Abstract:

The benefits of immersive language experience are well studied and observed in the acquisition of a second language (L2) [c.f. 1]. Study abroad (SA) is consistently shown to bring positive linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes. Some of the affective benefits of SA include boosting international posture and the willingness to communicate in the L2 [2], increasing motivation [3],[4], and reducing Foreign Language Anxiety, (FLA [2, 3, 5]). The affective outcomes of second language acquisition are generally understood to impact and be impacted by linguistic performance. Fluency in the Second Language (L2) has been studied in different learning contexts, including SA [c.f. 6,7]; however, the relationship between fluency and anxiety has received less attention. This study looks at the affective and linguistic outcomes of a long-term (14 week) study abroad program. Both the anxiety of the student and their fluency were measured at the beginning and end of the SA period so that pre-intervention levels can be compared to post-intervention ones. The participants were six U.S. English-native, Spanish learners participating in a semester study abroad program in Spain. To measure fluency, subjects recorded themselves answering open-ended questions in the L2. The Speech Rate, Articulation Rate, and Phonation Time Ratio were calculated in Praat [8] with the aid of De Jong and Wempe’s Praat script for Fluency [9], and following Wood’s correlates of Fluency [10 pp. 575-581). Anxiety was measured with a test adapted from the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS [11]) and complemented with a qualitative survey of the subject’s linguistic experience and attitudes. FLCAS consists of 33 statements expressing either anxiety or ease about foreign language study such as “It embarrasses me to volunteer answers in my language class” or “I feel confident when I speak in foreign language class”. Subjects respond by either agreeing or disagreeing with the statement with varying degrees of strength. In comparing their responses from the beginning to the end of the SA period, there was an average decrease of 26% in anxiety in the FLCAS test for all but one of the subjects. The most notable changes in the measures of fluency were in the Speech Rate (nsyll/duration), which increased by an average of 32%, while the Articulation Rate (nsyll/phonation time) increased by an average of only 6%. This indicates that the subjects articulated the L2 at a slightly faster rate at the end of the SA program but made a greater improvement in producing more words and less silent pauses while speaking in the L2, also evidenced by a 10% average increase in their Phonation Time Ratio. In sum, FLA decreased while some important measures of L2 fluency increased for the majority of the learners participating in the SA program. Similar to Quan [7], who attributes fluency measures to an increased use of formulaic language and the projected identities and communities of practice of the learners, the results from this study show how linguistic and affective outcomes impact positively on each other and on the learners during SA.

Keywords:

Second Language Fluency, Foreign Language Anxiety, Study Abroad, Speech Rate, Second Language Acquisition.