Blog Analysis: An Exploration of French Students' Perceptions towards Foreign Cultures during Their Overseas Internships

Autor/in	Durand, Sandra
Titel	Blog Analysis: An Exploration of French Students' Perceptions towards Foreign Cultures during Their Overseas Internships
Quelle	In: Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 62 (2016) 4, S.335-352 (18 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1923-1857
Schlagwörter	Undergraduate Students; Foreign Students; Study Abroad; Internship Programs; Tourism; Hospitality Occupations; Electronic Journals; Student Journals; Student Attitudes; Discourse Analysis; Content Analysis; Cultural Awareness; Empathy; Misconceptions; Stereotypes; Attitude Change; Student Placement; Foreign Countries; Qualitative Research; France + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Studies abroad; Auslandsstudium; Berufspraktische Ausbildung; Tourismus; Gastgewerbegehilfe; E-Journal; Studentenzeitung; Schülerverhalten; Diskursanalyse; Inhaltsanalyse; Cultural identity; Kulturelle Identität; Empathie; Missverständnis; Klischee; Attitudinal change; Einstellungsänderung; Schülerpraktikum; Ausland; Qualitative Forschung; Frankreich
Abstract	Increasingly, tourism and hospitality university programs in France include internships which add a vocational dimension to the academic aspects of the course. These internships a) provide exposure to real world professional situations, b) add market value to the student experience, and c) offer a foothold for employment. The field of blog research is increasing in an effort to understand the social and economic context and impact of blogs: however, most existing studies only provide insight into English-language content. This paper explores French tourism and hospitality undergraduate student blogs--completed during their 4-6 month internships outside of France--as a manifestation of their knowledge. Qualitative analyses by means of text mining of the students' posts, was used to assess their experiences and perceptions. Utilizing content analysis, 28 blogs were examined with the aim of understanding blogs and blogging under the theoretical framework of cultural perceptions. Results demonstrated that these internship blogs provide rich and authentic feedback; the blogs facilitate student monitoring while allowing for a wide cross-section of readers to assess different destination-based student internship experiences. The results showed that the "image" students projected of their destinations were chiefly positive, yet tended to conform to their preconceived ideas of these places. This study underscores the importance of empathy and appreciation when working in foreign contexts, because even though student internships were located all over the world, a tendency to believe in stereotypes of peoples and places remained. The findings a) shed light into the process of perception transformation during overseas work placements, and b) have practical and methodological implications for researchers and educators who are see academic blogging as a teaching and learning tool. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	University of Alberta, Faculty of Education. 845 Education Centre South, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G5, Canada. Tel: 780-492-7941; Fax: 780-492-0236; Web site: http://www.ajer.ca/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01