Study abroad and cultural immersion: an alumni retrospect

ABSTRACT

This paper draws on an analysis of 2600 study abroad alumni responding to a survey that spans more than 25 years. Our inquiry focuses on evaluating how programme length, housing arrangements, number, and type of co-curricular activities impact alumni’s attributions of personal growth and their attitudes towards global engagement and future social relationships. This paper is also informed by a 5-year alumni follow-up study. Our study finds that the type of housing and participation in co-curricular activities have a significant moderating effect on alumni attributions. With rare exception, programme length does not have a significant impact on reported outcome measures. We conclude the paper with a discussion of how these findings can help guide future research and administrative programming.     

Student perceptions of international education and study abroad: a pilot study at York University,Canada

International student mobility has been identified as a key strategy for the internationalization of higher education. Although an institutional priority, Canada has among the lowest levels of international student mobility, with only 2% of full-time university students participating in study-abroad programs. This pilot study, conducted at a large public university in Toronto, examined the value that students place on international education, their awareness of opportunities made available by the university, their attitudes toward, perceptions of, and preferences toward study abroad, and the institutional and individual factors that influence their intent to engage in study abroad. The study found associations between students’ intent to study abroad with their perceived social and institutional support and academic hassles at the host and home institution. It identified three distinct groups within the population, those intending to study abroad, those unsure about their plans, and a third group who does not seek to pursue study abroad. In terms of applied value, the findings will inform program administrators how to customize their support services and programs to both assist interested students and attract new students that otherwise would not be interested in such an experience.     

Interactions among future study abroad students: exploring potential intercultural learning sequences

The study presented in this article aims to explore if and how intercultural learning may take place in students’ class interaction. It is grounded in the assumption that interculturality is not a clear-cut feature inherent to interactions occurring when individuals with presumed different linguistic and cultural/national backgrounds talk to each other, but that interculturality is co-constructed during interaction. In other words, every ‘interdiscourse interaction’ is potentially intercultural. We have assumed this perspective while investigating student–student class interactions that took place in an intercultural education course aimed at enhancing students’ intercultural learning in view of their sojourn abroad. Interactional data were analysed from the perspective of conversation analysis. Then, drawing on the notion of séquence potentiellement acquisitionelle as well as on a constructivist approach to intercultural learning, we conclude that, in interaction with their peers, learners can co-construct ‘potential intercultural learning sequences’ (PILS), which present recognisable interactional and discursive features.     

Effects of international student exchange on pre-service teachers: a quasi-experimental study

This contribution provides empirical answers to the question of how teaching-specific competencies develop during participation in an international student exchange programme. The quantitative analyses of this quasi-experimental study suggest that, generally speaking, no specific developments occur during an exchange experience. These findings contradict the majority of existing literature. Possible reasons for this divergence are discussed. The interpretation of the results suggests future research should focus on the key question of pre-conditions for productive exchange experiences.     

Outcomes of an interdisciplinary study abroad course: learning Spanish and multicultural education concurrently

This study reports the outcomes of undergraduate students completing a pilot Interdisciplinary Intensive Course Abroad (IICA) with a service learning component. The IICA model is comprised of a three-part sequence of study that includes a seven-week course on campus, followed by three weeks of study abroad, and a summative seven-week course back on campus. The additional summative component gives students the opportunity to bring together their newly acquired knowledge and skills, and to reflect on how to integrate these experiences in their future. The sequence integrates discipline-specific content studies with foreign language classes, and grounds them with a study abroad experience. A mixed-method design was used to measure students’ development of language skills, understanding of multicultural education concepts, and intercultural skills. Primary data sources were pre/post-assessments, student field notes and reflections, and a post-course survey. Results indicated that students gained confidence in their Spanish skills and were likely to enroll in further Spanish courses, their ability to define multicultural education concepts increased, and service learning, homestays abroad, and their time in an indigenous reservation contributed to development of intercultural skills.     

Teaching intercultural awareness in the English as a foreign language classroom: a case study using critical reading

This paper reports on an educational intervention study that used linguistic and rhetorical approaches to critical reading, in order to teach intercultural awareness. The intervention was implemented with a group of Mexican college students learning English as a foreign language. The study focuses on changes between participants’ pre- and post-intervention articulated understandings of the targeted cultural context, namely the USA. The data was coded and analyzed using a complexity theory perspective and directed qualitative analysis. The results indicate that drawing students’ attention to the cultural situatedness of language use can increase their awareness of the multiple ideological positions existing in a cultural context. Based on these results, the paper argues that the field of intercultural education needs to take a linguistic turn in order to further its goals.     

The building of the transcultural capacities of preservice teachers to support their employability in a globalised world: a pilot study

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the findings of a pilot project that investigated the impact of the International Professional Experience (IPE) programme within a Faculty of Education at a research intensive Australian University in developing the capacity of preservice teachers (PSTs) to work and teach amidst culturally diverse environments. The pilot was a precursor to a project investigating the impact of IPE on PSTs’ cultural capacity across a range of IPE locations. The importance of teachers acquiring transcultural capacity has become more acute in recent years. Educational globalisation has influenced Australian educators and schools to see working and learning in countries outside Australia as opportunities that support readiness for a professional career. Australian graduate teachers are now required to possess and demonstrate the skills and capacities to relate to, engage with and teach students from diverse cultures. Migration has altered Australian demographics to the point that cultural understandings are now mandated in the national curriculum. The pilot study findings suggest that the IPE experience has a significant impact on the development of transcultural capacity amongst PSTs especially those who have not had opportunities for, engagement with cultural modes outside their place of origin.     

Learning as othering: narratives of learning,construction of difference and the discourse of immersion in study abroad

This article shows ethnographically the process of learning as othering in study abroad: acknowledgement of ‘learning’ through immersion – without clear structure or markers of learning – constructs cultural difference of the host society. It is because acknowledgement of learning something is necessarily the acknowledgement of the prior ignorance about it due to difference. Study abroad thus privileges particular types of difference in the name of learning them, under-appreciating domestic minorities’ cultural differences.     

The relevance of situation awareness in older adults’ cognitive functioning: a review

Age-related declines in cognition may have detrimental effects on older adults’ ability to complete everyday activities that young- and middle-aged individuals perform automatically. Theories of cognitive aging have found deficits in older adults’ fluid intelligence, capacity for inhibition, number of processing resources, and speed of processing, and in recent years, studies have proposed cognitive strategies to ameliorate these declines. However, few strategies directly train the cognitive strategies necessary to improve performance in dynamic environments and physical activities. One such strategy may be the enhancement of situation awareness, the capability to perceive and understand one’s environment. Although the term has typically been applied to pilots and other expert performers, situation awareness may also be relevant to cognitive aging, where older adults’ perception and comprehension of their environment become critical to everyday functioning and physical activities. If older adults’ situation awareness can be facilitated, then it may be possible to reduce the impact of age-related cognitive declines, allowing older adults to successfully participate in dynamic situations and sports where the environment is constantly changing (e.g., driving and tennis). The following review outlines cognitive deficits in aging, details their relation to situation awareness, and discusses how training in situation awareness may reduce cognitive declines. Portions of this paper were reported at the annual meeting of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity in June, 2005.     

Learning to live together: an exploration and analysis of managing cultural diversity in centre-based early childhood development programmes

This paper explores how early childhood development practitioners running centre-based programmes with children aged 3–6 years address the needs of an increasing number of children from diverse cultural backgrounds in their care. This is important as early childhood is a critical moment in which to create a positive awareness about diversity. A qualitative and interactive research design was employed to identify what values, attitudes, knowledge and strategies practitioners and families believe are important to promote the social integration of children from diverse backgrounds. In-depth interviews and participant observation were used to collect data from 10 practitioners working in two urban settlements in two provinces of South Africa, while focus group interviews were carried out with the families of children attending two of the centres. The findings showed that an intercultural education approach provides the necessary tools to address challenges faced by practitioners including promoting social integration, respect for diversity and multilingualism, and the prevention of racist, xenophobic and discriminatory attitudes and actions.

Este trabajo explora la manera en que los educadores, trabajando en centros de educación infantil con niños entre tres y seis años atienden las necesidades de cada vez mayor número de niños de orígenes culturales y lingüísticos diversos. Esto es importante porque la etapa de la infancia es un momento crítico para crear una conciencia positiva sobre la diversidad. Se utilizó un diseño de investigación cualitativa e interactiva para identificar cuales son los valores, actitudes, conocimientos y estrategias que los educadores y las familias creen que son importantes para promover la integración social de los niños de diversos orígenes. Se utilizaron entrevistas en profundidad y observaciones participativas para recopilar datos de diez educadores de dos comunidades urbanas situadas en dos provincias de Sudáfrica. Asimismo, se entrevistaron las familias de los niños que asisten a dos de dichos centros. Los resultados mostraron que el modelo de educación intercultural proporciona las herramientas necesarias para hacer frente a los desafíos que los educadores enfrentan: la promoción de la integración social, el respeto a la diversidad y el multilingüismo, y la prevención de actitudes y acciones racistas, xenófobas y discriminatorias.     

Displeasure at plurality and fear of strangers? An empirical study among youth in Germany and the Netherlands

A comparison between the Netherlands and Germany concerning religious, cultural and ethnic plurality provides interesting insights. Germany has never defined itself as a multicultural society, as was historically the case in the Netherlands. The outcomes of the research are somewhat surprising. Dutch pupils – especially boys – are more negative about plurality than their German contemporaries are. Belonging to a church in Germany appears to be connected to a positive attitude to migrants, while in the Netherlands this is not important at all.     

Assessment of study abroad outcomes in Chinese as a second language: gains in cross-cultural adaptability,language contact and proficiency

Participants were 109 American college students studying Chinese in a study-abroad programme in Beijing. Following Kelley and Meyer, intercultural competence was defined as cross-cultural adaptability involving four dimensions (emotional resilience, flexibility/openness, perceptual acuity and personal autonomy) and was measured with a survey. A language contact questionnaire was used to document the amount of time spent on social activities. Language proficiency was measured with a standardised Chinese test. Results revealed that intercultural competence and language contact combined explained 37.7% of the proficiency gains. Language contact had direct effects on proficiency, but intercultural competence had indirect effects, mediated by language contact.     

上海市民文化需求状况调查

调查显示,越来越多的新兴信息渠道和文化载体的出现,为市民文化生活提供了更多样的选择,上海市民文化需求呈现个性化、多样化特征。由于文化信息获取渠道不畅、文化消费时间不足、文化产品价格较高、优质文化产品缺乏等因素的制约,当前市民实现文化需求存在一定的障碍。上海应积极创新文化建设的思路与体制,切实保障市民基本的文化权利,以进一步提高市民精神文化生活质量。     

The struggle over class,identity, and language: A case study of South Korean transnational families1

Globalization, while deterritorializing identity and culture, generates new practices and subjectivities that must be understood with reference to relationships between identity, language, and class in multiple markets. Through interviews and ethnographic observations focusing on children's language learning practices, this article examines how transnational South Korean families locate themselves in relation to the phenomenon of jogi yuhak, ‘early study abroad.’ It focuses on two graduate student families’ struggle over securing their social position by portraying themselves as different from other transnational Korean families through investing in alternate forms of linguistic capital. This reflects their contradictory and shifting subjectivities as they negotiate between foregrounding their roles as moral and intellectual elites vs. acting as materialistic parents. These transnational families’ struggles and conflicts underline how globalization in general, and jogi yuhak as a transnational strategy in particular, affects individuals’ subjectivities at the intersection of class, language, and transnationalism. ???? ????? ??? ???? ??? ?????? ???, ??? ?? ????? ??? ???, ??, ??? ?????? ??? ?? ?? ???? ?? ??? ??? ??? ????? ??. ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ? ??? ????? ?? ??? ?? ??? ???? ?? ?? ???? ? ???? ??? ???? ??? ??? ?????? ??? ??? ????? ??? ??? ????. ??? ???? ?? ? ??? ??? ???? ??? ??? ??? ???? ??? ??? ???? ???? ??? ??? ?? ????? ?????? ??????? ??? ????? ????. ??, ???? ?? ????? ???, ?? ?????? ??? ?? ??? ????? ?? ???? ?? ??? ?? ????? ?????? ???? ????? ????? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ????. ?? ???? ???? ??? ??? ????? ????, ??? ???? ?????? ????? ????, ?? ??? ?????? ?????? ??? ??? ??? ??? ????? ????. [Korean]     

Bitter strawberries: the construction of differences in a multicultural school: a case study

This paper presents the results of a case study looking at the views of teachers and other educational professionals pertaining to the academic progress and general integration of immigrant schoolchildren in multicultural schools in the province of Huelva (Andalusia, Spain). It is organised into three sections: first, the geographical and social context of the study is described, focusing in particular on the impact on schools of migratory trends within the province associated with strawberry cultivation. This is followed by a presentation of the results of a field study into the educational panorama of immigrant pupils from various countries, drawing on verbal reports by teachers and school administrators. Finally, some conclusions are suggested for possible categories of analysis with a view to opening new lines of research in the future.     

The Vocabulary Levels of Social Science Magazines

With the realities of standards-based accountability, it is imperative to model and demonstrate for students how subject areas and teaching methods transcend across traditional boundaries. In an effort to prepare future social studies educators to teach for global awareness and to meaningfully integrate critical literacy skills into their instruction, we initiated a collaborative model in our university's middle grades teacher education program with language arts and social studies methods courses. The development of cultural competency not only provides preservice teachers with the knowledge of diverse populations but also enables them to have an increased ability to affirm the cultures of others.     

A content analysis of sexual health and substance use information presented on study abroad websites: Findings and recommendations

Abstract

Objective: Despite study abroad students frequently engaging in risky behaviors, there is a dearth of research exploring prevention efforts taken by study abroad programs. The goal of this project was to examine information presented on study abroad program websites regarding sexual assault, alcohol use, drug use, and risky sexual behavior. Participants: A total of 753 universities in the US were selected from the Carnegie Classification of Institutes database. Method: Coders evaluated the website of each institution’s study abroad program for the presence of information about the four factors of interest. Results: Sixty-seven percent of the websites provided no information on any of these risk behaviors. Chi-square analyses revealed institutional demographic differences in the presentation of prevention information. We also identified three emerging themes about avenues for modifying website content. Conclusion: Study abroad programs can provide more detail and action oriented information on their websites for students.     

Before,during and after the cultural turn: a ‘Baedeker’ to IR's cultural journey

This article, which is part of a broader attempt to construct a ‘Baedeker’ to IR's cultural journey, contributes to the contested debated on the (ir)relevance of cultural diversity to the study of international relations by providing a picture of where we come from, of where we are now situated and of some of the suggestions as to where we should be going in order not to get lost in this almost uncharted landscape. The first main section discusses why questions pertaining to cultural diversity traditionally have held a surprisingly marginal position within IR and shows how IR before the Cultural Turn was more ‘culture-blind’ than ‘cultureblank’. The second main section turns attention to IR during the Cultural Turn and examines how two influential bids for a culturalist alternative have been better at posing good questions than providing attractive answers, placing IR's cultural journey in a ‘blind-blinded stalemate’. Against this background, the last main section asks where the cultural journey should head after the Cultural Turn and identifies and evaluates four different suggestions for ‘routes’ to proceed by. While they may be at variance when it comes to the specific direction suggested, they all represent attempts to set a course between the culture-blind Scylla and the culture-blinded Charybdis, and indicate in this way that it would be premature to let the problems associated with the Cultural Turn lead to an expulsion of questions relating to cultural diversity from the IR agenda.     

Gambling among culturally diverse older adults: a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative data

Culturally diverse older gamblers may face multiple jeopardies and socially structured challenges. In this first systematic review of empirical evidence of gambling in this population, the authors examined both quantitative and qualitative studies published between 1996 and June 2016. A thorough search of 7 databases yielded 18 articles with a total sample of 11,296 culturally diverse older adults. The review revealed contrary findings on the correlation between gender, education, income and gambling behaviour. Early onset was more frequently found among older adults who belonged to a culture that promoted tolerance of gambling activities; however, some developed a gambling habit after they had moved to a western society. Using an analytical framework, the authors demonstrate interrelated factors: enabling factors (cultural acceptance of gambling, supportive social networks, accessibility to gambling facilities and venues, and external cues); motivational factors (desire for excitement and winning money, coping with boredom, and stress due to structural issues); and buffering factors for culturally diverse older gamblers . Both environmental and personal factors could be triggered as buffers between gambling and culturally diverse older adults. In light of the motivational and enabling factors, practitioners and policy makers may need to step beyond focusing on ‘correction’ during intervention.