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Short-term study abroad (SA) programmes are often promoted as an effective way of developing English language skills and accessing opportunities for intercultural learning. Whilst pre-departure intercultural training is thought to play an important role in enhancing the potential for meaningful learning, overemphasis on essentialist framings of cultural difference may be counterproductive given the multicultural and multilingual composition of many societies. This paper reports on an action research project triggered by the perceived underdevelopment of SA training and essentialist educational practices observed in a university ELT setting in Japan. The research involved the systematic design, implementation, and evaluation of a non-essentialist SA training e-learning programme informed by research on intercultural awareness, intercultural citizenship, and English as a lingua franca. Findings from a qualitative evaluation of learning on the programme among 22 students revealed some emergent non-essentialist understandings of culture, new awareness of variability in English language use, and a perception that the course was useful for SA training. The paper contributes to understanding of the importance of moving away from essentialist learning in SA training by integrating content which recognises the learning potential of SA experiences in multicultural and multilingual settings.

English use in many short-term study abroad (STSA) contexts is often more fluid than in its common representation in language education. Based on such representation, students may develop perspectives towards effective language use as fixed on standard norms. Experiences of communication during STSA may help students form new perspectives towards English use, linked to Global Englishes (GE), which accounts for the fluidity of English use in global communication contexts. The formation of new perspectives may be evident in GE understandings, i.e., pluralistic over monolithic awareness of English, recognition of linguistic diversity among English users, acceptance of variability in English language use, and recognition of the role of English as lingua franca (ELF). This qualitative interview study investigated the development of GE awareness among 15 Japanese university students participating in different STSA. Semi-structured interviews were conducted pre-sojourn, post-sojourn, and six months later. A thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that while perspectives towards learning remained focused on standard norms, new GE awareness and practices emerged following social contact with other international students in linguistically and culturally diverse settings. The paper argues that the learning potential of multilingual and multicultural STSA experiences should be emphasised over “target” language focus on standard language norms.