Reference material 2: "Mobility in Higher Education: cross-cultural communication issues" by Gisela Baumgratz

Reference material 2: "Mobility in Higher Education: cross-cultural communication issues" by Gisela Baumgratz

Note: This article was first published in the European Journal of Education, Vol. 28, No. 3, 1993 and was translated by Gisela Shaw from Bristol.

Introductory Remarks

From early 1989 to late 1991, I was working on a project "Foreign Languages in Higher Education" with financial support from the Robert Bosch Foundation in Stuttgart and the European Cultural Foundation in Amsterdam. (1) In developing the concept of the foreign languages as the medium for learning we found ourselves drawn into investigations of the status of foreign languages in international university programmes as well as into the need to define the qualitative dimensions of mobility of university students in the context of increasing professional mobility in Europe. Professional teaching and learning are processes of transcultural or intercultural communication. Even neighbouring countries in Europe, such as Germany and France - and, indeed, the various types of universities within these countries - differ widely in their respective disciplinary and subject cultures. In addition, the teaching and learning situation as well as the students' and lecturers' views regarding their own professional and social position are determined by aspects of institutional and organizational cultures. All these factors were taken into account. We found it to be of crucial significance that the teaching and learning of foreign languages should take into consideration the specifics of organizational and subject cultures, whether in the context of subject-based reading in the foreign language or, more particularly, of guest lecturers' classes and students' studies abroad. This requires an awareness on the part of lecturers and students of the need to relate their own university culture to that of the foreign institution.

Intercultural Communication

To begin with I would like to define the concept of intercultural communication, bearing in mind that national stereotypes of behaviour (Knapp, 1992) are not particularly helpful to individuals and groups looking for orientation in trying to cope with unfamiliar situations.

What is needed is a mapping out of relevant cultural dimensions of a social communication situation involving individuals or groups of different national and/or cultural origin and different forms of socialization who meet at a certain point in their personal biographies in order to realise or contribute towards the achievement of certain general social, institutional, organizational, group and personal aims (Baumgratz, 1990).

The establishment of the Internal European Market and the European Union as envisaged in the Maastricht Treaty has created new framework conditions for our approach to foreign languages and (national) cultures. This, in turn, justifies a change of perspective towards 'intercultural communication' in a new social environment, i.e. 12-member European Community. It also makes the concept of 'intercultural' communication, originally associated with the problems of integration encountered by immigrant workers, appear in a new light. Interculturality, coupled with mobility, becomes the hallmark of individuals and institutions adjusting to a changing economic, social, cultural and political environment and aiming to acquire a new European identity which will enlarge their scope for action and their possibilities for self-realization.

Mobility is the method as well as the aim of acquiring this new quality or qualification. Mobility needs to be seen as a method suited to enhance the ability for cultural integration on the part of institutions/organisations and to enable individuals to live and act in varying multicultural contexts.

Thus intercultural communication for us is a project whose preconditions need to be clarified in the light of educational institutions bearing the stamp of their respective national cultures. The movement of persons from one place to another does not in itself bring about intercultural communication. This is particularly true if mobility as such is regarded as a mark of quality and an aim of qualification. We regard interculturality or the ability to communicate interculturally as preconditions for mobility. It is defined as an enhancement of the capacity for orientation and integration, the ability to learn and engage in technology transfer as well as in creativity. It also encompasses the ability to handle new rights and duties of European citizenship as laid down by European education policies (Task Force, 1991).

Any form of communication takes place under certain organizational conditions in a narrower or wider sense (I shall come back to this later) and those involved act (consciously or unconsciously) according to written or unwritten laws which they have internalized sufficiently in the course of their socialization and personal biographies to ensure a smooth functioning (in the ideal situation). In case of problems it will at least be possible to gauge why these may have occurred and, in the worse case, understand why negative sanctions are legitimate.

Organizational conditions are characterized by formal and informal rules, the latter usually being acquired in the organization itself through experience and communication with other members. Organizations are determined by hierarchies and the distribution of power. They, in turn, determine the structure of communication among those involved as well as their status, roles and scope for action. The concept of status implies that there are groups within an organizational whole (i.e. individuals of the same status) facing other groups of different status. To what extent status can be ignored and the scope for action expanded depends on the type of hierarchical order involved. This is monitored and controlled by those occupying the same status as well as by those of lower or superior status. Thus, organizational communication can be defined as a social situation in which the actors from one and the same socio-cultural environment master the relevant rules of the game, i.e. that which appears to be 'normal' to all involved. This, however, also entails certain expectations regarding the organization itself.

Mobility in Higher Education as an Issue of Communication and Qualification for Professional Mobility

Using the example of German students of economics at a French Grande Ecole de Commerce, the Ecole Supιrieure de Paris (ESCP), we investigated what is involved in studying an academic subject at a foreign institution and in pursuing individual, economic, social and political aims of qualification related to an expanded European environment.

Once a link has been established between an individual's academic and professional biographies, mobility becomes the method as well as the aim of qualification. Thus, we need to establish an inner link between method and aim and to relate both to the individual and the organizational framework of the foreign institution within which the individual wished to acquire his or her qualification.

If, then, mobility in the context of education and professional activities is defined as an instrument of internationalization /Europeanization, we need to consider:

- the internationalization/Europeanization of the conditions for qualification,

- the acquisition of a qualification,

- the qualification itself, as well as,

- the application of the qualification in professional life.

In what follows we would like to outline the linguistic and socio-cultural problems that arise at the four levels referred to and which relate to internationalization as the change in the socio-communicative framework and in the communicative prerequisites for teaching and learning in the context of higher education cooperation and the mobility of lecturers and students as envisaged in mobility programmes such as ERASMUS.

Internationalization as the Prerequisite for Qualification through Transnational Co-operation between Institutions of Higher Education

On the basis of the sociological differentiation between institutions and organizations (Petit, 1991) we work on the assumption that the educational mission reflected in the institution of the educational system of a society, i.e. the mission to safeguard the political, social, professional and cultural integration of the population, is implemented in different forms by different organizations. Organizational differentiations themselves as well as the various ways in which organizations define and evaluate the general educational mission for themselves allow certain conclusions regarding the relationship between qualificational and allocational functions (professional integration, allocation of social status) of individual organizations. These define the status of individual educational establishments within society and thus play a part in negotiating and implementing transnational co-operation among institutions of higher education as well as the mobility of staff and students.

The French higher education landscape is marked by the distinction between universities and grande ιcoles. It thus presents a particularly striking example of the creation of differing conditions of socialization due to different definitions of the educational mission, conditions for access and the function of allocation which are crucial significance for the professional and social integration of graduates. It is therefore essential that those negotiating agreements for co-operation and mobility between German and French institutions of higher education are aware of the educational mission and social status of the relevant partner institution. It is only thus that they are in a position to gauge the added subject and social (socio-cultural) qualifications available to their students within the foreign academic context as well as to assess possible psychological barriers to the acquisition of such qualifications.

This, in turn, requires familiarity with one's own institution and its status within the German higher education landscape. Thus it is extremely important to realise the significance of whether partnership is sought by a traditional university, a technical university or a Fachhochschule, particularly if the French partner is to be a grande ιcole. (Intriguingly, the Confιrence des Grandes Ecoles has decided to stop co-operation with German Fachhochschulen as these are considered to be of inferior status compared to German universities, although the educational mission and course organization at Fachhochschulen have a good deal more in common with those of grandes ιcoles than can be said of German universities.)

The concept of institutions of higher education designed for an 'elite' is prone to meet with emotive reactions in a German context. Clarification is needed regarding the differing historic and contemporary implications in public awareness of the concept of an 'elite', as interpretations and acceptance differ in the two countries. What will emerge is, for instance, that this concept is a much less controversial one in France. In France there is universal acceptance in all political camps, albeit with some nuances, that certain institutions, such as the grandes ιcoles, should look after the needs of a professional 'elite' in politics, administration and industry. In contrast to the German concept of an intellectual elite this does not, however, imply a claim to ideological and moral leadership. In France the selection process is handled centrally and begins long before actual entry into grandes ιcoles. Individuals' academic career at school followed by a two-year preparatory course at selected grammar schools (classes prιparatoires) as well as highly selective competitive examinations (concours) turns out to be much more crucial than the training at grandes ιcoles as such. Germans have some difficulty in understanding and accepting this process (Bourdieu, 1989).

The 'climate' at grandes ιcoles, including relationships between staff and students, is determined by the initiation process through classes prιparatoires and makes for the evolution of a homogenous cohort of students with an appropriately high level of self-confidence. If, then, we consider that each student cohort is organised as a group, including the allocation of a specific name (e.g. Promotion Jean Monnet), as well as subsequently joining one of the alumni associations (associations des anciens elθves) which wield considerable influence over the recruitment of graduates from 'their' grande ιcole, this will help to understand the roots of the self-confidence characteristic of graduates from a French grande ιcole - a self-confidence not matched by graduates from any German institution of higher education. The gulf widens further because any grande ιcole represents no more than one subject discipline and has a relatively small student body. Taking one example, the ESCP houses no more than 1000 students and occupies a complex of buildings in the centre of Paris. Fees are high, although it must be said that nowadays many students are able to obtain low-interest loans. This they gladly do in the knowledge that this investment is bound to pay off and does not involve much of a risk given the well-paid positions awaiting grandes ιcoles graduates.

The attitude of these French students to their studies is strongly influenced by the sense of having 'made it' on entering a grande ιcole. This is particularly true of students at the Grandes Ecoles de Commerce (business and management schools). Before entering a grande ιcole, French students have learned during their preparatory classes to cope with a level of class contact hours and regular examinations that would make German students shudder (80 hours/week). On the other hand, these classes count as part of their later course of studies ('bac and 5' means five years of study after the baccalaurιar, made up of two preparatory years and three years at a grande ιcole.) Once at the grande ιcole, French students regard the regime there as positively liberal, a playground compared to what they were used to before. This was confirmed to us by lecturers. By German standards the regime governing studies at grandes ιcoles resembles that to be expected at secondary rather than university level. In keeping with the grandes ιcoles orientation towards professional practice and the needs of industry, students (ιlθves) attribute greater significance than their German counterparts to participation in the numerous student associations (associations des ιlθves) concerning themselves with practical problems encountered by companies (e.g. Junior Enterprise), and are engaged in market research which can be financially highly rewarding. Study programmes, too, are strongly practice-oriented. This is reflected not only in the recruitment of part-time staff from industry but also in the nature of the curriculum which includes work placements in all three years of study. There has even been a recent development which offers students in their third year of study a choice of an annιe d'alternance, i.e. a year-long placement in industry where they get involved in genuine management tasks. The latter is also true of the three-month placement undertaken in year three in the area of their special option, which frequently leads to the offer of a job in the company after graduation. At the company forums (Forums d'entreprises) organized annually at grandes ιcoles, demand for these students, whether for placements or for employment, is buoyant.

Study programmes include not only classical business studies subjects such as marketing, financial systems, accounting, company law etc., but also foreign languages. Two foreign languages are compulsory during the first two years of study and are allocated a relatively high number of contact hours. They are subject-related and, apart from Japanese, presuppose a solid linguistic base has been laid at grammar school and in preparatory classes and demonstrated at the competitive entrance examination. Final examinations also include an assessment in these foreign languages. In addition, the wide range of options (ιlectifs) in political and cultural studies demonstrates that considerable weight is given at this level to a more general education.

Germans have difficulty in accepting the fact that courses of study are year-based (each year comprising three terms) and follow strictly laid-down programmes requiring regular attendance on the part of the students. A comprehensive tutoring and information system (operating via student pigeonholes) makes for a level of student guidance which amazes German students and explains why French students regard college as a service institution whose administration and teaching staff are permanently at their disposal. No wonder graduates are ready to enter the labour market by the age of 23 at the latest.

If, then, German universities or technical universities (in our case the faculties of business studies and economics) are aiming to set up co-operation agreements with French grandes ιcoles, including the exchange of both students and staff, the following organizational and subject-cultural factors ought to be taken into account to assist the orientation of lecturers and students involved in the co-operation. Only in this way can the 'internationalization' of a course of study bring about the desired and defined additional qualifications that are to be gained over and above the qualifications normally acquired in traditional forms of study.

The most important factor consists in the differing conceptions of professional deontology present in the minds of staff and students alike. Thus the concept of what makes up 'subject knowledge' at host institutions needs to be clarified, as well as related value concepts and traditions (which differ from one category of institution of higher education to the next, depending on whether they are academic institutions in the traditional sense or applied or vocationally oriented institutions). Only then is it possible for a visiting student or member of staff to assess what the host institution may have to offer them. Considerations of subject quality need to be linked with a high level of familiarity with topics studied and expectations regarding performance and behaviour on the part of students towards staff and vice versa. Awareness is needed regarding concepts such as 'scientific approach', the relation between theory and practice, the definition of the qualification attached to the completion of a certain course of study and so on. Relevant variables are: the status of teaching staff and students in the institution and faculty in the context of the flexibility of the programme, i.e. obligatory attendance on the one hand and autonomy and individual responsibility on the other.

Successful transfer from one academic environment to another is not possible if one's own subject standards are taken to be absolute. This is obviously not a problem that has much to do with a person's mastery or otherwise of the language of the host country. It is rather a problem of comparative understanding of the educational, organizational and subject cultures of the country of origin and the host country respectively. These factors require re-examination every time co-operation with a foreign institution of higher education is planned and negotiated. Nor do legal documents, administrative regulations, structural descriptions of the system or study guides of the traditional type give away any useful information of this kind. After all, they are not intended to facilitate practical co-operation but to lay down general rules that are subject to interpretation and implementation by individual organizations and agents. Transcultural orientation, therefore, is a prerequisite of all forms of intercultural communication as well as of that creative surprise afforded to those equipped with what Luria calls an 'informed attentiveness' (Luria, 1973): after all, each establishment of higher education is shaped by its particular location, its architecture, infrastructure and distribution of space, its internal organizational relations etc. not forgetting the individuals working within it, each of whom sees their own role in a different light.

The Role of Language in the Context of Mobility in Higher Education

It is my contention that no language can be guaranteed to guard the user against encountering organizational and other obstacles rooted in subject-specific cultures. Even scientific intercourse within national or organizational scientific communities, especially in the area of the social sciences and humanities (among which I would include business studies), develops its own socio-communicative meanings (Luria, 1982) and operates with value judgements.

Thus, a French visiting lecturer from a Grande Ecole de Commerce, lecturing to German business studies students in French and in the way he/she is accustomed to when lecturing to French students, does not necessarily communicate to them a subject culture identifiable as French. The French visiting lecturer as well as German students ought to be aware of the fact that the learning and communication situation is different from what they are used to, and they ought to have available communicative strategies to facilitate understanding. This often means that seemingly matter-of-course issues require discussion as they may conceal considerable cultural differences. I have attempted to convey a flavour of this using the example of the subject common to both sides. But, as we have seen, all concepts lose their innocence, even that of the scientist, student or professor, once we step outside the organizational and subject-specific context of a national higher education system or the specific type of institution of higher education we are accustomed to.

Terminological preparation does not take us very far if the terms and concepts underlying them are not dealt with in the context of the relevant subject, organization and scientific culture. The French term compatabilitι and the German term Rechnungswesen (accounting) may be lexically equivalent. But this merely refers to the most general level of the smallest common denominator, telling us that there are such things as compatabilitι and Rechnungswesen. We still do not know the specific context in which these terms are embedded and within which they are handled. A recognition of such terminological equivalence is too superficial, if not misleading, for purposes of intercultural understanding. Even if the French guest-lecturer spoke German, this would still involve culturally conditioned misunderstandings, especially if he or she 'translates', is largely unaware of German sources and ignores expectations held by German students who use the German language in subject-related discourse. The lecturer's explanations may easily strike Germans as superficial or lacking in theoretical foundation, as student reports we received have frequently confirmed. Similarly; German colleagues may have a hard time if they risk making use of their (possibly not very highly developed) knowledge of the French language without sufficient awareness of the significance of rhetoric in French higher education culture.

The problem becomes especially complicated if English is used as a third language. Cultural misunderstandings may proliferate due to the fact that each scientific community handles English sources in its own way, reinterpreting them consciously or subconsciously as required within its own cultural context. There is the mistaken impression that one is talking about one and the same thing or one and the same assessment of a state of affairs while in fact what would be needed would be a common understanding regarding the English cultural background of concepts used, as well as the cultural implications of their application in one's own scientific or company-specific context (to come back to our example).

Negotiating and implementing co-operative programmes in higher education, especially if these imply student and staff mobility, require the attempt to gain comparative organizational and subject-cultural insights which go far beyond merely taking note of the existence of formal structures. This applies particularly to the issue of recognition of qualifications. We cannot assume as a matter of course that foreign subject offerings are accepted, either with students or with lecturers. The same goes for certification. Optimal use of what is offered presupposes that the chances of additional relevant subject-specific and professional qualifications can be negotiated between staff and students involved. Thus internationalization is a process of intercultural negotiations at institutional levels, that is at the levels of the institutions and subject areas involved.

Internationalizing the Acquisition of Qualifications, the Qualifications Themselves and their Application

In the case of the internationalization of the acquisition of a qualification, the qualification acquired after completion of the programme and the application of this qualification in a career, the focal point is the individual, the student conceiving or expected to conceive independently his or her own educational and professional biography. This is particularly relevant for German students who, by and large, have greater scope for structuring their own course of studies than is available to French students at a grande ιcole.

Even if higher education institutions spare no effort in negotiating co-operation programmes, individual students' preparation for their studies abroad is ultimately crucial. Frequently one meets with the view that students ought to be 'thrown in at the deep end' and benefit as much as possible from a 'culture shock'. This may work out, if the students concerned are of normal intelligence, used to having to apply survival techniques and in possession of a certain self-confidence, while also having at their disposal a fair amount of time to find their way around an unfamiliar higher education context. This may, for instance, be the case if the student concerned is planning to complete his or her entire course of study at the foreign institution. Such learning through experience can be very time-consuming and frustrating and requires a high level of stamina. Students who, as envisaged by the ERASMUS programme, spend a period of no more than 6 to 12 months at a host institution (with this period to count towards their overall performance record and period of study as well as equipping them with a qualification relevant to their future profession) can hardly afford such detours, unless this is done in full awareness of the risks involved.

Returning to our example, the first point that requires clarification is which mobility aims can be relevant for a German student of economics undergoing a period of study at a French Grande Ecole de Commerce and how these aims can be achieved within this particular institution.

As stated at the outset, the student needs to be in a position to achieve aims of various kinds: i.e. social (European and national), subject-specific, professional (international qualifications required by industry) and finally, personal (extending one's personal and professional horizons, improving one's life and professional chances). A general personal gain in the sense of widening one's horizons represents a universally accepted aim of mobility without anyone being able to spell out in detail what this might involve. Another possible professionally relevant perspective might be that of becoming acquainted with the higher education system of another country producing tomorrow's leaders with whom one will have to deal as a professional in later life.

The issue becomes more complex if one attempts to define the subject-specific and professional gains involved. Current practice in co-operation between higher education institutions and in exchange programmes (Baumgratz et al., 1989) shows that formally the obligation to recognise one another's qualifications is being adhered to, but that this does not automatically entail professional acceptance. Thus individual students face the task of ensuring this professional acceptance for themselves. Two possibilities offer themselves:

Either they attempt to acquire from the host institution formal evidence of achievement, such as certificates and diplomas, that might be relevant to studies undertaken but, more importantly, to their future professions and careers, for instance in the form of an added edge on the labour market. Or they decide to use the programme offered rather more in terms of its content, in the form of additional subject-specific, linguistic-communicative and personal qualifications without necessarily acquiring formal evidence of their achievement. Classes and other events selected for this purpose may well be recognised by their home institution. This, in turn, means that these students also have to negotiate academic acceptance on the part of the home institution. This may on occasion be necessary even if there are in existence negotiated co-operation agreements between home and host institutions, including conditions for recognition. One reason is that lecturers as well as students are inclined to select those aspects that appear to offer 'equivalence in subject terms' (2) and then end up feeling disappointed. What would be more interesting would be to attend (fully aware of the nature of the foreign institution) those events which cannot be found at home, thereby aiming for instance at the creation of complementarity or the acquisition of additional qualifications.

Whatever choices students make, they have to anticipate the cultural and communicative implications of their choices within the unfamiliar organizational context. There are three reasons for this: 1) the status of foreign students differs from that of home students; 2) visiting students may not have been given sufficient advance briefing; 3) they consequently face the task of clarifying their own status in order to be able to achieve their aims as well as those set for them by their home institutions. This means that host institutions are not going to regard them as academic tourists, but as serious students intending to participate in 'normal' lectures and seminars equipped with certain clearly defined ideas, intentions and possibly prepared to make contributions of their own.

This task is a complex one and the time available to complete it is limited. We regard it as essential that students acquire an orientational competence as well as appropriate communicative strategies and abilities in the language of their host countries even before leaving their home institutions. This will allow them to become properly integrated, i.e. to clarify their status in their own eyes as well as in the eyes of French fellow-students and French lecturers, and to negotiate their status keeping the aims of their stay in mind. If the aim has been the acquisition of formal certificates offered by the host institution within the framework of the scheduled stay, visiting students need to acquaint themselves with formal regulations, the organization of the course of study and the relevant examinations, i.e. the non-negotiable framework conditions such as attendance requirements, kinds of assessed work, and in some cases even the number of words required per text.

Ways of Professionalizing Mobility with a View to Promoting the Ability to Communicate at Intercultural Level in Academic and Professional Contexts

Coming to the implementation of the aims of qualification specified above, I once again have to look at institutional and individual levels. Within the framework of our project we therefore tried to develop instruments that might serve both to develop awareness on the part of all involved (university authorities dealing with foreign students, higher education administrations, faculties, students) and to facilitate access to information assisting the orientational competence referred to above. We also highlighted possibilities of and prospects for the integration of a foreign subject culture in a language context as well as offering didactic hints.

A video film entitled 'Management ΰ la Franηaise' offers first concrete insights into problems encountered by German students of economics at the Ecole Supιrieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP) in the areas of language and communication, subject-related matters and the institutional culture. The film aims to provide food for thought for institutions of higher education or their faculties promoting internationalization by sending students and staff abroad. More specifically, the film is to assist institutions and faculties in improving the integration of any preparation offered to students willing to go abroad into institutional and curriculum programmes; to bring about better co-operation between arts and other subjects, language centres and academic authorities dealing with foreign students; to facilitate more differentiated negotiations for co-operation agreements between institutions of higher education and staff exchange programmes; and finally, to improve the way visiting students are being looked after and integrated. The film is to raise awareness regarding the fact that an internationalization of academic studies, in particular if linked with mobility, can only bring about the desired outcomes (professional mobility, technology transfer, 'synergy') if the cultural implications of this changed learning situation are reflected in relevant subject curricula due to enhanced awareness of institutional adjustment and increased foreign language learning (3).

A multilingual and multi-media case study on the ESCP (video- and audio-recorded interviews, including transcripts, lecture notes, graphics etc.) is also available. It allows for a more in-depth study of the issue by offering relevant pedagogical tools. The materials can be managed and made accessible by means of a data bank, thus assisting the specific information and communication needs created by academic studies in a foreign language as well as by immersion into the unfamiliar cultural environment of a foreign institution of higher education or subject area. They take into account the various perspectives relevant to higher education studies, i.e. the internal perspective of those involved, the external perspective of foreign guest lecturers, as well as that of exchange organizations (such as the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD), attempting to represent as many aspects as possible of such intercultural communication situations and to make these transparent in terms of content and language.

Thirdly, the computer-controlled audio programme (VOICECART) demonstrates first examples of an educational use of these materials in subject-specific language teaching and in individual learning situations.

A book with the working title 'Fremdsprachen als Ausbildungssprache. Zur sprachlich sozio-kulturellen Dimension der Internationalisierung des Hochschulstudiums' (4) is being prepared. It is to provide the project's language, political and conceptual framework and is enriched by results of empirical surveys and practical examples of international higher education co-operation. The points of reference are, on the one hand, European educational policies as reflected in the documents published by the Commission and mobility and co-operation programmes; on the other hand, the qualification requirements deriving from the internationalization of industry and the Internal European Market.

The audio-visual documentation, data bank and audio programme are the building blocks of a new project to develop a German-French prototype of a computer-controlled multi-media and multilingual library, allowing direct access to photographic, graphic, sound and textual materials, thus meeting the need of learners and teachers for suitable information carriers, information processing and the communicative exploitation of academic studies in a foreign language as well as the enhancement of foreign language skills for professional purposes.

These materials are also intended to provide essential insights into the training and socialization of future leaders in the respective country for students not in a position to study abroad as well as for staff working in personnel departments (5). Due to the fact that French grandes ιcoles explicitly function as elite institutions, direct insights can be gained into cultural dimensions of the qualification of French people in leading positions which are of vital importance for the personnel policy and the management of companies with an international workforce.

This prototype ought to encourage higher education institutions keen to engage in co-operative ventures to produce similar documents along the same lines and to make these available to partner institutions. In the long term this would allow the documentation of developments and make better use of the mobility experiences of higher education institutions, lecturers and students. This system could also be used for research into mobility as an instrument for enhancing the qualitative aspects of mobility. Enriched with case studies of problems in intercultural communication in companies, this system brings together mobility as a method and as an aim. It does so by establishing concrete references between learning processes during training and professional practice. Academic and professional socialization are seen as components in lifelong learning for international co-operation and for coexistence in multicultural organizations and societies.

Notes

1. The project was located at the European Institute of Education and Social Policy in Paris and involved a number of German and French colleagues from various institutions of higher education as well as media support by the Ecole Supιrieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP), the Audio-Visual Media Centre (AVMZ) of the University of Wuppertal and the Rechner- and Softwaretechnik GmbH (RST), Essen.

2. An expression used by a student of economics in the context of a mobility event organized by the University of Saarbruecken on 24 May 1992.

3. The film is available in German, English and French from Audio-Visuelles Medienzentrum (AVMZ), University of Wuppertal, Gausstr. 20, 5600 Wuppertal. Further information on the film, the VOICECART programme and the data bank can be requested from: Bernd Rueschoff (AVMZ); Helmut Brammerts, Seminar for Sprachlehrforschung, University of Bochum; Gisela

Baumgratz (project co-ordinator), European Institute of Education and Social Policy, c/o University Paris IX-Dauphine, Place du Marιchal de Lattre de Tassigny, 75116 Paris.

4. 'Foreign languages as training languages. On the linguistic and socio-cultural dimensions of the internationalization of higher education studies'.

5. The project is funded jointly by LINGUA and the European Cultural Foundation in Amsterdam (July 1992 to July 1995). It is located at the European Institute of Education and Social Policy in Paris and run by Gisela Baumgratz in co-operation with the German partners listed in (1) and with the Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Paris.

References

Baumgratz, G. & Deyson (1989) La Mobilitι des ιtudiants en Europe. Conditions linguistiques et socio-culturelles / Mobility of Students in Europe. Linguistic and Socio-Cultural Conditions (Luxembourg, Office des publications officielles de la Commission de la CE). French edition, 1989.

English edition, 1990.

Baumgratz, G., & Deyson, N. & Kloss, G. (1989), L'amιlioration de la prιparation aux programmes inter-universitaires des coopιrations ERASMUS (Paris, Unitι Langues pour la Coopιration en

Europe/Language Unit for Cooperation in Europe).

Baumgratz, G. (1990) Persoenlichkeitsentwicklung und Fremdsprachenerwerb, Transnationale Kommunikationsfaehigkeit im Franzoesischunterricht (Paderborn, Schoeningh.)

Bourideu, P. (1989) La noblesse d'ιtat. Grandes ιcoles et esprit de corps (Paris, Les Editions de Minuit).

Knapp, K. (forthcoming) 'Interpersonale and interkulturelle Kommunikation', in: N.Bergmann & A. Sourisseaux (Eds) Interkulturelles Management (Heidelberg, Physika)

Luria, A.R. (1973) The Working Brain. An Introduction to Neuropsychology (Harmondsworth Penguin Books).

Task Force. Human Resources, Education, Training Youth (1991) Memorandum on Higher Education in the European Community (Brussels, Commission of the European Communities).

Petit, F. (1991) Introduction ΰ la psychologie-sociologie des organisations (Toulouse, Editions Privat).

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Reference material 2: "Mobility in Higher Education: cross-cultural communication issues" by Gisela Baumgratz