A Study on Short- and Long-term Impacts of Studying Abroad: The Educational Value of Study Abroad Through Personal Attitude Construct Analysis

• In Event: International Learning: Why Choose Study Abroad?

Proposal

Purpose
This study aims to investigate short- and long-term impacts of studying abroad and examine how overseas experiences influence learners who studied abroad. In this study, categories that emerged immediately after studying abroad are called “short-term impact” and categories that emerged one year after completing the overseas program are called “long-term impact.” For the analysis, I adopted the conceptual framework used by Adachi (2010). I conducted a qualitative research and analyzed the results using the personal attitude construct (PAC) method (Naito, 1997), including interviewing, assembling, and analyzing personal views using cluster analysis.
Several studies have conducted quantitative research on the educational value of study abroad programs, including large quantitative studies done by the Japanese Ministry of Education and the Japan Student Services Organization. However, we must be mindful of the shortcomings of these large surveys because they obscure the voices and experiences of the respondents. Moreover, most survey questions are designed according to the researchers’ frameworks and the results are interpreted based on the researchers’ value and external experiences. Therefore, in my research, I focused on the following: (1) interviewing students who had experience studying overseas, instead of targeting large quantitative studies or generalizing the outcomes; (2) examining the short- and long-term impacts of studying abroad on students by conducting PAC analysis; and (3) creating a measurement too through which students can objectively, visually, and systematically evaluate the change in their beliefs and their personal growth after studying abroad.

Theoretical/Conceptual Framework
Many studies have verified the academic merit of studying abroad. Rubin and Sutton (2001) discussed the benefits of studying abroad from two reference points, academic (development of knowledge and skills) and non-academic (emotional, attitudinal, and personal growth). Adachi (2010) divided the educational value of studying abroad into: (1) academic learning, (2) gaining proficiency in a language, (3) acquisition of cross-cultural adaptability, and (4) human growth. After conducting a literature review, I partially adopted Adachi’s conceptual framework (2010). Moreover, I will also discuss how many Japanese students currently study abroad, the current status of study abroad programs, the students’ English proficiency level, and the international experiences of Japanese students. I collected qualitative data and conducted a PAC analysis at two periodical points – immediately after the overseas program and one year after their return.

Method and Data
Numerous qualitative research projects have been conducted using PAC analysis. Suetada (2001), noted that PAC analysis can be used to develop a theory based on case studies. In this study, PAC analysis was implemented in three stages. First, I conducted a free association exercise using the following stimulus - “things you learned from overseas experience.” By using a stimulus, associations were derived from the subject’s frame of reference, instead of the researcher. The subject was then asked to evaluate the similarity between each pair of obtained items, thus allowing me to determine the psychological distance. Based on these results, I made a distance matrix which served as input for a cluster analysis. The dendrogram became the basis of knowledge for further shared qualitative exploration.

Results
In this presentation, I will illustrate the dendrogram chart that was produced using the PAC analysis results. Based on the cluster analysis, several common findings emerged regarding students’ experiences studying abroad. The following four domains emerged: (1) “Cognition and Knowledge Domain,” including cultural awareness, deepening of knowledge, and understanding different cultures, (2) "Mental Domain", (3) "Language Domain", and (4) “Behavioral Domain.” Through the PAC analysis, 25 clusters emerged immediately after studying abroad. Among them, 10 clusters are related to “Cognition and Knowledge Domain,” 1 to “Mental Domain," 3 to “Language Domain,” and 11 to “Behavioral Domain.” I collected data from students one year after they returned; 25 clusters emerged. Among them, 7 clusters are related to "Cognition and Knowledge Domain," 3 to “Mental Domain," 15 to “Behavioral Domain,” and “Language Domain” disappeared 1 year after they returned.
The study results show that the short-term impacts of studying abroad are primarily “Cognitive and Knowledge Domain” (awareness of food culture, differences in work consciousness, awareness of Japanese culture) and “Behavioral Domain” (positive attitude toward one’s life, aggressiveness, and positive communication style). The long-term impacts show how studying abroad influenced the students’ “Behavioral Domain,” with responses, such as “I became more positive”, “I became confident”, “My communication skills improved.” Studying abroad first influenced the students’ “Cognitive and Knowledge Domain” such as their knowledge, cognition, consciousness, and individual value systems. The “Cognitive and Knowledge Domain” gradually influenced and changed students’ behavior or “Behavior Domain” over the course of a year.

Significance
Numerous studies have shown the merits of studying abroad; however, few studies have focused on its short- and long-term impacts on individual growth. This study is significant for the following three reasons. First, 36 interviews and PAC analysis results revealed that students’ overseas experiences emerged in four domains: - “Cognition and Knowledge Domain,” “Mental Domain,” “Language Domain,” and “Behavioral Domain.” Second, I classified students’ experiences into short- and long-term impacts; as a short-term impact, studying abroad first influenced students’ cultural awareness and knowledge and behavioral patterns such as becoming increasingly aggressive or having a positive attitude. Third, students’ cognitive stage gradually influenced their behavioral pattern and domain, which was deemed a long-term impact. Additionally, “Language Domain” shows an interesting finding. Although the primary purpose of this overseas program was to study English, the influence of “Language Domain” was rather insignificant and disappeared one year after studying abroad. Data are still being analyzed. I will present more findings at the conference. The study results show the reality of students’ cross-cultural experiences and the impacts of studying abroad on students’ personal growth and intercultural competency.

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports Science and Technology (MEXT) - JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP17K03017.

Author

• Hitomi Maeda, Mejiro University