Our Data

This chapter first outlines some of the approaches to data collection used in other studies and also the nature of the data other studies have collected. Following this the chapter outlines how we have worked together and how we became curious about the issues conveyed in the book and decided to investigate them further (cf. Morley et al., Higher Education, 76(3), 537–554, 2018). Here we introduce our backgrounds as internationally mobile scholars and how we experienced roles in ‘other’ cultures. For example, Kendall discusses using Chinese to communicate pedagogy in China. We also write about how we met and what we have done since. We do this as a backdrop to our own approach to collecting data as well as to its nature. Here we also reflect on our positionalities as authors and the impact this has on the nature, generalizability, and value for others to consider of our data. The chapter then outlines the nature of our approach to data collection through in-depth discussion focus groups interviews and also interviews with: first language and second or other language Korean speakers lecturing and teaching in Korea (n = 10); second or other English-speaking lecturers teaching in the UK (n = 11) (ten second or other language speakers and one first language speaker from another country than the UK); and first language English speakers teaching their subjects in other languages abroad (n = 10). The chapter outlines the focus of the interviews, our approaches to Ethics, transcription, and analysis of the data. We also consider issues of generalizability and transferability of the data given its basis on what can be considered small numbers of participants by some. The chapter outlines how the in-depth nature and the theoretical importance of the data (cf. Flyvbjerg, Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2), 219–245, 2006) give it value for other contexts and IAS and institutions. We then briefly outline the three subsequent chapters that focus on these three groups and their experiences of teaching in terms of Languages, Cultures, and Personalities.