Global Learning for Local Serving: Establishing the Links Between Study Abroad and Post-college Volunteering

Mitic, Radomir Ray

doi:10.1007/s11162-020-09604-w

Cited by 8 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…The durable effects of study abroad have been extensively investigated through survey research in the field of international education. These studies have shown, for example, that returning students display enhanced academic focus (Hadis, 2005), increased intercultural competence (Rexeisen et al., 2008; Salisbury et al., 2013), civic (DeGraaf et al., 2013; Mitic, 2020) and global engagement (Paige et al., 2009), and openness to other cultures (Bakalis & Joiner, 2004). Further, this experience has been shown to exert considerable influence on career direction and personal development (Dwyer, 2004; Geyer et al., 2017; Norris & Gillespie, 2009).…”

Section: The Long‐term Influence Of Study Abroadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term language use by US‐based study‐abroad alumni: Activity types and program effects

Zhuang,

Kinginger

2024

The Modern Language Journal

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This article presents selected results from a large‐scale, mixed‐methods, federally funded investigation of US‐based language study‐abroad alumni of all ages, which included a nationwide survey (N = 4,899) followed by professional life history interviews with 54 participants. Here, we focus on three questions heretofore unaddressed: (a) How do these alumni continue to use their additional languages? (b) How is long‐term language use associated with various study‐abroad program features? and (c) How is the role of program features reflected in life history narratives? We found that 79% of participants use their languages in at least one of the activities listed on the survey, though this use is generally confined to informal, interactive tasks. Our examination of program features using multiple regression revealed that while all features were statistically significant predictors for long‐term language use, those involving engagement with local communities (e.g., close personal relationships) showed more relative importance. Contextualized with a sample of our qualitative data, findings from this study offer a macrolevel confirmation that local engagement during study abroad retains its significance for language use over the long term and provide implications for designing study‐abroad programs that involve language learning.

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