Learning Outcomes and Self-Perceived Changes Among Japanese University Students Studying English in the Philippines.

Study abroad destinations for Japanese students, particularly those aiming to improve their English language skills, tend to focus on the "Inner Circle" (Kachru, 1992) of English-speaking countries. However, over the last two decades, Korean and Japaneseowned English language schools in the Philippines started to appear, leading to over 6,700 people from Japan going to study English in the Philippines in 2018. In this paper, I aim to document the effects and self-perceived changes that occurred as a result of studying abroad in the Philippines by drawing on a case study of 103 Japanese university students on a four-week intensive English language program. Data collection was conducted over the course of May to December 2018 by means of interviews, questionnaires, and ethnographic observations. Among the common themes that emerged was a shift in focus from grammatical form and accuracy to communicationoriented goals for learning. Such changes in beliefs toward language learning triggered by a study abroad experience can be accounted for using the concept of language ideologies (Surtees, 2016). While this study only accounts for learner impressions shortly after their return, it illustrates the potential impact of a cross-cultural experience on students' overall belief systems regarding language learning and communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]