The Impact of Intercultural Exchange on Secondary School Exchange Students and Their Host Families

Abstract

The last decade has seen a significant increase of international student mobility and a growing popularity of secondary school exchange programs in the United States and around the world. Drawing upon culture learning theory, the purpose of this study is to understand the impacts, challenges, and rewards of intercultural exchange on secondary school exchange students and their host families. I performed a case study of in-depth interviews with six students who were placed in Hawai’i for an academic year on the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Future Leaders Exchange merit-based scholarships, as well as interviews with their volunteer host families. Findings show that intercultural exchange occurs as a two-way process. Both students and host families reap the benefits of intercultural exchange by way of active interaction and culture sharing that is enhanced by a positive student–host relationship.

The Role of Cultural Exchange in the Development of Intercultural Competence in the Context of Cultural Diplomacy

“…In contrast to an Academic exchange program which is a form of educational exchange and mobility in which a student takes courses in a host university mainly with the aim of broadening and enhancing career choices and prospects and gaining job opportunities in the international job market (Parey and Waldinger, 2007, Teichler, 2007 as cited in González et al, 2010, p. 414;Gaia, 2015, p. 21;Biryuk, 2023), Cultural exchange programs provides students with not only the opportunity to learn about a different culture but also to integrate in it and experience it first-hand (Wang, 2013, p. 567;Hien, 2022, p. 151). However, both types of exchanges have been ever-increasing and encouraged as they result in great benefits for the host countries (Abreu et al, 2020, p.3;Sustarsic, 2020). Moreover, there has also been a great impact of cultural exchange on the tourism industry as these programs facilitate the travel of students and consequently the travel of their relatives and friends (López et al, 2016 as cited Abreu et al, 2020, p. 4).…”

The Impact of Cultural Contact on Exchange Students’ Foreign Language Development

“…Similarly, various studies (e.g., Berg et al, 2012;Huang et al, 2016;Suryanto et al, 2022) found out that engaging in interactive real-life situations during exchange provides students with enough opportunities to practice the language. In a more recent study, Sustarsic (2020) has revealed that some of the immediate impacts of cultural exchange include also enhanced English language skills. However, although these studies have been successful in highlighting one of the primary benefits of cultural and international exchange, there is a noticeable paucity in the level of activities opted for by students to improve their language skills and overall language…”

Implementation of The Freedom Learning Program for Prospective Primary School Teachers at Universitas Negeri Semarang: Opportunities and Challenges

“…Students also organize lecture schedules between the home campus and the destination campus for the student exchange program. In addition, it is related to sociocultural factors (Sustarsic, 2020). The use of different regional languages and often used spontaneously several times by both lecturers as teachers and students when communicating in class.…”