Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education - Volume 3, Issue 2, 2018

Students’ experiences abroad can vary a great deal and their identity plays a critical role in shaping their experiences. This study employed sociocultural theory, Critical Race Theory and Bourdieu’s notions of habitus and capital to explore the experiences of four groups of US undergraduates enrolled in four study abroad programs in Spain sponsored by a large US university located in the South East. Findings showed how students’ identity intersected and shaped their journey and impacted their social integration. The examples of Albert, Theresa, and Rebecca, three focal students, allowed for the analysis of how differently students’ identity, notably gender, race, ethnicity, age, social class, and nationality, affected their interactions with locals and perceptions of the target language, culture, and society. Important implications are discussed, including the importance of training study abroad participants before, during and after the trip, and selecting activities that facilitate greater and more sustained social integration.

Direct effects of participation in study abroad on linguistic proficiency have been notoriously difficult to differentiate from mere participant, time and study effects. This study examines English proficiency gains among 136 advanced-level German university students who applied for an ERASMUS exchange and either studied at a British university or continued to study at home. Participants completed C-tests of English language proficiency and comprehensive questionnaires at baseline, after three and nine months. After the first three months, those studying abroad had made significantly higher proficiency gains than the ERASMUS applicants who continued to study at home. During the subsequent six months, linguistic progress among the study abroad participants slowed and between-group differences were no longer significant. The results further substantiate hypotheses on significant linguistic benefits of participation in study abroad for advanced L2 learners, while also highlighting the need to facilitate sustained linguistic progress among exchange students, particularly during more extended stays.

Research (e.g., Wood, 2010a) suggests that study abroad (SA) and the use of formulaic language (FL), or sequences of words that tend to go together, aid L2 oral fluency. Nonetheless, there is conflicting evidence regarding whether quantity of L2 use abroad is a predictor of language outcomes. This article examines the acquisition of FL by US L2 learners of Spanish (n = 11) who studied abroad in Spain. The study measures the temporal fluency variables and the formula/run ratio of narrative retell tasks pre- and post-SA by L2 learners and native Spanish speakers. The findings indicate that regardless of program type and length, learners produce more FL post-SA, but they are still far from target-like usage. Moreover, participants’ mean length of run is directly related to the formula/run ratio. Lastly, an analysis of language use shows no direct relationship between L2 use abroad and oral fluency outcomes.

The current study examines the combined effect of type and quantity of contact with the target language on the second language development of a variable structure, ‘subject pronoun expression’ in L2 Spanish. A written contextualized task and a language contact questionnaire were given to 26 second language learners of Spanish before and after a six-week study abroad in Valencia, Spain. Their selection of overt and null subject pronouns was compared to native speakers from the study abroad region as well as to learners and native speakers in previous research in a US university context. Results suggest that learners with higher rates of self-reported contact with native speakers while abroad approximate the Valencian native speaker norms more at the end of study abroad than those who report fewer contact hours. However, differences between the groups at the beginning of study abroad indicate that characteristics other than contact hours also differentiate the two learner groups.

Given the increase in international mobility opportunities for educators, analyzing how the experience of studying and teaching abroad benefits teachers is of utmost importance in a globalized educational system. Using Deardorff’s (2009) model of intercultural competence (IC), this study explores how a group of recently graduated Canadian foreign language teachers benefitted from a four-month international teaching experience (ITE). The following questions guided this investigation: In which ways did the ITE contribute to the participants’ IC development? How did the ITE affect the participants’ professional identity and sense of legitimacy? Data were collected, triangulated, and interpreted using thematic content data analysis. This study provides illustrations of the participants’ IC development across all components on Deardorff’s IC model, showing that properly scaffolded ITEs afforded the participants opportunities to develop their IC. The findings also show that the ITE of living and teaching abroad positively impacted their professional identity and feeling of legitimacy.