Students' Immersion Experiences in Study Abroad

Abstract

Data show that a larger number of students than ever are participating in learning experiences abroad. However, such programs are not always as immersive and intensive as participants, faculty, program directors, and administrators would wish. This study examines the ways in which students created sustained opportunities to interact with members of the host community as well as episodes of cultural clash, miscommunication, and misunderstanding experienced at the intersection of two cultures that led to diminishing willingness to interact with members of the host community. The article concludes with recommendations for pre‐departure experiences that are designed to help students become more aware of their sociocultural identities, cultural values, learning goals, and program expectations as well as to invest in their own learning and prepare to engage in sustained and meaningful ways with members of the host culture.

The Effect of Study Abroad Homestay Placements: Participant Perspectives and Oral Proficiency Gains

“…In either case, it is important to remember that study abroad learners' engagement with the host community is shaped by identity negotiation as they respond to the challenges to their beliefs and habits that arise during a stay abroad (Kinginger, ). Previous research has suggested that students who are not received as expected, or as desired, in their study abroad destination, whether because of issues of gender in Russia (Davidson, ), foreigner status in Japan (Iino, ), or ethnic identity in Spain (Goldoni, ), need to be equipped with tools to encourage continued contact rather than withdrawal in the face of culture clashes.…”

Variables Affecting L2 Gains During Study Abroad

“…Using this framework, Trentman () found that learners in Egypt struggled to meet their own expectations in terms of engagement with Egyptian communities of practice. Similarly, Goldoni () found that learners “did not become part of the Spanish‐speaking community of practice” during their time abroad in Spain (p. 365). Although the Goldoni () and Trentman () studies did not attempt to connect the degree of engagement with communities of practice with language proficiency gains, both authors noted important connections between engagement and proficiency—the more proficient learners are, the more capable they will be of engaging, and the more they engage, they more likely they will be to develop their proficiency.…”

Expanding Boundaries: Current and New Directions in Study Abroad Research and Practice

“…National identity is another individual difference that has been closely examined because of its presumed vital role in discerning learners’ disposition toward the host community (Kinginger, ) and understanding the apparently tense relationship between becoming a global citizen and being an American (or a citizen of any other nationality). As Block (), Du (), and Goldoni () have shown, in many cases SA experiences do not lead to greater intercultural understanding but may in fact enhance participants’ sense of national superiority. Likewise, Allen and Herron (), in a mixed‐methodology investigation, found that students who were troubled by cultural differences between the target culture and their own showed increased anxiety when interacting with NSs and also demonstrated fewer L2 gains over the course of their SA program.…”

“…Quantitative studies have analyzed a wide range of factors such as gender as predictors of L2 gains abroad (e.g., Baker‐Smemoe, Dewey, Bown, & Martinsen, ; Brecht et al, ; Davidson, ; Martinsen, ; O'Brien, Segalowitz, Freed, & Collentine, ). Qualitative SA studies have analyzed these same types of variables as constructions, such as the social construction of gender in connection to themes found in the data (e.g., Allen, ; Du, ; Goldoni, ; Polanyi, ). Studies employing mixed methods have used qualitative data to elucidate quantitative patterns, and vice versa (e.g., Back, ; DeKeyser, ).…”