In a study informed by Lave and Wenger's (1991) Situated Learning Theory and their notion of legitimate peripheral participation, Chan and Chi (2017) found that short-term study abroad had a positive impact on the intercultural development of Korean language learners. The study abroad programme – including its language and culture courses, as well as planned interactions with and incidental encounters in the local community – benefited learners in the development of the knowledge, attitudes and skills for the cultivation of critical cultural awareness and intercultural competence. Of crucial importance for such development are the learners' legitimate peripheral participation and their interactions with members of the target language community (such as their local student buddies and host families). The study reported in this presentation builds upon the foundation and findings of Chan and Chi (2017) and seeks to collect data through questionnaires, journal reports, interviews and observations. Through the analysis of the mainly qualitative data, the researchers aim to illuminate the roles of those significant others in the target language community who provide vital support for the learners' legitimate peripheral participation and culture learning. In particular, the study will focus on if and how their interventions, planned or incidental, can trigger and scaffold the learners' self-mediational processes to make sense of new cultural experiences and construct new cultural meanings, as well as to critically reflect on self, the target language culture and their native culture.
Reference:
Chan, W. M., & Chi, S. W. (2017). In-country language immersion and the development of Korean language learners' intercultural competence. International Journal of Korean Language Education, 3(2), 1–36.
