Writing development during study abroad
The role of language contact and social networks
Previous research on the benefits of study abroad (SA) has mainly focused on oral communication skills and L2 English,
while written communication and other foreign languages have received far less attention. This study addresses this gap by investigating
writing development in L2 German. It also aims to further the discussion about methods to assess writing development by combining different
types of data. The writing gains of 30 Belgian students in L2 German were investigated after one semester abroad. Pre- and post-SA writing
samples were analysed using linguistic and task-related assessment criteria. The results are triangulated with data about self-perceived
language gains, on the one hand, and self-reported language contact and social networks during SA, on the other. The results indicate a
correlation between self-report writing gains, language contact, and social networks.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 1.1SA and writing development: An incongruent picture
- 1.2The effect of independent study variables on L2 writing gains
- 1.3The effect of chosen dependent study variables on the outcome
- Comparison skill
- Comparison groups
- Task chosen to investigate writing gain
- Measures chosen to investigate writing gain
- 1.4Research questions of the present study
- 2.Methodology
- 2.1Participants
- 2.2Data collection
- 2.2.1Questionnaire
- 2.2.2Written data
- 2.3Data analysis
- 3.Results
- 3.1RQ1 – Writing development
- 3.2RQ2 – language contact: Language use and social networks
- 3.3RQ3 – Language use, social networks and writing development
- 4.Discussion
- 5.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
References
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