Kendon Kurzer and Dr. Dan Dewey, Linguistics and English Language
This project explored connections between language gains and instances of positive and negative responses as recorded in pseudo-dialogue journals kept by second language learners of Arabic participating in a study abroad (SA) program to Jordan. Daily journals from seven of forty-four total participants were analyzed for this project: those of the four students who showed the most proficiency gains over the course of the program as determined by pre- and post-study abroad program Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) scores, and those of the three students who showed no proficiency gains between their pre- and post-program OPI scores. Trends noted included the spread of the instances of negative responses (any comment made by the student in which negative language was used or a negative attitude expressed, but with no goal or specific aim for resolution, or with no specific example of something that was learned by the student from this experience) over the course of the program, as journals of low scoring students showed significant numbers of negative attitudes later on in the program, while the journals of the top student did not. Also, a -.86 correlation between the average hours speaking with natives per day and instances of negative reactions per 100 total journal words was found. This project resulted in an Honor’s Thesis.
Upon graphing the instances of negative reactions contained in the student journals, we noted that both the top and bottom students responded negatively in their journals in an erratic manner early on in the program. However, at Week 9, the top students’ instances of negative reactions drop sharply, averaging just one a week for all four students, while the instances of negative reactions recorded in the bottom students appear to be significantly higher, before dropping during the last week. This may be explained by the students’ eminent return home.
Accordingly, these results suggest that those who gained the most linguistically out of the SA recorded fewer negative reactions to difficulty in their journals; they are either not experiencing difficulties while abroad, or are responding to those difficulties differently than are those who are not showing language gains. One possible explanation that would account for why high-gainers are including fewer negative comments during the latter portion of the SA could be related to general linguistic proficiency. Participants may be making more negative comments because they simply don’t have the language resources to communicate in Arabic fully, which could understandably result in frustrating encounters with natives. By the end of the first half of the program, the students who would ultimately see the most language gains over the course of the 14-week program may have seen enough linguistic advancement to communicate more fully in the L2, while those who would ultimately show no improvement continue to struggle, and respond accordingly. However, the later journals of both the high- and low-gainers reveal additional trends between the two groups. The high-gainers show an added measure of introspection in their journals entries, indicated by numerous examples taken from journal entries.
Instances of negative reactions and introspection on these reactions could generally be classified into several different categories: broad statements (i.e. “today was tough), specific statements (“I had difficulty understanding Mamdouh), specific statements with qualifying statement (“I had difficulty understanding Mamdouh but was able to practice listening to the Bedouin accent”), and specific statements with qualifying statements and lesson learned/plan of action (“I had difficulty understanding Mamdouh but was able to practice listening to the Bedouin accent and will work on identifying vocabulary items specific to that group”). The later statements require many more words of explanation than do broad general statements. Accordingly, when taken in conjunction with the word counts of the participants as explained above, it is clear that high-gainers are making more thorough journal entries. Additional research further delineating between the different types of negative reactions may provide added insights.
The journals of low-gainers include three times as many negative reactions per 100 words of total text as the journals of the high-gainers. Also, predictably, high-gainers are reporting that they are spending more time speaking with natives than are the low-gainers, with an average of 2.84 hours a day, compared to the low-gainers’ 1.62 hours on average reported time on task. A -.86 correlation between the reported average number of hours speaking per day for each participant and the instances of Negative Reactions per 100 total journal words was found, indicating that the students that spoke with natives less tended to include more instances of negative reactions in their journals. We do not mean to imply a causal relationship between the two, given these analyses, as we have no way of knowing if, as participant time on task increases, instances of negative response will decrease. A low level of language learning aptitude or a lack of effort on the part of the low-gainers could also give us the results we are witnessing. As this is only an exploratory study, additional research could provide added insights in this area.
In addition to providing researchers with insights into trends of negative responses make by SA participants across the program and correlations between negative responses and time spent speaking with natives, this project provided evidence of differences between the journals of the high- and low-gainers regarding first language (L1) islands1—students interacting primarily with fellow SA students and thus using the L1—as well as evidence suggesting the importance of introspection. Insights from the instructors who taught on the SA program, both professor and teaching assistant, were used to triangulate results found via research methods. The results helped reinforce the conclusion made.
This study has relevant and useful real-world applications dealing with BYU’s study abroad programs to the Middle East. Specifically, it may be possible to better train students in efficient introspection techniques using reflective journals. The instructors in study abroad preparation classes or even while abroad can use this information to better prepare students for their experiences on SA, perhaps by sharing the difficulties students have dealt with in the past, which may help to reduce the level of culture shock new students go through by preparing them in advance to deal with such situations. SA instructors may also want to teach students about L1 or culture islands, emphasizing the importance of avoiding them in favor of developing relationships with native speakers2.
References
- Wilkinson, S. (1998).On the nature of immersion during study abroad: Some participant perspectives. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 31(1), 23-39.
- Special thanks to Dr. Dan Dewey and Dr. Kirk Belnap for their extensive assistance and guidance