The role of cultural and linguistic factors in shaping feedback practices: the perspectives of international higher education teaching staff

Abstract

The literature on internationalisation of higher education usually focuses on the student perspective, with intercultural competence often featuring as a graduate attribute. However, given the high proportion of international teaching staff in UK higher education institutions, more attention needs to be paid to intercultural competence of teachers. A key aspect of educational practice is feedback, which we consider to be culturally situated and affected by cultural and linguistic experiences of teachers and students. This paper presents a study which explored the conceptualisations and experiences of feedback among 18 international teaching staff at a UK STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths, Medicine) higher education institution. Based on focus group data, we explore the dynamic relationship between culture, language and feedback, highlighting the importance of considering the intercultural dimension in feedback dialogues.