Language Learning in Study Abroad: The Multilingual Turn(89 New Perspectives on Language and Education)

Vestiges of monolingual bias are present in the portrayal of study abroad as an idealized monolingual immersion experience and the steps many programs take to encourage or enforce target language monolingualism. In reality, study abroad is often inherently multilingual. This book addresses the need for a recognition of the multilingual realities of study abroad across a variety of traditional and non-traditional national contexts and target languages. The chapters examine multilingual socialization and translanguaging with peers, local hosts and instructors; how the target language is necessarily entwined in global, local and historical contexts; and how students negotiate the use of local and global varieties of English. Together the chapters present a powerful argument for scholars and study abroad practitioners to consider and critically incorporate multilingual realities into their research and planning. 

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Contributors Emma Trentman and Wenhao Diao: Introduction Chapter 1. Jamie A. Thomas: Ghanaian Multilinguals on Study Abroad in Tanzania: Learning Swahili through Akan/Twi and Cultures of Storytelling Chapter 2. Uju Anya: When the Foreign is Familiar: An Afro-Dominican-American Woman’s Experience Translanguaging Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage Learning Portuguese in Brazil Chapter 3. Janice McGregor: An Investigation of L2 Learning Peer Interactions in Short Term Study Abroad Chapter 4. Emma Trentman: Monolingual Expectations and Plurilingual Realities in Arabic Study Abroad Chapter 5. Wenhao Diao: Language Use, Class, and Study Abroad in China  Chapter 6. Lucien Brown: 'Sorry, I don’t speak any English': An Activity-Theoretic Account of Language Choice in Study Abroad in South Korea Chapter 7. Tracy Quan: Study Abroad as a Transformative Translanguaging Space for Heritage Speakers of Spanish Chapter 8. Brandon Tullock: Encountering Multilingualism in Study Abroad: Sojourners’ Orientations to Linguistic Diversity and Language Hierarchies in Barcelona Chapter 9. Lourdes Ortega: Research on Language Learning during Study Abroad: What Next?

About the Author :
Wenhao Diao is an Associate Professor in the Department of East Asian Studies and the doctoral program of Second Language Acquisition and Teaching at the University of Arizona, USA. Her research focuses on the sociocultural and sociolinguistic aspects of Chinese language learning and teaching. Emma Trentman is an Associate Professor of Arabic at the University of New Mexico, USA. She is co-editor of the journal Critical Multilingualism Studies. Her research focuses on multilingual approaches to Arabic language teaching and learning. 

Review :
This compelling book ushers research on language learning in study abroad into a new era of commitment to social justice. Countering the myth of monolingual immersion, exploring the multilingual realities of student experiences and expanding the contexts under investigation, the volume will be a landmark contribution to the field. This timely volume uniquely illuminates hidden spaces of study abroad research by exposing plurilingual, translingual, and lingua franca realities. Chapters offer new perspectives on study abroad in demystifying the assumptions of monolingual, monocultural, and authentic immersion experiences. The book provides useful insights on linguistic, geographic, and ethnoracial multiplicities of study abroad. ...this truly global book critiques a monolingual bias all too present across the academy—especially in study abroad program offerings for students [...] Having directed a faculty-led study abroad program for more than 20 years, this reviewer found the chapters timely and relevant with a solid theoretical grounding. The concluding chapter directly addresses next steps, and this reviewer was pleased to see the inclusion of the section on race and ethnicity as a key theme of this book. An excellent resource for faculty planning and/or leading study abroad programs in fields across the spectrum of higher education.