Researching Second Language Acquisition in the Study Abroad Learning Environment: An Introduction for Student Researchers

152 Pages·2020·1.799 MB·

by  Christina L. Isabelli-García, Casilde A. Isabelli

Researching Second Language
Acquisition in the Study
Abroad Learning Environment
An Introduction
for Student Researchers
Christina L. Isabelli-García
Casilde A. Isabelli
Researching Second Language Acquisition in the
Study Abroad Learning Environment
Christina L. Isabelli-García
Casilde A. Isabelli
Researching Second
Language Acquisition
in the Study Abroad
Learning Environment
An Introduction for Student Researchers
Christina L. Isabelli-García Casilde A. Isabelli
Gonzaga University University of Nevada, Reno
Spokane, WA, USA Reno, NV, USA
ISBN 978-3-030-25156-7 ISBN 978-3-030-25157-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25157-4
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020
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To Arturo, Sofia, and Adrian.
To Giuseppe, Camilla, Flavia, and Giulia.
To Lucia and Anthony, who made our education abroad possible.
P S B
reface for tudentS and eginning
r
eSearcherS
This book is intended to be an introduction to study abroad research with
a focus on second language acquisition for advanced undergraduate stu-
dents and beginning graduate students of applied linguistics. With the
hundreds of studies that exist on language acquisition in the study abroad
context, our intent is not to replicate reviews that have been successfully
carried out in the recent past. Researchers have generated a wealth of stud-
ies, books, edited volumes, and handbooks beginning with Freed’s (1995)
seminal volume, followed by other pivotal books and volumes, such as
DuFon and Churchill (2006), Howard (2019), Kinginger (2009),
Mitchell, Tracy-Ventura, and McManus (2015), Pérez-Vidal (2014),
Pérez-Vidal, López-Serrano, Ament, and Thomas-Wilhelm (2018),
Regan, Howard, and Lemée (2009), Sanz and Morales-Front (2018), and
Volume 26 (2004) of the Studies in Second Language Acquisition journal.
However, what we hope to do with this book is to provide the emerging
researcher an overview of the important factors to consider in study abroad
research, know where to begin, and how to move research forward.
The book has been written so that the information is easily conceptual-
ized. We include questions at the beginning of each chapter to help you
reflect on your own experiences with language learning and study abroad
and relate that to the chapter’s topics. We also present enough background
information you will need to understand these concepts, so you do not
need too much prior knowledge of linguistics. Within each chapter you
will also find an occasional question for a deeper discussion. Each chapter
ends with questions for reflection and research to help you engage further
with the concepts presented. Some of these questions will help you
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viii PREFACE FOR STUDENTS AND BEGINNING RESEARCHERS
reinforce what you have learned while others will help you engage further
with the topic presented.
We hope that you enjoy this book and that we are successful in setting
you off on the right track to researching second language acquisition in
the study abroad context.
Spokane, WA, USA Christina L. Isabelli-García
Reno, NV, USA Casilde A. Isabelli
a
cknowledgmentS
This book project would not have been possible without Judith Liskin-
Gasparro’s mentoring, who planted the seed of this idea many years ago.
We also appreciate the valuable feedback she provided on our chapters of
the original version of this book. We are grateful for our institutions’ sup-
port in allowing us the time and resources to complete our project:
Gonzaga University and University of Nevada, Reno. We would like to
express our sincere gratitude to the blind reviewers of our manuscript who
gave us insightful and timely feedback that we incorporated into this book.
Most importantly, we wish to express our gratitude to Arturo, Giuseppe,
and Lucia for their support through the completion of this book project.
ix
c
ontentS
1 W hat Is Study Abroad? 1
2 What Theories, Perspectives, and Approaches Are Used in
Study Abroad Research? 23
3 What Differential Learning Factors Need to Be Considered
in Study Abroad Research? 47
4 What Is the Impact of Study Abroad on Interlanguage? 65
5 What Data Measures Are Used in Study Abroad Research? 97
6 What Areas of Study Abroad Research Need More
Attention? 117
Index 137
xi
a a 1
Bout the uthorS
Christina L. Isabelli-García is professor and Chair of the Department of
Modern Languages and Literature at Gonzaga University (PhD, University
of Texas at Austin) where she teaches courses in Spanish language and
applied linguistics. She is the author of Motivation and Extended
Interaction in the Study Abroad Context (Edwin Mellen) and has pub-
lished a variety of articles on second language acquisition in the study
abroad and domestic immersions learning environments, identifying pro-
cesses of forming social networks abroad and how they function as con-
texts for language learning. In addition, Isabelli-García is a foreign
language teacher education Program Reviewer for the American Council
on the Teaching of Foreign Languages/Council for Accreditation of
Educator Preparation and a Program Consultant for the Association of
Departments of Foreign Languages/Modern Language Association. She
has also served as a visiting professor in Middlebury College’s School of
Spanish graduate summer program in Vermont.
Casilde A. Isabelli is an associate professor and Chair of the Department
of World Languages and Literatures at the University of Nevada,
Reno (PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) where she
teaches courses in Spanish language, applied linguistics, history of the
Spanish language, phonetics, service-learning, and foreign language peda-
gogy. She also served as the Director of the Basic Spanish Language
1 And yes, if you were wondering, we are sisters.
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