Centre for Research in International Education, AIS St Helens, Auckland, NZ, Conference:

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Centre for Research in International Education,
AIS St Helens, Auckland, NZ, Conference The
Internationalization of Education in New
Zealand, August 12-15, 2004Enhancing Students
Language and Culture Learning in Study Abroad

• Andrew D. Cohen University
  of Minnesota Visiting Professor, University of
  Auckland ad.cohen_at_auckland.ac.nz
• Others on the International Research Studies
  Program Grant Co-Investigator - Michael Paige,
  Research Assistants - Rachel Shively, Holly
  Emert, Joe Hoff at the Center for Advanced
  Research in Language Acquisition, University of
  Minnesota

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Overview of Presentation

• Significance of Study Abroad
• Language Learning in Study Abroad
• The Need for an Intervention in Study Abroad
• Research Design
• Instruments
• Findings

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Significance of Study Abroad

• Numbers
• Close to 100 million students worldwide study
  abroad each year.
• Over 160,000 university students from the United
  States study abroad each year.
• Culture Learning
• Study abroad programs have great potential to
  enhance cultural awareness.
• Learning culture reinforces language learning.

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• Language Learning
• Study abroad can offer an abundance of
  out-of-class opportunities for language use with
  native speakers (NSs) of the target language
  (TL).
• Study abroad can offer potential for gains in
  students language proficiency.
• Reaching advanced proficiency levels often
  requires time spent in a TL country.

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• Despite the potential for increased language
  proficiency that study abroad seems to offer,
  students who spend even a full academic semester
  abroad do not always make more significant
  language gains in the TL than do their peers who
  stay home and study the TL (Freed, 1995).
• Why is this the case?

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• Students may not have an overall strategic plan
  for how to get the most out of their study abroad
  experiences in- and out-of-class.
• Students may be unaware of strategies that would
  help them increase their contact with the TL.
• Language classes may give them only survival
  language at best, rather than fine-tuned guidance
  on how to perform crucial speech functions or
  speech acts such as requesting, thanking,
  complimenting, apologizing, and the like.

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Need for an Intervention, and Hence This Study

• Generally, students may have limited preparation
  to be language and culture learners in the study
  abroad environment.
• Students may lack specific strategies that they
  can use in practice to deal with the target
  language and the culture in its own context.
• Few materials are available that guide students
  and teachers in maximizing study abroad using
  language and culture strategies.
• Research is lacking on the effects of curricular
  interventions in study abroad, especially those
  emphasizing language and culture strategies.

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Maximizing Study Abroad Students Guide and
Companion Guides for Study Abroad Professionals
and Language Instructors

• The guides are a response to the felt need for
  materials to enhance study abroad.
• The guides employ a strategies-based approach to
  language and culture learning.

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Strategies-Based Learning

• Language and culture learning may be enhanced if
  students become aware of the range of strategies
  that they can employ to learn and use a foreign
  language and deal with another culture.
• Strategies can be taught explicitly in the
  classroom and by means of self-access materials
  for students.
• Examples of language and culture learning
  strategies in the Students Guide can be found
  at http//www.carla.umn.edu/maxsa/

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Maximizing Study Abroad Research Project

• The Maximizing Study Abroad guides were
  field-tested with a grant from the International
  Research and Studies Program (IRSP), Office of
  International Education (USDOE).
• Primary Research Question To what extent does a
  strategies-based approach to developing language
  and culture skills transmitted through a set of
  study abroad guides promote language gain and
  cultural adaptation by study abroad students?

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Student Study Research Design

• Research Questions
• What strategies do study abroad students use to
  deal with language and culture?
• In what contexts do they use these strategies?
• How frequently?
• What is their overall perception of a
  strategies-based approach?

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Sample

• Two cohorts of university students studying
  abroad either in Spring 2003 (Cohort A) or Fall
  2003 (Cohort B).
• Cohort A 42 students (21 Experimental group,
  21 Control group) Cohort B 44 students (21 E,
  23 C)Total 86 students (Stratified random
  sample)
• Students had taken at least 4 semesters of
  Spanish or French language classes.
• Studying abroad in Spanish- or French- speaking
  countries for one semester.

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Treatment

• The Experimental (E) Group received the Students
  Guide before departure for their use while
  studying abroad.
• The E Group received a pre-departure orientation
  on how to use some of the language and culture
  strategies in the Students Guide and speech
  acts.
• The Control (C) Group did not receive the
  Students Guide or the E group orientation just
  a brief orientation to the research.

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Instruments

• Background Questionnaire
• Intercultural Development Inventory (Hammer
  Bennett, 1998, 2001)
• Strategies Inventory for Learning Culture (Paige,
  Rong, Zhang, Kappler, Hoff, Emert, 2002)
• Language Strategy Survey (Cohen Chi, 2001)
• Speech Act Measure of Language Gain (Cohen
  Shively, 2002)
• Bi-weekly Electronic Journal Entries
• Exit Language Contact Profile
• Follow-up Interview Protocol

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Background Questionnaire

• Items in the instrument address
• Demographics (gender, year in school, major).
• Host country and study abroad TL.
• Native/dominant language(s).
• Family language(s).
• Language of pre-college education.
• Length of study of the TL.
• Study of languages other than the TL.
• Self-assessment of ability in TL aural skills,
  and in TL literacy skills in both popular and
  academic registers.

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Intercultural Development Inventory

• Measures peoples basic orientations to cultural
  difference.
• Includes 50 questions, based on Milton Bennetts
  Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity,
  which has 6 sequential stages
• Ethnocentric stages Denial ? Defense ?
  Minimization
• Ethnorelative stages Acceptance ? Adaptation ?
  Integration

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Strategies Inventory for Learning Culture

• Measures the frequency of use of culture
  strategies.
• Has nine categories of culture strategies for
• Surroundings that are culturally different.
• Dealing with difficult times in another culture.
• Making interpretations in another culture.
• Communicating in another culture.
• Dealing with different communication styles.
• Understanding non-verbal communication.
• Interacting with people in another culture.
• Dealing with the living situation.
• Maintaining cultural ties to the host culture
  after returning home.

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Learning Strategy Survey

• Measures the frequency of use of language
  strategies.
• Has language strategies organized by skill
  Listening, Vocabulary, Speaking, Reading,
  Writing, Strategic Use of Translation.
• Earlier versions of the language and culture
  strategies surveys can be found at
  http//www.carla.umn.edu/maxsa/guides.html

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Speech Act Measure

• Employed written discourse completion tasks
  (DCTs) with multiple rejoinders to assess
  performance in making requests and apologies.
• Included 5 apology and 5 request vignettes (10
  vignettes total).
• Had the description of each vignette in English,
  but the rejoinders in Peninsular Spanish, Latin
  American Spanish, or French.

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• Each vignette differs with regard to three
  variables
• social distance,
• relative status,
• severity of the infraction (apologies) or degree
  of imposition (requests).
• Each version was translated from an English
  prototype by a native speaker of the respective
  language or dialect (in the case of Spanish).

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E-journals

• E group students submitted a total of 7
  e-journal entries on the research website, at
  bi-weekly intervals during their semester
  abroad.
• In their e-journals, students were to answer the
  following questions
• What were your impressions of the readings and
  activities in the assigned section?
• What types of language and culture strategies are
  you using in order to deal with the host country
  language and culture?
• What are the contexts and situations in which you
  use these language and culture strategies?
• How have the readings and activities related to
  your study abroad experience? Please give
  examples with explanations.

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Exit Language Contact Profile

• Items in the instrument address
• Study abroad living situation (e.g., host family,
  dorm, apartment).
• Use of the TL in the home with native and
  non-native speakers of the TL.
• Use of the TL outside of class.
• Portion of friends who were native speakersof
  the TL.
• Participation in structured activities outsideof
  class.

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• Type(s) of study abroad program and coursework
  (e.g., regular university courses, courses for
  study abroad students, internship, field
  experience).
• Self-assessment of language ability (identical to
  rating scale on the Entrance Questionnaire).
• Motivation to study the language of the host
  country (increased/decreased).
• Travel plans after courses are completed.
• Perceived impact of the Students Guide (E group
  only).
• Recommendation of the Students Guide (E group
  only).

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Follow-up Interview Protocol

• Research assistants (RAs) selected a purposive
  sub-sample of E group students (10 E group
  students from each cohort total of 20 students)
  to interview 3 to 5 months after students return
  to the U.S. from studying abroad.
• Interviews were one-on-one between students and
  RAs, semi-structured, and approximately 1 hour in
  length.

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Data Collection

• E and C groups completed the instruments as
  pre-measures before departing for study abroad
  and as post-measures at the end of their semester
  abroad.
• The E group submitted bi-weekly electronic
  journals describing their use of the language and
  culture strategies included in the Students
  Guide.

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Data Analysis

• Analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data
  is currently being conducted by the research
  team.
• Students performance on the Speech Act Measure
  (pre and post) was rated by 2 native speakers
  (NS) each of French, Peninsular Spanish, and
  Latin American Spanish (total of 6 NS raters).
• The NS raters received the students Speech Act
  Measure responses unlabeled as to whether pre- or
  post-measure.

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Speech Act Measure Rating Criteria

• Native speakers of Peninsular Spanish, Latin
  American Spanish, and French rated the
  appropriateness of each response for each of the
  following categories
• register 3 separate scales one each for
  vocabulary choice, verb tense/inflection, and
  subject pronoun choice.
• politeness (requests only).
• directness (requests only).
• overall success of the request or the apology.

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• In order to help interpret the native speaker
  ratings, the researchers are also currently
  assessing the following elements
• coherence and cohesion in the subjects response,
  given the preceding and following rejoinders.
• speech act-specific strategies used
• Requests e.g., preparation, giving reasons, and
  minimizing imposition.
• Apologies e.g., apology expression, offer of
  repair, explanation, acknowledgement of
  responsibility, and promise of non-recurrence.

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Findings

• Quantitative findings
• Intercultural Development Inventory
• Language Strategy Survey
• Strategies Inventory for Learning Culture
• Speech Act Measure of Language Gain
• Qualitative findings
• E group electronic journals
• E group follow-up interviews

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Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI)
Findings

• The sample as a whole shifted in the direction of
  greater intercultural sensitivity on the IDI,
  suggesting that study abroad in general has an
  impact on students intercultural worldview.
• There were no statistically significant
  differences between the E and C groups on the
  IDI, suggesting that the treatment did not have a
  measurable impact on students intercultural
  sensitivity.

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Language Strategy Survey (LSS) Findings

• Sample as a whole
• Whereas students increased in their reported use
  of speaking and listening strategies, they
  decreased in their reported use of reading and
  vocabulary strategies.
• The context of study abroad may help explain this
  finding. While abroad, students are likely to
  have more frequent opportunities to interact with
  native speakers and so strategies for listening
  and speaking effectively are likely to become
  more crucial to them.

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• While there was no statistically significant
  difference between the E and C groups as to
  reported gain in language strategy use overall
  from pre- to posttest, there was a difference at
  the .05 or better level on eight of the survey
  items.

Item LSS Item Description E group mean gain C group mean gain p value
9 I pay special attention to specific aspects of the language for example, the way the speaker pronounces certain sounds. (Listening) .10 -.36 .05
13 I listen for word and sentence stress to see what native speakers emphasize when they speak. (Listening) .31 -.11 .03
52 I ask questions as a way to be involved in the conversation. (Speaking) .38 -.07 .02
61 I use gestures as a way to try and get my meaning across. (Speaking) .07 -.34 .05
88 I try to understand what has been heard or read without translating it word-for-word into my own language. (Translation) .57 .07 .02
27 I pay attention to the structure of the new word. (Vocabulary) -.17 .25 .06
28 I break the words into parts that I can identify. (Vocabulary) -.40 .02 .05
36 I use flash cards in a systematic way to learn new words. (Vocabulary) -.14 -.64 .04
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• Vocabulary strategies E group decline on the
  vocabulary items 27, 28, and both E and C group
  decline on 36 was probably a function of the L2
  study abroad environment since vocabulary could
  be acquired without the need for the conscious
  focus which often characterizes FL study.
• Speaking strategies Items 52 and 61 show E
  group gains compared to the C group decreases.
  This difference may reflect the fact that the
  Guide advises students to make ample use of both
  of these strategies.
• Translation strategies The E group reported a
  greater shift away from word-for-word translation
  over time than the C group. The Guide advises
  students not to depend entirely on such
  word-to-word translations.

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Strategies Inventory for Learning Culture (SILC)
Findings

• Sample as a whole
• E C students together increased in their
  reported use of 41 of the 52 culture strategies
  from pre- to posttest, and decreased in reported
  use of 11 culture strategies.
• Decreases occurred on items pertaining to
  homestay strategies and on strategies to use upon
  returning home. These findings are difficult to
  interpret since we might have expected an
  increase in reported homestay strategies, given
  that 74 of the students were in homestays. In
  addition, we would think the students would be
  more directed to post-study abroad strategies as
  their overseas experience was ending.

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• As a whole, there was no statistical difference
  between the E and C groups as to reported gain in
  culture strategy use overall on the SILC from
  pre- to posttest.
• 5 individual items were at or near significance
  (p lt.05), 3 with greater gain in reported
  strategy use for the C group and 2 with greater
  gain for the E group.

Item SILC Item Description E group mean gain C group mean gain p value
5 I counter stereotypes others use about people from my country by using generalizations and cultural values instead. (Interpreting Culture). .64 .14 .06
31 I respect the way people from another culture express themselves. (Communication). .14 -.20 .03
2 I figure out what cultural values might be involved when I encounter a conflict or something goes wrong. (Interpreting Culture). .10 .43 .06
25 I build relations with local people by finding opportunities to spend time with them. (Communication) -.05 .48 .05
49 I take a class that will help me keep up with the other culture. (Reentry). -.40 .36 .05
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Speech Act Measure Findings

• On the rating criteria overall success, the E
  group had a higher mean gain score compared to
  the C group (E 4.38, C 1.24). This
  difference became statistically significant (p lt
  .05) when the scores were grouped into 3
  categories (loss, no change, gain) E .74, C
  .41.
• The higher achievement of the E group in overall
  success on the language gain measure as a whole
  may be attributed to the treatment.

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• Directness
• When looking at the gain scores for the request
  vignettes grouped together, the E group came out
  significantly higher than the C group on the
  rating criteria appropriateness of the level of
  directness (E 2.38, C 1.09). The Guide does
  specifically recommend that students consider
  their level of directness in performing requests.
• Register
• The E group also came out higher on the vignette
  9, forgetting a meeting with your professor
  for two criteria overall success (E .56, C
  .01) and fit between vocabulary and formality
  level (E .37, C -.08). This result may be
  an outgrowth of the treatment since the Guide
  instructs students to be sensitive to the social
  status of the interlocutor as well as to the
  social situation when they perform speech acts.

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E Group Correlations Between Language Strategy
Use Rated Language Gain

• Higher reported use of the translation strategy
  Put my own language out of mind and think only
  in the target language as much as possible in
  the posttest correlated with a positive gain
  score on the professor apology vignette, 9 (r
  .44). Note plt05, p lt .01, p lt .001
• Interpretation This finding suggests that (1)
  consciously trying to think as much as possible
  in the target language may be related to improved
  language performance, and (2) explicit training
  in using this strategy may be related to rated
  language gain (i.e., correlations were found for
  the E group only).

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• Higher reported use of the listening strategy
  Use the speakers tone of voice as a clue to the
  meaning of what they are saying in the posttest
  correlated with a positive gain score on the
  measure as a whole (r .62), and on apology
  vignettes 3 (losing friends book) (r
  .50) and 9 (forgetting meeting with
  professor) (r .53) respectively.
• Interpretation This finding suggests that E
  group students may have been able to improve
  their language ability by reading about this
  strategy in the Guide and then becoming more
  strategic about listening by not only paying
  attention to words but also to the tone of voice.

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• Lower reported use of the speaking strategy
  Figure out and model NSs language patterns when
  requesting, apologizing, or complaining in the
  posttest correlated with a positive language gain
  score on the request vignette 10 (sibling to
  leave for school earlier) (r .52).
• Interpretation We would have expected the
  contrary. One possible explanation is that
  students may have not had many opportunities
  during study abroad to use this strategy, as some
  speech acts may have occurred relatively
  infrequently in the contexts that students were
  exposed to.

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• When grouping students mean language gain scores
  on all apology and all request vignettes
  separately, five significant correlations with
  specific items on the LSS emerged

LSS item Mean gain score on LSS Mean gain score on Apology vignettes Mean gain score on Request vignettes
Ask for clarification if I dont understand it the first time around. (22) E .05 C -.18 E .43 C ---  
Use the speakers tone of voice as a clue to the meaning of what they are saying. (23) E .17 C .07 E .65 C ---
Find things to read for pleasure in the target language. (64) E .48 C .34 E .44 C ---  
Review words periodically so I dont forget them. (38) E .10 C -.05 E --- C -.41  
Draw on my general background knowledge to get the main idea. (25) E -.05 C -.07 E --- C .41  
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Exit Language Contact Profile Findings

• The difference between the E and C groups in
  frequency of language contact was not
  statistically significant.
• Students who took subject courses in the TL for
  study abroad students achieved a significantly
  higher language gain score than did students who
  took subject courses in the TL intended for TL
  native speakers. This finding may reflect the
  fact that the courses designed for study abroad
  students were directed more specifically at their
  language needs.
• Living with a host family was found to help C
  group students achieve a significantly higher
  language gain score than that obtained by their
  peers not living with a family. Living with a
  host family had no statistical impact on the E
  groups language gain score.

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E-journals Findings

• Overall, students reported finding the language
  and culture strategies in the Students Guide
  useful for study abroad.
• Maximizing Study Abroad has been an effective
  book not because it answers all of my questions,
  but because it provides guidance and structure
  during a time when one can feel utterly lost,
  wandering around in a mental, physical, and
  cultural landscape without any landmarks in
  sight. Student in Salamanca, Spain Spring,
  03 Week 11

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• Language strategies helped students communicate
  more effectively in the target language.
• I was in a hurry to get some food before meeting
  a friend. I wanted to say that I need the food
  to go. Obviously saying comida ir, the literal
  translation would not work, so following the
  advice of the guide, I substituted words. I said
  I needed plastic plates because I had to take it
  with me. Student in Havana, Cuba Spring
  03, Week 6

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• Culture strategies helped students become more
  knowledgeable about communication styles.
• One of the greatest things about this guide is
  that it helps put new words to things we've been
  struggling with, things that are an inherent part
  of any experience like study abroad.
  Sometimes, it names the things we struggle with
  and helps us recognize that they're there often
  you'll struggle in a situation and feel irritated
  or discouraged, but not really be sure why, and
  then you do your readings for the week and you
  realize the source of the problem...I sit up late
  nights reading in my mosquito net and all of a
  sudden think, "Oh! It's because I'm a linear
  communicator and she's a circular communicator.
  Huh." And then the suggestions about how to
  negotiate those things help me digest and deal
  better with the issue. Student in Cameroon
  Spring 03, Week 8

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• The Students Guide encouraged students to be
  data gatherers to improve language learning.
• The Students Guide section on Varying
  Strategies for Apologizing was important. I
  seem to be always saying the wrong thing. I am
  still working on apologies and playing language
  detective by asking my host mom about appropriate
  expressions. Student in Santiago, Chile
  Spring 03, Week 4

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Follow-up Interviews Findings

• Students overall reaction to the Guide some
  three-to-five months after returning to the U.S.
  was very positive.
• While most students expressed the desire to
  maintain their target-language skills after
  returning to the U.S., many found they were
  either too busy or not motivated enough to follow
  the strategies for language maintenance contained
  in the Guide.
• Many students reported that they maintained some
  link, however small, to the culture in which they
  had lived during study abroad. Examples included
  regularly reading a host country newspaper
  on-line and choosing to do research papers on the
  host country in university content courses.

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Conclusions

• The treatment appears to have enhanced speech act
  performance among study abroad students in
  Spanish- and French-speaking countries over time.
• The reported gain in use of certain language
  strategies by the treatment group was correlated
  with rated gain in speech act performance.
• The treatment did not appear to have a measurable
  impact on the development of students
  intercultural sensitivity. However, many E group
  students reported that the Guide helped them to
  improve their intercultural skills.
• Students reported finding the Guide to be a
  useful tool for language and culture learning
  during their study abroad.
• Data analysis is on-going and more findings will
  be available in the near future.