This contribution discusses two case studies that illustrate the experiences of mobility students who were studying abroad during the first outbreak of COVID-19. The case studies have emerged from a larger longitudinal, mixed-method study, which included an interview study with six international students planned for spring 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all participants had to terminate their stay early. Hence, the original interview study was adapted to focus on the impact of COVID-19 on students’ social contacts, linguistic practices, and emotional well-being in these exceptional circumstances. In the present contribution, we understand study abroad as a rite of passage, an important time in the life of young adults, and we draw on insights from previous research on educational travels with transformative potential to make sense of the students’ differing reactions to their early return. Abstract in German In diesem Beitrag werden zwei Fallstudien erörtert, die die Erfahrungen von Mobilitätsstudenten illustrieren, die während des Ausbruchs von COVID-19 im Ausland studierten. Die Fallstudien sind aus einer größeren mixed-method Längsschnittstudie hervorgegangen, welche eine für das Frühjahr 2020 geplante Interviewstudie mit sechs internationalen Studierenden umfasste. Aufgrund der COVID-19-Pandemie mussten alle Teilnehmer*innen ihren Aufenthalt vorzeitig beenden. Daher wurde die ursprüngliche Interviewstudie angepasst, um die Auswirkungen von COVID-19 auf die sozialen Kontakte, die sprachlichen Praktiken und das emotionale Wohlbefinden der Studierenden unter diesen außergewöhnlichen Umständen zu untersuchen. Im vorliegenden Beitrag verstehen wir das Auslandsstudium als einen Übergangsritus, eine wichtige Zeit im Leben junger Erwachsener, und wir stützen uns auf Erkenntnisse aus der bisherigen Forschung über Bildungsreisen mit transformativem Potenzial, um die unterschiedlichen Reaktionen der Studierenden auf ihre vorzeitige Rückkehr zu verstehen.

This article presents a comparative case study analysis of two mobility students who, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, had to terminate their stay abroad early and return home after seven and eleven weeks, respectively. The study aims to shed light on the impact of the outbreak of the pandemic on students’ social contacts and their re-adaptation back home, drawing on interview and questionnaire data. The interview data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis and suggest that, while the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic was a stressful experience for both students, which impacted the social contacts they entertained and their re-adaptation at home, the two students’ experiences also differed in many ways. We argue that these differences may be attributable to the social contacts the students maintained prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, the goals associated with the stay abroad, and the students’ coping strategies.

The present study examined the effect of language exchange activities on the development of productive foreign language skills of primary school pupils. The sample comprised a total of 392 pupils from German- and French-speaking Switzerland, attending 5th and 6th grade. The pupils’ speaking and writing skills were examined longitudinally using a quasi-experimental pre-test post-test design with an intervention and control group. The intervention lasted one school year and included two physical reunions with the partner class, as well as preparatory and follow-up activities. The German-speaking pupils’ productive skills were assessed at the beginning and end of the school year using communicative tasks. The data was analysed by means of multiple regression analysis. Results show that the intervention had a positive impact on the pupils’ speaking skills and their general language competence, as measured by a C-test. However, the intervention had no significant impact on their writing skills. The findings suggest that even short encounters at primary school level with beginners have the potential to spur language development if they are didactically well embedded.