Assessing Language Acquisition and Intercultural Sensitivity Development in Relation to Study Abroad Program Design

Study abroad professionals have attempted in recent years to bring a statistical objectivity to the evaluation of the American study abroad experience. The complexity of international education is such that it is far from easy to move towards significant, objectively measurable, and comparable outcomes. What follows is the preliminary examination of one attempt to generate and interpret meaningful statistical assessment of the study abroad experience, within the context of specifically defined study abroad program types. We will examine the data thus far generated, suggest its limitations, and appeal for a continued gathering of information. We will suggest a structured, coordinated , profession-wide assessment effort that will, we hope, gradually reveal a useful correlation between study abroad learning and the input of program variables such as duration, housing, experiential work and on-site mentoring. If, as a profession, study abroad is to invest in outcomes assessment, it would be sensible for such efforts to utilize profession-wide definitions and standards. The study described here has taken place over eight semesters at the American University Center of Provence (AUCP), a small, independent, semester or full-year study abroad program for students with a high intermediate/advanced level of prior French study. At AUCP an institutional commitment to outcomes assessment was born of two established overseas educational goals, both of which are consciously reflected in the design of its program. Through certain aspects of its program design, AUCP hoped to create circumstances that would allow students to achieve optimal results in the acquisition of foreign language (French), and in the development of cross-cultural sensitivity and skills. Having put in place these learning and experiential strategies, the next logical step was to gather evidence to verify whether or not they had worked.