Short exchange to Japan: Fun or educational?

Many argue that a role of universities is to prepare students for work in the new international context (Daly and Barker, 2005, p.26). Indeed, an interesting recent social change has been the greater emphasis on internationalisation since the 1990s, with universities increasing the international content of degree programs and external study opportunities (Gatfield, 1997). For example, there has been a massive expansion in the number of international links of Australian universities since 1990. Formal inter-university agreements increased from less than 300 in 1990 to 4,485 in 2003 (International links of Australian universities, 2003). These agreements facilitate programs such as student exchange opportunities and academic staff mobility. The present study is a case study and it concerns an exchange program to Japan for tertiary undergraduate students (see Marriott, 1994, pp.53-57 for an overview of student exchanges through secondary schools and community organisation). Australian universities had the third largest number of agreements with their Japanese counterparts after the United States of America (USA) and China (including Hong Kong). One factor driving increased student exchanges between Australia and Japan is the availability of funding from government and non-government bodies. Examples include the University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP) and Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (JEES), formerly called Association of International Education, Japan (AIEJ). Student exchange programs were assumed to be an effective way to develop international competences for students (Nelson, 2003, p.25, quoted in Young & Harper, 2004, p.2). However, as Clyne and Rizvi (1998) pointed out, such effects are simply assumed rather than proven, so it warrants investigations (p.38)