The role of learning context and individual differences when performing different study abroad experiences

Most of the studies which examine Study Abroad (SA) experiences describe the SA learning context as “key” to second Language (L2) development because of the immersion and opportunities for practice that it provides. Consequently, researchers have been arguing that studying in a country where the L2 is the official language and being surrounded by native speakers would lead learners to a greater command of the L2 (Tragant, 2012). However, even when the participants’ objective is to practise their English skills, many decide to travel to countries where English is not the official language but where it is used as a lingua franca. The goal of the present study is to examine whether studying abroad in a non-English speaking country (English as a lingua franca study abroad, ELFSA) (Koylu, 2016) is as effective as studying abroad in an English-speaking country (traditional SA) in terms of L2 reading, L2 vocabulary and general L2 proficiency. To do so, a group of 51 Catalan/Spanish bilinguals participated in a SA experience (n= 30 traditional SA and n= 21 ELFSA) and were administered the Oxford Quick Placement test, two reading tasks, the Updated Vocabulary Levels Test, a written task and an online questionnaire (to measure how different individual variables affected their learning outcomes. The results show that the contexts do not differ much in terms of L2 development and that some individual variables can have an important impact on the outcomes of the SA experience. Koylu, Z. (2016). The Influence of Context on L2 Development: The Case of Turkish Undergraduates at Home and Abroad. PhD Diss., University of South Florida: The USA. Tragant, E. (2012). Change or Stability in Learners’ Perceptions as a Result of Study Abroad. In C. Muñoz (Ed.) Intensive Exposure Experiences in Second Language Acquisition (pp. 161-190), SLA (65), Multilingual Matters.