This paper is an attempt to describe the process of personal growth caused by intercultural contacts experienced by Japanese teachers who were sent to overseas schools on the REX Program. Further, it refines the definition of the term ‘intercultural adaptation’. Twenty-six incumbent teachers who had taught Japanese at local schools in 8 different countries were interviewed. The Interpretive Approach was adopted because, in such a study, it is important to know how the interviewees understand and interpret their experiences. By using the Modified Grounded Theory Approach, the appraisals and emotions the interviewees had when they encountered cultural differences while abroad were analyzed and category analyses were done of how such appraisals and emotions contributed to their personal growth.
As a result of their overseas experiences, the guest teachers showed two kinds of changes: “guests’ changes”, which are based on their positive appraisals and emotions towards their hosts’ cultural norms and practices, and “guests’ enforced changes”, which are based on their negative ones. It was also found that when the “guests’ changes” were coupled with “self-reflection”, these often led, first to the “deepening of human understanding”, then to a “sign of biculturalism”, and finally to a “setting of new goals”, which was a route to their “personal growth”. On the other hand, “guests’ enforced changes” did not lead to their “personal growth” unless the guests took their emotionally hard experiences as a “negative model” and changed it to a positive model. From the above, it was concluded that if guests expect to attain a “personal growth” from their overseas experiences, “guests’ changes” are the most important, and one consequently needs to be aware that there are two kinds of intercultural adaptations based on the guests’ appraisals and emotions.
