This book is intended to introduce novice student researchers to second language acquisition in the study abroad learning environment. It reviews the existing literature and provides the emerging researcher an overview of the important factors to consider, informs them where to begin, and how to move forth an agenda for future research in this field. The book recognizes that aside from the academic advantages, study abroad programmes are an excellent tool for fostering extended and relevant interaction with native speakers. It provides reflection questions and activities, and guides the novice researcher in critically analysing existing research and to eventually carry out their own study. The book will be of use to beginning researchers who are new to linguistics in the areas of study abroad and second language acquisition.

"Second Language Acquisition in a Study Abroad Context" brings together for the first time a series of studies which explore the relationship between language learning and the study abroad experience. Utilizing different research methodologies (quantitative, qualitative, descriptive), the focus in this collection is on various aspects of second language learning, including the acquisition of sociolinguistic competence, the acquisition of fluency, the use of communicative strategies and the development of oral and written skills. The studies are cross-linguistic and deal with student populations at the secondary and college levels who spent between three months and one year in study abroad or exchange programs in Japan, Russia, Spain, Mexico, France or Canada.

This book addresses the multilingual reality of study abroad across a variety of national contexts and target languages. The chapters examine multilingual socialization and translanguaging; how the target language is entwined in global, local and historical contexts; and how students use local and global varieties of English.

Examining the overseas experience of language learners in diverse contexts through a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches, studies in this volume look at the acquisition of language use, socialization processes, learner motivation, identity and learning strategies. In this way, the volume offers a privileged window into learner experiences abroad while addressing current concerns central to second language acquisition.

This book examines the use of conversational humor in a second language in the context of study abroad. Using a longitudinal design, naturalistic interactions, and a language socialization framework, the study investigates the ways in which study abroad students develop in their production of humor in second language Spanish and discusses how those developments are the result of language learning processes grounded in social interaction.

Study abroad is often seen as a crucial dimension of language learning - developing communicative proficiency, language awareness, and intercultural competence. The author provides an overview and assessment of research on language learning in study abroad settings, reviewing the advantages and constraints of perspectives adopted in this research.

This volume explores the relationship between 'study abroad' and the acquisition of 'sociolinguistic competence' - the ability to communicate in socially appropriate ways. The volume looks at language development and use during study abroad in France by examining patterns of variation in the speech of advanced L2 speakers. Within a variationist paradigm, fine-grained empirical analyses of speech illuminate choices the L2 speaker makes in relation to their new identity, gender patterns, closeness or distance maintained in the social context in which they find themselves. Using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data, four variable features of contemporary spoken French are analysed in a large population of advanced Irish-English speakers of French. This close-up picture provides empirical evidence by which to evaluate the wide-spread assumption that Study Abroad is highly beneficial for second language learning.