| This study investigates how 18 undergraduate U.S. American students made sense of their daily cultural encounters as they participated in a 6-week language and culture study abroad program in Mayen, Germany. Guided by aspects of several perspectives on culture learning (Bennett, 1993; Hess, 1997; Kim, 1988; Moran, 2001; Paige, Jorstad, Siaya, Klein & Colby, 2003) and using an interpretive qualitative research methodology and ethnographic techniques, this case study illuminates students' experiences with culture learning from the participants' perspective and highlights several issues that factored into these experiences and perspectives. There were two purposes to this research. The first was to document how students defined, experienced, and perceived self-identified cultural encounters as they navigated the complexities of their study abroad program. The second was to conceptualize culture learning during short-term study abroad.; The findings of this study led to several conclusions. First, short-term study abroad programs like the Mayen program can be fertile and productive venues for culture learning; however, culture learning needs to become a priority and as explicit an endeavor as language learning. Second, short-term study abroad should be viewed as a way to not only introduce students to one or more cultures, but also, and perhaps more importantly, as an opportunity to develop culture learning strategies that can prepare students for future intercultural experiences abroad and at home. Third, program components, such as the host family and weekend travel, should be carefully examined in order to determine if and how they support, or possibly hinder, culture learning. Fourth, both students' and faculty leaders' pre-existing ideas about culture and culture learning need to be addressed, explored, and discussed both before and during the program, so that all involved are on the same page and working towards the same goals. Fifth, while students grappled with deeper subjective elements of culture while abroad, they still needed guidance, in the form of culture learning strategies and a vocabulary for investigating, articulating, and processing their observations, experiences, interactions, reactions, and feelings. Sixth, because students possess varying backgrounds, personalities, interests, goals, and previous travel experience, students need to be met where they are in their culture learning journey and given the freedom and encouragement to explore and discuss what is intriguing and meaningful to them. Thus I suggest that short-term programs such as the Mayen program be viewed as a unique opportunity for cultural data collection and examination with culture learning serving as both an academic focus and method of learning. |
