ERIC Number: EJ1139216
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0026-7902
EISSN: N/A
L2 Speaking Development during Study Abroad: Fluency, Accuracy, Complexity, and Underlying Cognitive Factors
Leonard, Karen Ruth; Shea, Christine E.
Modern Language Journal, v101 n1 p179-193 Spr 2017
We take a multidimensional perspective on the development of second language (L2) speaking ability and examine how changes in the underlying cognitive variables of linguistic knowledge and processing speed interact with complexity, fluency, and accuracy over the course of a 3-month Spanish study abroad session. Study abroad provides a unique learning context for evaluating changes in the underlying dimensions of L2 speaking because learners are fully immersed in the target language and have ample opportunity to implement, practice, and integrate newly gained skills. Participants were 39 native English speakers acquiring Spanish in Argentina. Results show that participants experienced significant gains across complexity, fluency, and accuracy. However, these gains were not evenly distributed across all dimensions or across all learners. Learners with higher levels of L2 linguistic knowledge and faster L2 processing speed prior to study abroad experienced greater gains in accuracy and syntactic and lexical complexity during study abroad.
Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Oral Language, Language Processing, Study Abroad, Accuracy, Cognitive Processes, Language Fluency, Spanish, Achievement Gains, Syntax, Vocabulary Development, Foreign Countries, Native Speakers, English, Language Usage
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Argentina
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A