As the world continues to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic, Japanese universities and students have begun deliberating about restarting their short-term study abroad programs. The current article reports on a study abroad program which was held during August and September 2022. Program participants included five students enrolled at a small public university in northern Japan, who joined a 1-month study abroad program held at a major public university located in the eastern United States. The focus of the study abroad program was to improve the participants’ English linguistic abilities, as well as introduce aspects of American culture and society in an effort to foster greater cross-cultural understanding. As a measure of linguistic ability, the five program participants took part in a TOEIC Speaking Test prior to their departure and after returning to Japan in a pre-test post-test manner. T-test results showed statistically significant gains in the participants’ English speaking abilities over the 1-month study abroad program. Qualitative data was also collected to gauge how Japanese study abroad participants perceived the prospects of studying abroad during the current COVID-19 era. It is hoped that results of the current study will encourage and support future short-term study abroad programs.
Nall et al. (Sat,) studied this question.
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