Short-term Immersion Programs Research Articles

Transformative Experiences During Short-Term Immersion Trips Abroad: An Examination of MSW Students in Panama and Italy

ABSTRACT Although several studies highlight the benefit of short-term immersion programs abroad among social work students, few studies have examined their transformative nature. In response, this study aimed to describe the transformative change experienced by MSW students from the Southwest USA who participated in a short-term, immersion program in either Panama or Italy. The structure of the program consisted of two components: a 10-week hybrid classroom during the semester and a 12–13 day, short-term immersion program during the summer. Content analysis was utilized to examine student reflections on the impact of the short-term study abroad experience in areas such as cultural awareness and humility, professional and personal growth, and the most impactful and transformative experiences. The results included the following themes: (1) Community, (2) Adaptation, (3) Empowerment/Inspiration/Transformation, &; (4) Culture. Implications for future research in this area are identified along with considerations for educators regarding planning, teaching, and/or leading the in-country experience to best support student transformation in short-term immersion programs abroad.

CBI 병존 언어 교수 모형에 기반한 한국 문화 수업 설계

Objectives This study aims to present an instructional design and a lesson plan based on the content-based instruction (CBI) model for short-term immersion course learners who aim to learn the Korean language and culture.
 Methods This study examined cultural learning goals and instructional models through literature research to design Korean cultural classes and develop a lesson plan. Next, this study explored the characteristics, theoretical grounds, and models of CBI, and other previous research was examined to prepare curriculum and specific class plans. Finally, for curriculum development, this article applied the procedure of the curriculum guideline (6T) for content-based classes proposed by Stroller&Grabe (1997). Furthermore, to select the class theme, this study conducted the need analysis with the entrusted institution of this program.
 Results Finally, this study adopted the Adjunct language instruction model to design the class and develop the curriculum. Moreover, the ITB model was applied, and instructional strategies were presented for specific institutional design. In the Into stage, vocabulary quizzes and warming up activities to support learners' schema formation were designed, and the Through stage was divided into two stages: reading and listening activities by language instructors and special lectures by content instructors. In the Beyond stage, hands on activities related to the special lecture and a language class to review learning contents were designed. Finally, this study presented examples of class materials on the “Modern Korean Food Culture and Table Changes.”
 Conclusions The implication of this study is to provide a framework for designing and planning a culture class that integrates three elements of the culture described in the 3P model. In particular, the instructional design proposed in this study ensures the learners' expertise in content and linguistic support because the co-work of subject matter experts and language instructors carefully developed the class activities and materials. Also, the instructional design proposed in this study is differentiated from the existing cultural class design in that it allows learners to experience what they have learned in person in connection with experiential activities.

Setting the Stage: Pre-Trip Preparation for Short-Term Immersion Programs

The authors examine components of pre-trip preparation that influence student trip experiences and learning related to short-term immersion programs. With the use of a transformative learning framework and a multisite longitudinal case study, key components emerged as essential in preparing students for these experiences: community building, learning about social justice issues and trip location, trip leader training, and fundraising.

A pragmatic analysis of L2 Spanish requests: Acquisition in three situational contexts during short-term study abroad

AbstractThis study examines pragmatic acquisition of requests for English-speaking learners of Spanish. This research expands upon previous work by investigating the acquisition of second language requests during a short-term immersion program (6 weeks) in Madrid, Spain and in three situational contexts: food and drink, general merchandise, and familial. Data were collected using an experimental computerized oral discourse completion task. Requests made by learners (501 requests) and native speakers (224 requests) were compared considering personal deictic orientation and directness of the requests. For learners, shifts from speaker-oriented to hearer-oriented requests indicated greater pragmatic development in food and drink and familial contexts. Results are discussed considering pragmatic developmental stages and differential results in the three contexts.

Second Language Acquisition of Spanish Service Industry Requests in an Immersion Context

The current study examines English-speaking learners of Spanish and their pragmatic development of request forms during a six-week immersion program in Madrid, Spain. Elicited production and intuition data were analyzed, focusing on personal deictic orientation, directness evidenced by clause type, and the use of por favor 'please,' and comparing learners to native speakers of Peninsular Spanish. Results indicate pragmatic acquisition over the short-term program, suggested by a change in the learners' produced requests and intuitions regarding requests and also an increase in the pragmatic appropriateness of leaners' requests and intuitions over the program. Importantly, these results demonstrate that pragmatic acquisition can occur during a short-term immersion program, and during one without any pragmatic intervention. The discussion addresses potentially important programmatic variables, developmental patterns, and also an interlanguage perspective of requests, considering grammatical form, speech act, and illocutionary force in Spanish and English as challenges for learners.

Mapping civic engagement: A case study of service-learning in Appalachia

This study uses social cartography to map student perceptions of a co-curricular service-learning project in an impoverished rural community. As a complement to narrative discourse, mapping provides an opportunity to visualize not only the spatial nature of the educational experience but also, in this case, the benefits of civic engagement. The authors suggest that short-term immersion programs can provide students, regardless of their previous experiences with service, with opportunities to develop dispositions for active citizenship. Their maps, which envision a heterotopic space in two dimensions, examine the relationship between thought and action, specifically between empathy and apathy, and illustrate how what the students brought to the experience, in terms of their motivations and inclinations toward service-learning, as well as what they took away, in terms of their likelihood to participate in future service, ultimately led to individual growth and transformation.

Volunteering in a Short-Term English Immersion Program for Spanish-Speaking Adults

This article describes English immersion programs in Spain, where native English speakers volunteer as conversation partners and informal tutors for native Spanish speakers. These Spaniards are at an intermediate skill level in English and wish to improve their oral/aural communication. The most well-known immersion programs, VaughanTown and Pueblo Ingles, are approximately 1 week in duration and take place at resorts in Spain, where only English is spoken for the duration of the program. These programs are run by for-profit companies, which do not release any data on the Spanish participants' immediate or long-term progress as a result of the immersion. It is, therefore, difficult to know if the short-term immersion programs produce long-lasting changes in participants' language and speech perception or production. However, the cultural exchange that takes place among the various cultural groups is extremely rich, and many international friendships are formed on these programs. Anecdotal information shows that Spaniards and English-speaking volunteers report great satisfaction with the programs, and many attend more than once. The author offers suggestions regarding volunteering on these immersion programs and for replicating the programs with the addition of collecting objective evidence.

Multidimensional language performance in training teachers for secondary content instruction through English

Abstract This exploratory study focuses on four non-native English speaking secondary content teachers in a short-term immersion program aimed at introducing them to language teaching methods for secondary school content instruction through the medium of English. Such programs have been found to have largely mixed results for language performance. This may be especially true of programs for teachers because task adequacy in teaching may not be shown by improved scores on traditional language performance measures. This study uses multiple complexity, accuracy and fluency measures to analyze transcripts of paired peer microteaching tasks at the beginning and end of a ten-week program. Analysis of the results shows that in general the teachers' language performances improved, but that there were complex interactions among the measures. In general the performance measures reflected task adequacy, but they may have been affected by nonlinguistic factors such as teaching aims. Although the study is limited because of its small size, it suggests that teacher language performances are complex and dynamic, and that even short-term programs with non-linguistic aims can have a positive effect on language performances.

The Meaning Students Make as Participants in Short-Term Immersion Programs

The purpose of this article is to present the results of a multi-site case study designed to investigate students’ experiences as participants in four week-long immersion programs (New York City, Peru, the Czech Republic, Chicago). Results highlight the significance of the context of the trips and specific characteristics of the trip (e.g., getting out of the bubble, boundary crossing, and personalizing), which served as the springboard for learning and meaning making. In particular, meaning making focused on developing new understandings of social issues, privilege, and stereotypes, reframing experiences upon participants’ return, and shifting sense of purpose and career planning.