Planning, implementing, and evaluating a non-essentialist training programme for study abroad in the Japanese HE context

Abstract

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.

The Paradoxes of Interculturality

“…Copying-pasting ideologically-economically-politically informed 'sci entific' frameworks onto other contexts, without questioning them, with out admitting their lack of correspondence, will always harm the basis of research: The participants. We end up judging them with 'alien' ideologies (see Humphreys, 2021). He wonders how partici pants would react if they knew that they would be 'dealt with' by means of frameworks they would probably disagree with.…”

Hospitality and internationalization-at-home: the intercultural experiences of ‘buddies’ at a summer school in China

“…This side of the pole is often negatively evaluated in research on interculturality today, and is included in so-called critical perspectives as a phenomenon to 'eradicate' from e.g. students learning about interculturality (Humphreys, 2021). Our approach takes note of the critiques of essentialism and culturalism but does not claim that they can be 'unlearnt' or fully avoided.…”

Implementasi Pembelajaran Pendidikan Agama Islam Berbasis Learning Management System Moodle di SMP Al-Fath Cirendeu

“…(2) Peserta didik dapat belajar atau melakukan review bahan ajar setiap saat dan dimana saja jika diperlukan. Adapun kekurangan dari LMS antara lain Humphreys (2021): (1) Proses belajar mengajar cenderung kearah pelatihan. (2) Peserta didik yang tidak mempunyai motivasi belajar yang tinggi cenderung gagal.…”