Intercultural Learning on Short-Term Sojourns

Abstract

This paper presents an ethnographic case study of advanced second language (L2) students from Hong Kong who took part in a short-term sojourn in England after fourteen weeks of preparation. While abroad, they lived with a host family, took literary/ cultural studies courses, visited cultural sites, participated in debriefing sessions, and conducted ethnographic projects. Data consisted of interviews, an intercultural reflections journal, surveys, field notes, ethnographic conversations, and a diary. The Intercultural Development Inventory measured their intercultural sensitivity on entry, after the presojourn preparation, and post-sojourn. The findings supported the primary assumption that underpins the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity: ‘as one’s experience of cultural difference becomes more complex and sophisticated, one’s competence in intercultural relations increases’ (Intercultural Communication Institute, 2004).