What are people saying about Maximizing Study Abroad?

Study Abroad Students

This guide gave me the opportunity to be much more self-reflective while I was studying in Germany. Of course every one who studies abroad realizes at some level that they are operating in a different environment, facing different challenges and different sources of stress. But the guide works through all these new things in a systematic way, which allowed me to get a better sense of what was really going on. It provided a context larger than simply my own experience for my interactions with a different culture. It also contains a lot of valuable insights about language learning. Not every part of the guide will speak to every student, but it contains much that will be of use to anyone who studies abroad.

Molly Zahn - Study abroad
student in Germany

Program Professionals

‘Maximizing Study Abroad’ provides students, faculty, and study abroad professionals with a new and innovative resource that will enrich the study abroad experience. It offers students a valuable set of tools that will help them sort through the difficult issues and make the adjustments needed to live, work, and study in another culture and language. When students are better able to deal with their own adjustment problems, we as study abroad professionals and faculty have more time to dedicate to making study abroad a more meaningful part of the undergraduate experience.

Al Balkcum - Director,
Learning Abroad Center
University of Minnesota

After years of pull ing together disparate materials for in-depth study abroad orientations on cross-cultural adjustment, journaling, American cultural values, etc., I was delighted to learn about ‘Maximizing Study Abroad.’ Having the students prepared ahead of time for the discussion themes and seeing them bring the book to the meetings, with sections not only read but annotated, provided a high point in my career as a study abroad professional. I think this exciting new text will impact tremendously not only how students approach the experience but what they actually gain from their time abroad.

Kathleen Sideli - Associate Dean, International Programs Director, Office of Overseas Study
Indiana University

I am very excited about using the ‘Maximizing Study Abroad’ guides. After many years in the field this information is just what I need to give me a shot in the arm and re-energize our orientation and re-entry materials.

Helen Stellmaker - Coordinator of Advising and Student Activities, International & Off-Campus Studies
St. Olaf College

Language Instructors

What I have found is that these guides have articulated many tools and strategies that I had figured out by instinct or trial and error in my own language- and culture-learning experiences, plus a whole additional array of tools and strategies that I had not yet consciously considered. Even an inexperienced instructor will find that these guides will help articulate and complement their language- and culture-teaching strategies without expecting or requiring utopia and that with time and reflection, they can be the basis of revolutionizing how and what we teach.

Margaret Demmessie - Spanish Instructor and Study Abroad Program Leader
University of Minnesota

Successful study abroad doesn’t just happen. It requires careful preparation, on-site follow-up, and ongoing critical reflection. ‘Maximizing Study Abroad’ can be used as an independent resource by students or by teachers as part of a language and/or culture course. It helps students understand what study abroad is about – understanding the other ‘from the inside’ – and provides them with the tools and strategies to maximize their experience.

Wendy Allen - Professor of French,
St. Olaf College

This unique set of guidebooks helps students, program professionals, and language instructors make the most of study abroad through strategies for both language and culture learning and use.

Note: All samples are in PDF format (requires Acrobat Reader)

Maximizing Study Abroad:
A Students' Guide to Strategies for Language and Culture Learning and Use

By R. Michael Paige, Andrew D. Cohen, Barbara Kappler Mikk, Julie C. Chi, & James P. Lassegard

Aimed at students who want to make the most of their study abroad experience, this flexible and user-friendly guide helps students identify and use a wide variety of language- and culture-learning strategies. The guide begins with three inventories designed to help students be more aware of how they currently learn language and culture. The following sections provide students with tools and creative activities they can use to enhance their favored learning strategies and try out unfamiliar ones. Students can use this guide as they prepare for study abroad, during their experience, and once they return to maximize their experience.

We encourage you to take a look at some of the wonderful resources available in this guidebook. Sample segments of this guide are available for download.

			Table of Contents
			Culture-Learning Strategies: Culture-Specific and Culture-General Learning and Responding to Stereotypes about You
			Language-Learning Strategies: Reading for Comprehension

The Students' Guide costs $12 plus shipping and handling. To order go to the CARLA working papers site.

Discounts for ordering the Students' Guide in bulk are available. For quantities between 200-499 you get a 10% discount; from 500-999 you get a 25% discount; and over 1,000 we offer a 50% discount at a total cost of only $6.00 per book! See the bulk order form (PDF) for important ordering information.

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Maximizing Study Abroad:
An Instructional Guide to Strategies for Language and Culture Learning and Use

By Barbara Kappler Mikk, Andrew D. Cohen, & R. Michael Paige with Julie C. Chi, James P. Lassegard, Margaret Maegher, and Susan J. Weaver

Created as a companion to the Students’ Guide, the new Instructional Guide provides language teachers and study abroad professionals with both a solid understanding of language and culture learning theory and concrete ways to use this knowledge to support students in their skill development. The guide is written with the busy professional in mind and features a “tool kit” of more than 100 hands-on activities that are ready for use in pre-departure, in-country, and re-entry initiatives for study abroad programs, as well as in language classrooms at home and abroad. With its creative activities, practitioner-friendly theory sections, teacher-tested tools, and professional advice, this user-friendly guide will allow you to quickly and easily integrate or adapt these new ideas to meet the unique needs of your classroom or study abroad program.

Key Features of the Instructional Guide:

• Unique focus on strategies for both language and culture
• Perfect for use in study abroad programs, at home or abroad
• Includes more than 100 activities with handouts that can be freely copied for student use
• Easy-to-ready theory grounded in current research
• Designed for professionals working with college and high school students
• Can be used with or without the Students’ Guide (free copy included)

			Table of Contents
			Classroom Activities: Table of Contents
			Survey: Learning Style Survey
			Survey: Language Strategy Survey
			Survey: Culture Learning Survey
			Culture Learning Activity: Core Cultural Values and Culture Mapping
			Language Learning Activity: Taking My Motivational Temperature on a Language Task
			Recommended Reading and Practical Resources

The 550-page Instructional Guide is packaged in a three-ring binder and comes with a free copy of the Students’ Guide. Price is $45 + shipping & handling. Order from the CARLA working papers site.

The Maximizing Study Abroad Series was created as part of a project sponsored by the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition at the University of Minnesota and was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Education Language Resource Center program. Background information on the Maximizing Study Abroad Material Development Project (PDF) and the Research Project is available on the CARLA website.