While study abroad programs have traditionally been limited to language learners, they are increasingly available to a wider pool of students and courses, stakeholders said.
“I know this is a lot to put on universities, but if we want to expand the ability for students to do study abroad – especially since study abroad is far beyond language acquisition now – it would be helpful if universities were able to expand their offerings in English,” Sue Macchiarella, director of study abroad at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University told The PIE.
“A lot of people talk about the decolonisation of study abroad, and I get it. But there’s got to be a common language if we want to have a robust ability to send students around the world.”
Providing more English-taught courses will expand accessibility of study abroad for students across the globe, speakers suggested.
“I visited the Asia Exchange programs here in Bali, and those programs that had various studies in English were most appealing to me in terms of drawing US students,” said Troy Peden, founder of GoAbroad.com.
Founders of Asia Exchange, which helps students in over 115 countries study in destinations across Asia and Latin America, said South Korea is the organisation’s fastest growing study destination.
Other markets in southeast Asia such as Malaysia and Thailand are also growing, they said.
Macchiarella pointed to South Korea as an example of a country making strides in increasing the provision of English-taught courses, which is central to its five-year internationalisation program announced last year.
Similar efforts are being made in Japan under president Kishida’s ambitious new internationalisation plan encouraging universities to deliver more English-taught degrees.
“There must be a common language and it could’ve been French, it could’ve been Spanish, it could’ve been any language, but it just so happens to be English,” Macchiarella added.
“We have lots of students studying any number of degrees and they want to do study abroad, but the only language they speak is English.”
“They want to do study abroad, but the only language they speak is English”
Peden told delegates that even for American students majoring in a language, it was extremely rare for them to enrol in courses taught in that language alongside native speakers while studying abroad.
Instead, he said they were taking language courses at varying levels, alongside English-taught classes in other areas of study such as culture and history.
“Historically, the study abroad programs outbound from the US were created by faculty and administrators, not by market demand, so they weren’t often what the students wanted and part of the growth that we’re seeing is the rise of these programs driven by demand,” said Peden.
Macchiarella agreed that being able to study a “smorgasbord” of courses was another priority for US students, who are accustomed to taking a wide variety of modules at their home universities.
However, she acknowledged that there is high demand among US students to study abroad in France and Italy, though the provision of English-taught courses is less widely available than in other countries.
Across the two-day conference, delegates heard from industry experts about the value of long-haul experiences overseas and how to navigate the pitfalls of student mobility.
A panel discussion about the challenges and opportunities of AI was particularly pertinent as educators and professionals continue to navigate the explosion of the technology across international higher education.
In spite of AI’s enabling of more remote learning opportunities, attendees were reassured of the enduring value of face-to-face learning and study abroad experiences.