@article{oai:fukuoka-pu.repo.nii.ac.jp:00000475,
 author = {Stuart, GALE and Stuart, GALE},
 issue = {1},
 journal = {福岡県立大学人間社会学部紀要},
 month = {Sep},
 note = {Excessive anxiety can compromise a person’s willingness to step outside of his of her comfort zone and interact with an unfamiliar environment. It can, therefore, militate against the objectives (i.e., enhanced linguistic and cultural competence) most commonly cited by study abroad programs. The purpose of this research was to evaluate an intensive 22.5-hour preparation course in terms of its ability to alleviate student anxiety. The preparation course was run in-house at a Japanese university as a precursor to a three-week stay in the United Kingdom. The research component― consisting of a survey in the form of a questionnaire―was conducted approximately two weeks prior to departure at the conclusion of the preparation course. The questionnaire included six Likert-style questions designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the preparation course relative to six of the most salient anxiety-inducing components of the study abroad program: taking an international flight, interacting with British people in everyday social situations, discussing social issues with British undergraduates, doing a homestay, teaching Japanese culture at a British elementary school, and personal safety. Five further questions evaluating the composition of the preparation course and allowing for more expansive answers completed the survey. The feedback from the 14 student participants confirmed that the preparation course had been generally effective in terms of counteracting anxiety. Nevertheless, the data also confirmed that certain components of the program induce more anxiety and are more resistant to the type of anxiety-alleviating technique applied by the preparation course. In conclusion, the paper contends that the research should be conducted in conjunction with every subsequent edition of the preparation course so as to facilitate a continuous process of fine-tuning towards its ideal composition.},
 pages = {1--25},
 title = {Evaluating a university preparation course for a short-term study abroad program in terms of its ability to alleviate student anxiety prior to departure},
 volume = {28},
 year = {2019}
}