Interaction with local speakers of a second language (L2) in a naturalistic setting during study abroad is beneficial to language learning in many respects; particularly in the development of pragmatic competence, or the awareness and ability to use the appropriate language for a specific social context (Kinginger, 2011; Magnan & Back, 2007; Schauer, 2009; Shively, 2011). Service-learning - volunteering in the local community combined with an academic pursuit - during study abroad provides the opportunity for meaningful interaction between language learners and local speakers of the L2 in authentic and collaborative settings (Overfield, 2007). This study examines the interactions of Italian L2 users and local speakers of Italian while engaged in service-learning in Italy. A sociopragmatic framework revealed emergent trends and linguistic norms in this context. Using a discourse analytic approach, this study offers a detailed description of directive use of the L2 learners and the local Italian speakers (Blum-Kulka, et al, 1989; Ervin-Tripp, 1976; Nuzzo, 2007). The study also examines (mis)understandings and relational work (Locher & Watts, 2008) that occur in the interactions. Primary data consists of audio recordings of the naturally-occurring interactions at three service-learning sites during a short-term summer study abroad program in Italy. Secondary data consists of interviews with the L2 users and their interlocutors. The data reveal that the majority of directives came from the local Italian speakers, not the L2 users, likely due to the clear power dynamic and the nature of the activities at each site. The directives were most commonly in the imperative with little or no mitigation for purposes of clarity or urgency of the tasks. Misunderstandings expressed by the L2 users were primarily linguistic, although there were also instances of pragmatic misunderstanding. Relational work emerged in the interactions, yet clear, explicit direction took precedent over face-work and rapport building among interactants. Findings from this study can be used to inform foreign language pedagogical practice in myriad ways; from developing practical applications for situated language use, to using actual transcripts from the data in pre-departure language and cultural activities in U.S. Italian language classrooms. Findings also provide community partners with data regarding the challenges, linguistic and otherwise, that L2 user/volunteers face during service-learning in Italy, and suggest areas for further research.

In the 2010-2011 academic year, Black university students comprised only 4.8% of all study abroad students in the United States, despite being 14.5% of all university students. In an attempt to better foster the experiences of these students, this thesis seeks to understand the evolution of Black women’s self-concept from studying abroad. This qualitative empirical research focuses on the individual experiences of five U.S. Black university women who studied outside of the United States for one term or academic year during 2011-2012. These case studies gathered data through interviews and field texts, including oral history interviews prior to the participants’ departure, field texts collected while the students were on their abroad experiences, and a follow-up interview after their repatriation back to the United States. Too often, academics seek refuge of analysis in conventional theorists to look for new connections and understandings. Using these frameworks with marginalised communities does a disservice to these individuals. We cannot hope to understand the experience of alternative ways of being if we presume that all people fall into mainstream cultural theory. Therefore this study uses African American psychologists (instead of White psychologists) to examine the participants’ understanding of their identity. Specifically I utilise intersectionality and Africentric theory to understand how these women regard themselves in relation to their family structure, nationality, and religion. Black feminist thought is also employed to analyse the participants’ understanding of their gender with regards to sexualised imaging, physical appearance, and hair. I examine academic achievement (including personal and professional advancement, as well as racial contribution) through a Black psychological lens. This research found that study abroad does indeed have a powerful impact on Black women’s identities. All five women expressed higher self-confidence and shifts in how they understood the various aspects of their identities. Yet the shifts that occurred varied for the individual woman, which I attribute not only to the different destinations where these women studied abroad, but also to the complex and unique identities (and individual understanding of those identities) that each woman carried with her into her study abroad experience. These differences indicate that study abroad practitioners should be attentive in offering custom support to every student to allow him or her to reap the most growth from their time abroad.

The goal of the thesis "The use of intercultural training for VŠE exchange students before leaving the university to study abroad" are: -to capture and to evaluate the change of student's personal characteristics after the arrival from abroad such as language skills, international experience, peer and family relationships and simplicity of establishment of relations - to create a suitable tool for evaluation of intercultural competence of VŠE exchange students who are interested in studying abroad -to bring useful information or to make a structure of intercultural training, which VŠE in the future could use to prepare students for study abroad - to compare two forms of intercultural training: an information meeting, which took place at VŠE with personal participation of students and electronic presentation without personal participation - to create a profile of VŠE students who are interested in studying abroad

Research on international students contributes to our understanding of the internationalization of higher education. This study investigates the adjustment of first-year, full-time, postgraduate, international students at a southwestern UK university through a mixed methods research design. The main focus is on reasons for studying abroad, academic experience, and socio-cultural experience. Twenty-six students participated in the qualitative interviews. 250 students responded to a quantitative questionnaire survey. The results indicate that adjustment is a complex set of experiences and many factors may have an impact on it. The data suggest that value of overseas study, personal or family related factors, lack of opportunities at home, and financial or promotional reasons are main motivators driving students to study abroad. Postgraduate international students tend to pay more attention to academic than socio-cultural adjustment because personal agency and cultural identity operate more explicitly in socio-cultural than academic adjustment. Additionally, the data reveal that both acculturation and hybridization account for the processes that inform students’ socio-cultural adjustment. For theories explaining the findings regarding reasons for studying abroad, the push-pull model appears to be more applicable than the Theory of Planned Behavior, whereas Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory is found to be less relevant because international postgraduate students tend to have special characteristics, which differ from those of host country students, and their satisfaction perceptions regarding different needs are guided by various cultural factors. This study also suggests that the U-curve hypothesis is not supported by the research data, as methodological issues, different internal and external factors, cultural expectations, individual responses or attitudes, and technological and world development have the potential to impact on adjustment. This research adds to theoretical knowledge associated with the adjustment of international students and, in practical terms, increases our current knowledge regarding student recruitment and international student support services.

Thesis advisor: Laura . Rumbley / Thesis advisor: Hans . de Wit / Internationalization of higher education continues to transform the field of post-secondary education around the world. Student mobility, and specifically study abroad, operates as tool of internationalization that receives a lot of attention from institutions, nations, and students alike. Support for studying abroad is rooted in the many benefits, including but not limited: exposure to new cultures and perspectives, improvement of foreign language skills, development of independence and personal confidence, and expansion of problem solving skills. However, the transition back home after an experience abroad can often be a difficult experience for students who lack intentional and specific support through their institution. This re-entry period is often overlooked by institutions, however, it is a part of a student’s study abroad experience and should be supported as such through resources and programming for returned students. American Jesuit institutions in particular promote participation in study abroad as it aligns with the Jesuit mission and values rooted in serving God through serving others. As institutions that place a high value on engaging with the world and a holistic view of the educational experience, American Jesuit institutions have an obligation to support students through re-entry. This study looks at how these institutions support students as they return from abroad, the major challenges they face, how they integrate Jesuit values into their support, and what can be done in the future. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

As globalization continues to increase, the demand for culturally intelligent employees is central for navigating everyday intercultural business interactions. For college students preparing to enter the workforce, cultural intelligence is trained at universities through cultural training courses and study abroad experiences. Although cultural training courses and study abroad experiences are recognized as important factors in developing cultural intelligence, their effects are often assumed. Additionally, research indicates that international travel alone does not enhance a person’s overall cultural intelligence. This research examined a university program designed using Bandura’s Social Learning Theory to increase undergraduate students’ cultural intelligence through an on-campus cultural training course followed by a study abroad experience. Study 1 compared the effectiveness of a university program consisting of a cultural training course with a study abroad experience against a comparison control group. Multi-level modeling analyses suggest that students who participated in the cultural training course followed by a study abroad experience significantly increase in motivation, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavior CQ. Furthermore, interaction analyses examined the relationship between the two study groups, students’ self-assigned cultural development goals, the quality of their reflective journal entries, and an examination of any potential cultural mentor effects. None of these variables was associated with CQ growth. Study 2 compared two study abroad groups who either spent 3- or 6-weeks abroad after completing a shared cultural training course. Both groups experienced a statistically significant increase in all four CQ domains relative to a comparison group. When comparing the 3- and 6-week study abroad groups, there were no differences in motivation, cognitive, or behavior CQ; however, in metacognitive CQ, the 3-week group experienced a statistically significant increase compared to the 6-week group. No student-level predictors (age, gender identity, ethnicity, year in school, previous overseas experience, and grade point average) or program-level predictors (cultural mentor, number of countries visited) had a significant relationship with CQ development. These results demonstrate that a university intercultural development program that combines a cultural development training course with an instructor-led study abroad experience can help students improve their cultural intelligence, regardless of a student’s background, and that students can experience significant CQ growth in as little as 3-week abroad.

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<p>In today’s evolving classrooms, educators are tasked with going beyond providing the necessary content knowledge to reach the needs of their students. In addition to effectively differentiating instruction, global competency skills have become an increasingly pressing concern as the American society gradually becomes more diverse. In response, recent programs and supports have been created to allow prospective teacher candidates to develop their global competence to better meet the needs of an increasingly diverse and globally connected society.</p><p>An explanatory sequential mixed methods research design examined how participation in a short-term study abroad can impact teachers’ empathetic dispositions related to globally competent teaching practices. Quantitative data was first collected through an online Qualtrics questionnaire from pre-service, in-service, and other agricultural educators (n=36) who participated in a short-term study abroad experience in Jamaica from 2015-2019. Following the online questionnaire, four virtual follow-up focus groups were conducted via Zoom to further explore the collection and analysis of study participants’ self-rated stage of empathy development along the Globally Complement Teaching and Learning Continuum. Inductive coding revealed themes for both internal and external factors influencing study participants’ rationale and desired movement along the continuum.</p><p>Overall, participants acknowledged the transformative experience during the short-term study abroad to Jamaica as an external factor for building competence in the dispositions element of empathy and valuing multiple perspectives. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research were provided to help agricultural educators develop globally competent teaching practices.</p>

Higher education in any area of sustainable development is increasingly seen as aremedy to solve the currently faced climate crisis. However, the complex,interdisciplinary, and even personal nature of Education for Sustainable Development(ESD) questions the status quo of traditional pedagogic approaches and learningtechniques. Using the example of a study trip provider specialized in ESD, therelevance of experiential real-life studies in a foreign setting is investigated and theirpotential for Sustainability Education highlighted. An online questionnaire serves as afundament for understanding the impacts of multidimensional study trips regardingpersonal but especially professional choices. Data of more than 100 formerparticipants of sustainability-related study trips were gathered and evaluatedquantitatively as well as following a deductive analysis. Focus is drawn topro-environmental behaviors and beliefs that are potentially nourished by theexposure to natural treasures and first-hand expertise in Sustainable Development.The results of this study substantiate the great potential for knowledge transfer,behavioral changes, and shifts in mindsets based on experiential learning taking placein the context of traveling. Participants are encouraged and determined to follow acareer in sustainability after participating in the program. Half of the examined alumnigroup is already in a position that supports Sustainable Development in some form,leading to the overall success of the utilization of study trips in ESD, despite existingweaknesses.

This phenomenological multiple case study provides the details, reasoning, and discussion of the role of study abroad experience and its perceived impact(s) on three in-service teachers. Two research questions were posed: What are the perceived impacts on in-service teachers' practice of a study abroad program experience and how does the in-service teacher's perception of impact change over time within a teacher's career? Results of this study suggest that the teaching practice of in-service teachers who study abroad would benefit, especially in the area of intercultural competence, if this experience is structured in a way where the curriculum of the study abroad program aligns with the content of their future teaching assignment i.e. curricular bridging. Case evidence further suggests that long-term impact of a study abroad experience upon a teacher's practice is related to providing the future teacher an opportunity for to develop and maintain pedagogical relationships with students while abroad. The term ‘submersion' is introduced to help articulate depth of impact during a study abroad program experience.