The Social Lives of Adolescent Study Abroad Learners and Their L2 Development

© National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations This article reports a longitudinal case study of two German high-school exchange students’ 5.5-month study abroad (SA) in New Zealand, examining their social lives and oral second language (L2) development. Six informal interviews,...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sauer, L., Ellis, Rod
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: WILEY 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80007
_version_ 1848764141023526912
author Sauer, L.
Ellis, Rod
author_facet Sauer, L.
Ellis, Rod
author_sort Sauer, L.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations This article reports a longitudinal case study of two German high-school exchange students’ 5.5-month study abroad (SA) in New Zealand, examining their social lives and oral second language (L2) development. Six informal interviews, weekly diary entries, and monthly summaries were used to elicit data about their overseas experiences and reflections associated with them. The qualitative analysis investigated the nature of the students’ social lives at school, in their homestay, in their hobbies, and during their free time. The results demonstrated that opportunities for L2 engagement varied considerably with context—some affording and others restricting interaction. Especially the presence of co-nationals impeded L2 interaction and required the students to seek out opportunities themselves—an effort that the students were not always willing to make. For the quantitative analysis, the interview data were coded using multiple measures of complexity, accuracy, lexis, and fluency (CALF). Compared to previous studies, the results showed that all CALF dimensions improved during SA, but just for one student and not in a linear fashion. The two learners’ L2 profiles varied considerably, demonstrating that development is dynamic and unique and that interpretations of it need to take account of the learners’ social contexts and what they make of these.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T11:14:38Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-80007
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T11:14:38Z
publishDate 2019
publisher WILEY
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-800072020-08-11T06:22:17Z The Social Lives of Adolescent Study Abroad Learners and Their L2 Development Sauer, L. Ellis, Rod Social Sciences Education & Educational Research Linguistics study abroad adolescents high school second language development CALF social lives social identity social networks communities of practice INTERACTIONAL COMPETENCE INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES ORAL PROFICIENCY FLUENCY COMPLEXITY LANGUAGE ACCURACY IDENTITY SLA CAF © National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations This article reports a longitudinal case study of two German high-school exchange students’ 5.5-month study abroad (SA) in New Zealand, examining their social lives and oral second language (L2) development. Six informal interviews, weekly diary entries, and monthly summaries were used to elicit data about their overseas experiences and reflections associated with them. The qualitative analysis investigated the nature of the students’ social lives at school, in their homestay, in their hobbies, and during their free time. The results demonstrated that opportunities for L2 engagement varied considerably with context—some affording and others restricting interaction. Especially the presence of co-nationals impeded L2 interaction and required the students to seek out opportunities themselves—an effort that the students were not always willing to make. For the quantitative analysis, the interview data were coded using multiple measures of complexity, accuracy, lexis, and fluency (CALF). Compared to previous studies, the results showed that all CALF dimensions improved during SA, but just for one student and not in a linear fashion. The two learners’ L2 profiles varied considerably, demonstrating that development is dynamic and unique and that interpretations of it need to take account of the learners’ social contexts and what they make of these. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80007 10.1111/modl.12589 English WILEY restricted
spellingShingle Social Sciences
Education & Educational Research
Linguistics
study abroad
adolescents
high school
second language development
CALF
social lives
social identity
social networks
communities of practice
INTERACTIONAL COMPETENCE
INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES
ORAL PROFICIENCY
FLUENCY
COMPLEXITY
LANGUAGE
ACCURACY
IDENTITY
SLA
CAF
Sauer, L.
Ellis, Rod
The Social Lives of Adolescent Study Abroad Learners and Their L2 Development
title The Social Lives of Adolescent Study Abroad Learners and Their L2 Development
title_full The Social Lives of Adolescent Study Abroad Learners and Their L2 Development
title_fullStr The Social Lives of Adolescent Study Abroad Learners and Their L2 Development
title_full_unstemmed The Social Lives of Adolescent Study Abroad Learners and Their L2 Development
title_short The Social Lives of Adolescent Study Abroad Learners and Their L2 Development
title_sort social lives of adolescent study abroad learners and their l2 development
topic Social Sciences
Education & Educational Research
Linguistics
study abroad
adolescents
high school
second language development
CALF
social lives
social identity
social networks
communities of practice
INTERACTIONAL COMPETENCE
INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES
ORAL PROFICIENCY
FLUENCY
COMPLEXITY
LANGUAGE
ACCURACY
IDENTITY
SLA
CAF
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80007