I imagined my students would speak English every waking minute, they would eagerly connect with our peer leaders through Facebook, and they would love to come to our social events to forge friendships any chance they could. Initially, my acculturative perspective was very narrow I assumed that given our students’ choice to study at a Canadian university, they would immerse themselves within Canadian culture in all ways possible. Within this segment, 44.2 per cent of our international students hailed from China, a country where most of these platforms are banned.ĭuring my first year in a new role supporting students within my college’s English Language Institute, I naively deployed a Facebook group community to communicate necessary program information and as a way to invite students to acculturate to North American social media. However, in the case of the University of Waterloo where I call home, a whopping 22 per cent of the undergraduate student population in 2019/2020 held a study permit. Social media strategies at many Canadian universities engage student communities primarily through North American social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and, most recently, TikTok. However, most institutions rely on communicating with international students through channels that are more familiar to Canadians. Throughout their studies, most continue to use apps they are comfortable with from their home country and in their first language. Our international students often come to Canada with a phone in their hands.
0 kommentar(er)
