As the world becomes increasingly interdependent, mutual understanding becomes increasingly important. Therefore, it is essential that people strive for reductions in social distance on an international level. Study abroad is one of the ways to approach internationalization and promote understanding among different peoples and cultures. Prior research has been done on the degrees of social distance between people from different cultures; however, little research has been done regarding changes that cultural immersion produces among those who reside in different cultures. Studies about study abroad programs have focused on cultural sensitivity and adaptability, yet few have combined the study abroad experience with the perceptions of self and other cultural groups. This study presents a framework for understanding people through intercultural activities. It studied social distance and attitude changes brought about in social distance as an artifact of cultural immersion. The study took place both in China and in the United States. It focused on the social distance among American undergraduate students who participated in a China Study Abroad program sponsored by the University of North Texas. The study measured before and after social distance of a group of American students who studied abroad in China. The study abroad program itself was the intervention and lasted for three weeks. A mixed methods research design was used in the study. Social distance data were collected before and after students studied abroad in China. Both inferential statistics and descriptive statistics were used. Qualitative data were also collected and analyzed in the study. Most of the sample population were close to the Chinese people to begin with. Some participants positively changed their social distance and attitudes towards the Chinese people after the study abroad program, even though the changes were not statistically significant. This study merits replication among randomly selected samples. Study abroad programs should be promoted and supported. More research needs to be done that explores the quality of cultural immersion study abroad programs. Studies also need to be done to examine attitude changes among peoples in host countries.

Embarking on a study abroad experience is thought to be a transformational experience for students, and previous researchers have tended to find that the potential benefits of study abroad experiences, including greater conceptual and behavioral intercultural competence, are greater with longer periods abroad. The purpose of this study was to create an intentional learning experience for students who embarked on a short-term study abroad in rural areas of China and to apply faculty intervention of a student development approach to student learning to create a high-impact learning environment for students centered on a service-learning project. This qualitative study gathered primary data from students and instructors during the course through a collection of observation and field notes, student journals, pre- and post-construct tests, and final presentation. Follow-up interviews were conducted 10 months after course completion. Six students participated in this course and study who were from a variety of disciplines and classifications. Five students were female; one was male. Four students were undergraduates; two were graduate students. Student ethnicities included three Caucasians and African American, along with two international students from Mexico and Iran. Key outcomes of this study were that when short-term study abroad faculty members applied creative interventions, students were transformed with regard to their beliefs, perspectives, and behaviors and that when they guided students through a process of reflection and analysis, students exhibited exponential personal development. In addition, the ability to challenge or support students in reaching higher levels of personal development is a privilege that faculty must earn over time and through an authentic demonstration of care for students’ wellbeing. Short-term study abroad faculty members can use the results of this study to maximize the developmental impact of such programs on student participants.

The development of the Internet as a means of offering services (information sources), are developing means for presenting services to users online. Service is called everything that gives users the opportunity to educate, entertain the possibility of trade and of course meet new people. Means are programming languages and programming environments. The project aims to use these resources and create a website that would serve as an electronic support in the subject Elektronic Deutsch. Content sites is also information relating to the German language as well as test. Test is to assess the student's options for the successful completion of the course in Elektronic Deutsch.

The following three articles in this dissertation challenge the current rationale of internationalization and makes the case for anew approach to internationalization within U.S. higher education. My first article delves deep into the rationale of internationalization in U.S. higher education over the years by way of U.S. study abroad. This analysis identifies and evaluates the multiple cause-and –effect relationships in a historical context in order to understand the origins that led to the expansion of internationalization efforts within U.S. higher education. My second article explores Mansilla and Gardner’s global consciousness framework as a viable solution to the issues that are currently plaguing internationalization efforts in U.S. higher education. I contend that the global consciousness framework provides an alternative approach to internationalization that is rooted in mindfulness rather than competiveness. Finally, my third article evaluates the impact of this proposed solution by examining how Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine students within the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine view their roles and careers in society after engaging with the global consciousness framework. Overall, these articles take a critical lens to our approach in preparing students for the global era.

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The focus of this case study was a study abroad program for student-athletes at a high academically achieving, small liberal arts college in the mid-west region of the United States. The program is designed to maintain a culture of internationalism and multiculturalism by exposing as many student-athletes as possible to study abroad. I reviewed literature to extract an appropriate theoretical framework along with variables that aligned with the purpose of the study; structural and organizational characteristics of the institution, student's background and pre-college traits, interaction with agents of socialization and institutional environment, and quality of effort. I used the semi-structured interview process to interview 9 senior student-athletes (3 female, 6 male; 7 White, 1 African American/White, 1 Chilean/White) who participated in study abroad during the 2015-2016 academic school year at the researched institution and to interview 5 administrators who facilitate the athletic department at the institution. I found that certain critical elements emerged as necessary to create and maintain a study abroad program geared specifically to the needs of the student-athlete population. I also found strong implications for adaptable elements that could generate opportunities for student-athletes to study abroad at a higher rate. These elements serve as a recommended framework and set of initial guidelines for student-athletes and athletic departments nationwide.

This study explores potential implications of the Personal Leadership method for study abroad instructors and their students as emerging global leaders. This research documents and analyzes the experience of one cohort of Council of International Educational Exchange (CIEE) international educators as they gained a preliminary understanding of the Personal Leadership method across a five-month virtual blended learning course. Additionally, this research looks at CIEE's decision to incorporate Personal Leadership into their intercultural competency training program. Finally, this research examines the predicted global leadership development benefits Personal Leadership could provide students learning abroad, according to this cohort of international educators. This study employs qualitative methods in the case study of one CIEE instructor cohort. The researcher limited data collection to unstructured expert interviews, instructors' written discussion and polling data reported during the recorded course sessions, and a Likert-type scale exit survey. The findings from this study suggest that Personal Leadership offers a useful, process-based method for self-inquiry that significantly helps individuals develop affective qualities essential to be effective global leaders.

More students at college and universities are taking advantage of the opportunity to study abroad. During their time overseas, many will confront culture shock. Upon their return, they may also encounter a difficult transition, resulting in reverse culture shock. This study explores the various long term effects of reverse culture shock among study abroad alumni at a land grant institution. The alumni in this sample represent a variety of study abroad programs as well as experiences with reentry shock. By contributing further evidence regarding the influence of reverse culture shock over an extended period, it can provide incentive for universities to increase the level of reentry support for their students. Furthermore, by assisting students through the challenges of their reentry, educators can enhance the level of cultural learning from the experience as well as contribute to the students’ personal development.

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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The study of L1 and L2 uses by graduate students in a genuine immersion context or study abroad has not been widely explored. This study is an attempt to provide new insights from the perspective of the interactional and sociocultural sociolinguistics while maintaining constant links with studies in Second Language Acquisition and study abroad. The data collection stage of this study took place at the Universidad de Salamanca in Spain during the summer of 2005. For data collection, the researcher used participant observation. Students also completed a questionnaire about their uses of L1 and L2 while in their home country and during their stay in Spain, one at the beginning and another by the end of their studies in Salamanca. Results first concluded that the uses of L1 seem to be linked to the students’ own effort to carry out their class work or to learn more about the language or the topic they are working on in class, without being directly related with their instructor’s primary objective. Similar uses have been reported by Antón & DiCamilla (1999), Alley (2005), Brooks & Donato (1994), and Centeno-Cortés & Jiménez (2004). Secondly, perceived uses of L2 in the classroom were mostly related with those reported by Tarone & Swain (1995), that is, students used L2 for academic purposes. Thirdly, the L1-L2 switching supported by the findings of Liebscher y Dailey-O’Cain (2005) seems to indicate that students perceive themselves as a bilingual speech community and take it for granted that their interlocutor is proficient in both languages. Finally, the study suggests some pathway for future research including the reasons for the poor L2 use by students whose supposed proficiency level is advanced as reported in the study. Additionally, some pedagogical implications are provided.