Development of formulaic language use in a multilingual study abroad context: how social interaction affects students’ production in L2 German

Many studies have illustrated that the study abroad (SA) context is a particularly beneficial environment for the linguistic development of language learners (e.g. Kinginger, 2013). Especially the notion that living in "L2 land" (Coleman, 1998) is indispensable for successful learning due to extensive exposure, is widespread. Especially in the acquisition of formulaic language (FL), a sociocultural integration of the learners in the host environment is required (Dörnyei, Durow & Zahran, 2004). However, in today's globalized and digitalized world, with the possibility of remote communication with both L1 and L2 speakers, the impact of a sojourn abroad in the target language country might have to be re-evaluated. Therefore, the present study looks at the learning trajectories of four students (majoring in German and another foreign language) during their five-month semester abroad: two of them stayed in the target language country (Germany), two in non-target language countries (Spain and Russia). It explores the impact of learners' social interaction on the development of their FL use (collocations and pragmatic formulas) in L2 German. To measure FL development, students were administered a translation task with 46 collocations and an oral discourse-completion task pre- and post-SA. Students' social interaction patterns were explored through interviews during and after their semester abroad and through the Study Abroad Social Interaction Questionnaire (Dewey et al., 2013). The individual cases indicate that a sojourn in the target language country is no guarantee for the development of FL use in that language. Students' personal experiences and interaction with users of that language have a bigger influence, especially on the production of formulaic pragmatic expressions.