Impact of COVID-19 on Cross-cultural Learning from Malaysia-to-Japan Research Exchange.

Outbound research exchange program to Japanese Higher Education Institutes is very popular among Malaysian researchers. During the exchange program, bilateral cultural learning occurs between researchers from Malaysia and Japan. Mutual cultural understanding accelerates the respect for foreign cultures and enables cultural diversity to flourish in the globalized world. However, the COVID-19 outbreak has shattered the traditional cultural learning paradigm. This study analyzes the cultural components of the Japanese exchange program disrupted by the pandemic. A survey with a Likert scale of 1 to 5 was conducted to investigate the disruption of continuous cultural learning in terms of lifestyle, language, social value, and trends experienced by Malaysian researchers after the pandemic. The results show that the Japanese social values are influencing Malaysian researchers and the disruption caused by the pandemic is significant (p < 0.001). Although researchers were motivated to learn the Japanese language during their exchange trips (μ = 4.41), the motivation lost momentum after the researchers returned (μ = 2.96) and remains weak post the COVID-19 outbreak (μ = 3.06). This is the very first study that provides insights into the redevelopment of cultural learning through Japanese exchange programs in the post-COVID-19 era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]