Abstract
In this article we suggest a framework for researching the study abroad experiences of English language teachers, and analyze data from a study of higher education English teachers from four Southeast Asian countries who completed graduate studies at a Canadian university. We present data from interviews with 10 participants which took place in their home countries four years after taking the program. Research questions and interview questions relate to the relevance of the program to participants’ professional practice, the challenges they faced when applying knowledge in their local contexts, and the opportunities and benefits that came with completing a Canadian graduate program. In our data analysis, we highlight a combination of local, national, and transnational factors, as well as cultural differences, that affected the application of knowledge learned in Canada. We conclude by considering a number of implications for educators involved in study abroad programs for English language teachers.
-
Research funding: None declared.
-
Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
-
Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.
-
Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.
-
Ethical approval: The research was approved by Simon Fraser University’s Office of Research Ethics.
References
Allen, Linda Quinn. 2010. The impact of study abroad on the professional lives of world language teachers. Foreign Language Annals 43(1). 93–104. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2010.01062.x.Search in Google Scholar
Allen, Linda Quinn. 2013. Teachers’ beliefs about developing language proficiency within the context of study abroad. System 41(1). 134–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2013.01.020.Search in Google Scholar
Amadasi, Sara & Adrian Holliday. 2018. ‘I already have a culture.’ Negotiating competing grand and personal narratives in interview conversations with new study abroad arrivals. Language and Intercultural Communication 18(2). 241–256. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2017.1357727.Search in Google Scholar
Aslan, Erhan. 2015. When the native is also a non-native:“Retrodicting” the complexity of language teacher cognition. Canadian Modern Language Review 71(3). 244–269. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.2575.Search in Google Scholar
Badwan, Khawla M. 2017. “Did we learn English or what?”: A study abroad student in the UK carrying and crossing boundaries in out-of-class communication. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 7(2). 193–210. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2017.7.2.2.Search in Google Scholar
Baecher, Laura & Samantha Chung. 2020. Transformative professional development for in-service teachers through international service learning. Teacher Development 24(1). 33–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2019.1682033.Search in Google Scholar
Barkhuizen, Gary. 2017. Investigating multilingual identity in study abroad contexts: A short story analysis approach. System 71. 102–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2017.09.014.Search in Google Scholar
Barkhuizen, Gary (ed.). 2022a. Language teachers studying abroad: Identities, emotions and disruptions. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.Search in Google Scholar
Barkhuizen, Gary. 2022b. Language teachers studying abroad. In Gary Barkhuizen (ed.), Language teachers studying abroad: Identities, emotions and disruptions, 1–22. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.Search in Google Scholar
Barkhuizen, Gary & Anne Feryok. 2006. Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of a short-term international experience programme. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education 34(1). 115–134. https://doi.org/10.1080/13598660500479904.Search in Google Scholar
Burri, Michael. 2022. Teacher educator: Reflections on transnational and transcultural professional identity development. In Gary Barkhuizen (ed.), Language teachers studying abroad: Identities, emotions and disruptions, 245–255. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781788929950-021Search in Google Scholar
Chern, Chiou-lan, AMY Lin & Mei-Lan Lou. 2022. Border-crossing and professional development of Taiwanese EFL teachers in a study-abroad program. In Gary Barkhuizen (ed.), Language teachers studying abroad: Identities, emotions and disruptions, 111–122. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781788929950-011Search in Google Scholar
Çiftçi, Emrullah Yasin & A. Cendel Karaman. 2019. Short-term international experiences in language teacher education: A qualitative meta-synthesis. Australian Journal of Teacher Education (Online) 441(1). 93–119.10.14221/ajte.2018v44n1.6Search in Google Scholar
Cook, Melodie Lorie. 2010. Outsourcing in-service education: The effects of a Canadian pedagogical programme on Japanese teachers’ of English teaching practices. Australia: Macquarie University.10.18806/tesl.v28i1.1060Search in Google Scholar
Cook, Melodie & Trevor Gulliver. 2014. Helping Japanese teachers of English overcome obstacles to communicative language teaching in overseas teacher development programs. Asian EFL Journal Professional Teaching Articles 79. 24–46.Search in Google Scholar
Dewi, Anita. 2012. Is English a form of imperialism? A study of academic community’s perceptions at Yogyakarta Universities in Indonesia. Asian Englishes 15(1). 4–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2012.10801317.Search in Google Scholar
Dewi, Anita. 2017. English as a medium of instruction in Indonesian higher education: A study of lecturers’ perceptions. In English medium instruction in higher education in Asia-Pacific, 241–258. Cham: Springer.10.1007/978-3-319-51976-0_13Search in Google Scholar
Diao, Wenhao & Emma Trentman (eds.). 2021. Language learning in study abroad: The multilingual turn. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781800411340Search in Google Scholar
Douglas, Scott Roy, Fujiko Sano & Mark Rosvold. 2018. Short-term study abroad: The storied experiences of teacher candidates from Japan. LEARNing Landscapes 11(2). 127–140. https://doi.org/10.36510/learnland.v11i2.951.Search in Google Scholar
Garbati, Jordana F. & Nathalie Rothschild. 2016. Lasting impact of study abroad experiences: A collaborative autoethnography. In Forum qualitative Sozialforschung/forum: Qualitative social research, vol. 17(2). Available at: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1602238.Search in Google Scholar
Gleeson, Margaret & Carolyn Tait. 2012. Teachers as sojourners: Transitory communities in short study-abroad programmes. Teaching and Teacher Education 28(8). 1144–1151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2012.07.005.Search in Google Scholar
He, Ye, Kristine Lundgren & Penelope Pynes. 2017. Impact of short-term study abroad program: Inservice teachers’ development of intercultural competence and pedagogical beliefs. Teaching and Teacher Education 66. 147–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.04.012.Search in Google Scholar
Ilieva, Roumiana, Kumari Beck & Bonnie Waterstone. 2014. Towards sustainable internationalisation of higher education. Higher Education 68(6). 875–889. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-014-9749-6.Search in Google Scholar
Jenkins, Jennifer. 2009. English as a lingua franca: Interpretations and attitudes. World Englishes 28(2). 200–207. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971x.2009.01582.x.Search in Google Scholar
Kanno, Yasuko & Christian Stuart. 2011. Learning to become a second language teacher: Identities-in-practice. The Modern Language Journal 95(2). 236–252. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2011.01178.x.Search in Google Scholar
Kasun, Sue, Ethan Tinh Trinh & Brittney Caldwell. 2019. Decolonizing identities of teachers of color through study abroad: Dreaming beyond assumptions, toward embracing transnational ways of knowing. In Redefining teaching competence through immersive programs, 207–233. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1007/978-3-030-24788-1_8Search in Google Scholar
Kinginger, Celeste. 2015. Student mobility and identity-related language learning. Intercultural Education 26(1). 6–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2015.992199.Search in Google Scholar
Kirkpatrick, Andy. 2014. English in Southeast Asia: Pedagogical and policy implications. World Englishes 33(4). 426–438. https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12105.Search in Google Scholar
Kirkpatrick, Andy. 2017a. Language education policy among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). European Journal of Language Policy 9(1). 7–26. https://doi.org/10.3828/ejlp.2017.2.Search in Google Scholar
Kirkpatrick, Andy. 2017b. The languages of higher education in east and southeast Asia: Will EMI lead to Englishisation? In English medium instruction in higher education in Asia-Pacific, 21–36. Cham: Springer.10.1007/978-3-319-51976-0_2Search in Google Scholar
Li, Daguo & Viv Edwards. 2013. The impact of overseas training on curriculum innovation and change in English language education in Western China. Language Teaching Research 17(4). 390–408. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168813494124.Search in Google Scholar
Macalister, John. 2022. No ordinary time: Language teachers abroad in an extraordinary year. In Gary Barkhuizen (ed.), Language teachers studying abroad: Identities, emotions and disruptions, 163–173. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781788929950-015Search in Google Scholar
Marshall, Steve. 2022. Japanese English teachers’ professional development in a Canadian University: Perceptions of self and imagining practice. In Gary Barkhuizen (ed.), Language teachers studying abroad: Identities, emotions and disruptions, 35–46. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781788929950-005Search in Google Scholar
Mocanu, Vasilica. 2019. A mixed methods approach to identity, investment, and language learning in study abroad: The case of Erasmus students in Finland, Romania, and Catalonia. Universitat de Lleida PhD diss.Search in Google Scholar
Moore, Stephen H. 2017. A case study of assessment in English medium instruction in Cambodia. In English Medium Instruction in Higher Education in Asia-Pacific, 173–191. Cham: Springer.10.1007/978-3-319-51976-0_10Search in Google Scholar
Murray, Denise E. & Mary Ann Christison. 2019. What English language teachers need to know volume I: Understanding learning. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9781351139847Search in Google Scholar
Nguyen, Huong Thu, Ian Walkinshaw & Hiep Hoa Pham. 2017. EMI programs in a Vietnamese university: Language, pedagogy and policy issues. In English medium instruction in higher education in Asia-Pacific, 37–52. Cham: Springer.10.1007/978-3-319-51976-0_3Search in Google Scholar
Phan, Le Ha. 2008. Teaching English as an international language. Teaching English as an international language. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781847690500Search in Google Scholar
Roskvist, Annelies, Sharon Harvey, Deborah Corder & Karen Stacey. 2017. Language teachers and their perceptions of the impact of ‘short-term’ study abroad experiences on their teaching practice. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 14(1). 5–20.Search in Google Scholar
Seidlhofer, Barbara. 2011. Understanding English as a lingua franca-Oxford applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal0243Search in Google Scholar
Starks, Donna & Howard Nicholas. 2022. Life and learning through study abroad: Trajectories connecting identity and communicative repertoires. In Gary Barkhuizen (ed.), Language teachers studying abroad: Identities, emotions and disruptions, 60–70. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781788929950-007Search in Google Scholar
Walkinshaw, Ian, Ben Fenton-Smith & Pamela Humphreys. 2017. EMI issues and challenges in Asia-Pacific higher education: An introduction. In English medium instruction in higher education in Asia-Pacific, 1–18. Cham: Springer.10.1007/978-3-319-51976-0_1Search in Google Scholar
Wang, Dong. 2014. Effects of study abroad on teachers’ self-perceptions: A study of Chinese EFL teachers. Journal of Language Teaching and Research 5(1). 70. https://doi.org/10.4304/jltr.5.1.70-79.Search in Google Scholar
Welch, Anthony. 2011. Higher education in Southeast Asia: Blurring borders, changing balance. London, UK: Taylor & Francis.10.4324/9780203828540Search in Google Scholar
Wette, Rosemary & Gary Barkhuizen. 2022. Study abroad as a site of transformative learning: Post-Sojourn knowledge and identity change of two Cambodian teachers. In Gary Barkhuizen (ed.), Language teachers studying abroad: Identities, emotions and disruptions, 47–59. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781788929950Search in Google Scholar
Widin, Jacqueline. 2010. Illegitimate practices: Global English language education, 8. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781847693082Search in Google Scholar
Zhao, Yan & Miguel Mantero. 2018. The influence of study-abroad experiences on Chinese college EFL teacher’s identity. IJELTAL (Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics) 3(1). 53–77. https://doi.org/10.21093/ijeltal.v3i1.124.Search in Google Scholar
© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Critical educational linguistics
- Being and becoming an international student: the inter-relation between language socialization and identities
- “We are in our country. Why do we have to resort to western ways of doing things?”: an analytic framework for knowledge application in language teachers studying abroad
- Illuminating language users in the discourse of linguistic diversity: toward justice-informed language education
- Slicing the onion: reflections and projections on language education policy in the Caribbean
- Enhancing bilingual resources in third language acquisition: towards pedagogical translanguaging
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Critical educational linguistics
- Being and becoming an international student: the inter-relation between language socialization and identities
- “We are in our country. Why do we have to resort to western ways of doing things?”: an analytic framework for knowledge application in language teachers studying abroad
- Illuminating language users in the discourse of linguistic diversity: toward justice-informed language education
- Slicing the onion: reflections and projections on language education policy in the Caribbean
- Enhancing bilingual resources in third language acquisition: towards pedagogical translanguaging