This presentation focuses on the results of a case-study examining the long-term impact of a seemingly challenging study abroad experience and how the participant’s personal development during that time inspired her to live abroad again. A longitudinal perspective is needed in SA research to examine such long-term effects.
Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research on residence abroad (RA) has recently experienced an increase in the number of studies adopting a social perspective, shifting the focus from purely linguistic gains to also including contextual and individual differences that influence language learning while abroad (e.g., Firth & Wagner, 1997; Lantolf, 2011). In recognition of the crucial role that contextual and personal factors play in the language learning process, this case study explores the experiences of an undergraduate British sojourner who spent nine months abroad working as an English language teaching assistant in a predominately Basque-speaking region of Spain. In this presentation, we aim to contribute to the literature by describing in detail not only factors contributing to this sojourner’s challenging residence-abroad experience and resulting limited linguistic gains, but also highlighting the importance of following up with participants several years after they returned from their first study abroad experience to examine in what ways it had a lasting impact. The participant is part of a larger study that focused on the short and long-term linguistic, social, and personal effects of residence abroad (Authors, 2017). As part of that study, she was interviewed and completed L2 (second language) assessments multiple times over an 8-year period (2011-2019). Findings show that the sojourner struggled in many ways during her ‘year abroad’ (2011-2012) relating to (i) the local language and the host community, (ii) her homestay experience, and (iii) individual choices she made. Although linguistic gains were limited for this participant, the overall RA experience contributed to her personal development and social investment towards prospective RA experiences and career advancement. In fact, her first RA year proved to be a transformational experience as she was inspired to live abroad in Spain again, build a career, and develop local connections and advanced language skills over several years.
