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Language Acquisition in Study Abroad and Formal Instruction Contexts
Edited by Carmen Pérez-Vidal
[AILA Applied Linguistics Series 13] 2014
► pp. 283–310

Chapter 12. Contrasting intercultural awareness at home and abroad

| Universitat Pompeu Fabra
| Universitat Pompeu Fabra

This chapter examines the effects of Study Abroad (SA), following Formal Instruction (FI), on a group of Catalan/Spanish English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners (n = 28) regarding changes in their intercultural awareness. Data from this group were compared with data from a group of native speakers of English (n = 26) enrolled in a SA program in Spain. Following one of the main objectives in the SALA Project, we seek to understand to what extent learners’ cultural beliefs may change after a three-month SA program. Results showed that intercultural awareness increased immediately following SA but not FI, and it decreased 15 months upon the EFL learners’ return from the SA period. No statistically significant differences were found between the Catalan/Spanish undergraduates and the English group.

Published online: 8 July 2014
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.13.14ch12
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