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Language and Cultural Learning in a Short-Term Study Abroad: An Investigation of Japanese Sojourners in Canada

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Advances in Social and Occupational Ergonomics (AHFE 2019)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 970))

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Abstract

The present study aimed to examine whether four weeks of short-term study abroad (SA) was effective in promoting second language (L2) proficiency gain, the development of affect such as L2 willingness to communicate (WTC) and L2 motivation, and a reduction in L2 anxiety. This study investigated proficiency test results and multiple questionnaire results collected before and after the four-week SA experience. 29 Japanese university students studying English in Canada participated in the study. The results showed that the participants made gains in L2 proficiency, developed L2 WTC and L2 motivation, and reduced L2 anxiety levels after studying abroad for four weeks in Canada. This study is a part of a bigger longitudinal research project, in which short-term SA in traditional destinations such as Canada, and short-term SA in non-English speaking destinations such as the Philippines are compared.

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Acknowledgments

The present paper is “phase two” of a longitudinal research project to compare and contrast short-term SA programs in traditional SA destinations and non-English speaking SA contexts. The project is funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Japan, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Research (C), Grant number: 16K02984. The present paper is “phase two” of the research project. Finally, the author would like to thank Dr. Paul Joyce at Kindai University, Japan, for providing support for statistical analysis throughout the entire research project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Intercultural Communication, Gakushuin Women’s College, 3-20-1 Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Chihiro Tajima

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  1. Chihiro Tajima
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Correspondence to Chihiro Tajima .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands

    Richard H.M. Goossens

  2. Okayama University, Okayama, Japan

    Atsuo Murata

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Tajima, C. (2020). Language and Cultural Learning in a Short-Term Study Abroad: An Investigation of Japanese Sojourners in Canada. In: Goossens, R., Murata, A. (eds) Advances in Social and Occupational Ergonomics. AHFE 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 970. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20145-6_57

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20145-6_57

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-20144-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-20145-6

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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