Chapter 2
Limited gains, restricted access
Student insights from study abroad in Peru
This chapter explores how limited gains in the
L2 acquisition of sociolinguistic variation relate to particularities
of the program and host community where students study abroad. An
ethnographic case study finds that learners’ access to input during
one program was constrained by a number of interrelated factors,
which extended beyond student-related variables to include the
programming and policies of their SA school and presence of
international tourism in the host community. These findings aid in
explaining students’ limited development of local sociolinguistic
variants and demonstrate that immersion in SA program cannot be
conflated with ample access to sociolinguistic input. Understanding
how SA affords the development of sociolinguistic competence
requires consideration of programmatic factors in assessing
individual differences in language learning outcomes.
Article outline
- Introduction
- Literature review
- Data and methodology
- Students
- Setting
- Positionality
- Findings
- L2 acquisition of sociolinguistic variants
- Tourism in Cuzco
- Study abroad programming and policies
- Students’ social circles
- Discussion
- What major factors did students identify as having negatively
impacted their access to input during SA in Cuzco?
- In what ways do these factors relate to students’ social
networks, identities, and attitudes?
- How do these factors aid in explaining students’ limited
acquisition of sociolinguistic variation from the local variety
of Spanish?
- Conclusions and implications
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Note
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References