This study investigated the effects of an intensive summer program on students’ writing, reading, listening, vocabulary, and grammar skills. The program consisted of 4 weeks at the U.S. home institution and 4 weeks in Berlin, Germany, and offered the equivalent of two college‐level, second‐year German classes in one summer. During the last three summers, students’ language skills were assessed before and after each summer program using the DIALANG assessment tool. Data were also collected from students participating in the regular‐semester classes, and the outcomes of students in fourth‐semester German were compared to those of students in the summer program. Data revealed that the summer students made statistically significant improvements in all language areas from before to after the program. They outperformed the students who completed the regular courses at home in the areas of vocabulary and listening but achieved lower levels in reading. The results suggest that intensive summer programs that combine at‐home courses and a short‐term stay abroad have positive effects on students’ second language skills and can provide a viable option for students who are unable to spend longer periods in the target country.
The article summarizes the effects of an eight week short term study abroad program four weeks in the U nited S tates and four weeks in Germany on students’ global competence. Students’ global competence was measured with the Global Competence Aptitude Assessment (GCAA) before and after the eight week summer program. Data was collected from three summer programs and a total of 42 students participa ted in the study. The results indicate that students made statistically significant improvements in several dimensions of global competence but also statistically declined in one area. Suggestions for possible curricular and programmatic changes were made that may be put into place to provide more opportunities for the development of global competence in future iterations of this summer study abroad program.
The purpose of this project was to identify target language benchmarks for the German program at Michigan State University (MSU) based on national and international guidelines and previous research, to assess language skills across course levels and class sections in the entire German program, and to adjust the language benchmarks as needed based on the study results and make recommendations for the curriculum. The goal of the study was to identify cost‐ and time‐effective valid and reliable assessment tools for program‐wide language assessment. During the 2012 spring semester, all students enrolled in a German class at MSU (N = 320) participated in this study. At the beginning of the semester, students completed two different language tests both advertised as being aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). The research was guided by the following two research questions: (1) What are the mean and median language levels of students enrolled in German classes at MSU as determined by (a) a language learning software test, and (b) a language test adapted from Goethe‐Institut practice exams? and (2) Is there a correlation between the two tests and/or subsections of the tests? Benchmark levels were initially set as Novice High after the first year of language study, Intermediate Low after the second year, Intermediate High after the third year, and Advanced Low after the fourth year. Students mostly met the benchmark levels, though not equally at each program level and not equally across skills, with the higher scores in productive skills rather than receptive skills. While there was a correlation between the tests and course levels and also between many of the test portions, the tests did not yield the same CEFR ratings, which suggests that at least one of the instruments was not as valid and reliable as hoped. After reviewing the results, the benchmarks were revised to Intermediate Low after the first year, Intermediate Mid after the second year, Intermediate High after the third year, and Advanced Low after the fourth year with the recommendation to put more emphasis on receptive skills in the curriculum.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.