high-quality and effective educational process in modern conditions is
impossible without the use of distance learning methods.
The problems related to spreading the COVID-19 pandemic have initiated the
intensification of the process of transition to other innovative forms of education, in which
digitization plays a significant role, given that ensuring the safety of higher education
seekers becomes possible only in the conditions of distance learning. It is obvious that
the transfer of students to the territory of other countries in order to obtain professional
training in the chosen speciality creates obstacles in the field of establishing dialogue,
and language barriers do not contribute to free verbal expression, which is especially
acute in the process of training students from other countries, where digital technologies
are not sufficiently developed, and maintenance and modernization of digital equipment
is rather expensive.
As a result, foreign students face problems of fear of public speaking, internal
expectations of external criticism and fear of making mistakes and inability to express
their own opinion, which indicates the presence of language barriers and the need to
search for effective means of overcoming them. As evidenced by the results of existing
scientific investigations in this sphere, digitalization technologies are capable of reducing
the tension of the situation, creating comfortable conditions for foreign students and
overcoming language barriers in their studies, which actualizes the research topic.
2. Literature Review
The integration of countries into the global educational space determines the accessibility
of foreign students to the educational process in any country and stimulates higher
education institutions to provide services to foreign students. Under such conditions, the
need arises to establish a dialogue and build effective communication, in which important
significance is attached to language training and ensuring the ability of students to use
language skills in practice. It is obvious that the majority of foreign students experience
certain difficulties in communication, which in the scientific discourse are called language
barriers; that is, obstacles reducing the effectiveness of educational activities, making
significant changes in personality development and leading to the emergence of
interpersonal conflicts. Karasu (2014) associates language barriers with the appearance
of psychological obstacles that arise in the process of receiving and transmitting
information in the environment of interpersonal interaction, leading to the blocking of
effective communication in the process of educational activities and causing insufficient
motivation of students, decreasing their self-esteem. The scientist highlights the following
most common language barriers in the education of foreign students, namely: the
difficulties of perceiving a foreign language, problems in communication due to shyness,
insecurity and the inability to express one’s opinion, as well as contradictions in the culture
of speech and the features of linguistic experience.
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Samantaray (2020) emphasizes that, in addition to the mentioned above, from among the
most significant language barriers, poor Internet connection in rural areas should be paid
particular attention to; accordingly, students living in rural areas are unable to fully use
the opportunities of digitalization of the educational process. The insufficient level of
training of the teaching staff to implement the educational process in an online
environment through using digital technologies is equally important. In addition, the
development of digital education is still not able to normalize language barriers,
forasmuch as different languages for communication do not contribute to the effective and
rapid promotion of digital content, which is mainly formed using the English language, and
students who do not speak it are limited in access to the use of available information.
A similar viewpoint is held by Ke & Balungile (2017), who believe that overcoming
language barriers in education depends on the factors of the external and internal
environment and on the social status of the students.
At the same time, Akhmetova et al., (2020) have studied the theoretical aspects and
problems of overcoming language barriers, as a result of which they have singled out the
main factors influencing the formation of language barriers and proposed methods and
ways of overcoming them. Herewith, the scientists have considered various viewpoints
on this scientific category and found out that language barriers are a kind of difficulties in
producing speech, which are manifested in the individual subjective inability to use
existing knowledge in the process of expressing thoughts.
Morgunova & Prikhodko (2020) associate overcoming language barriers with providing
comfortable conditions for students, which contribute to the transfer of knowledge to
learners in an understandable, accessible, simple and interesting way. Along with this,
the scholars substantiate the feasibility of using such a method of removing language
barriers as edutainment and emphasize the importance of using digital technologies when
developing methods for overcoming language barriers.
Ryndak & Saldaeva (2021) consider the digitalization of education as one of the effective
tools of the educational process, and the introduction of digital technologies as a method
of acquiring skills and competencies by students in the process of implementing
operational changes in the society, which contribute to increasing the level of access to
education and reducing certain barriers. However, certain features of the digitalization of
education are noted by the scientists, which are related to the need to solve the problem
of improving the digital literacy of students. In this context, Schmidt & Tang (2020) are
convinced that digitization is a strategic initiative towards improving the quality of teaching
educational material to foreign students and an element of innovative development of the
educational environment. At the same time, the scholars claim that the integration of
digital technologies into the educational process is not a qualitatively new process in the
educational environment, but the pace of technological progress in relation to them has
intensified tremendously, which is manifested in the constant improvement of forms of
digital technologies in the educational activities of higher educational establishments.
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Falling in the opinion of previous researchers, Lütge et al., (2019) prove that digitalization
produces new means, methods and forms of learning that differ from traditional ones in
their multimodality and interactivity, and the formation of language barriers in the
education of foreign students is considered one of the challenges of foreign language
training, causing the deconstruction of the boundaries between traditional and digital
education.
Ainslee (2018) considers digitalization as a means of overcoming language barriers in the
education of foreign students from the point of view of modern requirements, as a
response to the radical development of the digitization system of all spheres of the society
in a global dimension. In this context, Nesterchuk et al., (2020) claim that the digitalization
of education depends significantly on the level of development of the country; the problem
of its increasing in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic has become especially
relevant due to the transition to a distance form of education. At the same time, scientists
single out a number of problematic issues that hinder the development of digitalization of
the educational process, in particular, with regard to overcoming language barriers in the
education of foreign students, namely: (1) insufficient development of digital technologies
in the field of education; (2) lack of the relevant software; (3) unprofessionalism and
insufficient level of knowledge of teachers and their inability to apply innovative digital
technologies in the educational process; (4) unpreparedness of students and the
impossibility of them gaining access to learning using digital technologies. As a rule,
establishing communication between teachers and students is carried out by using
popular educational sites or e-mail.
Savchenko (2018) has established a positive effect of using illustrative materials by
teachers in the training educational disciplines, which are formed using digital
technologies and activate the process of involving students in the educational process,
and Gratis (2022) suggests several ways to overcome language barriers in teaching
international students, including as follows: (1) using plain language; (2) searching for a
reliable translation service and using the services of a translator; (3) conducting additional
classes on language learning; (4) use of visual methods of communication; (5) resorting
to frequent repetitions; (6) respectful attitude towards interlocutors. At the same time, the
scientist notes that overcoming language barriers is a difficult task in the higher education
system and requires the formation and use of innovative approaches to its solution, which
can certainly be achieved thanks to the development and application of digital
technologies, and Jureddi & Brahmaiah (2016) associate the achievement of a positive
effect in this process with the timely identification of language barriers and the provision
of proper conditions for their management.
Mao (2022) is convinced that the digitalization of education has a significant impact on
overcoming language barriers in teaching foreign students, forasmuch as it contributes to
the constant increase in the amount of data and information available to higher education
seeks; the scholar has established that in highly developed countries, language barriers
are less tangible, and their overcoming is characterized by the harmonious interaction of
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students and teachers towards balancing the psychological climate in the study group
and the formation of a perfect vocabulary.
3. The Research Goals
The purpose of the research lies in identifying the main problematic aspects and
prospects for the application of digitalization as a means of overcoming language barriers
in the education of foreign students.
4. Materials and Methods
In the academic paper, the identification of the main problematic aspects of the using
digitalization as a means of overcoming language barriers in the education of foreign
students has been carried out using the method of theoretical analysis and synthesis;
elucidation of the essence of the scientific categories “language barriers” and
“digitalization” has been conducted on the basis of the method of analysis and scientific
abstraction; methods of comparison and analogy have been used for empirical
assessment of the digitization level of the European Union’s states; the grouping of the
countries of the European Union according to the indicator of the multidimensional index
of digitization has been carried out using cluster analysis technologies based on the k-
means method; generalization of the results of the conducted research, formation of
conclusions and formulation of assumptions and hypotheses has been conducted using
the method of generalization and systematization; the visual display of the effective
indicators of the research has been carried out using graphical and tabular methods.
The countries of the European Union have been selected for the research.
The information base of the study is represented by reports for 2019-2021 DiGiX Update:
A Multidimensional Index of Digitization, in which data on the multidimensional index of
digitization are systematized.
5. Results
The issue of investigating digitalization as a means of overcoming language barriers in
teaching foreign students has been in the centre of attention of the scientific community
and practitioners for a long period of time, and its relevance is explained by the
development of modern forms and methods of education, students’ access to obtaining
education in other countries and the formation of a single global educational space.
Undoubtedly, nowadays’ challenges and structural deformations necessitate the
transition to other forms of education, the successful implementation of which is
impossible without the use of innovative digital technologies. However, it should be noted
that the digitalization of education, although it is developing at an accelerated pace,
however, has a number of problematic aspects related to the different levels of access of
education seekers to the Internet, the different possibilities of providing them with
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technical means and different conditions for the digitization of social processes and
phenomena.
At the international level, a methodology for assessing the state of digitization in the
countries of the world has been developed and implemented, which is based on the
comparison of the digitization degree of various spheres, including education, and
involves the calculation of a multidimensional index of digitization. At the same time, the
interrelationship between this indicator and the level of the country’s development is
determined; in particular, in highly developed countries, the multidimensional index of
digitization is significantly higher, and, accordingly, the degree of access of foreign
students to the educational process using digital technologies is more significant. The
study of the main trends in the multidimensional index of digitization in the countries of
the European Union in 2019-2021 (Figure 1) has made it possible to identify the highest
values of the indicator in question in countries as follows: Denmark (MID: 0,9–1,0),
Luxembourg (MID: 0,8–1,0), the Netherlands (MID: 0,9 – 1,0), Finland (MID: 0,9),
Germany (MID: 0,8–0,9), Sweden (MID: 0,8–0,9) and Ireland (MID: 0,8); these countries
are considered to be highly developed states with sustainable development, the quality
of the providing educational services by higher educational institutions of which is
characterized by high indicators and in compliance with European standards.
Figure 1. Dynamics of the multidimensional index of digitization in the countries of the
European Union in 2019–2021.
Compiled based on: Noelia Camara (2020a, b; 2022). DiGiX Update: A Multidimensional
Index of Digitalization, 2019–2021.
At the same time, significantly lower values of the multidimensional index of digitization
are noted in countries that have undergone the process of transformational restructuring
and have been reoriented to the European vector of development, in particular, as follows:
Croatia (MID: 0,5), Latvia (MID: 0,6), Lithuania (MID: 0,6–0,7), Romania (MID: 0,5–0,6),
Hungary (MID: 0,5), Slovakia (MID: 0,5–0,6), the Czech Republic (MID: 0,6) and Slovenia
(MID: 0,6–0,7), where significant problems with ensuring the quality of education and
creating proper conditions for providing educational services to foreign students are
observed, in particular, with regard to language training of higher education seekers. The
reformatting of educational activities from the post-socialist system to the European one
requires significant efforts and coordination of the norms of the national education system
with international ones. In addition, it is necessary to note the rather low value of the
multidimensional index of digitization in Poland (MID: 0,5–0,6), Portugal (MID: 0,6) and
Italy (MID: 0,6), where a significant number of foreign students acquire their education.
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Taking into account the ambiguity regarding the development of the education system in
the countries of the European Union and the uncertainty of the situation concerning the
issue of ensuring its digitization, we consider it reasonable to conduct a study of the
common and distinctive features of using digital technologies in the educational activities
of higher educational institutions of the analysed group of countries.
As evidenced by the results of the grouping of the countries of the European Union in
terms of the multidimensional index of digitization in 2019–2021, obtained on the basis of
applying the cluster analysis technology based on the k-means method (Table 1), from
among the countries of the European Union, three groups are distinguished that can be
characterized by the level of digitalization of education as countries with a high level of
digitalization, countries with a medium level of digitalization and countries with a low level
of digitalization.
Table 1.
Grouping of the countries of the European Union according to the indicator of the
multidimensional index of digitization in 2019–2021.
Multidimensional Index of Digitization
2019
2020
2021
Country
Cluster number
Country
Cluster number
Country
Cluster number
Denmark
1
Denmark
1
Denmark
1
Ireland
Estonia
Estonia
Luxembourg
Ireland
Ireland
The Netherlands
Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Germany
The Netherlands
The Netherlands
Finland
Germany
Germany
Sweden
Finland
Finland
Austria
2
Sweden
Sweden
Belgium
Austria
2
Austria
2
Estonia
Belgium
Belgium
Spain
Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Spain
Spain
Lithuania
Cyprus
Cyprus
Malta
Lithuania
Lithuania
Portugal
Malta
Malta
France
Poland
Poland
The Czech
Republic
Portugal
Portugal
Slovenia
France
France
Bulgaria
3
The Czech Republic
The Czech Republic
Greece
Slovenia
Slovenia
Italy
Greece
3
Greece
3
Latvia
Italy
Italy
Poland
Latvia
Latvia
Romania
Romania
Romania
Hungary
Hungary
Hungary
Slovakia
Slovakia
Slovakia
Croatia
Croatia
Croatia
Compiled based on: Noelia Camara (2020a, b; 2022). DiGiX Update: A Multidimensional
Index of Digitalization, 2019–2021.
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In 2019, the first cluster included such countries as: Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Germany, Finland and Sweden, which position themselves as countries with
a binary system of higher education with a traditional university sector and a network of
specialized educational institutions; they offer various educational programs for training
higher education seekers with an orientation to the needs of foreign student. It should be
noted that in such countries, institutions of higher education pay due attention to
mastering several foreign languages by students in order to reduce the likelihood of
language barriers in the process of implementing the educational process; at the same
time, they pay particular importance to the acquisition of knowledge and skills in the use
of information technologies, which, in combination with the study of foreign languages,
allows training highly qualified and competitive specialists.
It is worth noting the practice of the Netherlands in the field of digitalization of educational
activities in higher educational institutions, which is characterized by a stable tradition of
training foreign students under bachelor’s and master’s programs due to the wide use of
the English language in the educational process and the possibility of applying distance
and mixed forms of education. As a rule, in this country, the risks of language barriers are
minimized, and foreign students get the opportunity to demonstrate their own knowledge
and abilities in conditions convenient for them. Similar tendencies are observed in higher
educational institutions of other countries of the analysed group, which was joined in 2020
and 2021 by Estonia, the higher education system of which is fully in line with European
standards.
The second cluster in the analysed period includes the following countries, namely:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Spain, Cyprus, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, France, the
Czech Republic, and Slovenia, which ensure high quality provision of educational
services in the field of higher education and help education seekers in choosing academic
disciplines; however, there are certain difficulties regarding the professional adaptation of
foreign students and their psychological preparation for communication in a foreign
language. At the same time, the development of digital technologies and the process of
digitization of higher education in these countries are at the stage of formation,
development and integration into the system of European standards, which, to some
extent, restrains the opportunities of higher education seekers to implement their own
achievements and gain access to a full-fledged education.
The third cluster includes Greece, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Croatia,
which have been undergoing transformational restructuring for a long time and have not
completed higher education reforms yet. In this group of countries, problems with
ensuring communication between foreign students and their perception of educational
material are often revealed. Moreover, there are facts of deepening the language barriers,
which are caused by the real interaction of students and their functioning as individuals
in a group, as well as those caused by the complexity of language perception, problems
in expressing one’s own opinion, lack of confidence in one’s own abilities and
opportunities to speak a foreign language. The contradictions in the culture of
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communication are equally important in this context, which are manifested in the desire
to impose incomprehensible stereotypes, traditions and customs on foreign students.
The outlined problems of the presence of language barriers in teaching foreign students
in higher educational institutions of certain countries of the European Union necessitate
the search for effective ways, methods and means of overcoming them. It is beyond
argument that one of these means is digitalization, which contributes to the intensification
of learning processes and obtaining by students of educational services under conditions
that are as comfortable as possible for them.
6. Discussion
The intensification of the development of digital technologies and their spread to various
spheres of social life make it necessary to conduct reformation of the existing education
system in the countries of the European Union. The processes of integration into a unified
international educational space intensify the need to involve the latest digital technologies
in the educational process in order to quickly adapt foreign students to the conditions of
study in higher education institutions of another country and their successful
acclimatization.
In the course of the research, it has been established that in many countries of the
European Union, especially in those that have gone through transformational
restructuring (Greece, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Croatia), the
processes of strengthening the problems of emergence and deepening of language
barriers during the implementation of the educational process with the participation of
foreign students are observed. This is primarily due to the insufficiently high level of
foreign language mastering in higher educational institutions and the incompleteness of
the implementation of European standards of higher education to the conditions of the
functioning of national higher education systems.
It should be noted that the countries of the European Union have been divided into three
groups according to the degree of digitization of the educational process in which foreign
students are involved. The first group consists of highly developed countries according to
all indicators (Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland and
Sweden); the second group includes countries with a sufficient level of development
(Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Spain, Cyprus, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, France,
the Czech Republic and Slovenia), however, with existing problems in the field of higher
education, in particular, with regard to overcoming language barriers in the education of
foreign students, forasmuch as innovative digital technologies are used improperly and
not to the full extent; the third group includes countries of the transitive type (Greece, Italy,
Latvia, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia), the process of reforming higher
education in which is at the stage of completion, and the intensification of the necessity
to apply digital technologies in the education of foreign students is caused more by the
problems of providing distance and mixed learning than by ensuring proper conditions for
foreign students.
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7. Conclusions
Thus, the obtained results of the research regarding the main problematic aspects and
prospects for the use of digitalization as a means of overcoming language barriers in the
education of foreign students makes it possible to state that language barriers in the
process of training foreign students manifest as their individual inability to use existing
knowledge when expressing their own opinion. It has been proven that in countries with
a higher level of digitization of the society, namely: (Denmark (MID: 0,9–1,0), Luxembourg
(MID: 0,8–1,0), the Netherlands (MID: 0,9–1,0), Finland (MID: 0,9), Germany (MID: 0,8–
0,9), Sweden (MID: 0,8–0,9) and Ireland (MID: 0,8), a lower level of language barriers
has been revealed, which, at the same time, is confirmed by the increased study of
several foreign languages in higher educational institutions of these countries. It has been
established that from among the most common language barriers in the education of
foreign students, the following ones should be noted, namely: the difficulty of perceiving
and understanding a foreign language, the problems of expressing one’s own opinion in
a foreign language, and the contradictions of culture, traditions and customs, which can
be solved thanks to the development of digital education and by implementing the
educational process in an online environment using digital technologies, a simple
language and visual methods of communication.
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Camara, N. (2020a) DiGiX 2019 Update: A Multidimensional Index Digitalization. Bbva
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