scholarly journals Learning Context Effects : Study Abroad, Formal Instruction and International Immersion Classrooms, edited by C. Pérez Vidal, S. López-Serrano, J. Ament and D. J. Thomas-Wilhelm (2018)

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-108
Author(s):  
Talia Walker
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Context Effects ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
International Immersion ◽  
Formal Instruction

Learning Context Effects : Study Abroad, Formal Instruction and International Immersion Classrooms Edited by C. Pérez Vidal, S. López-Serrano, J. Ament and D. J. Thomas-Wilhelm (2018) Berlin: Language Science Press, 328pp.

The effects of time in the development of complexity and accuracy during study abroad

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 31-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Jensen ◽  
Martin Howard
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Language Performance ◽  
Linear Pattern ◽  
L2 Development ◽  
Final Interview ◽  
Considerable Individual Variation

Reflecting the current age of mammoth globalisation and the desirability of having a second language in today’s world, study abroad (SA) is becoming increasingly popular amongst university students across many disciplines. Moreover, with the EU identifying a target of 20% participation in SA in 2010, the value of this activity is also being recognised on an intergovernmental level. Participants in SA programmes stand to gain not only invaluable experiences, in terms of expanding their social and cultural knowledge, but also in developing their second language (L2). While there now exists a multitude of SLA studies situated within this unique learning context, such studies vary enormously in the duration of their learner-participants’ stay in the target language community. Indeed, a review of the current literature indicates that the duration of SA in the existing research ranges from a couple of weeks to a full year. Given such diversity, it is difficult to draw substantive conclusions on the effect of duration of SA on L2 development, although a limited number of important studies have explored the issue (e.g. Davidson, 2010; Dwyer, 2004; Llanes & Muñoz, 2009; Serrano et al., 2012). Against this background, the current paper reports on a longitudinal study of French and Chinese learners of English over a nine month SA period. Initial, medial and final interview data were analysed in terms of Complexity and Accuracy which are considered two important, and often rivalrous, features of language performance (Ellis & Barkhuizen, 2005). The results of the study point to considerable individual variation, both within individuals (variation across observations) and between individuals (variation across participants) in scope of development, making it difficult to capture language gains in terms of a neat, linear pattern over time.

Variable future-time reference in French: A comparison of learners in a study-abroad and a foreign-language context

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aarnes Gudmestad ◽  
Amanda Edmonds
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency Test

AbstractThis study seeks to advance understanding of second-language (L2) acquisition of future-time reference in French, by comparing the developmental trajectories of learners living in and away from the target-language setting. Study-abroad learners in France (n= 45), foreign-language learners living in the US (n= 37), and native speakers of Hexagonal French (n= 30) participated in this study. They completed a written-contextualized task, a language-proficiency test and a background questionnaire. For each written-contextualized-task item, participants selected from among three responses that differed with respect to the form (inflectional future, periphrastic future, present). Items were designed to test for the influence of three factors on the form selected: presence/absence of a lexical temporal indicator, temporal distance, and (un)certainty. Additionally, two extra-linguistic factors were examined: learning context and proficiency level. The analyses of frequency and the multinomial logistic regressions suggest that, despite developmental similarities between learning contexts, acquisitional paths of study-abroad and foreign-language learners were not identical.

CONTACT, CONTEXT, AND COLLOCATION

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 553-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen M. Kennedy Terry
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Phonological Variation ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Variation Patterns ◽  
Speech Data ◽  
Third Person ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Network Strength

This study uses a mixed-effects model to examine the acquisition of targetlike patterns of phonological variation by 17 English-speaking learners of French during study abroad in France. Naturalistic speech data provide evidence for the incipient acquisition of a phonological variable showing sociostylistic variation in native speaker speech: the elision of /l/ in third-person subject clitic pronouns (il vient [il vjɛ̃] ∼ [i vjɛ̃] “he is coming”). Speech data are compared and correlated with the results of a social network strength scale designed for the study abroad learning context. Results demonstrate that phonological variation patterns are acquired in a predictable order based on token type and collocation and that social networks with native speakers are statistically significant predictors of phonological variation patterns.

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