This paper draws from a broader research project and reports on a qualitative case study that investigated instructional practices in grades 3-5 Two-Way Immersion (TWI) classrooms where the partner language is Spanish. Using Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) as the theoretical framework, the purpose of this study was to examine the degree to…

The present study examines the language- and culture-learning perceptions of domestic and international students from a Canadian university who participated in an intensive four-week-long Spanish language and cultural immersion program in Spain. The study draws on quantitative and qualitative data to explore the ways in which the participants'…

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…

Australian teachers are required to teach students from diverse cultures, and preservice teachers are reported to feel culturally unprepared. The Australian Government's New Colombo Plan aims to increase pre-service teachers' cultural competency by providing funding for cultural and educational experiences in the Asian-Pacific region. This paper…

This article describes the ways in which study abroad experiences in international settings may help language teachers develop linguistic and cultural consciousness that ideally influence pedagogical practices in their home teaching contexts. Drawing upon the framework of critical multilingual awareness (CMLA; García, 2017), we describe three…

The present study seeks to explore the long-term impact of an overseas immersion programme on pre-service teachers' professional learning in Hong Kong. In-depth interviews with 11 pre-service teachers about their immersion experiences and post-immersion learning revealed their professional gains and challenges brought by their exposure to…

International non-profit organizations (INGOs) were traditionally established to facilitate dialogue and bridge cultures. In order for INGOs to successfully carry out their objectives, global activists must work together in a culturally sensitive and responsible manner. The current article examines a volunteer training model that was designed to…

This study describes how length of stay in a foreign country influenced personal adjustment, language acquisition, and culture learning among a convenience sample of 150 United States student volunteers participating in a short-term cross-cultural living/learning situation in Mexico. Short-term was defined as two, four; six, eight, or ten weeks.…

The 2023 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages was held in Columbus, Ohio on March 9-11. This year's theme, Empathy, Equity, and Empowerment is reflective of the vital work educators do in classrooms every day across the country. The Wikipedia definition of empathy is "the capacity to understand or feel what another…

One Mandarin immersion programming model involves a pair of partner teachers switching cohorts of students. Many programs meet their staffing needs with international teachers that remain with the school district for 1-3 years. Due to transient staffing, many partner teachers find themselves as mentors to their immersion teachers and maintain the…

Graduate student travel continues to reflect the desire for more intentional and immersive ways to engage in travel experiences for the purpose of learning. This basic qualitative study explored how graduate students made meaning of their cultural immersion experiences. The study invited twenty-three graduate students enrolled in three Christian…

This qualitative phenomenological study examined how 11 international students experienced learning English within an intensive English immersion program, which used an integrated skills approach for language learning. Participants included seven males and four females from Africa, Asia, Central America, Middle East, and South America. Drawing on…

This article examines the Spanish proverb, "quien habla dos idiomas vale por dos," which literally translates to mean he who speaks two languages is worth two people and applies its meaning to immigrant children who are language brokers for their families. Historically, the United States has not promoted multilingualism and even frowned…

This exploratory study investigated the experiences of seven bilingual school psychology graduate students' participation in a two-week cultural immersion experience at the Texas-Mexico border. Findings revealed five significant themes related to their experience: (1) pushed out of comfort zone, (2) bonding with peers, (3) language, culture, and…

Happenstance learning theory posits that unexpected events can have lasting positive impacts on individual learning and development. In this reflection, a U.S. doctoral student shares how an unexpected opportunity occurred to participate in a cultural immersion experience in Ghana, West Africa. Along with learning outcomes that resulted,…