This paper reports a case study that investigates whether study abroad can develop Japanese university students’ understanding of English as a lingua franca (ELF) based on data obtained before, during, and after SA. It discusses factors that prevented students from fully developing understanding of the diversity of English.
Promotion of study abroad (SA) has become an educational trend of universities in many countries. Japan, one of such countries, widely encourages universities to send students to overseas in order to develop two vital abilities for global persons: They are a working command of the current global language, i.e. English, and intercultural competence. It is expected that SA can provide students with first-hand experiences of communicating in English as a lingua franca (ELF) with linguaculturally diverse people such as international students and this leads to better intercultural competence. Therefore, many universities in Japan have started to incorporate SA programmes into their bachelor curriculum. However, the underlying assumption of this movement[quotrightB?]•using ELF can develop students’ appreciation of the cultural diversity[quotrightB?]•needs to be investigated. As ELF communication usually involves non-traditional forms and uses of English, understanding features of lingua franca use of English may be indispensable. In addition, it has been pointed out that changing L2 English users’ highly positive views of native English speakers is not straightforward. Therefore, just providing an opportunity for SA would not help students to be global persons. What this paper attempts to discuss is whether experiences of ELF communication at SA destinations influence on students’ views of English and how and why they change views, if any. Focusing on one Japanese university SA programme, the paper explores changes of the students’ views of English by looking into questionnaire and interview data obtained before, during, and after their SA programme. One important finding of this case study is that SA experiences would make students more tolerant of non-traditional uses of English, but this does not necessarily mean that they positively accept the diversity of English. This seems to be invited by many factors, including the students’ positions in and components of the programme.
