Maximizing Study Abroad:

Strategies for Language and Culture Learning and Use

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.

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 Students' Guide begins with three inventories designed to help students be more aware of how they currently learn language and culture. The following sections of the guide provide students with tools and creative activities that 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 (PDF format requires Acrobat Reader).

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

Single copies and small orders: A print copy Students' Guide costs $12 plus shipping and handling and is available through Amazon. An electronic copy costs $9.99 and is available through Amazon's Kindle Store.

Bulk discounts: Discounts for ordering the Students' Guide in bulk are available and are processed through the University of Minnesota Bookstore. For quantities between 200-499 there is a 10% discount; from 500-999 there is a 25% discount; and over 1,000 CARLA offers a 50% discount at a total cost of only $6.00 per book! See the bulk order form (PDF) for important ordering information.

For purchasing details and options for this and other CARLA publications, see the CARLA working papers site.

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 (includes activity facilitation suggestions): Learning Style Survey
			Survey: Learning Style Survey
			Survey (includes activity facilitation suggestions): Language Strategy Inventory
			Survey: Language Strategy Inventory
			Survey (includes activity facilitation suggestions): Culture Learning Strategies Inventory
			Survey: Culture Learning Strategies Inventory
			Culture Learning Activity (includes activity facilitation suggestions): Core Cultural Values and Culture Mapping
			Culture Learning Activity: Core Cultural Values and Culture Mapping
			Language Learning Activity (includes activity facilitation suggestions): Taking My Motivational Temperature on a Language Task
			Language Learning Activity: Taking My Motivational Temperature on a Language Task
			Recommended Reading and Practical Resources

The 566-page Instructional Guide costs $30 + shipping. It is available for purchase on Amazon.com.

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.