Written for study abroad practitioners, this book introduces theoretical understandings of key study abroad terms including “the global/national,” “culture,” “native speaker,” “immersion,” and “host society.” Building theories on these notions with perspectives from cultural anthropology, political science, educational studies, linguistics, and narrative studies, it suggests ways to incorporate them in study abroad practices. Through attention to daily activities via the concept of immersion, it reframes study abroad not as an encounter with cultural others but as an occasion to analyze constructions of “differences” in daily life, backgrounded by structural arrangements.

Written for study abroad practitioners, this book introduces theoretical understandings of key study abroad terms including “the global/national,” “culture,” “native speaker,” “immersion,” and “host society.” Building theories on these notions with perspectives from cultural anthropology, political science, educational studies, linguistics, and narrative studies, it suggests ways to incorporate them in study abroad practices. Through attention to daily activities via the concept of immersion, it reframes study abroad not as an encounter with cultural others but as an occasion to analyze constructions of “differences” in daily life, backgrounded by structural arrangements.

Acknowledgments

Introduction
     Sample Questions

Chapter 1. The Global and the National: Does the Global Need the National, and If It Does, What’s Wrong with That?
     Recommended Readings
     Sample Questions

Chapter 2. Culture: Is It a Homogeneous, Static Unit of Difference?
     Recommended Readings
     Sample Questions
     Activity: Study Abroad Checklist

Chapter 3. “Native Speakers”: Do They Really Exist, and Should Students Aim to Speak Like Them?
     Recommended Readings
     Sample Questions

Chapter 4. Immersion: Is It Really about “Living Like a Local”?
     Recommended Readings
     Activity: Daorba Yduts
     Sample Questions

Chapter 5. Host Society and Host Family: Who Are They, and Who Shapes Their Lives?
     Recommended Readings
     Sample Questions

Chapter 6. Border Crossing: Do We Instead Construct Borders through Learning and Volunteering?
     Recommended Readings
     Sample Questions

Chapter 7. Self-Transformation: Do Assessing and Talking about Self-Transformation Involve Power Politics?
     Recommended Readings
     Sample Questions

Conclusion and Departure: New Frameworks for Study Abroad

References
Index