Short-term in-country language immersion and the intercultural development of foreign language students

Abstract

In a highly globalised world where cross-border movements and cross-cultural contact have grown exponentially, policy-makers and educationists have increasingly focused on intercultural education and the development of intercultural competence. Foreign language (FL) education, which prepares learners for interactions and exchanges with foreign peoples and cultures, can play a pivotal role in developing interculturality. This article focuses on a mixed-method study that investigated the impact of short-term language immersion in France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand on the intercultural development of Singapore university FL learners. Quantitative and qualitative data collected through pre-/post-immersion questionnaires, journals, interviews, and lesson/activity observations were analysed based on Byram’s (1997, 2008) model of intercultural competence, and Lave and Wenger’s (1991) Situated Learning Theory and their notion of legitimate peripheral participation. The results of the analysis suggest that the immersion programmes had a positive effect on FL learners’ development of intercultural competence. It was ascertained that learners developed positive attitudes towards the target language cultures, discovered and learned to interpret new cultural practices, and gained new perspectives to the target language and their own cultures. The key to these developments lies in the interactions with and participation in the target language societies, afforded by the instructional and cultural programmes as well as social encounters with host families, student buddies and other members of the local communities.