Social networks, target language interaction and second language acquisition during the year abroad: a longitudinal study
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Southampton
Department Name: Faculty of Humanities
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Publications
Edmonds A
(2019)
Le développement de l'expression du genre grammatical en français L2 Les cas de chose, famille, maison, nourriture et vie
in Language, Interaction and Acquisition
Edmonds A
(2016)
A longitudinal study of grammatical gender marking in L2 French.
Edmonds, A
(2017)
Development of grammatical gender marking in oral L2 French
Edmonds, A
(2018)
Gender marking in written L2 French: Before, during, and after residence abroad.
in Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education
Gudmestad A
(2017)
Comparing individual to group patterns in L2 Spanish gender marking.
Gudmestad A
(2019)
Using Variationism and Learner Corpus Research to Investigate Grammatical Gender Marking in Additional Language Spanish
in Language Learning
Gudmestad A
(2016)
A longitudinal study of grammatical gender marking in L2 Spanish
| Description | Residence abroad is a significant dimension of contemporary higher education, and most students experience linguistic, personal and professional benefits. However students make varied progress in languages, and the causes of this variation are not well understood. This project tracked 56 UK undergraduates spending a year abroad in France, Spain or Mexico as part of their degree in languages. Some attended university, while others taught English, or undertook workplace internships. The study documented students' learning of French and Spanish before, during and after the stay abroad, plus language use patterns and evolving social networks whilst abroad. A specially developed suite of language tests, questionnaires and interviews was administered on 6 occasions; selected participants were also 'shadowed' during various social experiences abroad. The project found that all students accessed rich target language input while abroad, and their language skills developed well in general, though with some (expected) variation between individuals. Their personal confidence and problem solving skills also increased. However, despite making academic and professional connections, some did not make close local friends, especially when living with other international students. The pervasiveness of English in international higher education was evident, with all students leading bilingual lives to varying degrees, and sometimes struggling to speak French or Spanish rather than English. The easy availability of virtual media meant frequent contact with home social networks, so that any straightforward home/abroad distinction was outdated. The project breaks new ground in showing how these social factors influenced the language learning of individuals in complex ways and how study/ residence abroad can no longer be viewed as a linguistic or cultural immersion experience. Instead, it must be understood as a multilingual and intercultural experience. Our research shows that students can navigate this experience very successfully in order to achieve their personal goals including language learning goals, provided they show flexibility, resilience and a strategic approach. Students undertaking residence abroad will require new forms of support and guidance to maximise these personal qualities. |
| Exploitation Route | Findings are being taken forward in three ways. Firstly, they are being interpreted by the original LANGSNAP team to contribute to new theorisations of second language acquisition, as a multilingually grounded and socially/ contextually embedded process (Ortega, 2014). Secondly, advanced learner corpora for Spanish and French of 300+k words each have been created and are now being exploited by other researchers through the LANGSNAP website at www.langsnap.soton.ac.uk . Thirdly, the findings have provided the basis of new research-informed guidance materials for study abroad programme managers and participants. These distinctive materials have the following aims: o Support participants' social insertion in both international and local networks abroad; o Promote participants' social engagement and social contribution while abroad; o Develop participants' intercultural awareness and capacity to reflect in a relativistic way on social conditions at home and abroad, and interrelations among these; o Develop participants' research skills relevant to understanding and interpretation of contemporary culture(s) abroad and at home; o Develop language learning strategies (including internet based practices) appropriate for mulitilingual conditions The trial materials can be viewed at: http://generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk/langsnapguides/ |
| Sectors | Education |
| URL | http://langsnap.soton.ac.uk |
| Description | To date findings have been used primarily to establish international networks with HE institutions both researching and hosting study abroad programmes (as described in "Collaborations and Partnerships" section. Prof Mitchell's membership of the COST Action "Study Abroad Research in European Perspective" (2016-2020) is leading to additional international impact on professional support for students undertaking study abroad. She is now a member of the core management group for COST SAREP, and Convenor of one of five work packages, "Individual differences in study abroad". She is organising a programme of networking events for this group (Split, September 2017; Konin, May 2018; Ghent, February 2019; Timisoara, Sept 2019), and it is anticipated that this work will lead to a range of research and professional publications.. At the University of Southampton, findings have been used from 2013-14 onward in redesign of pre-departure programmes for study abroad students. On the basis of the research findings, professional materials to support study abroad programmes more generally have been created at the University of Southampton (2015-2017). This work is being supported internally by Modern Languages department staff . The materials produced can be viewed at http://generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk/langsnapguides/ . |
| First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
| Sector | Education |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | Faculty Travel Mobility Grant |
| Amount | $5,000 (USD) |
| Organisation | University of South Florida |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 05/2016 |
| End | 05/2017 |
| Description | New Researcher Grant |
| Amount | $10,000 (USD) |
| Organisation | University of South Florida |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 05/2016 |
| End | 05/2017 |
| Description | Small Grants Research Program |
| Amount | $9,920 (USD) |
| Organisation | Association for Language Learning |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2016 |
| End | 05/2017 |
| Description | Workshop funding grant |
| Amount | £500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Southampton |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2013 |
| End | 05/2013 |
| Title | LANGSNAP |
| Description | This is a longitudinal learner corpus of second language acquisition data collected from advanced learners of French (n = 29) and Spanish (n = 26) over a period of 21 months, including a 2-semester sojourn abroad (7-9 months). Data was collected on 6 occasions (pre-sojourn abroad x 1, in-sojourn x 3, and post-sojourn x 2). Audiorecordings and transcripts are provided for 2 oral tasks, administered on each occasion: a picture based narrative, and an informal interview. Participants also completed a short piece of argumentative writing on each occasion. Comparison data from native speakers of French (n = 10) and Spanish (n = 10) is also included. The public corpus comprises c360,000 words of learner French and c330,000 words of learner Spanish. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2014 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Documentation of learning trajectories of advanced students during residence abroad (see project outputs) |
| URL | http://langsnap.soton.ac.uk |
| Description | AILA Research Network on Study Abroad |
| Organisation | International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The University of Southampton hosted an international conference on Residence Abroad, Social Networks and Second Language Learning in April 2013 which was badged an event of the AILA Research Network |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Research Network held symposia at the August 2013 EUROSLA conference in Amsterdam, and at the August 2014 AILA Congress in Brisbane, Australia, at which our ESRC funded research on residence abroad was showcased |
| Impact | Edited monograph from APril 2013 conference, to appear end 2014. AILA REN Study Abroad Newsletter (No 1, October 2014). |
| Start Year | 2012 |
| Description | EU COST Action Study Abroad in European Perspective (SAREP) |
| Organisation | European Union |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Prof R Mitchell is UK representative on the Management Group of this COST Action. She is Convenor of Working Group 4 "Individual differences in study abroad". She is also a member of Working Group 3 "Social Networks", and delivered a lead invited presentation to the first SAREP conference in Vilnius, Lithuania in October 2016. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This COST action involves research partners in 20+ European countries. The Action will be running a series of networking and training events on study abroad research over the next 4 years. |
| Impact | First joint working group conference took place in Vilnius, Lithuania in October 2016. Collaboration is multi-disciplinary and involves the disciplines of linguistics, education, sociology and psychology. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | UCML collaboration |
| Organisation | University Council of Modern Languages (UCML) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Conference organisation April 2013 |
| Collaborator Contribution | Conference collaboration and promotion; keynote speaker |
| Impact | Conference on "Social networking, and language learning during residence abroad", Southampton, April 2013 |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | AILA REN Colloquium August 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | c40 people attended the colloquium and REN membership increased significantly. Next REN-linked event is a standalone conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia (July 2015). Important contacts were made with Asian managers of study abroad programmes, previously under-represented in the REN. The first issue of a REN newsletter has been produced and circulated to c250 interested academics and professionals. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | AILA REN Newsletter October 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This new Newsletter provides a means for raising the profile of the AILA Research Network on Study Abroad and Language Learning. It has been circulated to 250 interested researchers and professionals in the first instance. LANGSNAP PI Prof Rosamond Mitchell is a co-editor of the Newsletter, and the first issue contains a LANGSNAP item. Too soon to judge impact of Newsletter though this has been a useful tool for promotion of upcoming events e.g. Halifax conference in July 2015. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Granada workshop March 2012 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This was a research methods workshop offered to staff and students at the University of Granada (Dept of English) in spring 2012, as part of their engagement with the LANGSNAP project as an international partner. The workshop was titled Using CLAN &Corpora Available from CHILDES, and provided an introduction to learner corpora and analysis tools. PG students received training in corpus methods and awareness was raised concerning SLA corpora in Spanish including SPLLOC and LANGSNAP |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Language Futures conference, Edinburgh, July 2012 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Two different talks given by Mitchell and Romero encouraged discussion and networking Professional contacts initiated which were followed up through excellent attendance at subsequent Project conference in Southampton in April 2013 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Language Futures conference, Southampton, July 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk by Romero titled Promoting Intercultural Learning among Anglophone Students during Residence Abroad sparked considerable interest Ongoing networking with professional practitioners at other UK HEIs |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Perpignan workshop January 2013 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | This was a two-day workshop on LANGSNAP project methods and interim results, organised by international project partner Dr Henry Tyne, for project team members together with staff and students of the University of Perpignan, France Ongoing professional and research contact with Université de Perpignan |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Perpignan workshop May 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | The LANGSNAP session provided methodological training for local researchers in corpus linguistics and questionnaire techniques. New project will adopt some LANGSNAP techniques |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Southampton workshop April 2013 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 25 participants attended a research methods workshop led by international experts and gained hands-on experience in a range of social modelling and psycholinguistic analysis tools relevant to second language acquisition in a residence abroad context. Some participants adopted aspects of the demonstrated tools. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |