The Role of Study Abroad on the Acquisition of Sociolinguistic Competence

PurposeThe authors examine the role of internationalisation at-home activities and an international classroom at a home institution to promote intercultural competence development during a study abroad.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use large scale longitudinal data from the global mind monitor (GMM) (2018–2020) to examine change over time in both multicultural personality (MPQ) and cultural knowledge (CQ) among students in Dutch higher education institutions. The authors analyse the moderating effect of the preparation in the home institution by looking at the added value of both intercultural communication courses and international classroom setting for intercultural competence development during a study abroad.FindingsThe results show that particularly courses on intercultural communication significantly promote intercultural competence development during a stay abroad. Frequent interactions with international staff also seem to be beneficial for this development.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was conducted in the Netherlands, in one of the most internationalised educational systems in the world. Therefore, it is difficult to generalise these findings to other contexts before any further empirical research is conducted.Practical implicationsBased on the findings, the authors formulate practical advice for higher education institutions that aim to get the most out of the international learning outcomes of a study abroad.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to assess the moderating effect of preparatory internationalisation at home initiatives on the intercultural learning effects of international experiences later on in a study program. Other studies have proposed that these effects will exist but have not tested them empirically with longitudinal data.

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Study abroad and the SLA of variable structures: A look at the present perfect, the copula contrast, and the present progressive in Mexico and Spain

Probus ◽

10.1515/probus-2015-0004 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Matthew Kanwit ◽

Kimberly L. Geeslin ◽

Stephen Fafulas

Keyword(s):

Study Abroad ◽

Language Learning ◽

Native Speakers ◽

L2 Acquisition ◽

Present Perfect ◽

Immersion Programs ◽

Growing Body ◽

English Speaking ◽

Grammatical Structures

AbstractThe present study connects research on the L2 acquisition of variable structures to the ever-growing body of research on the role of study abroad in the language learning process. The data come from a group of 46 English-speaking learners of Spanish who participated in immersion programs in two distinct locations, Valencia, Spain and San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Simultaneously, we tested a group of native speakers from each region to create an appropriate target model for each learner group. Learners completed a written contextualized questionnaire at the beginning and end of their seven-week stay abroad. Our instrument examines three variable grammatical structures: (1) the copulas

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“One Belt One Road” and Central Asia: A New Trend in Internationalization of Higher Education?

International Higher Education ◽

10.6017/ihe.2018.92.10216 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 14

Author(s):

Aisi Li

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Study Abroad ◽

International Relations ◽

Central Asia ◽

Internationalization Of Higher Education ◽

One Belt One Road ◽

Confucius Institutes ◽

The Impact

China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) strategy is the latest trend in international relations, and it is making a real impact on higher education in Central Asia. This article discusses the impact of three aspects of the plan: Chinese funding for study abroad, the Confucius Institutes, and the role of Xinjiang, China’s northwestern frontier.

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