How best to prepare students for short-term study abroad
programmes, based on their expectations and experiences
Philip Zamrej Graham
1and Keiko Okumura
2Abstract
The focus of this paper is to improve the pre-departure and preparation sessions for students participating in a short-term study abroad programmes. Focusing on a group of students from the University of Yamanashi, Japan, going to Canada, pre-departure and post-return questionnaires, and self-report journals were used to determine the expectations, fears and goals of the participating students, as well as how they dealt with critical incidents in-situ. The results revealed that while improvement of speaking and listening skills were the main goal, these were also the areas that presented the most difficulty. Addressing cultural-linguistic barriers, as well as encouraging students to be more informed about the host culture, as well as their own culture, were revealed to be areas where improvements could be made in pre-departure preparation. Sessions of this type could be applied to other university short programmes in the future.
Key words : short-time study abroad programme, EFL, questionnaires, self-reports, cultural-linguistic barriers
1. Background
Institutions of higher education nationwide are adding courses on international and intercultural communication to their curriculum as a way to prepare their students for the global workplace that awaits them. As part of this process, both on-campus and study-abroad programmes have been initiated and expanded to enhance students` language skills. Short-term study abroad opportunities, in particular, have increased tremendously over the past decade. Like many other Japanese universities, the University of Yamanashi gives students the opportunity to participate in short-term study abroad programmes during summer or spring breaks. These programmes are voluntary, usually lasting from 3 to 4 weeks and recruit students from all departments and faculties of the university. One such study trip offered by the University of Yamanashi is to the English Language Institute (ELI), the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada. After successful completion of the programme, together with participation in every pre-departure session, plus presentation of the study abroad report at the briefing session after their return, they will be able to apply for and gain academic credits.
We currently provide students attending the UBC study trip with five 90 minute-pre-departure orientations, including 1) an introductory lecture on Canada, Vancouver, UBC and ELI, 2) a safety and crisis management session, 3) a survival English Language session 4) a lecture on intercultural awareness, and 5) a Homestay guidance. Feeling that students could perhaps be better prepared for this
1 Philip Zamrej Graham is a member of Centre for Liberal Arts, University of Yamanashi
kind of programme, it was decided to make a study of the group participating in the 2015 trip to UBC. The researchers aimed to find out more about the expectations of the students before they departed, and their experiences on return. With this data, along with professional experience and findings presented in other studies, it is our hope to be able to create a more effective pre-departure programme. This could then be taught at the University of Yamanashi, not only to those students going to UBC, but to those participating in our other short-stay study abroad programmes.
To gain an understanding of the students` expectations, fears and goals, they were given a questionnaire to complete prior to departing for Canada. On their return, they were asked to complete another questionnaire, which would help to ascertain if expectations had been met, fears realized, and goals fulfilled. While in Canada, the students were also asked to keep a journal detailing their experiences, especially in challenging situations.
2. Literature Review
As Hommadova and Mita (2016) observe in a study of Japanese students studying in the U.S., among other things, ‘Overall, the students’ success is largely dependent on their preparations prior to arrival in the U.S.’ Therefore, it seems advisable to have the students be as well prepared as possible before they depart. This not only involves endeavouring to identify the English language skills needed, but also the specific cultural differences that the students are likely to encounter. It goes without saying that one of the reasons for the existence of such trips is to expose students to a different culture, and an all-English environment, and they need to be able to learn how to adapt in-situ. However, as this will be the first time many students have participated in such a trip, it seems only fair to give them a decent chance of having a successful experience. With this in mind, a dedicated pre-departure programme, even if just a few sessions, would seem prudent.
Realistically, can we expect any significant improvement in English proficiency from a 3 to 4-week trip? Katori (2016) observes that, ‘Short-term study abroad episodes themselves have no statistically significant effect on English proficiency, but participants report positive changes and improvements in a range of soft skills, including global and cultural awareness, greater confidence, interpersonal and intercultural communication skills, or some kind of paradigm shift in their way of thinking.’
While there may not be notable improvements in English ability, improving ‘interpersonal and intercultural communication skills’ does require students to engage in a meaningful way with their hosts. This can be problematic. As English (2011) points out, ‘For Japanese students, cultural differences create communication hurdles.’ English goes on to observe that the ‘lingua-culture of Japanese allows for ambiguity and indirectness, but the lingua-culture of English prefers explicitness and being straightforward.’ This lingua-cultural difference will not only impact on the language experiences of students on study abroad programmes, but also on their cultural experiences. This can have an effect on their individual expectations as well. As Van Amelsvoort (1999) observes, ‘The majority of students really cannot envision the form that life studying and living abroad takes and therefore do not know the extent to which their expectations may be unrealistic.’
If a student does not at least try to address this lingua-cultural difference, they are in danger of just being a passenger on the trip, rather than a participant. To clarify: a student in a homestay will be a passenger by only exchanging greetings, or very minimal conversations about the weather and such like. Alternatively a student can be a participant, by engaging with the family on life in the host country, their jobs, differences with Japan, world events, and so forth. Students often blame their lack of English skills for their inability to do this, however, it is just as likely to be on account of shyness and other lingua-cultural reasons. It is not unusual in the Japanese English class to ask the students a question only to be met with a wall of silence and to later find out that a significant number of them knew the answer, but were unwilling to provide it: once again, a lingua-cultural issue.
Ultimately, some host family experiences can be better than others, and how communicative a host family wishes to be is beyond the students` control. Van Amelsvoort (1999) concludes that ‘Each side has feelings and expectations and is coming from a different culture. Making the effort to communicate and understand each other is the best that can be done.’
In terms of best practice in the matter of effectively preparing students, it may be necessary to identify means of tackling this lingua-cultural gap. English (2011) suggests ‘teaching communication strategies that can familiarize sojourners with the lingua-culture nuances of the host country.’ ‘Survival language and non-verbal communication skills are suggested. Building schema may also be effective, Van Amelsvoort (ibid) recommends ‘building up a knowledge base about studying abroad.’ This could include engaging with the media of the host country, or having a citizen of the host country talk with the students about what they may encounter.
3. Methodology
The researchers were interested in discovering more about the expectations the group had before departing for UBC. In addition to this, information regarding potential communication and cultural issues were also of interest, as well as their experiences, particularly those that were challenging from a linguistic or cultural perspective.
In the study, informed consent was collected from all students and three instruments were applied: 1) Pre-departure Questionnaire
The students, of which there were 14 in total, 9 females, and 5 males, from the faculties of Education, Engineering, Life and Environmental Sciences and Medicine were given a questionnaire (see Appendix 1) to complete shortly before their departure to Canada. The questionnaire was in English and Japanese, and the students were given the option of completing it in either language during one of the pre-departure meetings. This was to ensure that the answers provided were in enough detail to provide usable results. 2) Post-return Questionnaire
On their return, the students were again asked to complete a questionnaire in the post-study abroad meeting held three weeks after their return (see Appendix 2), which once again was in English and Japanese, with the option of answering in either language. This questionnaire was designed to determine whether the students` expectations had been met, and which parts of the trip they found the most challenging and rewarding, as well as trying to ascertain what they felt they had learned from the experience.
3) Self-Reports
In the study, self-reports submitted by participants were also analysed. The students are encouraged not only to report their own observations, events and behaviour, but to reflect on their experiences. According to Spencer-Oatey & Franklin (2009), self-reports are used by researchers as a data collection method in various fields and can be obtained through focus groups, diaries, interviews or surveys. They state that self-reports describing ‘critical incidents’, as Flanagan (1954) calls them, can especially be very helpful in grasping incidents which are difficult to predict or observe. According to Cope & Watts (2000), a ‘critical incident’ needs to be an emotional happening, in that it represents a period of intense feelings, both at the point of and during its consequent reflective interpretation.
The students were encouraged to keep a journal on critical incidents, which they found challenging to cope with while in Canada. Referring to Davies and Kinlock (2000: 141)’s ten points, we listed some questions and encouraged students to detail these thus:
a) Some background information about the critical incident:
Where were you? / What did the place look like? / Who was involved in the incident? b) Details of the critical incident:
What happened? / What was the difficulty? / How did you feel? / Why do you think that it was difficult? c) Reactions and Reflections:
How did you handle the situation? / How did you feel about it? / Was it a positive or negative incident for you? / Was it significant for you? / What would you do if the same kind of incident occurred again? / Why would you do so?
Notebooks were provided to the volunteers for reporting their critical incidents, prior to their departure. 4. Results
1) Pre-departure Questionnaire
Question 1 asked: ‘Why do you want to go on the study trip?’
For this, the students were asked to list three reasons. To give an idea of the prevailing trends, and to save on data overload, the researchers will only present reasons given by 3 or more students for this and other similar questions.
Question 2 asked: Is this your first trip to an English-speaking country? 1st Trip – 8 students
2nd Trip – 4 students
Question 3 asked: What are you hoping to achieve through the trip?
Question 4 asked: What part of the study trip are you looking forward to the most?
Question 5 asked: Which part of the study trip are you worried about?
Question 6 asked: If you find yourself in a situation where you have difficulty communicating, what communication strategies do you think you might use?
Question 7 asked: What English skills would you like to develop through the study trip?
Question 8 asked: Which part of the study trip do you think will be the most beneficial to your English language improvement?
Question 9 asked: Please write anything you know about Canada. (No results, as not relevant to this study, but rather given to give the teachers an idea of the students` knowledge of Canada)
Question 10 asked: Please write anything you know about Vancouver. (No results. See above Q9) 2) Post-return Questionnaire
Question 2 asked: What part of the study trip did you enjoy the most?
Question 3 asked: What part of the study trip did you find the most difficult?
Question 5 asked: What English skills do you feel you developed most during the study trip?
Question 6 asked: Which part of the study trip did you feel was most beneficial to your English language improvement?
Question 7 What did you learn about Canada that you did not know before you went on the study trip? (No results. See Q`s 9&10 above)
Question 8 Do you think you would now be more interested in studying overseas? Yes, I am more interested, or was already interested – 13 students
I don`t know at the moment – 1 student
3) Self-Reports
Five out of 14 students volunteered to describe the events which they found unexpected and critical during the study trip. In total, 13 critical incidents were collected. Their candid accounts provided a better understanding of how they grappled with situations that differed from their expectation. Once students have submitted their self-reports, the next step is analysis. This involved looking at the subjective reflections to see if any categories or patterns are present, which can hold implications for preparation of study abroad programmes, as well as for further understanding. The researchers found three themes were identified: “the short-term study abroad programme context”, “communication difficulties” and “cultural difficuties”. The following self-report entries are representative.
The Short-term Study Abroad Programme context
Student A has one story about her English learning environment in the class in which she was placed after the English placement test on her arrival. In her oral test, she actively participated in pair work and group discussions, as she determined to try to change her passive and indecisive attitude and tried to be more enthusiastic and positive having made the effort to travel to Canada. As a result, she was placed in a post-intermediate class. On the first day, she thought her classmates and teachers spoke much too fast for her to understand and she was very shocked at not being able to think of anything to say. On the following day, she was about to consult the course co-ordinator to change her class, as she felt reluctant to interact in a class that she felt was above her level. However, in the second week, she started enjoying challenging tasks with the assistance of her teacher and classmates, as well as tackling the homework given, even though it was a struggle for her. She found it to be a negative event at the beginning, but it turned into a favourable event in the end. She suggested that her active participation in the oral placement test led her to a challenging but fruitful English learning experience, as well as helping her personal growth.
Student H had a difficult case during her group work.
An English Only Policy has been established in the building. In her presentation group, there was a Japanese student who was not cooperative and easily lost his temper when anything went wrong with him. As a result, the group work did not make proper progress. She felt astonished, confused, and worn out from stress because of this. It was a very negative incident and she felt very helpless because she could not communicate with him, although he was the same nationality and from the same cultural background. She felt very sad and regretted that she was not able to be more assertive and propose her ideas, and possibly avoiding conflict with him. She would also like to try to positively listen and convey her opinions assertively in a more conciliatory manner without avoiding communication, if the same kind of event occurred in the future.
Student N reported her experience in the class activities.
In the intensive English programme at ELI, UBC, there are group presentations on Fridays every week. In her class, group presentation competitions were held each week and the winning group was given a prize, according to the other classes’ votes. In the first week, two presentations were held at the same time by partitioning the classroom into two. While the other group were able to use a projector and a big screen, her group had to do the presentation with a small screen without any speakers. As expected, her
group did not win. Her group was wondering if they should inform the teacher of this unfairness. After the class, the group had a meeting and she went to see the teacher with her teammates and explained the unfair situation and their bitter feelings, asking for ideas for improvement. In the following week, two equally sized rooms and facilities were used and her group won. They all felt satisfied. She realised the importance of problem solving, rather than just accepting the unfair situation and not saying anything. She stated that she normally would not do anything much if it was in Japan, easily giving up on uncomfortable and unfair situations, but she would like to actively solve any problems in the future after the experience.
Communication Difficulties
Students B, H, and K reported 5 similar incidents in total related to lack of informal conversation skills in English. Student B gave his host family a souvenir from Japan, a salad bowl with a drawing of the moon and rabbits, which he thought was typically Japanese in style. They asked why the moon and rabbits were placed on the surface of the bowl, but he could not explain it at all. Students H and K also reported that their host family members were very curious about his/her major, interests, dream, and his/ her opinions on general social issues, as well as Japanese culture. The students were not able to join the family conversation easily and they felt embarrassed and uncomfortable about that. They thought they should have improved their English ability, and should have been more familiar with Japanese culture, or at least what was going on in Japan at that time. These were negative incidents, but they found them very serious and significant, and the experiences catalysed positive outcomes. Student H made strategic plans to cope with the conversations. For instance, asking the people to repeat the questions or rephrase the questions, and asking if her understanding was correct. Students H and K realised how important it is to be able to present themselves and be interested in social-cultural issues in Japanese language first, in order to make informal conversations with host family members in English.
Student K recounted an event that caused him a confusion at the time. He was shopping for underwear in a shopping centre, but he was looking for “pants”, which indicated trousers in Canada and he was guided by a shop assistant to the men’s clothing section. He thought he should have checked the vocabulary relevant to daily shopping. This kind of linguistic issue was not considered to be very serious, according to him. However, he reported that he investigated all of the words related to clothing in American and British English. The incident became a good chance for him to broaden his vocabulary in that field.
Cultural Difficulties
Regarding adjusting to another life style, Student B showed severe food anxiety before his study abroad. He described the event on the first day after his arrival. He found food that he did not really like on the dinner plate. He felt that it may be rude to inform his host mother that he did not like the food. However, he also felt that it would be unbearable to have the same kind of food each day, so he told his host mother that he could not eat this food. As he expected, the incident was fairly serious, but he felt much better and he somehow managed to eat some of the food which he had disliked before.
Student K reported a difficulty in one of the activities on the English language course. As a part of group project activities, he had to collect interview data outside the classroom, talking to people who he did not
know and asking them many questions. He had a fear of losing face and did not feel comfortable with this type of project work activity which he had never come across in Japan. He was struggling with how to start conversations with them, but he gradually became used to it, repeating as many times as required. He valued the activity and considered the experience a positive and significant incident after all.
5. Discussion
A desire to improve spoken English skills, as well as gaining confidence in spoken English seems evident from the results of the pre-departure questionnaire. This suggests that not only do the students desire to improve their spoken English, but also that they are not getting the opportunities to improve in Japan. There have been countless studies examining the reasons for a lack of oral and aural English skills in Japanese students. These have highlighted the exam-driven nature of school English classes, as well as a focus on grammar translation methods. Added to this is the use of Japanese, rather than English, by Japanese (and sometimes foreign) English language instructors. It seems evident that a major overhaul of school English teaching techniques is required, however that does not immediately help our students wishing to improve their speaking ability on a 3–week study programme.
It is common practice that if a Japanese student is looking to study full time in an English-speaking country, they will be required to have a higher IELTS/TOEFL score than those participating in short-stay programmes. They will also be required to attend a Foundation/Bridging programme in the host country. This means that although the challenge is greater, these long-stay students tend to be better prepared. Short-term programme students, on the other hand, are usually only given cursory preparation. As Fairbrother (2014) notes, ‘preparation courses for study abroad held in Japan usually just involve language training and general background information about the country visited, without addressing the interactional and academic issues students will face overseas, and without providing students with effective strategies to deal with the problems they may face.’ It might be worthwhile at this point to highlight the situations that short-stay students may find themselves in, which could be challenging to them from a linguistic or cultural perspective.
Many short-term programmes will see students live with a homestay family, and this was the case with the UBC group. The questionnaire revealed that the homestay experience was one that the students were looking forward to, but were also apprehensive of. Homestay is to be encouraged over the alternative, which is usually to stay in university residences. As Graham & Nagase (2015) observe from a study of short-stay students at the University of Leicester, ‘based on the improvements in the students` receptive and productive skills, as well as their greater cultural understanding of the UK, the Homestay experience is not only beneficial, but to be strongly encouraged.’ Homestay, however, does come with a significant set of challenges for the short-stay student. They will have no choice but to communicate in English, and they will be speaking with normal native speakers, who may be used to speaking with non-English speakers, but will not be trained in the same way as a teaching professional to regulate language. If the student does not quickly establish a communicative relationship with the host family, then not only will their stay be less enjoyable, but they will miss out on one of the main opportunities to improve their oral and aural English skills.
The classroom work involved in a short-term programme is also potentially rewarding, but challenging. As with the homestay, this will be an all-English environment, and the students may find themselves in a class with other nationalities. They will also come up against a much more student-participation, rather than teacher-led style of teaching, which they will not be accustomed to in Japan. Introduction to the class activity types, including group projects at ELI, UBC can be helpful for students who are not familiar with learner-orientated teaching style.
There will also be the challenges of interacting with shopkeepers, bus drivers and any of the other people they may meet outside of the home and classroom. In these cases they will often have to deal with strong dialects or accents, and people who may not treat them with the same degree of patience as their teachers or host family.
For Japanese students, one of the greatest challenges, and something that could improve their chances in adapting to the situations outlined above, would be to work on overcoming the cultural-linguistic barriers inherent between Japanese and English. In other words, to have them learn to stop thinking like a Japanese when they speak English.
As mentioned earlier, Japanese discourse, outside of the direct family group, tends to be non-confrontational and ambiguous, whereas English discourse is more likely to be robust and straightforward, especially when discussing issues. Naturally, the students will not find themselves having to argue all the time: they will, however, find that it is beneficial to expand and question points, rather than just always agree, or give monosyllabic answers.
Therefore, it seems logical that a part of the pre-departure programme should involve putting students in a situation where they are made to discuss, argue and give their point of view on social or cultural issues, as well as talking about themselves. They should not be allowed to get away with just agreeing, or saying ‘I don`t know’. Instead, they should be strongly encouraged to verbalise what they really feel. This could be done by having students listen to a short presentation or recording on an issue such as gay marriage. Having been introduced to the topic and heard some opinions, they should be encouraged in small groups to give their own opinions. The teacher must be quite strict in cajoling the students into giving opinions, as they may not feel comfortable with this. They should also be encouraged to become more aware of current Japanese issues and culture. Looking at the students’ struggle with informal conversations with host family members might give future students an opportunity to think what kinds of topics about themselves and what elements of Japanese culture or social issues they may be asked during the study trip. Talking about these topics in English can be integrated into a pre-departure training course. The results of the self-reports clearly suggest that some pre-departure training on cultural clashes and communication difficulties, which they may face, and strategies to cope with any unexpected incidents is to be encouraged.
It is the researchers’ belief that it is this cultural reticence to express themselves, as indicated in the post-return questionnaire, especially with those whom they do not know very well, that is one of the biggest hindrances to Japanese students’ English improvement. Having said that, some of the students considered
the negative experiences caused by the cultural reticence to be resources to change their attitude or behavior in the reflection procees.
With regards to having a more fruitful cultural experience, building some schema, as mentioned in the Literature Review, of the host country would be beneficial. Students could watch some TV from the host country, and then discuss any differences with Japan, preferably with a native of the host country, or someone very familiar with it. As mentioned earlier, having a native of the host country, who is also familiar with Japanese culture and behaviour, hold some kind of cultural awareness session may also be helpful.
6. Conclusion
The students on the UBC study trip seemed to be quite prescient when it came to which parts of the trip they would find the most beneficial to English improvement, as well as what they would find the most challenging, and how they would cope with these problems. This demonstrates that, at least to an extent, they are aware of their own shortcomings, as well as the potential advantages of the trip. This is encouraging, and should make the task of preparation easier.
It is also encouraging that the incidents reported in the self-reports, although challenging at the time, for the most part were regarded in a positive light upon later reflection. These incidents can be utilised by teaching staff and could be incorporated into future pre-departure programmes, with the possibility of students who have already participated in such programmes, joining the session.
It would also be beneficial on future programmes to have more of the participating students contribute to the recording of critical incident data. Ideally, a member of staff from the University of Yamanashi would accompany the students in order to observe them at close hand, as well as speaking with host teachers and families to get their perspective on the students` behaviour and coping strategies. However, as this is not possible at present, journals and questionnaires must be utilised.
From what the self-reports reveal, it is clear that some of the students at least, had a fairly clear idea of where they might improve their own pre-departure preparation. It is hoped that this information can be used to ensure that future participants are better prepared, and are thus able to have an equally if not more fulfilling, experience.
References
Van Amelsvoort, M. (1999) A Pre-departure program for students who study abroad. The Internet TESL Journal, 5(9). http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Amelsvoort-PreDeparture.html [Accessed 10th March
2016]
Cope, J. & Watts, G. (2000) Learning by doing. An exploration of experience, critical incidents and reflection in entrepreneurial learning. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research, 6(3): 104–124.
Davies, H. & Kinloch, H. (2000) Critical incident analysis: Facilitating reflection and transfer of learning. In V. E. Cree & C. Macaulay (eds), Transfer of Learning in Professional and Vocational Education.
London: Routledge.
English, B.J. (2012) Preparing Japanese university students for study abroad. Tama University School of Global Studies Bulletin, 4: 11-27. [Accessed 2nd February 2016]
Fairbrother, L. (2014) Preparing Japanese learners of English for study abroad: What`s missing? AILA World Congress 2014, Brisbane, Australia. Symposium Session S61: Accommodating Japanese English learners. August 12th.
Flanagan, J.C. (1954) The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51(4): 327-58.
Graham, P.Z. & Nagase, Y. (2016) Short study abroad programme to Leicester University: Benefits and thoughts on future trips. Bulletin of the Faculty of Education & Human Sciences, Vol 17: 329-340. Hommadova, A. & Mita, T. (2016) Academic and social challenges of Japanese students during cultural
adjustment to the rural U.S. Journal of International and Advanced Japanese Studies, Vol. 8: 241-255.
Katori, M. (2016) The trends of Japanese students` participation in study abroad programmes. US-China Foreign Language, 14(3): 239-249.
Spencer-Oatey, H. & Franklin, P. (2009) Intercultural Interaction: A multidisciplinary approach to intercultural communication. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Chicago.
