Programme

Abstract

One of the most consistent findings in study abroad research is that individual differences (IDs) play a major role in language learning outcomes. Typical of SLA research more generally, IDs investigated in study abroad research tend to examine affective and motivation factors, with increasing interest in cognitive and personality factors. In this presentation, I will focus on flexibility, which I argue is a promising and under-explored psychological variable in study abroad research. Flexibility captures learners’ capacity to adjust behavior, tolerate ambiguity, and respond creatively to unpredictable linguistic and social situations. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data from the longitudinal Languages and Social Networks Abroad Project (LANGSNAP), I examine how flexible learners navigate uncertainty, form diverse social networks, and sustain motivation across contexts. By viewing flexibility as a skill that can be developed rather than a fixed trait, I suggest ways educators, program designers, and study abroad administrators can better prepare students for the unpredictable nature of a sojourn abroad.

Abstract

Since the initial emergence of study abroad research into language learning to its current status as buoyant sub-field of Applied Linguistics, the European context has constituted an important research domain, spanning a range of languages, learner cohorts from both within Europe and without, with the European Union’s Erasmus programme well established as a long-standing flagship programme for international exchange. Against this background, this paper explores the contribution of European research to the study abroad enterprise, problematising thematic, methodological, theoretical and applied insights stemming from that extensive body of work to our understanding of the role of learning context in second language acquisition, and to study abroad research more broadly as an international field of inquiry.