Pluraliser la mobilité étudiante : enjeux, conception et interprétation d’un dispositif hybride de formation linguistique et interculturelle dans une université française

Abstract

This article is based on the observation that the notion of mobility is of heuristic interest for language teaching. Through it, the notions of student status, encounter, distance and proximity are rethought at a time when new course formats are being developed within French universities, linked to 'internationalisation at home' and forms of mobility 'without moving'. The aim is to examine an experiment carried out with local students and international exchange students from a French university through the implementation of a hybrid language and intercultural training system. This system was designed to pluralise mobility - i.e. to diversify its methods and forms - so that all students, local and international, could benefit from the skills associated with mobility through contact with linguistic and cultural otherness. This article sheds light on the various contributions made by this scheme, enabling us to take account of the formative issues linked to the different forms of mobility: geographical mobility for international students, mobility 'without moving' (which we will call 'symbolic') for local students, before questioning the epistemological choices made in thinking about the intercultural relationship. Our study concerns the experimentation of the system during semester 2 of the 2021-2022 academic year in a French university within the law, economics and AES faculties. We will base our analysis on quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews conducted with students during this period.

Keywords

• otherness
• Mobility
• hybrid system
• language and intercultural training
• digital
• Erasmus