This study analyzes how self-guided cultural exploration and reflection (SCER) tasks affect the development of intercultural competency (ICC) of students participating in a study abroad program. The Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES) was used to measure students' ICC development before and after a 6-week faculty-led study abroad program in…

The study investigates whether and how mock interviews, an instructional component of business Chinese courses, prepare students for real interviews. The study included 11 American undergraduate students who participated in a 10-week summer study abroad program in China. Participants underwent two rounds of mock interviews with their instructors…

This article is the first large-scale study to document the speaking proficiency outcomes of intensive programs in less commonly taught languages in US higher education. Speaking proficiency was measured by pre- and postprogram ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interviews (N = 484) in 14 languages: Arabic, Bengali, Brazilian Portuguese, Hindi, Indonesian,…

This study investigated the effects of an intensive summer program on students' writing, reading, listening, vocabulary, and grammar skills. The program consisted of 4 weeks at the U.S. home institution and 4 weeks in Berlin, Germany, and offered the equivalent of two college-level, second-year German classes in one summer. During the last three…

The current study compared perceived language gains between learners of different preprogram proficiencies, academic interests, and genders who participated in the same predeparture preparation and short-stay service learning program abroad. L2 learners studying Spanish and computer science students participated in a semester-long program to…

To date, research on the Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) has focused principally on student performance, largely neglecting the experiences of instructors. This is a substantial gap, for it is instructors who are responsible for both designing and administering the IPA. The present study, therefore, used concepts from the literature on…

This study explored the development and maintenance of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) among 352 American learners of Arabic who completed summer intensive language programs in five Arab countries. Data were collected through a survey that was based on the 2007 draft of the Culture Proficiency Guidelines (Lampe, 2007; later adopted by…

With 24 adolescent students enrolled in a French language summer camp, the present study examines the relationship between self-assessment and oral production in French, interpreting results through a framework of individual learning variables. Participants were surrounded by French inside and outside the classroom. Self-assessment was measured…

This study investigated the composition of the social network that the homestay offers learners in an intensive summer Arabic language program in diglossic and multilingual Tunisia and examined the types of language socialization as well as the overall linguistic and intercultural competence such opportunities present. The study specifically…

This preliminary study investigates the acquisition of second language phonology with respect to two variables: immersion in a target language community, and explicit instruction in the form of a phonetics/pronunciation class. Specifically, the research examines the second language acquisition (SLA) of specific properties of the Spanish phonology…

This article describes a STARTALK intensive summer high school Mandarin language and culture program that was conducted for three summers. Participants across the three years included 40 Mandarin Level II and 53 Mandarin Level III high school students. Quantitative and qualitative data are presented to show the effectiveness of the program.…

This study investigates the role of task-based learning in the study abroad experience in order to enhance interaction with the host family. Tasks were incorporated into a Family Interaction Journal and implemented under four evolving, though different, conditions over a 5-year period. The conditions were: (1) home campus administered/student…

This study and analysis are designed to find a common, practical measurement tool that may be used for intra- and interprogram evaluation of Japanese programs, especially in the higher education context. First, three previous methods of evaluation (the Oral Proficiency Interview, the Nihongo Noryoku Shiken or Japanese Language Proficiency Test,…

Discusses the foreign language outreach project as a model for similar programs. Designed to strengthen foreign language education at all levels, the program includes informal workshops on methodology, summer programs, visits to area high school foreign language classes, in-service workshops, a resource center, and visits from high school classes…

This report describes the rationale, approach, and design of a four-week workshop conducted at Western Washington State College in 1976. Fifty-six foreign language teachers participated. Activities included language classes, a course in cross-cultural communication, and instruction in nontraditional methods of language teaching. (CHK)