Experiential Learning Opportunities

This chapter examines how international students use experiential learning to improve their Chinese language skills through cultural immersion in China. This experiential learning mobilizes them to practice their Chinese communication skills in authentic context and in real use. Furthermore, they immerse themselves in the cultural context, reflecting on language and cultural differences, appreciating cultural diversities, and improving communicative competence. Using a qualitative method, the researcher collected data from various sources about six international students from five countries. The subjects' real-life experiences mirror their daily activities. Using Nvivo 11 as a tool, the researcher critically analyzed data, categorized contents into emerging themes. The project outcomes are useful for international students currently studying in China to reflect on their past experiences and are also beneficial to those who want to join study abroad and mobility programs, better prepare themselves for language learning and cultural immersion in China in the future.

Study Abroad Management Programs

Combination of study undertaken in the native settings, combined with abroad studies, creates better environment for acquiring holistic perspectives. This is truer for management programs due to globalized business environment. Consequently, thousands depart annually for education abroad experiences with the expectation that they will become better professionals and return home with significantly enhanced/advanced competencies and skills. However, learning in a foreign milieu may not always be superior to learning at home. Indeed, the extent to which the study abroad programs aid in becoming successful is dependent on a vast number of variables. Hence, the objective of this chapter is to have a clearer understanding of how study abroad programs function in the development of students' professional competencies. Adopting a case-based approach, the focus is on Omani students' experiences related to management programs. It also aims to provide strategies to enhance the returns from study abroad management programs in general and especially for students of Oman.

Across the Four Domains

In many Asian countries, tertiary education remains a much desired but seemingly unattainable goal for high school graduates, due to rigorous unified national examinations. With that in mind, international students invest millions of dollars annually attempting to enter Australian higher education (HE). Students arrive with high expectations, but in the early stages of their study abroad experience, they face a range of transitional difficulties centered around ‘academic English'. An author-developed semi-structured questionnaire included the open-ended question: In your own words, how would you describe your English language ability in terms of (1) listening, (2) speaking, (3) reading, and (4) writing? The data set collected the ‘voice' of 209 pathway students attending the Eynesbury Institute of Business and Technology (EIBT). Their self-reported narratives share personal perceptions of their own English language proficiency across the four domains largely within the context of their enrolment at the institute.

Learning Chinese

Both ACTFL standards and the world-readiness standards for learning languages include five aspects in foreign language education, among which are connections and comparisons. While many instructors consider these two aspects as means of effective instruction, in this chapter, connections and comparisons are studied as learning strategies that four American students adopted to apply in their study abroad contexts in China. Despite the different focus of their study abroad programs, this chapter discusses a variety of examples where the participants made connections and comparisons to enhance their language and culture learning. Findings reveal that connections and comparisons were not only fostering language learning but also developing cultural knowledge. Results provide implications to foreign language educators related to teaching and preparing students for study abroad experience.

Learning Languages Abroad

This chapter presents research on language learning abroad and its influence on the development of oral expression. By using biographical-narrative research methods, specifically linguistic life stories, this work examines the experiences and beliefs of a Japanese student of Spanish who has studied this language in Spain on several occasions. This study attempts to determine how study abroad has influenced his language training and the development of his communicative competence, in particular oral expression. At the same time, it describes how the length of each stay abroad has helped or hindered the language learning process, the interaction with native speakers, and the practice of speaking skills.

World Language Learning

Research on the impacts of study abroad participation on world language proficiency indicates positive and significant associations between sojourning abroad and students' self-reported language skills. In recent years, student engagement and “deep-learning” have been found to exert powerful effects on student learning outcomes. However, the extent to which student engagement serves as a pathway to mediate and enhance the impact of study abroad on language learning has not been examined. This chapter uses pre- and post-test surveys and applies experiential learning theory (ELT) to model gains in language proficiency for students who studied world languages abroad versus on-campus. Results of mixed factorial ANOVA and regression path analysis indicate that students who studied world languages abroad experienced significantly greater gains in deep-learning and world language proficiency than students who studied world languages on-campus. This chapter is among the first to connect student deep-learning and engagement to world language learning.

Expatriate Cantonese Learners in Hong Kong

This chapter discusses the identity negotiation process of adult L2 learners while they are learning a foreign language abroad. The study in this chapter used longitudinal study techniques. This longitudinal study lasted for two years. Learning diaries were used as primary data source and semi-structured face-to-face interviews were used to verify the diary data to elicit learning difficulties and learning needs. This chapter found out that learners' learning experiences were influenced by identity negotiation process and the social environment around them. This chapter showed the expatriate learners came to Hong Kong with an enthusiastic motivation of learning the language of Hong Kong people and the willingness to assimilate into the local culture. However, there were puzzles and struggles in identity negotiation aroused while they were learning the language. The research presented in this chapter shows learners' levels of success depended on many factors, such as the amount of time devoted to their learning, quality of language programs, as well as social attitude towards the target language (TL) and the language learners in the surrounding environment.

Willingness to Communicate

This chapter examines factors impacting L2 WTC among Chinese ELLs studying in an EAP program in Australia. Adopting both quantitative and qualitative methods, three questionnaires were used to measure L2 WTC, English learning motivation, and self-rated English proficiency; and semi-structured interviews were used to triangulate and complement questionnaire data. The main results were (1) L2 WTC with friends was higher than L2 WTC with acquaintance and with strangers and (2) L2 WTC with strangers and acquaintances were positively related to integrativeness and attitude toward the learning situation, but not with motivation intensity. L2 WTC with friends did not correlate with any of the scales in the English learning motivation; thus, (3) L2 WTC with strangers and acquaintances but not with friends had positive association with self-rated English proficiency, and (4) factors such as teaching methods, teachers' attitude, learning style, and personality all impacted on L2 WTC. The results are discussed and practical implications are articulated.

Assessing Intercultural Sensitivity and Effectiveness

This chapter examines adult CSL (Chinese as a L2) learners' intercultural sensitivity and effectiveness while studying in a university in Beijing. Seventy-four international students from various countries answered the intercultural sensitivity scale (ISS) and intercultural effectiveness scale (IES) as well as other scales in the present study; eight participants were informally interviewed. The findings indicate that the participants were moderate in terms of intercultural sensitivity and effectiveness, that intercultural sensitivity and effectiveness were generally and significantly related to each other, and that students' intercultural sensitivity and effectiveness levels were not statistically correlated with their background variables. Based on these findings, some implications are therein discussed.

The Sojourner's Return

Thousands of students are participating in study abroad programs, which is a major decision that could alter the life of a student and shape his/her future. It is important, therefore, to carefully weigh the options that come with being an international student. This chapter explores the history of study abroad, students' study abroad experiences, and the benefits of these programs. Study abroad benefits include personal growth, intercultural development, and career attainment. Educators consistently assert that a significant part of the studying abroad experience is training future global leaders to be more effective and efficient, respecting the diversities of people and cultures, including political and economic systems, and the willingness to take a stand for the world's welfare. Following this, the re-entry experiences of students who return to their home countries at the end of their studies are examined with respect to the physical, social, and psychological risks that student returnees are faced with.