Analysis of Behaviors Documented in Reflective Journals in Study Abroad ePortfolios to Improve Pre-Departure Training

Abstract

In study abroad research, capturing learning evidence and using it to improve pre-departure training is in demand. Our study applied Kirkpatrick’s training evaluation for study abroad and analyzed students’ reflective journals documented over time for evidence of how students used a target intercultural skill taught during pre-departure training. The findings were then utilized to discuss how to improve the training. In-depth analysis of reflective journals indicated that most common contexts in which sojourners used the skill resembled our training context and signaled the importance of buddy schemes. However, it also revealed sojourners’ various cultural engagements and their stages of advancement of cultural inquiry which were not covered in the training. Students’ reflective journals, importantly, documented encounters with language difficulties in complex cultural inquiry with affective evidence. This raised issues that training needs to incorporate linguistic components to handle advanced cultural dialogues.