Abstract

While study abroad (SA) has long been considered an opportunity for language learning, relatively little research has investigated how short-term SA programs hosted by Anglophone countries support varied aspects of sojourners’ language learning. To address this gap, the current study examined how 10 college students from a Korean university developed translingual competence (Canagarajah 2014 Canagarajah, S. 2014. “Theorizing a Competence for Translingual Practice at the Contact Zone.” In The Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL and Bilingual Education, edited by S. May, 78–102. New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar]) while participating in a 4-week program hosted by a US Midwestern university. This study explored the ways in which individual sojourners developed their knowledge of semiotic resources and awareness of these resources in relation to communicative situations afforded by the SA program. Data, including bi-weekly written sojourner reflections, mid-program focus group interviews, individual interviews at the program’s conclusion, questionnaires before and after the program, participant-observer notes, and other artifacts, were analyzed, using a cross-case study design (Stake 1995 Stake, R. E. 1995. The Art of Case Study Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. [Google Scholar]). Sojourners demonstrated their understandings of (1) how resources relate to aspects of their identities and those of their interlocutors; (2) how resource use was shaped by their local placements and they could shape aspects of their environments to accommodate resources; and (3) how English linguistic resources could be encoded to facilitate communication during SA. The implications of these findings are further discussed for SA program development.

摘要

长期以来，人们一直认为出国留学（SA）是语言学习的机会，但很少有研究调查英语国家举办的短期SA计划如何支持旅居者的语言学习的各个方面。为了解决这一差距，本研究调查了韩国大学的10名大学生如何发展跨语言能力（Canagarajah 2014 Canagarajah，S.， 2014年。“为在接触区进行跨语言实践的能力理论化。” 在多语言转到：为SLA，TESOL与双语教育启示，通过编辑S.月，78 - 102。纽约：Routledge。 [Google Scholar]），同时参加了由美国中西部大学主持的为期4周的计划。这项研究探索了个人寄居者如何发展与SA计划提供的交流环境相关的符号学知识和对这些资源的意识。使用跨案例研究设计，对数据进行了分析，包括每两周写一次寄宿家庭的感言，计划中期焦点小组访谈，计划结论时的个人访谈，计划前后的问卷，参与者观察者的笔记以及其他工件。 （1995年权益 Stake，RE 1995年。案例研究的艺术。加利福尼亚州千橡市：鼠尾草。 [Google Scholar]）。旅居者表现出他们对以下方面的理解：（1）资源如何与其身份和对话者的身份相关联；（2）资源的使用方式是如何受到当地位置的影响的，他们可以影响环境的各个方面以适应资源的需求；（3）如何对英语语言资源进行编码以促进SA期间的交流。这些发现的含义将在SA程序开发中进一步讨论。