Intensive Immersion Research Articles

What Makes Study Abroad Transformative? Comparing Linguistic and Cultural Contacts and Learning Outcomes in Virtual vs In-Person Contexts

To what extent can the transformative power and language learning affordances provided by the study abroad experience be virtualized? The large-scale shift away from on-site study abroad to online learning in 2020-2021, caused by the COVID pandemic, has made it possible to compare data for in-person immersion learning versus digitally mediated forms of direct instruction and second language (L2) community engagement of otherwise similarly prepared L2 learner cohorts. The present study compares measured proficiency outcomes, as well as other performance-based data of late-adolescent and young adult U.S. participants in a group of federally sponsored overseas intensive immersion study programs for Arabic, Chinese, and Russian operating abroad for the period 2017-2019 and as virtual programs in 2020-2021 (in-person N=1388 and virtual N=770). Program data for early-stage learners, mid-level learners, and advanced learners are analyzed separately by target language, initial proficiency levels, and program durations. As a result of the COVID pandemic, all programs shifted from in-person format to virtual instruction, provided by the existing overseas partner faculties, who adapted core curricula, group instruction, direct enrollment courses and tutorials for use in both synchronous and asynchronous forms of online instruction. Similarly, organization of homestay visits, internship programs and cultural programming was also shifted to virtual format. Given the importance of language contact and L2 interactions, this study provides comparisons of both aggregate and activity-specific L2 time-on-task levels for both cohorts, documenting comparable levels of instructional time available within the two formats (18 hours/week), but less than half the available hours to the virtual student for informal L2 contact and community engagement activities. Comparisons of the speaking proficiency outcomes by language and training levels revealed a relatively consistent gap in mean gain levels across languages, with participants in the virtual groups attaining on average one proficiency sub-level lower in speaking gains than their respective face-to-face counterparts. Comparisons of reading, listening, and writing outcomes, however, showed smaller differences, sometimes none at all. Intercultural Development Index (IDI) and other data related to participants’ cultural competencies, including cultural referencing, self-presentation (Identity Competence), socio-pragmatic strategy selection, lexical and collocational choices, and other markers were observed generally to fall short of the standards set in previous years by students enrolled in the in-person versions of the same programs. Finally, the study takes note of curricular and technological interventions introduced during the COVID period which have been recommended for adoption in the new cycle of in-person programs in 2022-2023 and beyond.

Centralized facilities improve biomedical researchers' access to cryoEM technology.

Cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM) has roots in techniques developed nearly half a century ago, but recent technological advances have broadened its utility and enabled the reliable generation of atomic models of macromolecular complexes. CryoEM experiments are routinely utilized in structural science publications and new instrumentation is being installed in many research institutions resulting in a requirement to understand the best practices used within the field. The NIH Common Fund established the Transformative High-Resolution Cryo-Electron Microscopy program to provide access to this technology and support the development of cryoEM training curricula to promote a competent cryoEM workforce. The National Center for CryoEM Access and Training (NCCAT) is one of these NIH-sponsored service centers. NCCAT is housed at the New York Structural Biology Center and is strategically co-located with resources that broaden its outreach and enable users to travel onsite to participate in our local cryoEM community. This environment allows access to state-of-the-art equipment for the generation and analysis of high-resolution data. A unique opportunity at NCCAT is our intensive immersion program, where a trainee “embeds” by spending significant time at our facility. This program mentors scientists to become independent cryoEM researchers and helps create a support network of cryoEM practitioners across the nation. Our educational modules focus on everything from how to use the national cryoEM service centers, a media-rich curriculum to augment users’ own hands-on training, and earning cryoEM merit badges that serve as proficiency certifications. Taken together, national service centers with centralized resources have emerged to support the expansion of cryoEM technology by increasing the nationwide accessibility of cryoEM throughout the biomedical research community.

Vowel development in young Mandarin-English bilingual children.

This study examined the development of vowel categories in young Mandarin -English bilingual children. The participants included 35 children aged between 3 and 4 years old (15 Mandarin-English bilinguals, six English monolinguals, and 14 Mandarin monolinguals). The bilingual children were divided into two groups: one group had a shorter duration (<1 year) of intensive immersion in English (Bi-low group) and one group had a longer duration (>1 year) of intensive immersion in English (Bi-high group). The participants were recorded producing one list of Mandarin words containing the vowels /a, i, u, y, ɤ/ and/or one list of English words containing the vowels /i, ɪ, e, ɛ, æ, u, ʊ, o, ɑ, ʌ/. Formant frequency values were extracted at five equidistant time locations (the 20-35-50-65-80% point) over the course of vowel duration. Cross-language and within-language comparisons were conducted on the midpoint formant values and formant trajectories. The results showed that children in the Bi-low group produced their English vowels into clusters and showed positional deviations from the monolingual targets. However, they maintained the phonetic features of their native vowel sounds well and mainly used an assimilatory process to organize the vowel systems. Children in the Bi-high group separated their English vowels well. They used both assimilatory and dissimilatory processes to construct and refine the two vowel systems. These bilingual children approximated monolingual English children to a better extent than the children in the Bi-low group. However, when compared to the monolingual peers, they demonstrated observable deviations in both L1 and L2.

Fast Track to French L2 Fluency: Mechanisms that Engage the Brain in Learning

Study abroad has stood as a paragon immersion experience in the target language for over a century, since the 1876 Philadelphia International Conference on Education. However, empirical evidence in pedagogy, substantiated by equally compelling data in cognitive science, establishes that: domestic intensive immersion produces significantly better results in fluency gains than study abroad; difficulty, integral to the fast-paced experience at home, is a boon to learning; and writing in the language is the most beneficial skill to practice for speaking it. If fluency and retention are the challenges teachers face, then it is time to consider domestic intensive study.

On the use and abuse of verbatim quotations in qualitative research reports

On the use and abuse of verbatim quotations in qualitative research reports

The Early Poetry of Muhammad Haji Salleh: A Memoir in Tribute

There is a saying that “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” Since learning never ends, perhaps teachers come at different points in our lives according to what we need at the time.&#x0D; Looking back to the time I was making tentative beginnings in poetry, it was certainly true. The teachers – there were two – who came to lay the critical foundations to my writing appeared without my even being aware of their significance, then. We are talking about the mid-to-late 1960s, when as an undergraduate reading English Literature, two poets came into my life who could not have had a greater impact on my attitude towards what I was studying, and the poetry I was attempting to write.&#x0D; The Professor who headed the English Department at the time was Dennis Enright, a highly distinguished poet in his home country (the UK) and the English-speaking world. He was one of the tutors who took us under his wing, and in the two years of intensive immersion in the subject (as required under the degree structure then) I got to know much more about his poetry and his commitment to not only literature, but undergraduates struggling with creative writing. He was sharply discerning, but kind; I valued his critical judgement, laconic humour and compassion. Enright returned to England about five years after I graduated. Fortunately, his last few years with the University of Singapore coincided with the time I was a student and graduate tutor and developing an interest in poetry.&#x0D; The other “teacher” who had an even greater role was a classmate, one in a very tiny class taking the single subject, English Literature. He was Muhammad Haji Salleh, a Malaysian, slightly older than the rest of us. He was a trained teacher from the Malay Teachers’ College, Brinsford Lodge, near Wolverhampton, England. His reputation went ahead of him, for we soon heard that he had a substantial portfolio of poems, which even the Chair of English admired. A quiet

"Operator syndrome": A unique constellation of medical and behavioral health-care needs of military special operation forces.

U.S. military special operation forces represent the most elite units of the U.S. Armed Forces. Their selection is highly competitive, and over the course of their service careers, they experience intensive operational training and combat deployment cycles. Yet, little is known about the health-care needs of this unique population. Professional consultations with over 50 special operation forces operators (and many spouses or girlfriends) over the past 6 years created a naturalistic, observational base of knowledge that allowed our team to identify a unique pattern of interrelated medical and behavioral health-care needs. We identified a consistent pattern of health-care difficulties within the special operation forces community that we and other special operation forces health-care providers have termed "Operator Syndrome." This includes interrelated health and functional impairments including traumatic brain injury effects; endocrine dysfunction; sleep disturbance; obstructive sleep apnea; chronic joint/back pain, orthopedic problems, and headaches; substance abuse; depression and suicide; anger; worry, rumination, and stress reactivity; marital, family, and community dysfunction; problems with sexual health and intimacy; being "on guard" or hypervigilant; memory, concentration, and cognitive impairments; vestibular and vision impairments; challenges of the transition from military to civilian life; and common existential issues. "Operator Syndrome" may be understood as the natural consequences of an extraordinarily high allostatic load; the accumulation of physiological, neural, and neuroendocrine responses resulting from the prolonged chronic stress; and physical demands of a career with the military special forces. Clinical research and comprehensive, intensive immersion programs are needed to meet the unique needs of this community.

Cultural capital, habitus and reading futures: middle-class adolescent students’ cultivation of reading dispositions in Singapore

The acquisition of cultural capital can only be understood in the light of the formation of habitus, including the socialisation process, and in the context of the field in which any such capital has value. Yet, the relation between cultural capital and habitus is seldom discussed in research. Drawing on the data from focus groups with 96 students and a survey of 5,779 students from six Singapore secondary schools, we analyze how reading as a form of cultural capital is distributed among High-SES, Mid-SES and Low-SES students in Singapore. We show how middle-class practices of intensive immersion in school-valued reading practices is a form of habitus that prepare some students better than others for engaged reading. The findings highlight how reading as a form of cultural capital is operationalized through students’ familial habitus and argues that making visible familial habitus provides insights for transforming institutional habitus for students’ reading futures.

Good Things in Small Packages? Evaluating an Economy of Scale Approach to Behavioral Health Promotion in Rural America

Rural American youth exhibit pronounced health disparities. This study enlists insights from an economy of scale paradigm to determine the relative effects of serving smaller versus larger client groups in an assembly-style school-based behavioral health promotion program. Evaluation results are reported from a three-year intervention delivered to eighth-grade and tenth-grade rural Mississippi students from 2012 to 2015. The program, I Got U: Healthy Life Choices for Teens, coupled a day-long intensive immersion in youth risk prevention and mental health promotion with school-based information dissemination. Results reveal robust effectiveness in program years 1 and 2, during which caps of 175 attendees per event were imposed. Salutary results were no longer evident during year 3, when larger venues were used to serve over three times the number of students per event. This program teaches valuable lessons about the potential for diminishing returns yielded by an economy of scale approach to implementation.

Aptitude measures in SLA

Abstract The present study examines a US Department of Defense (DOD) foreign language program using linear and logistic regression to model foreign language proficiency growth over three time intervals. The analysis demonstrates growth from start to finish for a program involving domestic immersion and study abroad and tests the ability of aptitude and achievement measures to predict that growth for a group of 80 students. The findings suggest that a measure of foreign language aptitude and a measure of quantitative aptitude differentiate learning outcomes for the intensive domestic immersion portion of the program while measures of quantitative aptitude and native language verbal aptitude differentiate later-stage learners on the study abroad portion of the program.

Effects of intensive EFL immersion programmes on willingness to communicate

ABSTRACT Few studies have examined willingness to communicate (WtC) changes resulting from short-term intensive immersion programmes. This study investigated the antecedents to and changes in WtC during one such programme held at a Macau university. The programme required students to reside on campus and participate in extensive task-based communicative language classes and fluency activities with a range of interlocutors from different backgrounds. Pre- and post-programme questionnaire data were collected, and regression analyses indicated perceived competence as the largest predictor for WtC. Repeated measure t-tests indicated significant improvement in WtC and the underlying components of perceived competence, language use anxiety and motivation for language learning as a result of the programme. The results support previous studies on WtC predictors, and suggest short-term intensive English programmes held within the home country of students can be as beneficial to WtC as longer term immersion or study abroad programmes.

Injecting New Workforce Leaders in Tourism, Hospitality and Environmental Science: A Community-Engaged Learning and Immersion Class

Tourism, especially nature-based tourism, is a major and growing industry in Maine. Therefore, it is important that colleges and universities graduate leaders into the Maine workforce with specific knowledge of the tourism and hospitality industry and with a connection to the environment in which it is flourishing. To graduate these potential leaders, schools must do a better job at retaining and graduating students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Community-engaged learning, including immersion classes, are a key strategy to increase student persistence in some programs at the University of Southern Maine (USM). Two academic units at USM, the Program in Tourism and Hospitality and the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, collaborate in delivering a colocated intensive immersion class for all new majors. This engagement early in their college career fosters a sense of community among the students and with the industry in which they will work. We argue that this community engagement is a factor contributing to student retention and success in these programs and will help create the creative, resilient, locally active leaders needed to guide sustainable tourism development in Maine.

Syilx Language House: How and Why We Are Delivering 2,000 Decolonizing Hours in Nsyilxcn

The Syilx Language House has completed two years of a four-year, 2,000-hour program to create new adult Nsyilxcn speakers, based on Syilx communities’ specific priorities. Our critically endangered status requires radically decolonizing teaching techniques. Nsyilxcn (Okanagan) teachers are learners, trained to deliver sequenced curriculum in full immersion using cutting-edge teaching techniques. Teachers employ strategies that prioritize effective immersion, frequent assessment, and a high level of classroom safety. This article shares our story, applied teaching methods, student testimonials, community feedback, and our 2020 Plan. After completing our second year, students have completed 900 hours of intensive immersion. Students state that our teaching methods are the fastest, most effective language learning they have ever experienced. After four years, students will emerge as mid- to high-intermediate speakers, capable of bringing language into homes, teaching new cohorts of adults, and creating immersion workplaces.

Teaching cultural aspects of trauma practice in a study abroad immersion course: Challenges and strategies

Advantages, phases, challenges, and strategies related to the process and procedures involved in planning, implementing, and evaluating study abroad programs, and addressing emergencies have been discussed as being issues in teaching trauma and diversity content. However, very little has been written about study abroad programs dedicated to specific topics and no studies address teaching trauma content by means of international immersion courses. This article discusses pedagogical and logistic aspects of teaching about trauma in diverse cultural contexts using a recent intensive immersion study abroad course in Israel to illustrate the issues under discussion.

Accelerated Medical Education: Impact of a 48 Hour Hospice Home Immersion

Introduction: The importance of learning and understanding palliative and end of life care has become important with today's aging population. Medical schools have been using varied approaches to teach end of life care, however it is often relegated to the hidden curriculum. Providing students with the opportunity to observe and participate in end of life care early on in their medical education has a positive effect on attitudes toward the care of dying persons. The research presented here was conducted by one pair of medical students who were immersed for 48 hours into a palliative and end of life care environment, a local 18 bed Hospice Home. Methods: Qualitative ethnographic and autobiographical research designs were utilized by two second year medical students who were immersed in a hospice home for 48 continuous hours. They worked with an interprofessional team and provided care, pre and post mortem, to patients and families throughout the immersion. Data were in the form of written student journals that included subjective and objective reporting of observations and experiences over 3 stages: (1) pre-immersion (pre-field notes); (2) immersion (field notes); and (3) post-immersion (post-field-notes). Results: Four themes were selected that addressed the research questions and were mutually important to the students. (1) Facing and Talking about Death and Dying; (2) The Power of Touch; (3) Catering to the Patient’s Comfort; and (4) Listening to the Patients/ Reading the Signs. Student experiences and learning were presented through the selection of representative quotes associated with each theme. Conclusion: The 48 Hour Hospice Home Immersion project provided a unique educational and research experience that accelerated their learning about palliative and end of life care for older adults. This time intensive immersion creates a depth of learning and advances medical education in death and dying beyond any classroom experience.

Abdus Salam center cultivated science, transcended politics

The story by Jermey Matthews (Physics Today, October 2014, page 20) about the role of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in the developing world was interesting and informative. It also evoked memories from 20 years ago, when I was a student in the ICTP postgraduate diploma program. I was the first Albanian student accepted into its condensed-matter-physics track, in the 1993–94 school year.I and probably many other former students will attest that these ICTP programs were an excellent opportunity for students to prepare for graduate school and receive a quick and intensive immersion in frontier topics of research. The ICTP also provided a life-changing experience for many students who were not able to pursue their physics dreams at home. Following the diploma program, I moved on to obtain a PhD in theoretical condensed-matter physics and eventually took a position in academia in the US.I also want to highlight the important role of the ICTP in bridging the East–West political divisions of the time. Even its location—in Trieste, Italy, close to the Cold War border in Europe—transmitted a sense that the place rose above challenges and brought people together. The institute clearly demonstrated that science transcends politics, and it inspired many physics students and faculty throughout Eastern Europe. That closing of political divisions is an amazing side of the story of the ICTP.© 2015 American Institute of Physics.

E- Learning: A Best Option for Faculty Training

This paper looks at two specific issues related to faculty success in the online classroom. The first, an effective faculty training program, is crucial in building a cadre of competent online faculty to meet the growing demands for web-based classes. However, the training programs offered vary significantly from on-the-job training to intensive immersion programs which take place before the first online teaching assignment. The second issue is ongoing support including administrative, academic, and technical support. While effective training is instrumental in getting the faculty member prepared for cyberspace, the support services available while teaching the online class are often responsible for how smoothly the course runs.

Pink Noise in Language Production: A Nonlinear Approach to the Multilingual Lexicon

Most theories of (second) language processing are based on component-dominant models that assume linear relationships between linguistic factors affecting language production and language comprehension. In this contribution we argue that in the wake of current nonlinear approaches to cognition, language processing must be seen in terms of interaction-dominant dynamics manifested in 1/f scaling relations. Our study showed that increased experience in second language use leads to scaling relations that more and more tend toward pink noise. Moreover, our data tentatively show that intensive immersion in a second-language context leads to steeper spectral slopes in response time series of that same language. These findings demonstrate the significant contribution of nonlinear analyses to the study of real-time language processing in multilinguals.

Closing the health equity gap: evidence-based strategies for primary health care organizations

IntroductionInternational evidence shows that enhancement of primary health care (PHC) services for disadvantaged populations is essential to reducing health and health care inequities. However, little is known about how to enhance equity at the organizational level within the PHC sector. Drawing on research conducted at two PHC Centres in Canada whose explicit mandates are to provide services to marginalized populations, the purpose of this paper is to discuss (a) the key dimensions of equity-oriented services to guide PHC organizations, and (b) strategies for operationalizing equity-oriented PHC services, particularly for marginalized populations.MethodsThe PHC Centres are located in two cities within urban neighborhoods recognized as among the poorest in Canada. Using a mixed methods ethnographic design, data were collected through intensive immersion in the Centres, and included: (a) in-depth interviews with a total of 114 participants (73 patients; 41 staff), (b) over 900 hours of participant observation, and (c) an analysis of key organizational documents, which shed light on the policy and funding environments.ResultsThrough our analysis, we identified four key dimensions of equity-oriented PHC services: inequity-responsive care; trauma- and violence-informed care; contextually-tailored care; and culturally-competent care. The operationalization of these key dimensions are identified as 10 strategies that intersect to optimize the effectiveness of PHC services, particularly through improvements in the quality of care, an improved 'fit' between people's needs and services, enhanced trust and engagement by patients, and a shift from crisis-oriented care to continuity of care. Using illustrative examples from the data, these strategies are discussed to illuminate their relevance at three inter-related levels: organizational, clinical programming, and patient-provider interactions.ConclusionsThese evidence- and theoretically-informed key dimensions and strategies provide direction for PHC organizations aiming to redress the increasing levels of health and health care inequities across population groups. The findings provide a framework for conceptualizing and operationalizing the essential elements of equity-oriented PHC services when working with marginalized populations, and will have broad application to a wide range of settings, contexts and jurisdictions. Future research is needed to link these strategies to quantifiable process and outcome measures, and to test their impact in diverse PHC settings.

Preparing Clinically Expert Faculty Educators: An Academic Partnership Model

To increase nursing education capacity in New Jersey, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) New Jersey Nursing Initiative (NJNI) awarded grants to prepare graduate nursing students to become clinically expert faculty. The purpose of this article was to describe the experiences of a collaborative partnership in preparing 14 scholars for the faculty role. The partnership developed two innovative models of preparing faculty with clinical expertise. The curriculum of the Fairleigh Dickinson University Adult Nurse Practitioner program was enhanced with education courses and intensive teaching practicum. The curriculum of the Monmouth University Nursing Education program was enhanced with more intensive clinical immersion in a selected concentration. Both models were based on the National League for Nursing nurse educator competencies (J. A. Halstead, 2007). The RWJF scholars were socialized into the faculty role from the start of the program through curricular and extracurricular activities. To date, all components of the enhanced curriculum were implemented with plans for sustaining the programs and partnership. Of 14 scholars, 4 graduated, and 10 are on track to graduate as projected. The curriculum enhancements improved two successful master's programs preparing graduates for not one, but two advanced practice roles.