The Romance and the Reality between Pre-service Teachers’ Beliefs about the Potential Benefits of a Short-term Study Abroad Programme and their Practices

Source: Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, Volume 22, Issue 7, 2016, Pages 765-781

The purpose of this study was to explore Hong Kong pre-service teachers’ beliefs about the potential benefits of a short-term study abroad programme and their practices.
Data were collected through pre- and post-programme semi-structured interviews and reflective journals.

The findings reveal that the transformation of beliefs into practices plays a critical role in the actualization of possible learning outcomes, such as increasing the use of the target language, fostering pedagogical development, broadening cultural understanding and nurturing personal growth. The programme per se, however, does not guarantee target language enhancement in a short time.