Interweaving local cultural knowledge with global competencies in one higher education course: an internationalisation perspective

ABSTRACT Developing curricula that responds to the demand for internationalisation in higher education institutions (HEIs) has been gaining wide attention around the world. Taiwan, a country that houses more than 100 HEIs, is a keen member in joining the bandwagon of academic internationalisation. This paper explores the learning process and perceived benefits, as narrated by students from one HEI course, directed at developing students’ local cultural knowledge and global competencies, such as English and technological proficiency, through the means of video-making. An added objective of the course was for students to enter their completed videos to the Bilingual Video Competition hosted by a national university in central Taiwan. Findings from the study demonstrated that through the course, students have not only gained a stronger foothold of their cultural identity and English and digital literacy skills, but the process of the project has also led them to become more agentic and to recognise the importance of team work and collaboration. Suggestions for future studies will be discussed.