Women students from Saudi Arabia in a study abroad
programme
Sociocultural experiences and English proficiency
development
Most students taking part in Study Abroad (SA) programmes aim to
immerse themselves as fully as possible in the target language (TL) country and
so improve their TL proficiency, as well as their own personal development
towards independent adulthood. From a research perspective, the quality of
social networks involving TL speakers, and hence the social interactions the SA
students engage in, are seen as of paramount importance in determining the
ultimate success in TL attainment. This paper addresses a cohort of learners who
have not received a lot of attention in the SA literature, namely Saudi Arabian
female students, whose individual immersion into the TL context is limited by
cultural restrictions, importantly the need to be accompanied by a male guardian
(mahram). Based on a data set of a cohort of nine students
gathered over the period of one year, this study aims to establish the extent to
which these students engage in social interactions in the TL setting and how
these affect their overall language proficiency development. Data was gathered
pre-, during, and post-SA, using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative
instruments. These tested language proficiencies and surveyed the social
interactions and engagement with the TL of the students, using both
questionnaires (Language Engagement Questionnaire, Social Networking
Questionnaire) and semi-structured interviews. Findings suggest, firstly, that
despite the limitations on social interactions, these students clearly benefit
from SA. Findings show a complex set of relationships between language
development and interactions, with diverse strategies employed to access social
networks and thus engage in interactions. Overall, these results point to SA
settings as highly conducive learning environments, even for students who face
cultural restrictions in their interactions.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Social interactions and social networks in study abroad
- 3.Study
- 3.1Participants
- 3.2Setting and SA programme
- 4.Data collection
- 4.1Language development tests
- 4.2Measurements of interaction
- 5.Results
- 5.1Language proficiency development
- 5.2Language use in the SA context
- 5.3Perceived impact of social interactions on language proficiency
development
- 5.4Entering social networks: Buddies as access
- 5.5Engaging in social interactions: Culture as access point
- 5.6Student agency: Escortee or expert
- 5.7Comparative case analysis: Basma and Reem
- 6.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
References
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