The number of students expanding their academic programs to include learning experiences abroad has been steadily increasing over the past two decades. This study investigates the cultural identification of short-term study abroad participants and its influence on their acculturation process. By means of a widely used acculturation scale, it was found that there were statistically significant effects of cultural experiences on cultural identification, specifically decreases in cultural identification scores. Implications from this study suggest a deeper understanding of students’ ethnic identifications can be helpful in developing study abroad programs that promote the goals of student awareness, cultural sensitivity, and global competence.

Teachers are faced with the demand to teach their students to be competent individuals in the 21st century so that they are prepared for any challenges they may face in their lives.To meet this need, many educators have identified creativity as a necessary competence of the 21st century. To this end, integrating SMART (Self-directed, Motivated, Adaptive, Resource-enriched, and Technology-embedded) education, which is a new paradigm of technology-embedded learning, can help English language learners' creativity as well as language development. Therefore, this study explored how SMART learning environments affect elementary English as a foreign language (EFL) students' creativity and English ability. Twenty-seven fifth-grade EFL students participated in this study and were involved in creativity-enhanced English activities for 12 weeks. Data include the results of students' Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, English tests, and a perception survey. Paired-samples t-tests were conducted to compare the pretests and posttests for students' creativity and English ability scores. The results revealed a statistically significant increase in the creative thinking skills of fluency, flexibility, and originality. In terms of English, students' speaking and writing abilities showed meaningful improvement. Based on the findings, several suggestions are proposed for language teachers and teacher educators.

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The number of students expanding their academic programs to include learning experiences abroad had been, prior to the recent outbreak of the Coronavirus, steadily increasing over the past two decades. This mixed-method study investigates the cultural identification of short-term study abroad participants and its influence on their acculturation process. Quantitative data from a widely-used acculturation scale were collected from participants before and after the program. In addition, qualitative data from participants’ journals were examined, elucidating the role the study abroad experience played in their cultural identification. This investigation revealed statistically significant effects of cultural experiences on cultural identification, specifically decreases in cultural identification scores. This study supports the concept of cultural identification as a continuum rather than as a dichotomy. Implications suggest that a deeper understanding of students’ cultural identifications can be helpful in developing study abroad programs that promote the goals of student awareness, cultural sensitivity, and global competence.

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