The effect of context of second language learning: Domestic intensive and semi-intensive courses vs. study abroad in Europe.

This study examines the second language (L2) written and oral performance of three groups of Spanish-speaking university students after being exposed to English in different contexts. One group of learners was spending some time abroad (Erasmus students in the UK), and two groups were following clas...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Serrano Serrano, Raquel, Llanes Baró, Àngels, Tragant Mestres, Elsa
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2011
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/173585
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/173585
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Ensenyament de llengües estrangeres
Adquisició d'una segona llengua
Cursos
Estudis a l'estranger
Foreign language teaching
Second language acquisition
Courses
Foreign study
Descripción
Sumario:This study examines the second language (L2) written and oral performance of three groups of Spanish-speaking university students after being exposed to English in different contexts. One group of learners was spending some time abroad (Erasmus students in the UK), and two groups were following classroom instruction in two different types of intensive courses in Spain: 'intensive' and 'semi-intensive'. The learners' L2 written and oral production was analyzed at different time points through different measures of fluency, syntactic and lexical complexity, and accuracy. The main objective of this study was to compare the performance of the students abroad with each of the two intensive programmes. According to the results of the statistical analyses, after an equivalent period of exposure to the L2 in the two contexts, the students abroad outperformed the learners in the 'at home semi-intensive' programme in the post-test in some of the variables under study, namely fluency and lexical complexity. Nevertheless, the students' written and oral performance after an intensive course at home and after the equivalent time abroad was similar.