Virtually Here and There

Value

£3000

Partners and collaborators

Dr Zoe Handley, University of York

Description

This joint study between researchers at the Universities of Leeds and York explored how social interaction affects the success of international postgraduate students in UK higher education. In today’s digitally connected world, students can easily maintain contact with their home networks, but this often leads to increased loneliness and difficulty forming local friendships.

Using a specially developed app to capture live-time experiences, we worked with eighteen international students at both Leeds and York, tracking their social interactions over a typical week, in writing and speaking, online and offline, in English and their home languages, and relating these patterns to their linguistic proficiency and academic attainment scores. The app proved highly reliable in capturing real-time interaction data. Findings revealed that many students experienced significant isolation and relied heavily on their home language. However, those who engaged more frequently in written English interactions also showed higher levels of language proficiency and academic achievement. These results highlight the value of encouraging students in using informal written communication or “slow conversations” as a bridge towards more confident spoken interaction in English, with likely benefits of reducing isolation and improving both linguistic and academic outcomes.

Presentations

Project presentations at:

• National Centre for Research Methods (MethodsCon), Manchester 2024;
• Internationalisation Practitioner Network webinar, March 2025;
• Elinet (Education, Languages and Internationalisation Network) webinar, May 2025.

Impact

Forecast impact outcomes pending future funding; current impact through dissemination in partner institutions aimed at improving student experience and engagement support.

Publications and outputs

ELINET webinar recording on YouTube here