“Opening up to the world”? Developing interculturality in an international field experience for ESL teachers

This chapter reports on a study exploring the developing intercultural awareness of novice ESL teachers as they become border crossers in an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher preparation program. In addition to learning about instruction of English Language Learners (ELLs), the study abroad experience encouraged teachers to explore their own cultural identities, to develop conceptual understanding of culture and interculturality, to analyze their own L2 learning process in classroom and homestay settings, and to uncover the macro-social relationships underlying processes of global human migration. Analysis of ethnographic data uncovered how immersion promotes enhanced self‐awareness, frequently bringing about dissonance which in turn leads to transformations in personal identities, changing goals for the future, and a means of gradual socialization into new communities of practice.