This study is situated in the fields of language education, study abroad (SA) and intercultural communication. The interest in SA is increasing on the part of students, administrators, educators, and business companies for the learning opportunities that it offers. However, SA students are not always prepared to maximize their learning…

Global awareness is discussed through the experiential learning of six teacher candidates and six teachers on a Fulbright-Hays study abroad program to Israel. The participants focused their learning on four key aspects of global education; multilingual communication -- to enhance a world view, historical layering -- to understand the peripheries…

We focus on cross-cultural team effectiveness for MBA students involved in an immersion program, examining the development of knowledge about cultural traits, the challenges associated with teamwork, and factors that promote or hinder team performance, based on qualitative results of a survey of 20 students who participated in the program. Key…

With the intent of informing music teacher education practices and developing more culturally responsive and relevant teachers, the purpose of this research was to explore pre-service music teachers' understandings of culture and diversity, and to examine the impact of a short-term cultural immersion field experience on pre-service music teachers'…

This article details a study conducted to determine the effectiveness of a professional development model for inservice Spanish teachers. Subjects were participants in intensive summer immersion programs abroad that included a rigorous methodology course advocating sound pedagogical models for lessons and stressed 90%+ target language use in the…

Short-term international practicum experience is now a feature of many university education programs in Australia in an attempt to engage students with the growing multi-cultural aspects of Australian life. The stated purposes of such practicum experiences generally highlight intercultural learning, which is associated with the development of…

This article discusses five college students' experiences in a simulated full-immersion, Arabic-speaking language village and the impact of that experience on learners' beliefs about the power of collaborative learning, the critical importance of cultural awareness, the efficacy of learning languages within a functioning community of practice, and…

As dual language immersion (DLI) programs experience unprecedented growth, the need for school administrators that understand DLI structures and philosophy, in order to methodically initiate them and effectively sustain them, becomes critical. In this study, DLI refers to educational programs that provide literacy and academic content instruction…

In her article entitled, "Theoretical Reflections: Intercultural Framework / Model" Darla Deardorff provides the Pyramid Model of Cultural Competency. At the bottom of the pyramid she places three "Requisite Attitudes," which support the remaining three blocks above ("Knowledge & Comprehension/Skills,"…

The discourse of immersion is prevalent but little analysed in the field of study abroad. Linked generally to learning-by-doing, this discourse has significance for "intercultural education". Based on text analyses of three guidebooks on study abroad, this article suggests four effects of the discourse of immersion: It justifies study abroad as…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the efficacy of foreign immersion programs in terms of increasing cross-cultural awareness among university students in business, accounting, human resources and agriculture. The authors extrapolate from their population to the practice of developing business professionals on international…

Today's principal requires a deep understanding of curriculum and instruction, teaching and learning, and intercultural sensitivity to ensure improved student outcomes. To develop this broadened expertise in its principal preparation program, the educational leadership faculty needed to move beyond their comfort zone. In response to Illinois…

While immersion programs provide some of the greatest benefits to children learning a new language, many school systems have yet to dedicate the financial and personnel resources necessary to plan and implement such programs on a wide scale. In areas where immersion or formal FLES programming does not exist in the schools, often opportunities to…

While there is much that Australia has done well with respect to languages education, many problems still persist in terms of mainstream provision of quality languages programs, attaining real outcomes and gains in language learning, and in relation to retention of students studying languages through to the senior years of school. The success of…

This paper looks at reading in French immersion and how learning French is seen more as a skill rather than a social practice that could be examined through a more critical lens. Most of the teachers often teach students how to read but rarely will they discuss the role of French in Canadian society and how this is manifested in the texts they…