Exploring the potential of high school homestays as a context for local engagement and negotiation of difference
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Dali Tan
Abstract
This chapter examines the experiences of American high school students participating in a summer study and home stay program in China. Drawing on a corpus of qualitative interviews with high school participants and college-aged alumni, the authors examine how these students represent the extent to which their experience involved active engagement in communicative settings, including the negotiation of difference. The participants report having enjoyed many opportunities to become involved in routine family interactions while also encountering challenges to their common-sense understandings and values. The findings thus suggest that high school home stays may be quite different from those of the older students typically portrayed in the research literature on study abroad.
Abstract
This chapter examines the experiences of American high school students participating in a summer study and home stay program in China. Drawing on a corpus of qualitative interviews with high school participants and college-aged alumni, the authors examine how these students represent the extent to which their experience involved active engagement in communicative settings, including the negotiation of difference. The participants report having enjoyed many opportunities to become involved in routine family interactions while also encountering challenges to their common-sense understandings and values. The findings thus suggest that high school home stays may be quite different from those of the older students typically portrayed in the research literature on study abroad.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgement ix
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Part I. Orientation
- Introduction 3
- Researching whole people and whole lives 17
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Part II. Qualitative and case studies
- Self-regulatory strategies of foreign language learners 47
- “Opening up to the world”? 75
- Politics of identification in the use of lingua francas in student mobility to Finland and France 101
- An American in Paris 127
- Exploring the potential of high school homestays as a context for local engagement and negotiation of difference 155
- The transformation of “a frog in the well” 179
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Part III. Pragmatics and identity
- “I joke you don’t” 207
- Getting over the hedge 239
- Identity and honorifics use in Korean study abroad 269
- A corpus-based study of vague language use by learners of Spanish in a study abroad context 299
- Afterword 333
- Name index 337
- Subject index 343
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgement ix
-
Part I. Orientation
- Introduction 3
- Researching whole people and whole lives 17
-
Part II. Qualitative and case studies
- Self-regulatory strategies of foreign language learners 47
- “Opening up to the world”? 75
- Politics of identification in the use of lingua francas in student mobility to Finland and France 101
- An American in Paris 127
- Exploring the potential of high school homestays as a context for local engagement and negotiation of difference 155
- The transformation of “a frog in the well” 179
-
Part III. Pragmatics and identity
- “I joke you don’t” 207
- Getting over the hedge 239
- Identity and honorifics use in Korean study abroad 269
- A corpus-based study of vague language use by learners of Spanish in a study abroad context 299
- Afterword 333
- Name index 337
- Subject index 343
