Is the Study Abroad (SA) Program Important for Indonesian Students?

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate how the concept of language, culture, identity and difference work together in the implementation of the SA Program for Indonesian students and how important its application for them. Concerning the interrelatedness between the four concepts in the employment of SA program, it is found that there is a chance for Indonesian learners to create new cultures after having interaction and dialogues through English as the target language. They also construct their new identity as people who have high-skills in English, in which they are marked out differently by other people. Furthermore, regarding the importance of joining in the SA program, it is seen that the program is vital to improve students’ language skills, affect their cultural transformation and increase their level of confidence in using English. However, it should be applied carefully and put some considerations due to some challenges, including the limitation of English competence, the different of learning culture characteristics, the likelihood of crisis identity. Hence, all of the emerged insights above might be beneficial for policymakers of the SA program to revisit the regulation and enhance the quality of their guided SA program. Then, it may be useful as well for the SA program educators to design and employ suitable learning strategies to be suitable with students’ demands. Ultimately, it can be useful insights as well for students to be well-prepared before joining the SA program.