Twelfth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

This qualitative research study explores the social networks, education, experiences, ideas, and reflections of five Saudi Arabian women studying in an intensive English immersion program in the Southern United States. Research participants included five Saudi female students, two teachers, and two administrators, all of whom are affiliated with an intensive English immersion program in a small city in the Southeastern United States. Data was collected in two to three rounds of audio-recorded interviews. Interviews with the female Saudi students were conducted initially as a group, and later as individuals. Stella Ting-Toomey’s Communicating Across Cultures (1999) text provides us with the Face Negotiation Theory, which will serve as our theoretical framework for discussing the cultural communication and “face” or “self-image,” of which the Saudi females use for identity management during their time studying abroad. Additionally, Paolo Freire’s critical pedagogy philosophy as presented in the text Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970), is discussed to explore how the Saudi female participants are reflecting on and evaluating their own individual education processes. This was evident in the responses and direction that the Saudi female participants gave during the interview process with regards to their individual needs and wants for a more conducive learning experience from their intensive English immersion program.