Reflecting upon their intercultural experiences, with a tool like the "Autobiography of intercultural encounters," may help adolescents become better interculturalists. This research investigates how the use of the Autobiography may allow adolescents develop intercultural competence (IC). Using Byram's framework on which this tool is…

Critical languages refers to less commonly taught languages that the U.S. State Department has deemed necessary for U.S. national defense (Department of Defense 2000). In the current era of globalization and growing interconnectedness, the need for proficient speakers of critical languages has become increasingly urgent. While many foreign…

A U.S. and Chinese university developed a short-term student exchange program in public/community health. The program--which consisted of lectures, seminars, field trips, cross-cultural experiences, and a synthesis excursion--resulted in high levels of program satisfaction, increased intrapersonal awareness, and skill acquisition. Program content…

In parallel with many nations' education policies, national education policies in Australia seek to foster students' intercultural understanding. Due to Australia's location in the Asia-Pacific region, the Australian government has focused on students becoming "Asia literate" to support Australia's economic and cultural engagement with…

Language students in the UK undertake their "year abroad" with high hopes for a linguistic and social "immersion" experience. However, past research shows that language learning success, while real, can be uneven, and that many Erasmus exchange students form social relations largely with other international students. New…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the efficacy of foreign immersion programs in terms of increasing cross-cultural awareness among university students in business, accounting, human resources and agriculture. The authors extrapolate from their population to the practice of developing business professionals on international…

This inquiry aimed to examine the benefits of having international field experience for a group of Hong Kong postgraduate student teachers who joined a six-week immersion programme in New Zealand. Through participants' reflections, interviews and programme evaluations, the present investigation found that the overseas field experience not only…

Reports on a classroom-based project exploring the learning experiences of 30 Japanese English-as-Second-Language (ESL) exchange students in an environment highlighting learner autonomy and the use of technology. Describes a model that was implemented in three multimedia lab classes of two content-based language courses in a sheltered immersion…

Presents the perspectives of a Grade 6 French immersion class from Ontario on a brief exchange experience with francophone peers from Quebec and describes how this experience complemented their classroom language studies. Examined immersion students' perceptions of the operation of both social and cognitive/linguistic processes in the classroom…