Intercultural Now?: A Japanese Short-Term Study Abroad Experience

<p>This phenomenological study investigated the lived experience of seven Japanese university students who participated in short-term study abroad programs in Southeast Asia. The seven participants were a part of groups of twenty-four Japanese students who studied the local language and conducted fieldwork projects with local university students in Thailand or Malaysia. Results of this study showed that four themes emerged across each case’s description of his or her short-term study abroad experience: (a) recognizing, (b) interacting, (c) developing, and (d) maintaining. Furthermore, the analysis revealed participants described development in their attitudes, knowledge, and ability to relate and interact across cultures. Participants described their fieldwork interactions and daily interactions with local university students as the situations that promoted this development. This study suggests that intercultural competence, as conceptualized by Deardorff’s (2006) process model of intercultural competence, could be self-reported by the seven participants describing what it was like to participate in Southeast Asia. Finally, this study discusses the relevance of the results to Deardorff’s (2006) process model of intercultural competence.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education

Year dc:date.available

2018

Author dc:creator

• Ottoson, Kevin J.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Leslie Hitch
• Laura Bertonazzi
• Robert Croker

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dune.une.edu/theses/215

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dune.une.edu:theses-1214