The present study explores the impact of a short-term study abroad experience in a multilingual region on students’ general interest in multilingualism and the development of a multilingual self. Qualitative data reveal that students maintain only an elementary understanding of multilingualism but show increased post-program interests in third language acquisition.
With the increased emphasis on global development and education in recent decades, study abroad (SA) has become a centerpiece of the university experience (IIE, 2017). Research in SA has largely focused on linguistic progress and identity development, with a mass of studies focusing specifically on students’ acquisition of a second language while abroad (see DeKeyser, 2014). However, few SA studies approach the study abroad experience (SAE) as a potential catalyst for an emerging multilingual identity (e.g., Arvidsson, Eyckmans, Rosiers, & Lundell, 2018). The present study explores the impact of a SAE in a multilingual region on students’ general interest in multilingualism and the development of a multilingual self (Ushioda & Dörnyei, 2017). More fine-grained analyses address which attributes of the SA program and host region are referenced by students as the source(s) of their changed attitudes and impressions. An online questionnaire, administered before and after a five-week summer SA program, asked participants to reflect on their linguistic and sociopolitical expectations and multilingual beliefs prior to going abroad and on their perceived linguistic development immediately after the program, in addition to changes in multilingual beliefs. The responses of 29 post-advanced learners of Spanish studying in a five-week faculty-led program in Barcelona, Spain, were analyzed qualitatively for recurring patterns in the development of multilingual self and potential sources inciting increased interest in multilingualism. Post-program interviews conducted one month after students’ return to the U.S. verify increased post-program interests in third language acquisition and the sociopolitical implications of a multilingual community. However, questionnaire and interview responses also reveal failure of several students to situate their SAE within a multilingual context in the long term, with evidence of a still elementary understanding of multilingualism, highlighting the need to draw attention to multilingual identities and the development of the multilingual self during short-term SA programs.
