Locating Self in Place During a Study Abroad Experience: Emerging Adults, Global Awareness, and the Andes

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nevin J. Harper
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Cultural Immersion ◽  
Adventure Travel ◽  
Academic Courses ◽  
Service Projects ◽  
Urban Rural

Background: College students generally participate in study abroad experiences (SAE) at times of identity and value development as emerging adults. SAE has been criticized as perpetuating colonial acts through the project of globalization. Purpose: This research examined how participants construct meaning about place(s) and how this meaning relates to their sense of self during a 3-week expedition-style SAE in the Bolivian Andes. Methodology/Approach: SAE included place-based learning activities, cultural immersion, service projects, adventure travel, and two concurrent academic courses. Data were gathered from eight participants through written journal assignments, researcher observations, and field notes. Findings/Conclusions: Five themes emerged: personal growth, a multiplicity of meaning, privilege and global perspective, an urban-rural effect, and a taste for more. The social context and comfort–discomfort continuum are discussed as influencing factors. Implications: Findings suggest a place-based SAE can influence value formation and reflective practice of emerging adults. While findings echo SAE as a privileged experience, the question of latent effects of SAE on emerging adult social justice perspectives is raised.

Discovering the Other: Study Abroad as Fieldwork

1996 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-122
Author(s):  
Joseph R. Stimpfl
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Cultural Anthropology ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Cultural Adjustment ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cultural Immersion ◽  
Cultural Learning ◽  
Fieldwork Experience ◽  
Different Cultures

The literature annotated here is from a subset of literature in cultural anthropology that deals with ethnographic fieldwork: the basic research exercise of cultural immersion. This bibliography is meant to offer a representative sample of literature in anthropology that deals with the fieldwork experiences of researchers. Cultural anthropology is devoted to the concept of “discovering the other.” Its method of inquiry is often referred to as participant/observation: the researcher lives the culture while observing it. Since so much of the fieldwork experience deals with personal adjustments to living in different cultures, the literature is charged with the problems of adjustment and understanding so common to study abroad experiences. This literature is particularly relevant to those interested in cross-cultural learning and issues in cultural adjustment. 

scholarly journals The Experiences of Grief and Personal Growth in University Students: A Qualitative Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1899
Author(s):  
Jovita Tan ◽  
Karl Andriessen
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Continuing Bonds ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Supportive Services ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Formal Services

Background: Experiencing the death of a close person, especially in emerging adults and students, can have profound effects on the bereaved individual’s life. As most research in this field has focused on negative effects of a loss, little is known about potential positive effects experienced by bereaved university students. This study investigated the experience of grief and personal growth in a sample of students from The University of Melbourne, Australia. Methods: Semi-structured interviews via Zoom/telephone with bereaved students (n = 14), who were invited to reflect on their loss and any personal growth potentially experienced. Thematic analysis of the data was based on a deductive and inductive approach. Results: The analysis identified four themes: (i) sharing of grief as a coping mechanism, (ii) balance between grief reactions and moving forward in life, (iii) lessons learned and personal growth, and (iv) adopting values from the deceased person and continuing bonds. Conclusions: Participants emphasized personal growth regarding self-perception and philosophical views on life. Following the loss, they preferred peer support, and used formal services only when they had a specific need. The findings indicate the importance of social support for bereaved students, and the complimentary role of peer and professional support. Hence, academic institutions should offer supportive services tailored to both students and professionals to help bereaved students.

Program Design and the Development of Students’ Global Perspectives in Faculty-Led Short-Term Study Abroad

2020 ◽  
pp. 102831532090615
Author(s):  
Melissa Whatley ◽  
Adam C. Landon ◽  
Michael A. Tarrant ◽  
Donald Rubin
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Program Design ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Global Perspectives ◽  
Studying Abroad ◽  
Short Term Study ◽  
Before And After

This study explores connections between design features of faculty-led short-term study abroad programs and resulting changes in students’ global perspectives. Over 2,000 students provided data for this study, completing the Global Perspective Inventory (GPI) before and after studying abroad. Results indicated that program features such as participation in an internship and opportunities for reflection are positively associated with global perspective development while abroad, whereas features such as number of students traveling together and coursework in English are negatively associated with such development. Given the increasing numbers of students who participate in faculty-led short-term abroad programs, research that provides evidence-based recommendations concerning program design is essential to enhancing global perspectives through study abroad.

Study abroad and the development of second language identities

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phil Benson, ◽  
Gary Barkhuizen, ◽  
Peter Bodycott, ◽  
Jill Brown,
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Second Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Identity ◽  
Hong Kong Students ◽  
Identity Based

AbstractMuch of the literature on study abroad outcomes focuses on language proficiency gains or on the influence of identity factors on opportunities for language learning. A smaller number of studies have looked at the influence of study abroad on participants' identities and have highlighted outcomes that might be placed under the heading of second language identity. Based on a review of this literature and a qualitative, narrative-based study of nine Hong Kong students participating in thirteen- and six-week study abroad programmes, this paper examines the construct of second language identity and its susceptibility to development in study abroad. Three main dimensions of second language identity are identified, related to (1) identity-related aspects of second language proficiency, or the ability to function as a person and express desired identities in a second language setting, (2) linguistic self-concept, or sense of self as a learner and user of the second language, and (3) second language-mediated aspects of personal competence. The study found that most of the students reported developments along all three of these dimensions, although there were variations among individuals that were related both to the duration of the programmes and individual goals and purposes.

scholarly journals Integrated Framework of Rural Landscape Research: Based on the Global Perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hualin Xie ◽  
Zhenhong Zhu ◽  
Yafen He ◽  
Xiaoji Zeng ◽  
Yuyang Wen
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Rural Landscape ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Dynamic Monitoring ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Landscape System ◽  
Landscape Research

Abstract Context In recent years, the important value of rural landscape has been highlighted in tourism, cultural heritage, ecology and other fields, rural landscape research (RLR) has been paid more and more attention by researchers, with the deepening of research, RLR has the characteristics of diversity and complexity.Objectives To understand the development trend of RLR in the past 20 years, the distribution of research power, research hotspots and frontal research, to comb through the relevant results of RLR, to analyze the progress of RLR, and finally to integrate the main contents of RLR in a framework.Methods 735 related literatures were selected from the WoS Core Collection Database, and the papers on RLR from 1992 to 2020 were quantitatively data mined and qualitatively summarized by using Bibliometrics and VOSviwer software for mapping and analysis.Results (1) The number of papers on RLR increased from 1992 to 2020, during which it gradually became a hotspot research field that attracted increasing global attention. (2) From the research strength, Europe has a great influence in RLR, and has issued a series of conventions and protection policies, making its rural landscape become a model of modern rural development. There is little international cooperation and exchange in RLR, which is not conducive to the development of disciplines. Landscape & Urban Planning journals fit the theme of RLR. (3) The five hotspots of RLR are: rural cultural landscape and rural development; rural tourism landscape, the matching of landscape value and landscape perception; urban-rural interaction, land use change and landscape pattern conflict; change of ecosystem service value; rural landscape planning, protection and management.Conclusions RLR has developed from a study based on geography and ecology to a comprehensive research direction combining multidisciplinary and multi-methods of social and economic development, culture and other elements. At present, RLR covers the ecological landscape, production landscape, tourism landscape and cultural landscape of rural landscape system, changes from static pattern of rural landscape to dynamic evolution process, urban-rural interaction, ecosystem service and multifunctional landscape trade-off, and changes from single dimension to multi-dimensional in research paradigm, and combines “3S” technology and various landscape ecological model software. From the perspective of multidisciplinary research, from the perspective of rural landscape system, the correlation and mechanism between rural landscape multifunctionality, and dynamic monitoring and trend simulation, help to clarify the rural landscape multi-functional trade-off ideas and paths to guide the sustainable development of rural areas.

scholarly journals Identity development through study abroad experiences: Storied accounts

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-493
Author(s):  
Harumi Kimura ◽  
Brenda Hayashi
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Identity Development ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
First Year ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Short Term Study ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
The Usa

This study investigated three Japanese L2 learners who joined a government-funded, short-term study abroad program in the USA during their first year of college. Four years after the program, we interviewed the learners about their overseas experiences. We also asked what they had done during their university years after the program. We then analyzed their accounts to explore participants’ linguistic and personal growth during and after the program. Their stories offered important insights into what short-term study abroad programs should provide: critical experiences that participants embrace through meeting and communicating with new people in L2s for the purpose of mutual understanding. When participants perceived their experiences to be successful and valuable and felt a desire to become a more efficient L2 user, they took actions to improve their L2 skills in relation to other life goals after returning home. Furthermore, their L2 identities are likely interwoven with their current and aspiring personal identities. As such, their stories are self-development trajectories and evidence of L2-learning-mediated personal growth through social interaction. We propose that short-term study programs: (a) avoid an exclusive focus on L2 learning on-site, (b) include ample opportunities of meaningful social interaction, and (c) target first-year students. 

Faculty Memoirs

2016 ◽  
pp. 370-396
Author(s):  
Devi Akella
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Cultural Sensitivity ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Effective Learning ◽  
Business Graduates ◽  
Global Nature ◽  
Study Abroad Program

The global nature of a contemporary economy emphasizes the need for business graduates to possess a global perspective, cultural sensitivity and the knowledge of language and culture of more than one country. Consequently, faculty driven, short-term, university study abroad programs allow students the opportunity to step outside the classroom and learn about the world in a safe, controlled and faculty regulated environment. ‘Learn by going' (Keese & O'Brien, 2011) happens to be the most effective learning strategy. This chapter describes the experience of the author as an instructor and team member of a study abroad program to China. The author discusses the program, curriculum, pedagogies adopted, and learning outcomes of students. Critical reflections of her own involvement in this educational tour to China are also shared.

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