Second Language Acquisition in a Study Abroad Context: (9 Studies in Bilingualism)

Second Language Acquisition in a Study Abroad Context brings together for the first time a series of studies which explore the relationship between language learning and the study abroad experience. Utilizing different research methodologies (quantitative, qualitative, descriptive), the focus in this collection is on various aspects of second language learning, including the acquisition of sociolinguistic competence, the acquisition of fluency, the use of communicative strategies and the development of oral and written skills. The studies are cross-linguistic and deal with student populations at the secondary and college levels who spent between three months and one year in study abroad or exchange programs in Japan, Russia, Spain, Mexico, France or Canada.

Table of Contents:
1. Foreword (by Ferguson, Charles A.); 2. 1. Introduction; 3. Language Learning and Study Abroad (by Freed, Barbara F.); 4. 2. Predicting and Measuring Language Gains in Study Abroad Settings; 5. Predictors of Foreign Language Gain During Study Abroad (by Brecht, Richard D.); 6. A Canadian Interprovincial Exchange: Evaluating the Linguistic Impact of a Three-Month Stay in Quebec (by Lapkin, Sharon); 7. 3. Comparison Studies; 8. Getting Into, Through and Out of a Survival Situation: A Comparison of Communicative Strategies Used by Students Studying Spanish Abroad and 'At Home' (by Lafford, Barbara A.); 9. What Makes Us Think That Students Who Study Abroad Become Fluent? (by Freed, Barbara F.); 10. The Peace Corps Experience: Language Learning in Training and in the Field (by Guntermann, Gail); 11. The Effects of Overseas Language Programs: Report on a Case Study of an Intensive Japanese Course (by Huebner, Thom); 12. 4. Sociolinguistic Studies; 13. The Acquisition of Politeness Patterns by Exchange Students in Japan (by Marriott, Helen); 14. Individual Differences and Study Abroad: Women Learning Japanese in Japan (by Siegal, Meryl); 15. The Acquisition of Sociolinguistic Native Speech Norms: Effects of a Year Abroad on Second Language Learners of French (by Regan, Vera); 16. 5. Diary Studies; 17. Language Learning and Living Abroad: Stories from the Field (by Polanyi, Livia); 18. Folklinguistic Theories of Language Learning (by Miller, Laura); 19. On the Value of Formal Instruction in Study Abroad: Student Reactions in Context (by Brecht, Richard D.); 20. Index

Review :
The collective impact of these papers is the motion they make toward filling a conspicuous gap in the SLA research. They hold potential consequence because they focus on real learners in operating language programs. Second Language Acquisition in a Study Abroad Context contains solid data involving SLA research and challenges us to look more closely at what we do and why we do it. This volume of research papers is another original contribution by the John Benjamins Publishing Company to the theoretical base of language teaching. It brings together for the first time a collection of studies, all of which explore the relationship between language learning and the study abroad experience. Despite the increasing number of publications devoted to second language acquisition research, there has been no prior focus on acquisition in the study abroad experience — defined as the learning of a second language by students who study and live in countries where that language is the mother tongue of most residents. Recommended. This book, though published in 1995, is far from being out of date; in fact its relevance is increasing. "Second Language Acquisition in a Study Abroad Context" is a valualble collection. It contains many insights and suggestions that are worth reflecting on, many conflicting findings and unanswered questions, and ideas for further reading and research, so that it is a stimulating book that will surely repay a reader's revisitations in many ways. The excellent index will aid those revisitations.