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Niina Kovalainen, Laurea University of Applied Sciences, FinlandAbstract
Transnational communication competence is increasingly recognized as essential in higher education and professional life, particularly in virtual and hybrid working environments. As institutions respond to global demands, learners are expected to develop flexible communication skills that transcend national, linguistic, and cultural boundaries (Kovalainen, 2022). While intercultural competence has been a central focus in curriculum design, transnational communication—especially in the context of digital learning—remains less explored. Short-term language and communication learning experiences—such as virtual exchanges, workshops, and micro-courses—are gaining popularity as accessible alternatives to long-term mobility programs. However, their potential to foster deeper transnational competencies is still insufficiently understood. This paper is based on interviews with higher education students studying in Finnish institutions (N = 30) from various countries and with different first languages. This paper examines how virtual short-term experiences might support the development of transnational communication competence, drawing on Kovalainen’s (2022) conceptualization of transnational competence as a multi-dimensional construct. In particular, the focus is on how learners in virtual contexts engage in linguistic flexibility, exercise agency in multilingual digital spaces, develop contextual sensitivity, and a sense of belonging across cultural boundaries. The results so far indicate that elements related to transnational communication competence may also be supported through virtual short-term learning experiences that allow students to collaborate in terms of language and communication skills to practise their intercultural communication. The effectiveness of such activities may ultimately depend on how learners navigate linguistic, cultural, and technological complexity in real-time, digitally mediated interactions.
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Conference: ECE2025Stream: Interdisciplinary
This paper is part of the ECE2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Kovalainen N. (2025) Transnational Communication Competence in (Virtual) Higher Education: The Potential of Short-Term Learning Experiences ISSN: 2188-1162 The European Conference on Education 2025: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 579-590) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1162.2025.46
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1162.2025.46
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