Full Description
This publication constitutes essential reading for academics, teachers and language policy makers wanting to understand, plan, and implement an educational language program involving learner mobility.
The book provides data and analyses from a long-term program of research on study abroad (the SALA Project), which looked into the short and long-term effects of instructional and mobility contexts on language and cultural development from two perspectives: the participants' language acquisition development over 2,5 years, and the practitioners' perspective in relation to the design and implementation of a mobility program. The book is innovative in the longitudinal data it offers, the light it sheds on (i) an array of language skills, both productive and receptive, oral and written, tapping into phonology, lexis, grammar and discourse, (ii) the role of individual differences (including attitudes, motivation, beliefs, and intercultural awareness), and (iii) the insights on the effects of length of stay. In sum, this book represents a welcome addition to previous research on the outcomes of mobility policies to promote L2 learners' linguistic development and the individual and educational conditions that appear to facilitate success in study abroad programs.
Contents
1. Chapter 1. Contributions of study abroad research to our understanding of SLA processes and outcomes: The SALA Project, an appraisal (by Sanz, Cristina); 2. Part I. The SALA Project: An overview; 3. Chapter 2. Study abroad and formal instruction contrasted: The SALA Project (by Perez-Vidal, Carmen); 4. Chapter 3. The 'ins and outs' of a study abroad programme: The SALA exchange programme (by Beattie, John); 5. Part II. The SALA Project: Empirical findings; 6. Chapter 4. Oral accuracy growth after formal instruction and study abroad: Onset level, contact factors and long-term effects (by Juan-Garau, Maria); 7. Chapter 5. L2 fluency development in formal instruction and study abroad: The role of initial fluency level and language contact (by Valls-Ferrer, Margalida); 8. Chapter 6. Phonological development in L2 speech production during study abroad programmes differing in length of stay (by Avello, Pilar); 9. Chapter 7. The role of onset level on L2 perceptual phonological development after formal instruction and study abroad (by Mora, Joan Carles); 10. Chapter 8. Listening performance and onset level in formal instruction and study abroad (by Beattie, John); 11. Chapter 9. Comparing progress in academic writing after formal instruction and study abroad (by Perez-Vidal, Carmen); 12. Chapter 10. English L2 learners' lexico-grammatical and motivational development at home and abroad (by Juan-Garau, Maria); 13. Chapter 11. A longitudinal study of learners' motivation and beliefs in at home and study abroad contexts (by Trenchs-Parera, Mireia); 14. Chapter 12. Contrasting intercultural awareness at home and abroad (by Merino, Elena); 15. Part III. The SALA Project and beyond; 16. Chapter 13. Research on language development during study abroad (by DeKeyser, Robert M.); 17. Index
