The Post-Sojourn in Study Abroad Research—Another Frontier

Abstract

The conference brought together researchers and practitioners from across the world for presentations and discussions on various facets of residence and study abroad (SA) for second languages (L2). While concerned with the broadly defined topic of culture in the SA context, the conference's call for papers emphasized five specific sub-themes: participants' / stakeholders' culture; cultural and intercultural learning (in relation to language acquisition); the post-sojourn effect of cultural learning; the cultural specificity of study abroad in and from Canada (especially regarding the French language); and the cultural interests of L2 students moving to, from, or within Asia. The articles gathered in this special issue, under the title "Language and Culture after Study Abroad," derive from papers that primarily addressed the third of the aforementioned sub-themes, whose scope was to explore through empirical research and critical scholarship the afterlife of cultural, intercultural, and language learning on L2 SA programming, when participants return to their domestic universities or workplaces. 1 The conference's five sub-themes were chosen specifically because they were sufficiently original in scope to engage anew scholars from across the Modern Languages disciplines, Second Language Acquisition research, and Study Abroad and International Education sectors. That is, they were to inspire new directions in disciplinary discussion. Certainly, post-sojourn experiences-re-entry, reintegration, renegotiation, reflection, re-assessment, remembering, retelling, re-envisioning, and further renewal-represent aspects or stages of the overall SA process that are less explored in research than are pre-departure motivation and preparation, the many aspects of the in-sojourn experience, or immediate learning outcomes. This has prompted the eminent Jim Coleman (2013, p. 27) to lament that the "list of studies of the long-term impact of study abroad […] is woefully short"; he lists only seven. 2 Indeed, beginning in the late 1960s, research into SA has traditionally focused on two areas: (1) measuring L2 proficiency and fluency, both in relation to the general SA context and also in correlation with specific qualities of the experience abroad, and (2) communicative competence; 3 more recently this has been complemented by inquiries into a third area: (3) participants' intercultural development and L2 identities. 4 While this research has provided insight into linguistic gains, intercultural competence, personal human development, and academic

The L2 Self and Identity: Exploring What Spanish as a Foreign Language Means for Former Mixed-Major Study Abroad Sojourners

“…(The post-study abroad tests were conducted on return and 15 months post-sojourn whilst the participants were still students.) More pertinent, however, to the present study and the research direction identified by Plews (2016) is recent research on the wider consequences poststudy abroad. Studying in Japan was found to present a "critical incident" in life trajectories (Campbell, 2016), with post-sojourners remaining connected with the country in different ways.…”

“…Citing Kinginger's (2004) Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Plews (2016, p. 3) commented: "…we are left asking what must also have gone on at home, whether there was no going back to her former self…". The post-sojourn in study abroad research has been described as "Another Frontier" with the sustaining of language gains, attrition, and endurability of identity positions highlighted as ripe for further exploration (Plews, 2016). Coleman (2013, p. 27) asked: "Do we not need more studies which address both lifewide and lifelong outcomes?"…”

Eureka! or, How I learned to stop worrying and love the survey

“…The project took shape in discussions with my colleagues Kevin McManus and Robert Schrauf as we contemplated responding to a call for research proposals on post-secondary international education from the United States Department of Education. Prior research in applied linguistics had neglected to study the aftermath of overseas language programs, to the point where Plews had identified post-study abroad as a new ‘frontier’ (2016). Our review of the literature had revealed a number of larger-scale studies of non-linguistic outcomes from academic focus (Hadis, 2005) and preparedness for international careers (Franklin, 2010) to global engagement (Paige, Fry, Stallman, Josic, & Jon, 2009), but painfully few studies with an explicit focus on language learning.…”

Long‐term language use by US‐based study‐abroad alumni: Activity types and program effects

“…Although longitudinal studies can be procedurally and logistically difficult, Coleman (2013) pointed out that humans are the longest lived of primates, and that the significance of dramatic life events can hardly be well understood in short-term studies with posttests delayed by a few weeks or months. Plews (2016) went so far as to name the postsojourn period "a new frontier" in which researchers should investigate such issues as the maintenance of language ability, the mobilization of cultural insights, or the durability and adaptation of identity positions over time and in various contexts. Tullock (2018) called for a longitudinal perspective and an emphasis on lifelong identity negotiation; only such approaches can show how sojourns abroad serve as "launching points for long-term transnational identities" (p. 271).…”