Pre-departure Workshop for
Outbound Exchange Students:
Helping you to develop strategies to maximise
learning from your overseas exchange
Lilian Kwan
Associate Vice President
• If you don’t need to go somewhere, do you wait
at a bus stop?
• When you are at the bus stop, do you get on any
bus that comes along?
In other words, you begin
with the end result, i.e.
your goal, in mind!
Picture from MS Office clip arts
Let’s begin with the end results/goals of overseas exchange:
 What do you want the end results of your exchange to be?
 What do other people (e.g. employers) expect you to accomplish?




had a fantastic extended
overseas holidays !
become more proficient in
the language of the host
country
developed skills of
independent and reflective
learning
developed cultural
awareness and acquired
intercultural competence
Picture from MS Office clip arts
At the end of this pre-departure
briefing/workshop you should be able to…
identify strategies to help you:raise your foreign language proficiency (English,
French, Putonghua, etc
enhance skills necessary to become an independent
reflective learner
develop cultural awareness that is important in
today’s global/international business world
adopt an outcomes-based approach to maximize
value from your upcoming exchange
Picture from MS Office clip arts
ILO 1: strategies to rely on yourself to
learn/improve your English
First encounters – when you first arrive at
your host country, what
difficulties/challenges do you think you
may have in using English/Putonghua/etc in
real-life situations?
Learning English in the classroom ≠ learning/improving English
in real life and without a teacher
learn English in the classroom –
with a teacher
learn/improve English by myself –
but how?
Pictures from MS Office clip arts
A framework of self-directed learning to improve
your English proficiency
Where am I now?
identify my English
strengths &
weaknesses
How do I keep improving?
repeat of the process
Self-learning
and selfmanagement
How do I know I am there?
self-monitor,
demonstrate my success
Where do I want to be?
set language/
performance goals
How can I get there?
adopt learning
strategies and make an
action plan
What are your strengths/weaknesses
in spoken English ?
main “components” of spoken English
proficiency:
• fluency & coherence
• lexical resources (vocabulary)
• grammatical range and accuracy
• pronunciation
What are your strengths/weaknesses
in written English?
main “components” of written English
proficiency:
• appropriate tone and style
• coherence & cohesion
• lexical resources (vocabulary)
• grammatical range and accuracy
Where are you now with your English
proficiency? and where do you want to be
after your exchange?
Activity 1:
With reference to your IELTS speaking and writing
scores,
1. identify “where you are now” in your level of spoken and
written English
2. decide “where you want to go” by setting a higher
benchmark / performance goals for yourself
Strategies to rely on yourself to improve your English
Become proficient
find out where you are, and
your strengths and weaknesses
set performance/learning goals
for yourself
discover/develop effective
language-learning strategies
find opportunities to
use/practise the strategies
Picture from MS Office clip arts
Some suggestions to help you
increase your language exposure while overseas 
watch local TV soap operas, listen to commercials, go to movies, etc. (often
entertaining!)
ask for directions – even when you know where you’re going!
read materials posted on bulletin boards in your host university
read the local newspaper (gives you topics for conversation with people AND builds
vocabulary)
read a magazine on your most favourite hobby (makes the reading enjoyable!)
ask questions about items on the menu (don’t juts point and nod to order food!)
ask the grocer how to make a local dish (and try it out with local friends!)
talk to the bus driver or a fellow passenger during your commute
talk to librarians about their favourite books
visit museums and read the written explanations about the exhibits
Concluding ILO 1:
adopting a self-directed “quality loop” and developing
new strategies to improve your English
Plan
Act
Do
Review
Make sure your action plans are SMART
•Specific
•Manageable
•Actionable
•Relevant
•Timely
A framework for lifelong self-regulatory
learning in general
Where am I now?
My strengths &
weaknesses
How do I keep improving?
Repeat of the process
Self-learning
and selfmanagement
How do I know I am there?
Evidence of success
Where do I want to be?
My goals
How can I get there?
An action plan
ILO 2: enabling you to become an
independent reflective learner 
going
overseas for
exchange
becoming a selfregulatory learner
What’s the
relationship?
Picture from MS Office clip arts
supervised classroom learning ≠
real-life experiential learning
supervised classroom
learning
real-life experiential
learning
Picture from MS Office clip arts
Real-life experiential learning for exchange students
develop cultural
awareness and
intercultural competence
learn/improve English
in real-life everyday
situations
adapt to the different
teaching/learning styles
in a foreign university
How do I learn these when there are no
teachers around to tell me what to do?
Picture from MS Office clip arts
Critical Reflection
 What did I learn?
 How, specifically, did I learn?
 Why does this learning matter;
why is it important?
 In what ways will I use this learning;
what does this learning tell me
about what I should do in future?
 What has this learning experience
taught me about how I can
improve myself further, or my
future services?
Picture from http://www.whitehouse.gov/
Six levels of reflection
Level
Description
VI
Considering self-monitoring and evaluation
V
Thinking through to how to adapt/apply
learning to new situations
IV
III
II
I
Making the connection
Reflecting on the learning experience
Making explicit the experience
Recalling/describing an experience only
Level I
Description
Recalling/describing an experience only
Example
I have attended a pre-departure workshop for
outbound exchange students.
You experience the learning passively without
giving it thought – it just happens.
Characteristics
You do nothing to relate what the learning
covered (i.e. the contents) to your learning
objectives.
Often not sure/ do not really care what you
have learned exactly.
Level II
Description
Making explicit the experience
The workshop pointed out three important
goals for overseas exchange.
Example
It also introduced us to some strategies for
achieving those three goals.
We were also shown the cycle of work that
SA outbound students have to complete for
their exchange.
Characteristics
You are able to articulate your learning
experience to others, but only at a superficial
level with little significance.
Level III
Description
Reflecting on the learning experience
I can now describe (as an example) an effective
English-learning learning cycle…
Example
I use the cycle to help me identify things that I did
not do before when I was learning English.
I also reflect on my experience of using English/
taking English tests in order to identify my strengths
and weaknesses.
You know what the learning has meant to you.
Characteristics
You are able to interpret it in a deeper way,
providing a range of examples and a clear
explanation of what you have gained from the
experience.
Level IV
Description
Making the connection
Example
As I use the effective English learning cycle that I
leaned about today, I also look back at my past
learning experiences (English and otherwise)
to:
1) examine whether I was an effective learner
2) ask why I was successful/not successful
Now I understand that effective learning (English or
otherwise) requires a continual chain of events.
Characteristics
You are able to draw your learning together,
internalize it and see the bigger picture.
You can recognize links/applications to other
learning situations and the broader context.
Level V
Description
Thinking through to how to adapt/ apply learning to new
situations
Example
Now that I have considered my past learning experiences,
I will make SMART action plans for my future endeavours.
Next time I will assess my strengths and weaknesses
carefully first to help me set proper goals.
My action plan to success must include all the
components of the learning cycle. This way I am more
likely to succeed.
Characteristics
You can make connections and piece together what you
have learned.
You are able to put learning into practice and apply in
new situations.
In other words, you transfer your learning to add value in
new contexts.
Level VI
Description
Considering self-monitoring and evaluation
Example
In future, I will monitor/review the progress I make
on my new action plans for effective learning.
I will also evaluate my achievement regularly.
If necessary, I will make adjustment to my plans , or I
will adopt new actions, until my learning goals are
accomplished.
Characteristics
You are able to sustain your learning over time. You
are more flexible and effective in applying your
learning to new situations, constantly evaluating its
worth and adapting your thinking accordingly.
You take responsibility for, and control of, your own
development.
Six levels of critical reflection
Level
Description
6
Considering self-monitoring and evaluation
5
Thinking through to how to adapt/apply
learning to new situations
4
Making the connection
3
Reflecting on the learning experience
2
Making explicit the experience
1
Recalling/describing an experience only
R
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p
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n
d
R
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f
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In short, reflection is not just about
“remembering” and “reporting”
You need to look backwards as well as forwards.
You need to make changes as well as plan for the future.
Looking backward
Looking forward
Lv. Lv. Lv.
Lv. 1Lv. 2Lv. 3
4
5
6
reviewing
realising,
changing
planning
28
However, remember that reflection is only one component of effective
independent learning!
You also need to …
• manage time effectively
• set objectives, priorities and standards
• take responsibility for own learning
• develop and adapt learning strategies
• use learning in new or different
situations
Which/How many of
these characteristic(s)
are typical of you?
Which of these skills do
you think are particularly
important when studying
overseas and why?
• plan/work towards long-term aims and
goals
• purposefully reflect on own learning
• clarify with criticism constructively
• cope with stress
Picture from MS Office clip arts
ILO 3:
Developing cultural awareness and acquiring
intercultural competence
taking a closer look: what is “culture”?
applying different orientations to core
values to explain how different
countries may have different cultural
values
concluding on what you can do to help
you develop cultural awareness about
your host country
what students commonly mentioned when
they talk about culture 
• food
• clothing/ways of dressing
• customs/ traditions
• beliefs
• preferences
• the arts, literature, etc.
Feedback:
What most students do not mentioned 
The different “dimensions” or “aspects” of culture
 objective (e.g., artifacts, food, clothing, etc)
 subjective (e.g., concepts of values, attitudes, belief
systems, societal rules that govern behaviours,
communication styles, etc)
 subjective elements involve interpretation and
evaluation !
 subjective elements often influence how we interact
with people from different cultural backgrounds !
Page, R. M. (2009) co-author of Maximizing Study Abroad.
One effective way to learn about different
cultures and acquire intercultural competence
It’s useful to think of culture like it’s an iceberg
because:
• some elements of culture are readily
observable (above the water)
• others elements of culture are less obvious
(under the water)
• In learning about culture, we need to think
beyond the superficial or simply visible
manifestations of culture.
(i.e. If we do not want to sink like the Titanic,
we need to see more than just “the tip of the
iceberg”!)
Adapted from Page, R. M. (2009) co-author of Maximizing Study Abroad.
Image from http://www.ralphclevenger.com/
Activity :
Adopting the “iceberg” model to identify visible and invisible
aspects of culture
Some “observations”:
• food (Indian Hindus do not eat beef;
British like to eat fish & chips)
• clothing (unlike Asian women, many
American women do not mind wearing
“sexy” clothes)
• politeness (Englishmen are more polite
towards females than Japanese men)
In groups, discuss what beliefs or
value systems may lie
underneath such “observations”.
Image from http://www.ralphclevenger.com/
Example:
Different cultures communicate differently!
Verbal communication is shaped by cultural
experience, for example:
• rate of speech
• voice modulation (soft/loud)
Many non-verbal communication patterns do
not have the same meaning in all cultures, for
example:
• body language
• eye contact
• physical proximity
influences whether we
see people as rude
or polite
we think people who
break these “cultural
rules” are rude,
impolite, or intrusive
Activity : In groups, discuss how you think Chinese and Westerners
communicate in different ways, and whether the differences may
cause misunderstanding or bad feelings.
Another effective way to learn about different
cultures and acquire intercultural competence
consider how “core cultural values” differ between your
country and those of other nationalities
avoid using your own cultural standards/values to judge the
behaviours of other nationalities
Do you have any personal examples of “wrong judgments” to
share?
Example:
Different cultures value the core value of time differently!
? What does it mean to be “on time”?
? What does it mean to be “late” for an
appointment/meeting?
? How do you feel when someone arrives
“late”? – explain why you feel like that.
Activity (group discussion):
• What are your answers to these questions?
• How do you think most people in ZH will answer these
questions?
• How do you think Westerners are likely to answer the
questions
A cycle of work to help you maximise value and
make your exchange a success
Picture from MS Office clip arts
Concluding on ILO 3:
Strategies to help you develop cultural awareness and acquire cultural
competence
• See NOT ONLY the tip of the culture iceberg but the
values/beliefs that lie underneath
• Find out how people in your host country value certain core
cultural values AND think how they differ from your own
differences can lead to misunderstanding!
 how can you avoid potential misunderstanding?
• Be prepared to EXPLAIN the differences in cultural values to
people from other countries so they too, can understand
Chinese/ZH culture
• Use the Culture Learning Strategies Inventory to
understand/adapt to different cultures
Picture from MS Office clip arts
ILO 4: Adopting an outcomes-based approach (OBA) to selfregulate your exchange learning experience
Where am I now?
• English language skills now
• cultural awareness now
? independent/reflective learning
skills
How do I keep improving?
Repeat of the process for
life-long learning
Self-learning
and selfmanagement
How do I know I am there?
Look for evidence of success
Where do I want to be?
What I want to be able to do
after my exchange:? desired level of English performance
? high degree of cultural competence
? become an independent life-long
learner
How can I get there?
•make an action plan
•anticipate problems
•find solutions
•follow the plan
A pre-departure form designed to help you to adopt OBA
Part A – importance of the goals
(think ahead into the future; consider your future career/ personal development)
 Are any of the exchange ILOs important/valuable to you – complete Part A
Part B - reason why goals are important
(unpack WHY the goals are important /not important to you to help you to plan how to
move forward)
 Specify the reasons
Part C – SMART learning outcomes
(what are the demonstrable behavior related to these goal achievements?)
 Make sure these learning outcomes are NOT just WISHES
Part D – SMART action plans
(consider how to realize these learning outcomes1)
 Action plans have to be SMART , and think of possible barriers which may deter you from
implementing them.
 What are the characteristics of
the “successful” people?
 What do they do and how do
they behave for people to say
they are “successful”?
Recap: In this pre-departure briefing/workshop we have worked
on helping you to …
identify strategies to help you:raise your foreign language proficiency (English, French,
Putonghua, etc.)
enhance skills necessary to become an independent
reflective learner
develop cultural awareness that is important in today’s
global/international business world
adopt an outcomes-based approach to maximize value from
your upcoming exchange
Acknowledgements:
Some contents of this workshop are adapted from
• training materials developed by the late Professor
Edmond Ko and Mr Frankie Leung of the University
of Science and Technology (UST) (source: E. Ko and
F. Leung, 2009, private communication).
Kappler Mikk, Cohen, and Paige (2009).
Maximizing Study Abroad: An Instructional Guide
to Strategies for Language and Culture Learning
and Use. University of Minnesota.
Thank You for YOUR participation!