Minding the expectation gap – student expectations pre-study abroad in China

Study Abroad (SA) can be expected to promote personal growth, future employability, greater intercultural awareness, adaptability, and efficacy, alongside language improvement. However, students can encounter high thresholds to meeting their own expectations, and may struggle with personal and academic transition into and on return from SA. This study reports on the initial stage of a longitudinal survey-based study of the whole SA experience for a group of UK-based students of Chinese – presenting here students’ pre-departure expectations and goals. Participants had high positive expectations of linguistic gains, adaptability, and knowledge about life in China, but were less aware of broader personal gains in employability, while cultural gains for some suggested a focus on individualised ‘cultural consumption’. We discuss implications for support offered pre-SA to better shape student expectations of realistic benefits and probable challenges, particularly for less familiar SA contexts such as for anglophone students in China.

The Cardiff University buddy scheme: how to prepare outgoing students using the experience of the year abroad and final-year students

This article describes the extra support required for outgoing students on their Year Abroad (YA) journey. It highlights the increasing need for and relevance of peer mentoring of YA students in preparing them to deal with different structures and organisations where external support might be insufficient or even non-existent. It also outlines different approaches to establishing relationships with allocated ‘buddies’. It finally identifies the outcomes and benefits of the project, including personal development for all students involved in the scheme.

Preparation for the year abroad in the second-year language module at the University of Manchester

Every year, around 120 students of French at the University of Manchester (UoM) prepare to go on their compulsory Year Abroad (YA). They are free to choose between different options: studying in France and the French-speaking world, working in diverse sectors throughout the French-speaking world, or becoming a language assistant. This wealth of choice can make pre-departure decisions difficult. Furthermore, once students are abroad, there seems to be a gap between their expectations and the reality of living abroad. This can result in anxiety and a lack of engagement with the target culture and language. This chapter presents the ways in which the Department of French Studies at UoM is helping students prepare for the YA by including specific activities and topics in its language module curriculum. It first examines the issues students encounter before and during their YA, then the solutions that have been implemented, and finally the impact of this programme.

The words to say it: student-led exploration of students’ written responses to the year abroad experience

This chapter examines a student-led internship project to repurpose a Residence Abroad (RA) reflective survey in order to achieve better meta-cognitive self-analysis and more productive communication between outgoing and returning students and staff. Evidence from the project and from scholarships pointed to the limitations of free-text reflective reports in prompting effective articulation of lifelong learning skills, despite the RA being viewed as transformational. The interns, recent RA returnees, became peer researchers, analysing survey data and consulting staff experts (a careers consultant, learning technologist, RA co-ordinators, and pastoral care co-ordinators) to produce a more user-friendly and pedagogically-helpful questionnaire. The project permitted an effective two-way sharing of stakeholder needs and allowed the voice of student experience (itself becoming progressively insightful in the course of the project) to critique staff assumptions. New, more cognitively-demanding question sets tied explicitly to employability, wellbeing, intercultural awareness, and personal motivation are now producing much more usable data for staff and students.

The year abroad and employability skills for language students at Durham University

This chapter deals with the year spent abroad by language students and its impact on their employability skills, with a focus on students at the School of Modern Languages and Cultures (MLAC), Durham University, who spend the third year of their four-year Bachelor of Arts programme abroad. The chapter reviews selected studies on Study Abroad (SA) and employability skills and considers the context for Durham University students. The results of a questionnaire completed by students about the activities undertaken during the Year Abroad (YA), the employability skills that they developed, and how they present these skills to employers are then described. The analysis of their responses reveals that the great majority of students find the YA useful for employability, during which time they develop a wide range of transferable skills.

An examination of student experiences of wellbeing during the year abroad

This chapter examines student experiences of wellbeing during the Year Abroad (YA). Drawing on the responses to a student questionnaire by a cohort of language students at Warwick, this piece identifies the challenges to student wellbeing while abroad. Defining wellbeing as a ‘see-saw’ which requires a balance of challenge and resource to remain positive, the chapter argues for a framework for supporting students with wellbeing which places equal emphasis on the responsibilities of the student and of the home institution. It also argues that such a framework enables students to rise to the most common – frequently everyday – challenges to their wellbeing abroad.

Student concerns about their stay abroad: a comparison between British and German student concerns before and after their time abroad

While an extended stay abroad is generally assumed to be a valuable experience, some students are reluctant to take up the opportunity. To understand this phenomenon better, this study looks at students’ concerns before they embark on their time abroad (to undertake a study placement, work placement, or a language assistantship) and looks at returning students’ perceptions, to see the extent to which their initial concerns materialised. The research is based on two questionnaires distributed to over 800 participants at two universities (one in the UK, one in Germany). Besides quantitative data, qualitative responses give additional insights into the students’ perceptions. The results show marked differences between the two cohorts and also produce evidence of a considerable shift in students’ perceptions after their return: a high percentage of students noted that their anticipated concerns were not realised. The results of this study are useful in shedding some light on students’ concerns and can inform student support and Year Abroad (YA) preparation.

The year abroad – a process of reflection

The Year Abroad (YA) is one of the most valuable parts of our language degree programmes. Here we discuss some of the elements that constitute the assessment Nottingham Trent University students carry out to earn a YA diploma. More specifically we compare the two elements (blog and dossier) that we think contribute most to reflective practice, by analysing examples from students of French, German, and Spanish. Although at this point the analysis remains impressionistic, we compare which of these two elements helps students to reflect more deeply and meaningfully while achieving the YA objectives. The main findings indicate that both types of text help students to reflect on their experience and consequently to develop their Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC). Notably, the use of the target language does not appear to determine the level of reflection while the intended audience plays an important part in the style and accessibility of students’ work.

On the year abroad experience and positive wellbeing

This chapter examines the impact of the Year Abroad (YA) on mental health and wellbeing, arguing that whilst we tend to be systemically and culturally inclined to focus on and mitigate negative impact, we overlook the benefits. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data from students surveyed on placement in Germany and Austria, and on mental health research, this chapter highlights the positive impact of the YA, even where students are faced with challenging situations. It suggests a correlation between a range of factors including linguistic competence and otherness, facilitating a sense of wellbeing not attainable in a first language setting. These findings are indicative, suggesting that further, in-depth longitudinal research is warranted.

Embedding employability in year abroad preparation

UK universities are increasingly focusing on employability and internationalisation strategies, resulting in the promotion and integration of an optional or compulsory Professional Training Year (PTY) within degree programmes. The University of Surrey encourages students to undertake a PTY in the third year of undergraduate study, either in the UK or overseas. This is optional for most subjects but compulsory for language students, and corresponds to their Year Abroad (YA). As a consequence of the popularity of the PTY across all faculties and an emphasis on work experience, the vast majority of language students at Surrey choose to work abroad rather than study during their third year. In this chapter, I discuss some of the challenges and opportunities presented by work placements abroad and outline a range of strategies for embedding employability skills in YA preparation sessions and language modules.