Abstract
This chapter explores quantitative research in second language study abroad (SA) contexts. It sketches out common research objectives, methods, and design options without attempting to take stock of all possible approaches to quantitative study abroad research (SAR). Instead, it raises seven issues that quantitative SAR is confronted with, explores how to tackle these, and makes recommendations for future studies. Three of the recommendations made concern the needs to (1) conduct multi-year studies to increase studies’ sample size and statistical power, (2) investigate interrelationships between SA participants’ performance in specific skills-tests and overall language proficiency tests, and (3) complement or replace self-report data through naturalistic observation of social and communicative behavior using tools like the Electronically Activated Recorder.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Al-Hoorie, A. H., & Vitta, J. P. (2019). The seven sins of L2 research: A review of 30 journals’ statistical quality and their CiteScore, SJR, SNIP, JCR impact factors. Language Teaching Research, 23(6), 727–744. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168818767191
Arvidsson, K., Eyckmans, J., Rosiers, A., & Forsberg Lundell, F. (2018). Self-perceived linguistic progress, target language use and personality development during study abroad. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education, 3(1), 144–166. https://doi.org/10.1075/sar.16024.arv
Badstübner, T., & Ecke, P. (2009). Students’ expectations, target language use, and perceived learning progress in a summer study abroad program in Germany. Die Unterrichtspraxis: Teaching German, 42(1), 41–49. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-1221.2009.00034.x
Baker, C. (1992). Attitudes and language. Multilingual Matters.
Baker‐Smemoe, W., Dewey, D. P., Bown, J., Martinsen, R. A. (2014). Variables affecting L2 gains during study abroad. Foreign Language Annals, 47(3), 464–486. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12093
Bryfonski, L., & Sanz, C. (2018). Opportunities for corrective feedback during study abroad: A mixed methods approach. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 38, 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190518000016
Dewey, D. P. (2017). Measuring social interaction during study abroad: Quantitative methods and challenges. System, 71, 49–59.
Di Silvio, F., Diao, W., & Donovan, A. (2016). The development of L2 fluency during study abroad: A cross-language study. Modern Language Journal, 100(3), 610–662. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12343
Ecke, P. (2012, March 27). Verbal fluency development in L2 and L1 during short-term study abroad. Paper presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics Conference.
Ecke, P. (2014). The effects of study abroad in the German-speaking world: A research review. Die Unterrichtspraxis: Teaching German, 47(2), 121–139. https://doi.org/10.1111/tger.10166
Ecke, P., & Hall, C. J. (2013). Tracking tip-of-the-tongue states in a multilingual speaker: Evidence of attrition or instability in lexical systems? International Journal of Bilingualism, 17(6), 734–751. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006912454623
Fernández, J., & Gates Tapia, A. N. (2016). An appraisal of the language contact profile as a tool to research local engagement in study abroad. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education, 1(2), 248–276. https://doi.org/10.1075/sar.1.2.05fer
Freed, B. F., Dewey, D., Segalowitz, N., & Halter, F. (2004). The language contact profile. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 349–356. https://doi.org/10.1017/S027226310426209X
García-Amaya, L. (2017). Detailing L1 and L2 use in study-abroad research: Data from the daily linguistic questionnaire. System, 71, 60–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2017.09.023
Grey, S., Cox, J. C., Serafini, E. J., & Sanz, C. (2015). The role of individual differences in the study abroad context: Cognitive capacity and language development during short-term intensive language exposure. Modern Language Journal, 99(1), 37–157. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12190
Harari, G. M., Lane, N. D., Wang, R., Crosier, B. S., Campbell, A. T., & Gosling, S. D. (2016). Using smartphones to collect behavioral data in psychological science: Opportunities, practical considerations, and challenges. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(6), 838–854. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616650285
Huensch, A., Tracy-Ventura, N., Bridges, J., & Cuesta Medina, J. A. (2019). Variables affecting the maintenance of L2 proficiency and fluency four years post-study abroad. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education, 4(1), 96–125. https://doi.org/10.1075/sar.17015.hue
Isabelli-Garcia, C. (2010). Acquisition of Spanish gender agreement in two learning contexts: Study abroad and at home. Foreign Language Annals, 43(2), 289–303. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2010.01079.x
Isbell, D., & Winke, P. (2019). ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview—Computer (OPIc). Language Testing, 36(3) 467–477. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532219828253
Kaplan, D. M., Rentscher, K. E., Lim, M., Reyes, R., Keating, D., Romero, J., Shah, A., Smith, A. D., York, K. A., Milek, A., Tackman, A. M., & Mehl, M. R. (2020). Best practices for Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) research: A practical guide to coding and processing EAR data. Behavior Research Methods, 52, 1538–1551. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-019-01333-y
Kinginger, C., & Carnine, J. (2019). Language learning at the dinner table: Two case studies of French homestays. Foreign Language Annals, 52, 850–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12431
Llanes, À., & Muñoz, C. (2009). A short stay abroad: Does it make a difference? System, 37, 353–365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2009.03.001
Marsden, E., Mackey A., & Plonsky, L. (2016). The IRIS Repository: Advancing research practice and methodology. In A. Mackey & E. Marsden (Eds.), Advancing methodology and practice: The IRIS repository of instruments for research into second languages (pp. 1–21). Routledge.
Marsden, E., Morgan-Short, K., Thompson, S., & Abugaber, D. (2018). Replication in second language research: Narrative and systematic reviews and recommendations for the field. Language Learning, 68, 321–391. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12286
Martinsen, R., Baker, W., Dewey, D. P., Bown, J., & Johnson, C. (2010). Exploring diverse settings for language acquisition and use: Comparing study abroad, service learning abroad, and foreign language housing. Applied Language Learning, 20, 45–66.
McManus, K., Mitchell, R., & Tracy-Ventura, N. (2014). Understanding insertion and integration in a study abroad context: The case of English-speaking sojourners in France. Revue Française de Linguistique Appliquée, 19(2), 97–116. https://doi.org/10.3917/rfla.192.0097
Mehl, M. R. (2017). The Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR): A method for the naturalistic observation of daily social behavior. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(2), 184–190. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721416680611
Norris, J. M., Plonsky, L., Ross, S. J., & Schoonen, R. (2015). Guidelines for reporting quantitative methods and results in primary research. Language Learning, 65, 470–476. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12104
Pérez-Vidal, C. (2014). Study abroad and formal instruction contrasted: The SALA Project. In C. Perez-Vidal (Ed.), Language acquisition in study abroad and formal instruction contexts (pp. 17–57). John Benjamins.
Plonsky, L. (2013). Study quality in SLA: An assessment of designs, analyses, and reporting practices in quantitative L2 research. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 35, 655–687. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263113000399
Porte, G. (Ed.) (2012). Replication research in applied linguistics. Cambridge University Press.
Rees, J., & Klapper, J. (2011). Issues in the quantitative longitudinal measurement of second language progress in the study abroad context. In L. Ortega & H. Byrnes (Eds.), The longitudinal study of advanced L2 capacities (pp. 89–105). Routledge.
Robbins, M. L. (2017). Practical suggestions for legal and ethical concerns with social environment sampling methods. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8, 573–580.
Roever, C., & Phakiti, A. (2018). Quantitative methods for second language research: A problem-solving approach. Routledge.
Segalowitz, N., & Freed, B. F. (2004). Context, contact, and cognition in oral fluency acquisition: Learning Spanish in at home and study abroad contexts. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26(2), 173199. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263104262027
Sunderman, G., & Kroll, J. F. (2009). When study abroad fails to deliver: The internal resources threshold effect. Applied Psycholinguistics, 30, 79–99. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716408090048
Taguchi, N., & Collentine, J. (2018). Language learning in a study-abroad context: Research agenda. Language Teaching, 51(4), 553–566.
Tracy-Ventura, N., McManus, K., Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L. (2014). Repeat as much as you can: Elicited imitation as a measure of oral proficiency in L2 French. In P. Leclercq, A. Edmonds, & H. Hilton (Eds.), Measuring L2 proficiency: Perspectives from SLA (pp. 143–166). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783092291-011
Tschirner, E. (2007). The development of oral proficiency in a four-week intensive immersion program in Germany. Die Unterrichtspraxis: Teaching German, 40(2), 111–117. https://doi.org/10.1111/tger.2007.40.2.111
Tullock, B., & Ortega, L. (2017). Fluency and multilingualism in study abroad: Lessons from a scoping review. System, 71, 7–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2017.09.019
Yang, J.-S. (2016). The effectiveness of study-abroad on second language learning: A meta-analysis. Canadian Modern Language Review, 72, 66–94.
Zimmermann, J., & Neyer, F. J. (2013). Do we become a different person when hitting the road? Personality development of sojourners. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105(3), 515–555. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033019
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ecke, P. (2022). Quantitative Study Abroad Research: Challenges and Recommendations. In: McGregor, J., Plews, J.L. (eds) Designing Second Language Study Abroad Research. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05053-4_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05053-4_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-05052-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-05053-4
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)