Study abroad is often treated in terms of individual student outcomes, and has recently been discussed as potentially detrimental to smaller language programs--in that student participation in semester- or year-long programs subtracts from enrollments in upper-level courses. In this article, the promotion of study abroad in a small German program…

The MLA Report on "Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World" has been criticized for focusing its proposals on large German programs. This article attempts to show how some of its recommendations can also be implemented in smaller language programs. These programs exist within a network of relations to other…

Recognizing the global role of information technology, this article describes a USDOE-funded transatlantic mobility program in the area of IT project management. The project enhances intercultural as well as German language skills and promotes a mutual understanding of EU and US cultures. The relationship between IT and German-language programs…

This study investigated students' motives for participating in a short-term study abroad program in Germany, their expectations about learning progress at the beginning of the program, and their perceived progress in various language skills at the end of the program. Findings indicated that students' expectations were higher than their perceived…

The benefits of Language for Specific Purposes programs in engineering are well-known, but such programs are impractical for smaller universities and colleges. RISE (Research Internships in Science and Engineering) is a new opportunity for undergraduate students that allows smaller programs to appeal to engineering students and their professors to…

This article discusses a short-term study abroad program conducted in Berlin in English for college students. Guided by the academic goals of developing cultural competence, demonstrating cultural communication, and attaining a basic level of cultural literacy, this program, with its pre- and post-program academic components, offers an alternative…

This article discusses components that can make study abroad programs more effective so that students successfully improve their language and culture competency and gain a more sophisticated understanding of the host culture. First, the authors offer ideas for language instructors at home on how to integrate culture learning into the classroom and…

This article describes an intercultural workshop designed for American students from the University of Rhode Island's International Engineering Program who are going to Germany to work and to study. The activities and goals of the workshop are explained. The outcomes and findings show that participation in the pre-departure intercultural workshop…

Research opportunities for undergraduates in the social sciences remain relatively rare. If they exist at all they are usually in the natural sciences and engineering. In study abroad the situation is particularly pronounced: a semester or year abroad is still more a time for cultural and linguistic immersion than it is for building specific…

Based on findings from a recent study investigating how a group of undergraduate students defined, experienced, and perceived self-identified cultural encounters during a five-week stay in Mayen, Germany, this article suggests that short-term language and culture study abroad programs are fertile venues for exploring culture learning. After…

Not only has the US Senate designated 2006 the Year of Study Abroad; the year also marks the anniversary of a distinguished tradition of study abroad in Germany that reaches back 75 years. Founded in 1931, suspended during the war years, and re-opened in 1953 by Wayne State University, the Junior Year in Munich is America's oldest study abroad…

DepaeThe new conditions of the study abroad "market" have impelled us to rethink the costs and benefits of a small, selective US-based program, such as Duke in Berlin. The principal advantage, we argue, is an environment of "academic intimacy," a generous teacher/student ratio, which in turn fosters additional undergraduate research and internship…

This article presents the results of a longitudinal study investigating the pronunciation of American students learning German, focusing on the importance of stress, rhythm, and intonation for a native-like accent in German. The present study investigated German pronunciation for two groups of American students from the Midwest. Students in one…

Describes a literature course designed for students studying abroad, aimed at improving their chances of becoming "culturally fluent" during their stay abroad. Using writings by German and Austrian authors on dealing with cultures other than their own, provides an ongoing orientation and help to develop cultural sensitivities. (AS)

Outlines a set of Web-based exercises for students preparing to study abroad that encourages them to develop a cultural context for the places that are about to visit and thus to maximize the educational benefit of their stay abroad. (Author/VWL)