Short-term study abroad: Designing an intercultural induction program to prepare prospective language teachers

2021-01-01
Short-term study abroad programmes can help prospective language teachers develop intercultural competences, vital when working with socially and linguistically diverse language learners. However, participating in such programmes does not necessarily lead to a more advanced level of interculturality. Induction programmes before mobility periods can help prospective language teachers develop a more advanced intercultural mindset. This article focuses on a curriculum design project for an intercultural induction programme that aims to prepare short-term study abroad candidates from Turkey. The programme's primary goal, which was informed by three in-depth qualitative studies, was to help candidates reflect on cultural essentialism, ethnocentrism, multiplicity and intersectionality of identities, English as a lingua franca communication, and native/non-native English speaker binary/hierarchy. Guided by a systematic and contextualised curriculum design process and suggestions based in (critical) interculturality literature, this induction programme attempts to offer a critical, reflexive, and experiential preparation period. Such systematic and contextualised preparation efforts can contribute to the growing literature on intercultural preparation and the design of other intercultural induction programmes or refinements of existing programmes.
INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION

Suggestions

Intercultural Sensitivity Orientations Prior to Short-Term Study Abroad: A Qualitative Study on Prospective English Language Teachers
Çiftçi, Emrullah Yasin; Gürbüz, Nurdan (2019-06-01)
Short-term study abroad programs can contribute to the multidimensional development of prospective language teachers. However, participants' intercultural sensitivity orientations prior to the mobility period can significantly influence the quality and quantity of the outcomes gained from such programs. Therefore, in this qualitative case study, we explored the intercultural sensitivity orientations of a cohort of prospective language teachers from Turkey who prepared to study at three different universitie...
Preparation for an international exchange program: a phenomenological analysis of prospective english language teachers’ lived and imagined experiences
Çiftçi, Emrullah Yasin; Karaman, Abdullah Cendel; Department of English Language Teaching (2016)
Since the Erasmus exchange program promises sociocultural experiences in different cross-cultural and educational contexts, it can contribute to the development of prospective English language teachers. However, participants’ preparation experiences and thought patterns prior to the program may influence the quality and outcomes of the sociocultural experiences abroad. This study, therefore, aimed to explore preparation experiences of three Turkish prospective English language teachers who chose to study in...
Foreign language medium instruction and bilingualism the analysis of a myth
Kırkıcı, Bilal (2004-01-01)
The present study discusses the potential effects of learning and using more than one language (i.e., bilingualism) on the bilingual child in relation to the prevailing discussion on foreign language-medium instruction in Turkey. It is shown that, in contrast to popular beliefs in the society and findings obtained in the early stages of the 20th century, bilingualism does not appear to be an obstacle to the bilingual child, but may act as a facilitating trait in many respects, including the bilingual child'...
Study abroad in Turkey: the role of homestays on second language learning
Çakır, Nur (2021-09-01)
Study Abroad (SA) has often been referred as the ideal means to learn a second language due to the unique opportunities it brings to the learners. SA provides learners access to both formal and communicative learning contexts where they can interact with the members of the target language community. Existing studies identified various contextual and cultural factors that support or hinder language learning during study abroad programmes. This paper focuses on the affordances of the homestay environment in t...
EFL instructors’ cognitions and actions in relation to foreign language learning and teaching processes
Öztürk, Mustafa; Yıldırım, Ali; Department of Educational Sciences (2014)
The purpose of this study is to investigate EFL instructors’ language learning cognitions regarding linguistic aptitude, priorities in language learning, and good language learners; and language teaching actions with respect to pedagogical inclinations, instructional planning, error correction, learner-centeredness, and personal and professional development. The study also aims to describe the patterns of the relationships existing among those variables and examine the sources contributing to teachers’ cogn...
Citation Formats
E. Y. Çiftçi and A. Daloğlu, “Short-term study abroad: Designing an intercultural induction program to prepare prospective language teachers,” INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION, pp. 0–0, 2021, Accessed: 00, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/89287.