El choque cultural académico del alumnado estadounidense en la universidad española

The process of internationalization of university studies has contributed to a consistent increase in the number of foreign students currently enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Spanish speaking universities where the target language in the classroom (i.e. Spanish) is the second language of the foreign student body. This phenomenon lends itself to many different interesting research angles, one of which is explored in this article. Throughout this work our objective is to determine if American students who directly enroll in the Spanish university system through a Study Abroad program experience some type of academic culture shock, and if so, in what way is this experienced and to what degree. In order to achieve this objective we employed qualitative methodology to design a survey that was then sent to all five offices of a Study Abroad program located in Spain (in Madrid, Alicante, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Seville). The study took place during the 2015-2016 academic year with a total number of 95 participants. The results proved that there is a significant "clash" in academic culture (which we discuss in detail throughout this article) caused by the differences that the Spanish academic culture and university system present to this group of students, as well as a general lack of prior knowledge in this regard on the part of the American student body. We believe that this type of research will not only help to alleviate these issues, but also create a clear path for future research that will inevitably continue to contribute advancements to this practically unexplored territory. [Full Text in Spanish