Sessions

Pre-departure orientation for study in the U.K.

Despite the importance of pre-departure orientations that focus on the culture and language of the host country where students study abroad, it appears that pre-departure orientations provided by many Japanese universities are limited to the basics, such as travel logistics and health and safety issues. Consequently, students could end up regarding studying abroad as merely traveling, rather than as educational opportunities. The purpose of this presentation, therefore, is to explore how pre-departure orientations that focus on the target culture and language would benefit students planning to study abroad. As an English teacher at a university in Japan, I developed a pre-departure orientation intended for university students planning to attend a two-week general English language course in the U.K. to help them understand British culture and improve English before studying abroad; and I conducted a qualitative case study to investigate participants’ perceptions of the newly developed pre-departure orientation to understand whether the orientation benefited students from studying abroad perspectives. I believe that the presentation will help you understand the benefits of pre-departure orientations that focus on the culture and language of the host country.