How did Japanese college students change their thinking through internship/study abroad experiences?
This study investigates how Japanese college students changed their views of things through their six-month internship/study abroad experiences, by analysing their interviews pre- and post-internship/study abroad. Six Japanese female students, who joined a program which consist of internship in an American theme park and study at a local university, were interviewed by an English-speaking teacher before and after the program. The interviews were semi-structured: The questions included “What are you looking forward to?” and “What are you worried about?” before the program, and “What was the best experience?” and “What was the most difficult thing?” after the program. The results of the pre-interviews indicated that most of them looked forward to working as staff members in the theme park, making American friends there, and improving their English, while they were worried about their insufficient English ability and troubles caused by cultural differences. The results of the post-interview showed that the reality was somewhat different from their expectations while all of them found their work rewarding. Most of them found it was not easy to make American friends partly because of their lack of English ability. Some felt that English-speaking people were not so interested in people from other countries. On the other hand, all of them made good friends with non-English speakers, with whom they communicated in English. Some said that their stereotypical views of things changed. Most of them felt their listening ability improved while some were not satisfied with their speaking development. Although they experienced some loneliness, frustration, and disappointment during the sojourn, after all they think joining their an internship/study abroad program was a worthwhile experience. The analysis of the interviews revealed that their views of things changed in complex ways through their experiences abroad.